The warm liquid with a slight metallic taste made Lin Feng slowly open his eyes.
He was resting on Ding Yi's thigh, sipping the light red liquid she had filled in a plastic bottle.
The rotten pus on his body had been wiped clean.
At the cart's end, five Scavenger Vulture corpses were placed neatly. Three of them had been plucked of feathers and cleaned, revealing brownish skin, while the other two, necks dangling, were having their throats slit for bloodletting.
The thick blood dripped like snot, with a rustling sound nearby, drop by drop into the bottle.
"You can't drink the Scavenger Vulture's blood directly, so I added some fresh water to dilute it."
Ding Yi's voice came, full of undisguised excitement.
The five Scavenger Vultures had been a bountiful harvest.
Lin Feng continued drinking, swallowing the diluted, rusty blood water in small sips to check his condition:
"Lin Feng, Level 1, Weak"
"Life Value: 7, Physique: 7, Spirit: 8; Level 1 each attribute's upper limit 10"
Both Life Value and Physique had somewhat restored; clearly, nutritious food was needed to heal quickly.
The scars left on his left hand from the Scavenger Vulture's struggles had scabbed over without infection.
"How long was I unconscious?"
After drinking more than half a bottle, Lin Feng asked.
Ding Yi helped him to the base of a rock to rest, then looked at the dust cloud rising in the distance:
"About half an hour, the main group hasn't gone far."
At this moment, Chen Shanshan approached, holding a sharp knife, and started dissecting the vultures.
The rustling noise Lin Feng heard earlier was Captain Chen sharpening the knives.
Chen Shanshan's technique was very skilled; Ding Yi also took out her self-defense dagger to learn alongside.
These were all precious survival skills in the Wasteland.
In the captain's hands, the vulture, as big as a human head, was quickly sliced into eight large pieces.
The organs in the abdominal cavity, heart, and lungs could be eaten directly, while the liver, spleen, kidneys, and gallbladder, which accumulated toxins, would be dried on the cart as future food reserves.
The slender intestines were turned inside out, scraped clean of half-digested gristle, and after some kneading, became elastic cords that could be used for binding.
After handling the easily rotten organs came the real challenge of separating meat and bones.
Despite the vulture's large size, two-thirds of it was feathers. The bone and meat together weighed less than two pounds, and after removing the bones, barely a pound of shredded meat could be scraped out.
The only intact, large piece of meat, and also the most tender and delicious, was its breast meat.
After retrieving three portions of breast meat, Chen Shanshan cut them into finger-sized strips.
She sent Ding Yi over with two portions for Lin Feng, approximately one pound in weight.
"The fresh water is down to half a pouch. Eating too much meat will deplete even more water. Eat a little now, and when we catch up to the main group, we can exchange some water bags then."
Chen Shanshan reminded, noting that eating too much would only worsen dehydration. She continued processing the two remaining vultures after bloodletting.
Lin Feng nodded slightly, disregarding the bloody smell of the raw meat strips as he scooped them into his mouth to chew.
They were cold, with a texture akin to tofu or pudding, lacking the rough fibrous texture of cooked or dried meat.
Eating over a dozen strips in one go, his hunger-twisted stomach finally felt a little satiated, and his frail body improved.
Lin Feng set down the wooden board he used as a plate and continued drinking the diluted blood water.
He was somewhat surprised by Chen Shanshan's generosity.
Through Ding Yi's introduction, he knew that vulture breast meat was the most nutritious and delicious part of the bird, holding seventy percent of its value.
They could have easily kept it for themselves, only giving him the scraps or ignoring him entirely.
There was no need to waste precious food and water on someone close to death.
As if noticing Lin Feng's confusion, Ding Yi, who was threading vulture feathers with hemp rope, said:
"You risked your life for them, and by our team's rules, you deserve the best parts. Even though resources are scarce, we haven't sunk to the point of harming teammates."
"That's also the captain's approach: rescuing every member is a priority as long as it doesn't endanger their own life."
"So even though we've been hungry, unlike other Deserted Village Squads, we do not live in constant fear of betrayal."
Lin Feng nodded in acknowledgment, and replied softly:
"Thank you..."
Ding Yi measured Lin Feng's shoulder with the hemp rope:
"No need to thank. Get well soon; we need more hands now."
Lin Feng nodded silently. After digestion, his Life Value on the panel increased to 8 points.
Before long, the wound on his right leg would scab over, and he could stand and walk, no longer burdening the other two.
Ten minutes later, after the captain processed all the vultures, she laid out the gutted organs and meat mush on the cart to dry in the direct sunlight.
Then she looked at Lin Feng, who appeared to be recovering, and Ding Yi, who was weaving:
"It's time to go; gunfire will attract nearby Deserted Village Squads. We're only three people, and it's dangerous."
Lin Feng nodded, more accurately describing them as two people since he and Ding Yi together were barely one.
Straining to rise with the help of the rock wall, Lin Feng got back onto the cart, continuing to eat meat and drink blood to hasten the recovery of his injuries and strength.
The group set off again, following the tracks on the ground to escape the hunting site.
A while later, Lin Feng noticed three bullets in the revolver, realizing that three hours had passed.
By now, the group had covered five kilometers, safely distancing themselves from the temporary campsite.
Chen Shanshan announced a rest, finding a shade under a large rock.
Seeing the captain's labored breath, Lin Feng knew she was in poor shape after dragging them along for over ten hours straight. Even with her formidable strength, she was prone to exhaustion.
Chen Shanshan was the only combat power in the team; she couldn't afford to be incapacitated.
If only they had a vehicle, even a tricycle, it would be easier than this broken cart.
The longing for safety grew ever stronger in Lin Feng's heart.
Checking the corner of his vision, his personal attributes showed his Life Value had recovered to nine, and the exterior wound on his right leg had fully scabbed, allowing him to stand and walk slowly.
Just in case, Lin Feng decided to seize the moment and continue eating vulture breast meat to speed up recovery.
Slowly getting up, he went to the cart, grabbed a half-dried meat strip, and stuffed it into his mouth.
The two women noticed but continued to rest.
Shortly, as the fourth bullet formed, Lin Feng's Life Value and Physique Attribute both reached the upper limit of ten.
With a warm current flowing through his abdomen and dispersing throughout his body, he successfully advanced to Level 2:
"Lin Feng, Level 2/9"
"Life Value: 14, Physique: 14, Spirit: 13; Level 2 each attribute's upper limit 15"
"Item upgrade upper limit increased to Level 2"
"1 Life Value point can be consumed to upgrade a Level 1 Ordinary Revolver"
Without hesitation, Lin Feng chose the upgrade.
Moments later, the 05 Revolver in his hand felt brand new:
"Quality Revolver Level 2, White Quality"
"Basic Attributes: Damage 4, Effective Range 50 meters, Remaining Ammunition 6/6; upgraded to host's level upper limit"
"Extra Attributes: Bullet Recovery 1/1min"
"Evaluation: A twice-optimized revolver with an increased caliber. Its damage and range have doubled, capable of killing with two shots and doubling damage when hitting vital areas, effectively intimidating targets in front."
With its exceptional quality, the newly upgraded revolver had a slightly enlarged barrel, and the remaining ammunition was fully replenished.
Lin Feng suddenly had an idea and opened the revolver drum magazine, hoping to remove the bullets inside, but failed.
If only the bullet recovery was purely automatic—one round per minute, sixty rounds per hour, over a thousand rounds a day, they could exchange for countless supplies.
This bullet recovery was probably a conceptual special ability.
Nevertheless, the Quality Revolver's combat power could not be underestimated.
Lin Feng put it away securely, drawing a sense of security from it.
Nearby, after a short rest, Ding Yi reopened her eyes and resumed weaving the vulture feathers.
Seeing this, Lin Feng began to inquire about the strength classifications among the Deserters and the existence of Evolvers.
After the upgrade, he felt a significant increase in power. Once fully healed, he should possess some combat capability.
He wondered if he was stronger than Qi Mountain's group.
Ding Yi was about to speak, ready to share her limited knowledge from a month's experience...
Then Chen Shanshan, resting in the shade, suddenly opened her eyes, gripped the steel rod tightly, and whispered:
"Be careful, someone's coming!"