Chapter 647: Ripples from a Hidden Camera

“That guy’s watch and phone are packed with photos and videos from around our territory. He’s got shots of my place, your land, and even Territory Seven.” Xin Yu smirked. “Even though he hasn’t sent anything out yet and insists he wasn’t put up to it, Yu Dongming is already on his way here.”

Yu Dongming is Xin Yu’s uncle and currently the chairman of Chonglian Group. If this was minor, he wouldn’t bother coming in person.

The truth hit Xia Qing right away. “So he’s coming to apologize to Third Brother and beg for forgiveness? Someone actually tried to secretly record stuff in Territory Seven… this definitely isn’t simple.”

Zhang San’s territory isn’t just farmland—it houses a top-security P3 lab. Even Xia Qing, who manages Hill Fifty, has to go through strict checks each time she enters or leaves Territory Seven. Her personal flight equipment is only allowed to land outside the place; flying over it is considered a dangerous invasion and you’d be shot down on sight.

So for someone to have the guts to secretly take photos and videos in Territory Seven, that’s a serious crime.

Xin Yu let out a cold laugh. “He’s sticking to his story—that he was only taking photos and videos to improve his skills building the wall, to document the process. But the Territory Management Department says this case is outside Captain Tan’s jurisdiction, so they won’t let him interrogate the guy. Now, what looked like a small issue has blown up into a four-way standoff between Hui Three, Territory Seven, Hui Two, and Chonglian. How this plays out depends entirely on who wins the power struggle.”

The truth can be twisted any way you want—at the end of the day, it’s all about interests.

When the big bosses fight, even a small fry like her can grab some scraps. Xia Qing immediately started discussing with Xin Yu the advantages she could secure for the Alliance out of this mess. After they finished planning, she loaded her own batch of rice seedlings onto the rotary tiller’s trailer and rumbled back to Section Three.

Seedlings from other territories were pretty limited, so most lords turned down Zhou Zhaoping’s offer to transport them by truck, opting instead to carry them back in baskets or on poles together.

People from Section Three, Four, Five, Six, Ten, and Fifteen all made their way to Territory Eight, loaded up on seedlings, then hauled them back to their own lands, quickly drawing attention from onlookers.

Wen Nengjie was dying to know how much cheaper it was for Xia Qing and her crew to have Territory Eight grow their rice seeds instead of going through the Territory Management Department, but he was worried about offending her. So he tried a roundabout approach:

“Sister Qing, you there? Do you need an extra hand with transplanting the seedlings?”

Xia Qing, who’d just parked the rotary tiller by the rice field, pressed the talk button on her walkie-talkie. “I hardly have any rice seedlings left. No need for help—but thanks for offering.”

It was obvious to Xia Qing why Wen Nengjie was so eager. The guy didn’t steal or swindle—he just wanted to stand firm on his own skills and manpower here, so Xia Qing saw no reason to squash his motivation.

Once the Lords’ Alliance grew strong enough, Xia Qing planned to bring all of Section One of the North into the Alliance to form an even greater collective—farming and surviving together.

That was the dream. But Xia Qing knew she had to take steady steps before it could become reality.

Getting a ‘thanks’ from Xia Qing left Wen Nengjie absolutely delighted. “No problem at all! If you need anything done in your territory, just call. The rice seedlings from the management department haven’t arrived yet, and they haven’t given us the spinach seeds either. Honestly, there isn’t much work right now in my territory.”

“Who’s he trying to fool? Lying through his teeth!” Tang Huai, crouched by the Wild Grass Wall in Territory Two as he dug for insects, gave a scornful snort. “They carted off a whole trailer full and he has the nerve to say there aren’t many seedlings?”

Over by the wheat field nearby, Liu Jing looked up from weeding and immediately dashed over, leaving his hoe behind. “Brother Huai, did Section Three really haul away loads of rice seedlings?”

Tang Huai shot Liu Jing a glare. “Why do you care so much? Got all the weeds cleared out yet? You’re just looking for ways to slack off!”

“Not yet! I’ll hurry up and finish right now!” Liu Jing didn’t mind Tang Huai’s attitude at all. He grinned and asked, “Are you tired? Want some water? I could fetch you a stool, too!”

Tang Huai rolled his eyes. Territory Two is so poor they can barely scrape by. “Do I look like a stool to you?”

Realizing the timing was off for his question, Liu Jing just chuckled twice and scampered back to grab his hoe, getting on with his weeding.

Liu Jing is a level-five Auditory Evolutionary from the Sufeng Squad. When Tang Huai went to Territory Twelve to ‘recover,’ Liu Jing was sent to Territory Two to keep an eye on Territory One and Section Three.

Right after Tang Zhengsu was killed and Tang Zhengrong was locked up, Sufeng Squad lost its backing and everything fell into chaos. No one remembered that Liu Jing was still on assignment in the territory, so he just pretended to know nothing and kept his head down to avoid trouble.

Life in the territory might be dull and the housing conditions lousy, but at least he didn’t have to worry about being ambushed or targeted for revenge. There was even fresh wild food every day. Even if it was only boiled, it was nutritious and boosted his resistance—way better than what he ate back in the Safe Zone.

Plus, even though Territory Two’s interim manager Tang Huai had a foul mouth and a bad temper, he was a decent guy and didn’t play dirty. So Liu Jing decided he’d stay here as long as he could—at least until the higher-ups at Sufeng Squad remembered he existed.

When they did, if the squad gave him easy tasks with decent pay, he’d head back to the Safe Zone for missions. But if the assignments sucked, he’d just quit and work as a hired hand in the territory, farming alongside Tang Huai.

Everyone left from Sufeng Squad and all the refugees in Territory Two thought the same, which was why everyone had stopped causing trouble and just got down to honest farm work.

Seeing Liu Jing get back to work, Tang Huai stopped paying him attention. He kept digging for insects while listening to the sounds outside. Since Section Three’s south gate wasn’t locked, there had to be something up.

Soon enough, Zhao Ze from Section Four and his mother came through Section Three’s south gate. After a while, Tan Junjie’s daughter showed up. The sharp little girl even spotted Tang Huai hiding behind the Wild Grass Wall in Territory Two, peeking out. He clicked his tongue in surprise—she’d definitely gotten taller since last winter.

Tan Qi ran into Section Three and greeted everyone at the paddy field politely. “Teacher Wang, Sister Qing, Zhao, I’m here!”

Tan Qi had been in the territory for over three months, and she’d shot up taller and grown much livelier and healthier.

After she learned that Zhao Ze’s mother, who taught her math and language, was surnamed Wang, she switched to calling her Teacher Wang instead of Grandma Zhao. Xia Qing and the others followed her lead. At first, Zhao’s mother tried to correct them, but soon just accepted it and replied with a smile.

Straightening up with a handful of rice seedlings, Xia Qing asked, “Done planting the rice in your territory already?”

“We didn’t have many seedlings, so it only took a bit,” Tan Qi replied. Noticing that Xia Qing had only a small bunch left, she grabbed more seedlings from a basket and tossed them over.

For Tan Qi, who trained all the time, tossing rice seedlings like this was a breeze.

Xia Qing caught them effortlessly. The moment brought back memories of their old training days with Yan Long, making both girls laugh.