Chapter 765: Rainstorm Defense

Inside Territory Fourteen, just east of Territory Ten, Feng Wen sprang into action the moment she heard on the walkie-talkie that an aggressive Devastation-Evolved Tree had appeared. She hurriedly grabbed a basin and started catching the relentless Devastation Rain leaking in from the top of the shipping container.

Yan Meng shot her a glance, then stood and called over to Liao Chen, who was busy playing with his phone. “Let’s go patrol the territory. You head south, I’ll go north. Time to clear out those Wild Tung Trees.”

Liao Chen glared at Feng Wen, his face sour, then followed Yan Meng out of the waterlogged shipping container.

In Territory Fifteen, more than twenty people were stacking sandbags by the northwest side of the greenhouse. Yu Shou, a Strength-Based Evolver, carried four sandbags at a time and darted back and forth like lightning.

Inside the greenhouse at the northwest edge, Jiang Ying shouted, “This support pole’s about to give! Dazhi, quick, grab pole number two!”

“On it!” Zhang Hongda, a Three-Element Evolver, dashed over with a support beam thick as a thigh and almost three and a half meters long, wedging it beneath the spot Jiang Ying pointed out to hold the wind-battered greenhouse structure steady.

To make things run smoother and speed up the response, Jiang Ying organized the territory’s greenhouse support poles into five categories and stacked them neatly at both ends of each greenhouse—grab and use as needed.

While fastening a pole together with iron wire, Jiang Ying called out, “Hey, the wire pressing down that film outside needs two more turns with the pliers!”

“Got it.” Zhang Hongda grabbed the walkie-talkie to relay the message to the brothers outside.

In Territory Seventeen, just south of Territory Fifteen, Wen Nengjie was shouting himself hoarse. “Fall back now! Abandon this greenhouse, go save the one to the south—Qiuzi, what the hell are you doing? Why aren’t you patrolling? If you let one Wild Tung Tree seedling slip through, the whole territory’s done for!”

Over in Territory Six, Kuang Qingwei had just finished digging out a Wild Tung seedling with his crew when Zhu Li reported in, “We found a Devastation-Evolved Wild Tung in Southern Section Three. It’s one and a half meters tall.”

“Copy! Pull back now, and Group One will handle cleanup.” Group One included two third-level Strength-Based Evolvers hired by Kuang Qingwei—they were guzzling Premium Nutrient Shake on the job, earning 130 credits a day. Clearing Wild Tung Trees was what they did.

Inside Territory Four, Zhao Ze bellowed, “Quick, get those shields over here! Block it! Somebody dig out that Wild Tung seedling already, hurry up!”

Twenty minutes later, the gale just let up a bit, but Territories Four and Ten were both calling for help from the Inspection Team.

In the Inspection Team channel, the number of territories needing backup had risen to eight.

Five minutes on and Four and Ten were still in danger. In Territory Five, Qi Fu contacted Captain Tan via walkie-talkie: “Captain, there’s a Wild Tung Tree in the Northern Buffer Forest of Territory Five, already three meters tall. A vine struck me, I need the Inspection Team’s help to clear this thing!”

“Understood.” After replying, Captain Tan immediately reached out to Xia Qing on the Inspection Team channel. “Section Three Leader Xia Qing, are you able to assist Territory Five right now?”

“I can.” Xia Qing answered, turned, and pressed the button on her right shoulder walkie-talkie. “Qi, open the south gate for me. I’ll be driving into Territory Five within ten minutes.”

“Roger, opening now.” As soon as Qi Fu heard Xia Qing was coming for backup, he finally let out a breath and relaxed.

No time to let Old Goat off the car. Xia Qing floored the off-roader through Section Three’s south gate, tore through the wind and rain across Territory Four—where Inspection Team members were already working—breezed through the Southern Bramble Gate into Territory Five, and came to a stop directly in front of Yuan Yan, who was waving a shovel.

Halfway up the slope in the Buffer Forest behind Yuan Yan, a Wild Tung Tree over three meters tall lashed out at the surrounding trees with aggressive vines, already dominating a huge patch of space for itself.

“Boss, wait in the car. I’m gonna take care of this tree and be right back.”

“Baa.” Even though it was pouring Devastation Rain and the world outside was unfamiliar, Old Goat felt perfectly safe inside his beloved car.

Getting her companion’s answer, Xia Qing grabbed the Black Long Blade and jumped out, charging forward.

This tree, towering over three meters, had clearly grown faster and hit harder than the ones in last year’s Devastation Rain. Xia Qing felt more than twenty needle-sharp magnetic fields shoot toward her brow before she’d even gotten within fifteen meters.

Territory Five had sent Qi Fu—a third-level Strength Evolver—instead of Yuan Yan, who was a three-and-a-half-tier Evolver, to deal with the tree, probably because Yuan Yan with her Magnetic Sense Evolution was especially sensitive to Wild Tung Trees—the closer she got, the worse she felt, and her combat power took a hit.

No need to ask—this monster definitely sprouted from one of the seeds scattered by that high-risk Wild Tung on Hill Fifty.

What a freak. Seriously, your ancestors would be ashamed if they could see you!

Xia Qing, who could also sense magnetic fields, powered through the discomfort, cursing under her breath as she slashed through two vines and charged straight under the tree. With one powerful kick, she sent the embarrassment of a tree crashing to the ground.

The hired workers of Territory Five could only stare in disbelief. Yuan Yan was first to move. “Why are you all standing there? Dig it out! Get every last root. If you don’t, it’ll just keep growing.”

That snapped everyone out of it, and they joined Yuan Yan in clearing out the Wild Tung’s roots.

Xia Qing cut through a main root that had been anchoring the tree, then stepped aside to let Yuan Yan’s crew finish up. She headed over to Qi Fu, who was sitting against a maple tree, and asked, “Qi, you alright?”

“I’m fine. Didn’t break anything, just numb all down my back. My arm won’t budge.” Qi Fu looked sheepish. “I tried your trick just now, but slipped and missed the vine altogether.”

The Wild Tung was growing on a steep slope in the Buffer Forest, so its roots weren’t all that solid. Qi Fu had noticed this too and planned to kick it down from above before quickly clearing the roots.

But his lack of battle experience got in the way. All his focus was on the vines, so he never noticed his footing and ended up missing the vines and getting whipped across his back and arm by the branches.

Fighting in the Buffer Forest during Devastation Rain isn’t anything close to easy.

After Qi Fu got hurt, Yuan Yan didn’t dare risk it herself. With the Devastation Rain just starting, one more injury would spell trouble—so Territory Five had to call for backup.

Who’d have thought they’d get so lucky? Captain Tan sent over Xia Qing, the strongest fighter of them all.

“As long as it’s not broken, you’ll be fine, Qi. Go inside and spray some painkillers. Take a break,” Xia Qing reminded Yuan Yan as she walked by. “Yan, these Wild Tung are growing fast now. Patrol intervals need to be shorter.”

The wind was howling, and Yuan Yan had been busy reinforcing the greenhouse rather than patrolling, which almost led to a disaster. She was embarrassed. “Qing, sorry for the trouble. Don’t worry. That was the last one. For the next three days, not a single Wild Tung over two meters will show up in Territory Five.”

“Just do your best, Yan. When you need backup, call for it right away.” Xia Qing gave her a pat on the shoulder, then hopped back in the off-roader, reporting to Captain Tan as she drove off. “Wild Tung in Territory Five has been cleared.”