Chapter 25: The Lords

Chapter 25: The Lords

There were five abandoned farmsteads on this newly acquired hillside. When Xia Qing first came up, she had only conducted a cursory sweep; today, she intended to perform a carpet search.

She moved aside collapsed stone walls and houses, inspecting everything thoroughly.

Rusted farm tools with broken wooden handles? Take them. If they were repaired and sharpened, they might still be usable.

Dented stainless steel basins? Take them. They could be hammered back into shape to hold things. Broken? Patch them up.

Damaged kitchenware? Take it. Even if it couldn't be fixed, it could be dismantled for spare parts.

Fabric items that hadn't gone moldy yet? Take them. After being boiled and disinfected, they could be made into mops.

Evolved centipedes that had bitten her? Take them! Dry them out to exchange for points.

Evolved meatworms? Burn them!

...

After clearing the five courtyards, the pile of supplies she wanted to take away was actually taller than she was. Xia Qing felt an immense sense of achievement.

What excited Xia Qing most was discovering three small patches of green onion seedlings in a vegetable bed covered by a collapsed stone wall. There were over thirty of them, and by the looks of it, even more might sprout!

Onions, as expected, were a vegetable every household would grow.

After cleaning and packing the supplies, Xia Qing immediately washed her hands to test the toxin content of the onion seedlings. Two yellow lights, one red light—that was enough to make her happy.

Xia Qing truly wanted to pull off her protective mask and taste that long-lost flavor.

However, reason prevailed. Xia Qing fenced off the two patches of onion seedlings for protection, watered them with mountain spring water, and sprayed them with insect repellent.

She hoped that after the temperature rose further in a while, other vegetables might grow on the high slope and the terraces.

Xia Qing called over Boss Sheep, who was ruminating under a Chinese toon tree, stuffed some rations into its mouth, and had it shoulder two bags weighing over a hundred pounds each.

"Boss is the best. Without you, I wouldn't be able to carry all this back." Xia Qing discovered that Boss Sheep was not only greedy but also loved hearing flattery. To get it to work harder, Xia Qing used various styles of soft-spoken praise every day.

Under Xia Qing's flattery, Boss Sheep gradually lost itself in its own ego. It gave Xia Qing a haughty, sidelong glance before turning to carry the bags back. That expression seemed to say that without it, the whole household would fall apart.

Suppressing a laugh, Xia Qing shouldered the largest bag, held the Chinese toon shoots and perilla in one hand, and gripped a machete in the other, following behind Boss Sheep, ready at any moment to hack down any evolved animals that might attack her or the sheep.

As the person and the sheep crossed the buffer zone between the new territory and the original territory, the danger inspection team happened to be walking toward them from the north side of the buffer zone of Plot 4.

Boss Sheep immediately dropped the bags and stood in front of Xia Qing, assuming an attacking stance.

Tan Junjie's squad...

Xia Qing raised the machete in her hand and waved it to greet the inspection team.

At such a distance, it was difficult to shout through her protective mask, so a hand gesture would suffice.

Su Ming, a visual evolver leading the inspection team, waved back enthusiastically. After reaching the boundary between Plot 4 and Plot 3, they did not walk through the buffer zone between Xia Qing's two plots; instead, they turned right along the barbed-wire fence of the Wild Boar Breeding Center, entering the buffer zone of the new boundary of Plot 3 to continue their patrol.

After driving them away, Boss Sheep dropped its combat stance and squinted at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing immediately poured on the sweet talk, "Boss is still the best. You even knew to protect me and our territory when you saw people coming. Tell me, what would I do without you?"

Boss Sheep raised its head and glanced at the bags on the ground.

Xia Qing immediately loaded them onto its back and continued praising, "Boss is truly amazing, even remembering our supplies. It's almost dark; shall we go home and eat?"

As the person and the sheep entered the buffer forest, Cao Xianyun, an auditory evolver, spoke up, "They've gone far."

Su Ming immediately marveled, "Sister Qing is incredible. She can actually get a sheep to carry things for her."

"That's an understatement," Hu Zi added. "She tilled thirty acres in her territory, all with a sheep-drawn plow."

Everyone...

Admiring!

This sheep was more useful than their military dogs!

Tan Junjie, who never participated in such trivial discussions, asked Cao Xianyun, "What does she call the sheep?"

"Boss. Boss Sheep," Cao Xianyun said with a mischievous smile. "I really want to bring Brother Jin over to hear it."

The members of the Azure Dragon Squad also called their captain "Boss" and "Boss Yang."

Tan Junjie replied in a good mood, "Not the same Yang."

"Exactly," Cao Xianyun laughed even louder.

Su Ming turned back and asked, "Old Cao, what are you laughing at?"

"None of your business. Just lead the way."

"Tch!" Su Ming snorted, walked to the buffer zone north of the wire fence, and turned west into the buffer zone north of Xia Qing's new territory.

When Xia Qing returned home, she connected her phone to the charger with great anticipation. As the screen lit up, she was overjoyed—finally, there was power!

Just as excited as she was were the lords of Plots 4, 5, and 6, who had installed solar panels and received walkie-talkies.

After listening to the base broadcast while plugged in, Xia Qing turned on her charged walkie-talkie and tuned the frequency to 439500, the private channel for the lords. Sure enough, she heard a coarse voice calling out.

"Brothers and sisters of Plots 3, 4, 5, and 6, are you there? Are you there?"

"We're here, we're here."

With her keen hearing, Xia Qing identified this as the voice of Zhao Ze from Plot 4.

The questioner immediately became happy. "Oh my god, it's been over half a month. Aside from the patrolmen in camouflage, I've finally heard human voices from outside the territories. This is Plot 6, Kuang Qingwei. Which plots are you guys from?"

Zhao Ze replied, "I'm Plot 4, Zhao Ze."

"I'm Plot 5, Qi Fu."

Hearing this voice, Xia Qing raised an eyebrow. Qi Fu was also from the construction team, though not in the same squad as Xia Qing. She knew he had claimed land, but she hadn't expected him to be so close to her.

Kuang Qingwei from Plot 6 began sharing news, "Brothers, have you heard? Everyone in Plot 1 is dead. Luckily, I have many people and full equipment, so nothing happened to us."

Xia Qing smiled silently. Kuang Qingwei was not just sharing news; he was also warning those around him not to target him. People who could survive until the tenth year of the catastrophe were indeed not simple.

"What?" The people from Plot 4 and Plot 5 exclaimed in unison.

Kuang Qingwei sighed, "I heard it from one of the soldiers who came to install the solar panels. I wanted to ask if anyone knows how they died."

The channel fell silent for a moment, and then Xia Qing heard a familiar voice, "They were bitten to death by highly toxic evolved caterpillars."

Kuang Qingwei, hearing that someone else had joined, hurriedly asked, "Brother, which plot are you from?"

"Plot 2, Tang Huai."

The channel went quiet again for a while before Kuang Qingwei asked, "I remember Plot 2 doesn't have a buffer forest. Is that your own walkie-talkie, Brother Tang?"

He had called him "brother" just a moment ago, but as soon as he heard it was Plot 2, Kuang Qingwei immediately switched to "Brother Tang."

Tang Huai replied with a hint of bravado, "Yeah, I was in a rush while packing when I left, so I just grabbed one by hand."

The channel went silent again, and then a strange voice spoke slowly

"I also grabbed one by hand. Plot 7, Zhang San."

Xia Qing...

Is this name for real?

Then Kuang Qingwei spoke again, "Brother San, how do you charge your walkie-talkie? I'm Kuang Qingwei from Plot 6, we're neighbors. I have solar panels; you can come over to charge."

Xia Qing chuckled by the campfire, "Did you hear that, Boss? Plot 6 just installed solar panels and has already started doing business."

Boss Sheep remained silent, squinting at the walkie-talkie.

Xia Qing gave a solemn warning, "You absolutely cannot bite this, and you cannot kick it, otherwise I'll cut off your rations and kick you out of the house!"

Boss Sheep continued to stare at the walkie-talkie, and Xia Qing stared at Boss Sheep; neither was willing to back down first.

As the person and the sheep were locked in a contest of wills, Zhang San's voice drifted slowly from the walkie-talkie, "I also have solar panels. What kind of seeds did you all receive? Are you willing to trade?"

At the mention of seeds, Xia Qing immediately forgot about Boss Sheep and pricked up her ears to listen.