Community Traversal: I Have a Daily Rescue Kit

18: Leave the door open at night

"Hand over the card!"

Captain Chen, pistol in hand, walked up to the group of men pinned to the ground. The dark muzzle of the gun was pointed at them; no one dared to move.

"It's...with me."

A man tilted his head back, his entire body pinned down, only his head able to move slightly. The person next to him immediately pulled the card from his person.

"Give it to me!"

Captain Chen gave instructions to a team member wearing a red armband, then coldly swept his gaze across the people on the ground: "You robbed public property and even caused a death... I'm punishing you. Any objections?"

No one answered.

After a few seconds of silence, Captain Chen waved his hand: "Take him to the room next to the property management office and lock him up. Don't lock him up with those three lunatics from before."

After speaking, he turned to the residents around him who hadn't participated in the looting and raised his voice:

"From this moment forward, all loot obtained from killing owls must be handed over to the temporary management team for collective distribution! Anyone have any objections?"

It remained deathly silent.

Captain Chen glanced around with a stern face, then clicked the safety off his gun, put it back in his pocket, and turned to leave with the men in red armbands.

Before leaving, for some reason, he glanced coldly in the direction where Su Chen was standing, his eyes seemingly carrying a hint of regret—as if it was a pity that Su Chen hadn't gone to the scaffolding to grab the card.

……

"Is he really that addicted to power?"

Watching Captain Chen's departing figure, Su Chen thought to himself.

He had almost no dealings with this person. The only time he had a conflict with him was when Wen Fei and the other two were said to have been "deeply hypnotized," and he stood up and said a few fair words.

Su Chen remembered clearly that as soon as he finished speaking, Captain Chen glared at him fiercely.

Ha, what a petty person!

Su Chen shook his head, no longer thinking about Captain Chen, and turned to walk towards the other side of the wall—there were fewer people and fewer owls there, perfect for practicing.

He hadn't gone far when he stopped by a section of wall near the artificial lake. It was far from the North Gate, and not many people came here usually. Only a few owls flew by, making it a quiet shooting practice spot.

Standing still, taking a deep breath, and gripping his spear tightly, Su Chen aimed at the swirling black shadows in the air and thrust out his spear steadily, one thrust after another.

Three hours later, my arms were so sore I could barely lift them, but the harvest was considerable—eleven human-faced owls were killed by gunfire.

"One is worth 15 points, eleven is worth 165 points... Today's work was worthwhile."

Su Chen was completely satisfied.

He disassembled the rifle, put the steel pipe back next to the lumber pile, and carried only the cloth bag full of gun barrels home.

……

As he approached the small square, he saw that it was crowded with people again, with more than a dozen people wearing red armbands maintaining order. In the middle of the crowd, there was a space where several elderly men with gray hair were squatting on the ground, writing and drawing with chalk.

The ground was covered with mathematical symbols, algebraic expressions, and geometric figures, making one dizzy from looking at them.

"What are they doing? Are these kids having a learning addiction?"

Su Chen was baffled, not understanding why so many people would watch the old men calculate tedious mathematical equations.

He shook his head and prepared to take a detour.

But just as I was about to leave, I heard the old men muttering words like "arrow tower," "range," and "attack interval."

Su Chen paused, then pricked up his ears.

It turns out these old men were invited to figure out the most cost-effective way to place the arrow towers.

They wrote down the formulas and discussed them, while many people craned their necks to watch, even though most of them couldn't understand them at all.

Before long, the calculations yielded results. One of the most robust old men stood up, walked to the open space between the main gate of the community and the small square, and drew a large circle with chalk.

"Xiao Chen, this is the best location for the arrow tower," the old man said to Captain Chen. "We've calculated it. Building it here will not only cover a large number of owls outside the wall, but it can also serve as a second line of defense should the wall be breached."

"Well done." Captain Chen nodded, took out a white card with patterns on all four sides from his pocket, and held it up high.

In an instant, the card burst forth with a dazzling white light, shining directly onto the ground within the circle.

The light fell to the ground without a sound, only countless points of light slowly accumulated like snowflakes, inch by inch "paving" out an obsidian base. The base was covered with patterns of varying depths, within which golden threads seemed to flow faintly, shimmering with a subtle light.

The light continued to fall, gradually "building" a square-topped watchtower above the obsidian base. The platform had windows on all four sides, behind which sat two dark, menacing-looking obsidian ballistae. The ballistae were also engraved with patterns, with gold threads hidden within, suggesting that the base could draw some kind of energy from the ground and then transmit it to the ballistae through these patterns.

"Holy crap! That's amazing!"

"A tower this tall can be built with just one card? What kind of cutting-edge technology is this!"

"Captain Chen is awesome! A brilliant and courageous leader!"

The crowd erupted in cheers and exclamations.

Most people were praising Captain Chen.

The elderly scholars who had contributed were instead pushed to the back of the crowd, and no one paid them any attention.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Captain Chen tossed the prepared rope ladder onto the arrow tower and nimbly climbed up.

"The arrow tower is now complete. Let me show you how to use it!"

Standing atop the tower, his voice booming, "Activating the arrow tower costs public survival points—each point generates 10 arrows. There are eight ballistae on the tower, requiring eight people to operate them simultaneously. Once we accumulate 10,000 public survival points, we can upgrade to level two, at which point the number of windows and ballistae will increase. Currently, the arrow tower's range is 500 meters, enough to hit the densest sections of the wall on both sides! This will greatly reduce our defensive pressure and delay the breaching of the walls!"

"It's fair to say that our community's public infrastructure development has achieved a significant milestone!"

"Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief for now!"

As soon as he finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted throughout the hall and lasted for a long time. Only when Captain Chen raised his hand to press down did the applause gradually subside.

"While everyone is in a good mood, I, on behalf of the interim management team, would like to announce two things."

"First, from now on, all spoils from the wall defense battle will belong to the collective and will be distributed uniformly by the group!"

"Secondly, the arrow tower is now recruiting archers. Anyone with archery experience or who wants to try can contact Lin Sanyi to register for the assessment."

Captain Chen pointed to a young man in a police uniform and red armbands under the tower: "Those who pass the assessment will become tower operators and will receive an extra supply of public materials every day."

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd stirred immediately. Many people cheered and rushed towards Lin Sanyi, eager to sign up.

It seems that for most people, eating is still the biggest problem... Su Chen watched silently, then turned and left.

He has enough food reserves, so there's no need for him to compete for this spot.

……

As Su Chen approached the entrance of Unit 1, Building 2, and was about to enter, he heard a hoarse shout:

"I'm innocent! Let me out! I'm innocent!"

The voice came from Building 1 across the street. Although it was very hoarse, Su Chen still recognized it—it was that blond guy.

Su Chen paused in his steps.

Would you like to take a look?

Maybe we can get some clues out of them and find the person who pushed us that day.

With that thought in mind, he changed direction and headed towards the property management office.

Following the sound, they found the innermost room and indeed saw Huang Mao, Wen Fei, and "Chengdu Ruby Lin".

Wenfei and "Ruby Lin" slumped in the corner, barely breathing, while only the blond-haired man was still pounding on the iron gate, screaming as he did so.

"Yellow Hair, do you still recognize me?" Su Chen asked, leaning closer to the fence.

"I'm innocent! Let me out! I'm innocent!" The blond guy ignored him completely, his eyes were fixed, his pupils were unfocused, and he kept repeating the same few sentences. He was like an empty shell.

Su Chen looked at the other two, only to be met with a few muffled groans.

"This... has he completely gone mad?" Su Chen's heart tightened.

What exactly happened to make someone like this?

Are you curious?

A woman's voice suddenly came from behind. Su Chen turned around and saw the woman with the high ponytail.

"What are you curious about?" Su Chen asked back.

"They brought this on themselves," the woman said to herself. "You know what? They planned from the beginning to kill all the 'villagers' before they went to search for supplies."

"You refused to talk about these things yesterday, so why are you telling me today?"

"Because we are the same kind of people." The woman with the high ponytail suddenly leaned close to Su Chen's ear and whispered.

Then, she raised her finger and gently tapped Su Chen's lower back—there was a slight bulge under his clothes, which was where he hid his gun.

This woman has a sharp eye and keen observation skills... Su Chen felt a chill run down his spine.

The woman had already taken a half step back, her tone calm: "Don't waste your time on them. They've eaten that 'meat,' they're beyond saving. You won't get anything out of them."

"If you really want to know the truth, leave the door open and wait for me tonight."

After saying that, she turned and left without waiting for Su Chen's response.

Su Chen stood there, watching the woman's retreating figure, his brows furrowed.

What did she mean by what she just did?

What does "once you've eaten meat, you're beyond saving" mean?

The appointment we made tonight... Should I wait?