After inspecting her territory, Xia Qing greeted Da Jiang outside the wild boar breeding center, took the eldest sheep home, and then scouted the area to the second floor of the basement in the deserted village southwest of Territory Three to learn how to shoot.
Today was Xia Qing's first day formally learning from Luo Pei. Xia Qing solemnly brought two cucumbers and two strawberries as a gift for her apprenticeship.
Thank goodness, two of her strawberries had finally ripened. This was currently the best food she could offer. Giving her best food after the natural disaster was the greatest expression of sincerity.
Focusing intently on learning, time flew by. After two hours of constantly disassembling and reassembling the sniper rifle to familiarize herself with its structure, today's lesson was over. Luo Pei, full of anticipation, washed the machine oil off her hands. "I haven't eaten any fresh strawberries this year. The strawberries you grew must taste better than those cultivated at the safe zone's planting center."
It wasn't that she had better skills; it was that she had a cheat code for growing strawberries. Xia Qing was secretly pleased, but modestly replied, "I haven't tried it yet, so I can't guarantee it will taste good, but the toxic element content of strawberry vines is as low as 0.3 per thousand, so the taste shouldn't be too bad."
The lower the toxic element content of a fruit, the better its taste. Luo Pei hadn't expected the strawberries to have such low toxic element content. "That's not 'should,' it's 'definitely.'"
The two returned to the basement and found Yang Jin already sitting in the living room drinking tea. On the table were two bright green cucumbers and two bright red strawberries. The red and green colors were very eye-catching in the predominantly white room.
Seeing Luo Pei's nonchalant expression, Xia Qing felt a chill run down her spine. She had been practicing so intently in the soundproof room that she hadn't noticed anything outside. If it had been an enemy, she would be dead by now.
After exchanging greetings, the three sat down around the table for tea.
Luo Pei asked Yang Jin, "Didn't you catch it?"
Xia Qing wasn't surprised that Yang Jin had failed, because it was the alpha wolf.
Yang Jin explained, "It was a wolf with both enhanced brainpower and speed. It ran into Mountain 55, and I didn't continue the chase."
North of Territory 3 is Mountain 49, north of Mountain 49 is Mountain 52, and northeast of Mountain 52 is Mountain 55, which is deep within the evolved forest. Yang Jin's decision to abandon the pursuit of the alpha wolf was very wise.
Luo Pei asked, "Was that wolf very fast?"
"It was about as fast as me. It was experienced in combat, could dodge bullets, and was very familiar with the Evolution Forest." Yang Jin looked at Xia Qing. "It was grayish-brown, with a notch on the outside of its left ear."
Xia Qing immediately replied, "The alpha wolf that wiped out the Wind and Cloud Team last year was brown, but it also had a notch on the outside of its left ear, and it was very fast too."
"It should be the same one. Wolves shed their fur, so color variations are normal." Luo Pei then asked Yang Jin, "Only one wolf?"
Yang Jin confirmed, "Only one. Zhang San's guess is very credible; the wild boars in the valley are likely its prey."
Xia Qing asked, "Captain Yang, will that wolf come back?"
Yang Jin shook his head. "It's hard to say, but even if it comes back, it won't pose a significant threat to the territory."
Xia Qing confirmed with Yang Jin, "You mean it has already taken its revenge, so it won't come back to provoke us?"
After these years of fighting, a certain tacit understanding has formed between humans and the Evolution Wolf pack. As long as one side doesn't provoke, the other side won't launch a real attack. The field had been cleared clean; there were no large herbivores left, so the wolves had no reason to fight over it.
"It means what you understand."
Yang Jin, who hadn't slept for a day and a night, had bloodshot eyes, but his smile was still breathtakingly handsome…
Xia Qing turned her eyes away, staring at the strawberries, while Yang Jin's smile grew even wider. Luo Pei watched them with a smile, saying nothing.
Xia Qing voiced her biggest worry, "I wonder how important the spring in my territory is to the wolves."
Luo Pei reminded Xia Qing, "Evolved wolves might not know about the spring."
Xia Qing shook her head, "My sheep might know the wolf that hunts wild boars, maybe even be on good terms with it, so I suspect that wolf knows about the spring."
Yang Jin divided the strawberries and cucumbers into three equal portions, arranged them in three small white porcelain dishes, and handed them to Xia Qing and Luo Pei. "So, your sheep didn't take the food to visit the wild boar, but to find the wolf?"
Luo Pei was surprised, "Xia Qing, is your sheep a brain-evolved animal?"
Unanimously, neither Luo Pei nor Xia Qing mentioned the sheep's name in front of Yang Jin, even though he definitely already knew.
Xia Qing didn't understand why Luo Pei asked that, and shook her head, replying, "I haven't seen any other evolved sheep, but I don't think mine is very smart."
After the evolution of life on Earth, many animals became intelligent. For example, some could speak, like mynahs and parrots that had been possessed; some monkeys could use machine guns and crossbows; some wolves could form teams to fight...
The sheep was simply not on the same level as these kinds of intelligent evolved animals.
Luo Pei ate a refreshing slice of cucumber before explaining to Xia Qing, "Brain evolution is also divided into many categories. Take humans, for example. Currently, the discovered types of brain evolution include intelligence, observation, memory, thinking, and the ability to perceive emotions. So, just because your sheep isn't smart doesn't mean it's not a brain-evolved being."
Brain-evolved beings are considered special talents and recruited by research institutes. Therefore, Xia Qing rarely had contact with brain-evolved beings and didn't know that brain evolution was actually divided into many categories.
After hearing Luo Pei's explanation, Xia Qing had a new conclusion. "It remembers everything about Dong XZ, and it learns simple things after I do them a few times. So, it's possible its memory and observation skills have evolved? But why did Brother Luo think it was an animal with an evolved brain when he heard my sheep might know wolves?"
Luo Pei smiled and gestured for her to taste the strawberries. "Eat and talk, the aroma is so tempting."
"Mmm." Xia Qing picked up a strawberry about the size of her thumb and took a bite. Her taste buds were instantly awakened by the slightly sour and sweet flavor, making her want to cry with happiness. "Delicious! Captain Yang, Brother Luo, you guys should try some!"
Just by looking at her expression, you could tell it was delicious. Having anticipated this, Luo Pei took a bite of the strawberry, but was still amazed by its pure taste. "It's really delicious! The flavor is so much better than anything I've had before. Ah Jin, where did you get these strawberry seedlings?"
Yang Jin finished tasting the strawberry and explained casually, "I exchanged them at the planting center. My points weren't high; I just got lucky."
How could you possibly find a top-quality Green Light strawberry by chance?
I don't believe you!
Luo Pei gave Yang Jin, who was focused on enjoying the strawberry, a meaningful look before turning to praise Xia Qing, who was completely immersed in the happiness brought by the strawberry, "You must have put a lot of effort into growing strawberries this well."