Chapter 364: The Vigil

Chapter 364: Chapter 364: The Vigil

While considering how an octopus could use its boneless tentacles to break through the walls of the Gui San Safety Zone, Xiaqing quickly raised her gun. She aimed it at a young woman who had separated from the line of refugees and was walking over. The woman was wearing a Level 2 Protective Suit and appeared to be in much better condition than the average refugee.

The newcomer immediately raised her hands. "Please, don’t misunderstand. I just overheard you talking about the Gui San Base, so I came over to tell you how the giant Octopus attacks."

’To hear my conversation with Lu Yuhui from the refugee line over fifty meters away, she must be an Auditory Evolver.’ With a deadpan expression, Xiaqing warned, "Not interested. Please step back."

The woman stood her ground and sincerely made her case. "I’m a cook and a Level 3 Auditory Evolver. May I come work in your territory?"

When Xiaqing’s expression remained impassive, the woman bent over, weeping as she pleaded, "You’re a woman too. You must understand my predicament. I’m afraid to go to a territory that’s all men. Please, I’m begging you..."

When Xiaqing didn’t respond, the woman took another step forward.

CLICK. A bullet was chambered. Xiaqing’s voice was ice-cold. "Step back."

The woman bit her lip, turned, and went back to her place in line. ℯ

After setting up a fence post, Lu Yuhui returned to Xiaqing’s side. "She’s an Auditory Evolver. The territory could probably use her, right?"

Xiaqing replied, "She’s a cook. I just traded all the grain I grew for points to build a wall. I don’t even have enough for myself. I have no use for a cook."

This was just the surface reason; Xiaqing found the woman highly suspicious.

The Hui San Safety Zone was unwilling to let in ordinary refugees, but it wouldn’t turn away Evolvers, especially female Evolvers of child-bearing age. This young female Evolver claimed she didn’t want to enter a territory full of men, yet instead of going to work in the Safe Zone, she was lining up outside a territory with a group of men.

’Something’s definitely fishy!’

"You made the right choice. Walling off the territory is more important right now. You can always grow more grain, but if you don’t build a wall, whatever you grow might just get stolen," Lu Yuhui said, before getting back to measuring distances and planting fence posts.

An hour later, Tan Junjie led the last group of people rejected by the First and Second Territories, heading by truck to the No. 8 Territory. The woman who had just been pleading with Xiaqing had, surprisingly, also been turned away by Tang Huai and was now on the truck bound for the No. 8 Territory.

Because of the loud noise from the excavators and cement mixers, Xiaqing couldn’t hear what was happening inside the Second Territory and didn’t know how they were selecting refugees. Logically, a female Evolver like her shouldn’t have been rejected.

A little over an hour later, Zhong Tao returned from No. 8 Territory in his truck. It was filled with refugees who had been rejected by all three territories. The female Evolver was on the truck as well.

She hadn’t been chosen by No. 8 Territory, either.

However, unlike the genuine numbness, despair, or anger radiating from the other rejected refugees, this female Evolver’s feigned sorrow was particularly obvious to Xiaqing.

It wasn’t that Xiaqing had an exceptional Emotion Capturing Ability. Rather, it was because she was a High Level Visual Evolver. Her vision had clearly caught the moment the woman’s calculating expression shifted to one of sorrow.

Zhong Tao, driving the large truck, gave a light honk. Xiaqing nodded in acknowledgment, and only then did he accelerate, driving away with a truck full of refugees who could lose control at any moment.

At 7:00 PM, the construction vehicles parked inside the Third Territory, and the construction team returned to No. 8 Territory to rest.

Xiaqing had already learned from the very talkative Lu Yuhui that Xin Yu had divided No. 8 Territory into northern and southern districts. Xin Yu lived in the North District, while the recruited refugees and the construction team lived in newly built prefabricated houses in the South District, all under the unified management of an Uncle Zhou who had arrived with the plane.

Although Lu Yuhui didn’t mention Uncle Zhou’s specific position, the respect in her voice told Xiaqing that this person’s status within the Zhonglian Group was anything but ordinary.

After the construction team left, Xiaqing also went home to cook dinner and get some much-needed rest.

At 3:00 AM, a fully armed Xiaqing walked out of her house with the Sheep Leader. She was on the third watch of the night, scheduled from three to six.

The Sheep Leader wasn’t on the duty roster; it was voluntarily joining Xiaqing for the extra shift. Sick Wolf had wanted to come along too, but Xiaqing had made it stay home and rest.

Sick Wolf hadn’t slept all night, having been constantly patrolling and protecting the territory.

And the Queen?

With the constant sound of voices from all around the territory, she had been lying on the roof of the storage structure, surveying her domain with a regal posture.

Xiaqing led the Sheep Leader to the vicinity of the Wild Grass Wall on the southern side of the territory. Due to the wall construction, the Wild Grass Wall had been trampled into a mess by the construction vehicles, and it no longer served its purpose of obstructing the view.

The human and sheep stood still, looking toward the Wild Grass Wall of the Second Territory. Xiaqing couldn’t help but complain, "Leader, these people have some serious energy. It’s after three, and they’re still fighting over rooms and beds."

BAA. The Sheep Leader’s bleat also sounded annoyed.

"Xiaqing?" Tan Junjie, who was patrolling nearby, asked in a low voice.

"It’s me," Xiaqing replied. "I’m on patrol."

Tan Junjie walked over from the side, looking through his Night Vision Goggles at the human and sheep in the wild grass of the Third Territory. "You two..."

"Go to hell! All of you, go to hell—"

BANG!

Roars and sounds of fighting suddenly erupted from the Second Territory. Tan Junjie immediately turned and ran toward it, contacting the Second Territory’s representative as he went.

"Second Territory, report your status. Do you require support?"

Because Tan Junjie was on the phone with Tang Huai, Xiaqing couldn’t hear the response. Over the roars and sounds of fighting from the Second Territory, she could only hear Tang Heng’s voice booming through a megaphone, "Fighting is forbidden within the territory! Anyone who keeps fighting will be kicked out!"

A few minutes later, the sounds of fighting within the Second Territory stopped, but the shouting and cursing continued unabated.

With two patrols screening the area, the "refugees" from the Second Territory couldn’t cross the narrow passage into the Third Territory. So Xiaqing, with the snow-white Sheep Leader in tow, gave a heads-up to Eryong from Hu Zifeng’s team and changed her route to guard the North Buffer Forest instead.

At 4:30 AM, standing by the edge of the Northern Isolation Zone, Xiaqing heard a faint rustling from the north. It was the sound of a large animal moving through the dense Evolution Forest.

The Sheep Leader, which had been lying beside her, perked up. It stood next to Xiaqing and peered out into the darkness.

She didn’t need to ask. A wolf was coming. Xiaqing just couldn’t tell which one it was from the sound alone.

Soon, Broken Waist Wolf, wearing a tattered Protective Suit, emerged from the abandoned valley. It was carrying a dark, four-legged creature in its mouth. The wolf stopped, lifted its head, and looked at Xiaqing and the Sheep Leader in greeting.

"Morning, Broken Waist," Xiaqing responded, then reported in to Hu Zifeng on the west side of the Northern Isolation Zone via her walkie-talkie.

The Wild Grass Wall on the southern part of her territory was wrecked. Xiaqing was afraid outsiders would see Broken Waist Wolf, so she needed to lead it home via a route where they wouldn’t be spotted.

After entering the courtyard with its prey, Broken Waist Wolf sniffed at the Head Wolf. Only after the Head Wolf had started eating did Broken Waist Wolf approach Xiaqing and motion for her to take something out of the side pocket of its Protective Suit.

The moment Xiaqing saw the bulging shape in Broken Waist Wolf’s side pocket, she got excited. That was the unmistakable shape of Yi Stones—and at least three of them!

"Broken Waist, you handsome wolf brother, you are too kind." As Xiaqing’s hand touched the objects in the pocket, however, her smile froze.