Chapter 789: After the Storm: Clearing Away the Aftermath

To make it easier for Er to feed the fish, Xia Qing moved a few stone slabs over to the pond’s edge and turned the bamboo tube into a rack for the basket.

With a grin, Er stepped onto the stone slabs and happily tossed feed to the fish while Xia Qing and Old Goat kept cutting down the Devastation Grass.

Her plan was to finish cutting all the Devastation Grass in the northern part of the territory that the rotary tiller could handle within two days. Once the ground dried out a bit, she’d have Old Goat harness up the heavy iron rake and pull out any remaining Devastation Grass roots from the soil, let them dry, then burn them.

As for the Devastation Grass in the south of the territory and inside two abandoned villages, she’d hire workers from other territories to clear it out.

The moment Tang Huai heard the familiar sound of the rotary tiller from Section Three, he knew Xia Qing was up. He started posting messages in the Lords’ channel: “You all heard, right? Several territories in Section Two North got hit by Devastation Explosions—a total of 84 dead and 45 wounded.”

People injured in the Devastation Explosion already had their bodies pierced through by the Devastation Element. Without quick and proper treatment, they wouldn’t last long. Everyone felt the weight of the news but couldn’t help feeling a little relief that the furious wind on the first day of Devastation Rain had swept the thunderclouds away just in time from their territories.

Still, no one dared say that out loud with so many eavesdroppers in the Lords’ channel. Word got out too easily and you’d make enemies.

Qi Fu asked, “Brother Huai, how many territories in Section One North blew up? Did anything happen to Territory Forty-Eight?”

After harvesting the winter wheat next month, it would be time for summer planting. Territories weren’t short on green manure, but animal manure was in short supply and needed to be bought. The earthworm castings from Territory Forty-Eight were their main source of fertilizer.

Xia Qing had already reached out to Sun Zhe in Territory Forty-Eight and learned they’d suffered little damage, so she didn’t need to say anything.

Tang Huai really was on top of things. “I think it was six territories. Nothing happened to Territory Forty-Eight, so don’t worry about the earthworm castings running out.”

Zhao Ze came online. “Six territories—is that six Devastation Explosions?”

“Just four. Two explosions happened right on the border between two territories each. If they’d hit the center, the casualties would’ve been way worse.” Huo Lei chimed in too.

Because customers from Section Two North had called to order shovels and plows, Huo Lei had heard about what was going on over there.

Wen Nengjie let out a sigh as well. “The people from Territory Thirty-Five were hiding in their basement, and then the Devastation Explosion hit it. No one got out—with barely a full corpse left.”

Kuang Qingwei asked, “Brother Huai, how many Devastation Explosions went off in the Safe Zone?”

Tang Huai replied, “Forty-two. The current tally is more than 4,500 deaths directly from the explosions, but that’s definitely not the final count. Wen Nengjie, anything on your end?”

Back when Wen Nengjie and his crew were in the Safe Zone, they did corpse collection and cremation, which earned him the nickname ‘Renjie.’ He farmed now, but he clearly still had some contacts from those days. How else could he know about what happened to Territory Thirty-Five?

Wen Nengjie answered, “Not even a quarter of the bombed areas inside the Safe Zone have been cleared yet. Once it’s all done, the death count could easily double—this time our Safe Zone took an awful blow.”

Zhu Li came online: “If that’s the case, then the death toll from the second Devastation Rain in year eleven of the calamity will definitely push our base past thirty thousand lives lost, dropping our total population below 1.85 million.”

Since she left the Safe Zone, more than 150,000 people had died from Devastation Rain and Devastation Snow. Xia Qing gripped the steering wheel and stared ahead, focused on harvesting Devastation Grass.

Hearing those numbers, Jiang Ying’s mother, who was pulling Devastation Grass in the yard, was stunned.

During the Devastation Rain, she’d watched the wild growth of Devastation Grass and aggressive, rampaging plants in their territory and had been scared half to death. Back then, she thought this place was dangerously unsafe. But now, it seemed the Safe Zone was even worse.

When trouble broke out in Territory Fifteen, the Inspection Team and people from other territories came to help clear things the locals couldn’t handle. After a full Devastation Rain, only three people in the territory were lightly injured and no one died. Plus, living here, you didn’t have to worry about someone breaking in to rob you.

Tang Huai kept sighing in the Lords’ channel: “Our Section One North has the lowest casualty count. The number of people worshiping the Divine Wolf in the Safe Zone must’ve gone up yet again. I’m sure the only reason our family’s business hasn’t been affected by the explosions is because I do plenty of offerings to the Divine Wolf.”

Jiang Ying’s mother’s eyes widened. “I’m buying two Divine Wolf statues when I get back—one for your place and one for our dorm in the Safe Zone.”

Pulling up Devastation Grass, Jiang Ying paused and turned to her mom. “Mom, the food and living conditions here are so much better than at the Food Factory in the Safe Zone. Why not stay here with us?”

Her mother shook her head. “That official job took a lot of effort to get—how could I just give it up? Especially with all these disasters, something big could happen at any moment. With me working in the Safe Zone, at least we have a backup plan.”

Jiang Ying knew her mother had a point but still hated the thought of being apart, so she kept weeding in silence.

“Waaah, Uncle, save my mom! Please!” Six-year-old Tan He sobbed into the phone, begging his uncle Tan Junjie to help his mother.

Not hearing her eldest son say a word, Mrs. Tan held her grandson close and took the initiative: “Jie, Junchao’s wife is pregnant. Even if she’s made mistakes in the past, for the baby’s sake, can’t you help? The hospital is packed with the injured, and she’s showing signs of miscarriage. She has to lie in the hallway, and if someone accidentally steps on her…”

Tan Junjie calmly cut her off. “Mom, is there anything else?”

Mrs. Tan was stunned by how coldly her eldest son interrogated her and looked helplessly at her younger son. Gritting his teeth, Tan Junchao spoke up, “Brother, are you really that heartless?”

Tan Junjie hung up without another word.

Su Ming, who was clearing Devastation Grass nearby, heard the whole call and couldn’t help but mutter, “His wife is already in the hospital. What more can the boss even do?”

Yuan Rui shot him a glare, warning him not to gossip about Tan family’s business.

They stopped talking, but over in Territory Six, Zhu Li couldn’t care less about the drama. She grabbed her sickle and hurried to catch up with her husband, muttering, “What else do they expect? Clearly, they want Captain Tan to bring his sister-in-law to live in Territory Fifteen so they can spoil her, then beg Third Brother to prescribe medication for her pregnancy. Pah! Did she care if Tan Qi was just a child when she raised a knife at her? And now she questions who’s heartless?”

Kuang Qingwei caught on immediately. “So they’re trying to use Tan Qi’s grandmother to put pressure on Captain Tan. Eleven years into these disasters and they’re still this naive? I guess they’ve been sailing along on Captain Tan’s goodwill and never really suffered any hardship.”

“Now their good days are over…” Zhu Li didn’t finish before Yu Shou asked in the Lords’ channel, “Sister Qing, you there?”

“Here.”

With Xia Qing now online, everyone pricked up their ears.

Yu Shou asked, “Sister Qing, is this a good time? My brothers and I can head over now to help clear the Devastation Grass in your territory.”

Wen Nengjie, gripping his sickle, shot him a tiger-eyed glare, but what he said was all politeness: “Brother Yu, after the first Devastation Rain, Sister Qing booked me and my brothers to help her clear the Devastation Grass. My wind-flipped greenhouses hit me hard. We’re relying on odd jobs like this to earn credits, buy grain seeds, and rebuild.”

Polite as he was, Wen Nengjie had no intention of letting Seventeen snag this rare chance to get close to Xia Qing. He wanted nothing more than to charge into Territory Seventeen right now and lay Yu Shou’s whole crew flat.

So what if they’re Strength-Based Evolution fighters? Or ex-soldiers? Go check the Safe Zone and see how many people who tried to poach my business are still breathing!