Chapter 866: Deals, Rumors, and Secrets in the Hidden Valley

Zhao Ze thought it was expensive, but Zhou Zhaoping felt the price made perfect sense.

“A 20-gram mid-grade Yi Stone goes for 240,000 credits these days. And remember, Yi Stones are literal lifesavers in the worst situations—they’re not meant to protect ordinary Green Lantern crops. The only reason the Azure Dragon Squad is letting us rent them so cheaply to protect valley crops is because of our leader’s connections,” he explained.

Tang Heng nodded. “Honestly, even at 240,000 credits, nobody would sell a Yi Stone unless they desperately needed points. Yi Stones are like gold was before the apocalypse—valuable and only going up. Credits can lose value overnight, but a Yi Stone holds steady. Unless Devastation and Yi Elements both vanish from the world, they’re solid.”

The Tang family even kept thirteen Yi Stones locked in their safe. Only during Devastation Rain periods would Tang Heng’s father hand out separated stones for each family member to wear, just in case.

Use it to protect farmland? They’d never even considered it. None of them owned rare plants precious enough to deserve it.

So, when they heard after joining the Alliance that the Azure Dragon Squad agreed to rent Yi Stones to Xia Qing to protect two acres of the Valley, the Tang family—minus Tang Huai—had only one reaction:

No way! Iron Rooster Yang Jin would never cut a deal like that!

Tang Huai, on the other hand, thought:

It’s possible. Tang Huai suspected Yang Jin was trying to steal Hu Zifeng’s thunder and win Xia Qing over. Otherwise, that workaholic wouldn’t keep running over to the Territory for no reason. Not that anyone bought his argument—his family ignored him completely.

Tang Zhengbo had an even bolder theory: the Azure Dragon Squad had captured the Yi Stones Tang Zhengsu took while fleeing, and handed some over to Xia Qing.

And why would they give them to Xia Qing? The night they hunted Tang Zhengsu down, there was an exceptional female sniper on the squad. Tang Zhengbo and Tang Ning both deduced from what they knew that this sniper was none other than Xia Qing.

Although Tang Heng didn’t really believe it was her, he agreed that the Yi Stone in the Hidden Valley had to belong to Xia Qing. After all, who else but Xia Qing, the diehard farmer, would actually use a precious Yi Stone on something that made just about everyone else want to scream?

“Two stones could be used within the Territory. If you split them into five-gram pieces,” Kuang Qingwei rattled off, “you could cover up to eight Territories, each with a five-gram piece able to protect 8.5 square meters.”

“8.5 square meters, three days, 3,000 credits—and that’s with a 30,000 deposit,” Shizhong shook his head. “Territory Ten’s out. When the third Devastation Rain hits, I’ll just haul the chicken coop to the Valley. Ask the guys at Territory Fifteen to help out for three days. That’ll only cost me 9 credits.”

Everyone else agreed with Shizhong. Zhou Zhaoping offered up a better idea: “If you want to permanently eliminate Devastation Element from a room in your Territory, look into greenhouse design principles.”

Tan Qi raised her hand. “Uncle Zhou, you mean use an air filtration system to clear Devastation Element out of a sealed space?”

Zhou Zhaoping smiled gently and nodded. “Qi Qi, do you know how air filtration works?”

Tan Qi answered right away. “I do! Our teacher covered it at school. You extract effective agents from Devastation-sensitive plants—they absorb the Devastation Element in the air. The very first Devastation Element filter was designed by Professor Fu Tianfeng.”

Everyone in the room straightened up at the mention of Fu Dalao. Becoming his ally made them proud.

While everyone else puffed up with pride, Xia Qing just felt for her idol. Idol had been locked in Devastation Element research since disaster first struck because he’s allergic to it. Xia Qing couldn’t imagine how he’d survived before inventing the filtration system—and before they found the Yi Stones.

“Qi Qi explained it perfectly—that’s the science behind it.” Zhou Zhaoping continued, “Air filtration systems are expensive on the market, but we have an advantage. We can grow Devastation-sensitive plants ourselves, get someone to extract their active ingredients, and place them in sealed spaces to absorb the Devastation Element.”

What’s that unique advantage? It went without saying. And who’d do the extraction for them? That answer was just as obvious.

Qi Fu chimed in next. “If we set up a room like this in our Territory and toss some ice inside, we could at least double our food’s shelf life! Only question is, will extraction be expensive?”

Kuang Qingwei laughed. “That depends on the quality of the Green Lantern food you can offer.”

As long as the food is delicious, Third Brother’s in a good mood. And if he’s in a good mood, he’s easy to work with.

“The Green Lantern fish in my pond will be ready to eat next month. Third Brother should like them,” Qi Fu said.

Zhao Ze looked troubled. “Third Brother isn’t into Green Lantern alfalfa, and the rabbits I breed are all Yellow Lantern types. I doubt he’ll be interested.”

The rabbits Zhao Ze raised were the ones Xia Qing traded to Section Four. Earlier, that big mother rabbit gave birth to another litter just before Devastation Rain. Thanks to Zhao Ze and his mom’s care, the babies all survived, but none turned into a cultivable optimized strain—they were still just Yellow Lantern.

Tang Huai announced confidently, “Third Brother will love my Green Lantern locusts. Ah Heng, trade them for me next time.”

The problem was, last spring, Third Brother blacklisted Tang Huai, and he’s still not off it.

Once the lively discussion wound down, Xia Qing got back on topic. “When Wen Nengjie finished clearing Scourge Grass with me, he hinted he wanted to get closer with our group.”

Tang Huai’s eyes went wide. “He knows about our Alliance?”

Xia Qing shook her head. “He figured out we formed a small circle, but he doesn’t know our group’s name.”

Yue Haiying, who had been quiet, finally spoke. “Even if we’re careful, the way we talk and always team up for outings makes it pretty obvious.”

“Sister Qing, are you thinking about letting him join us?” Zhu Li asked.

With everyone watching, Xia Qing shook her head. “Until the Hidden Valley is exposed, we’re not bringing in anyone new.”

Everyone let out a relieved breath. Kuang Qingwei nodded right away. “Good call, Sis. The fewer people who know the valley’s secret, the better. Let’s keep it that way as long as we can.”

Yue Haiying added, “Everyone, we’ll need to be even more careful from now on…”

After a few more reminders from Yue Haiying and others, just before they adjourned, Zhou Zhaoping asked, “Leader, if we ever expand, can we bring all Territories 1-26 into the Alliance?”

When he said ‘all,’ everyone immediately thought of Territory Fourteen. As one, they turned to look at Xia Qing.

Yan Meng was Xia Qing’s enemy.

Back during the second Devastation Rain, Territory Fourteen’s hired worker Liao Chen snuck a Devastation Snake into Territory Nine, unleashing a man-made calamity. He was caught by the Inspection Team, shipped off to the Safe Zone, and sentenced to fifteen years of forced labor.

Yan Meng, the lord of Territory Fourteen, lost multiple privileges due to negligence. Unlike other territories, he now had to pay for things other lords got for free, like pesticide and fungicide from the Territory Management Department.

Xia Qing was about to speak, but Zhu Li jumped in. “This morning I heard Feng Wen and Yan Meng arguing about clearing Scourge Grass. The reason? Feng Wen’s been pregnant for over a month, but Yan Meng still expects her to work.”

Wait, what?!

Everyone’s eyes widened. Feng Wen was pregnant?!

Tang Huai, never missing a bit of gossip, piped up, “Is it Yan Meng’s child?”

Zhu Li replied, “From what she said, it is.”

“Both Feng Wen and Yan Meng are Scent Evolutionaries. Their child’s almost guaranteed to be one, too,” Tang Huai mused, stroking his chin. “But that’s pretty useless for farming.”

If farming’s your goal, Strength Evolution is best. Hearing Evolution can help too—for digging up bugs.

Tang Heng couldn’t shake the feeling that Feng Wen’s pregnancy was more complicated than it seemed. “Her brother was killed during the first Devastation Rain last year. Not long after, she got involved with Tang Rui. She grew quickly, outmaneuvering the other women around him. On February 3 this year, when Tang Rui fled Hui Three Base, he took her with him. My dad always said—this woman’s no simple character.”