At the agreed time the next day, two members of Hu Zifeng's team entered Territory Three to guard Xia Qing's base. Xia Qing, wearing protective clothing and carrying a backpack, slingshot, and machete, met up with Hu Zifeng's team at the western isolation zone.
Xia Qing didn't bring a gun this time, not only because her marksmanship wasn't good enough—a slingshot was more effective in her hands—but also because Hu Zifeng's team was well-equipped, making the risks of digging for bamboo shoots in the mountains manageable.
Why didn't Hu Zifeng take his two team members directly into the Evolution Forest?
That's because, under controllable risks, a high-level strength-based evolved human would be more effective than two combat-type team members. Through the previous operation, Hu Zifeng had confirmed that Xia Qing's carrying capacity was no less than that of Guan Tong, a level five evolved human—definitely a high-level strength-based evolved human.
Level four to level five is a chasm between ordinary evolved humans and high-level evolved humans. This chasm is three times wider than the difference between level three and level four. In other words, a level five evolved human's carrying capacity is equivalent to seven ordinary people.
When team size is limited and risks are manageable, bringing an extra high-level strength-evolved member allows for the hauling of more supplies from the Evolution Forest than bringing more offensive members.
When Xia Qing arrived at the rendezvous point, he discovered that besides Hu Zifeng's team, there was another eight-person team within the isolation zone. Although they were all wearing protective masks, Xia Qing immediately recognized them—the Dongyang Team.
Moreover, the team leader today was none other than the captain of the Dongyang Team—Chen Dongyang, a level-five speed-evolved human. Standing on either side of Chen Dongyang were Xue Jinchang, a level-five endurance-evolved human, and Xu Juan, a human with triple hearing. The others were also core members of the Dongyang Team.
Just to dig bamboo shoots for Zhang San, the Dongyang Team, ranked eleventh at Hui San Base, had mobilized its entire elite force!
Just what kind of ability does Zhang San possess, or what scarce resources does he have that make the domineering Tang family member Tang Huai and Hu Zifeng of the Azure Dragon Team treat him with such respect, even ordering Chen Dongyang to come and dig bamboo shoots for him?
Seeing everyone looking over, Xia Qing boldly removed her protective mask and greeted Xu Juan, "Sister Juan."
Xu Juan immediately removed her mask and rushed towards Xia Qing, her stunning figure accentuated by her movements, making Xue Jinchang's eyes widen.
Xu Juan looked at Xia Qing, clicking her tongue in amazement, "Xia Qing! I thought it looked like you just now, but you've changed so much in just over a month!"
Xia Qing, her face slightly flushed, smiled, "I changed my protective suit."
Her old suit had several obvious patches, giving off a shabby vibe. The new suit was brand new, and the color and style were similar to everyone else's, so it wasn't as conspicuous.
Xu Juan giggled and nudged Xia Qing's shoulder, "You're still so honest."
Her coquettish actions and tone drew a loving gaze from Chen Dongyang. Xia Qing understood: Xu Juan had once again defeated Yang Shanshan, the level four visual evolutionist in the team, and regained Chen Dongyang's affections.
Although she didn't understand the point of fighting with other women over a man, Xia Qing didn't want to interfere in other people's lives. She said a few words to Xu Juan, then went to Guan Tong's side and rejoined the team.
After Hu Zifeng and Chen Dongyang agreed on their division of labor, Hu Zifeng led his team into the Evolution Forest first.
Chen Dongyang, who entered later, looked at Xu Juan questioningly, wondering how Xia Qing had ended up with Hu Zifeng.
Both teams were Evolutionary humans, making direct communication difficult. Xu Juan simply shook her head, indicating she didn't know either.
Because they knew the way, both teams quickly reached the bamboo forest. The 90 acres of unharvested bamboo forest were divided into two sections. After drawing lots to determine their respective locations, the two teams began inspecting and digging for bamboo shoots.
Hu Zifeng divided his eight-person team into two groups, and in four hours they dug through over 40 acres of bamboo forest, discovering two green-light bamboo plants. Although they were hit by bamboo leaf darts more than forty times, the harvest was very promising.
The Dongyang team had a run of bad luck today. Not only did they fail to find any Green Lantern Bamboo, but they also stumbled into an Evolved Poisonous Snake's Den, only managing to harvest three bags of Yellow Lantern Bamboo Shoots, which was far too little to complete their mission with Zhang San.
Therefore, after leaving the Evolved Forest, Chen Dongyang proposed an exchange to Hu Zifeng, offering nearly double the points for Green Lantern Plants, wanting to trade thirty kilograms of Green Lantern Bamboo Shoots.
After obtaining the consent of his team members and Xia Qing, Hu Zifeng made the trade with Chen Dongyang. After the two teams separated, Hu Zifeng suggested distributing the supplies on the spot, which Xia Qing, now equipped with a vacuum packing machine, readily agreed to.
This time, Xia Qing played a role as important as Guan Tong. Without Xia Qing's ability to carry 700 kilograms at full speed, Hu Zifeng's team wouldn't have been able to successfully leave the dangerous Evolved Forest with their large harvest.
Therefore, Xia Qing received the same amount of supplies as Guan Tong.
Besides the two hundred kilograms of Yellow Lantern Bamboo Shoots she had dug herself, Xia Qing also received thirty kilograms of Green Lantern Bamboo Shoots, two Yellow Lantern Bamboo Rats, and three hundred steel balls with a diameter of eight millimeters. The steel balls were part of the supplies Chen Dongyang was exchanging for Green Lantern Bamboo Shoots, and Xia Qing took them all, as her powerful slingshot was her preferred weapon.
Leaving aside Tang Huai, who was secretly eavesdropping behind the grass wall, let's focus on the Dongyang team carrying supplies to Territory Seven to complete their mission.
Chen Dongyang removed his protective mask, his face grim. "No one in the Beard Squad uses a slingshot, but he still agreed to exchange steel balls for Green Lantern Bamboo Shoots, which means Xia Qing is quite important to him."
Before Xu Juan could speak, Xue Jinchang interjected, "Xia Qing was carrying the same load as the level five strength evolvers in the Beard Squad today, and it didn't slow her down at all. Her abilities have improved. Actually, Xia Qing isn't bad-looking, she's just too thin and poisoned. If she could detoxify her skin and eat more, she'd be quite a beauty."
Chen Dongyang didn't respond, but Xu Juan, who had been with him for many years, realized he had taken Xue Jinchang's words to heart. Xu Juan frowned and reminded the two lecherous men, "Xia Qing is now protected by the Lord's Law. Unless she consents, no one can touch her."
Chen Dongyang thought Xu Juan was jealous, so he smiled but didn't say anything. Xue Jinchang chuckled, "Then just let her be willing, right? Sister Juan and Xia Qing are quite close, right? She used to go on missions with you often, you should have her number, right?"
Xu Juan never gave Xue Jinchang a friendly look. "There's no signal in the territory, no phone service."
Xue Jinchang spat, "I almost forgot about that."
Another team member teased Xue Jinchang, "That's easy, Brother Chang, just give her a satellite phone and she can contact you!"
"A satellite phone is enough for me to sleep with women prettier than her for a year in the safe zone." Xue Jinchang stopped mentioning Xia Qing and asked about the exchange, "Brother Yang, is thirty catties of bamboo shoots enough to exchange for two bottles of Yi Ye liquor?"
"Adding the exchange supplies we brought, it's enough for one bottle. I wonder if he wants these six hundred catties of yellow bamboo shoots?"
Zhang San, of course, didn't want them. He had no friendly attitude towards the Dongyang team, who had only managed to produce thirty catties of green bamboo shoots after a whole day of work, and shooed them away like flies, "Go away, go away, you're not allowed to accept any more missions I issue!" Chen Dongyang, who always cared a lot about his reputation, bowed and scraped in front of Zhang San, saying, "Please give us another chance. We will never let you down next time."