Chapter 628: Toxic Rain and Crimson Grass

Xia Qing steadied herself and held her breath, pushing forward despite the discomfort brought on by her magnetic sense. She was determined to see for herself what sort of tricks these tiny red sprouts barely two centimeters tall had up their sleeve.

Stepping out of the barrier and onto the edge of the high-risk area, Xia Qing picked up a stone and tossed it at one of the bright red grasses. The little grass bent beneath the impact but nothing else happened. Either it wasn’t at its outburst phase, or this type didn’t evolve to attack physically.

She quickly dug out the nearest grass, making sure to include the soil around its roots, and tucked it into her sample case. Then she soared five hundred meters up to the entrance of the Bear Cave, calling out without landing, “Brother Yue, don’t get within two hundred meters of the high-risk area.”

“If those Devastation Grasses grow any bigger, they might evolve chemical attack abilities.”

Yue Haiying shouted back, “Got it! Be careful!”

Flying back to the Territory on her personal flight equipment, Xia Qing spotted Ji Li waving at her from the northern barrier. She landed there immediately.

After being checked by Ji Li, Xia Qing brought the sample into Section Three. When she handed it to Yan Long, who was beside Zhang San, she gave Zhang San a slight wave with her phone.

Zhang San obviously caught Xia Qing’s signal. Once inside the lab, he opened his phone and froze for half a second.

Zhang San worked fast—less than ten minutes later, he came out with two test reports. “We haven’t detected the specific danger of this bright red Devastation Grass yet, but the soil you brought back had traces of oS methyl thiophosphonate which combined with the Devastation Rain to trigger an accelerated evolution and rapid reproduction of Salmonella bacteria.”

Zhang San tapped the report against the bridge of his glasses and calmly ordered, “The high-risk area needs to be sprayed with disinfectant right away, and the rainwater draining from it also needs to be sterilized as soon as possible. Xia Qing, how many more round trips can your personal flight equipment make with the current fuel?”

“Not even one full round trip,” Xia Qing replied. The equipment burned through 45 liters over 10 kilometers—an absolute fuel-guzzler.

Zhang San turned to Ji Li. “Do we have any aviation fuel left in the Territory?”

The personal flight equipment and the helicopter run on the same fuel.

After Ji Li nodded, Zhang San immediately ordered, “Fetch enough fuel for two full round trips and give it to Xia Qing.”

Once Ji Li left, Zhang San asked Xia Qing, “Do you know how to operate a drone for pesticide spraying?”

Xia Qing shook her head. “I don’t.”

Zhang San immediately told Zhang He, “Send Second Respondent over to the high-risk area at once.”

After Zhang He left, Zhang San explained to Xia Qing, “Take the drone and pesticide with you. Disinfect the pond below the highly contaminated area first. Once Second Respondent arrives, they’ll operate the drone to disinfect the danger zone. Use the drinking water stored in the Bear Cave and be careful.”

“Understood.” The water supply he mentioned was hot spring water from the Hidden Valley—open-air sources couldn’t be used now with Devastation Rain falling. Xia Qing quietly asked her Idol, “Third Brother, can I trade for some defensive medicine or filter cartridges for protective masks? Yue Haiying and the other two are stationed at the Bear Cave—they need more gear.”

With a face pale and tinged with blue, Zhang San rolled his eyes at Xia Qing’s sheepish grin and went straight back into the lab.

He didn’t say yes or no, but Xia Qing knew the deal was made. While walking with Zhang Song to pick up the medicine, she listened as he went on and on about the dangers of evolved Salmonella. She’d memorized all this before with Crippled Wolf, but she didn’t interrupt him.

“…Normal Salmonella will cause abdominal pain, vomiting, arthritis, and meningitis in animals. If it evolves, it can trigger rapid multi-organ failure. And if you get hit with super-evolved Salmonella, it will cause irreversible damage…”

Zhang Song solemnly handed Xia Qing the medicine. “The evolved bacteria are multiplying rapidly, contaminating the soil and water, and fueling the growth of Devastation Grass. Our Territory is downhill from Hill Fifty—if water contaminated with super bacteria flows into our area, it’ll be catastrophic. Miss Xia, I’m counting on you.”

“Don’t worry, Brother Song. I personally set up the drainage ditches and sewage pits in the high-pollution area. Even if it rains Devastation Rain three days and nights straight, not a drop of contaminated water will get out.” Xia Qing calmly took the medicine and the large box holding the drone. As she put them into her backpack, Yan Long walked over with a black bag and handed it to her.

“These are defensive supplies from the Lord. Stay safe.”

“Thank you, Sister Yan.” Xia Qing stuffed the supplies in her pack, left the house, and hopped onto her fully fueled personal flight equipment. Instead of heading straight to Hill Fifty, she made a quick stop back at Section Three before flying to Hill Fifty.

As Xia Qing disappeared into the distance, Yan Long returned to the inner room behind the surveillance room and picked up her protective mask. Huo Zhun looked puzzled. “Why are you putting on a mask now?”

Yan Long replied calmly, “Weren’t you listening when the Lord explained why the high-risk area at Hill Fifty mutated?”

You could hear everything from inside the surveillance room. Huo Zhun tried to remember, “Something about an acid ester reacting with a Devastation Element?”

He didn’t know the chemical name but he’d heard about VX nerve agent—the notorious deadly chemical weapon. Still, “VX is in the experimental area at Hill Fifty, but why are you putting on a mask here?”

Yan Long couldn’t be bothered to answer. She just put on her mask and walked out.

Huo Zhun scratched his head. “Could VX have a smell? Strong enough to drift all the way over here? That’s insane…”

On her way to the Third Peak of Hill Fifty, Xia Qing spotted someone in a protective suit sprinting along the edge of the valley between Hill Fifty and Hill Forty-Nine.

No need to ask—this had to be Second Respondent, the Speed Evolver from Territory Seven sent by Third Brother.

Despite setting off after him, Xia Qing arrived first. As she landed at the Bear Cave entrance, the Devastation Rain, which had paused for over thirty minutes, suddenly poured down again. She shook off the water and entered the Bear Cave, handing the black bag from Yan Long to Yue Haiying. “Here are three new protective masks. Brother Yue, all of you need to put these on. That red Devastation Grass has developed offensive evolutionary traits and could be releasing toxic gas.”

Yue Haiying took the masks and asked, “The Devastation Rain has picked up again. Devastation Element levels are still rising—can we still spray the area with the drone?”

“No.” Using a drone in the rain, efficiency drops, machines get damaged, visuals and communications go haywire, and any sprayed chemicals get washed away before they can kill the evolved bacteria.

“It’s almost up to red level!” Yu Shou shouted, standing outside the Bear Cave with his umbrella, testing the Devastation Element content in the falling rain.

Xia Qing and Yue Haiying both furrowed their brows at the same time.

Once Devastation Rain reaches red level, both the chemically evolved Devastation Grass and the evolved bacteria will grow and multiply even faster!