Chapter 973: Bargaining with the Wolf: Lessons, Deals, and Night Training

After dinner, Xia Qing first stopped by the Wolf Valley in Section Forty-Nine, District Three to give medicine to Little Black Wolf. On the way, she squeezed in a quick petting session with Red Fox’s whole family, who lived nearby, then turned down Flathead’s invitation to spar before hurrying off for Azure Dragon Squad’s nighttime shooting drill.

She needed to push her effective sniping range to 2,100 meters before the mass migration of birds began.

And she didn’t just mean hitting that distance under a clear sky with perfect weather—it had to be any time, under any conditions.

In other words, as long as she could see a target within 2,100 meters, no matter the time of day or outside conditions, she had to maintain a high accuracy rate.

Snipers move from beginner to intermediate with some talent and a bit of hard work; reaching advanced requires much more talent, perseverance, and sweat. But getting from advanced to top-tier… that takes monstrous talent, grit, and relentless effort.

Xia Qing was already a top-tier sniper, but Luo Pei’s standards for her went even higher—he expected her to be the best among the best. At her level, every tiny improvement took a mountain of effort—and, well, a mountain of credits too.

After burning through ten thousand credits in two hours, Xia Qing trudged back to patrol the territory. She called out a quick hello to Elder Wolf perched on the ruins at the south end of the yard, and had barely stepped inside when Crippled Wolf called her over.

In the living room, with the air conditioner running, Scholar Wolf was lounging around—watching TV, reviewing video clips, and fiddling with the CT unit. It beckoned Xia Qing over, asking for a lesson on how to spin the 3D CT images on the machine’s screen.

At this point, who was really in charge around here?

Xia Qing changed clothes without hurrying, paused the video with the remote, and planted herself in front of this ever-so-presumptuous Brain-Evolved Wolf. “Broken Back, you and I need to talk.”

Crippled Wolf eyed Xia Qing warily, not sure what she was up to with that serious look.

“This CT unit,” Xia Qing said, gesturing at the portable machine in the living room before flicking her chin at the TV, “and these recordings on screen, were all bought with precious supplies from Third Brother and Zhang Song—you know, that human on the screen. If you want to study these with me, you’ll have to pay up.”

It had taken Xia Qing a year and a half to earn her Idol’s complete trust—and with it, the chance to learn from someone standing atop Huaguo’s medical world, alongside his core team.

Idol never said so outright—mostly because of his personality—but Xia Qing knew the score. Aside from Zhang Song, if she asked experts like Zhang Tao or Zhang He, leading experiments on Hill Fifty, about technical matters, they’d give her impressively detailed answers.

This was the kind of opportunity most people could only wish for.

Xia Qing had fought hard for that chance—and now she could even share it with this ultra-smart, learning-obsessed Evolved Wolf.

Sharing meant splitting and enjoying together—not Xia Qing doing the giving while Crippled Wolf did all the enjoying. That wasn’t sharing, that was just mooching.

The videos Crippled Wolf learned from before came from Xia Qing’s deals with Yang Jin. Back then, she didn’t mind the freeloading since they were just science videos. But this next batch was rare—highly valuable knowledge you couldn’t just pick up on a whim.

If Crippled Wolf wanted in on the learning she’d worked so hard to secure, then the Wolf Pack needed to cough up some supplies for her in return.

Crippled Wolf stared at the mound of supply bags for a while, then limped down from upstairs with a basket in its mouth. It pawed through and fished out a tiny, pitch-black walnut, placing it before Xia Qing.

He really was Yang Jin’s brother—both born hagglers!

With a snort, Xia Qing pulled out two large packaging bags, then fished the shiny Yi Stone Protector from Crippled Wolf’s treasured basket. “You traded two bags of Green Lantern Pecans for this Yi Stone Protector.”

“The Queen loves the Yi Stone Protector too, so you swapped another two bags of pecans with me for a second Yi Stone Protector.” She stacked two more large woven bags on the pile. “I haven’t made it yet, but that trade stands.”

“You broke my hair dryer and agreed to pay me one bag of Green Lantern Pecans.” Xia Qing set another bag on the stack and started counting. “One, two, three, four, five. Broken Back, you already owe me five bags of Green Lantern Pecans. There are only two walnut trees on Hill Sixty—can you even fill all these bags?”

Crippled Wolf, who’d already learned how to count, stared at the pile of bags, then flashed Xia Qing a toothy, adorable little grin.

“If you can fill five bags, that’s perfect.” Xia Qing took out the pile of books Zhang Song had given her, along with the hard drive full of videos, and tapped them lightly. “Broken Back, mastering this knowledge will make you stronger. I can teach you—but…”

She produced another ten bags, then grabbed a glass of Pure Spring Water from the kitchen and set it before Crippled Wolf. “You can trade either ten bags of pecans for this knowledge, or let me collect spring water from Hill Fifty-Five in the future. What do you say—pecans or water?”

If the Wolf Pack wanted to drink spring water from Section Three, Xia Qing never charged them. So she wanted the same privileges in return.

Otherwise, if they didn’t settle it now, the brother of Iron Rooster here might one day try to trade her spring water like he did pecans.

Knowing this wolf as well as she did, Xia Qing figured he absolutely would dare!

The Wolf Pack, Bear Pack, and Snake Pack had all fought over Hill Fifty-Five, so Crippled Wolf was keenly aware of how valuable the Pure Spring Water was.

Having watched Xia Qing’s videos on Yi Stone, Pure Spring Water, and Devastationweed, he understood how desperately humans prized these rare resources.

He stared at the bags and the glass of water, then, lifting his large, protective gear-wrapped paw, chose the spring water.

After confirming with him, Xia Qing gave a thumbs-up. “Very smart choice, Handsome Wolf! You really are an Evolved Wolf topping the food chain on Blue Star! Want to learn the CT unit? Great, let’s get started.”

Xia Qing taught Crippled Wolf how to use both the keyboard and touchscreen functions to operate the two CT screens. For a wolf who already knew his way around a laptop, picking up CT screen controls was no trouble.

They sat together, person and wolf, watching her recorded video on the TV and carefully studying how to use the machine.

Whenever a specialized term popped up that neither of them understood, Xia Qing flipped through Zhang Song’s reference books, took detailed notes, and then patiently explained it in language simple enough for her ‘student’ to grasp.

After watching through the video twice, Xia Qing went upstairs to wash up and sleep. Crippled Wolf, glued to the TV, replayed Xia Qing’s new video for over three hours, only closing his eyes when the battery for the TV finally died.

The next morning, just as Xia Qing woke up, Scholar Wolf requested she scan his lame leg on the CT bed.

Since Xia Qing was excited about learning all there was to know about the CT machine, she happily agreed.

She lifted him onto the scanning bed, tucked him under a radiation blanket with just his two front legs sticking out, and warned him to keep still.

After scanning Crippled Wolf’s front legs, the two huddled over the results. They both agreed—his bone fracture had finally healed!