Chapter 713: The Devastation-Evolved Wild Tung Tree of Mountain 51

With Xia Qing, Xin Yu, and two birds making up their search party, they scoured more than half of Mountain 51. After blasting through eighty-two aggressive Devastation-Evolved Wild Tung Trees, they finally found their target late on the fourth afternoon.

“Gua Gua, pull back and slow down.” Once Xin Yu spotted the aggressive Devastation-Evolved Wild Tung Tree on her screen, she ordered the Evolved Raven to return, then reported to Xia Qing, “Two o’clock, 1300 meters out, there’s one rooted in a small valley. That should be it.”

Xia Qing turned southwest. Her view was blocked by a few towering yews so she couldn’t see the aggressive Wild Tung Tree, but Xin Yu’s voice lit up her anticipation.

After calling the two tamed birds back, the pair hurried toward the target location. When they reached the edge of the valley and spotted the Wild Tung Tree sprawling across it, an overwhelming sense of awe washed over Xia Qing.

The Devastation Evolution of this Wild Tung Tree—damn, it was definitely going for banyan tree territory!

In the valley, the evolved Wild Tung Tree had grown thick vines from its branches, plunging into the earth like banyan aerial roots. Thanks to these “roots,” the tree’s crown had expanded so much that a single tree occupied the entire valley.

Xin Yu, standing shoulder to shoulder with Xia Qing, stared in amazement. “A single tree forming a whole forest.”

Exactly! That’s the perfect way to describe it—one tree, a whole forest. Xia Qing pointed to the left side of the massive canopy. “Look, that vine’s wrapped around a lynx.”

Xin Yu’s eyesight wasn’t as sharp as Xia Qing’s. She had to use binoculars to see the lynx bound tightly by a vine as thick as an arm. The lynx’s body was already torn apart, with swarms of flies and mosquitoes buzzing around it.

A gust of wind rustled the Wild Tung Tree’s leaves and vines. The decaying skin on the lynx was lifted, revealing crimson animal bones beneath.

After adjusting her focus, Xin Yu finally realized the lynx’s bones looked red because a layer of moss was growing on them.

That moss—its color was a fierce, startling red.

With her binoculars, Xin Yu swept the area and discovered a scavenger bird—a vulture—tangled not far from the lynx. The vulture had come to feed on the lynx but had become prey for the evolved Wild Tung Tree instead.

Looking even closer, Xin Yu noticed the tree’s vines had ensnared over a dozen different animals. Countless white bones lay scattered below. Setting aside her binoculars, she asked, “Should we blow it up?”

Xia Qing, the captain, made the call. “This tree’s attacks have evolved from wild whipping to precise entangling. I suspect its vines buried in the earth can strike from below, too. Its magnetic field is much stronger than the others we’ve cleared—definitely mid-risk, maybe even high-risk. Jasmine could get herself killed if she wanders in close.”

Xin Yu exhaled softly. “Yeah, way too dangerous.”

Xia Qing went on. “Since we’ve found it, our mission’s basically complete. I’ll give Third Brother a call to see if he’s interested. If he’s not, we’ll report to Captain Tan, let the Safe Zone send the military or a combat team to handle it.”

As Xia Qing dialed Zhang San directly, Xin Yu opened her mouth to speak but closed it again.

In this territory, anyone else trying to reach Zhang San would call out for him in the Lords’ channel. If Zhang San wasn’t around, they’d wait.

If it was urgent and Zhang San still wasn’t in the Lords’ channel, people would try to reach Ji Li. Really, only Xia Qing ever dared to call Zhang San directly. She might even be the only member of the Lords’ Alliance who had his number. Xin Yu certainly didn’t.

The phone connected. Zhang San sounded impatient: “Spit it out!”

Xia Qing sweetened things up first. “Third Brother, I just bagged a Green Lantern beast in the Evolved Forest—looks like a cross between a pig and a deer. How about I drop it off for you and we add it to dinner tonight?”

With Xin Yu’s help, Xia Qing had caught Green Lanterns or Yellow Lanterns every day during these past four days. Both her and Crippled Wolf’s fridges were stuffed, so everything had to be kept in the basement storage.

At the mention of Green Lantern meat, Zhang San’s tone warmed right up. “That’s probably a pork deer. Pork deer can be used for medicine so bring the whole thing over, let me take a look. What else?”

After offering up a treat for her all-time favorite, Xia Qing cut to the chase. “I found a gigantic aggressive Devastation-Evolved Wild Tung Tree here in Mountain 51. The crown covers nearly five acres—takes up the whole valley. It’s got evolved attacks too—now it can entangle prey. Interested?”

Zhang San wasn’t nearly as excited about Devastation-Evolved plants as he was about Green Lantern meat. “Just take some photos from a safe distance, don’t mess with it, and head back to the territory as soon as possible.”

Get back late, and that meat won’t be fresh.

“Got it.” After hanging up, Xia Qing turned to Xin Yu. “Third Brother’s not interested, so when we get back I’ll compile the locations of the aggressive Wild Tung Trees we found these four days and give them to Captain Tan?”

“I’ve got all the data, photos, and videos on my end. I’ll put everything together and send it over,” Xin Yu replied, seeing how busy Xia Qing was and volunteering for the paperwork. “We heading out again?”

“Of course.” Xia Qing led the way to their last observation point of the day, sounding casual. “Since Third Brother wants this one, have Gua Gua and the others scout out the area for any large herbivores. Let’s grab another Green Lantern beast if we can.”

“Sure thing.” Xin Yu agreed enthusiastically. She sent the two birds to slow down their flight. Before long, they found something. “There are two honey badgers fighting. I remember honey badger meat isn’t tasty, right?”

Xia Qing just sighed silently.

“Yeah. Honey badgers are natural enemies of snakes. We usually try not to catch them.”

Over the last few days, they had spotted four honey badgers in the Evolved Forest. Xia Qing suspected Crippled Wolf had herded them here in the first place.

At their last observation point, the pair cleared out six more low-risk Wild Tung Trees and then spotted a herd of mountain goats two kilometers out.

They headed straight for the goat herd. For the final approach, Xia Qing and Xin Yu crept forward, only stopping when they were ten meters from the wild goats.

That’s because, at this distance, Xin Yu could use her Magnetic Sense to zero in on a Green Lantern beast.

Their luck held—out of the twenty-plus wild goats, one had a gentle magnetic field—definitely a Green Lantern. But they let it go. That Green Lantern goat was heavily pregnant.

Never hunt a pregnant animal—that’s an absolute rule in the field.

With no time to search for another herd, the two decided to return.

Once they regrouped with Xin Yu’s four bodyguards, Xia Qing handed a large pork deer from her backpack to them and kept a smaller one for herself. “I’ll take this one to Territory Seven. Anything you want to trade for?”

Whenever they teamed up, all supplies were split down the middle.

“Trade me for some insect repellent,” Xin Yu bargained. “Let’s roast the rest of this one tonight and celebrate a successful mission—sound good?”

Of course, Xia Qing agreed. “Perfect. I’ll drop off the beast, then I’ll head to Territory Eight and find you once it gets dark.”

“I’ll bring the meat and seasonings to your place,” Xin Yu offered, having a car made things easier.

“Don’t worry about seasonings, I still have barbecue rubs from my last trade with Tang Huai.”

Achoo!

Tang Huai, clearing up bug droppings, sneezed and cursed. “Which bunch of idiots keeps blowing things up in Mountain 51? They’re driving me sick with all this mess!”

Liu Jing warned, “Boss, careful—don’t let the bug eggs get scattered.”

Those eggs hidden in the earth? They were Green Lantern insect eggs. How many credits Territory Two could earn this year all depended on whether these eggs made it.