Chapter 942: Hidden Messages and Subtle Alliances

After quietly waiting for Ji Li and his teammate to run off, Xia Qing finally stepped out from behind the tree, scanned her face to enter the north gate of Section One, then passed through the northern gate to reach her own territory.

Xia Qing was curious about where Ji Li and his teammate were headed, but she wouldn’t risk following them. She wasn’t a match for Ji Li—trailing them would just be asking for trouble.

Xia Qing never did anything that could get her killed.

Stepping back into her territory, Xia Qing spotted a small white cube on the ground, about the size of a dice. She used a bag to pick it up, carried it past the wild grass wall, down the slope, and into the meeting room by the fields.

After drawing the curtains and switching on the light, Xia Qing kept her protective mask on as she examined the tiny cube, which was already squished out of shape from her grip—a little folded paper box.

Once she was sure it was safe, Xia Qing still didn’t remove her mask or gloves. She unfolded the paper and found a line written inside:

Don’t eat the soybeans. The seeds are tainted. Don’t tell Third Brother—Ji.

Ji Li’s handwriting was just like the man himself—meticulous and by the book.

Xia Qing stared at the words ‘Third Brother’ on the slip for a long while before pulling out her lighter and burning the paper to ash. She turned off the light and went out to pick some greens for dinner.

Sha, sha…

Old Er crossed over from the western buffer forest during his patrol and grinned at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing scratched his chin and said softly, “Old Er, there’s still that frozen Green Lantern rabbit you caught yesterday in the fridge. I’ll make us pumpkin stew with rabbit and a boiled egg tonight, sound good?”

Old Er wagged his tail, falling in beside Xia Qing as they climbed up the hillside.

She paused by Greenhouse Six, peering through her night vision goggles at the patch of nearly ripe soybeans.

In Territory Seven, apart from Zhang San and Yan Long, Ji Li was the one Xia Qing interacted with most. Yet even with the soybean switch and Ji’s secret note, she felt little emotion—only a drive to figure out his motive.

After all, Ji Li was originally sent by Hui One, which was now tied closely with Fire Phoenix.

Ji Li was definitely carrying out orders when he switched the soybeans. But slipping her the note—was that another directive, or was he acting on his own?

If it was the former, that was a truly clever move.

If it was the latter, the fact that Ji Li didn’t say it face to face or over the phone meant he was under surveillance too. Even so, he found a way to warn her, which meant—like Yan Long—Ji had loyalties of his own beyond the orders he followed.

After all, that slip of paper was evidence Xia Qing now held against him. And the note used the affectionate ‘Third Brother’ instead of the official ‘Lord’ the guards normally used.

Could it mean that, even though Ji Li followed Hui One’s orders, he genuinely respected Zhang San as a person?

Don’t tell Third Brother? Too late—he knows now.

There was no point overthinking without proof. Xia Qing let it go, hurried after Old Er, and went with him to pick vegetables.

Next day, Xia Qing brought Monkey and Little Fei Mao to Territory Seven for their follow-up checks.

Since both animals had been saved by people in Territory Seven, Ji Li wasn’t suspicious, but Zheng Chen was quite interested.

He’d arrived late and only seen Monkey once, never Red Squirrel. On the way to Zhang San’s office, Zheng Chen asked curiously, “Is the little squirrel an evolved one too?”

Xia Qing answered with a straight face but made something up. “She’s not even four months old. She’s been a bit off since that hawk scratched her last time, so I brought her for Third Brother to check.”

“Looks pretty chubby to me. Should have no problem growing up,” Zheng Chen said, remembering hearing from Ji Li’s squad about Xia Qing’s failed attempt to adopt an evolved cat. So it didn’t seem strange to him that she’d have a cute little squirrel as a pet. “That monk-faced monkey’s looking a lot better too.”

“Yeah,” Xia Qing replied, taking the animal cage from him and entering Idol’s office.

Zhang San immediately called for Zhang Song to come and take the animals for their checks.

“Ah—”

Monkey, huddled in the cage, was terrified. He stretched out his tiny black fingers, reaching for Xia Qing.

Xia Qing pulled two Green Lantern figs from her pocket, opened the cage, and handed one to Monkey. “Go on with Brother Song for your checkup. You’ll be back in no time.”

With a fig in his hands, Monkey instantly calmed down. Xia Qing then gave another fig to the Red Squirrel, who had been trying to slip out and crawl back into her pocket, and patted her little head.

“That monkey—is he a brain evolution user?” Zhang Song was surprised at how gently Xia Qing treated him.

Zhang San shot him a look. “Have you ever met a primate that wasn’t smart after evolving?”

“Fair point,” Zhang Song chuckled, picking up the cage. “I’ll go run some tests.”

Zhang San reminded him, “Just check how Red Squirrel’s wounds are healing.”

“Got it!”

After Zhang Song left, Xia Qing lowered her voice and told Zhang San about Territory Fourteen and the secret note.

Reclining in his chair, Zhang San replied tiredly, “Ji Li’s wife and child are both in Hui One’s Safe Zone. He’s got a lot more to worry about than Yan Long.”

Xia Qing asked, “Do you think Ji was honestly warning me for my own good?”

Zhang San nodded. “This time I think he was. But if Hui One tells him to come after you, he won’t go against orders—so be careful. Also, looks like Fire Phoenix hasn’t been straight with Hui One’s leaders. They know the seeds are tainted, but not what’s actually wrong. Otherwise, Ji Li would have been ordered to destroy the soybeans, not just swap them.”

No matter where they stood, the management at Hui One would never want bioweapon seeds to spread and reduce the base’s population quality.

“So what do we do, Third Brother?” Xia Qing asked.

At the question, Zhang San grew irritated. “Harvest the beans as usual, then stash them in Territory One’s grain warehouse as soon as you can. Someone will try to swap them back, so just pretend you know nothing. Leave the rest to me.”

“Got it. Good thing they ripened before the third Devastation Rain. Otherwise, if a Magnetic Sense evolved from Territory Nine set foot in my fields, we’d have been exposed.” Finishing with the beans, Xia Qing dropped her voice and asked, “Third Brother, does Ji know about Tang Huai’s evolved ability?”

Zhang San wasn’t surprised that Xia Qing had figured out Tang Huai’s special power.

“It’s not just Ji Li and the people from Hui One who know—even the folks from Red One do. Otherwise, how do you think the Devastation Element Antidote got approved? Don’t worry about Tang Huai’s safety. His dad and the Hui Three military both have people guarding him.”

“That’s a relief. Now we can keep growing the cordyceps fungus.” Xia Qing dropped her voice again. “Third Brother, why can’t Zhang Shi be like Tang Huai?”

Shiyi would soon be school-age. Zhang Shi couldn’t hide out in a cave forever.

Zhang San took off his glasses and rubbed his brow, “Tang Huai’s evolved liver produces three special enzymes, which give him better metabolism, detoxification, secretion, and immunity than normal. There are twelve labs nationwide—including mine—doing in-depth research on those enzymes, and we’ve already made a breakthrough. Within six months, we should be able to clone the genes and use microorganisms as vectors to mass-produce the enzymes.”

“Zhang Shi’s a recovery evolution user. Her blood contains a special evolutionary synthetic element, which has been named the Recovery Factor. The best minds in the nation have been working on it for nearly a decade, but there’s been little progress so far.”

So, Tang Huai soon wouldn’t be unique anymore, but Zhang Shi and Fire Phoenix would stay rare.

Xia Qing was about to ask another question when hurried footsteps came pounding down the hallway. Zhang Song soon appeared outside the office door, excitement clear in his knock as he stood there with the cage.