Chapter 772: Cutting Through Danger in Abandoned Territory

Five minutes later, eight people from Territory Seven plus Xia Qing climbed into a ten-seat military truck and left Section One of the North through the West Gate.

Once the truck rolled out from the West Gate, Liao Chen, standing beneath the southern signpost of Territory Fourteen and holding an umbrella, sent a message on his phone before heading back into the territory to continue his patrol.

“Sister Yan, be careful.” Xia Qing handed the bag with the Yi Stone to Yan Long before waving to Zhang Song, who had been brought along and wore an airtight protective suit. Xia Qing hopped out of the vehicle and disappeared into the dense forest of Hill Forty-Nine, circling back to Section Three through the North Gate.

After patrolling Greenhouse Six and Greenhouse Seven, Xia Qing put Hu Zifeng in charge of the territory and drove the rotary tiller straight to Territory Nine to scout out potential dangers.

Ever since Li Si was taken away at the end of last November, Territory Nine had fallen into ruin for half a year. The bombed-out houses and greenhouses had been battered by Devastation Rain, exposed steel bars rusted beneath the runoff, and wild weeds and trees filled the space, hiding plenty of evolved insects and small animals. Though technically inside the territory borders, it had really reverted to Evolved Forest.

That’s why Shi Du kept complaining about the endless pests crawling from Territory Nine to Territory Ten, while Tang Huai, with nothing better to do, liked to dig up bugs there for fun.

Thankfully, there wasn’t a buffer forest here and the terrain didn’t vary much, so Xia Qing could patrol the whole place by driving.

She steered the rotary tiller along the tire tracks left from the previous sweep by Territory Seven’s people. Just as she was about to kick on the mowing wheel and widen the path, she noticed a patch of wild grass and bushes swaying way off to the west.

Only humans or large animals could make that kind of racket. Sure enough, Tang Huai emerged, a black long blade strapped to his back. He froze when he spotted Xia Qing in the driver’s seat of the rotary tiller.

He snapped back to his senses, ran over, yanked open the rain shield, and plopped himself into Old Goat’s special seat. “Xia Qing, I thought Hu Fengzi was the one driving your tiller! Didn’t you go to Hill Fifty?!”

The special seat for Er on the left of the driver’s seat had been removed, so only two seats remained in the rotary tiller. Tang Huai naturally took Old Goat’s.

Xia Qing didn’t bother asking how Tang Huai recognized her through the solid black single-sided face shield. She just switched to her usual protective mask and gave a quick reply. “I’m baiting out the snakes. I need to clear the grass and widen the patrol path. Heading back to Territory Two, or sticking around?”

“You cut the grass, I’ll keep an eye on the wild tung trees. I know the paths here better than you do.” Tang Huai’s ears had just started healing after being blasted in the thunderstorm. The grinding of the rotary tiller would be tough on him at this range, but he’d rather endure it than miss a chance to help Xia Qing and chat along the way.

Xia Qing’s magnetic sense let her spot aggressive Devastation-evolved plants even without help, but since Tang Huai wanted to help for free, she had no complaints.

She pressed the button, and the four mowing wheels up front spun into action, slicing through the grass with a sharp whir. Huo Lei had forged these blades for her—tough enough not just for Devastation Grass, but even thick shrubs and saplings couldn’t slow them down.

Tang Huai instinctively frowned, then his eyes widened in surprise. “This rain shield looks like a wreck, but the soundproofing’s insane. No wonder you’re always out here nonstop cutting grass!”

Honestly, the noise inside this contraption was way less than what Tang Huai heard across Territory Two. He fought the urge to swear, worried Xia Qing would boot him out of the cab.

As a Level-Seven Auditory Evolutionary, Xia Qing hated noise too. That’s why her homemade rain shield didn’t just block rain—it blocked most of the racket as well.

But she didn’t bother explaining this to Tang Huai; after all, her hearing and magnetic sense evolutions were both her hidden strengths.

Twenty meters in, Xia Qing’s magnetic sense picked up an aggressive wild tung tree just as Tang Huai called out, “Left front, eleven o’clock—looks like a Level-One wild tung tree. Pull over and I’ll handle it.”

A Level-One wild tung tree, barely one and a half meters tall, was no big deal to take out.

Xia Qing stopped and reminded him, “Be careful out there.”

Tang Huai jumped out, drew his black long blade, and cleanly split a fist-sized evolved spider in two. With a practiced flourish of the blade, he turned around to find Xia Qing still mowing grass, not even looking his way.

Tang Huai grumbled, chopped down two more snakes and a few evolved insects, then bagged the wild tung tree before jogging back to the cab. “See that? I’m getting way faster.”

Chopping up a spider and a couple snakes didn’t exactly scream progress, and most of Tang Huai’s sword tricks were all for show—it’d take ten real cuts to match his style. Still, he had improved: he moved briskly, and his skills had clearly sharpened.

Xia Qing nodded. “Speedy work. Two o’clock, fifteen meters—there’s a two-meter-tall yellow-leafed shrub growing fast. Needs taking out. Can you handle it yourself?”

“Of course! Watch me go!”

Tang Huai tossed the sealed wild tung tree behind the seat, grabbed his blade, and dashed off. Suddenly, he heard two massive explosions from the north. The clouds above shook, and the Devastation Rain began pouring even harder.

That was… Devastation Explosion!

Had the battle started over at Hill Fifty?

Xia Qing tightened her grip on the steering wheel and glanced up at the dark clouds to the north. Then she kept mowing, focused on expanding the patrol route through Territory Nine. Whatever was happening over there, her job right now was to do her part and wait for Yan Long and Zhang He to contact her.

With those explosions, red-level Devastation Rain might start soon. She’d need to speed up her patrol and get back to her own place as quickly as possible.

That patch of Hardness Evolution bamboo needed harvesting before the red Devastation Rain hit.

Fifteen minutes later, Tang Huai finished clearing out the aggressive shrub and climbed back onto the rotary tiller, catching his breath as he sealed up a heavy-duty bag containing a chunk of root and tree trunk. “This thing grew venomous spines—they ate right through my protective glove. Not sure if Third Brother would be interested, but hang onto it for now. That was Devastation Explosion, right?”

“Yeah,” Xia Qing replied, then added, “Ten o’clock, that purple-red vine’s wrapped up two snakes. Looks like another aggressive, Devastation-evolved plant. You drive the tiller, I’ll go clear it out.”

“No need, I’ve got it!” Tang Huai, eager to prove he could hold his own, jumped out of the tiller and sprinted off.

Fifteen minutes later, Xia Qing’s phone finally rang. Yan Long was calling in with the latest updates from Hill Fifty, while Tang Huai, back in the tiller, strained to catch every word.

“The Yi Stones have been installed. Three people who entered the area in suspicious time windows are now being questioned by Zhang Song. One’s dead. Another fled into the Northern Evolved Forest.”

Zhang Song was an advanced evolved with powerful observation skills, not only great at animal and microbe research but also able to read people’s minds from the smallest facial tics. That was why Yan Long brought him along.

Xia Qing didn’t bother asking who had escaped—she just asked, “Sister Yan, what was with those explosions just now?”