Chapter 768: Sweeping the Wild Trees

As Xia Qing’s voice rang out over the Lords’ channel, Tang Huai, having already sprinted out of the south gate of Territory Twelve, glanced back at the fierce, towering tree. He watched the small cluster of people gathered beneath its writhing branches and called out, “Xia Qing, can that thing even be taken down?”

Before Xia Qing could answer, Tang Heng jumped in. “Hey, bro, Captain Tan and Sister Qing are about to move in. Don’t worry—there are over forty Evolvers here. We can definitely clear out that giant tree in Territory Eighteen. Everyone, stay sharp on patrol and keep those wild tung trees from growing any bigger inside your own territories. We can’t have the greenhouses and houses getting ruined.”

According to Tang Huai, of the more than forty Evolvers on site, over thirty had already arrived. Xia Qing recognized those from Territory One, Eight, Ten, Twelve, and Fifteen. There were also a few who had joined the group through roll call, coming from Territory Twenty-One and Twenty-Five.

Fang Lin, looking a bit worse for wear, walked over and raised a hand to greet Xia Qing. She nodded back in response.

Back in the Safe Zone, Xia Qing had teamed up with Dongyang Squad on several missions. Fang Lin used to be the strength-type Evolver for the Dongyang Squad. The two of them had run into each other on missions—a casual acquaintance at best.

But times had changed. Fang Lin, who once pretended not to see Xia Qing, now went out of his way to greet her. Everyone knew Xia Qing’s combat skills now surpassed his.

As the twenty-two Evolvers within the territory and twenty Inspection Team members finished assembling, the aggressive wild tung tree stood over six meters tall. The twisted vines that had burrowed into the ground were now straight and rooting, while countless others whipped madly in all directions.

The tree had entered its third-stage form, and its growth was speeding up!

Tan Junjie made a hand signal, getting everyone to tune their earpiece walkie-talkies to the same channel. Then he laid out the team arrangement: “First, pick your teams. Each squad should have a speed Evolver, a strength Evolver, and a sniper.”

Xia Qing grabbed Tan Qi and teamed up with her ‘boyfriend,’ Hu Zifeng.

Once twelve squads had formed, Tan Junjie called out again, “Three squads, make up a unit. Four units, each take a quadrant. The rest of you stay back for support…”

The operation was set. At Tan Junjie’s order, the twelve squads surged forward as one.

Xia Qing’s trio attacked from the east side.

Xia Qing took point, hacking at the writhing vines and those thrust into the soil. Tan Qi and Hu Zifeng flanked her to help attack and defend. Xia Qing’s black blade was heavy and fast—she carved a path and reached the assigned position in just five minutes.

Tan Qi quickly stepped in and started digging with a shovel at top speed, while Xia Qing and Hu Zifeng covered her—Hu Zifeng with his gun, Xia Qing with her blade.

Xia Qing was a better shot than Hu Zifeng, but during Devastation Rain, only a few people could use guns in any one area. Too much gunfire, and you risked triggering a Devastation Explosion.

In under five minutes, Tan Qi had dug a pit over a meter deep and half a meter wide. Xia Qing swiftly severed the thick roots Tan Qi couldn’t break, and the three of them retreated to the east side of the tree. Amid the noise of battle and the drumming rain, Xia Qing could also hear Tan Qi panting in her ear.

Even though this little girl was a level-four Evolver, she was young and not as strong. Finishing her task this fast was already impressive.

Wounded, the big tree grew even more frenzied. New vines shot out and the crown expanded visibly before everyone’s eyes.

With all twelve squads finishing their part and pulling back, Xia Qing—now a level-six strength Evolver—Shi Du, a level-five-and-a-half strength Evolver, along with two level-five strength Evolvers, Guan Tong and Fang Lin, all charged at the half-meter-thick trunk from north and west.

In one strike, the crown shook violently.

The second, and the trunk leaned southeast.

On the third, the whole trunk toppled, exposing roots tethered to the ground.

The four strength Evolvers over level five fell back, letting eight level-four strength Evolvers rush in to hack through the roots, stopping the flow of nutrients to the crown.

Everyone joined forces to drag away the crown, clear out the roots, and deal with any vines left jammed in the dirt.

Forty minutes later, the operation wrapped up. They’d dealt with the tree before it could reach stage four. The support teams returned to their own territories, while the Inspection Team kept up their patrol and rescue work.

Hu Zifeng’s squad of four piled into Xia Qing’s off-roader and headed back to Section Three with her. In half an hour, those four plus Chen Zheng would switch in to relieve Liangzi and the others, handling Devastation Rain duty in Section Three.

Xia Qing drove up front; the four members of Hu Zifeng’s squad squeezed together in the backseat. Not a soul dared take the passenger seat.

Why?

Because the passenger seat belonged to the ‘star sheep.’ Anyone foolhardy enough to leave a trace of their scent there would be personally dealt with by Old Goat. After that, every time they came to Section Three, they’d either end up stuck in a tree or running for their lives with Old Goat on their tail.

Once the off-roader rolled into Section Three, the four passengers quickly volunteered to patrol and clear threats, avoiding Xia Qing’s trip to Shed Fifteen to pick up Old Goat.

Relying on her keen sight and Magnetic Sense, Xia Qing picked up on anything unusual as she and Old Goat reached the edge of the Western Buffer Forest. Compared to the Evolved Forest, vegetation in the buffer zone was less dense, but the farmland underneath grew in thick. The cameras’ view was mostly blocked by shrubs and trunks, so even if another wild tung tree sprouted, it could hardly be caught on camera before it entered its stage-two form.

Meanwhile, the wild tung saplings that sprang up in the Buffer Forest faced interference from roots of other plants. The foliage above ground also contended with shrubs, so these saplings grew slower than those in open farmland.

Even so, all 3,500 acres of Buffer Forest in Section Three stayed a top inspection priority. Every half hour, someone had to make the rounds.

After Xia Qing cleared out two stage-one wild tung saplings—both under a meter and a half tall—she reached the boundary of the Western Buffer Forest. Right away, she felt the intense magnetic field waves of an aggressive Devastation-evolved plant prickling at her brow.

More than a dozen deep purple-red bamboo stalks already towered over six meters. Ignoring the discomfort that came with Magnetic Sense, Xia Qing stepped onto the stones she’d set there earlier and tapped a bamboo pole with her knife.

It gave a dull thud. Drops of Devastation Rain pattered down, striking her protective mask and shoulders. All those sounds—rainfall and her mask’s shield—blended together, and the buzzing pain in her brow eased up a little.

These bamboos had sprouted from roots dug up on Hill Fifty-Two—the roots of aggressive, hardness-evolved bamboo. Laying stones around them was her way of keeping the roots from breaking through her shoes.

After planting the bamboo roots, it took several waterings just to get them to sprout; in two months before Devastation Rain, they barely reached three meters. Five hours of rain today, and they shot up another three meters.

No wonder they’re Devastation-evolved plants. Too bad the bamboo slats aren’t thick enough yet—she needed a few more hours before she could harvest them.

Xia Qing hoped these bamboo roots kept thriving. If they pushed out enough bamboo during these fifty-odd hours of Devastation Rain, she’d be able to swap out all the greenhouse support poles for the hardness-evolved kind, seriously boosting the defense of her greenhouses.