Chapter 795: Precious Sugar and Dangerous Secrets

Watching Xia Qing pull out one snack after another from every pocket, Zhang San stopped complaining. “Why are you carrying so much food?”

Xia Qing answered earnestly, “I was terrified of starving before. Carrying more food just makes me feel safer. These egg snacks and pork jerky were made by Er Yong, and the original flavor bamboo shoots—I learned that recipe from Auntie Shi. Want to try some?”

Zhang San tore open the package of bamboo shoots and tasted a piece. “You should really use cane sugar for this. Beet sugar leaves a grassy aftertaste, ruins the freshness of the shoots. Also, you went heavy on the salt.”

Xia Qing explained, “Green Lantern cane sugar is expensive and it’s tough to find good quality anyway. I’ll use less salt next time.”

Cane is a plant highly sensitive to Devastation Element exposure, so it has to be completely isolated during growth. That’s why all cane-based products are so pricey.

Before joining the Territory, Xia Qing couldn’t afford to buy sugar. It wasn’t until after she arrived last year that she exchanged for some beet sugar from Yellow Lantern beets. After getting poisoned by a gas bomb last November, she only used Green Lantern foods for recovery, eventually switching to Green Lantern beet sugar.

Still chewing on a bamboo shoot, Zhang San walked into the back room lined with jars and bottles. He soon returned, handing Xia Qing a heavy two-pound bag filled with fine, snowy-white sugar.

“This is white sugar made from Green Lantern cane. Make a pound of original flavor bamboo shoots for me—the rest is payment for your ingredients and labor.”

With the precious white sugar in her hands, Xia Qing’s eyes lit up. Idol might be picky, temperamental, and prone to holding grudges, but he was still the best idol on all of Blue Star—the gold standard at the very top!

“Thank you, Third Brother! This sugar is way too valuable—there’s no way processing costs that much. I’ll make three pounds of bamboo shoots and send them over to you.”

Zhang San nibbled another piece of dried bamboo. His mood visibly improved. “No need. We’re cultivating a new high-yield variety of premium cane. Grows fast, produces a lot, so the sugar doesn’t cost much.”

Xia Qing’s eyes widened in excitement. “Third Brother, did you manage to overcome the cane’s sensitivity to Devastation Element?”

If only it were that simple!

Zhang San shot her a look. “Still has to be grown in a standardized greenhouse, fully isolated from Devastation Element for its whole life.”

“Being able to cut those cultivation costs is still amazing!”

Zhang San just stared at her.

“It’s actually Zhang He and Zhang Tao who are leading that research.”

“You’re incredible for recruiting so much top talent and giving them the right environment and support. That’s why they’re able to achieve results like this. It’s all thanks to you!”

Pushing aside the urge to chase her out, Zhang San got straight to business. “Don’t touch a single soybean plant in your Territory. Let them keep growing. After the harvest, send some over. I’ll have people compare soybeans grown under different conditions and look for evidence of Devastation compounds. That way, no one will suspect you have Magnetic Sense.”

“Understood.” Devastation-evolved soybeans require Magnetic Sense to locate. If the unusual soybeans drew suspicion, people might connect them to Xia Qing. She was already known to be a dual-element evolved fighter—any more abilities would just make her a bigger target.

“From now on, never eat the leaves or beans of any soybean grown from the seeds I gave you, whether or not they’ve undergone Devastation Evolution. The few hundred soybeans you swapped with Li Si—those sprouted from Green Lantern eggs—should just be regular Green Lantern soybeans.”

Xia Qing had plenty of staple food, so she never ate bean sprouts. No, Idol was warning her about Old Goat in Section Three, who was grazing in her pastures.

Xia Qing’s heart ached. “Since the beans from both exchanges looked exactly the same—same color, size, quality—I thought they were the same type, so I mixed them when I sowed the field.”

“Give them all up, then.”

“Got it.”

Half an acre and a section of terrace planted with soybeans for three months—all now classified as inedible and poisonous. Before the Devastation Rain, Xia Qing had even been planning to pick some pods and boil up fresh soybeans.

Now that she thought about it, the danger left her cold.

Zhang San appreciated Xia Qing’s decisiveness. He pulled out a red-stamped document from his drawer and handed it over. “The approval for the Ninth Planting Center just came through. I’m the project lead. You’re the direct manager. Zhang Tao will handle technical guidance.”

“The Base Director asked about giving hiring priority to veterans. I’ve agreed. Check the file—the plan and the planting schedule are attached. Coordinate with Zhang Tao as soon as you can, then start recruiting and construction.”

“Understood!”

Xia Qing stood up and took the document with both hands.

Zhang San reminded her, “During the Devastation Rain, a guard from Hill Fifty escaped into the Evolved Forest and still hasn’t been found. Be careful going in and out of the Valley.”

That accident during the Devastation Rain at Hill Fifty involved five people. Two were researchers from Territory Seven—both captured. One was a security guard Xia Qing hired from Azure Dragon Squad—Yan Long killed him. The other two were security guards from Territory Seven—one caught, one escaped.

Xia Qing nodded. “Third Brother, how’s this accident being handled?”

“Fire Phoenix is settled. I’ll handle Hui One’s side officially. Go sort things out with Qinglong yourself.”

“Got it!” Who’d have thought one of her hired guards would betray her? Xia Qing made a mental note to have a serious talk with Yang Jin and demand he compensate for Hill Fifty’s losses.

Just thinking about how much it would pain Iron Rooster to fork over the money made Xia Qing eager for results.

Zhang San brought up the third reason he’d called Xia Qing over. “One more thing—the Valley had an incident…”

After leaving Zhang San’s office, Xia Qing hurried down the hall toward Yan Long, who was quietly waiting by the corridor. “Sister Yan, what happened to the Azure Dragon team member who was killed at Hill Fifty? Can you tell me what really happened? Third Brother put me on the follow-up for this.”

Yan Long nodded, leading Xia Qing to the office.

It wasn’t until they were almost there that Xia Qing realized they’d have to pass through Section Seven’s monitoring room to get to the office.

Unlike the slapdash setup in Xia Qing’s place, Section Seven’s monitoring room had an entire wall covered with screens, each showing live camera feeds. There was also a row of desktop computers, five guards seated in front, eyes glued to updates from Section Seven and the Hill Fifty Danger Zone.

As soon as Xia Qing entered, Huo Zhun leaped up from his workstation to announce himself. “Sister Qing, long time no see!”

Xia Qing nodded back. “Huo, it’s been a while.”

Yan Long glanced back at Huo Zhun, rolling her eyes, then beckoned Xia Qing into the inner office. She retrieved footage from the Devastation Rain mission on her computer—the operation at Hill Fifty—and started playing it.

The video was recorded from a device on Yan Long’s shoulder and lasted over half an hour. Xia Qing scanned through it quickly, then asked, “Sister Yan, can I have a copy of this?”

“Sure.” Hill Fifty was a contaminated zone established for pollution management after a chemical disaster and was under Zhang San’s P3 Lab. As the person in charge of Hill Fifty, Xia Qing had the authority to access all surveillance footage.

When Xia Qing reached for the USB drive holding the video, she noticed Yan Long quietly watching her. Xia Qing calmly met her gaze, waiting for Yan Long to ask about the Hidden Valley.

Back in Idol’s office, Xia Qing had heard that Yan Long used her sense of smell during the Devastation Rain mission at Hill Fifty to discover the presence of the Hidden Valley.

Only now did Xia Qing learn: after Shi Jiaran ‘escaped’ from Hui One Research Institute during the sixth year of calamities, Hui One Base sent out six search teams to find her. Yan Long led that operation.

Although that mission happened five years ago, there was no doubt Yan Long still remembered its failure—and perhaps still remembered Shi Jiaran’s scent.

Did she find something back then?

For Shi Jiaran—pregnant and weak—to escape Yan Long’s search, was it just luck and Zhang San’s miraculous medicine?

They stared at each other for a few seconds. Yan Long said nothing, just turned and led the way, but Xia Qing couldn’t shake the feeling Yan Long now knew everything.