Over fifty evolved bamboo rats were dealt with by Hu Zifeng's team in less than ten minutes.
Throughout the battle, Xia Qing's sole responsibility was to stand in the center of the team, "protecting" the bamboo shoots in the bag. In reality, the team protected both her and the bamboo shoots. This differed from previous dangerous missions Xia Qing had encountered.
Team members leaving the safe zone for missions can generally be divided into three categories: the team's main force, internal support personnel, and temporarily recruited auxiliary support staff.
Xia Qing did not belong to any team and always went on missions as an auxiliary support staff member.
In dangerous situations, both auxiliary support staff and internal support personnel must quickly run to the well-equipped main force members for protection.
Main force members are obligated to protect support personnel and auxiliary support staff, but in uncontrollable dangers, many teams' default practice is to use auxiliary support staff as bait to cover the team's retreat.
Therefore, Xia Qing carefully selects her teammates, avoiding teaming up with such individuals whenever possible. She chose to go on missions with Luo Pei's team and Xu Juan's team because these teams treated their non-regular members with respect.
She didn't join a combat team for three reasons: first, because a combat team is both a shield against danger and a shackle on freedom; second, because even within a combat team, power-evolved individuals wouldn't be valued and would receive few points; and third, because as a three-evolved individual, consistently going on missions with the same group of people would expose her true identity.
She was afraid of being captured and researched.
Xia Qing didn't have any lofty goals; she didn't want to stand out or wield power, she just wanted to live a peaceful life.
Now that the combat mission was over, it was her turn to take the stage. Xia Qing volunteered, "Captain Hu, can I clean up the battlefield?"
Hu Zifeng knew Xia Qing often went on missions with Brother Luo's team, so he nodded, "Miss Xia, you and Guan Tong clean up the battlefield together, the rest of you keep watch."
Guan Tong quickly pulled a stack of vacuum-sealed bags and disposable plastic gloves from his protective vest pocket and handed them to Xia Qing, "Miss Xia, let's bag and seal all the bamboo rats as soon as possible, be careful of snake attacks."
Xia Qing was very familiar with this task. She deftly picked up the evolved bamboo rats, bagged them, and handed them to Guan Tong, who had taken out a small vacuum packaging machine, to seal and preserve them.
A bamboo viper, attracted by the smell of blood, slowly slid down the bamboo, trying to swallow the bamboo rat in front of Xia Qing. Xia Qing stunned the snake with a slap of her machete, put it in a vacuum-sealed bag, and then heard movement three meters above her head. However, she didn't dodge, because Hu Zifeng was standing beside her on guard.
Hu Zifeng reached out and grabbed the venomous snake that had swooped down to attack, handing it to Xia Qing. Xia Qing knocked it unconscious with another stab, stuffed it into a bag, and handed it to Guan Tong to seal.
Live animals are more valuable than dead ones. Even the most powerful evolved animal would suffocate without air, let alone a nearly two-meter-long, arm-thick evolved snake.
After cleaning up the battlefield in less than five minutes, Guan Tong, a member of the Power Evolution team, carried the large bag containing the bamboo rats and snake in his hand, and then grabbed the largest bag of bamboo shoots and slung it over his shoulder.
Xia Qing, also a Power Evolution member, grabbed another bamboo shoot bag, almost half a person's height, and carried it on his back, then picked up two more bags and stood beside Guan Tong.
The four members of the Hu Zifeng team, carrying smaller backpacks, shielded Xia Qing and Guan Tong, who were responsible for carrying the loads, and retreated from the Evolution Forest via the same route.
This trip took seven hours. No one removed their protective masks. When hungry, they would bite down on the straws under their mouths inside their masks to drink some nutrient solution. The nutrient solution tasted terrible, but it quickly replenished their nutrition, making it an essential supply for the team when carrying out missions in the Evolution Forest.
After leaving the Evolution Forest, Hu Zifeng removed his protective mask and discussed with Xia Qing, "Miss Xia, the bamboo shoots you dug yourself are yours. How about the rest of the bamboo shoots, snakes, and bamboo rats be distributed according to the safe zone rules?"
Xia Qing removed her mask and agreed, "Of course. Captain Hu, no need to be so polite, just call me Xia Qing."
Hu Zifeng was also decisive, "Okay. Then let's take the supplies back for testing and cleaning first, and I'll bring your share over. Would you like to exchange a few cans of food?"
"Is one okay?" Canned food was a contingent of supplies, and Xia Qing didn't know how much they had taken out of the safe zone, so she didn't ask for much. Besides, she could only harvest about two pounds of Evolution Perilla from her field.
After watching Hu Zifeng's team enter Buffer Forest No. 1, Xia Qing returned to her territory with her bag of bamboo shoots. The team members guarding the four corners of the territory retreated to Territory Number One. The eldest sheep rushed to Xia Qing's side, raising its head and opening its large, watery eyes, greeting Xia Qing with a bleating sound, "Baa."
Xia Qing, having reaped a bountiful harvest, removed its sweat-absorbing headgear, shook its short, sweaty hair, and greeted with a smile, "Boss, I'm back safely with the bamboo shoots!"
Unfortunately, no evolved giant panda was found.
The pampered eldest sheep, realizing Xia Qing wasn't giving it food, squinted and gestured with a spiral, scratching its hoof.
Xia Qing, too tired to fight him, tossed the bag on his back. "Come on, I'll give you some when we get home."
After Xia Qing left with the sheep, Zhou Xun quietly retreated a short distance and quickly returned to the village in Territory Two. "Boss, Xia Qing and Hu Zifeng are all back, and they brought back edible bamboo shoots!"
Tang Huai, who had been digging for insects all day, remained silent. Tang Heng analyzed, "They were out for seven hours before returning; the bamboo forest must be at least fifteen li away."
To find bamboo fifteen li away, a well-equipped evolved human team was needed. There were only two evolved humans in Territory Two, Tang Huai and Zhou Xun, neither of whom were combat-oriented. Zhou Xun, unwilling to give up, approached Tang Huai and pleaded, "Boss, can we trade our supplies with Territory One or Territory Three for some bamboo shoots?"
Xia Qing returned home, took out a bamboo shoot weighing three or four jin, cut off a thin slice, and put it into the sheep's food bowl. When she came out of the shower, she found the eldest sheep standing in the doorway, staring at her with its big, bright eyes.
"Baa—"
This thing was even making a squeaking sound for food. Xia Qing, who had just finished showering, felt a chill and simply walked past the eldest sheep. "No way, these bamboo shoots are hard to come by, we have to eat them sparingly."
"Baa!" The eldest sheep, realizing it wouldn't get any food, started scratching its hooves, threatening to fight.
Xia Qing didn't want to fight, so she simply stuffed the remaining bamboo shoots into the kitchen's metal cabinet and locked it.
The eldest sheep stopped fussing, because it knew that sooner or later it would get its share of the things in that cabinet.
Xia Qing first went to the high-altitude planting area to cut a bundle of evolved perilla, then came back to wash the rice and cook it. Once Hu Zifeng delivered her share of supplies and canned food, she could enjoy fragrant rice with bamboo shoots and stir-fried meat tonight.
Half an hour later, Xia Qing received one yellow-lantern bamboo rat, four red-lantern bamboo rats, and twenty catties of green-lantern bamboo shoots, in exchange for a can of meat.
Hu Zifeng explained to Xia Qing, "Of the fifty bamboo rats, eight are yellow-lantern, the green-lantern bamboo shoots total 136 catties, and the red-lantern snakes 53 catties. I kept the snakes; your share will be compensated with four catties of green-lantern bamboo shoots."
Xia Qing thanked him, took the supplies, and returned to her territory. This time, her role in the team was only to lead the way, clean up the battlefield, and transport supplies; the share Hu Zifeng allocated to her exceeded the base's standard. Xia Qing understood perfectly well that the extra four catties of green-lantern bamboo shoots she received were a gift from Hu Zifeng.
The purpose was to thank her for allowing Luo Pei to receive treatment within Territory Number Three.
Although the supplies were all vacuum-packed, meat wouldn't last more than three days.
Xia Qing glanced at the time and stood directly on the isolation zone, waiting for the patrol team to pass by.