Chapter 703: Effort, Evolution, and New Faces in the Territories

When Chen Zheng came over to stand guard for Xia Qing, he spotted Old Goat pedaling the water bicycle by the reservoir. Water gushed out with every push, streaming down the channel into the only empty greenhouse in Section Three.

Chen Zheng avoided Old Goat’s sideways glare and followed the waterway straight to the greenhouse. “Sister Qing, is it time to plant cotton and sunflowers?”

Xia Qing nodded, shovel in hand. “I’ve already spread the fertilizer. Once the water fills up, just block the channel. Leave the water bike for me to put away when I get back.”

“Got it.” The water bicycle belonged to Old Goat, and he never let anyone else use it except Xia Qing.

Old Goat loved pedaling that bike. He’d never stop until he got his fill. Once the irrigation was done, any extra water he drew would pour into the newly dug fish pond inside Section Three. When that topped off, the overflow would spill back into the reservoir through a channel.

Compared to other territories that had to water their crops by hand or with clunky pumps, Section Three made things look easy. Every time Chen Zheng saw Old Goat spinning his wheels, he wondered if they should till a few more acres.

But more land meant more farmwork, and Xia Qing was already stretched thin. They couldn’t possibly add more permanent residents to Section Three.

Xia Qing didn’t want more people around, and even the evolved wolves and sheep were fiercely territorial.

With just one strength-based evolved human and one water-loving sheep, they were already running around tending over twelve acres of crops. Whenever Hu Zifeng’s Squad came to help keep watch, they pitched in with the farmwork as well.

After giving Old Goat some praise, Xia Qing stepped out through the northern gate of Section Three. She wasn’t far when her phone beeped. A long message from Zhang Song popped up:

“We didn’t find any traces of Devastation Snake venom in the honey badger, so it definitely hasn’t hunted those snakes in the past two weeks. That means we can’t judge whether it’s immune or not. Third Brother thinks we should keep our distance and just observe for now.”

“The Devastation Snake appeared and swam toward Hill Fifty-Five eleven days ago, meaning Flathead hasn’t preyed on it lately. So what made Crippled Wolf choose this honey badger out of all the animals?”

Xia Qing asked, “Brother Song, what’s the quality of this honey badger?”

Zhang Song replied, “Devastation Element content: 4.3‰. Evolution Element: 7.1. Outstanding! Third Brother doesn’t want these numbers made public, so just keep it to yourself. Honestly, if he hadn’t forbidden it, I’d be tempted to bring this honey badger home to raise.”

Xia Qing’s eyes widened at those numbers.

Just the Devastation and Evolution Element stats alone blew hers, Old Goat’s, and even Crippled Wolf’s out of the water. The Evolution Element even topped Alpha’s by 0.1!

Any Green Lantern animal with more than 5 on Evolution Element could be used to make premium nutrient shakes. No wonder even Xia Qing felt tempted.

Whoever said honey badger meat tasted bad? Nonsense!

With a hefty boost from that much Evolution Element, honey badger meat would be as mouthwatering as legendary monk meat—delicious beyond belief.

“Sister Qing!”

Zhu Li, decked out in a second-rate field suit, waved enthusiastically from the barrier outside Territory Six. She’d been buzzing with excitement ever since confirming with her husband last night that her hearing had improved beyond normal levels. She’d gotten up early to train, determined to boost her combat power.

Xia Qing stopped for some small talk before walking on. Qi Fu and Zhao Ze took the southern gate, so Xia Qing had the road to herself.

As soon as Xia Qing was out of sight, Zhu Li dashed back to the territory and found her husband weeding. Panting, she said, “Sister Qing just took the northern barrier, she’s already passed through.”

With his wife gaining an evolution ability, Kuang Qingwei was excited too. But being twenty-two years older and with more on his mind, he reminded her, “Take a break. The more things change, the more we need to keep our cool.”

Zhu Li shook her head. “I’m not tired. I have to train hard if I want to join the gathering team next time.”

They both desperately needed the extra income.

“You’re an auditory evolutionary now. You have to stay calm at all times so you can catch every tiny sound and play to your strengths. See why Xia Qing never takes Tang Huai on missions? He can’t keep his cool, so his hearing ability never reaches full potential.” Kuang Qingwei pointed at a water cup hanging from the greenhouse support. “Take a drink and rest a bit. Look, that corn seedling’s wilting…”

Zhu Li didn’t even bother with water—she whipped off her mask and crouched down. “There must be bugs in the dirt. Let me listen!”

While he weeded, Kuang Qingwei worked out how he could scrape up enough credits to buy his wife a protective mask meant for auditory evolutionaries.

Around ten that morning, Yuan Rui brought a skinny girl who looked about five foot three into Territory Fifteen. After introducing her to the folks building houses, he announced, “This is Jiang Ying, Tiger’s little sister. She’ll be staying in the territory to keep Tan Qi company. Yingzi, this is Xia Qing from Section Three, Zhao Ze from Territory Four, Qi Fu from Section Five, Shi Du from Territory Ten, and Uncle Huo from Territory Fifteen.”

“Sister Qing, Brother Zhao, Brother Qi, Brother Shi, Uncle Huo.” Jiang Ying greeted them one by one, clearly already familiar with everyone’s roles. That’s how she knew to call Xia Qing ‘Sister Qing’ instead of ‘Sister Xia’.

Everyone exchanged greetings before Yuan Rui headed back on patrol. Jiang Ying teamed up with Tan Qi, casting cautious glances at the territory lords.

What caught her eye most was Xia Qing, the Section Three lord who, like her brother, had strength-based evolution.

Jiang Ying honestly hadn’t expected Xia Qing to look like this.

When Tan Qi’s grandma came by to chat, she’d bragged several times about how Xia Qing’s group had dug bamboo shoots all day and raked in tens of thousands of credits. Tan Qi’s grandma loved to exaggerate—her ‘tens of thousands’ probably meant just over ten thousand.

Even ten thousand in a day was impressive. Yet, here was Xia Qing, her patched field suit clearly worn for years. Even her protective boots, though newer, had been mended—probably bought secondhand.

Wearing old clothes, Xia Qing handled steel bars like a pro. You’d never guess she was the lord of the largest territory in Hui Three or that she could earn over ten thousand credits in a single mission.

No wonder, back when her brother was alive and she’d grumbled about Safe Zone work, he would tell her to come visit the territories and see how hard these women fought to get by.

Feeling self-conscious in her brand-new field suit, Jiang Ying stepped up and grabbed the steel bars Xia Qing had just cut. “Sister Qing, I’ll help carry them.”

“Thanks.” Xia Qing replied as she pressed the cutter handle and sliced through another steel bar with ease.

Jiang Ying gripped a bundle of steel bars and carried them to the strength-evolved lord who was making stirrups out of the pieces. Tan Qi, being younger, only managed a small handful at a time, while Jiang Ying hauled a large bunch herself.

Qi Fu warned Jiang Ying to be careful. “Steel bars are heavy. Grab fewer next time—you don’t want to drop them on your foot.”

“Okay.” Jiang Ying hadn’t realized how heavy steel bars were until then, so she took fewer the next round. By the lunch break, her arms and hands felt numb, but the others kept working at a blazing pace, Xia Qing especially—two hours on the steel cutter and her movements were still lightning quick.

“Shi Du, these stirrup angles aren’t bent to 135°. You need to redo them.” Xia Qing said, pausing from her work when she noticed Shi Du’s stirrups weren’t up to standard.

Catching Jiang Ying watching her with those eyes so similar to Tiger’s, Xia Qing softened her tone. “How’re you holding up? Tired yet?”

Jiang Ying hadn’t expected Xia Qing to strike up a conversation. She beamed and shook her head. “Sister Qing, is that cutting machine powered by a modified jack?”