Chapter 787: After the Storm, New Hope Blooms

“Old Goat, what are you trying to pull?”

After a hearty lunch, Xia Qing cleaned up the kitchen, planning to take a proper nap. That’s when she spotted Old Goat standing by her hammock chair, eyeing her with narrowed eyes, like he was ready for a fight if things didn’t go his way.

Xia Qing racked her brains, going in circles trying to figure out what Old Goat wanted. Finally, she gave up and just asked out loud.

Old Goat glanced at Er, who was curled up in Xia Qing’s hammock, then turned his gaze back to her.

The realization hit Xia Qing and she couldn’t help but sigh. Of course—he’d seen her carry Er to the hammock earlier and now didn’t want to bother with climbing in on his own.

“Alright. Old Goat, you did an amazing job during the last Devastation Rain. Let me carry you to the hammock for a nap. When you wake up, we’ll go cut some Scourge Grass.” What else could she do? It was no big deal. Xia Qing walked over, lifted the three-hundred-pound Old Goat with ease, and settled him onto the hammock chair, giving his big head a good rub.

Then Xia Qing spoke gently to Wolfdog Number Two, who was lying in the hammock and watching her. “Er, you should get some rest too. If you stick around this afternoon, we can go cut grass and feed the fish together.”

Noticing Er still staring at her, Xia Qing decided to skip heading upstairs. She laid down on a nearby bench, pulled a light blanket over herself, and yawned. “Get some sleep.”

With that, Xia Qing closed her eyes.

Only then did Wolfdog Number Two finally relax and shut his eyes. He’d been run ragged lately, pushing through the Evolved Forest after the Devastation Rain. He was truly tired and needed the rest. Yet even as he slept, his furry ears stayed alert, always listening for the slightest movement in the territory.

That kind of vigilance was pure instinct for any animal raised in the Evolved Forest. No matter where they were, it never went away.

Now that Er was back, Xia Qing slept deeply and soundly, soon joined by gentle snores. Old Goat’s snoring was even louder than hers.

The walkie-talkie was on, but the Lords’ channel was quiet and peaceful. It wasn’t just Plots 1 to 10—most people in Section One of the North were all fast asleep too. Only those in the worst-hit territories—16, 17, 18, 23, and 26—were still battling exhaustion, tending to the wounded and rescuing crops from toppled greenhouses or supplies buried under collapsed houses.

Overhead, heavy storm clouds had scattered into huge patches, their shapes thrown across the vast earth of Blue Star in the sunlight.

The temperature was on the rise, humidity and Devastation Element levels slowly dropping, while the birds and insects sang out in raucous joy at surviving yet another natural disaster.

In Section Two of the North, along with the Safe Zone and Southern Territory, Wen Nengjie’s former colleagues were pulling corpses from the rubble and hauling them by cart to makeshift crematoriums in each district.

The disaster-ravaged human settlements were in chaos. The military, combat teams and medics didn’t even have time for law and order—they were too busy saving the injured.

No matter how twisted their faces or how broken their bodies, the dead had fallen silent forever.

Grieving families wept and shouted, clutching anything at hand that might work as a weapon. They traded curses and blows with looters who came to pick over the wreckage. Having lost loved ones, they couldn’t afford to lose their last supplies too.

Survivors trapped in the ruins screamed out in agony, pouring the last of their strength into desperate pleas for life.

And yet, endless others who had survived the disaster hid away in their rooms, clinging tightly to the last bit of green they owned. The x-2 that had successfully seeded before the rain was now their only hope of survival—the only chance to escape the nightmare around them.

As long as they drew breath, they couldn’t let anyone steal it. Even in death, they’d take their x-2 with them!

“Knock, knock, knock.”

Inside the Safe Zone Inner City, someone knocked on the Base Leader’s office door. The secretary stepped in, delivering a detailed casualty and loss report from the recent Devastation Rain to Base Leader Qi Zhongye.

Bloodshot-eyed, Qi Zhongye took the report. The first numbers at the top immediately caught his attention. “Send in whoever brought this report.”

“Section One of the North reported 33 deaths and 25 injuries. Plots 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 15 all performed exceptionally well—just a handful of minor injuries, no deaths, and far fewer calls for help compared to the average for Section One,”

Zhou Qianpeng from the Territory Management Department listed off these districts, then added something even more valuable. “I called Tan Junjie, the head of the Inspection Team for Section One. He said that the main personnel fighting the disaster in these plots managed to keep their strength up throughout all 53 hours of Devastation Rain.”

Once Qi Zhongye looked up, Zhou Qianpeng—still in a suit—delivered the good news. “The reason? People in those plots were taking our Base’s newest pharmaceutical: Nutrient Source!”

“Fifteen milliliters of x-2 spinach juice mixed with one gram of Nutrient Source makes one dose of premium nutrient shake. That packs as much energy as one and a half of Fire Phoenix’s premium shakes, sir!”

A wave of exhaustion lifted from Qi Zhongye’s face with that news. “Good! Keep gathering people and resources for the rescue and recovery. I’ll follow up on the Nutrient Source myself.”

Earlier this year, after a corruption scandal, Department Head Jiang Quan and several top leaders at the Territory Management Department were removed, and Zhou Qianpeng was promoted to director of disaster prevention—responsible for reporting losses and issuing emergency supplies.

After Zhou Qianpeng left, Qi Zhongye immediately called Tan Junjie. “Junjie, what’s this about the Nutrient Source?”

Since the new medicine was being tested in several Section One plots, it wasn’t really a question for Pharmaceutical Factory Head Yu Jinghong but for Zhang San.

Still, Qi Zhongye didn’t want to disturb the Senior Expert, so he asked Tan Junjie first.

Tan Junjie replied honestly, “Sir, this is news to me too.”

“Cut the crap!”

Qi Zhongye showed no mercy to the men he’d trained himself. “You and Yue Haiying are as thick as thieves. If he was already using that stuff, you dare play dumb with me?”

Tan Junjie answered sincerely, “Sir, Old Yue signed a secret trial agreement. You know how picky that Lord over in Territory Seven can be. He only told me after the rain.”

So Qi Zhongye called Yue Haiying for an update on Nutrient Source’s effects.

Standing at the window of his makeshift office made from shipping containers, Yue Haiying sounded full of energy. “The nutrient shake made with Nutrient Source and x-2 spinach juice worked even better than Fire Phoenix’s top product. It gave better recovery and quicker strength restoration.”

Qi Zhongye couldn’t keep the excitement out of his voice, even his breathing roughened. “So it’s just x-2 juice and one gram of Nutrient Source? No other medicines? Doesn’t need any special storage?”