This Game Actually Lets You Eat!

[Active Matter Extractor User Manual:]

[1. Active Matter is the primary raw material for synthesizing clones, including but not limited to the minerals required to constitute a human body, 20 common amino acids, and 2 rare amino acids, etc.]

[2. The Active Matter Extractor uses animal carcasses as raw material. Chordata, Mammalia, Primates are optimal, with an extraction efficiency of up to 90%. Non-primates are secondary, and Invertebrates have the lowest extraction efficiency, below 10%.]

[3. Extraction efficiency is also related to the degree of decay.]

As the task to recruit players was completed, the rewards and manual arrived simultaneously.

Inside Shelter 404.

Chu Guang looked at the manual projected onto his retina by the System while examining the iron contraption next to the conveyor belt that resembled a coffin.

According to the description in the manual, this thing was a device used to produce "raw materials for synthetic clones"—in other words, "Active Matter."

Simply put, it's like a corpse recycler?

However, judging by the description in the manual, Mutant carcasses also seem to be within the recycling range.

After roughly understanding how this thing works, Chu Guang used a handcart he picked up from outside to drag it onto the elevator and returned to the surface with the elevator.

He didn't want to bring corpses into the Shelter.

As for electricity.

There would always be a way.

The elevator slowly ascended, stopped, and opened its doors.

Just as he was dragging the handcart out of the elevator, Xiao Qi's voice came from upstairs almost simultaneously.

"Master!"

"What's wrong?"

"Something seems to be happening with your players... a large black bird is attacking them! On the north side of the Sanatorium!"

A large black bird?

Chu Guang was startled for a moment, his expression changing immediately. He instantly dropped the handcart in his hand and rushed towards the area outside the Sanatorium.

"Holy crap? Night Bro is awesome."

"That forward roll dodge just now was something else!"

"Get lost, I was scared shitless! Don't just stand there, quick, come help me out!"

The woods north of the Sanatorium.

A black bird stood on a tree branch ten meters high, its sharp gaze fixed on the players on the ground.

Its bird legs were slightly bent, and its kite-sized wings were folded back, ready to launch at any moment.

After hearing the commotion from Night Ten's side, the other three players immediately put down what they were doing and rushed over with axes.

Perhaps seeing the crowd of people on the ground, the black bird didn't immediately launch a second round of dives, but instead stopped in a place out of reach, waiting for an opportunity.

Gale bent down and picked up a black feather from the ground, staring at it for a couple of seconds.

"Kind of like a crow."

"Crows are that big?!" Glancing at the claw marks on the wood nearby, Night Ten said with lingering fear as he retreated.

"This thing should be a Mutant... a mutant produced by gamma rays or something else. I saw the setting on the official website," Fang Chang watched it cautiously, not daring to relax for a moment.

Night Ten: "The official website has settings?! Wasn't it just a reservation page?"

Gale: "That was a few days ago... The official website updated with new features yesterday, didn't you see?"

"Stop bullshitting, what should we do now? Just keep waiting?" Night Ten nervously took another step back.

Now the closest person to the bird was Gale.

The four people and one bird were in a standoff.

Just then, a whooshing sound cut through the air above the four people's heads, smashing directly towards the large bird.

"Caw!"

Although the stone didn't hit, it startled the large bird, which flapped its wings and flew up, jumping onto another branch.

As it flapped its wings and finally stabilized itself on the branch, it saw the person on the ground pick up another stone and throw it towards it.

The large bird was completely enraged.

It was the first time it had seen such an arrogant guy in its territory.

Its bent legs suddenly exerted force, and as it leaped from the branch, it was like a cannonball fired from a barrel, diving towards Chu Guang.

Its sharp claws extended forward, like opened grappling hooks.

However, a beast is still a beast. Even if it grew another head, it couldn't understand the hint of mockery at the corner of that mouth.

Dropping the stone in his hand, Chu Guang skillfully grabbed the steel pipe stuck in the ground and fiercely thrust the sharp end out.

In the blink of an eye, there was no time to dodge.

In a flash of lightning, there was no time to dodge.

The pipe, like a javelin, plunged fiercely into its chest.

"Squawk—!"

A mournful cry echoed through the woods.

Bloody feathers scattered and flew.

Watching the struggling bird fly away, Chu Guang silently stepped forward and picked up the blood-soaked pipe from the ground.

"That's not a crow."

"Its scientific name is Falcon... or was, about two hundred years ago."

The four players stared at him dumbfounded, stunned by his smooth, flowing movements.

Holy cow!

So strong!!

However, they didn't know that for the vast majority of survivors who could walk alone in the Wasteland, this level of skill was just basic.

In the past five months, Chu Guang hadn't learned much else, but he had perfected his javelin throwing skills. Within ten meters, he could hit whatever he aimed at.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have had the chance to stand here and show off.

"Falcon?! That big?" Gale exclaimed in surprise, which overturned his understanding of birds.

Fang Chang swallowed.

"Because of gamma rays?"

"Not just gamma rays. Viruses, bacteria, genetic weapons... various factors have jointly created everything we see today. Of course, Mutants are just one of the threats we face. In some cases, humans can be more dangerous than them."

Chu Guang looked up at the pine tree in front of the four players and continued.

"That Falcon just now probably nested in this tree. No wonder it didn't leave even with so many of you."

Generally speaking, birds rarely actively provoke ground creatures larger than themselves. Their diet mainly consists of mutated cockroaches, rats, or squirrels.

Although that beast flew away, it couldn't go far. It was probably waiting to die on a nearby tree.

Although this pointed pipe didn't have strong penetration, the hollow inside was a natural bleeding channel. As long as it made a hole in the body, it was almost certainly fatal.

Let alone a bird, even a human hit by it would have difficulty stitching the wound closed.

Night Ten lowered his head in shame.

"Sorry... I was just focused on cutting wood and didn't notice."

"No need to apologize," Chu Guang looked up, "Bird eggs are a good thing."

They would have a treat later.

Chu Guang's judgment was quickly confirmed.

Under a crooked neck tree, he found the breathless black bird.

He bled it with a dagger, plucked its feathers clean, and then threw it into an iron pot placed on a stove made of bricks. He stuffed dry branches and dead leaves under the stove and lit them with the matches he had bought earlier.

Smoke rose.

Before the water boiled, Chu Guang took the blanched bird out of the pot, threaded it onto a steel rod, and roasted it directly over the fire.

The bird eggs were also roasted with it.

There was no salt, no spices.

But even so, it was much better than the half-cooked green wheat paste.

"Can this... be eaten?"

Looking at the "mutant" on the iron rack, Night Ten instinctively felt repelled, but the constant aroma was enticing, and he couldn't help but swallow.

They could actually eat in the game!

This was definitely an unexpected surprise for a foodie.

And it instantly made him feel that all the hard work this morning was worth it.

"You can eat it when it's cooked. I'll tell you what things you can't eat," Chu Guang slowly turned the roasting rack, allowing every side of the food to be fully heated.

There weren't many opportunities to eat wild game in the Wasteland.

Even if they occasionally caught edible wild game like this, it would quickly spoil due to the lack of preservation methods.

Here, salt was a scarcer resource than electricity.

Especially for survivors living in inland cities like Clearwater City, it was unrealistic to use large amounts of salt to preserve food.

As for things like refrigerators, he heard that the Town Master's castle had one, but Chu Guang had only heard about it and had never actually seen one.

Of course, survivors weren't completely without options.

For example, the neighboring survivor settlement, Mr. Brown's Farm, produced a type of tobacco leaf rich in aromatic compounds like tar and aldehydes/ketones. Even when smoked without salt, it could extend the shelf life of food for several months.

"Manager, how much wood exactly do we need?"

Waiting for the food to cook was agony.

To distract himself from thinking about food, Fang Chang took the initiative to start a conversation.

Hearing the question, Chu Guang replied casually.

"Cut as much as you can."

The players exchanged glances, looking less than enthusiastic.

Chu Guang didn't pay much attention at first, but then, something suddenly occurred to him.

They were "players," meaning "outsiders."

Unlike himself, who had already transmigrated here, they could leave at any time. There was no sense of urgency about survival.

Even if he told them about the importance of stockpiling wood, they wouldn't truly understand what that sentence meant.

Their identity as players determined that their perspective on problems was different from his. Even if they didn't mind grinding, it was difficult for them to keep putting in effort for something without a reward.

There was a task.

Naturally, there also had to be a reward.

"Let me think…"

Chu Guang fell into contemplation, stroking his chin.

Suddenly, an idea struck him.

"At four in the afternoon, we'll tally today's results."

"For trees as thick as an arm, one meter in length is 1 Contribution Point. For trees as thick as a thigh, one meter is 2 Contribution Points—"

However, to Chu Guang's surprise, his words had barely finished when four slackers, who had been holding their bowls, shot up.

"Manager, I suddenly don't feel very hungry."

"Me neither."

"Anyway, it'll be a while before dinner. I'll go chop down a couple more trees!"

"I suddenly feel like cutting something!"

Chu Guang: "...?"

He hadn't even said what these Contribution Points could be used for