Chapter 754: When the Typhoon Hits: A Test of Resilience and Ingenuity

“Did you all see the news? Last night White San Base got hit by a super typhoon. Their crops took a massive hit.”

Qi Fu’s uneasy voice came through on the Lords’ channel: “The reports say the typhoon’s central winds reached level 16. There’s no word yet on casualties.”

Xia Qing pressed her walkie-talkie as she kept hunting bugs. “Qi, isn’t it the key rice seedling period at White San right now?”

“Yeah. It’s colder over there compared to us—they can only grow one season of rice a year. They’re right in the middle of raising seedlings.” Qi Fu finished with a long sigh.

Morning’s the best time for work, so most lords were online. Madam Shi spoke up too: “With that monster typhoon, their greenhouses and hot houses must be wrecked. I doubt any of the seedlings survived.”

“If they get the fields cleared and start new seedlings now, would they still make it?” asked Zhao Ze.

Yu Shou replied, “My hometown’s around Baicheng. Even if they start from scratch it’s still doable.”

Nobody asked Yu Shou why, if his hometown was Baicheng, he didn’t go back after retiring and instead stayed here. There was no need—you don’t go back if you’ve got nothing left waiting for you.

Most people who survived the eleventh year of disasters had nobody left. They were all loners.

Huo Lei joined in, “Qing, mind if I come check out your greenhouse? The ones I built aren’t sturdy—they groan in the wind. I want to reinforce them before the next Devastation Rain, figured I’d take some notes from your setup.”

He was a blacksmith by trade, but he was clueless when it came to building greenhouses.

Xia Qing pressed the button. “Sure.”

Wen Nengjie popped online fast: “Sister Qing, can I come with Uncle Huo? My greenhouse has problems too and I have no clue how to fix them.”

Sure, Wen Nengjie wanted to learn, but mostly he was itching to get close to Xia Qing. Lately, Territory Three wasn’t hiring weeders or help, so Wen Nengjie was running out of ways to make himself seen in front of her.

Having one or two guests made little difference. Xia Qing pressed the button again: “Sure.”

After news got out about the typhoon wrecking White San’s greenhouses, the lords started getting antsy. Once they heard Wen Nengjie was allowed in, the other Alliance partners quickly asked if they could come tour the Territory Three greenhouses too.

Xia Qing might not have the most high-yield fields, but she used to lead the Construction Team and supervised greenhouse builds for the Planting Center back in the Safe Zone. Nobody in this region could build greenhouses like her—not even Qi Fu.

So after breakfast a huge crowd headed in through the south gate of Territory Three.

Besides the Alliance partners and Wen Nengjie, Jiang Ying, who was farming in Territory Fifteen, came along with Yu Shou.

Jiang Ying had only joined the territory a few weeks ago but she was hardworking. She’d already cleared over two acres of wasteland and was gathering supplies, planning to build her own greenhouse after the second Devastation Rain.

So when she heard Yu Shou was going to learn, she got Xia Qing’s permission to tag along. It was her first time entering Territory Three. She stuck close to Zhu Li, tense and careful, not daring to look around much.

As for Tan Qi, that little sprout had whacked into a jagged rock during special training yesterday and would be on bed rest for a few days.

They came up to ten greenhouses lined up neatly along the road. Jiang Ying took one look and saw Xia Qing’s build was way better than anything in Territory Fifteen. She wanted to whip out her phone right there and measure the greenhouse supports.

Wen Nengjie started piling on the praise: “Only Sister Qing could get greenhouse doors this perfect. Mine warped ages ago.”

Xia Qing explained, “Mine warped too. I just adjusted it and fixed it up.”

Wen Nengjie kept the compliments coming: “Sister Qing, you’re so hardworking. One person manages all this land and still finds time to fix doors.”

Tang Huai rolled his eyes and looked around for Old Goat.

Inside the greenhouse, Huo Zhun immediately noticed the upgraded bamboo slats Xia Qing had installed with Hardness Evolution. He asked her, “Qing, is there any special reason you put these slats here?”

Xia Qing held nothing back, giving a detailed explanation: “When the wind hits, I noticed this spot catches more force than the rest. The framework here wears out faster. So I added extra support poles right here and switched out the ropes for wire outside…”

Everyone listened carefully, firing off questions and learning a lot in the process.

Since all the greenhouses were built the same size and way, after checking out two, everyone headed home to work on their own fields, leaving only Tang Huai behind to gossip with Xia Qing.

“Did you hear? The Territory Nine case is closed. Dan Ying was cleared, Zhang Qikun took most of the blame, and Li Si some as well. Li Si gave up her claim to Territory Nine and traded more than thirty patented technologies for a spot at the Red Eleven Planting Center. Assistant Xiao Liu and several researchers from Nine went with her—they’re not coming back.”

Xia Qing nodded; she’d gotten the scoop from Yang Jin yesterday.

This second chance for Li Si came because she swapped the poison antidote with Zhang San. Red Eleven Base was where Zhang San set her up for safety. After finally shaking off Fire Phoenix’s control, there was no way they’d return. “Did you find out what they’re doing with Territory Nine?”

“Yeah,” Tang Huai sighed dramatically.

“Our land here has good soil and water, plus wolf gods and walls to keep us safe, and the lords are strong. So they’ve decided to make Nine into Hui Three Base’s ninth Planting Center. They’re not letting new lords claim it anymore. One of my good buddies even wanted to move in next door but no luck now.”

That was news to Xia Qing. “It’s settled already?”

Tang Huai nodded. “Pretty much done. My dad said the base higher-ups are already looking for someone to run the ninth Planting Center. When they arrive, they’ll make a ton of noise for sure.”

All that racket would scare off bugs, which obviously annoyed Tang Huai.

Xia Qing didn’t want Territory Nine turned into another Planting Center either.

If the Planting Center moves next door, they’ll constantly run field studies, comparing crop growth everywhere and analyzing why one place yields better than another.

If everyone else lets them visit freely and only Xia Qing’s territory refuses, she’d stick out. That could risk exposing her source of Pure Spring Water.

Rather than wait for trouble, it’d be best if the ninth Planting Center never got built at all.

After trading a protective dog suit with Tang Huai and sending him off, Xia Qing immediately called her Idol to figure out what to do.

Zhang San yawned. “Well, if that’s the plan, let them build it. I’ll be the Ninth Planting Center’s director.”

Xia Qing’s eyes lit up.

Her idol!

No wonder he was the gold standard at the top of the Blue Star pyramid!

What seemed like an impossible headache—her idol solved it in just one sentence.

With Zhang San’s status, if he wanted the job, Hui Three Base would leap at the chance to put him in charge.

Even if others tried to compete, no one in Hui Three Base could measure up to him, as far as Xia Qing knew.

If it was that easily solved, but Idol still had her come, then he definitely needed her for something. Suppressing her fan-girl excitement, Xia Qing asked what he needed from her.

Zhang San was pleased with her tact. “The northern Section Three territories are almost built. There are two people living in the ruins nearby who need to be relocated. Do you have room for them in the valley at Hill Fifty?”