【2. The raw material used by the active substance extractor is animal corpses, among which the order Primates of the class Mammalia, phylum Chordata, is optimal, with an extraction efficiency of up to 90%. Non-primate mammals are next, while invertebrates have the lowest extraction efficiency, below 10%.】

　　【3. Extraction efficiency is also related to the degree of decay.】

　　As the task of recruiting players was completed, the reward and the manual were credited together.

　　Inside Shelter No. 404.

　　Brian Carter, while reading the manual projected onto his retina by the system, examined the iron lump next to the conveyor belt that looked just like a coffin.

　　According to the manual, this thing is used to produce "raw material for synthetic clones"—that is, "active substance."

　　Simply put, its function is similar to corpse recycling?

　　But judging from the description in the manual, it seems that the corpses of alien species are also within its recycling range.

　　After roughly understanding how to use this thing, Brian Carter used a cart he picked up outside to drag it onto the elevator and returned to the surface with the elevator.

　　He definitely didn’t want to bring corpses into the shelter.

　　As for electricity—

　　There would always be a way.

　　The elevator slowly rose and stopped, the doors opening.

　　Just as he was dragging the cart out of the elevator, Little Henry's voice came from upstairs almost at the same time.

　　"Master!"

　　"What's wrong?"

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

　　A big black bird?

　　Brian Carter was stunned at first, then his expression changed. He immediately dropped the cart in his hand and rushed toward the outside of the sanatorium.

　　……

　　“Damn? Mr. Reed is awesome.”

　　“That forward roll dodge just now was pretty slick!”

　　“Screw you, I was scared out of my mind! Stop standing there, hurry, come help me!”

　　In the woods north of the sanatorium.

　　A black bird stood on a branch ten meters high, its sharp gaze locked tightly onto the group of players on the ground.

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

　　Hearing the commotion from Ethan Reed's side, the other three players immediately put down what they were doing and rushed over with their axes.

　　Maybe because there were so many people on the ground, the black bird didn’t immediately launch a second dive, but instead waited in a spot out of reach, watching for an opportunity.

　　Gale bent down, picked up a black feather from the ground, and stared at it for a moment.

　　"Looks a bit like a crow."

　　"Crows get this big?!" Glancing at the scratch marks on the wood nearby, Ethan Smith backed away, still shaken.

　　"This thing must be an alien species... a mutant caused by gamma rays or something else. I saw the setting on the official website." Long watched it cautiously, not daring to relax for a second.

　　Ethan Reed: "There's a setting on the official website?! Isn't it just a reservation page?"

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

　　"Cut the crap, what do we do now? Just keep waiting it out?" Ethan Reed nervously took another step back.

　　Now Gale was the closest to the bird.

　　Four people and one bird were at a standoff.

　　At that moment, a "whoosh" sound sliced through the air above the four of them, heading straight for the big bird.

　　"Squawk!"

　　Although the stone didn’t hit, it startled the big bird, which flapped its wings and jumped to another branch.

　　As it flapped and finally steadied itself on the branch, it saw the person on the ground pick up another stone and throw it at it.

　　The big bird was completely enraged.

　　It was the first time it had seen someone so brazen in its own territory.

　　Its bent legs suddenly exerted force, and it leapt from the branch like a cannonball, diving straight at Brian Carter.

　　Its sharp claws stretched forward, like open hooks.

　　But a beast is still a beast—even with another head, it could never read the hint of mockery at the corner of that mouth.

　　Throwing aside the stone in his hand, Brian Carter skillfully grabbed the steel pipe stuck in the ground and thrust the sharp end out fiercely.

　　In a flash, there was no time to dodge.

　　Although the big bird, upon seeing Brian Carter pick up something it had never seen before, tried to flap its wings and pull away, inertia made it impossible to escape in time.

　　The pipe, like a javelin, pierced straight into its chest.

　　"Squawk—!"

　　A shrill cry echoed through the woods.

　　Blood-stained feathers flew everywhere.

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

　　"This is no crow."

　　"Its scientific name is falcon... about two hundred years ago."

　　The four players stared at him in shock, stunned by his smooth, fluid movements.

　　Damn!

　　So strong!!

　　But what they didn’t know was that, for the vast majority of survivors who could walk the wasteland alone, this level of skill was just basic.

　　In these five months, if Brian Carter had learned nothing else, he had at least mastered the art of throwing a javelin—within ten meters, he never missed.