Chapter 619: The Hidden War Over Spinach Seeds

Xia Qing didn’t know why Tang Rui and Tang Zheng went to Hui Five, but she had no doubt why Xue Jinchang went to Hui One. Xue Jinchang’s escape to Hui One basically confirmed that the ones who had him massacre wolf pups were the Blazing Fire Squad.

Last month, everyone knew the beast tide triggered by humans slaughtering wolves was connected to Blazing Fire in Hui One, yet nobody could pin any concrete evidence on them.

Yang Jin nodded. “Both Hui One and Blazing Fire wanted to wipe out the high Evolution Element spinach seeds in our base. Our intelligence shows they figured out we planted the spinach inside the Safe Zone. So that night, during the beast tide, they focused on the Safe Zone but secretly worked with other factions too, trying to sabotage Section One in the north. They used all kinds of tricks and with Hui One’s officials protecting them, the Red One Investigation Team never found solid evidence.”

Blazing Fire is the top squad of Hui One. Without ironclad witnesses or proof, you can’t convict them just because you’ve pieced it together.

Take the attack on Section One in the north, where greenhouses and fields were trashed all the way to Section Three. The special ops team of advanced evolutionaries—pumped with Evolution Element stim shakes—everyone suspects they were sent by Blazing Fire.

But so what if we know? The moment they failed, they blew themselves to bits without leaving a trace. You’ll never get actual evidence.

Even if they blew themselves up, could you check their DNA?

Heh.

Don’t forget, this is the year of natural disasters. So many are off the books, there’s no way to check their real identities. Even before the disasters, back in the peaceful era, people groomed as assassins would blow themselves up—you won’t find a trace of their lives on Blue Star just by DNA.

After the briefing, Yang Jin praised Xia Qing. “You all did an outstanding job that night. Even people in Hui Five’s Safe Zone know Section One in the north is not to be trifled with now—your might left a mark.”

“Everyone risked their lives to guard their land—that’s what made this kind of deterrence possible,” Xia Qing couldn’t help but smile. “You probably haven’t heard? Chonglian’s worried about Xin Yu’s safety, so they’re planning to put a proper wall around our territory. Just like my iron mesh wall—it can even carry a live current in a pinch.”

Yang Jin had been too busy chasing the Tang family to know this, but right away he picked up on what mattered. “Was the iron mesh wall your idea to Xin Yu?”

Xia Qing fell silent…

Though he couldn’t hear her reply, Yang Jin could picture her expression and chuckled. “Xin Yu’s always acted on her own preferences, never caring about others. Zhou Zhaoping just wants Chonglian back, and he’s hardly invested in this territory. That leaves only you.”

Only you see this land as home, working tirelessly to make it thrive.

Is this what a Brain Evolutionary’s analysis looks like? Soaking in her bath, Xia Qing pressed her lips together and asked, “Captain Yang, the folks from Chonglian probably haven’t figured this out, right?”

Yang Jin smiled. “Relax, they haven’t. After Xin Yu left Hui Two and made it clear she was done with Chonglian, only the mother and son from the Yu family still watch her. If either of them was a real threat, Xin Yu wouldn’t have survived this long.”

Putting her mind at ease, Xia Qing seized the moment to bargain. “With the wall in place, Territory One’s even safer now. My suggestion is saving you some labor costs for guarding the land, too. So wouldn’t it make sense to knock another 20% off the commission I pay Hu Zifeng’s Squad this year?”

Yang Jin quietly intoned her name. “Xia Qing.”

Hearing him say it made Xia Qing’s ears tingle—suddenly the bathwater felt too hot. “Is that a no?”

Yang Jin reminded her, “Territory One belongs to Luo. Hill Forty-Nine is what Azure Dragon Squad protects.”

Hill Forty-Nine was now outside the wall.

Xia Qing could only sigh…

Yang Jin gave a dry laugh. “Let’s wait until I’m back before talking details about commissions and contracts. If it’s urgent, chat with Xie Yu directly. By the way, right before I called you, I heard something—less than half an hour ago, Lord Zhao Huisheng of Territory Eleven was killed at home.”

“He was about to get his hands on high Evolution Element spinach seeds to boost his health and make a fortune, then he gets killed just like that. Talk about unlucky.” Zhao Ze sighed after hearing Tang Huai announce the news on the Lords’ channel. Lately, spinach seeds are all anyone’s talking about.

“It’s not bad luck, he got what he deserved,” Tang Huai commented in the Lords’ channel.

Tang Huai’s words were harsh, but Xia Qing silently agreed—Zhao Huisheng’s death was anything but unjust.

If a lord returns to the Safe Zone without anywhere to stay, the Base will set him up with temporary housing at a low rent and assign guards for when he leaves. But Lord Zhao Huisheng got killed because he took people back to his temporary lodging—someone murdered him right there inside.

If you bring people into your own place, your safety is your responsibility.

Both Yang Jin and Tang Huai had the same info—the fight that led to Zhao Huisheng’s death was all about the high Evolution Element spinach seeds he was about to receive.

Wen Nengjie instantly added on the Lords’ channel, “Huai, you’re right. Letting in someone you can’t trust is just asking for it! Huai, did Zhao Huisheng have any immediate family?”

Tang Huai replied, “Nope, so nobody to inherit his territory. Now we’ll see who’s got what it takes.”

Section One in the north has become prime real estate—everybody wants a piece.

There are two main reasons: One, it’s protected by the Northern Wolf Pack, and the Western Wolf Pack—hostile to humans—doesn’t dare intrude. Two, the whole area’s getting a strong iron mesh wall.

That means anyone farming here, even if their harvests aren’t great, at least has guaranteed natural food and won’t die from wolves or beast tides.

Kuang Qingwei jumped online. “The Territory Management Department might do what they did with the Gui San refugees—cut Territory Eleven into dozens of plots so more people can farm.”

“That would be a nightmare,” grumbled Tang Huai, who lived beside Territory Eleven and loved digging for bugs. But even he saw Kuang Qingwei had a point.

Wen Nengjie also disliked the idea. “With that many people in one territory, you’ll have nonstop fights—one neighbor loses a cucumber, the other’s missing a chive, and suddenly someone’s dead. It’d be a huge hassle for Captain Tan and the team to manage day to day.”

Each territory is about two thousand mu, mainly because there are plenty of people in Huaguo and not a shortage of land. But during disaster years, resources run tight—even a single ration bar could spark a deadly fight. If the territories weren’t spacious, no one could risk sleeping while guarding their farmland.

Only large territories offer a real sense of security.

Tang Huai teased, “You’re not worried about work for the Inspection Team. You just don’t want anyone stealing your business, right?”

Territory Seventeen not only farms its own land, but also takes odd jobs for cash in other territories.

Known as Renjie the walking corpse, Wen Nengjie chuckled twice before complaining, “Our whole crew’s got no real skills—manual labor’s all we’ve got. Back when we were in the Safe Zone, we took the jobs nobody else wanted. After half a year breaking our backs farming out here, just when things were looking up, invaders ruined half our crops overnight. Now we have to work odd jobs and spend our credits just to buy fertilizer.”

Qi Fu tried to reassure Wen Nengjie. “Slicing up a whole territory into dozens or hundreds of pieces failed when the Gui San refugees were resettled. They won’t do it again.”

Last October, fifty thousand Gui San refugees fled to Hui Three, but only about three thousand survived the journey. Just a handful made it into the Safe Zone—most were set to farm in unclaimed lands. After one winter, half of those inside the territories were dead, leaving barely a thousand survivors.

Of the two thousand who died, some fell to coal poisoning, some to illness and cold, but most died fighting over supplies.

After her bath, Xia Qing lay on her bed, pondering who would become the next lord of Territory Eleven, when suddenly her phone rang.

She glanced at the screen—to her surprise, it was Huo Lei, the owner of the Huo Family Forge, calling her.