Xiaqing first tossed a small stone into the pond. The sow only lifted its head to glance at the water’s surface before lowering it to continue rooting in the mud. The little wild boars never stopped their playful roughhousing.
’What does this mean? It means these wild boars have no natural predators in this valley, which is why their guard is so low.’
Their predator was here.
Xiaqing raised her hand and caught an Evolutionary Snake that lunged down from a tree trunk to bite her. She deftly stuffed it into a leather bag and continued approaching the boars from downwind.
With her Auditory Evolution, Xiaqing’s stealthiness had multiplied. She crawled to within five meters of the boars without being detected.
’This is close enough.’ Xiaqing pulled out rope and sticks to fashion three simple trip-snares, then quietly circled upwind. She grabbed a stone weighing over fifty pounds and viciously smashed it down on a little wild boar.
A pained squeal erupted from the little wild boar. The sow grunted frantically and ran over to check on it. The other little boars scattered in panic, and three were caught in the trip-snares, squealing chaotically. The sow then ran toward the snared piglets, but since they were caught in different directions, she could only tend to one at a time.
Seizing the opportunity, Xiaqing rushed over, threw the boar she had killed with the stone into her back basket, cut the snare ropes, and grabbed two more little boars. She then bolted, sprinting all the way back to her territory without stopping until she confirmed the other boars weren’t in pursuit. ’Three wild boars! My luck today is off the charts!’
Grinning foolishly, Xiaqing scanned the three little wild boars. The results showed two Red Light and one Green Light. And one of the live ones was Green Light!
The base had always wanted to expand its breeding program for Green Light livestock, especially for fast-breeding, high-yield animals like domestic or wild pigs. The value of this edible little wild boar was far beyond that of any ordinary edible creature.
This was a golden pig.
’No, wait, gold isn’t even valuable anymore. This is a points pig!’
Xiaqing lovingly clamped the two little wild boars’ snouts shut to keep them from squealing. She took them home and put them in a room in the west courtyard that still had all four walls. Terrified, the two Gua Pi Little Pigs huddled together in a corner, whimpering softly.
After leaving some grass and water for the pigs, Xiaqing immediately contacted Zhong Tao to deal with the dead Red Light wild boar and the Evolutionary Snakes in her bag.
Humming a little tune, she took out her phone and sent Zhong Tao a message: "Brother Tao, do you have a precision biological scanner? I have two Red Light wild boars, one dead and one alive, totaling about 140 pounds."
Xiaqing’s detector could only distinguish between edible and inedible organisms. A High Level Detector, however, could differentiate between safe, conditional, and inedible food. Back when she was in the Safe Zone, Xiaqing couldn’t bear to spend eight hundred points on a High Level one, but now she could afford it.
To her surprise, she received a reply from Zhong Tao in just five minutes:
Got one. I’ll be there in an hour.
’An hour. Zhong Tao must not be far,’ Xiaqing thought. She sent him another message: "I’d also like to trade for some oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar."
Last night’s broadcast had announced that, for the convenience of the Lords, patrol vehicles would carry daily supplies that could be exchanged for points or other goods. It also stated that, to ensure the Lords’ safety, all transaction information would be kept confidential.
Xiaqing’s luck was through the roof today; she could finally afford to live a little better.
Soon, a light-duty truck rolled to a stop beneath the sign for Territory No. 3, kicking up a cloud of dust.
When she saw Tan Junjie of the inspection team get out of the truck along with Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui, Xiaqing, who was carrying her back basket, felt her scalp tighten.
Zhong Tao’s eyes lit up as he stared at Xiaqing. "Sis, you’re incredible! Where are the boars? Me and Brother Kui will weigh them for you."
"Captain Tan, Brother Kui. Right here." Xiaqing first greeted Tan Junjie before pulling a tightly bound little wild boar from her back basket. "There are also a few snakes."
The moment Zhong Tao got his hands on it, his eyes gleamed. "This has to be at least seventy-five pounds! Kui Zi, bring the scale!"
With a cigarette dangling from his lips, Zheng Kui brought out a steelyard scale to do the weighing. "The live little wild boar is eighty pounds, the dead one is seventy-nine, and the snakes are thirty-three pounds total."
Zhong Tao furiously tapped away on a calculator, his eyes wide. "A total of 3,865 points! Holy cow, sis, that’s as much as you’d earn in a whole year in the Safe Zone! So, how much oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar do you need?"
Even though she had just earned a huge sum of points, Xiaqing didn’t want to appear too conspicuous. "I’ll take four bags of salt, and a jug of each of the others. The best quality you have."
Even this restrained purchase was enough to make Zhong Tao’s mouth water with envy. "Alright. These condiments are all top-grade, straight from the processing plant. With the High Level Detector, the total comes to 3,790 points. That leaves you with 75. Should I transfer them to your card, or do you want more supplies?"
Hearing that Zhong Tao had brought top-grade goods, Xiaqing pressed, "What else do you have, Brother Tao?"
Zhong Tao quoted the prices. "Compressed rations, 20 points per pound. Relaxing Capsules, 100 a box. And some common medicines. We also have staple foods from the army for trade: wheat flour is 20 points per pound, corn flour is 13, and rice is 37."
The Evolutionary Warriors in the army were treated very well, and those without family would often trade their surplus supplies. These goods were usually claimed internally. Xiaqing couldn’t believe her luck. She quickly asked, "Brother Tao, trading for grain isn’t recorded, is it?"
Zhong Tao knew what she was worried about and explained with a chuckle, "It’s not recorded. This is a private trade. We’re not using the card readers from the Safe Zone’s mission hall, so don’t you worry, sis."
With grain available, Xiaqing couldn’t bother with being low-key anymore. She immediately pulled out her points card. "I’ll take twenty pounds of each. Do you have enough?"
’That much?’
Zhong Tao glanced discreetly at Tan Junjie. When the captain remained silent, he nodded. "We can do that. It will be another 1,325 of your points."
Xiaqing, who would have less than two thousand points left on her card, handed it over with a pained look. "I only have a little over fifteen hundred points. This is going to wipe me out."
Zhong Tao first used the official handheld card reader to credit the 75 points to Xiaqing’s card. Then he took out his personal card reader, deducted 1,400 points, and called to Zheng Kui, "Kui Zi, let’s move the goods!"
After Xiaqing accepted the two heavy bags, Tan Junjie, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke. "Where did you catch the boars?"
Tan Junjie’s authoritative air rivaled that of Xiaqing’s middle school homeroom teacher; she felt stressed just by looking at him.
She had revealed the little wild boars in the hopes that the inspection team would eliminate the large sow. ’It would be a disaster if it broke into my territory and started wreaking havoc.’ So, Xiaqing answered honestly, "If you go straight north from Territory No. 4 and cross a mountain, you’ll find a valley with a pond. I caught them there. There was one large sow with a herd of piglets. The sow seemed to be a standard evolutionary."
There was a large sow, too? Even if it was Red Light meat, it would be edible after purification processing! Never mind the outgoing Zhong Tao; even the taciturn Zheng Kui was tempted. "Captain Tan, those boars are close. It’ll be trouble if they cross the quarantine line and start hurting people or ruining crops."
Tan Junjie ignored him, turning instead to warn Xiaqing sternly, "Trespassing in the Evolution Forest can provoke large animals or insect swarms into attacking the territories. It’s one thing if only your own territory is attacked, but if you involve the other Lords, the consequences will be more than you can bear."
Xiaqing immediately straightened her posture. "Rest assured, Captain Tan. I’ve gone hunting in the Evolution Forest with teams many times. I know my limits and would never provoke an Evolutionary Creature I can’t handle."
After Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui drove off, Xiaqing was left alone to face the stern Tan Junjie.
When Tan Junjie didn’t speak after several seconds, Xiaqing decided to bring up the matter of the Evolutionary Sheep. "Captain Tan, I have a collared sheep—it’s a Strength-type evolution. It roams my territory and the hillside to the north. If you happen to see it while you’re hunting the boars, could you please look the other way? It’s a herbivorous Evolutionary Creature. It won’t hurt anyone as long as it isn’t provoked."