Because the search team regularly sprays insect repellent near the isolation zone, there are no dangerous evolved creatures within the first 50 meters of the forest. However, after 50 meters, the number of insects increases significantly, slowing the team's progress.
Even with the well-equipped Hu Zifeng team, it took two hours to safely reach their destination, twice the time Xia Qing took to cut bamboo before the rainstorm.
Seeing numerous bamboo shoots emerging from the bamboo forest floor, Xia Qing was full of energy, awaiting Hu Zifeng's orders.
Hu Zifeng carefully surveyed the area before giving the order, "When digging for bamboo shoots, lightly chop the tip to check. Be careful of evolved bamboo cows or evolved night moth larvae jumping out and attacking, and also watch out for bamboo leaf darts from above."
Some dangerous evolved bamboo will launch bamboo leaf darts to attack any creature that approaches, turning it into a hedgehog. Xia Qing hadn't found any dangerous evolved bamboo when she cut bamboo three times before, but that didn't mean there weren't any here. She had come before the rainstorm in late winter or early spring, when the evolved forest was in a relatively safe "dormant period." Awakened by three days of torrential rain, anything could happen in the Evolution Forest.
After confirming that the team members and Xia Qing were fully prepared, Hu Zifeng led the group into the bamboo forest to search for edible bamboo shoots.
For each bamboo shoot tip they encountered, Xia Qing carefully cut off a small piece with a knife, only squeezing out the juice for testing after confirming there were no evolved creatures attacking. After detecting twelve red lights, Xia Qing finally detected a yellow light.
She didn't immediately start digging, but first carefully listened and observed, confirming there were no dangers lurking in the soil or around her. Only then did she quickly dig with a military shovel, piercing the bamboo rhizome to ensure the bamboo wouldn't launch bamboo leaf darts before severing the shoot root, quickly peeling the shoot, and stuffing it into a bag.
Having ventured this far, she naturally wanted to take as much as she could, immediately cutting off any inedible parts.
This bamboo shoot still weighed six pounds after peeling. A smile appeared on Xia Qing's face as she continued searching and digging.
Hu Zifeng, who had been watching Xia Qing closely, nodded secretly. As expected of a strength-evolved human, this speed and strength were indeed suited for digging and manual labor.
Two hours after the group slowly advanced, Xia Qing had already harvested seven yellow bamboo shoots, filling a bag. As she slung the bag over her shoulder, she heard a teammate exclaim softly into the walkie-talkie, "Green light!"
Finding a green bamboo shoot greatly increased the chances of finding more. The team immediately moved slowly towards the teammate, and after confirming there was no danger in the soil, they began digging.
Three shovelfuls hadn't reached the shoot root yet, five more shovelfuls later, the shoot was already arm-length, and they still hadn't reached the root. Xia Qing, who had never seen such a large shoot before, had eyes that were practically gleaming. She almost wanted to lift the teammate up and jump in to dig herself.
When they finally reached the root and confirmed that the bamboo shoot was longer than an adult's leg, everyone beamed. Even if they only harvested this one shoot today, they had already made a profit.
After carefully observing the nearby bamboo, Hu Zifeng decisively ordered, "Guan Tong, open the protective umbrella! Everyone hide under the umbrella, use your iron shields for protection. Da Jiang, watch your step!"
A team member pulled a closed iron umbrella from his backpack. It didn't look large, but when opened, its diameter was over two meters. It could cover all six people. Xia Qing and Da Jiang were in the center, with the others around them.
Hu Zifeng continued to give orders, "Miss Xia, when cutting the bamboo shoot, cut it off in one stroke. Try not to cut the bamboo rhizome to avoid over-stimulating the bamboo."
"Okay." Xia Qing used her machete to chop at the junction of the shoot and the rhizome, finishing in one stroke. For a power-evolved human, this was a piece of cake.
This strike directly triggered the bamboo's mechanism. Seeing the bamboo rhizome tremble, Hu Zifeng immediately ordered, "Everyone crouch down, use your iron shields for protection!"
The sound of wind cutting filled the air as countless bamboo leaf darts struck the umbrella and the surrounding protective shields, making a series of loud thuds.
The bamboo darts were a stress response from the evolved bamboo. Fortunately, its evolution level wasn't high enough to lock onto a target, and it stopped firing after a single indiscriminate attack.
In those few seconds, Xia Qing had already peeled and trimmed the green bamboo shoots, stuffing them into a bag. Excitedly, she shared her joy with her teammates, "At least forty pounds after peeling! We're in for a treat!"
"Tonight we're having bamboo shoot stir-fried with meat." The fierce-looking Bearded Feng was also delighted. "Miss Xia, would you like some canned meat?"
Canned meat was expensive, and Xia Qing obviously didn't have any in stock. "Can I trade with you?"
"Of course! One 340-gram can of pork for two pounds of evolved perilla?"
"Deal!" A fair trade, Xia Qing readily agreed.
Bearded Feng, whose mouth was watering from Zhang San and Tang Huai's talk about evolved perilla, smiled even wider.
After putting away the iron umbrella, Xia Qing looked at the dark green bamboo leaves stuck in the bamboo and in the ground, and couldn't help but feel a lingering fear. Luckily, she hadn't gone to cut down this particular bamboo before, otherwise she would have been injured.
Xia Qing was curious how Hu Zifeng had confirmed that this bamboo with the shoots was an aggressive evolved bamboo, but since she wasn't familiar with him and he didn't mention it, she felt awkward asking.
After confirming the evolved bamboo was a green-light plant, the six of them followed its tendrils and found thirteen more green-light bamboo shoots, none of them as large as the first one.
After digging up all thirteen green-light bamboo shoots, Xia Qing looked up and noticed that the mature evolved bamboo's leaves were almost completely gone…
However, they hadn't damaged the bamboo's roots. In just a few days or after a rain, its fighting power would be fully restored, and anyone who dared to touch its shoots or roots would be attacked with darts.
This was probably why no animals were eating the bamboo shoots.
The bamboo-digging team, having amassed a bountiful harvest, was about to pack up when Xia Qing heard rustling sounds all around. Animals had come, and quite a few at that! Judging from the noise, they weren't giant pandas.
She had just straightened up when she heard Hu Zifeng order, "Enemy situation! Form a squad!"
Xia Qing was slightly taken aback. Could Hu Zifeng be a dual-evolved human with both hearing and sight?
The four squad members quickly faced outwards, joining Hu Zifeng to shield Xia Qing in the center. Holding a knife in one hand and a gun in the other, Xia Qing didn't dare to be reckless, standing in the center with her eyes fixed on the front.
Soon, the dangerous creatures that had made the noise came into Xia Qing's view—a group of bamboo rats! It seemed they had been eyeing the green bamboo shoots for a long time, but hadn't dared to bite them due to the evolved bamboo's attack power. Seeing that Xia Qing and her group had dug up the shoots to take away, these creatures panicked.
Don't let their round bodies and short legs fool you; these evolved rats were incredibly fast. With Xia Qing's current marksmanship, it was impossible for her to hit them. She immediately holstered her gun and gripped her machete tightly with both hands.
Level 5 visual evolver Hu Zifeng had completed his reconnaissance. "Two hundred meters away, a group of evolved bamboo rats spotted at the twelve o'clock position. There are thirty evolved rodents and at least ten speed-evolved ones. Miss Xia, stay put and protect the bamboo shoots. Dajiang, watch your step. I'll handle the speed-evolved ones; the rest of you, eliminate the rodents."
With a pleasant click of the safety being released, Hu Zifeng's sniper rifle fired its first bullet. Xia Qing saw a speed-evolved bamboo rat leaping rapidly between bamboo poles fifty meters away get hit and fall to the ground.
The team members also fired quickly. The bamboo rats were fast, but they kept getting hit and falling, unable to get close. Xia Qing was relieved and, together with Dajiang, focused on the ground.
Bamboo rats can burrow; they might attack from underground.
Distinguishing movement from a particular direction amidst chaos is difficult; this was Xia Qing's hard-earned survival skill. Hearing the sound of an animal digging towards them ten meters to the northwest, Xia Qing noticed out of the corner of her eye that Dajiang, the hearing evolver, hadn't reacted. It seemed that Da Jiang's hearing evolution level was inferior to hers. She gripped her machete tightly and remained silent, waiting for the evolved rat to enter Da Jiang's hearing range.
When the bamboo rat had dug to within four meters, Da Jiang finally spoke, "Eleven o'clock, four meters, twenty centimeters underground."
A team member quickly lowered his gun, and after a bang, the digging sound from beneath the soil stopped.