Chapter 625: Hailstorm on Hill Forty-Nine

During years of catastrophe, the climate became unpredictable and even weather forecasts grew unreliable. But when it came to Devastation Rain and Devastation Snow sweeping across thousands of miles, the predictions were never wrong. If they said it would arrive this afternoon, there was no chance it would wait until tomorrow morning.

After lunch, Xia Qing left home with Old Goat and Er Gou—both fully geared up. As soon as she stepped outside, a chill wind cut through the air. She hurried to the greenhouse, checked the thermometer, and her heart sank. The temperature had dropped from seventeen degrees all the way down to six.

“The temperature’s plummeting fast!” Xia Qing posted an announcement in the Lords’ channel, then sprinted out of the greenhouse and started cranking down the straw curtains—not just for warmth anymore, but to guard against hail.

“Is it going to snow first?” Zhao Ze called out.

No one answered on the Lords’ channel, but across the boundary Xia Qing could hear Zhao Ze’s mother shouting at her son and the hired hands, rushing them to lower their straw curtains against the cold.

As Qi Fu worked the curtains down, he called out, “Captain Tan, will there be hail?”

Tan Junjie replied, “No official warning yet. Stay alert, everyone, and try to stay under sturdy roofs. Territory One, any idea what’s causing the rapid drop in temperature?”

Big hail doesn’t just tear through rain covers—it can even shatter protective masks. Last year, Qi Fu nearly lost his life in a hailstorm.

Hu Zifeng chimed in, “Still monitoring.”

Is hail terrifying? Absolutely. But as long as it hasn’t started, not a single lord would retreat. Everyone in their territory was busy sealing the greenhouses and pulling down the straw curtains.

Xia Qing kept her eyes on the northwest sky while she hurriedly cranked the curtain handle. Strange, yellow clouds were rolling in.

A northwest wind was picking up and those Devastation Rain clouds loomed ever closer. Xia Qing grabbed her walkie-talkie and called her companions. “Old Goat! Er! Get out here, quick!”

A decade of disasters had forced humanity—once the undisputed rulers atop Blue Star’s food chain—to rediscover the terror of nature and relearn respect for it. Old Goat and Er Gou had lived their whole lives in the Evolved Forest. From the moment they were born, they battled nature’s wrath. Changes in weather left them especially sensitive.

Whenever the weather turned wild, animals acted on pure instinct, seeking safe spots to ride things out.

But at Xia Qing’s call, both animals darted from where they’d been resting by the greenhouse wall and ran to her side.

With one hand on the crank, Xia Qing reached out to tap the full-face protective masks of her companions. She spoke softly, pointing at the little house beside the greenhouse. “Go in there and wait for me. No matter what, don’t come out unless I say so.”

If the hail turned massive, even the extra straw curtains wouldn’t keep the greenhouse from being smashed apart. The little house next door was cramped, but its solid roof made it far safer than the greenhouse.

The moment her companions slipped inside, Xia Qing finished securing the last curtain, then dashed over to seal up the vents on the wheat and rapeseed greenhouses.

If the wind got any stronger and the vents were left open, the greenhouses would be overturned or blown apart. Worse, debris might damage other neighboring greenhouses. If the crops inside were struck by hailstones packed with too much Devastation Element, they’d all be ruined.

Guan Tong and Chen Zheng, who weren’t supposed to arrive until two in the afternoon, rushed from Territory One to Section Three to help Xia Qing batten down the greenhouses.

Hu Zifeng’s calm voice crackled through the walkie-talkie amid the howling wind. “Lords, be advised: A massive bank of thunderclouds filled with excessive Devastation Element is surging from the northwest. High winds are pushing them up the mountain slopes. The cloud layer is over six thousand meters thick, with a core temperature of minus fifteen. Hill Fifty-Five has already been hit by hail. Everyone, take precautions.”

Xia Qing relayed the warning to the trio hidden in the valley so they could stay on guard too.

“Damn it!” Tang Huai was wrestling with the greenhouse cover and swearing, “If fate really wants to wipe out humanity, just get it over with already. Stop torturing us with disaster after disaster!”

Tan Junjie spoke again, voice cold and stern. “Lords and agents: Wear your protective suits and masks properly. Control your emotions and stay composed—don’t lose it.”

Tang Huai fell silent.

Hu Zifeng reported, “Hill Fifty-Two has begun to see hail and it’s spreading south.”

South of Hill Fifty-Two stood Hill Forty-Nine—and just beyond that lay the human territories. Xia Qing sealed the last vent and dashed for the greenhouse’s lounge with Guan Tong and Chen Zheng.

“Guan Tong, Chen Zheng, stay here no matter what happens. Wait for the hail to pass before you even think about leaving. I’m heading to the greenhouse to check on Old Goat and the others.”

With that, Xia Qing grabbed a heavy iron umbrella she’d forged last year—over thirty pounds—and opened it only after stepping outside. She hooked two fasteners onto her shoulders and clipped a cord to her belt to secure it.

“Sister Qing, did you customize this umbrella?” Guan Tong’s eyes went wide.

“Had nothing better to do last winter, so I tinkered with it. Frees up my hands for work,” Xia Qing grinned before ducking into the wind and running as fast as she could to the little house. After greeting Old Goat and Er Gou, she hurried to the breeding greenhouse to drag the rabbit and chicken cages against the north wall. She quickly put lids on the fish tank and Green Lantern Insect tray, making sure even if the greenhouse sprung a leak, the animals would be safe.

Snake box? Already brought it home and tucked it under the eaves.

Once the animals were secured, Xia Qing went to the planting greenhouse to move the potted strawberries and mint. Just then, Tang Huai’s panicked voice came over the walkie-talkie: “The greenhouse in Territory Eleven’s gone to pieces! A whole sheet of rain cover just got torn off and blown toward Territory Twenty-Two!”

The lord of Territory Eleven, Zhao Huisheng, had died already, and a new one hadn’t been appointed. That stretch was unmanned now. With winds like these, the greenhouses wrecked during the beast tide invasion would never survive.

She could only hope Territory Twenty-Two wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire.

Hu Zifeng continued broadcasting to the Lords’ channel. “Hail has reached the northern slope of Hill Forty-Nine. The largest stones are the size of a fist. Everyone, stay alert.”

“God, help us…” Desperate and helpless, Zhao Ze couldn’t hold back his prayers. “Don’t let that hail spill over Hill Forty-Nine.”

The hailstorm had already hit Hill Forty-Nine. By now, Hill Fifty must have been getting battered, too. After moving the potted plants, Xia Qing pulled out her phone to check the Bear Cave cameras.

She’d barely opened the feed when she saw a dirty yellow hailstone—big as a fist—fly past the lens and smash against the rock, bursting into a puddle of dirty snow.

At this point, it felt less like hail and more like clumps of Devastation Snow. The Devastation Element content was still high, but their power to destroy seemed much less.

“Bang!”

Just as Xia Qing let out a sigh of relief, another huge hailstone slammed into the boulder by the Bear Cave entrance, shattering apart.

“Damn!”