Chapter 763: Thunderstorms and the Lords’ Vigil

Damn!

Thunderstorm!

Both Liangzi and Xia Qing moved at the same time, but Liangzi was closer and yanked the monitor’s power plug first.

During a thunderstorm, even if your electronics don’t get hit directly, nearby lightning can generate high voltage through electromagnetic induction, which can travel through wires and fry your devices. That’s why you should always turn off and unplug equipment when storms roll in.

The thunderstorm had already started. There was no time to shut down each device one by one—they had to pull the plugs all at once.

Da Jiang burst out of the lounge and shouted, “Lightning struck Hill Forty-Nine!”

Er Yong panicked too. “Hurry, check if anyone’s hurt!”

Xia Qing’s first thought was how sharply the Red Squirrel could sense changes in the environment—it was impressive. Her second thought was whether Flathead, living in Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine, had managed to hide in time.

Wild boar? The boar surely dove into its cave by now, so Xia Qing didn’t have to worry.

Tang Huai shouted in the Lords’ channel, “What’s happening on Hill Forty-Nine? Why’s there smoke coming from the top? Did you install those lightning rods just for show?”

Yin Jie from the Azure Dragon Squad replied, “A big tree on Hill Forty-Nine just got struck—no one…”

“Crack!”

Yin Jie hadn’t finished before another bolt ripped down from the sky, lighting up the southern edge of Section Three. The ground and sky, smothered beneath Devastation Clouds, flashed blindingly bright. The walkie-talkies crackled and hissed with interference.

With her evolved hearing, Xia Qing winced and gave her head a shake, reaching up to rub the little curled tuft of wool on Old Goat’s head—the goat had been so startled it nearly knocked her over.

Inside the sheep shed, the Red Squirrel family was trembling, while the chickens in their coop absolutely lost it, crowing and cackling in terror. Even the lords were shaken, staring up at the churning clouds in despair.

Faced with natural disasters like Devastation Rain and thunderstorms, all humans could do was hide and pray that the next lightning wouldn’t strike their house or greenhouse.

A voice crackled over the walkie-talkie—Tan Junjie, calm but stern—his words and the static dragged everyone back to the catastrophic storms from the last two years.

“The megaphone is gone, fried by the lightning. We’re switching to walkie-talkies for updates. Everyone stay inside, away from windows. Don’t use your phones, and keep walkie-talkie use to a minimum. Lords, don’t worry. Readings show Devastation Element levels in the air aren’t high enough to trigger an explosion. The thunderstorm’s not going to escalate.”

If the concentration of Devastation Element rises enough, lightning, heavy weapons, or even sparks from a chainsaw could set off a blast.

When a Devastation Explosion goes off, the rushing particle flow has insane penetration. Anyone wearing less than Level Four Protective Suits is defenseless.

So if there’s a Devastation Explosion, everyone in range with less than Level Four protection—even if they’re not blown apart—would take massive internal damage from the particles. Organs would fail or go haywire. The weak might die instantly, or lose control and go berserk.

Less than one percent of people have access to Protective Suits above Level Four.

That’s why, during Devastation Rain, there’s still a fighting chance to survive. But if a Devastation Explosion happens—it’s a death zone.

Hearing that report from the Inspection Team, the lords managed to pull themselves together. Compared to a Devastation Explosion, a thunderstorm really wasn’t the end of the world.

Right then, another boom of thunder flashed over Territory Two. Keeping away from the window, Xia Qing pressed her walkie-talkie. “Tang Huai, Tang Heng—how’s your side?”

Tang Heng replied, his voice buzzing with static, “Territory Twelve is untouched. Territory Two was struck twice, casualties unknown.”

“Copy. Stay safe.” Xia Qing barely finished before Old Goat rammed into her, knocking her down. The walkie-talkie flew from her hand, hit the floor, and Old Goat crushed it with a single stomp.

A deafening boom crashed down even closer.

Xia Qing wrapped one arm around Old Goat and crawled fast, dragging him under the sturdy wooden table. Her ears were ringing, but she called out loudly, “Everyone okay?”

“I’m fine,” Liangzi answered.

“I’m good too,” Xiao Jiang, Er Yong, and Chen Cheng replied.

From near the back window, Da Jiang called out, “Sister Qing, the fourth greenhouse got hit!”

The fourth greenhouse held Green Lantern, Yellow Lantern, and Green Lantern Cotton—all protected by Xia Qing’s own supply of Yi Stone. It was one of her most closely guarded greenhouses.

Tucked under the table, Xia Qing reassured everyone aloud, “Don’t worry, there’s a lightning rod on the greenhouse. Nobody leave until the storm’s over.”

In her four years with the Construction Team, Xia Qing hadn’t just learned carpentry and how to build greenhouses—she’d mastered how to assemble and install lightning rods too. After lightning wiped out her fish pond on Section Three’s lower slope last year, she added a lightning rod to every greenhouse.

Weather reports for this Devastation Rain predicted heavy storms, so she bought a batch of iron wire from Kuang Qingwei, and, with her own stash of angle iron and steel pipes, put together over twenty lightning rods. These channels could funnel lightning that hit any house or greenhouse safely down into buried grounding rods made from angle iron and pipe.

So even though this storm sounded terrifying and looked worse, none of Section Three’s key buildings were actually in danger.

Besides installing lightning rods on all crucial buildings, Xia Qing had chopped down any big trees near greenhouses or houses—one more precaution against fire or falling branches wrecking the greenhouses or homes.

It wasn’t just Section Three—every Lords’ Alliance member had followed Xia Qing’s example, fitting their greenhouses and houses with lightning rods. Wen Nengjie, always trying to get closer to her, also installed them in Territory Seventeen.

Now, they were finally proving their worth.

“Baaa…”

A thunderclap slammed down so close that Old Goat pressed up against Xia Qing, trembling and letting out a shaky bleat.

Stroking his wool, Xia Qing gently soothed him. “Don’t be scared, big guy. The lightning can’t get us in here. You’re safe. I even put a lightning rod on your Toon Tree. Nothing will happen to you—promise.”

“Crack!”

Even as she spoke, another bolt struck somewhere in Section Three, but her voice stayed calm and her hand never stopped stroking.

Er Yong was hiding on Old Goat’s other side. He wasn’t sure if Old Goat was really feeling any better, but he sure was. When Sister Qing gets mad, she’s really fierce—but when she’s gentle, she’s for real, too.

Still, her gentleness was only for Old Goat these days—and that lost sick wolf.

More and more thunderbolts slammed into their territory. Under the table or hiding in basements, the lords grew increasingly tense. With the rain pouring outside, Devastation-Evolved plants might already be sprouting in the fields, and destructive wild tung trees could be breaking ground inside their borders.

Inside Territory Two, Tang Huai crouched in his house, ears still ringing. Through the shattered window, smashed in by flying rocks, he stared at the lightning scars on the ground outside, muttering, “Wolf God protect me, great Wolf Spirit keep me safe…”