Chapter 655: A Predator in the Skies

“Don’t worry. The venom in its gland has already been drained. It won’t be able to release any for at least two or three hours.” Yang Jin stopped next to Xia Qing, lowering his voice. “Did the Evolved Sheep find the Devastation Snake?”

Xia Qing patted the bulging bag hanging at her waist. “Not just the Devastation Snake. In the past hour or so, it led me to a bunch of places. We found more than forty snakes.”

Yang Jin nodded. “Third Brother wants you to head over to Hill Fifty. Be careful.”

“Got it.”

With Yang Jin and Luo Pei there, it was perfect to leave Hill Forty-Nine in their hands. After all, everyone—including those in Section Three—considered all of Hill Forty-Nine to be Azure Dragon Squad territory.

Before leaving, Xia Qing reminded Yang Jin, “Captain Yang, all the wild boars in Section Three’s valley belong to the Wolf Pack.”

Yang Jin smiled and nodded. “Understood. If I want to eat wild boar, I’ll barter with the Wolf Pack through you. I won’t hunt them directly.”

Xia Qing couldn’t help laughing at that. She turned and led Old Goat back to Section Three. First, she broke off a few young toon sprouts for Old Goat—second crop, not fully grown yet—letting it chow down in the territory. Only then did she grab the personal flight equipment and hurry toward Hill Fifty.

This time, Old Goat was on its best behavior and didn’t fuss about tagging along. Xia Qing figured it probably believed all the Devastation Snakes on Hill Forty-Nine had been cleared out, so its little ‘sidekick’ heading out to gather food wouldn’t run into trouble.

No sooner had Xia Qing flown past the boundary of Hill Forty-Nine and entered the skies above Hill Fifty than a giant evolved raptor with a wingspan of over four meters dove down from high above, claws aiming right for her. From Hill Forty-Nine, those talons glinted cold and sharp beneath the raptor’s belly.

“Xia Qing!” Hu Zifeng, searching for Devastation Snakes on Hill Forty-Nine, spotted the scene and shouted a warning. “Luo! Four o’clock, in the air!”

Just reaching Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine, Luo Pei glanced east at the bird eyeing up Xia Qing. He didn’t even bother raising his gun. “That’s not a Speed Evolution Bird. Xia Qing can handle it.”

With the noise from her personal flight equipment filling her ears, Xia Qing couldn’t hear the raptor’s descent. She only realized she was being hunted when its shadow swallowed her whole.

She didn’t panic, just pulled out a homemade pistol from her pocket and aimed.

“Bang, bang, bang!”

From this distance, hitting the mark was child’s play for a sniper. The hunter that had been coming for her turned into prey in a blink. The raptor flapped in a panic after taking a hit and started falling out of control.

Using her left hand and both feet to steer, Xia Qing guided her personal flight equipment aside, dodging the raptor’s falling path and flying on. Whether it was a Red Lantern or Green Lantern raptor, she couldn’t pick it up mid-air—her gear was too light for that, and she was on an important mission.

“Sister Qing, that was awesome!” Er Yong pumped his fist and cheered.

Luo Pei’s lips curled into a smile while Yang Jin finally unclenched his fists.

Xia Qing landed near the high-risk zone on Hill Fifty. At the greenhouse entrance—where Devastation Grass was cultivated—she underwent a strict inspection. Her protective suit checked out, so she put on sterile shoe covers, got fully disinfected and then entered the greenhouse.

Inside the high-risk zone, work on forcing the Devastation Grass to grow was right on schedule, one crop after another. The current batch had reached half a meter tall. With the current Devastation Element concentration inside, they’d mature and produce a fresh set of seeds in just two more days.

Xia Qing walked up to Zhang He in a white airtight suit. After explaining her reasons for coming, she started inspecting the high-risk zone.

There were thermal imagers set up inside. If a Devastation Snake showed up, the sensors would instantly alert them. To Zhang He, there was no need for Xia Qing to walk this patrol herself. Still, she’d received orders from Third Brother—if he thought it necessary, then it was necessary.

When it came to research and disaster control, everyone on Territory Seven’s research team followed Lord Zhang San’s commands to the letter. It was the first rule for those admitted to the P3 lab.

Thermal imaging could only catch creatures above ground, not the ones hidden deep in soil or stone crevices—but Magnetic Sense could. That was why Xia Qing had told Zhang San she wanted to check the high-risk zone personally.

Just earlier, Xia Qing had texted her Idol, saying she could sense the whereabouts of Devastation Snakes. Zhang San was now the second person to know she’d developed Magnetic Sense—and the only one who knew she’d evolved across four types.

After a year of interacting and observing, especially seeing how he treated people like Tang Huai, who could eat poisonous mushrooms without harm, and the Recovery Evolution mother-daughter pair Shi Jiaran, Xia Qing had come to trust her idol’s ability and character.

More importantly, she still relied on the medicines Zhang San mixed to enhance her abilities and physical condition. She had no reason to hide her skills from him.

Inside the high-risk zone, the dense red Devastation Grass gave off a magnetic field, poking at Xia Qing’s brow like countless thin needles. Her heart began to race and her breathing quickened on instinct.

For her, searching for Devastation Snakes amid all those distractions was both a huge challenge and a rare opportunity.

Being a top-notch sniper, it took Xia Qing just half a minute to settle her heart rate and breathing. She moved more slowly now, pretending to scan with her eyes but in truth using her Magnetic Sense to sift through changes for a snake’s unique field among the Devastation Grass.

She finished inspecting both high-risk areas, making sure there were no snakes hiding in the soil or rock crevices before she headed for the Mountain Fissure.

Last year, the first time she entered the Hidden Valley, she found Devastation Snakes there. Zhang Hongda and Li Kai could locate snakes in the valley but couldn’t search the rest of the fissure for more.

Before she even reached the fissure Red Squirrel took through the Hidden Valley to gather peanuts last year, she’d already sensed two Devastation Snakes via the magnetic field.

She sent the pictures right away, then called her Idol. “Third Brother, this is the east side of Third Peak on Hill Fifty, the part connected to the valley. There are two bright red Devastation Snakes in this bush, both about thirty centimeters long.”

Finding out Xia Qing could use Magnetic Sense to locate Devastation Snakes made Zhang San breathe a sigh of relief. “Post a guard there. Keep searching the rest of Third Peak.”

“Understood.” Xia Qing immediately contacted the Azure Dragon Squad members guarding the high-risk zone, asking them to send someone to keep watch on the two snakes. She then moved quickly along the fissure, continuing her search.

This east-west fissure on Third Peak stretches about five hundred meters. The widest spot is just over a meter, while the narrowest is less than ten centimeters.

The Hidden Valley lies right in the middle of the fissure. If Xia Qing hadn’t already known about the valley’s existence, you could be standing above it and never guess there was a man-made valley big enough to farm two acres hidden inside the mountain.