Chapter 929: Stone Pillar Forest: Snipers and Soaring Threats

In the dense forest beneath the limestone pillars, the middle member of the three-person squad running for the giant eagle’s corpse was none other than Sang Chenglin of the Beast Squad, a Fifth-Rank Strength Evolver who recently captured a Dongyang Squad sniper and climbed to forty-third place on the Hui Three Base power rankings.

Sang Chenglin wasn’t a sniper. His only jobs in the eagle-hunting mission: haul the dead bird and climb the rankings.

Joining an S-class eagle extermination squad—even as a porter—meant a bigger boost in power value than from any regular task. After this, Sang Chenglin would almost certainly move up another spot or two.

Making it into a team on such a tough mission said a lot about Sang Chenglin. He was always the first to catch wind of new developments and had contacts everywhere.

The first time the Azure Dragon’s Night Heron openly joined a mission, she took down an S-class target and earned combat points. With a couple more feats like that, she’d make it onto the rankings for sure.

A squad’s power is the sum of each member’s strength. Only when a team’s total power reached a certain level could they take on more dangerous jobs—and attract high-level talent. That’s why, when someone broke into the top 100, their team usually rewarded them with credits and resources. It was the biggest reason Sang Chenglin kept pushing up the rankings.

Who knows if Zhang Ling cares about the rankings. As for Xia Qing, she couldn’t care less. She didn’t depend on those points to support herself.

Hidden in her cover, Xia Qing sent Luo Pei her updates—five shots, one kill—then immediately contacted Er Yong to check on things back at the territory.

After hearing that only a few raptors circled above the territory, that neither Section Three nor the Ninth Planting Center had suffered losses, and no one had realized the ‘Xia Qing’ in the territory was really Zhang Ling in disguise, Xia Qing wriggled and stretched like a caterpillar inside her nest, then sat cross-legged to study the dense greenery around the stone pillars.

These pillars were deep in Section Seven South Hill, at least a hundred miles from the human Southern Territory—the heart of the Evolved Forest where people rarely set foot. With such a prime vantage point, Xia Qing wasn’t about to waste the chance to scavenge for useful supplies.

After marking the spot of a towering fig tree on her phone, Xia Qing got Luo Pei’s reply:

“Excellent! Just a little over an hour and the bird wave will pass. Stay hidden. Yang Jin is commanding out on the western front, I’ll have him escort you back later.”

Xia Qing stared at the exclamation mark after ‘excellent’ for a few seconds, and a little smile tugged at her lips. Since that other giant eagle was still alive, she couldn’t just take the helicopter back openly with the others and risk blowing her cover. Sticking with Yang Jin’s squad would be the safest bet.

She sneaked a glance at the golden eagle opposite—still fluffed and glaring, too nervous to move. Xia Qing took a pack of Green Lantern wild boar jerky from her backpack, tore it open, tossed it out through the hide’s entrance and calmly addressed the cautious raptor: “Look, I’m not here to hurt you or steal your turf. I’ll be gone soon.”

The golden eagle, buried in the leaves of a vicious tree, didn’t so much as glance at the jerky. It just opened its beak and let out a low growl, telling Xia Qing to get lost.

Its magnetic sense wasn’t keen, but it was certainly smart. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have picked a nest between two Devastation Evolution trees, and known to tuck into the branches for cover during danger.

Judging by looks alone, this eagle might even outshine Xin Yu’s jade sea eagle. Xia Qing snapped a quick video and a couple photos on her phone—something to share with her bird-loving friend back home.

A few minutes later, as Xia Qing turned to examine the greenery to the northeast, the golden eagle’s feathers slowly smoothed out atop the next tree.

An hour and a half later, as the bird wave subsided and the Southern Defense Line withdrew, Commander Zhang Jingwu called Xia Qing on comms: “Night Heron, will you be returning to the Safe Zone with us?”

Bald Zhou, Mo Shaozhi and the others had already joined the Southern Defense Line. Only Night Heron, the last sniper, still hadn’t left the Stone Forest.

Xia Qing pressed her walkie-talkie: “Thank you, Commander. I’ll head back with my squad.”

“Understood. I’ll leave two men to protect you. Stay safe.” Night Heron was the Azure Dragon Squad’s best sniper and top-tier at Hui Three Base, so Zhang Jingwu took her security seriously.

Ever since Luo Pei had asked him to call up the senior snipers for the eagle ambush in the Stone Forest, and reserved the highest pillar for Night Heron, Zhang Jingwu was certain her aim was beyond even the elite.

Once the Southern Defense Line pulled out, Yang Jin’s squad arrived beneath the pillar. They exchanged the mission handover with the two remaining soldiers and contacted Xia Qing above.

To the backdrop of angry screeches from the ruffled golden eagle, Xia Qing crawled out of its nest, fished her backpack from the hide and pointed at the entrance. “The nest is all yours now. Trust me, it’s way more comfortable than sleeping on the branches. Thanks for letting me squat here.”

She’d earned sixty thousand credits today—it was only fair to pay a little ‘rent’ to the local landlord.

With that, Xia Qing quickly snipped a short branch from each Devastation Evolution tree and sealed them in glass vials, then took several rock samples. These trees generated strong magnetic fields but didn’t have physical attacks, which meant that their wood, leaves or sap probably contained deadly toxins. Xia Qing planned to bring samples back for Idol’s research.

Once she finished sampling, she leaned over the edge and waved at Yang Jin and the other two below. After they waved back, she pulled from her backpack a seventy-meter climbing rope, hooked its grappling end to a protruding rock and rappelled off the mountain top.

Only after the grappling hook bounced free and fell, did the fluffed-up feathers of the golden eagle begin to settle again.

“Xia Qing, that other giant eagle’s still above the clouds. Don’t worry, it won’t dare come down. Hold tight to the rope.” Just as Yang Jin’s voice called out on the walkie-talkie to cover Xia Qing with his gun, that distant eagle let out a piercing scream that split the air.

Xia Qing was ready—she didn’t flinch. On the treetop, the golden eagle’s feathers puffed out all over again.

“Got it!” That giant eagle wanted to rattle her nerves, make her panic and fall, but Xia Qing wasn’t the panicking sort.

There were three humans pointing guns at it anyway. No way that brain-eating bird would dare drop below 2,500 meters. Nothing to fear.

“Dang!” With one hand gripping a rock crevice, Xia Qing hung vertically from the cliff face, hooking the rappel rope’s grappling end tight in a fissure. While the giant eagle’s shrieks echoed, she made her descent smooth and steady.

She had to reset her rope four times before her feet finally touched the ground, where she greeted the three members of Qinglong Squad.

Besides Yang Jin, the other two were Wang Liang—the squad’s number five, a Dual Evolver with level-four speed and level-six jumping power—and Ma Jun, number nineteen with enhanced hearing and vision abilities.

Turned out both were dual-type Evolvers, not single-type like Xia Qing had assumed. They were key members of Yang Jin’s powerhouse squad.

Wang Liang’s eyes practically glowed looking at Xia Qing. Their squad now had two top-tier snipers. Simply put—they were unstoppable!

Fellow sniper Ma Jun gave Xia Qing a big thumbs-up. “Sister Qing, keep it up and next year we’ll boot that kid Nie Hong off the throne!”

Just last winter, when Xia Qing first came to Hill Forty-Nine for training, she’d still trailed Ma Jun’s marksmanship. Now, less than a year later, she was side by side with Luo Pei. At this pace, Ma Jun figured, Xia Qing would surpass Nie Hong and claim the top sharpshooter title in Huaguo by next summer.

As she coiled her rope, Xia Qing glanced at Yang Jin. “Can we get down to business? I spent over four hours up there getting hammered by Devastation Evolution plants. I need some Green Lantern plant to soothe my wounds.”