Chapter 809: The Price of Betrayal

“Captain Yang.”

8:30 PM, Meeting Room, Section Three.

Prepared as always, Xia Qing played the video evidence for Yang Jin. “You recognize this person, don’t you?”

The footage wasn’t all that clear, a bit shaky too, but the Azure Dragon Squad insignia on the mask and right sleeve of the figure hiding in the woods was unmistakable.

Yang Jin, freshly showered and spotless from head to toe, nodded. “That’s one of the Azure Dragon Squad members I assigned to Hill Fifty—Level Four Scent Evolutionary Xue Yuan.”

Xue Yuan was a veteran of the Azure Dragon Squad, having fought alongside Yang Jin and Xie Yu since the early days of the Cataclysm. His defection and suicide had left the three leaders of the squad furious and heartbroken. If Xia Qing hadn’t been quick-witted and Yan Long hadn’t acted fast, the consequences of Xue Yuan’s betrayal would have been unimaginable.

As long as Yang Jin admitted it, things would go smoothly.

Xia Qing kept the footage rolling. “On May 15th, during the Devastation Rain, Xue Yuan disobeyed orders. Instead of guarding the high-risk area, he snuck over to the parking lot to plant landmines, then waited with a sniper rifle, aiming to finish off any targets who survived the blast—namely, me, the manager of Hill Fifty.”

Ji Li had already interrogated the defectors captured by Yang Jin and Xia Qing, uncovering both their plan and how they split the work. Their goal was clear: kill Xia Qing.

Yang Jin looked at Xia Qing, whose expression never shifted from businesslike seriousness, and apologized sincerely. “I’m sorry.”

Over the years, he’d quietly taken care of eight people scheming against Xia Qing—ones she couldn’t handle herself. Even so, he’d slipped up twice.

The first time, the plan hadn’t been thorough enough and Yan Meng managed to escape the Evolved Forest alive. This was the second failure, and this time the threat came from his own squad.

There won’t be a third time.

“Azure Dragon Squad has hundreds of members. As the leader, you can’t track every single one. As Hill Fifty’s manager, I share responsibility for missing this.” Xia Qing spoke honestly, never trying to pin everything on Yang Jin.

When Yang Jin finally smiled, Xia Qing handed him the first itemized list of damages. “Xue Yuan detonated his own explosives during the Devastation Rain, causing a Devastation Explosion. Both blasts destroyed the parking facilities at Hill Fifty, damaged two off-road vehicles, and blasted apart a section of Evolved Forest. The immediate and restoration costs add up to 152,900 credits.”

Then Xia Qing passed over another list. “On top of the direct losses, the explosion triggered a red-level Devastation Rain, forcing us to pull manpower and supplies for emergency relief. That cost us another 85,600 credits.”

“So all together, Xue Yuan’s betrayal cost Hill Fifty a total of 238,500 credits. According to our previous contract, the Azure Dragon Squad needs to pay double the damages, which comes to 447,000 credits.”

With her statement done, Xia Qing took a sip of tea and silently applauded herself.

She’d laid everything out clearly, even showing she understood how busy he was, successfully making Yang Jin feel guilty about his mistake in picking people.

Well done—if Crippled Wolf could see this, he’d have no choice but to admit it.

The compensation amount Xia Qing listed was much higher than Yang Jin had expected. He studied the lists carefully and then began to haggle.

He rewound the footage and pointed at the off-roader shown pinned under a thick tree and huge stones. “Is this the one that got damaged in the parking lot?”

Xia Qing nodded. “That’s one of them. If you skip ahead another minute and 15 seconds, you’ll see the other vehicle.”

Yang Jin hesitated. “That’s a military off-roader. Getting hit by a few branches and rocks shouldn’t cause any real damage. How did you come up with 68,000 credits for repairs on the itemized list?”

Xia Qing remained steady as a monk. “Both belong to Territory Seven. The damage checks and repair estimates came from Yan Long, their security team leader. I’m not an expert in that area, so if you want clarification, I can call Yan Long over right now and have her explain it directly?”

Yang Jin instantly gave in. “It’s already late, no need to trouble Captain Yan for a trip. I trust her professional judgment. Next: why are the 28 blasted trees each valued at 2,000 credits?”

These days, Evolved Forests cover Blue Star. Trees are everywhere—how could they be worth that much?

Xia Qing pulled up field images, edited and marked with red circles, and gave her technical explanation. “They look ordinary, but all 28 were on the edge of the high-risk zone. After last winter’s poison gas attack changed the soil, plus a round each of Devastation Rain and Devastation Snow, these 28 out of 94 trees still kept their Yellow Lantern quality and grew vigorously.”

“I had samples tested and reported to the Hill Fifty Test Zone supervisor, who determined all 94 trees had high research value and included them in the next phase of the soil remediation project. See these pictures from April? All candidate trees already have numbered tags.”

Yang Jin got it. “So these aren’t just any trees—they’re research subjects. And before the research even started, we just lost 30% of them.”

Xia Qing caught his meaning. “It’s not just a 30% loss in quantity. We also lost 25% of the species diversity. There were eight species to study, now only six left. Chances are, the two missing species could have been the key to restoring the polluted zones quickly.”

“I can’t prove it, but I’ve got every reason to suspect Xue Yuan blew up those particular trees on purpose, especially the ones critical for remediation.”

Yang Jin looked at Xia Qing’s serious face and grinned. “Guess Sister Qing was right, you really do have to look at someone with new eyes after just a few days. For trees this important, 2,000 credits each isn’t much. But could you lower the price on the other species? Keeping a few hundred people fed isn’t easy. Help me out with some wiggle room?”

Now he’s playing the handsome card, huh? He must’ve figured out she had a soft spot for good looks.

Doesn’t matter how nice that smile is, she’s not backing down—not even a little!

Xia Qing shook her head, poker-faced. “Captain Yang, you’re too modest. Azure Dragon Squad is the top team at our base now. This amount of credits is nothing to you.”

“Sure, our earnings are up from before,” Yang Jin said, realizing Xia Qing was holding firm, so he changed tack, “but we’ve also taken on double the base defense responsibilities. Our expenses have shot up too. Am I paying for all of Hill Fifty’s losses personally?”

Xia Qing answered with absolute clarity. “Of course not. This is just the part you’re responsible for.”

Yang Jin leaned forward, smiling with those clever fox-like eyes at the increasingly dazzling and confident Xia Qing, whose glow made his heart race.

“What’s Azure Dragon’s share? If I’m not paying it all, who are you going after for the rest—Hui One Military? Fire Phoenix? They’ve got deeper pockets than us.”

With looks like his, it’s dangerous to stare for long—makes it way too easy to get distracted. But Xia Qing wasn’t backing down now.

She also leaned in, resting her elbow on the table and getting close to this smiling fox, returning a smile that was even more professional than Assistant Xiao Liu’s. “Who I chase for the remainder isn’t something I can tell you as Hill Fifty’s agent. Captain Yang, business first, all right?”

As Xia Qing smiled and leaned in, Yang Jin’s highly evolved mind just… blanked out.

Sitting across the table, Xia Qing, Level Nine Vision Evolutionary, raised a brow at Yang Jin’s dumbfounded look.