Chapter 937: Bartering on the Lords’ Channel

The moment Xia Qing heard the poison came from Fire Phoenix, a cold edge flashed in her eyes. “Third Brother, can we finally destroy that damned lab this time?”

Zhang San grew irritable at the mention of Fire Phoenix too. “Hui One runs deep. We can’t get any solid evidence. But I’m sure the poison that got Luo Pei last time and the stuff that hit Lu Fangchun and Wang Bo this time all came from the same group. Go grab some soybeans. See if Wang Wu has any direct proof this time.”

There was no need to ask—Wang Wu was the person who’d slyly swapped the soybeans and handed them to Li Si, who then passed them on to Zhang San. He or she was probably Li Si’s half-sibling. They took a similar route up Fire Mountain and were using the same method to find a way down.

“Got it. Rest up, Third Brother. Between our Alliance and the Hui Three Pharmaceutical, we’re chipping away at Fire Phoenix’s edge little by little. One of these days, they’ll be finished.”

After hanging up, Xia Qing called Yang Jin.

The Devastationweed growing in Section Three’s Spring Cave belonged to her and Yang Jin; what sprawled beneath the Wolf Den on Hill Fifty-Five was Xia Qing’s private reserve. Her plan was simple—only sell medicine made from the former, while the latter stayed stockpiled as strategic reserves for herself and the Wolf Pack. That’s why she was determined to learn the antidote to Synthetic Toxin from her Idol as soon as possible.

Now that she’d been brought into the core lab by her Idol, all she needed was to catch them in a good mood, and she’d be able to start learning pharmacy.

“Sure,” Yang Jin said easily. The two Devastationweed plants in Section Three’s Spring Cave had grown into five, and selling the leaves was just extra income. On the side, Yang Jin had news for Xia Qing. “Fu Xiaodan called me this morning, wanted to sell me 300,000 worth of ore block at a 10% discount, and asked to borrow a million credits.”

Borrowing money from the Iron Rooster? That had to come with a steep price.

Xia Qing asked, “Are they using territory for collateral?”

These days, credit meant nothing—without collateral, you couldn’t get a loan that size.

Yang Jin answered, “Two sections of territory and a two-bedroom apartment on the inner ring of Outer City. I checked the papers, the apartment really is Fu Xiaodan’s, but the Chen Deng family lives in it now. She Xing and Fu Xiaodan have completely severed ties with Chen Deng and left their team. They’re planning to settle on their own territory for good.”

Chen Deng’s family was living in that place, yet the deed belonged to Fu Xiaodan? That situation was a mess. Still, Xia Qing didn’t care about other people’s business and didn’t ask more.

Yang Jin only chuckled. “Sister Qing, want to buy a place in the Inner City? I can get you a five-percent discount.”

“Not interested.”

Xia Qing shut him down immediately. Even the cheapest apartments in the Inner City went for over a million credits. That place might be safe for most people, but not for her. For Xia Qing, nowhere was safer than here.

She unhooked the protective mask from her belt and put it on, heading to Greenhouse Six to snatch the real biological weapon—the Green Lantern Soybean engineered by Fire Phoenix.

After sensing a hostile plant magnetic field caused by soybean Devastation Evolution during the second Devastation Rain, Xia Qing had fenced off one patch of terraced field and half an acre of soybeans in Greenhouse Six with thorny branches. She’d also given her comrades a strict warning.

That stuff was a biological weapon—eating it would wreck your genes, and you’d pass it down to your kids!

She’d just reached Greenhouse Six when Zhang San’s lazy voice piped up on the Lords’ channel. “Xia Qing, you there?”

Xia Qing immediately pressed her walkie-talkie. “Here, Third Brother. Are you done?”

Zhang San responded, “Get me a young rooster.”

Everyone instantly paused their work by the water, fingers hovering over walkie-talkies. Once Xia Qing finished her deal with the Senior Expert, they’d all try to curry some favor—maybe trade for some Miracle Cure to stash away.

Xia Qing replied right away. “Got it. Third Brother, do you want some Green Light Sweet Potato too? I was checking vines earlier and found the spring crop has plumped up nicely. I could dig some up for candied sweet potato.”

Zhang San sounded as laid-back as ever. “Too sweet.”

Everyone: Scratch the Green Light Sweet Potato. Looks like the Senior Expert wants something lighter today!

Xia Qing tried again. “Would you like some boiled soybeans, Third Brother? My territory’s Green Lantern Soybean crop has been booming.”

Everyone: Can’t compete with that…

Zhang San sounded much more cheerful. “Bring me two pounds. Work out a trade with Zheng Chen.”

“No problem, Third Brother. Thanks! I’ll pick them right away!”

No sooner had Xia Qing spoken than Zhu Li’s voice came through. “Third Brother, we found a Green Lantern raspberry in the buffer forest inside Territory Six—nice and tart. Want some for dessert?”

Zhang San answered, “Sure. Raspberries make great medicine. Next spring, propagate a few more cuttings.”

“Got it, Third Brother. Thank you!” Zhu Li cheerfully went to pick raspberries.

Huo Lei jumped in next. “Third Brother, do you want braised rooster for lunch? I think my Green Lantern chili peppers might have evolved—a little less heat, a lot more sweetness. Might be just right for braising. Want to try a few?”

Zhang San’s interest was piqued. “Bring me four.”

“Got it!” Huo Lei set down the walkie-talkie and barked at his hapless son, “What are you standing there for? Go to the plant with the red ribbon, pick the plumpest, straightest peppers, four of them!”

Xia Qing, still armored up for picking soybeans, was also intrigued by the new pepper variety in Territory Eleven. She decided to trade seeds in a few days.

After pulling two pounds of soybeans, Xia Qing grabbed a bag and made her way to the Lower Slope, slipped under the grapevine trellis, moved aside the stone blocking the Spring Cave, and crawled in to cut Devastationweed leaves.

Even though she still had sixteen Devastationweed plants stashed in the cave on Hill Fifty-Five, each time she cut off a leaf she felt a little pang.

After nearly a year of cultivation, she could confirm what Zhang San’s notes had said: each Devastationweed plant only ever produced twenty leaves—no more, no less.

Once she clipped the large leaves from below, the smaller ones above would slowly grow in. But the bud wouldn’t ever sprout new leaves. In other words, after twenty leaves, the plant was done.

Last October, Yang Jin had brought back two Devastationweed plants from the Bai Seven Base, partnering with Xia Qing to plant them in Section Three’s Spring Cave. At the time, both were perfectly healthy.

In the past half year, Xia Qing had used five leaves to save a sickly cub, two for Alpha, five more to heal Wang Xin at the Safe Zone Hospital, four on an idiot Zhang San mentioned…with four more today, she’d have used half the leaves on those two original plants.

The Devastationweed seeds she’d sown in spring hadn’t even sprouted yet, and the three new plants grown by splitting were alive but growing so slow that she wouldn’t be able to harvest a single leaf until next year at the earliest.

In short, her stash in the cave would never keep up with the insane rate Fire Phoenix was churning out poison!

She sealed each Devastationweed leaf individually in small clear bags, mixing them into the bag of soybeans. The leaves were about the size of a thumb, colorless and transparent. Tossed in with more than two pounds of soybeans in a black bag, they blended right in.

But as Xia Qing reached the north slope and heard approaching footsteps, she suddenly stopped. It wasn’t Zheng Chen like Zhang San had said—it was Ji Li, another agent from Territory Seven.