Chapter 651: A Hidden Danger in the Territory

“Eat up. This is Green Lantern Wild Boar meat and Green Lantern Eggs—super nutritious.”

As dawn broke, Xia Qing, having just received another Yi Stone, set the tiny food bowl on the floor of the sheep shed. Smiling up at the round white head peeking out from the haystack, she spoke warmly, “White Weasel, I promised the Queen I’d take good care of you.”

She didn’t linger after speaking. Xia Qing was just too big for a little weasel—her presence alone would make any weasel nervous.

To her surprise, as soon as she left the sheep shed, White Weasel climbed down from the haystack and began eating. Xia Qing couldn’t hide her smile. So it wasn’t her imagination—ever since Alpha showed up last night, this albino weasel had dropped much of its guard around her. Now it even dared to eat with her right there.

Up on the haystack, the baby weasels let out such soft, cute squeaks it made Xia Qing’s hands itch. She was sure it wouldn’t be long before she could finally pet this snowy-white beauty and her kits.

“Smelly?”

“How could that be? If you were smelly, would the Queen have licked you?”

Humming a cheerful tune, Xia Qing headed home to grab her small basket, ready to patrol the territory—and maybe catch a few bugs for the fish. The fish in the tank had grown fussy after being spoiled by Er, refusing to eat greens and only accepting meat. After Old Goat had thrown a couple of tantrums over bug-catching, Xia Qing decided not to push it anymore and started catching bugs herself.

With Er out of the territory, Xia Qing felt uneasy about everything. So she checked every corner extra carefully. By the time she finished, she’d not only filled a small basket with insects, she’d caught two evolved rats as well!

Finding these critters inside meant her reptile-repelling pesticide wasn’t working as well on the inner iron mesh wall as it did last year.

Animals kept evolving and building resistance. The Territory Management Department’s insect repellent had already gone through two upgrades this year. It was time for Third Brother to improve his formula too.

After dumping the insects for the Pure Spring Fish and Green Lantern Chicken flock, Xia Qing headed into the breeding greenhouse. She hoisted up the evolved rats—each as long as her forearm—and waved them in front of Old Goat, who was munching on straw. “Hey, Old Goat! Bad news! We’ve got rats in our territory!”

Old Goat eyed the rat in Xia Qing’s hand lazily and chomped down another mouthful of straw. He didn’t like rats much either, but not to Xia Qing’s level—after all, rats didn’t steal his food.

“With Er gone, we’re on rat patrol—it’s just us. Your nose is way better than mine, so why don’t you sniff them out and I’ll do the catching?” Xia Qing fished a compressed ration bar from her pocket. “This is the latest one I traded for. Want a bite?”

Old Goat’s eyes lit up and he let out a bleating chirp, “Baa~~”

“Help me find the rats and you get the new ration bar.” Xia Qing stuffed it back into her pocket, signaling Old Goat to lead the way.

Xia Qing’s sense of smell was nothing special—she relied on her eyes and ears. In a territory stretching over seven thousand acres, searching for evolved rats by herself would eat up way too much time. But with Old Goat’s sharp nose, that all changed.

Motivated by the promise of food, Old Goat even ignored the tender perilla leaves and strode purposefully out of the greenhouse. Xia Qing quickly sealed up the two rats she’d caught and hurried after him. To her surprise, after a lap around the territory, Old Goat began heading toward home.

A jolt of worry shot through Xia Qing. “Old Goat, did the rats get into the village?”

Old Goat strutted ahead, head held high as if on a righteous mission. Xia Qing trusted his nose, even though the surveillance cameras at home hadn’t sounded an alarm. The thought that rats might have chewed through her window screens and invaded the house had her boiling with anger. She whipped out her homemade pistol and gripped it tight in her hand.

Sure enough, there were evolved rats at home—but they were already dead, lying stiffly on the straw mat in front of her door. No wonder the surveillance camera hadn’t gone off; it only picked up moving creatures. This one must’ve been dragged in here.

Hand still wrapped around the pistol, Xia Qing headed over to the sheep shed to thank White Weasel, who was nursing her babies inside. “White Weasel, thanks for catching that rat—really helped the family out.”

How did Xia Qing know White Weasel caught the rat? First, because the drab gray rat had a few bright white hairs on it. Second, all its whiskers were intact—if Balding Weasel had caught it, the whiskers would’ve been carefully plucked and gifted to Xia Qing.

It took serious skill to take down an evolved rat this big. Clearly, White Weasel’s combat power was a cut above the average.

And since White Weasel hadn’t eaten a bite of this huge rat, it meant she was already full. Balding Weasel always brought food home after hunting, so this one counted as hers too.

After checking that the rat’s body was toxin-free and had a red lantern marking, Xia Qing chopped it up with her machete and tossed it into the snake box to feed the snakes. That’s when a little vivid green snake suddenly shot out of the snake box. This time, the snake’s goal wasn’t to bite her—it was trying to escape.

But its attempt failed miserably. Xia Qing scooped it up with one hand—and her eyes widened in shock.

A peanut-sized lump had suddenly bulged on the snake’s forehead. Could this mean it’s a different species from the fiery red Devastation Snake found in the northern lake of Hill Sixty?

Xia Qing quickly pinned the little snake’s head, snapped a photo, and sent it to her Idol. If this really was a Devastation Snake, she couldn’t put it back in the snake box—plus, all ten-plus snakes in there would become off limits for food.

There was no time to worry about wasted food now—handling this crisis was far more urgent. The Synthetic Toxin produced by merging natural toxins with the Devastation Element was highly damaging to humans and nearly impossible to treat. That’s why any creature able to synthesize it naturally was designated a high-risk threat.

Stashing the vivid green snake in her waist pouch, Xia Qing’s phone began to ring.

Zhang San’s voice came through, utterly calm and without a hint of sleepiness. “Xia Qing, where did you catch that snake?”

She answered right away, “Last year, I caught it on Hill Forty-Nine. I thought it looked pretty and its attacks were sharp, so I assumed it had Brain Evolution and brought it back for the snake box. Just noticed today it’s grown a lump on its head. Third Brother, is this a Devastation Snake?”

Zhang San stayed steady. “I’ll send Ji Li to pick up the snake—hand over the whole snake box to him. If this really is a Devastation Snake, we’ll launch the Disaster Elimination Protocol straight away. Notify Hu Zifeng and have Territory One and Hill Forty-Nine prepare in advance.”

If her Idol said she needed to make preparations, he was ninety percent sure about the snake’s identity. The weight of the pouch felt crushing as Xia Qing answered, “Understood. Third Brother, send a Strength-Based Evolution fighter too—the snake box weighs over three hundred pounds.”

Ji Li might be a top Speed Evolver, but hauling heavy stuff still called for a Strength-Based Evolution expert.

Zhang San fell silent for a moment. “What do you need a three-hundred-pound snake box for just a dozen snakes?” He let out a sigh. “I’ll send Huo Zhun. Stay safe and don’t get bitten.”