Chapter 392: Giant Evolved Locust

Chapter 392: Chapter 392: Giant Evolved Locust

To transport the wood from the Thorny Wood Forest on Mountain No. 50, the engineering vehicle had already carved out a path over five meters wide, stretching from this territory’s East Isolation Zone to the forest.

The road surface was in terrible condition. A truck hauling lumber would be fine, but a dump truck would have half its load shaken out on a road like this.

Zhao Ze stopped the vehicle and consulted with Qi Fu. "It’s almost six. We’ve only got a little over an hour. It’s too late to use the excavator bucket. Let’s just attach the bulldozer blade, what do you say? We’ll go grab it and mount it?"

"You get the tools, I’ll go get the blade. Once it’s on, you can push from the front with the blade, and I’ll follow behind the vehicle and level the ground." Qi Fu pushed open his door, got out, and went to retrieve the bulldozer blade from the vehicle’s cargo bed.

As he reached the cargo bed, Yu Shou, the Level 4 Strength Evolver responsible for rear guard duty, was standing on it. He lifted the bulldozer blade and handed it to Qi Fu. "Brother Qi, can you manage?"

"Of course." Qi Fu took it with a smile. "I’m a Strength Evolver, too. Level 2."

Qi Fu’s Level 3 Strength Evolution had actually been triggered by a Super Evolution Fungus attack. To avoid attracting attention, he told everyone he had a Level 2 Strength Evolution.

Seeing that Qi Fu could indeed lift it, Yu Shou let go. "If you get tired, just give a shout. You can come up here on guard, and I’ll go down and clear the path."

"I can’t use a gun, so I’m no good for guard duty. Our territories aren’t far from each other. We should visit more often in the future." Qi Fu extended an invitation to Yu Shou.

He held the soldiers who guarded the Safe Zone in the highest regard, so he had a very favorable impression of Territory No. 15, which was comprised entirely of retired soldiers and whose Lord was Tan Junjie’s daughter.

He wasn’t the only one; the other four Lords in the Territory Alliance felt the same way. That’s why, after Xiaqing’s proposal, the Alliance members unanimously agreed to invite Territory No. 15 to join them.

Yue Haiying used her walkie-talkie to contact her father, Tan Junjie, and after getting his permission, Territory No. 15 officially became the sixth member of the Territory Alliance. From then on, they could interact frequently.

Qi Fu’s Territory No. 5 was bordered to the south by Territory No. 10. To the east of Territory No. 10 was Territory No. 14, and further east of that was Yu Shou’s home, Territory No. 15.

Geographically, the two territories were indeed not far apart, but they had never met before.

The main reason, of course, was the shortage of supplies and scarcity of food during the Disaster Years. The Lords were too busy farming to wander around and pay attention to other territories. Another reason was that they fell under the jurisdiction of different Danger Investigation Teams and weren’t on the same Lord communication channel.

Territories No. 11 through No. 18 were under the jurisdiction of the Fifth Squad of the Danger Investigation Team. Just like Territories No. 1 through No. 10, the Lords of these eight territories also shared a common communication channel, so they interacted more and were naturally closer.

Therefore, although Territory No. 14 and Territory No. 15 had paths on both their north and south sides, they used their South Gates because the Lords outside were the ones they were relatively more familiar with.

This was just like Territory No. 10. It also had paths on both the north and south, and thus had signposts for both a North and South Gate. But Shi Zhong’s family was accustomed to using the North Gate.

This was because to the north of Territory No. 10 was Territory No. 6, which was flanked by Territory No. 5 and Territory No. 7. They all belonged to the same Lord communication channel and interacted frequently. Shi Zhong’s familiarity and trust in them were far greater than for his southern neighbor, Territory No. 13, with whom he’d never had any dealings.

Unlike Territory No. 10, Territory No. 2 used both its north and south gates. This was because Tang Zhengpo’s Territory No. 12 was to the southeast of Territory No. 2, and Tang Huai and Tang Heng often went home for meals.

Qi Fu, carrying the bulldozer blade that weighed over three hundred pounds, walked to the front of the tiller, where Zhao Ze was already waiting with the tools to install it.

"WHIRRRR—"

Hearing the terrifying sound unique to a giant evolved locust beating its wings, Zhao Ze’s brain hadn’t even had time to react when he heard Xiaqing, standing on the vehicle’s roof, say two words: "I’ve got it."

Then, Zhao Ze heard a THWACK. The evolved locust, a good one-and-a-half palms in size, was struck by something unknown. Its wings stopped beating, and it fell to the ground. The visible barbs on its legs were still twitching, but green fluid began to ooze from its body, staining the soil a bizarre color.

’Winter is almost here, and the giant evolved locusts aren’t dead yet? Is this a new evolved species?’

A bite or a kick from a locust like that would have torn several holes in Zhao Ze’s standard-issue Protective Suit.

Zhao Ze waved the wrench in his hand at Xiaqing on the roof. "Nice shot, girl! Right on target."

He was grateful to Xiaqing for killing the evolved locust, and also grateful to the investigation teams for regularly clearing the isolation zones, which kept these terrifying things from flying into the territories.

Qi Fu was a bit braver than Zhao Ze, so he had gotten a clearer look. "Xiaqing, you didn’t use a gun, did you?"

"It was a steel ball. This thing isn’t worth wasting a Bullet on. Brother Qi, Brother Zhao, pick up the pace." Standing on the roof, Xiaqing held a Handgun in her right hand and an eight-millimeter-diameter steel ball in her left, urging Qi Fu and Zhao Ze to hurry up.

Flicking steel balls as a method of attack was something Xiaqing had only just perfected in the last two months.

Before, she didn’t have a gun, so she used a machete for close-range defense and a slingshot for long-range counterattacks. Now that she had a gun, she didn’t have time to switch to a slingshot for low-threat, close-range attacks, so Xiaqing had started practicing flicking steel balls by hand.

After soaking in the Body Injury Healing Potion, the Strength, flexibility, and control in Xiaqing’s fingers had significantly improved, which in turn enhanced the speed and accuracy of her steel ball throws.

At this distance, she could hit not just a locust the size of two palms, but even a mosquito the size of a fingernail with a single shot.

"Right." The Evolution Forest held danger at every step and risk at every turn; it was no human territory where one could stand around and chat. Zhao Ze and Qi Fu flushed, immediately finished installing the bulldozer blade, and started pushing forward.

After Xiaqing showed off her skill, the once-apprehensive Zhao Ze felt much more at ease. Qi Fu, who was following the vehicle and leveling the road with a large shovel, also found his hands steadier.

Yu Shou glanced at the locust’s corpse in the grass by the road, which was already being dismantled by ants, and revised his assessment of Xiaqing’s combat ability.

’I’m retired, and Bullets are expensive. The cost of using a gun is too high. I could also practice attacking with steel balls.’

After the tiller had advanced 1,000 meters to the edge of the Thorny Wood Forest, Xiaqing, still on the vehicle’s roof, noticed a large tree falling to the southeast. Through the gaps between the tree trunks, she could see people chopping wood.

Without turning around, Xiaqing spoke to Yu Shou on the cargo bed via the walkie-talkie in her Protective Mask. "Brother Yu, there are people chopping trees about three hundred meters to the southeast. They might be from Territory No. 17. Can you go check it out? Call me immediately if there’s any trouble."

When two different teams met in the Evolution Forest, especially when competing for resources in the same area, a fight could easily break out.

Territory No. 17 and Territory No. 15 were on the same Lord communication channel and knew each other. Sending Yu Shou over to talk first would be a good way to figure out the other party’s intentions.

"Roger that." Yu Shou jumped off the vehicle and headed southeast into the Thorny Wood Forest with his gun.