The giant bird of prey moved with incredible speed, like a sudden gust of wind, like an unexpected downpour.
Air pressure stirred the lawn, its broad wings blocking out the sunlight, casting vast shadows.
A person sitting on the ground about ten meters ahead was directly lifted by the shoulders and snatched into the sky.
Her screams echoed through the air.
She struggled desperately, and the giant bird released its claws, letting her free fall before catching her again.
Only when the giant bird flew far away did the people hiding in various places gather again under the sunlight, watching the departing bird, exchanging uneasy glances.
Qin Ziwen said quietly, "That bastard really treats our place like an all-you-can-eat buffet."
The closer you were, the more you could feel the oppressive presence of this giant bird.
Just like the alpha male crocodile in the river.
Zheng Yuan's expression darkened, "It came for the second time, which means there will definitely be a third time, a fourth time."
But facing this kind of flying opponent, they didn't know what method they could use to deal with it.
Huang Tao stepped forward and asked the crowd, "Who was taken just now? Did anyone get a clear look?"
"I don't recognize them..."
"Didn't pay attention, but from the voice it sounded like a woman."
"That bird flew too fast, couldn't get a good look."
The crowd murmured among themselves.
The atmosphere grew somewhat oppressive. No one knew if they would be the next target. Facing this kind of flying hunter, the only option was to stay away from open areas.
Someone cursed at the sky, "Damn it, crocodiles in the river, and now fucking man-eating birds in the sky! This goddamn world!"
"Cuifang! Cuifang!" An old man ran out panting heavily, shouting several times toward the crowd.
Hearing no response, the old man looked around in panic.
He anxiously called out to the surrounding people, "Luo Cuifang, Luo Cuifang, where are you? Have you seen my Cuifang? She was just here! She sprained her ankle and asked me to go home to get her some bruise medicine."
"I remember now, there was a woman who seemed to have been taken by that big bird..." Qin Ziwu started to say, then couldn't bear to continue and turned away, because the woman taken by the bird had just lost her son.
The old man stood frozen in place, mouth agape.
His chest heaved violently, the bottle of medicinal liquor in his hand shattering on the ground with a crash.
"Ah—"
He collapsed to the ground, wailing up at the sky.
On his way here, he had seen the giant bird overhead and worried about his wife's safety, so he had run the whole way.
He never expected the worst would still happen.
The old man trembled as he stood up, looking around at everyone.
Each person deliberately avoided meeting his gaze.
In a single day, his son died, and now his wife was gone too.
He hunched over and staggered back the way he came.
...
Evening approached, the sky growing dark.
"Bang!" The hydraulic cutter clamped down heavily, severing the connection point in the guardrail. Zou Sheng let out a long breath and rubbed his sore arms. "This damn railing is pretty tough."
Qin Ziwen picked up the broken railing from the ground, "Hard is good, so it won't just snap if a crocodile crashes into it."
He pressed his finger against the diamond-shaped tip of the railing, "Not sharp enough yet, the tips need more work."
Yang Chuhe picked up a disassembled section of guardrail from the ground, weighing it in his hand with satisfaction, "The quality of this zinc steel guardrail is decent. Forget just stabbing crocodiles—you could even use it for hunting wild beasts. Looks like the developers of Yujing Jiangcheng didn't cut corners. This stuff would count as divine weapons in ancient times. Perfect for taking down crocodiles."
Hearing President Yang's engineering assessment, many people around showed thoughtful expressions.
Huang Tao looked at the dozens of disassembled guardrail rods on the ground and said with a wry smile, "I can't handle this alone—it's too much. We'll need everyone to help sharpen them tonight."
Hearing this, others looked conflicted.
After digging soil all afternoon, everyone was exhausted and just wanted to go home and rest early.
Qin Ziwen volunteered, "Give me some. I'll work a bit longer tonight."
Seeing Qin Ziwen take the initiative, Huang Tao felt pleased and looked at him with increasing friendliness.
Some people grumbled internally, thinking Qin Ziwen was just trying to show off. With him setting this example, how could anyone slack off?
Zheng Yuan stepped forward, "I'll take some back to sharpen too."
Qin Ziwen waved his hand and smiled, "No need. I've been having trouble sleeping lately, staying up late anyway. This gives me something to do."
Seeing his firm attitude, Zheng Yuan couldn't persuade him otherwise and had to take some spears from Huang Tao to bring back.
Carrying the disassembled iron railings home with his brother,
Qin Ziwu didn't understand his older brother's actions, "Brother, no one else is doing this, why did we bring them back?"
"You go to sleep early. I'll handle it tonight."
Thinking his brother was angry, Qin Ziwu quickly said, "I'm not saying I won't help! I just think with so many people, if everyone took one back to sharpen, it wouldn't take long."
Qin Ziwen glanced sideways at him, "Go get me two rough, hard stones."
Of course he couldn't explain to his brother that it was to earn rating points.
By now he had mostly figured out the pattern of the daily settlement rating system.
Collecting supplies, mapping the area, hunting prey—as long as he took actions beneficial to survival, he could earn rating points.
For this hunt of the alpha male crocodile, he anticipated that if they succeeded, they would definitely get substantial rating points.
So if he gathered all these alloy rods, would that count as acquiring a large amount of materials?
In this primitive society environment, zinc steel alloy material was absolutely extremely rare and incredibly durable.
Whether used for traps, made into spear-like weapons, or as frameworks for shields, it was top-tier material.
Even if bringing back this zinc steel alloy didn't count as material collection, by processing it, his "contribution" to the crocodile hunting operation would surely be higher.
Night fell, curtains drawn open.
Under the bright moonlight, the young man crouched on the ground, gripping the zinc steel spear and continuously grinding it against a stone.
"Scrape, scrape..."
He continued until late at night.
A voice sounded in his ear.
「You have successfully survived safely in the wilderness for the fifth day. Through team cooperation, you hunted a crocodile and received a portion of raw meat. You encountered the alpha male crocodile of this river basin. The giant crocodile's threat has forced the residential complex residents to cooperate in preparing traps. You participated in trap setup, but it seems you forgot something. Comprehensive Rating: 19 points」
「You received rewards: 【Building Card】 Level 1 Farmland, Rabbit Food4, Firewood Chopper1」
Forgot something...
Qin Ziwen looked at the rewards received, his gaze shifting to the rabbit food.
"Crap! I forgot to feed the rabbits during the day!"
Qin Ziwen quickly got up and went to the Beast Cage.
Before leaving in the morning, he had put a little wild vegetables in the feeding trough, but the rabbits hadn't eaten then.
Now the trough was completely empty, and both rabbits looked somewhat listless.
Qin Ziwen took out one portion of rabbit food.
His hand felt heavy as a large 20-pound bag of rabbit food appeared in his palm.
Tearing open the packaging, he poured the dry rabbit food pellets into the trough. As he poured, he smelled a strong fragrance of dried grass with a faint aroma of roasted grains.
Upon smelling the scent, the two rabbits hesitated briefly, then eagerly hopped to the feeding trough and began eating the rabbit food voraciously.
Perhaps the smell was too enticing—they even ignored the large human hand gently stroking their backs.
...