Chapter 347: Strength Evolver Special Protective Equipment

Chapter 347: Chapter 347: Strength Evolver Special Protective Equipment

After Mrs. Zhao returned to Territory No. 4, smiling through her tears, Xiaqing continued on her way.

The fifty-meter-wide Northern Isolation Zone rose and fell with the mountain terrain. The border between the Third Territory and Territory No. 4 was a north-south valley, so the isolation zone here formed a U-shape.

Xiaqing and Mrs. Zhao had sealed the southern entrance to the valley tight with four thorny Evolved Aralia Wood trees.

Once she was done with the autumn harvest and sowing, Xiaqing could gather people and machinery to dig up thorny trees from Mountain No. 50 and enclose her territory. In the future, anyone who wanted to enter her land would either have to go through the gate or break through the thorn wall, which would greatly improve its security.

Upon returning to her territory, Xiaqing first went to check on the sunflowers in the terraced fields. The sunflowers from Territory No. 5 had already been turned into roasted seeds and served at the table, so hers were, of course, ready to be harvested too.

The germination rate of the sunflowers was the highest among all the crops Xiaqing had planted. Of the 150 sunflower seeds she had exchanged from the Territory Management Department, a total of 120 had sprouted, for a germination rate of 80%.

After enduring the Harmful Rain and normal attrition, a total of 71 sunflowers successfully bloomed and produced seeds: one Green Light, sixty-two Yellow Light, and eight Red Light.

The Red Light sunflowers weren’t the result of Qiang Evolution during a Harmful Rain. Instead, they were Yellow Light sunflowers that had transformed as their Harmful Element content slowly rose to between 15‰ and 18‰.

Sunflowers like these couldn’t be consumed directly. A food processing plant in the Safe Zone had to first use a complex process to remove the Harmful Element before they could be made into cooking oil or other food products.

After the Harmful Element was removed, most of the plant’s own nutrients were also destroyed. Humans could absorb very little nutrition from eating them, but at least it wouldn’t cause any serious health issues.

Xiaqing cut off all the large, seed-filled flower heads from the tops of the sunflowers. She would keep the Green Light one for seeds, use the Yellow Light ones for oil or roasting, and trade the Red Light ones to Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui.

By her calculations, Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui should be driving over to trade for supplies tomorrow.

Xiaqing took out her phone and contacted Zhong Tao. "Brother Tao, what time are you coming over tomorrow? Could you bring me some farm tools? I have some supplies I’d like to trade."

The other end of the line was filled with noise, and Zhong Tao shouted his reply, "We can’t come over until we finish our current mission. It’ll be five days at least. Just send me a list of what you need, and I’ll bring it with me then."

Before Xiaqing could reply, Zhong Tao hung up.

Even though the call was short, Xiaqing, being an Auditory Evolver, could clearly make out the crying and shouting in the background. People were wailing, begging, and even threatening suicide, demanding that the guards stand aside and let them into the Safe Zone.

From the sound of the commotion, there were at least a hundred people. Connecting this with recent news and rumors, Xiaqing guessed they were probably residents from Gui San Base, which was being overrun by evolutionary sea creatures.

’Gui San Base is hundreds of kilometers from Hui San Base. How did these people manage to cross the dangerous Evolution Forest to get here?’

’Why didn’t they go to Hui Yi or Hui Wu Base, which are closer? Or could it be that there are even more refugees outside those two bases?’

’Could the intruders who attacked territories 158 and 159 yesterday have been a team from Gui San Base?’

Gui San Base had a population of nearly two million. If these people weren’t properly settled, they would form a refugee tide just as terrifying as a Beast Tide, if not more so.

When people were starving, they would even eat their own kind. Xiaqing had seen it with her own eyes: a butcher dismembering a human corpse as if slaughtering a pig, carving it into chunks of meat. They didn’t just eat the flesh; they even cracked open the bones to suck out the marrow.

’The increased defenses around the territories must be related to these refugees. Everyone knows the territories have food.’

Xiaqing took a deep breath and immediately dialed the number for Huo Lei, the owner of the Huo Family Knife Shop.

"Xiaqing! What do you want? I’m busy as hell!"

Hearing Huo Lei’s voice and the WHOOSH of flames, Xiaqing could almost smell the pungent odor of sulfur dioxide from burning coal. "Uncle Huo, the rice I planted is ripe. The Territory Management Department canceled the trade fair, so I’ll have Captain Zhong bring some to you in a few days."

Hearing there was rice to be had, Huo Lei’s temper cooled significantly. "You only took 200 seedlings. How many pounds of rice can that possibly grow? That’s not even enough for one of my meals."

Xiaqing replied, "It’ll produce over ten pounds. I’ll send six pounds your way."

Huo Lei huffed again. "The iron’s hot. If you’ve got something to say, say it. If not, I’m hanging up."

Xiaqing quickly got to the point. "Uncle Huo, I’ve acquired two Hardness Evolution Snakes and was hoping you could forge some special protective equipment for High Level Strength Evolvers."

Huo Lei gave a few instructions to his apprentice, then stepped away from the forge. "How long are these snakes? It won’t be enough if they’re too short."

’Not enough? Ha.’

Xiaqing replied calmly, "After skinning, I have one usable python skin that’s six meters long and another that’s seven. Both are wider than a person’s torso, only narrowing at the very tip of the tail."

Huo Lei was silent for a few seconds before roaring, "Did you stumble into a damn snake pit? When did this happen? Get it over to me, quick! Are you just going to leave it on your territory to get eaten by bugs?"

This was exactly Xiaqing’s dilemma. "I was planning to send them over tomorrow, but Captain Zhong and his men have a mission and can’t make it for a few days. That’s why I wanted to ask you how I should process the python skins so they don’t spoil."

"How are you storing them now?"

Xiaqing replied, "Refrigerated and sealed."

Huo Lei breathed a sigh of relief. "They won’t spoil in two or three days if they’re refrigerated, but this chaos outside the Safe Zone won’t be over in three to five. Tell you what, you’re not far from Territory Land No. 7. Take the python skins there first and give them to my son, Huo Zhun. He’ll take care of them."

Huh. Huh? HUH?!!!

Xiaqing was stunned. When she’d worked at the Huo Family Iron Workshop, she’d heard Uncle Huo curse his "useless" son more times than she could count. ’But how could someone who works with Brother San be useless?!’

Huo Lei started to bargain with Xiaqing. "Thirteen meters of python skin can make at least five sets of Protective Equipment. I’ll use the best materials for you, waive the crafting and material fees, and you just give me two of the finished sets."

"Done," Xiaqing agreed instantly. That was her plan all along.

She trusted Huo Lei’s integrity, and his craftsmanship was impeccable. If he said he’d use the best materials, then he would use the absolute best.

’Evolutionary Animals with evolved skin hardness were hard to find, but not for me. Given the Broken Waist Wolf’s cunning, it’s sure to trade this kind of python for more of my supplies.’

Zhang San was the Lord of Land No. 7, and Huo Zhun was on his territory. Xiaqing had to get the Lord’s permission before she could contact Huo Zhun there.

Knowing her idol’s personality well, Xiaqing got right to offering him some Green Light Cuisine as soon as the call connected. "Brother San, I’ve gathered some Green Light Mountain Walnuts. Would you like to try them? I can send twenty pounds your way."

Zhang San immediately perked up. "Excellent. What do you want to trade for this time?"

Xiaqing immediately listed the medicine and insecticide she needed.

The items Xiaqing wanted were worth nearly ten thousand points, which made Zhang San even happier. The higher the point value of the items she requested, the better the quality of the walnuts.

"Done. I’ll have Ji Li deliver the items and pick up the walnuts."

Xiaqing quickly made her request. "Brother San, could you have Huo Zhun make the delivery instead? I’ve got two python skins that I can’t get to the Huo Family Iron Workshop in the Safe Zone, so I need Huo Zhun’s help to do some preliminary processing on them."