Naturally, Li Ban's commotion didn't escape Zhu Yao, who was scavenging for supplies nearby.
But since scavenging always made a lot of noise, she didn't go over to investigate, even though she heard him rummaging around.
After absorbing the waste element, Li Ban examined the soil above it and the roots of the rye that had been planted there.
This monster clearly still had a normal consciousness when it planted the rye, he thought. Monsters don't eat wheat flatbread. So why did it go through so much trouble to place a waste element inside the wooden fence beneath the soil?
At that thought, Li Ban dusted the dirt from his hands, stood up, and asked, "Zhu Yao, do you know how to grow rye?"
Zhu Yao had anticipated a question like this ever since Li Ban tried to secretly pocket the wild rye.
Because of that, she already had an answer prepared.
"From what I know, you select plump seeds, plant them in loose soil, and water them with clean water," she said. "It's not that people haven't tried, but very few can produce a stable harvest. We all suspect the camp has a secret planting method they just haven't made public."
Li Ban nodded. Is placing a waste element beneath the rye the camp's hidden planting method? he thought. But if it's a secret, that seems a bit too simple.
"About three months," Zhu Yao said softly.
A three-month maturation period actually wasn't that long.
But for the corpses who could only eat rye and would go mad without it, a three-month wait was more than enough time to run out of food and be forced to turn into monsters.
That made a camp capable of stably producing rye an absolute necessity.
Even people like Zhu Yao, who couldn't use spiritual rhinoceros but still possessed formidable physical constitutions, couldn't survive without the camp's provisions.
They finished scouring the small hidden room and left with quite a few good items.
They didn't bother searching the rest of the building.
The secret room had been there for some time and contained a good amount of valuable supplies. Its owner had likely already picked the surrounding area clean.
There was little point in continuing to look for resources there.
The two of them returned to the Tricycle Ed was guarding and loaded their two mostly full sacks onto it.
"That's a lot of stuff." Ed didn't check what was inside the sacks; he couldn't remember what supplies they were supposed to be finding anyway. "Does this mean we can finally eat three wheat flatbreads a day?"
A faint smile appeared on Zhu Yao's face. "This was just one mission."
Li Ban chimed in, "We work really well together. We can absolutely keep teaming up."
Zhu Yao's smile deepened.
Ed threw his arms up again, letting out a muffled cheer. "Wheat flatbread!"
The trio didn't venture too deeply into the collapsed complex of buildings.
The closer they got to the center, the more numerous and powerful the monsters within the ruins became.
Although Li Ban worked with the other two to easily eliminate a few more monsters, they still needed to prioritize their safety.
If they only suffered minor physical injuries, it wouldn't matter; they could just wipe themselves down with a wet towel back at camp.
But if they lost an arm or a leg, they would need a replacement limb.
Buying a suitable replacement limb cost tens or even hundreds of wheat flatbreads, and limbs scavenged from enemy corpses wouldn't necessarily be compatible with their current bodies.
In short, they had to be careful.
Once they filled three sacks—and used a fourth to store the items Li Ban and Zhu Yao wanted to keep for themselves—they headed back.
On the way back, Li Ban took over pedaling the Tricycle.
Over the following days, Li Ban rented a room across from Zhu Yao's house, and the three of them continued to operate as a team.
Every day, apart from scrambling for trash disposal missions, they also went out to scavenge for supplies, only ever hurrying back to camp when the sun was about to set.
They earned quite a few wheat flatbreads in the process.
With a formidable Priest like Li Ban acting as their backbone, they not only explored areas they hadn't dared set foot in before, but they also reaped many valuable supplies.
Zhu Yao carefully stashed away some of the supplies every time, only handing over a portion of their haul.
But even so, they were targeted.
To be precise, it was Li Ban—the man who had brought earth-shattering changes to Zhu Yao's life—who had been targeted.
By this point, he had been in the camp for five days. The time on his temporary residence permit was already half gone.
He had just returned to his room and was preparing to study the waste elements he had acquired over the past two days when a knock came at his door.
Li Ban wasn't particularly surprised.
While the camp's population wasn't huge, it wasn't exactly small either. Anyone who went out on missions as frequently as he, Zhu Yao, and Ed were bound to draw significant attention.
Since he and Zhu Yao had just parted ways after discussing some matters, it was unlikely to be her looking for him.
The knocking rhythm didn't match her habits, either.
Li Ban walked over and opened the wooden door, revealing the iron grated door Zhu Yao had helped him install over the past two days.
Standing outside the iron gate was Hemira, the woman he had met on his first day entering the camp.
"Hello, Li Ban. Do you have time to chat?"
Hemira was still wearing the simple leather uniform she wore while guarding the camp, but she had taken off her heavy weapons. With her relaxed expression, her features seemed much softer.
Li Ban tilted his head. "I haven't eaten dinner yet."
It was Hemira's first time hearing this kind of response, but for some reason, she understood exactly what he meant.
"I can treat you to a piece."
Li Ban unlocked the iron gate and stepped aside. "Come on in, then."
Hemira revealed a satisfied smile.
If he could invite her in for the sake of a wheat flatbread, he could make the right choices for wheat flatbreads and other resources.
Li Ban's room had no extra furniture; there were only three empty wooden crates that barely served as a table and chairs.
It wasn't that he hadn't scavenged other items to use as furniture, but this was a temporary residence. There was no need to put any effort into decorating it just yet.
The two of them each took a seat on a wooden crate.
Hemira sat down casually, not minding the crude accommodations in the slightest.
"I have to go on duty soon, so I'll get straight to the point," she said.
Without needing to be asked, she first tossed Li Ban a wheat flatbread.
"We got some news from the supply office. Ever since you joined Zhu Yao's team, your squad has been completing numerous gathering missions every day and earning quite a lot of wheat flatbreads."
"Is there a problem with that?"
"Of course not. The camp strongly welcomes the addition of experts like yourself."
Hemira retrieved a fairly exquisite iron plaque from her waist, which bore a complex serial number.
"This is the camp's official residence permit. Once you have this, you can live in the safest residential area of the camp, rent-free. We also prioritize those with official permits when issuing critical, high-paying missions."
Li Ban looked at the official residence permit but made no move to take it. "And the conditions?"
"The conditions are simple. You just need to join the camp's Guard Team and guarantee a minimum attendance rate."
Li Ban thought back to the monster invasion defense battle he had heard on the day he first arrived.
Those who weren't on duty hadn't cared at all about the fighting outside.
Everyone only looked out for themselves.
"What is the minimum attendance rate?" he asked.
Hemira smiled, confident that the terms she was offering were extremely generous.
"Participate in a camp defense mission once every three days, and a supply escort mission once every fifteen days."
Li Ban tapped his fingers lightly, thinking it over for three seconds.
"I'm sorry, but I can't join the Guard Team right now."