Harvest

The pig was dead.

Amidst the endless flow of blood and the spray of water from the underground pipes, its frenzy gradually faded, and its movements grew sluggish.

Gao Zheng and the other four had already retreated to the side to wait the moment it began its rampage.

In this battle, Ma Tianxing was the only one who hadn't been injured; the other four had all sustained at least some minor wounds.

Gao Zheng watched the pig slowly collapse to the ground and said, "Tianxing, go finish it off. Cut off its head."

Ma Tianxing released the axe in his left hand, hoisted the one in his right, and walked toward the pig step by step.

Reaching the creature's neck, Ma Tianxing gripped the handle with both hands, channeled all his strength into the axe, and swung downward.

The strike cleaved through the skin and flesh, exposing the bone.

At the very last moment, the pig let out a heavy grunt, lacking the strength for any further resistance.

After nearly ten minutes of effort, the entire head was severed.

Looking at the head now, they were suddenly struck by a sense of ferocity they hadn't felt before the battle.

The five of them looked at one another, and in their meeting gazes, a shared sense of satisfaction lingered.

During the ten minutes spent processing this monster, the other battlefields had also reached their conclusions, with all the monsters slain.

Gao Zheng glanced outside the Chen Village Pig Farm and saw that the other squads hadn't yet finished off all the monsters, so he gathered the members of the other three squads to begin tallying the spoils of the battle.

Gao Zheng sighed, "The difference between inside and outside is like a chasm. It's clear that these monsters have broken through to another level."

He Qishun pulled out a cloth and began wiping his bone knife as he said, "This proves our previous decision was correct. If these four monsters had charged into our other squads, the consequences would have been unthinkable."

Gao Zheng nodded. "But this also shows that our strength is still far from enough. These four were just enough to keep us from spreading our forces too thin, but what if we encounter more monsters of this caliber next time?"

Lin Chenxing recalled the works he had read in the past, his eyes lighting up as he suggested, "Since these animals have mutated into monsters, what about plants? Could they have also undergone a certain degree of mutation, and is it possible that rare treasures exist? Could these treasures help us rapidly improve our physical fitness?"

"Also, the martial arts we practiced before were only for health and fitness, yet now they have made our physical stats far exceed others. Is there still more to be mined from these arts? If we organize and categorize all the martial arts we've collected, then distribute them from easiest to hardest to everyone in the base, and pool everyone's strength to attempt and deduce them, could we develop a technique that improves our physical fitness at the fastest possible speed?"

Ma Tianxing did not quite agree with Lin Chenxing's idea. He noted, "Martial arts are too slow to show results. Which one of us didn't spend years of hard work to reach our current level? Trying to find a shortcut this way is wishful thinking. As for rare treasures, that's possible, but I don't think it's likely. Humans and animals were able to evolve and mutate largely due to the RR Virus; plants didn't have the conditions to be infected by the RR Virus, so where would the mutation come from?"

Guo Qichang didn't have much of an opinion on this, only saying, "I think Chenxing's idea is worth a try, right? There's no harm in trying anyway. If everyone practices, it'll be easier for us later."

Xi Qing, who was a member of one of the squads, held a long blade in her hand, looking heroic as she said, "In my view, we should try every possible method to improve our strength. After all, it is we humans who are in a weak position, not the monsters. Furthermore, we don't have guns or ammunition to directly arm ordinary people and form effective combat power in a short time. This is the only way we can give them the ability to protect themselves."

He Jinchang, a member of another four-man squad, suggested, "Why not hold an internal Martial Arts Tournament? Only when people become interested in martial arts will they study them seriously."

Gao Zheng agreed with He Jinchang's opinion and said, "Not just a Martial Arts Tournament; we also need to hold team-based competitions to form squads. In this era, coordinated combat is definitely safer than striking out alone."

After speaking, Gao Zheng looked outside the field again and saw that the other squads were not far from the gate. He picked up the gun he had been leaning against and said while walking, "Alright, let's go meet up with them. There are only a few dozen left."

Finally, the subjugation of the Chen Village Pig Farm came to an end.

Afterward, once the four pigs from the farm were transported to the base's research institute, the researchers there wished they had a few more so they could dissect to their hearts' content.

In the end, research confirmed one point: these four pigs were indeed vastly different from normal domestic pigs and wild boars, and even differed significantly from the common porcine monsters outside the farm. The architecture of their internal tissues and the cells of their various organs had undergone a high degree of mutation—no, "evolution" was a more fitting term, and it was a term that suited this better than the mere strengthening of human physical fitness. In fact, a degree of reproductive isolation had already emerged between them and normal pigs.

Calling it reproductive isolation wasn't entirely accurate; it was just that ordinary pigs could not support the offspring of these evolved pigs, and the fetuses would likely die in the womb due to an inability to receive sufficient nutrients after conception.

Consequently, the research institute proposed a theory: those we previously called monsters still belonged to the category of animals, just slightly different from the animals of the past.

Only those that had broken through this boundary could truly be called monsters.

These four monsters were classified as two types of porcine evolutionary variants.

The ones covered in long, metallic-lustered hair with two long tusks in their mouths were named Iron-Bristled Tusked Pigs.

The other type, possessing a single gray horn, was named the Unicorn Wild Boar.

At the same time, the materials from these two types of boars were harvested: a total of six tusks and one horn. The tusks were eventually crafted into two long blades and four short blades, while the horn, being too short, could only be made into a dagger.

These seven weapons would serve as the prizes for the base's first Martial Arts Tournament.

Three would be awarded for the Individual Competition, and the other four would be awarded to the top four teams in the team competition.

Beyond that, the base's biggest harvest was a group of piglets.

In such a large pig farm, the presence of piglets was inevitable. Since their combat power was limited, they were captured alive to attempt further farming. If successful, the base would have a constant source of meat.

To this end, the base specifically cleared out a space to house these piglets and arranged for personnel to patrol continuously to prevent any accidents.