Chapter 712: Confrontation in the Wolf’s Domain

“Awoooo—oooo—”

The chaos unleashed by the explosions hadn’t settled when a long, haunting wolf howl echoed from one of the peaks in Mountain 51. The sound sent chills down Xin Yu’s spine.

Xin Yu quickly turned in the direction the wolves were. “Xia Qing, is that a wolf from the Northern Wolf Pack? What does its howl mean?”

“Awoooo—oooooo—”

The second wolf howl sounded from a northern mountain peak. Judging by the sound, it was at least several miles away. Xia Qing could still hear it, but with her hearing unenhanced, Xin Yu could no longer catch it.

“It’s the Northern Wolf Pack. It’s relaying a message with its howl. Let’s keep moving.”

The transmission direction pointed north, confirming these were Northern Wolf Pack wolves. That’s why Xia Qing decided to press onward.

If they’d been wolves from another region, she and Xin Yu would’ve had to retreat immediately. Getting surrounded by unfamiliar wolves would mean real danger.

“Got it.” Xin Yu gave a hand signal, then used her walkie-talkie to call their tamed bird from the high school.

Jasmine the raven swooped back, bringing the owl along and landing on Xin Yu’s shoulder. Xin Yu fished a thermal box from her backpack, took out a few chunks of chilled fresh Green Lantern Frog meat, fed both birds, then let the owl rest on her shoulder while Jasmine went to check the blast zone.

Xia Qing stayed on sniper watch for Jasmine while Xin Yu checked the surveillance feed and reported, “All six big trees are down. No new shoots at the break points.”

No shoots poking through meant those aggressive wild tung trees hadn’t evolved the ability to grow quickly outside the Devastation Rain period.

Xia Qing gave a clear command, “Call Jasmine back. Let’s head to the next observation point.”

They might not be able to grow rapidly now, but next time it rained Devastation, those blasted wild tung trees could take root again. Any roots left in the soil would send up new shoots.

To truly get rid of the threat, you had to remove both the crown and roots from the soil, making them dry out completely or burn them right away.

That kind of thorough job called for more hands than Xia Qing and Xin Yu’s small team could muster.

Once their scouting mission ended, Xia Qing would compile all spots where aggressive tung trees grew and report them to Tan Junjie. He’d pass it to the Territory Management Department, who would then escalate it further up the chain.

In the end, the job would get released as an official mission. A combat team would pick it up and earn credits.

After blowing up another three wild tung trees at the next observation point, Xin Yu lowered her voice, “Big predators are getting close. About a hundred meters out—they’re bristling with hostility! Gua Gua, come back! Owl, take off!”

Xin Yu’s magnetic field sensing maxed out at a hundred meters, and could only pick up strong fluctuations from large animals or humans.

Xia Qing instantly moved back-to-back with Xin Yu, her tone steady. “How many?”

“Two.” Xin Yu’s voice was taut with tension.

Xia Qing sharpened her senses, locking onto the dense northern woods. She reassured her teammate, “If it’s two or three, no matter what they are, I can take them out.”

“Okay.” Xin Yu took a deep breath, readied her gun and watched Xia Qing’s back. She quickly tapped her phone, searching the owl’s camera feed for approaching threats.

“It’s members of the Northern Wolf Pack. Stand down. Put your weapon away and reel in your killing intent. Stay right by me and don’t move.”

Before Xin Yu even spotted them, Xia Qing had already caught sight of the wolves. Her nerves eased, and she called out, “Lame Wolf! Long time no see.”

The fierce Lame Wolf pricked up its fuzzy ears at the familiar voice and lifted its head.

Xia Qing kept going. “Lame Wolf, it’s me, Xia Qing. Who’s with you today?”

Lame Wolf sniffed the air, catching the scent of someone new next to Xia Qing. It bared its fangs with a low growl.

Xia Qing hadn’t seen Lame Wolf this wild and tough in ages. Somehow, she actually thought it looked pretty cool.

Because she couldn’t tell which evolved wolf wasn’t in a protective suit, she didn’t dare put distance between herself and Xin Yu. She just pulled out a small pouch of freeze-dried meat. At the sound of the packaging tearing open, Lame Wolf’s eyes lit up and it sprang to within three meters.

Feeling the wolf’s excited mood, Xin Yu finally relaxed as well.

Xia Qing tossed the freeze-dried meat over. Lame Wolf leaped and snatched it out of the air, swallowing it in one gulp. Xia Qing threw another, another leap, another gulp. When she’d finished off the little pack, the evolved wolf crouched twenty meters away still hadn’t shown itself.

With a gentle tone, Xia Qing asked, “Lame Wolf, did the Queen send you to check out what’s going on? I’m here clearing out dangerous trees.”

As she spoke, Xia Qing pointed at a big tree nearby, using gestures to explain, “That way, those trees are dangerous. They have to go.”

Lame Wolf watched Xia Qing smack the tree, then jumped up and raked its claws down the trunk of the one next to it. The smaller tree couldn’t handle it and snapped with a crack.

Xia Qing just stared.

What a dunce!

“Lame Wolf, I need to keep clearing these big trees.” Xia Qing pointed to the evolved wolf lurking in the shrubs. “You and your friend should go play.”

Lame Wolf came over and pawed at Xia Qing’s protective suit, rooting out a pack of jerky and another of freeze-dried meat before trotting off with its companion.

“They’re far enough now.” Xin Yu watched as Xia Qing pulled out more snack-sized jerky packs and stuffed them in her suit pocket, laughing. “That trick worked well. Did that wolf’s leg really break before?”

Xia Qing explained, “It broke last July, but healed just fine. He’s still young—strong fighter, full of energy. Let’s move to the next observation point and rest for half an hour once we’re there.”

They reached the next watchpoint, found and removed another two wild tung trees, then set up their tent in an open spot for a thirty-minute break.

When Xin Yu finished her rest and offered to swap with Xia Qing for a shift in the tent, Xia Qing waved her off. “You stay down a bit longer. I’m fine.”

“Okay.”

Xin Yu knew how much tougher missions Xia Qing was used to, so she stretched out to nap a little more, trying to recover as quickly as possible.

Half an hour later, Xin Yu crawled out of the tent and launched the owl to scout ahead. There, in a valley about two kilometers away, grazed a herd of herbivores—looked like evolved deer or sheep, over twenty in all. What a shame!

Too bad their task was tracking down aggressive wild tung trees—hunting those big animals would just slow them down.

Xia Qing grinned, “We’ve got five more observation points this afternoon. If we spot prey around the last two, we’ll bag a couple to take back.”

Xin Yu perked up. “Great! When we see prey, let’s get a little closer and pick two with calm magnetic fields—they’re probably Green Lanterns.”

That’s when Xia Qing realized Xin Yu could tell which animals were Green Lantern evolutions from their magnetic fluctuations. Was that how Alpha and Crippled Wolf sized up prey levels too?