Chapter 696: Little Rabbits and Territory Deals

“They’re so tiny,” she said, holding up a baby rabbit. “Not even as big as my fist yet. No fur, so weak they can’t even defend themselves, let alone fight back. They look nothing like the adult rabbits.”

The next afternoon, while training underwater in Section Three, Tan Qi chatted excitedly with Xia Qing about the three baby rabbits living in Territory Four.

Every morning, she followed Zhao Ze’s mother to learn reading and math, and today she’d noticed there were now two big rabbits and three little ones in Territory Four.

Kids born before the disaster saw animals as ‘cute’ or ‘adorable.’ But kids born after the disaster? The first thing they think about is how strong the animals are.

Xia Qing asked, “How many baby rabbits are there now? And did any of their wounds get inflamed or start to fester?”

To ease Zhao Ze’s mother’s burden, Xia Qing had told her not to bother sending pictures or videos after getting some yesterday, so she didn’t actually know how many baby rabbits were still alive.

“Three,” Tan Qi replied, taking a deep breath and diving beneath the water. “And their wounds have scabbed over. Teacher Wang said the bites came from their mother.” She stayed down for over two minutes, then surfaced and tossed a water leech, over a meter long, right into the bucket.

Last year, a lightning strike in the reservoir had wiped out the aquatic creatures in Section Three, but water snakes, leeches, fish, shrimp, and frogs kept sneaking through gaps in the underwater iron mesh, finding their way into the territory’s waters.

Luckily, these little critters posed no threat to Tan Qi in her wetsuit. That’s why Tan Junjie and Yan Long were fine letting her train alone in Section Three, since the others who struggled with swimming would stick together for safety.

Ji Li was still on leave and hadn’t returned. Yan Long was busy with assignments and couldn’t always accompany Tan Qi.

Xin Yu, who hated socializing, didn’t attend this group training either. So only Xia Qing and Tan Qi spent much time practicing in the reservoir.

An hour later, the two finished their training for the day and headed to the little house by the fields to change clothes.

Once dressed, Tan Qi asked, “Sister Qing, are you planning to keep that other rabbit?”

Xia Qing shook her head. “No point. Once Zhong Tao and the others arrive, I’ll trade it away.”

That Red Lantern rabbit had been given the Devastation Element Antidote and raised carefully for two months, but its Devastation Element content had only dropped by three points—still at a staggering 22‰, nowhere near safe to eat. Xia Qing wasn’t about to waste more food or spring water on it—she’d just be done with it.

Tan Qi thought Xia Qing’s decision was spot on. “Yeah, the leftover feed can be turned into a ton of compressed rations. Sister Qing, could I see your chicks? My dad traded for five chicks for me, and in a few days I can take them back to our territory.”

Besides Xia Qing, every other lord who traded for chicks last year lost them—they couldn’t survive the ultrasonic waves used to keep raptors at bay.

In the last territory meeting, after learning everyone could trade for up to five chicks from Territory Seven, even Lord Huo Lei, who’d just joined the Alliance from Territory Eleven, decided to make the deal.

Their trade budgets varied between territories, and so did chick quality. After Yue Haiying shared the info with Tan Junjie, he chose to get his daughter two Green Lantern chicks and three Yellow Lantern ones.

Tan Qi was thrilled about her first livestock—she didn’t even have her own house yet, but was already planning out exactly what kind of chicken coop to build.

Xia Qing took Tan Qi into the breeding greenhouse, teaching her how to prepare feed for the chicks, reminding, “Chicks are fragile. Make sure to give them filtered water.”

Tan Qi and Tan Junjie both drank filtered hot spring water. Tan Qi might be too young to notice, but Tan Junjie definitely understood why Yue Haiying brought them water. He just played along, pretending not to know.

After his patrol through Section Three, Tan Junjie picked up his daughter and asked Xia Qing, “The weather should be good for a few days and I’m planning to finish building our house. Are you free tomorrow?”

Xia Qing nodded. “I’ll come by at seven in the morning.”

Tan Qi beamed and thanked her politely. “Thank you, Sister Qing!”

Xia Qing smiled. “No need. Your dad’s paying in credits.”

“My sister’s the best builder in our whole territory,” Tan Qi said proudly. “Only because she’s helping will I get to live in the nicest house.” She’d been out on missions with Xia Qing and knew just how capable she was—besides, thirty credits a day wasn’t much for her.

Seeing how thoughtful his daughter was, Tan Junjie actually cracked a smile.

“Baa.”

On her way back, Xia Qing heard Old Goat calling and turned towards the toon tree, sitting with him as she checked the saplings growing around its base.

Once these saplings grew bigger, they’d be transplanted to Territory Seven, where Idol was experimenting with synthetic gases.

Leaning against Old Goat, Xia Qing chatted idly. “Last year, Tan Qi’s dad tried to trade with me for two kinds of saplings—fragrant toon and Green Lantern chestnut. But neither trade went through. With someone more narrow-minded, they’d probably think I was targeting them on purpose.”

Old Goat didn’t answer, just snorted forcefully through his nose, sounding oddly stuffed up.

Xia Qing glanced at his nostrils, saw no issue, and asked, “I’m headed to Section Three to collect pig manure for compost. Want to tag along, or stay here?”

There was plenty to eat inside the territory, so Old Goat usually had no interest in venturing beyond the wall. But sometimes he liked a stroll over to Section Three for a change of pace. Still, for all his bravado inside the walls, he never left the territory on his own, no matter how much he evolved—at the end of the day, he was still a herbivore.

Today, though, he wanted out for a walk, so he stood up and got ready to go with Xia Qing.

“Alright, let’s head out together.” Xia Qing grabbed her tools, helped Old Goat into his snake skin protective suit, then used facial recognition to open the Section Three North Gate. She did it again at Section One’s northern gate and finally entered Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine.

The northern gate in Section One was reserved for Xia Qing, who’d programmed the access system with data for her friends and business partners—including the main members of the Wolf Pack—so they could come and go freely.

Once inside Section Three, Old Goat wandered about looking for grass, while Xia Qing made straight for the wild boar den, shoveling manure into bamboo baskets.

She’d been doing this for months and had the job down pat. Once she’d cleaned up three big baskets and called Old Goat over—two for him to carry, one for herself—they started across the barrier to head home, just as a heavy panting sound came from the east.

Turning her head, Xia Qing spotted the Honey Badger, swaggering along like it owned the place. She couldn’t help but laugh—clearly it had followed her scent all the way from the Northern Barrier.

So stubborn?

Xia Qing set down her manure basket, fingering the snake she’d just caught. Maybe she should give the badger one and keep it from pestering her again.

“Moo!”

Before Xia Qing could offer the snake, Old Goat bent his knees, dropped the two baskets from his back and charged forward with an angry bellow.