Chapter 771: Crisis at Hill Fifty: The Red Devastation Grass

If Zhang He was reaching out, it had to be urgent.

Xia Qing answered right away. Sure enough, Zhang He got straight to the point:

“Xia Qing, ten minutes ago, red Devastation Grass started sprouting outside the isolation room in the High-Risk Area One at Hill Fifty. The patch has already passed two hundred square meters, and the tallest plants are two centimeters high. Third Brother’s in surgery—what should we do?”

Zhang San supervised the test zone at Hill Fifty, while Xia Qing was the general manager. Whenever Zhang San was tied up and an emergency hit Hill Fifty, Xia Qing was the one who had to call the shots.

After the first Devastation Rain this year, the high-risk zone at Hill Fifty was bombarded with poison gas bombs, causing red Devastation Grass to shoot up. This particular grass thrives near contaminated soil, letting evolved Salmonella bacteria spread, and its blooms release Type B poison gas, posing a serious threat.

On the flip side, red Devastation Grass could absorb residual toxic chemicals from the poison gas with its roots, partially cleaning the soil.

So, two isolation rooms had been set up in the high-risk zones, with Zhang He’s team inside them planting red Devastation Grass to purify the dirt. The plan was to finish the first round of purification by the end of May.

During the second Devastation Rain, for safety reasons, they stopped planting new red Devastation Grass inside the isolation rooms. Still, as the project leader, Zhang He and her research group stayed on at Hill Fifty, monitoring changes in the different risk zones during the rain.

High-Risk Area One lay at the base of Third Peak, Hill Fifty. The area outside the isolation zone counted as middle risk. There weren’t many hazardous substances in the mid-risk soil, so no red Devastation Grass had sprung up after the year’s first Devastation Rain. Those spots hadn’t been included in the isolation, so the Devastation Rain just kept hitting them.

Red Devastation Grass grows quickly, flowers, then rapidly spreads evolved or even super-evolved microorganisms through its roots. The risk of contamination skyrockets, so something had to be done—fast.

Xia Qing stood up, her expression tense. “Send me an overhead shot of the area.”

There were surveillance cameras near the high-risk zone at Hill Fifty; that’s how Zhang He had spotted the red Devastation Grass so quickly.

Xia Qing pulled up the aerial image Zhang He sent. She stared at the patch of red Devastation Grass, a deep frown forming.

Red Devastation Grass appeared when poison gas leaked into the soil, triggering Devastation Evolution in ordinary grass seeds. That’s why, during the first Devastation Rain, the patches appeared in nearly perfect circles—the gas spread outward from the center.

Following that logic, any red Devastation Grass in the mid-risk areas should grow in rings around the high-risk zone.

But in the picture Zhang He sent, while the new red Devastation Grass on the east side of High-Risk Area One did form a ring, zooming in revealed something: the density was all wrong.

Drawing on her planting experience, Xia Qing immediately made a call—this two-hundred-square-meter patch must have been deliberately seeded!

But who’d risk seeding Devastation Grass during Devastation Rain? And why?

After a moment’s thought, Xia Qing called Zhang He. “Sister He, I’m ninety percent sure that batch of grass was seeded by someone. I’ll send backup right now. In the meantime, stay alert but don’t make a move—there are three things you need to do.”

“First, set up rain shelters over the red Devastation Grass section immediately, so no more rain hits it. Prepped Yi Stone will be there within an hour; use it to suppress the grass and microbes for now. Deal with it after the rain.”

“Understood.”

“Second, based on how long it takes Devastation Grass seeds to sprout at current Devastation concentrations, work out the likely sowing time. Then call Huo Zhun and have her pull surveillance footage from that period. Find out who passed through that area—whoever it is, detain them as soon as backup gets there. Be on guard for retaliation.”

Territory Seven’s monitoring room handled all the surveillance for Hill Fifty, so Xia Qing told Huo Zhun to check the footage.

Zhang He replied calmly, “Got it. I’ll use medicine to keep them under control—no chance to fight back.”

“Third, test the newly grown Devastation Grass. See if it’s the same strain as the grass in the high-risk isolation zone.”

“Understood, already running the tests.” Zhang He didn’t hesitate. She hung up and got straight to work.

Once the call ended, Xia Qing immediately contacted Ji Li, filled him in, then asked, “Ji, how many people can Territory Seven spare to send as backup to Hill Fifty right now?”

Guards at Hill Fifty were a mix: some were hired from the Azure Dragon Squad, others were sent over from Territory Seven. It still wasn’t clear which group had let this happen, so Ji needed to send his most loyal people to regain control.

Ji Li answered coolly. “Only five.”

Territory Seven’s guards had to protect Zhang San, defend their own territory, and keep clearing dangerous Devastation-evolved plants from Territory Nine. There really wasn’t much manpower to spare.

Five people—that wasn’t enough.

Xia Qing pressed, “If I take over Territory Nine, how many can you send then?”

“Eight. Yan Long will lead them.”

Sister Yan in charge? That was all the reassurance Xia Qing needed.

“Alright, I’ll handle Territory Nine. Ji, send eight trustworthy, high-level fighters to Hill Fifty. There’s a good chance they’ll be attacked on the way. Should they use my truck?”

“No need. We’ve got enough cars here in Territory Seven. You stay safe and don’t leave your area.” Since Xia Qing said the red Devastation Grass at Hill Fifty was spread deliberately, this was probably a setup targeting her. That’s why Ji made sure she stayed put.

Before seeing the photo from Zhang He, Xia Qing had planned to strap on her personal flight gear, grab some Yi Stone, and rush out to set up rain shelters—then squash the red Devastation Grass herself and fly back.

But one glance at that photo changed everything.

Now she sensed this whole crisis was aimed at her. If she flew anywhere near Hill Fifty, there’d probably be a sniper waiting.

“Understood. Ji, warn Sister Yan to be careful—avoid any ambushes. I’ll let Captain Tan know in the Lords’ group chat; I’ll be responsible for Territory Nine going forward.” She knew the Lords’ channel was being monitored, so if the enemy thought she wasn’t leaving, the ambush would probably wait, watching for another chance.

“No need to announce it. Just pretend you’re in the truck, lure them out, then crush them.” The phone passed to Yan Long, her tone full of deadly intent.

Whoever they were, they wanted to cause a disaster to lure Xia Qing away, showing no regard for the safety of Hill Fifty or the Section One of the North. During a year of calamity and food shortage, Yan Long refused to let anyone like that waste precious grain.

“Captain Tan, are you there?”

The moment Xia Qing called for Captain Tan, all the other lords pricked up their ears.

“Hill Fifty’s facing an emergency. I need to take a squad out as backup, leaving through the west gate. Captain Tan, can you let us through?”

Tan Junjie replied with his usual calm. “Alright, just be careful.”

“Will do.”

As soon as Xia Qing confirmed, Hu Zifeng chimed in. “Captain Tan, from now on Section Three and Territory Nine are under my management.”