Chapter 29: The New Lord of Plot No. 1

Chapter 29: The New Lord of Plot One

Although 60% was far from the over 97% germination rate of the pre-apocalypse seeds, this number was already enough to make Xia Qing ecstatic.

However, Xia Qing, tempered by ten years of the apocalypse, quickly regained her composure.

Excluding the spring in her territory, there were still four other unpolluted springs publicly known within the range of the Hui San Base. A method as simple as soaking seeds in spring water to increase germination rates must have been discovered long ago.

The reason it hadn't been publicized was likely because the water volume was too small to be useful, or perhaps because crops soaked in spring water did not perform exceptionally well when facing the later stages of the Killing Rain.

As a new farmer who wasn't even halfway proficient, she needed to remain low-profile and calm. Xia Qing took a deep breath, but she couldn't suppress the upward curve of her lips. She ran home with a light step to check on her little potatoes.

For some reason, the potatoes she had left to sit according to the radio instructions had not yet shown any sprouts. This made Xia Qing wish she could soak the potatoes in spring water overnight just to make them sprout faster so she could get them planted immediately.

In the evening, Xia Qing opened the lords' private chat channel, hoping to hear about their seed germination rates, only to hear a familiar voice in the channel.

"I am the new lord of Plot One, Luo Pei. Please guide me."

Xia Qing sat up abruptly. Luo Pei?!

"Thud!"

In her shock, Xia Qing's grip on the sheep was too heavy, and she was kicked off her tatami mat by Boss Sheep. Now, not only was she shocked, but her thigh hurt as well. Ignoring the grudge against Boss Sheep, Xia Qing immediately pressed the walkie-talkie button. "Captain Luo, I am Xia Qing, the strength-evolved lord of Plot Three. I have completed many missions with your combat team before."

Hearing Xia Qing call Luo Pei "Captain," the lords of Plots Four, Five, and Six also snapped out of their shock, introducing themselves and offering greetings.

Just a moment ago, they were thinking it must be a coincidence of names. They never would have imagined that the third-ranked powerhouse of the Azure Dragon Team, the Level 10 visual-evolved sharpshooter Luo Pei, had actually come here to farm!

Luo Pei's calm voice rang out again. "Hello, everyone. Xia Qing, long time no see. My vision is impaired, so I am no longer the captain of the Azure Dragon Team. You can just call me by my name from now on."

Luo Pei was thirty-four, nine years older than Xia Qing; calling him by his name wouldn't do. Xia Qing changed her address to "Brother Luo," and Kuang Qingwei and the other two followed suit, calling him "Brother" as well.

In this era, strength was everything. Regardless of whether they were older or younger than Luo Pei, even if Xia Qing had called him "Uncle Luo," they would have followed her lead without hesitation.

Zhang San spoke up leisurely, "I'm Zhang San, Plot Seven."

"Tang Huai, Plot Two," Tang Huai spoke last.

Luo Pei's voice carried a hint of a smile. "Pleasure to meet you all. Has everyone planted their seeds? Have they sprouted? Is there anything special that needs attention?"

Sensing that Luo Pei did not want to be the center of attention, Xia Qing immediately pressed the button and provided a detailed introduction of her experience. "Plot Three is fully planted and has already sprouted. The germination rate is around 40%. You need to watch out for birds and rats. In my experience, spraying a mixture of scent-evolved camphor leaf juice and water at a one-to-nine ratio is most effective for bird prevention without harming the seedlings. For rats, you need to search for them and then eliminate them completely."

With Luo Pei's arrival, Xia Qing spoke more in one go than she had in the entire previous week. The other lords deeply felt her respect for him.

Qi Fu from Plot Five also spoke up, "My germination rate is similar to Xia Qing's. If we can protect these sprouts, this year's harvest will be stable."

"There's still the Killing Rain in two months. We can only talk about a harvest after we survive that." Zhao Ze's voice sounded somewhat troubled, followed by various complaints from Kuang Qingwei, with Luo Pei responding occasionally.

After the private chat ended and she turned off the walkie-talkie, Xia Qing lay on her bamboo bed, staring at the smoke-blackened ceiling, silent for a long time.

Her unusual behavior caught the attention of the ruminating Boss Sheep. Boss Sheep squinted at her for a while, then got up, walked around the fire, and jumped onto Xia Qing's bamboo bed. Before Xia Qing could figure out what it wanted, her bed let out a piercing protest as it collapsed under Boss Sheep's weight.

Boss Sheep quickly jumped aside. Xia Qing, hitting the floor for the second time tonight, sighed and said seriously, "Boss, thank you for coming over to comfort me."

The squinting Boss Sheep was very satisfied with Xia Qing's attitude, shook its fur, and returned to its straw mat on the tatami to sleep. Xia Qing climbed up, removed the bed frame, laid the bed boards directly on the ground, and picked up the phone on her bedside table.

Because Luo Pei's vision was impaired, Xia Qing chose to call him directly. Having followed his team on missions for years, Xia Qing naturally knew his contact information and confirmed he was using a satellite phone.

The call connected quickly. Xia Qing introduced herself and stated her purpose. "Brother Luo, it's Xia Qing. This is my current mobile number. My territory has safe food—perilla and Chinese toon sprouts. Should I have the reconnaissance team bring some to you tomorrow morning?"

Luo Pei's voice was filled with laughter, a stark contrast to his former serious and upright demeanor, as if he were a different person. "Thank you. If good things grow in my plot, I'll send some over for you to taste. I didn't expect we could be this close once we left the safe zone. Once I've settled in, I'll invite you over for a visit."

Although Xia Qing had often accompanied his team on missions, she was responsible for logistics and transport, so she rarely had the chance to speak to Luo Pei and had little to talk about. After a few polite exchanges, Xia Qing hung up and crawled into bed to chat with Boss Sheep. "Boss, we've got a good neighbor. I feel much more at ease now. But how did Captain Luo's eyes get injured? How severe must the injury be to force him to leave the safe zone? And how could Yang Jin and the others agree to it?"

Boss Sheep, of course, did not answer. Once Xia Qing had finished her rambling, she let out a yawn, closed her eyes, and fell asleep to the rhythmic sound of Boss Sheep ruminating.

Early the next morning, Xia Qing waited at the isolation belt on the north side of her new territory. After reporting to Captain Tan that everything in her territory was normal, she handed the basket to Su Ming, the social butterfly of their squad. "Please deliver this to Plot One."

Su Ming took the basket with a grin. "Sister Qing's basket weaving is getting better and better; it even has a lid now."

Xia Qing smiled. "Practice makes perfect."

As they walked a distance away, Xia Qing heard the olfactory-evolved member, Yuan Rui, whisper, "There's the scent of Chinese toon sprouts in this basket."

"Duh, the smell is so strong, who wouldn't notice?" Su Ming said greedily. "Sister Qing and Brother Luo have a good relationship. Could it be that she likes him?!"

"Idiot," Cao Xianyun cursed. "Sister Qing said she cleared Plot Three while following the team. Think carefully—which team took the clearing mission for the nearby evolved forest last year?"

"Brother Luo's team," Hu Zi answered for Su Ming. "Sister Qing went on missions with Brother Luo's team, so it's normal for her to know him."

"You bunch of pig-brains!" Su Ming cried in frustration. "Why can't you think about it? Out of so many teams, why did Sister Qing choose Brother Luo's? It must be because she's interested in him! Even if Brother Luo is a few years older than her, he's not bad looking, right? He's capable, right? He's not married, right? He's no..."

"Su Ming." Tan Junjie's voice was stern.

"Present."

"Go back and run fifty laps as punishment, plus two sets of basic training."

Then, Xia Qing heard Su Ming's miserable screams with satisfaction.