Chapter 697: Where the Strong Stand Tall

To a honey badger weighing just over twenty pounds, a two-hundred-pound four-legged sheep probably didn’t seem that intimidating. So when Old Goat charged over, the little honey badger opened its toothy mouth and lunged right back, stubborn and unyielding.

Of course, the little honey badger got sent flying by Old Goat. But it popped right back up after hitting the ground with a thud, shook its bristly little head, and stubbornly charged again—only to get knocked away once more.

After being sent flying nine times, the little honey badger finally flopped to the ground, panting hard. No telling if it was hurt or just worn out. Old Goat lifted its head high, spiral horns gleaming, and shot a sidelong glance at its little companion.

Xia Qing immediately broke into an enthusiastic stream of praise. “Old Goat you’re a grass-eater and you can take down a meat-eater like a honey badger. That’s incredible! You’re the pride of our territory, the vanguard of Blue Star’s evolved sheep, standing on the top of the pyramid. Every sheep on Blue Star would be proud of you…”

Old Goat puffed up, thoroughly pleased. With a snort and a toss of its horns, it picked up the bamboo basket and strutted back to its territory with Xia Qing following behind. The little honey badger lay sprawled on the ground for a good ten minutes before it finally picked itself up, still wheezing, and trudged away.

Looking through the iron mesh wall, Xia Qing watched as the little guy’s four legs staggered in different directions, clearly still dizzy from all the tumbles. She figured this fall would teach it a lesson—sheep aren’t something it can just bully.

Back at the territory after composting the fertilizer, Xia Qing checked on the high-evolution spinach in the high slope terraces. After carefully counting, she realized the germination rate for the X-2 batch from the base was about the same as the original seeds she had—an impressive 65%. That put her mind at ease.

“Fifty-five percent premium high-evolution seeds, that’s a better germination rate than regular Green Lantern seeds—and you can get four harvests out of them! By this time next year, we’ll have at least three acres of spinach growing. Everyone’s health will be way better too.”

The next day, as they headed toward Territory Fifteen, Zhao Ze walked alongside Xia Qing, excitedly talking about the high-evolution seeds’ germination rate. Tan Junjie had also invited him to help build the new house. He might not be an evolved fighter, but he had plenty of experience with construction and logistics.

Before long, Qi Fu joined in. “It’s just a shame we can’t eat more. Otherwise, I’d happily make this the only vegetable on my plate next year.”

The radio kept reminding everyone: high-evolution spinach is a good thing, but moderation is key. Eating too much could irritate your stomach and might even cause kidney stones.

“There’s only a few dozen spinach plants per family this year—no way we’ll overdo it.” Zhu Li stepped out from Territory Six and joined their group. Without waiting for Xia Qing to ask, she explained herself, “Old Kuang and I plan to build a house next year. I wanted to scope out what Captain Tan has prepped and plan ahead…”

Truth is, I just want to see what the fuss is about.

“Sister Qing, Sister Li, Qi, Zhao!”

Tan Junjie, who’d taken the day off, was already waiting at Territory Fifteen’s north gate with his daughter. From afar, Tan Qi waved both arms in greeting.

There were people of all ages here. Aside from the older Shizhong and his wife, plus Zhao Ze’s mother and Huo Lei, everyone else just called each other ‘brother’ or ‘sister.’ With natural disasters everywhere, just surviving and having enough to eat was more than enough—no one fussed about formal titles.

Once inside Territory Fifteen, the first order of business was picking house sites.

Houses needed to go on high ground where water wouldn’t pool during storms. There were two spots in Territory Fifteen that fit: one in the south, already taken by shipping container dorms for ex-soldiers, with newly cleared fields nearby, and one in the north, an old residential area from before the disaster—now reduced to abandoned houses and ruins. That spot, incidentally, was closer to the Inspection Team’s dorms.

These days, a wide area of the ruins had already been cleared, with piles of stone, red brick, cement, steel bars, and gravel stacked up—everything you’d need for building.

Tan Junjie shared his plan. “I’m thinking of putting up two houses right here—a two-story house, three rooms up and three down; and over there, a single-story, two-room house.”

The three who’d come to help all gave him a look. Zhu Li asked, “Captain Tan, I thought you were building just one small building?”

Tan Junjie explained, “Those two rooms on the side—they’re for Tiger’s sister, Jiang Ying.”

After Jiang Hu died, the base gave his family a condolence payment of eight thousand credits. Jiang Ying got assigned to work at the food factory, and she and her mom moved into the factory dorms.

Before long, the nineteen-year-old Jiang Ying—unmarried, healthy, and honestly not bad-looking—became the talk of the dorms. In less than a month, more than twenty people were trying to set her up with someone.

Because Jiang Ying was an ordinary person, most of the matches were regular folks too. The handful of evolved fighters they suggested were either disabled or ill, so her family naturally turned them down.

Law and order had become almost nonexistent in these troubled times. Failed introductions gave way to bold moves. After Jiang Ying was drugged and narrowly escaped trouble, both she and her mom walked from dorm to workshop every day in constant fear.

When the wall around Section One was completed and the base issued more than a hundred high-evolution spinach seeds to its leader, Jiang Ying’s mom started thinking her daughter should work in one of the territories instead.

When Yuan Rui went to the Safe Zone, Jiang Ying’s mom was still hoping for her to go to Section Three. “There’s only Xia Qing over there—she seems easygoing. If Yingzi stays with her and you all look out for her, nothing will go wrong.”

But once Yuan Rui figured out what she was planning, he set her straight. “There’s a crazy strength-boosted sheep on Section Three. The leader keeps it for plowing, but it’s fiercely territorial. It’s calm most of the time, but get it excited and it’ll fight anyone. Even Guan Tong, an Azure Dragon Squad strength-evolved level five, got chased up a tree by that sheep! We saw it ourselves on patrol—Guan’s belly was all black and blue for days.”

Jiang Ying and her mother turned pale as ghosts and the latter changed her mind immediately. “How about she room with Qi Qi instead? Those two girls can look out for each other. Is there any chance you could arrange a job for her in Territory Fifteen?”

Before coming, Yuan Rui and Tan Junjie had already talked about Jiang Ying working in Territory Fifteen. “For now, there’s not much work except farming. You earn credits based on how much you get done. Regular workers earn three to five credits a day. Once Yingzi moves in, she can either pay fifty credits a month to eat at the territory canteen with everyone else, or cook for herself.”

The mention of paying that much in credits for meals made Jiang Ying’s mom hesitate. “If she cooks, does she have to buy her own food and grain?”

Naturally. “She can grow her own, or buy from Territory Fifteen or other territories at the going rate. If she wants to farm, we’ll help her clear a plot up to an acre. Everything harvested from that field belongs to Yingzi.”

Jiang Ying perked up at that but asked, “Brother Yuan, where would I live in the territory?”

“Captain Tan said we’ll build two rooms next to Tan Qi’s yard just for Yingzi. She can stay as long as she wants and doesn’t have to pay rent.” Yuan Rui laid everything out clearly to prevent future disputes. “Territory Fifteen belongs to Tan Qi. All resources and buildings here legally belong to her according to the Lord’s Law. If you and Yingzi aren’t comfortable with that, you can always apply for your own territory—the south, east, and Section Two of the North still have some open plots.”