“The territories outside the Safe Zone with a higher safety factor, besides those surrounding the Safe Zone, include: 2, 15, 68, 113, 166. The Tang family intends to claim three of them.”
Because Xia Qing had been following information about the territories, she knew that the five territories listed in this message were indeed those with a higher safety factor, flat arable land, and a thicker soil layer, making the message highly credible.
Xia Qing had been secretly observing the Tang Family, knowing they were eyeing the territories, which was why she went to the Task Hall early to queue and wait for the Tang Family members to arrive.
To accelerate the utilization rate of arable land outside the Safe Zone and quickly resolve the problem of food shortages, the highest national department required military and government bodies in all bases, large and small, to work together to swiftly promote the territory work pilot program.
Under the supervision of the Hui Three Base military, the Tang family did not dare to overtly seize good land; they had to put on a good show.
No matter how thorough, a show still has loopholes. Xia Qing aimed to exploit these loopholes to claim the Third Land, as this land contained important resources essential for her survival.
After sending her a message on the number she publicly used within the Safe Zone, this person quickly used a communication satellite to send the same message to a number she hadn't used in seven years, but unfortunately, Xia Qing had kept it off and didn't discover it.
It could be said that Xia Qing's successful acquisition of the Third Land was, to some extent, thanks to the person who sent this message. As for who this person was, whether their message was out of goodwill or had ulterior motives, Xia Qing couldn't determine with so little information.
Xia Qing deleted the message again, yawned, and crawled into her sleeping bag. She needed to rest up and start her new life.
***.
Waking up early the next day, Xia Qing cleared the weeds and bushes in the yard, then, biting on a piece of ration, left the Huang Village, passed through a large area of scorched farmland to the north, bypassed the long Reservoir, and climbed up the hill.
To ensure the territories were not disturbed or damaged by evolved creatures, the base dispatched personnel to clear an isolation belt at least fifty meters wide, serving as a transitional zone between the uncleared Evolution Forest and the territories.
The isolation belt was regularly patrolled and sprayed with insect repellent to prevent evolved insects and fierce beasts from the Evolution Forest from entering the territory area.
To protect the territories and the safety of the territory lords, there was also a Buffer Forest area between the isolation belt and the cultivated land in the mountain-adjacent territories, known as the Buffer Forest.
The three thousand mu of cleared mountain forest on the northwest sides of the Third Territory belonged to the buffer zone, and this buffer zone was also included within the scope of the Third Land.
Adding the more than two thousand mu of cultivated land within the territory, the total area of the Third Territory reached an astonishing five thousand five hundred mu, far exceeding territories not adjacent to mountains and without a Buffer Forest. This division was also to enhance the enthusiasm of territory lords in the border territories.
The Buffer Forest area only had harmful evolved creatures cleared, and the vegetation within it remained dense, contrasting sharply in color with the thoroughly cleared and burned scorched farmland.
Xia Qing left her home, using a wooden stick to part the bushes and weeds in the Buffer Forest as she climbed, reaching her destination—a small stone cave with a Spring in the North Buffer Forest of her territory.
This Spring was something Xia Qing accidentally discovered last winter when she followed her War Team to clear the territory. The water gushing from the Spring slowly seeped from the inner side of the small stone cave, which was half a meter deep and thirty centimeters high, then seeped into the ground along the rock cracks, silently.
If not for a Speed Evolution Red Squirrel suddenly darting out of the stone cave at that time, Xia Qing would not have discovered this Spring.
To solve the drinking water problem, Hui Three Base drilled three deep wells within the Safe Zone, but the water extracted was all contaminated and could only be consumed after purification.
Due to the high cost of purifying contaminated water, the base's task board permanently displayed a mission to find unpolluted water sources. Every War Team, no matter what mission they took outside the Safe Zone, would search for unpolluted water sources along the way.
Over ten years, the four unpolluted water sources found within the Hui Three Base area were, without exception, water gushing from mountain Springs. However, due to the small volume of water, they could only supply hospitals, research institutes, the Planting Center, and a small number of important individuals for drinking.
Xia Qing, who survived by selling her labor, was certainly not among the few people.
Of course, not all mountain Springs were unpolluted. So when Xia Qing used her portable detector and found the water showed a green light, she immediately designated this land as her first choice.
Unpolluted water is the source of life.
Now, this Spring, whose water could be drunk directly, finally belonged exclusively to her. After Xia Qing took half a bowl of water and drank it all, advertising slogans from a certain water brand echoed repeatedly in her mind.
It was so refreshing!
She could drink as much of this clean water as she wanted.
Not only would she drink it, but she would also use this water to wash her face, that's how extravagant she was!
Xia Qing, with a silly grin, cleaned and expanded the stone cave. Having lived on edge for nearly a decade in the crowded, dog-eat-dog Safe Zone, Xia Qing had forgotten how to smile; her expression at this moment was somewhat distorted.
But this was her territory; she no longer had to be tense. She could speak, laugh, yell, and jump as she pleased, and the feeling was truly wonderful.
Cleaning the stone cave was a trivial matter for a Power Evolutionist.
The sound of water flowing from a clean bamboo piece into a bucket was like heavenly music to Xia Qing.
Collecting water took time, so Xia Qing stood up and overlooked her territory.
Ten years of natural disasters had not brought forth volcanoes or major earthquakes here, so the topography remained unchanged from before the disaster. Even so, the dense mountain forests and overgrown weeds still harbored many evolved creatures that could easily take a life.
The mountain forests and cultivated land within Xia Qing's territory had been occupied by them three months prior. The numerous deep pits, several meters deep, remaining on the ground were the marks of fierce battles between humans and evolved creatures for this land.
After two 20-liter drinking water buckets were filled, Xia Qing tightened the lids, hid them in her extra-large backpack, and then blocked the small stone cave with stones and branches to prevent it from being discovered.
After taking the water home, Xia Qing went to the general store in Huang Village, dug through the decaying debris, and pulled out a dented stainless steel solar vertical water tank.
Xia Qing had discovered this when she followed her War Team to clear the village. She didn't take it back to the Safe Zone, but buried it directly in her territory, keeping it as her own backup supply.
After restoring the water tank to its original shape, Xia Qing used it to draw water from the Reservoir.
Just as she reached the edge of the Reservoir, a dark shadow suddenly leaped out of the water, lunging directly at Xia Qing's face. Xia Qing, wearing a protective mask, slapped it five meters away, where it crashed onto a rock by the Reservoir.
After the dark shadow rolled a few times and became still, Xia Qing chuckled. Because what had ambushed her was an evolved catfish thicker than her arm.
Like many carnivorous evolved creatures, evolved catfish had also added humans to their diet and would actively attack approaching humans. If Xia Qing had been bitten by its evolved, file-like teeth just now, she would certainly have lost a large chunk of flesh.
Now...
Xia Qing cut a small piece of fish meat with her knife and placed it into her portable qiang element detector; a green light quickly appeared.
This evolved catfish was edible!
Xia Qing immediately put the catfish into a basin and hid it to prevent evolved raptors flying overhead from swooping down and snatching it.
After carefully filling the water, Xia Qing carried the four-hundred-pound water tank home. She made a simple filter device using fine sand, fine stones, and several layers of gauze for initial water purification, then installed the primary purification filter core provided by the base for secondary purification.
While the water was slowly filtering, Xia Qing found suitable tools and scraped off all the moldy, yellowed, mottled plaster from the walls of the two-story building. She also cleaned the floor, reducing pollutants and bacteria inside the house.
Then, she scrubbed the rusty iron pot clean, heated the filtered water, and thoroughly enjoyed a hot bath.
After gulping down a cup of mountain water, Xia Qing, whose stomach was rumbling with hunger, grabbed her knife and headed straight for the large catfish.
For her first proper meal in the territory, she was going to eat meat.