Chapter 1104: Returning With the Monkey

“Hey!”

Spotting Xia Qing jump down from the helicopter, the scruffy little monkey who’d been clutching its backpack and hiding nervously behind a rock perked up. Grinning, it scampered over, reached out a small black paw and hesitantly tried to grab Xia Qing’s protective suit.

“Hm?”

“Hmm…”

Standing guard at the cabin door, Huo Zhun’s eyes went wide. Was Xia Qing really recognizing this monkey who looked so much like her as family? By that logic, did that make him… the monkey’s uncle?

Oh well, for the sake of that hefty backpack, aunt it is.

Xia Qing took Goofball’s tiny black paw. Just as she was about to guide it onto the helicopter, Er suddenly hopped down from the cabin, glanced toward Hill Sixty, then looked back at her.

“Er, you heading to Hill Sixty? Hang on a sec.”

Xia Qing set the monkey down on the helicopter floor, pulled two packs of freeze-dried meat from her backpack, and stuffed them into the side pocket of its canine wilderness protective suit. She took out her phone and showed it a photo of the python skin protective suit, carefully gesturing as she emphasized, “When Er heads back to Section Three, bring that protective suit you left in this mountainside cave. Got it?”

The python skin protective suit needed regular maintenance, or it wouldn’t last as long.

Er flashed Xia Qing a happy smile and dashed off toward Hill Sixty. Lame Wolf was waiting atop a peak there, hopping and jumping in excitement.

Xia Qing got back on the helicopter and called out, “Let’s take off.”

As Hu Zifeng stepped on the pedals to lift off, Huo Zhun closed the cabin door—he and Er Yong on either side for guard duty—and asked, “Sister Qing, aren’t we waiting for Er?”

“No need.”

The area from Hill Forty-Nine to Hill Sixty belonged to the Northern Wolf Pack—it was Er’s home. He could stay as long as he liked, visit any wolf he wanted, and return to Section Three on his own time.

As the helicopter lifted off, Xia Qing glanced at Er sprinting toward Hill Sixty, then at the greedy little cub squatting beside Hill Fifty-Nine. But her gaze soon dropped to the scruffy monkey by her side.

Now she finally understood how Third Brother must’ve felt seeing her place in such a mess. This little monkey was neatly dressed, sure, but its backpack, shorts and hat were all so filthy their original colors were impossible to recognize.

The helicopter touched down smoothly on the helipad by Hill Forty-Nine. Xia Qing paid each of her three teammates for today’s mission—100 credits a person—then picked up Goofball’s backpack and set off for her territory.

Huo Zhun hurried after her. “Sister Qing, do you think that wolf on Mount Twenty-Six will ever come back?”

Xia Qing shook her head. “I have no idea.”

Once they entered Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine—Xia Qing’s turf—Huo Zhun brought up something else. “My teammates will retire mid-month and move into Territory Eleven. One has both speed and brain domain evolution, the other has scent and speed. They’re both stronger than me. You need a team for anything, count the three of us in.”

Missions with Xia Qing were safe, paid in credits, and always full of excitement.

Like today: set out in the morning with two wolves, dug up medicinal herbs in the Evolved Tiger’s territory, tended to wounds in the Wolf Pack’s turf, then picked up a monkey on the trip home. Didn’t fire a single shot or throw a punch, got to cuddle a wolf, and still pocketed 100 credits.

Where else but Xia Qing’s squad could you score that much excitement and that many credits—nowhere else on Blue Star!

“Perfect! Let’s get two tables together and properly welcome them,” Xia Qing replied warmly. With the Alliance gaining two more high-level fighters, and herself as Alliance Leader, she was more than happy.

“All right!” Huo Zhun answered with a big grin.

After entering the territory from the north gate of Section One, Huo Zhun followed the Northern Barrier back to Territory Eleven. Xia Qing, meanwhile, swiped through the northern gate to return to her land, wondering what Yan Long’s hidden evolution ability might actually be.

Huo Zhun was a dual-system evolver. His teammates supposedly had two abilities, but odds were good they had three—most high-level speed evolvers also had improved vision.

Hui One was the top base among Huicheng’s ten, and the Jiao Dragon Special Forces was its ace squad—gathering all the city’s elites. Yan Long was their captain; he definitely had more than just scent evolution up his sleeve.

“Hmm…”

Goofball, who’d already been waiting by Greenhouse One for ages, stared longingly at the unmoving Xia Qing and whined quietly.

“Goofball, do you want cucumber and tomato? I’ll pick some for you.”

Xia Qing entered the terrace greenhouse, picking a fat, curled cucumber and a wildly misshapen tomato.

They might not look pretty, but these veggies had been grown from the premium seeds Xia Qing bred earlier this year. It was the second crop of the season, and the devastation element content had already dropped below three per thousand. Brilliant color, top-notch flavor—she was proud of these.

She walked out with her prize vegetables but didn’t hand them straight to Goofball’s grubby paws. Instead, she patiently corrected its pronunciation. “My name is Xia Qing—Xia…Qing. Say it, Goofball: Xia…Qing…”

Goofball stared at the cucumber, opened its mouth, and did its best. “Yah—”

“…”

Seriously? And you call yourself a primate? Even a raven’s tongue is better than yours!

Xia Qing stuffed the cucumber and tomato into its hands. “Well done. You’re a smart one, Goofball, making progress! Here’s a reward—enjoy.”

Its paws were too small; one hug for the huge tomato meant it couldn’t hold the cucumber. So this clever monkey flopped onto its back, caught the cucumber with its feet, and happily dug in while lying on a rock.

Seeing this wretched little monkey, Xia Qing couldn’t help but laugh. Yep, just like Old Goat—whatever brain evolution it had, all of it went to eating.

Xiao Jiang, running the rotary tiller over the ruins where the lab would soon be built, saw Xia Qing return. He pressed the walkie-talkie, grinning, and asked, “Sister Qing, you brought Goofball home?”

Xia Qing pressed her button and replied, “Ran into him by chance, so I brought him back. Everything still normal in the territory?”

Talk about coincidence. After the devastation rain, every time Hu Zifeng’s squad took the helicopter to scout the Northern Evolved Forest, they’d watch Hill Fifty-Eight, but never once spotted the little monkey. Xia Qing set foot there, and he followed her right home.

Da Jiang reported on the territory: “An hour ago, Yu Wenchuang from Chonglian dropped by the south gate wanting to visit, but Chang Li turned him away. Half an hour ago, Tang Huai said on the Lords’ channel that Lord of Territory Fourteen, Yan Meng, is dead. Just now, Old Goat chased Xiao Jiang up a tree in the Western Buffer Forest for getting in its way while catching bugs.”

Before Xia Qing could respond, Old Goat came thumping over. Xia Qing quickly pulled out a handful of hay from her backpack’s side pocket and went to pacify him.

Da Jiang watched Xia Qing calm that violent sheep with just a handful of grass, then glanced toward the big tree in the Western Buffer Forest. Perched on a branch and swaying in the wind, his hapless brother looked pretty funny—and Da Jiang couldn’t help but laugh.