14: Chapter 14 Patrol

Zhang Cong was actually not the only person injured in the patrol team this time. After Zhang Cong's injuries were treated, Liao Minmin successively had the rest of those with light injuries go to the infirmary to get patched up. After Zhao Hu greeted one of the nurses, he also led the rest of the group away.

The Guard Team members who had gathered around to watch gradually dispersed. Zhao Hu gave Wang Ting and the others a few instructions, then immediately left the scene with Cheng Nuo, heading straight for Zhao Kun's residence. Wang Ting noticed that both of their expressions were far from lighthearted.

Even projection monsters had defined activity zones. As long as they were cleared regularly, serious intrusion issues wouldn't occur. However, an abnormal increase in numbers meant unstable factors had appeared in the surrounding area.

Over the next few days, Wang Ting hardly caught a glimpse of Zhao Hu. The Guard Team members instructing their training also rotated frequently. They seemed to have left the Shelter to investigate changes in the surrounding situation, putting the entire Guard Team into a state of high alert.

The training ground remained a bustling hive of activity, dust swirling in the air. Fu Xing and the others were no longer any match for Wang Ting. With their physical fitness improving, they were also becoming increasingly adept at using firearms. While far from hitting every bullseye, they certainly possessed good accuracy.

"Bang! Bang!"

Wang Ting launched a fierce attack with sharp, decisive moves. Li Jinming, facing him, didn't dare meet the strikes head-on, deflecting the force to parry instead, yet his balance wavered as pain shot through his arms.

"Monster!"

Li Jinming grimaced in pain. After blocking for a bit, he immediately waved his hand to stop.

"No more, no more! At this rate, even if the captain came, he probably wouldn't dare clash with you directly."

Wang Ting smiled and stopped his attack. "It's just Brother Li letting me win."

"Letting you win? If I let you win any more, I'll be beaten to death."

Li Jinming didn't dare act grand, merely instructing him: "When you train your moves into instinctive reflexes, only then will you have truly mastered combat techniques. In a pure sparring match right now, you could hold your own even if the captain came. But in a real fight to the death, it's best to use a gun. Otherwise, certain killing techniques can still threaten your life. That goes double for anomaly monsters—the moment they attack, it's fatal."

Hearing this, Wang Ting nodded with a serious expression.

Having a strong physique was one thing, but he was still a creature of flesh and blood.

'However, this is only temporary. Photosynthetic Straw can boost my recovery capability. If I encounter a monster with defensive traits, I might even acquire a defense trait, making me immune to ordinary attacks.'

With that thought turning in his mind, his focus shifted back to the anomaly monsters. He needed to come into contact with monsters first before he could accumulate Monster Points faster and acquire their corresponding exchange items.

Currently, he was only gaining 4 Monster Points a day. Accumulating them until now yielded a mere 82 points, not even enough to redeem the Photosynthetic Straw trait.

"Brother Li, what's the situation with the patrol team?"

Li Jinming paused briefly, realizing that Wang Ting and the others had been training for nearly half a month, before saying, "They can only be said to be unlucky. The abnormal monster activity was unexpected, and they didn't anticipate Lizard Hounds suddenly charging out."

Li Jinming recounted the story from start to finish, and Wang Ting finally learned the truth behind the patrol team's injuries.

The patrol team suffering injuries during this patrol really couldn't be entirely attributed to carelessness on their part.

A horde of zombies numbering in the dozens rapidly approached the patrol route. Upon discovering their movement, the patrol team immediately set up a firing position to start clearing them out.

They had already cleared nearly half when a small pack of Lizard Hounds suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

With the clearance halfway finished, retreating easily was completely out of the question. Especially regarding the zombies, although they moved relatively slowly compared to Lizard Hounds, if they actually breached the squad, their zombie virus was far more terrifying than the Lizard Hounds.

Thus, they allocated firepower to snipe and delay them. Fighting desperately to create distance, they managed to complete a full evacuation at the minimal cost of zero casualties.

This was already the best possible outcome under such circumstances.

Li Jinming cautioned, "You guys had better prepare yourselves too. I estimate your training period will likely be cut short."

Hearing Li Jinming's warning, Wang Ting's brows twitched slightly. "Is the Guard Team short on manpower?"

Li Jinming nodded, hesitating slightly, but ultimately did not hide it: "It is a bit short, mainly regarding the patrol team's forces."

Wang Ting wore a thoughtful expression. He already possessed an understanding of the patrol team's division of labor.

After all, if he wanted to come into contact with new monsters, going out on missions was essential.

Scarecrow Town was unlike large Shelters or Sanctuary Cities, which could accommodate independent exploration teams or explorers to act outside on their own.

All Guard Team members of the town had to go out exploring under the premise of executing an official mission.

Generally speaking, aside from escort missions, only the patrol teams and scavenging teams routinely went outside to execute missions.

Among them, the patrol duties for Scarecrow Town fell under Captain Cheng Nuo's unit.

Three squads rotated in three shifts, taking Scarecrow Town as the center and a three-kilometer radius as their scope, patrolling along fixed routes to check for abnormal monster movements and maintain vigilance.

They were Scarecrow Town's first line of defense, never overlooking any disturbance around the camp.

Wang Ting was somewhat puzzled: "Even if one squad was injured, Captain Cheng Nuo still has two other squads under him, and the other captains should have available people as well."

Li Jinming shook his head: "It doesn't work like that. After harvesting wheat, we need to promptly head to other Shelters to trade supplies and replenish camp consumption. Normally, we trade energy blocks and basic materials with Huangyan Town and Jumu City, and firearms and ammunition with Bullet Town. To guard against Sand Bandits and anomaly monsters on the wasteland, an entire battalion's strength is usually required for escort, led by either Boss Zhao or Boss Fan in person."

"And as for the current situation, you've seen it too. Something on the wasteland has caused abnormal activity among the anomaly monsters, leading to an increase in monsters around the Shelter. Add to that the eyes of those Sand Bandits lurking in the wasteland, and the manpower that needs to be mobilized will only increase. Guarding the Shelter walls and Floor World requires two battalions rotating, the interior of Floor World needs one battalion, and scavenging exploration needs one battalion. When you add it up, everyone is fully deployed."

With only six battalions in total, escort transport, wall defense, suppressing Floor World, scavenging exploration, and patrol duties were all demanding manpower simultaneously.

Wang Ting's brow furrowed. By Li Jinming's math, all six battalions would likely need to be fully deployed during this period, which very well might include them.

He frowned slightly, but far from feeling worried, he felt a spark of anticipation instead. This way, it seemed he would also have the opportunity to go out on missions and encounter new monsters.

'The collection progress for the Sand Scorpion can finally be resumed.'

Amidst his thoughts, Zhao Hu strode over to the training ground.

He clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention, then said with a solemn look, "You've been training for a while now, and it's about time to move to the next stage. Boss Zhao has given the order: from now on, our squad and Cheng Nuo's squad will jointly handle patrols, moving together to cover each other, clearing approaching monsters as much as possible, and finding out the cause of the abnormal activity."

The blazing sunlight cast down on everyone, illuminating various expressions on their faces.

Li Jinming and a few others still had some misgivings. Patrols weren't training. Even though the late stage of training included trial trials of killing monsters, that meant guarding the perimeter walls first before gradually making the transition.

Fu Xing, Hu Kang, and the others wore worried expressions. After all, members of the patrol team had just been injured not long ago; patrolling right now was clearly not a safe assignment.

Only in the depths of Wang Ting's eyes was there a subtle eagerness to try. Finally, he had a chance to come into contact with monsters.

'The bigger the risk, the higher the reward.'

Ding Yu couldn't help asking, "Captain, then what about the five of us..."

Zhao Hu had clearly already thought through the arrangements. He merely glanced at the five of them and said, "Two per pair, Wang Ting pairs with me. Boss Zhao gave you 10 contribution points—go to the warehouse yourselves to equip some personal gear. From now on, it's 3 contribution points per patrol."