Chapter 781: Nightfall Harvest: Racing the Devastation Rain

At half past eight, Xia Qing finished a patrol of Territory Nine, switched shifts with Peng Jian, Liangzi and Er Yong, and rushed back to her own territory. She and Old Goat, Guan Tong and Da Jiang walked together to the edge of the Western Buffer Forest by the bamboo fields—they needed to cut another round of bamboo before the red-grade Devastation Rain started.

Once they got enough water, Devastation Element and fertilizer, the aggressively evolved Red-leaved Bamboo shot up to eighteen meters tall in just six hours.

That height was perfect for greenhouse construction. After chopping off the tops, the bamboo poles ended up around fifteen meters—just right for making arched supports for the greenhouses.

This time, Xia Qing and Guan Tong were still in charge of chopping while moving the bamboo was handed over to Old Goat and the Da Jiang–Xiao Jiang brothers. Xia Qing had wanted to let Old Goat stay home and rest, but it stubbornly insisted on joining in, night vision goggles and all.

To Old Goat, heavy labor was just another kind of play.

With her Black Blade in hand, Xia Qing stepped onto the freshly laid thick stone slabs from the afternoon and reminded Guan Tong, “No need to rush, we can finish in half an hour—just be careful, okay?”

“Baa!” Old Goat answered, beating Guan Tong to it, so full of excitement its voice could barely hold it in. Guan Tong wasn’t sure what kind of mood Old Goat was in, so he kept quiet and silently took the other side to get to work.

“Thunk!”

Xia Qing swung her blade down on a pale red, ultra-hard bamboo stalk. The edge sank only a centimeter deep and sent a shock jolt through her hand.

This hardness was insane!

Eyes shining, Xia Qing threw nearly all her strength behind it. After twelve strikes, she finally cut through the first bamboo. She lashed the pole with rope and shouted to her partner, “Old Goat, take it down but stay on the stone path. Don’t hurt your hooves!”

“Baa!” Old Goat called, grabbed the rope in its teeth and dashed down the slope.

Actually, Xia Qing had already had Da Jiang and the others clear out a slide from the bamboo grove all the way down to the bottom of the Buffer Forest. They could have just slid the bamboo down directly—but since Old Goat wanted to contribute, she let it join the action.

After Guan Tong finished chopping through his bamboo with eighteen swings, Da Jiang immediately dragged the pole to the slide, ran a few steps to build up speed and released, letting it shoot down the hill by inertia. Xiao Jiang then pulled it to the designated spot, where thick wooden poles had been arranged into a kind of long-distance double-bar setup—putting the bamboo on them kept the aggressive Red-leaved shoots from touching the ground.

Normally, after being cut, bamboo can’t grow anymore because the roots lose access to water and nutrients. But this aggressive, Devastation-evolved bamboo was anything but normal, so it had to be kept off the ground.

While Xiao Jiang was still stacking the just-slid-down bamboo, Old Goat had already returned to the top of the hill to grab more. Xia Qing handed it her second freshly-cut stalk, and without missing a beat Old Goat turned and bounded off again.

That one sheep did the work of Da Jiang and Xiao Jiang put together.

Once Guan Tong chopped through his seventh bamboo, his right hand and arm had gone numb. He straightened up and counted—Xia Qing was already working on her twelfth, and her pace hadn’t slowed at all.

That pretty much confirmed it—her strength evolution was leaving his further behind every day. He was still at Level 5, but she must’ve reached six-and-a-half, maybe even seven by now.

It was no surprise that Xia Qing’s ability rank kept going up.

Guan Tong was a main force fighter for the Qinglong Combat Team, and with plenty of nutrition and Evolution Elements his current ability level matched his actual output—a solid Level 5 Strength Evolution.

Xia Qing’s case was different. For nine years, she barely survived in the Safe Zone, never getting enough nutrition or Evolution Elements, so her apparent evolution ability was lower than her true limit. Only after entering the territory and getting adequate nutrition did she begin to reveal her real strength.

She was twenty-six this year with nine more years to evolve—she really might one day become a top-tier strength evolved fighter. And he was only twenty-three—he still had a shot too!

A swig of Premium Nutrient Shake brought Guan Tong back to life, blade whirling through more Red-leaved Bamboo. After this Devastation Rain he’d have to hunt down materials and ask Huo Lei to forge him a custom Black Blade!

Twenty minutes later all thirty-five bamboo stalks were down—Xia Qing took twenty-two, Guan Tong thirteen. After giving the bamboo a dose of fertilizer, the four humans and one sheep headed down the hill. Xia Qing didn’t even have to say a word—Guan Tong, Da Jiang, and Xiao Jiang practically sang Old Goat’s praises to the sky for hauling twenty-two pieces all on its own.

Old Goat just played it cool, acting like it was no big deal.

With only a few minutes until the red-grade Devastation Rain, Xia Qing and Old Goat lounged in the off-roader to catch their breath. They’d chopped and moved twenty-two stalks—each close to twenty meters long—so they were both worn out. But the two lords from Section Three weren’t the type to ever show fatigue. No matter how exhausted they felt, Xia Qing and Old Goat always straightened their backs in front of others.

Now they could finally sprawl out and relax, image be damned.

While wiping mud and stray grass from Old Goat’s mouth, Xia Qing praised it softly, “You’re amazing, Old Goat. This family simply wouldn’t be complete without you. You’re the backbone of our little home—the most reliable sheep on top of the pyramid. Being partners with you, makes me feel like I’m the luckiest person on all of Blue Star!”

Old Goat’s head tipped higher and higher, looking so smug it was impossible to miss. It cocked an eye at Xia Qing, signaling her to go on.

Xia Qing laughed. “You worked hard, Old Goat. Want some water?”

Old Goat didn’t budge.

“How about a cucumber to soothe your throat?”

“Baa~”

“You got it.” Xia Qing slipped off her gloves, pulled out a washed cucumber, snapped it in half and handed Old Goat the bigger piece.

After messaging Yuan Yan to confirm that Territory Five had successfully harvested their own Red-leaved Bamboo, Xia Qing nibbled her cucumber and leaned back lazily in her seat.

Old Goat munched its cucumber, flopped on its side and didn’t even bother chewing anymore.

A few minutes later, Tan Junjie’s voice buzzed through the walkie-talkie:

“Attention all territories, attention! The red-grade Devastation Rain has begun. Make sure all patrols are set up—and if you run into any danger you can’t handle, call the Inspection Team in the group chat right away.”

Xia Qing adjusted her seat and grinned. “Time for another round, Old Goat!”

“Baa.”

Old Goat replied half-heartedly. It never cared much for clearing out aggressively evolved crops. Whether it was Dancing Potato Vines, Exploding Sunflowers or those mysteriously growing soybean shoots—they all felt dangerous, so it kept its distance.

But if its little brother had to patrol, what could it do? Had to tag along.

Just as Xia Qing pulled up beside Greenhouse Six, she heard Section Four’s lord, Zhao Ze, call for help on the Lords’ channel: “Captain Tan, a black locust tree over twenty meters tall in Territory Four has undergone aggressive Devastation Evolution! It’s sprouting tons of sharp thorns—requesting urgent assistance!”

The news that a mature black locust was evolving made Xia Qing glance over at the beam of light swaying in Territory Ten. Her whole body tensed.

Back in the sixth year after the disaster began, during the second Devastation Rain, Xia Qing took part in a dangerous plant removal operation in the Safe Zone—only to encounter a mature black locust going through aggressive Devastation Evolution.

That tree also grew countless thorns and flower buds; when the clean-up squad approached, the locust sensed danger and suddenly shot out spikes, turning all six team members into human pincushions.

That time, Xia Qing and another Level 2 Strength Evolution fighter were only in the support team, waiting to clean the site after the tree fell, so they weren’t in the first wave—and that’s the only reason they survived.

The patches on her old protective suit? Most of those were sewn on after getting hurt in that very incident.