Chapter 367: Seawater Invasion

Also in high spirits were Sheep Leader, who had eaten rations of spinach and corn husks, and Sick Wolf, Wolf the Second, who had drunk a spinach and snake meat porridge.

In the abandoned cave, the Head Wolf and the sister of the broken-leg wolf had already eaten the food Broken Waist Wolf brought over that morning, so they wouldn’t need to eat for the rest of the day.

After their meal, the trio—one person, one sheep, one wolf—lay in the shade of the solar panels on the frame building’s roof, resting and guarding the corn. The only sounds were the wind, the flowing water, and the birdsong. The racket from the Second Territory was inaudible, and all was tranquil and serene.

Xiaqing contacted Kuang Qingwei on her walkie-talkie, arranging to rent a corn sheller in an hour to thresh her sun-dried, late-sown corn.

Despite the constant noise last night, they had made it through safely thanks to the protection of forty Danger Investigation Team members. The Lords were in much better spirits today. They resumed harvesting their crops and building their walls, keeping each other updated on their progress via walkie-talkie.

To everyone’s surprise, Territory No. 4 was making the fastest progress on their wall.

Qi Fu, Shi Zhong, and Kuang Qingwei were constantly asking Zhao Ze for advice about building the walls. Zhao Ze, who couldn’t keep up when it came to farming, eloquently answered everyone’s questions over the walkie-talkie. Even Xiaqing, who had spent five years on a construction crew, felt she was gaining new insights just from listening in.

As the Lords were discussing how to reduce the vitality of the freshly cut stumps, Zhang San came on the radio. His voice was lazy, but anyone could tell he was in a good mood.

“I have some time today, so I can mix up some medicine. If you dilute it with water and soak the thorn wood in it, it will significantly reduce its vitality.”

Upon hearing about such a useful item, the Lords of the Territory Alliance all scrambled to make a trade.

Tang Huai, who was usually on the radio 24/7, had been silent ever since the refugees arrived yesterday. He was either completely swamped or utterly fed up. It was actually a bit strange not to hear his voice.

While Xiaqing was in the Northern Isolation Zone waiting for Kuang Qingwei to deliver the corn sheller, she got a call from Zhang San. “Xiaqing, that chicken was delicious. You should hatch and raise more next year. I’ll trade with you for it at 250 points a pound.”

The public price for a live Green Light animal was 180 points a pound. Zhang San’s opening offer was 250, so he must have really liked her chicken.

Even without Zhang San asking, Xiaqing would have hatched more chicks. It wasn’t just for her idol; she also wanted to eat the delicious Green Light Chicken. “Don’t worry, Brother San,” she said. “I’ll hatch as many as I possibly can next spring.”

Zhang San suggested, “A broody hen won’t be laying. Bring the eggs to me. I have an incubator.”

“Okay.” Seizing the opportunity while her idol was in a good mood, Xiaqing proposed, “Brother San, could you hatch some extra chicks next spring? Brother Qi and the others all want to raise some. If I were to trade with them, I’d have to trouble you regardless.”

Plied with good food, the petty, ill-tempered Zhang San became very agreeable. “I can do that. I’ll mention it tonight.”

“Thanks, Brother San.” After resolving another potential issue, Xiaqing felt a sense of relief. In less than an hour, she used the sheller to separate the kernels from the cobs of the late-sown corn.

She bagged the cobs to deal with when she had time. The kernels were also bagged, then spread out under the eaves and covered to continue drying.

Sick Wolf and the swallows watched over the corn kernels, Sheep Leader went to catch insects to feed the fish, and Xiaqing hurried to the southern part of the territory to protect the construction crew, as the second batch of refugees was about to arrive.

The second batch of refugees also arrived in five large vehicles. While the refugees who hadn’t been chosen by No.1 Territory or the Second Territory were waiting to go to No. 8 Territory for another round of selection, three of them lost control.

One of them lost control without warning, grabbing the refugee in front of him and savagely biting his neck. After the Danger Investigation Team pulled the two apart, the man who’d had a chunk of flesh torn from his neck screamed, “Quick! Stop the bleeding and disinfect it! Hurry!”

For these refugees, an injury wasn’t the scary part. The pain wasn’t scary, and the blood wasn’t scary. What was terrifying was the risk of infection by Evolutionary Bacteria. They hadn’t changed their clothes or been disinfected in days, so the chance of a wound getting infected was extremely high. It had to be disinfected immediately.

But unfortunately, the wound of the man sent to No. 1 Territory for treatment was indeed infected with Evolutionary Bacteria. He was too weak, and not even Zhang San’s Special Medicine could pull him back from the brink of death.

The refugee who had lost control and attacked him soon showed symptoms of Evolutionary Bacteria infection as well and died two hours later. Both bodies were placed in sealed bags and thoroughly incinerated on a pyre doused in oil.

Watching the thick smoke billow from the pyre, Xiaqing, who was wearing a Protective Mask, felt as if she could still smell the stench of charred flesh.

‘It wasn’t that her Protective Mask was broken. She had just smelled it so many times that the stench was seared into her memory.’

After the refugees were taken to No. 8 Territory, Lu Yuhui chatted with Xiaqing as she welded wire mesh onto the wall’s steel pipes. “You know that Auditory Evolver from yesterday? She refused to work in the factory at No. 8 Territory. They hired six female workers, so it’s not like it’s an all-male environment.”

The factory at No. 8 Territory provides room and board, with a 12-hour workday for a base salary of 60 points. That was a pretty good deal. Xiaqing responded, “Someone like that would just be a liability if they stayed.”

“That Evolver is named Gu Hong, a member of the Silver Snake Team from Gui San Base. The Silver Snake Team was one of the teams that organized this refugee exodus. When they left Gui San Base, they had over fifty thousand people. By the time they got to us, only three thousand were left.”

‘Having survived an exodus herself, Xiaqing knew exactly what had happened. The Silver Snake Team had used the ordinary people fleeing with them as human shields. The common people knew it too, but they had no choice but to stick with the team. It gave them a better chance of survival.’

Xiaqing asked, “Sister Lu, did you ask about the giant Octopus?”

‘No. 8 Territory had taken in a good number of refugees. Knowing how much Lu Yuhui loved to chat, Xiaqing was sure she must have already asked around.’

Lu Yuhui put down her welding gun, her tone heavy. “I did. There really was a giant Octopus, but it didn’t break the Safe Zone’s wall. The real reason they fled was that the Gui San Base Safe Zone was inundated by the sea.”

Seawater intrusion means seawater seeping inland through the ground.

In the first two years of the Natural Disaster, massive volcanic eruptions caused intense crustal movement, and the geography of Blue Star changed dramatically. Crustal activity has calmed down somewhat in recent years, but it’s still more frequent than before the Natural Disaster.

In terms of direction, crustal movement could be classified into two types: uplift and subsidence.

The region of Gui City where the Gui San, Gui Si, and Gui Wu bases were located was a plain formed by river silt, making the soil incredibly fertile. However, most of the area of these three bases was below sea level. More alarmingly, Gui City was situated on an already subsiding landmass. After the Natural Disaster began, the rate of subsidence for the Gui City landmass had accelerated significantly.

When the Natural Disaster began, Xiaqing’s family of three hadn’t gone to the fertile, resource-rich Gui San and Gui Wu bases. Instead, they had headed for Hui San Base, partly because its landmass was rising, which meant a lower risk of floods and seawater intrusion.

‘She never expected Gui San to be submerged so quickly. For such a major catastrophe, there hadn’t been a single report on the news.’

Xiaqing said no more. She picked up Lu Yuhui’s welding gun, pressed a roll of wire mesh against the steel pipes of the wall with one hand, and began to weld.

‘Survive!’

She had promised her parents that no matter how terrible the environment on Blue Star became, she would do everything she could to live and find happiness.

In the past few years, Xiaqing had never despaired, even when she didn’t know where to find happiness. Now, with happiness right at her back, there was no way she would despair or give up.

‘Unless a world-ending catastrophe occurs, no one is going to take her territory from her!’