17: Chapter 17 New Features and Exchange Items

The return trip was fairly smooth; although they encountered sporadic zombie attacks, they were all directly resolved by Zhao Hu.

After about an hour, the entire team finally returned to Scarecrow Town.

To ensure safety, this group of people hurried back under the scorching sun, and the rifles, daggers, canteens, and the Sand Scorpions on their backs were no less than carrying dozens of catties of equipment for a weighted cross-country march, especially under high temperatures.

Everyone was soaked in sweat, exuding a smell of body odor, and each of them was panting.

Zhao Hu's condition was slightly better. He was a warrior who had broken his limits once, with stronger endurance and strength. However, there was another person who made Dong Hu and Ren Chuan exclaim that they had seen a ghost.

Although Wang Ting was panting, his breathing was steadier than theirs, and the sweat on his body was far less than theirs.

"Could this kid of yours have broken his limits too?"

At the checkpoint at the entrance of the Shelter, Ren Chuan couldn't help asking.

Wang Ting just grinned: "Maybe so, but I have never found the feeling of feral instinct."

"Comparing people to people will make you angry to death."

Dong Hu showed an envious look. None of them had enough resources to buy special medicines or transcendental items to break their limits. If they wanted to break their limits, they could only rely on constantly polishing their bodies and then forcefully rushing through.

Zhao Hu was the same. After polishing to a certain extent, he broke his limits in a battle with monsters and possessed his current physical fitness.

It's just that this process was not that simple; otherwise, there wouldn't be only a few captain-level people in the team.

Qu Ling chimed in: "Don't say that, if Boss Zhao forms the seventh battalion, maybe he will have a chance too."

While packing their things, everyone walked toward the interior of the town amidst the envious gazes of the Guard Team members on the city wall.

Ren Chuan shook his head: "Stop teasing Wang Ting. Captain Zhao, Wei Dong, and Cheng Nuo are all limit-breakers once and are indeed captains, but Wei Dong and Xing Chong both have limit-breakers under them, and Zhao Tianhao and Ma Ganbo are also good hands who have broken their limits once."

Ren Chuan was a bit older and an old member of the Guard Team, so naturally, he knew more clearly and dared to speak more.

"Ren Chuan is right. If Wang Ting wants to be a captain, I'm afraid he needs to establish some personal prestige, or directly beat several of their vice-captains with an absolute advantage."

Zhao Hu said with a smile from the side: "Both of them can individually fight two or three Scarecrows, but Wang Ting's combat skills probably still need more practice."

'Fighting Scarecrows, and three of them at that, can already be considered humanoid beasts.'

Although Scarecrows didn't have the physique of lions and tigers, they were still extremely terrifying existences.

Wang Ting knew best in his heart how strong combat power would erupt when this physique and combat skills were added together.

'However, I am not necessarily worse than them, and I can exchange for more characteristics tonight. But what Brother Zhao said is a bit interesting; if I become a captain, will there be more opportunities to go out?'

He was already scheming in his heart for more opportunities to go out, so as to record more monsters in a relatively safe state.

Going out to execute tasks was undoubtedly the most suitable method.

Wang Ting just echoed a couple of words without saying much more. Everyone delivered the Sand Scorpions to the Supplies Group. Each of the five Sand Scorpions was priced at 80 contribution points, totaling 400 contribution points.

"I'll take 100, Wang Ting is the discoverer so he takes 100, and the rest get 50 each. Raise any objections on the spot; if not, exchange for good things and go home."

Zhao Hu was carefree, and several people shook their heads. The distribution was considered reasonable; 50 contribution points were neither too many nor too few.

Everyone dispersed, and Wang Ting returned to his dormitory at this time.

"Patrolling once is 3 contribution points, plus the 100 contribution points for the Sand Scorpion, it's enough to exchange for a pistol."

A pistol only costs 20 contribution points, with magazines charged separately, and it can be considered a self-defense weapon.

However, he had another choice, which was to exchange for a separate house — 300 contribution points.

"With exchange items in my possession, a pistol is instead not the most urgent; rather, a separate room can save me a lot of trouble."

Scarecrow Town was too crude, and even with contribution points, the types of things that could be exchanged were not many.

He sat on his bed in the dormitory. At this time, he was alone, and the remaining four were preparing to take turns patrolling in batches.

"Display zombie and Sand Scorpion exchange items."

[Anomaly Zombie, currently available exchange items are as follows]

[Pain-free Body (Characteristic): 50 Monster Points]

[Zombie Endurance (Characteristic): 50 Monster Points]

[Virus Immunity (Characteristic): 75 Monster Points]

[virus potion (Creation): 150 Monster Points]

[Zombie (Servant Beast): 50 Monster Points]

[Anomaly Sand Scorpion, currently available exchange items are as follows]

[Vibration Perception (Characteristic): 150 Monster Points]

[Scorpion Skin (Characteristic): 100 Monster Points]

[sand scorpion armor (Creation): 150 Monster Points]

[Sand Scorpion Short Crossbow (Creation): 150 Monster Points]

[Sand Scorpion (Servant Beast): 200 Monster Points]

A total of ten exchange items emerged in front of Wang Ting in the form of a virtual panel. His eyes lit up, and he felt very surprised in his heart: "There are actually so many characteristics this time."

Characteristics were equivalent to talents or passive skills, and sometimes they were far more useful than ordinary skills.

He suppressed the joy in his heart, calmed himself down a bit, and began to ponder: "I currently have a total of 207 Monster Points, and there is no way to exchange for all of them at once. What to exchange for first needs to be prioritized."

He thought carefully: "I ran into Sand Scorpions and zombie groups on my first patrol, and there are elite individuals and even leader individuals in the wilderness. Going out safely this time doesn't mean there won't be accidents in the future. Ensuring my survival first is the most important thing."

Thoughts kept spinning in his mind, and his thoughts gradually became clear like reeling silk from a cocoon.

Not only might he encounter crises when going out on patrol, but as long as he wanted to become stronger and gain more Monster Points, he had to record more anomaly monsters.

This also meant that he had to constantly approach or even face those monsters directly. And this in itself was an extremely dangerous thing.

A hint of firmness added to Wang Ting's eyes, and he had made a decision in his heart. Under the condition that the Shelter was temporarily stable, what he needed to do were two things.

First, he must possess a skill or characteristic that could save his life, and second, he must constantly enhance his individual strength.

Only these two points could save his life.

His gaze wandered between several characteristics and items, and the abilities of these characteristics and items also emerged before him one by one.

Among them, what attracted his attention most recently were the two characteristics of the Sand Scorpion.

Vibration Perception: Clearly perceive subtle vibrations within a 500-meter range. The closer to the ground, the closer the vibration source, and the sharper the perception.

Scorpion Skin: Chitinous skin like that of a Sand Scorpion, which slightly enhances physical defense. It works better when paired with sand scorpion armor, and remains in a hidden state when unactivated.

Both characteristics of the Sand Scorpion were extremely powerful and possessed extremely strong practicality in the current environment.

One was a powerful perception talent, derived from the Sand Scorpion's own talent, enabling it to clearly perceive the situation of prey stepping into its domain across endless gravel and parched land, making it hunt like a hunter.

If Wang Ting himself possessed such a characteristic, it would undoubtedly greatly increase his safety during patrol.

Relying on the 500-meter Vibration Perception, he could clearly detect the source of movement, and even judge whether it was a human, a monster, or something else.

Coupled with his existing Corrupted Olfaction characteristic, the powerful sense of smell and Vibration Perception would cooperate with each other, and his reconnaissance ability would be greatly improved.

He thought to himself continuously: "With Vibration Perception plus the enhancement of smell, I'm afraid I can be considered a small radar in the wilderness, perceiving and avoiding danger to ensure my own safety. Moreover, if it's Vibration Perception, it should also improve my perception ability. I don't know if it can be used in combat; if so, that would really be a huge profit."

He was somewhat tempted. The 150 Monster Points for Vibration Perception were still within his exchange range.

However, he was still somewhat hesitant in his heart, because if his life-saving ability was not strong enough and his own strength was not powerful enough, even if he perceived more dangers, he might not be able to escape in time.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help temporarily suppressing the thought in his heart and putting the priority of exchanging for the Vibration Perception characteristic in second place.

His gaze fell on Scorpion Skin. The effect of Scorpion Skin was simple and clear, which was to enhance physical defense.

"The carapace of the Sand Scorpion, if I remember correctly, cannot be sliced open purely with a knife unless stronger force is applied, or stabbed in forcefully with a dagger like that."

Wang Ting had dealt with Sand Scorpions. After killing them with bullets, they had personally processed the bodies of the Sand Scorpions on the spot.

When stripping the tail hook, they could only use a sharp dagger to pick at the gaps in the joints, pry open the flesh inside, and strip it away bit by bit, rather than choosing to slice through the Sand Scorpion's carapace.

He clearly remembered that when Xiang Nan processed the Sand Scorpion, the dagger brushed across its carapace several times, leaving only a shallow white mark.

Only by pressing down very hard was it possible to slice through the Sand Scorpion's carapace.

Based on this point alone, the defense of the Sand Scorpion was actually not weak.

'Scorpion Skin merges into the body and is a part of my body just like Scarecrow Physique. Inferring this way, while enhancing defense, the physical strength may also be improved to a certain extent.'

Wang Ting tapped his fingertips gently on the wood of the bed edge, the sound echoing in the room, and gradually he made a decision in his heart.

Scorpion Skin was a life-saving characteristic. While enhancing defense, it also possessed concealment, and after he exchanged for it, it wouldn't be easily exposed in front of others.

Moreover, there was another point: if one wanted to go for self-preservation, Scorpion Skin could be linked and used together with sand scorpion armor, which could maximize defense.

sand scorpion armor: A full set of light armor condensed from Sand Scorpion chitin, possessing not weak defense, capable of resisting a certain degree of bullet attacks. When used simultaneously with the Scorpion Skin characteristic, they can connect and fuse with each other, greatly enhancing defense.

Resisting bullet attacks.

These six words alone were already worth the 150 Monster Points. Even warriors who had broken through human limits twice could definitely not be immune to bullet attacks. The defense endowed by the superposition of the two was definitely worth more than its value.

If Wang Ting himself put on such a set of sand scorpion armor, whether facing attacks from thugs in the wasteland or sudden attacks from anomaly monsters like Scarecrows, he could greatly protect his own safety.

"Sand Scorpion characteristics plus armor is only 250 points, and I already have 207 Monster Points now. As long as I wait patiently for a period of time, 250 Monster Points is not an impossible thing. However, suddenly having an extra set of armor might be a bit conspicuous."

Just as this thought rose in Wang Ting's mind, a row of extremely small characters appeared before his eyes as a prompt: Monster exchange items and monster servant beasts can all be sealed into the collector's body.