4: Chapter 4 Scarecrow Town

Seeing that Wang Ting was only asking this question, Heyan let out a sigh of relief. He shoved the energy block into the pocket behind him before continuing to answer, "It's a rule set by Boss Zhao. After every harvest season, Shelter residents are selected to join the Guard Team as replacements."

"How are they selected?"

Wang Ting furrowed his brows. When he first entered the Shelter, he had seen members of the Guard Team take away two men and a woman, but those people all had special skills.

Two of them were mechanics who had fled from other Shelters, and the other was someone who knew some nursing techniques.

He had thought that only those with special abilities could join the Guard Team and become true residents of the Shelter.

In his eyes, only the Guard Team and its affiliated clinics, maintenance teams, and so on, with the people living in District One, were the true residents of Scarecrow Town.

As for the others living in the District Two shantytowns, even if they were working for Scarecrow Town and receiving meager food rations, they were nothing more than consumables that could be replenished at any time.

"Physical fitness assessments and sparring matches. Whoever wins gets selected, but it specifically depends on whether they need to replenish personnel."

"What about you? Have you ever participated?"

Hearing Wang Ting's words, Heyan wore a bitter expression. "I don't dare, I can't compare."

Even though farmers in the Floor World had a relatively stable food supply, it was only relatively stable. Not everyone could nourish a good physique to snatch a spot from those lunatics.

"Only people with good connections can get more food from the Guard Team members to build up their bodies. Some of them are in Barns 1 and 2."

After finishing, Heyan quickly shrank back into the corner, gripped the energy block in his hands tightly, and began to gnaw on it.

Although the Guard Team didn't allow things to go too far inside the barn, as long as people "voluntarily" handed over a portion of their food to others, they wouldn't bother with such minor matters.

Wang Ting took his energy block back to his corner, gnawing on the energy block that tasted like a foul-smelling candle while pondering.

"The Guard Team isn't absolutely safe either. Every time they harvest wheat or go out, there's a chance of losing personnel. Such a selection process is normal, and starting it after a period of observation makes the selected people relatively more reliable..."

Aside from people with special skills, the greatest role of the Guard Team was to fight abnormal monsters and other survivors.

Better physical fitness was naturally crucial, while for those frail wanderers, joining the Guard Team directly was neither realistic nor reliable.

Figuring out the crux of the matter, a sharp gleam flashed across Wang Ting's eyes. "My golden finger requires recording monsters to become stronger. The more monsters I record, the more Monster Points I get, and the more things I can redeem. If I cower in the barn, I might not even record a second monster in a few months. I must join the Guard Team."

Although the Guard Team had to fight monsters, for him, this was the fastest path to growth.

Swallowing the energy block in large bites, his abdomen slowly digested the food like a small stove, then transported the nutrients to all parts of his body to make up for its deficiencies.

Under the blessing of the Scarecrow Physique trait, the initial reinforcement had consumed most of the nutrients in his body. His current body was like parched land, requiring a massive supply of nutrients.

[Successfully survived for one day, beginning to calculate today's Monster Points]

[Low-level abnormal entity Scarecrow +3 Monster Points]

...

In the wheat fields, a cold, clear moon hung high. A pleasant voice suddenly sounded in the ear of Wang Ting, who was harvesting wheat.

He concentrated and looked at his virtual panel.

[Collector: Wang Ting]

[Life Rank: Tier 0]

[Monster Points: 3 points]

[Recorded Monster: Scarecrow]

"A single Scarecrow can provide 3 Monster Points per day. If I want to reach the second redemption, even for the Photosynthetic Straw trait which requires the least, it will take about one month and three days."

One month and three days might not look long, but in this apocalyptic world, no one knew what accidents might happen.

"I must record more monsters as soon as possible."

Wang Ting's wheat-harvesting speed increased. His enhanced physique gave his body more strength, and at the same time, his movements in harvesting wheat became increasingly proficient.

Scarecrows still attacked the entire farm from time to time. Sporadically appearing Scarecrows would still suddenly ambush and kill the farmers in the wheat fields.

The sound of gunfire resounded through the night sky, and the flashes of gunfire lit up the dark night.

Wang Ting was rather lucky. Over the next few days, although Scarecrows also appeared in the farmland, the closest one appeared more than four meters away from him, which wasn't dangerous.

The moment it appeared, he took to his heels and ran, like a black panther springing out of the fields. Before anyone else could react, he had already moved far away.

As a result, he didn't sustain any injuries during the five days of harvesting.

Finally, the harvest was completed on the last day, and the wheat was threshed and packed into heavy burlap sacks.

Wang Ting stacked the heavy burlap sacks inside the barn with a muffled thud, stirring up a burst of dust mixed with the scent of grain.

"Wang Ting, He Qichang, Zhao Dabao, Pang Hao, and Heyan, step out of the ranks."

Zhao Hu led people into the barn and began roll call. Those whose names were called stepped forward, standing side by side in order from tallest to shortest, with Wang Ting placed in the middle position.

Out of the corner of his eye, he looked to his left and right. The people who stepped out were relatively taller and sturdier. He remembered that these individuals were all faster at harvesting and obtained more food in the past; aside from him, they were all from the first few batches of people in the barn.

"The five of you can follow me to Barns 1-3. Barns 1-3 provide two energy blocks per day, but you must participate in daily physical training and go out to open up new farms. I'll give you one minute to consider."

After finishing, Zhao Hu swept his gaze over the five people. The selected individuals were all people they had observed, whose physical fitness largely passed muster.

Scarecrow Town did not support idlers. To get more food, one needed to do more things, such as clearing new farmland.

"I quit."

Heyan acted timidly and immediately quit. He wanted to acquire more food, but he was even more afraid of going out to clear farmland.

There were Scarecrows in the wilderness, after all. The number of people who died normally in Barns 1-3 was far greater than those who died working in the farmland.

"What about the four of you?"

This wasn't Heyan's first time quitting; Zhao Hu was already used to it.

"I'لl join."

Wang Ting's voice was steady and powerful, his eyes resolute.

Developing the Scarecrow Physique trait required more food, and he also needed to record more monsters.

"I'll join."

Some hesitated, while others were eager to try. The apocalypse had been going on for quite a long time, and those who were truly terrified probably wouldn't live long.

"Very well, follow me."

Zhao Hu nodded and led them out of the barn, walking towards the three largest barns on the farm.

Barns 1-3 were twice as large as the other barns and were also constructed of wooden boards. However, pushing open the doors to enter, they were divided into front and back sections.

The front barn was a large shared sleeping platform, with straw stacks acting as partitions between the beds, but one could still see the person on the opposite bed upon turning around.

The shared platform was divided into upper and lower tiers, capable of accommodating about sixty people or so.

As soon as several people entered, they attracted scrutinizing gazes, looking them up and down as if trying to see right through them.

"You live here. Private fighting is not allowed in the barn. If you delay work, watch out or Boss Zhao will hang you at the town gates to feed the zombies."

Zhao Hu swept his gaze across everyone and issued a warning.

"Yes, yes, rest assured, Captain Zhao."

A tall, bald man bowed and nodded, agreeing.

Those who could stay in Barns 1-3 mostly wanted to join the Guard Team. Naturally, buttering up the current members of the Guard Team was important.

Zhao Hu paid no attention and led his team members out of the barn.

"Newcomers, what are your names?"

The bald man stepped forward, grinning broadly. Beneath his coarse short shirt, lean and sturdy muscles were revealed.

"Wang Ting."

Wang Ting glanced around at the surrounding people, his gaze falling upon the bald man.

"Call me Fu Xing. I'm from the oldest batch of people in Barn 3, and the most likely person to join the Guard Team this time."

Fu Xing didn't hide it at all. Even though the people present were in a competitive relationship, he didn't seem to care about this, or perhaps his physique indeed made it unnecessary for him to care.

"He Qichang." "Pang Hao." "Zhao Dabao."

The three of them stated their names in turn and also came over to the side of the shared sleeping platform.

"You can ask if there's anything about the barn. The tasks after the harvest period in Barn 3 are training and reclaiming farmland. Just help each other out and don't hold everyone back."

"Besides Scarecrows, what else is outside the fence?"

Wang Ting suddenly asked. Fu Xing was slightly stunned, clearly not expecting a newcomer to adapt so quickly.

"You'll find out when the time comes. It's best not to encounter them..."