Chapter 793: New Channels and Dangerous Seeds

“Two sets of protective suits for dogs, three protective masks, and this—a fresh walkie-talkie!” Tang Huai handed the supplies to Xia Qing, curiosity bubbling in his eyes. “Boss, why have you been running around all day? What are you guys up to?”

Xia Qing checked the quality of the supplies and replied, “We’re clearing Scourge Grass roots.”

Tang Huai asked politely, “Can I go in and take a look? I’ll just stand on the hillside, I promise.”

“Sure.” Xia Qing was always generous when it came to the best trading partner on Blue Star.

Tang Huai followed Xia Qing happily through the northern gate of Section Three, past the wall of wild grass. Standing atop the high slope, he couldn’t help but shout, “Whoa! That whole stretch must be hundreds of acres! Old Goat cleared all of this? That’s unbelievable!”

Xia Qing’s face stayed calm. “Keep your voice down. Just stand here. If you charge down and make Old Goat mad, he’ll chase you and ram you.”

Tang Huai immediately raised his hand in a solemn pledge. “Don’t worry, I’ll be quieter than Hu Zifeng’s cat.” Old Goat was stronger than Tang Huai could imagine. If he got rammed, he figured he’d be meeting his great-grandmother real soon.

Xia Qing clipped the new walkie-talkie to her left shoulder and stashed the dog suits in the meeting room. Then she regrouped with Old Goat to clear more roots.

Watching Xia Qing standing on a long farm tool, getting pulled along at full speed by Old Goat, Tang Huai’s eyes nearly popped out with envy.

After four laps and nearly seventy acres of weeds cleared, Old Goat finally got thirsty and trotted off for a drink.

Seizing the moment, Xia Qing headed back up the slope to see Tang Huai off the territory.

With honest enthusiasm, Tang Huai offered to trade. “Sister Qing, let me try a round on that thing. Just one! Name your terms, I’ll give you anything you want!”

Xia Qing coolly turned him down. “Letting you watch from afar is already pushing it.”

Disappointment flashed in Tang Huai’s eyes, quickly replaced by a spark of hope. “Then what if I find a Strength-Evolved ewe and raise her in your territory for a while? Once she’s pregnant, I’ll take her home. Deal?”

“You can give it a shot, but no guarantees.” Tang Huai truly loved animals. If he could raise one of Old Goat’s offspring, his days would be set. The tricky part was finding a ewe strong enough to catch Old Goat’s eye.

Spring had passed and the red squirrels and swallows of the territory had all hatched or nested, but all Old Goat cared about was eating and fighting, showing absolutely no interest in raising a family. Honestly, he didn’t act like a normal adult ram at all.

“You never know until you try! There’s always a chance!” Tang Huai was brimming with energy. “The new walkie-talkie’s all set up. Channel 1 is for the Lords, Channel 2 is for the Northern Alliance. In half an hour, we’ll stop using the old Lord channel and switch to the new one.”

After leaving Section Three, Tang Huai revved up a flashy, fire-red off-roader and sped toward the northern gate of Section Four to deliver the walkie-talkie. Yesterday, his dad had someone bring the car over, so Tang Huai finally had wheels again.

Half an hour later, Tang Huai’s voice came through the new walkie-talkie, crisp as ever. “Attention everyone, this is the encrypted Lords’ channel. Members include the Lords and deputies of Sections 1 through 10, plus the Lords and deputies of 11, 12, 15 and 17, as well as two Inspection Team walkie-talkies. Outsiders can’t eavesdrop, so you can speak freely.”

Wen Nengjie was the first to chime in. “Thanks, Brother Huai! And thanks to everyone for letting me stick around. Holler if you need anything—I’ll always be here.”

Huo Lei was next. “Qi Fu, Zhao Ze—the knives you asked for are ready. Swing by this afternoon or tomorrow morning to pick them up.”

Qi Fu responded immediately. “Got it, thanks Uncle Huo. Brother Huai, this walkie-talkie is way clearer.”

“Got it, thanks Uncle Huo.” After thanking Huo Lei, Zhao Ze added his own appreciation for Tang Huai. “This walkie-talkie’s sound is crystal clear, no static, and the response time’s way better. A huge improvement over the old ones—thanks, Brother Huai.”

Shi Du, Zhu Li and Tan Qi all chimed in, thanking Tang Huai as well.

Riding high, Tang Huai launched into a long lecture about how he applied for the new channel, how the encryption worked, and just how he convinced his dad to procure the walkie-talkies.

Hu Zifeng eventually got bored, tossed his old walkie-talkie to Da Jiang, and kept clearing Scourge Grass on Hill Forty-Nine. The shiny new walkie-talkie from Tang Huai wasn’t meant for him anyway, but the Azure Dragon Squad’s own devices were just as good—plus, they were included in the new channel.

Same went for Sections Seven and Eight—they didn’t get new walkie-talkies either.

Xia Qing, bored by Tang Huai’s rambling, turned down the walkie-talkie’s volume and kept clearing roots with Old Goat.

“Tang Huai.” Zhang San logged on, sounding utterly lazy. “Your dad didn’t come?”

Tang Huai replied instantly, “The Safe Zone lost too much in the last Devastation Rain. My dad’s hands are tied for now. Third Brother, need something? Just tell me.”

Everyone else watched in silence…

Zhang San ignored Tang Huai and called out, “Xia Qing, if you’re free, drop by.”

Xia Qing answered straight away, “Not busy—I’ll be right there.”

Tang Huai immediately offered, “Sister Qing, want me to help look after your territory? Or lend a hand with the work?”

The others all fell silent again…

Before Xia Qing could answer, Da Jiang piped up. “Sister Qing, our squad leader is heading your way to Section Three now.”

Tang Huai muttered to himself, “Go on, go on! I hope Old Goat sends you flying to your ancestors!”

Once Hu Zifeng entered Section Three, Xia Qing loaded up a basket of eggs, a basket of vegetables, and more than twenty strawberries, then drove to Territory Seven.

She parked just outside and handed eggs and vegetables to Da Ya, while the strawberries went straight to Idol’s desk.

Zhang San picked up a plump red strawberry, took a bite, and looked pretty satisfied.

“There’s an unknown element in the mutated soybean plants on my land. It’s a Scourge compound—harmless in tiny doses, but as it builds up, it increases the risk of genetic mutations in animals, making their offspring weaker and shortening their lifespan.”

Zhang San took another bite, savoring the strawberry. “That soybean may have looked like a Green Lantern, but in truth, it’s already mutated into an aggressive Scourge-Evolved plant. That’s why your Magnetic Sense could pick up the anomaly.”

Xia Qing had suspected there was something off with that mysterious element, but she never expected it to be so sinister. “Third Brother, is this kind of aggressive evolution in Green Lantern soybeans just a fluke, or do you think the seeds from Fire Phoenix were faulty from the start?”

Zhang San picked up another strawberry and examined it closely. “If the seeds came from somewhere else, a random mutation would be likely. But these came from Fire Phoenix—so the chance there’s something wrong with them is much higher. Deng Yufeng created Fire Phoenix for survival, and for revenge. These seeds were engineered as gene weapons—your Magnetic Sense detecting an aberration just means this weapon failed.”

Revenge seeds?

Xia Qing frowned. “Fire Phoenix’s enemies should be those surviving researchers from those old underground experiments, right?”

So why had this ‘weapon’ found its way to her and Idol last October and November?

Zhang San took another strawberry bite. “Besides the underground experimenters, there are also beneficiaries and higher-ups—people who knew about those experiments but let them happen. Deng Yufeng considers all of them targets for revenge.”

Xia Qing didn’t argue. Anyone Fire Phoenix targeted was hardly innocent.