Chapter 930: Risk and Reward in the Stone Forest

Yang Jin grinned. “Our car’s parked in the Southern Territory, sixty li away as the crow flies. We just need to make it there in four hours. Since we’re already here, why don’t we take a look around and see if there’s anything good before we go?”

No wonder he’s squad leader—he really knows how to focus on the important stuff!

Xia Qing packed up her rope and pointed northeast. “I spotted a fig tree bearing fruit under that stone pillar over there. Want to check it out? But be careful—this part of the Stone Forest has hyenas.”

Ma Jun agreed instantly. “Hyenas aren’t a big deal! Sister Qing took down a giant eagle from the sky. Boss, let’s go!”

Xia Qing couldn’t help but mentally sigh.

Wang Liang chimed in with a stat. “We haven’t found a Green Lantern fig tree at our base yet. On the bounty board, Green Lantern figs are worth 5,000 credits.”

Xia Qing thought, that’s right!

Yang Jin attached a military spike bayonet to his submachine gun, then turned to Xia Qing. “How are you feeling? How much can you carry?”

They were deep in the Evolved Forest where every step held danger. Yang Jin’s group had to stay mobile, so Xia Qing was in charge of supplies. She’d walk in the middle, carrying everything across 60 li of mountain trails.

Xia Qing, now a stage six-and-a-half Strength-Based Evolution fighter, assured them, “I can pack up all the fruits on that whole tree and carry them back, no problem.”

It’s just the usual trip from Hill Sixty to Section Three. Last fall, she ran the whole way in 2.5 hours while being chased by the Wolf Pack. She was faster and stronger now—hauling two hundred jin of figs back in under four hours would be a piece of cake.

“Alright. I’ll take point, Ma Jun on the left, Xia Qing on the right, Wang Liang covers the rear. Move out.” The four set off toward the fig tree.

Once the gathering team slipped into the dense woods, the giant eagle circling miles above abruptly changed course, heading northwest into the Evolved Forest.

When both the humans and eagle had clearly left, the golden eagle perched atop the first stone pillar finally dared to leap down from a Devastation Evolution tree, stretching its golden wings and grumbling as it circled its nest.

That tree looked close from the pillar top, but getting there meant battling the thick forest. It took the four over half an hour, dodging three aggressive Devastation Evolution plants and countless venomous bugs, before they finally saw the five-meter-tall fig tree Xia Qing had spotted.

A jutting rock blocked the tree from above, so even a helicopter scanning low over the Stone Forest might never notice it. Luckily, Xia Qing had a perfect vantage point and sharp eyes, or this gem of the Evolved Forest would have gone undiscovered.

But this pearl didn’t come without its shell—it wasn’t so easy to harvest.

“Grrr… rrrr! Grrrr!”

Thirteen half-evolved hyenas stood guard before the fig tree, some flanking the sides, others perched on top of the boulder, all growling low at the approaching humans.

Those growls had a clear message: Don’t come any closer.

“Stop.”

Yang Jin halted. Evolved hyenas were one of the major beasts in the Evolved Forest that humans weren’t allowed to provoke. If they pushed forward, it would count as a challenge, and a fight with the hyena pack would be inevitable.

Xia Qing whispered to Yang Jin, “Captain Yang, how about we back off to show we’re not a threat? Once we’re at a safe distance, the three of us distract the hyenas while you rush in and snap off a fruit-bearing branch. As long as we have a branch with ripe figs, I can propagate new saplings.”

With Yang Jin’s speed, grabbing a branch even with one or two hyenas guarding was a breeze.

Yang Jin nodded. “Don’t point your guns at them. Fall back slowly.”

“Hang on. I’ll grab a soil sample first.” With the others shielding her, Xia Qing quickly bagged some soil.

Xia Qing was no farming novice anymore. Once she tested this soil at base, she could customize an ideal mix for the fig saplings, raising the chances of successful propagation.

Just as the team prepared to retreat, Ma Jun, their Auditory Evolutionary, warned, “Boss, there’s movement behind us too. We’re surrounded by hyenas.”

Wait—they weren’t letting them leave? That was actually… great news!

The four immediately shifted formation, standing back to back as the hyena pack closed in. No one showed a hint of panic—since the hyenas struck first, whatever counterattack they chose would be justified.

Wang Liang, gripping his Twin Sabers, couldn’t resist joking, “These things have to be the ugliest mammals I’ve ever seen, right?”

Hyenas were definitely ugly, but Wang Liang wasn’t quite right. Xia Qing corrected him, “Hyenas belong to the Hyaenidae family under the suborder Feliformia—they’re not canines.”

So, they’re no close kin to Crippled Wolf—just distant relatives.

Ma Jun was impressed. “Sister Qing, you even know that? You’re awesome.”

“I just picked it up by chance,” she replied.

Crippled Wolf, who prided himself on being a scholar, found his distant kin fascinating. He’d pored over spotted hyena videos a dozen times, always pausing when confused to ask Xia Qing for explanations. No wonder she couldn’t forget those facts even if she tried.

Surrounded by more than thirty spotted hyenas, Yang Jin started giving orders. “Xia Qing, see that tree three meters ahead with the thick trunk? Can you kick it down?”

Thick trunk? Please. “I could kick down that one on the right with a trunk as thick as my waist.”

Yang Jin assigned tasks. “Alright. Xia Qing, you kick down the one on the right with the waist-thick trunk. Wang Liang, that leg-thick one behind you on the left. I’ll grab the fig branch. Ma Jun, your job’s to cover Xia Qing and Wang Liang. I’ll count to three, then you two go together.”

Xia Qing quickly added, “Captain Yang, if we add a roar while we kick, it’ll shake them up even more.”

She might never have tangled with a hyena pack before, but after living through the Wolf Pack vs. Bear Pack war up north, Xia Qing knew what she was talking about.

The hyena alpha in this Stone Forest hadn’t rushed in to attack—choosing to surround them instead. That meant they were still in the opening phase of animal combat: showing off their strength.

Were humans all that different from top-tier animals?

The era of humanity’s domination over Blue Star was long gone. Now, most survivors huddled within the Safe Zones’ towering walls. Few ventured out as evolved fighters. Unless a squad had to cross the Evolved Forest on a mission or hunt rare medicinal herbs, most stuck close to base, just hunting or gathering on the outskirts.

After the cataclysm, the total area of all human territory added up to less than 1% of Huaguo’s landmass.

Evolved beasts now controlled 99% of the territory—almost all born after the world’s evolution. They’d never witnessed human supremacy, and since humans wouldn’t provoke them first, they had no clue how cunning or dangerous people really were.

Look at this pack of evolved spotted hyenas. They ruled this stretch of stone forest, rarely seeing a human. Even though they’d heard humans hunt birds in the sky miles away and watched them kill a giant eagle atop the forest, once four people came near their core territory, they still rallied over thirty packmates to surround the intruders and defend their home.

If they won, the invaders would be dinner. If they lost, they’d either flee and surrender the territory, or end up as food themselves.

Of course, Xia Qing’s group could easily wipe out this hyena pack, grab every last fig and even uproot the whole tree if they wanted.

But that would throw the Stone Forest’s ecosystem into chaos. Who knows what kind of disaster that chain reaction could bring?

Right now, humanity’s biggest threats were food shortages and ever-evolving microbes—not these animals who didn’t attack human land.

Yang Jin had plenty of combat experience in the Evolved Forest, but when it came to understanding animal behavior, he trusted Xia Qing more. “Got it. We roar first, then kick the trees, then shout at full volume.”