Zhao Jiayan nodded, "Alright. I'll help you get some anti-inflammatory medicine..."
"No need, my wound isn't inflamed anymore, and it's healing quickly. There's no need to waste resources. Of course, if there's extra after exchanging what I've mentioned, it's good to have some anti-inflammatory medicine on hand."
Yang Yuan was well aware of his injury, and if he could verify his method of gaining personal experience points later, he could level up again, and his injury would heal even faster.
Two experience points, probably won't take too long.
"Alright, I'll follow your lead."
Zhao Jiayan took out the Wolf Sinew, then cut about five pounds of wolf meat and placed it on the dry leaves, before heading towards the military camp with the remaining wolf meat.
The place was illuminated by incandescent lamps, surrounded by portable tents, brightly lit.
In the surrounding area, including where they were, there were soldiers armed with guns patrolling.
Among those soldiers, many carried varying degrees of pressure, clearly indicating they were Superpower Users.
They ignored the people coming and going, primarily guarding against attacks from alien beasts or monsters, while maintaining order within their sight.
Of course, they also ignored the dangers faced by those venturing outside because their primary task was to protect scientists, engineers, and other important personnel.
However, if someone following them took refuge in the camp, they would offer shelter, but not tolerate any disorderly behavior, such as stealing food or bullying the weak, otherwise, they'd be shot dead.
Additionally, those fleeing needed to exchange other things to get water; there were so many people that they couldn't afford to give water for free, fear of inequality rather than scarcity. Free stuff easily breeds laziness.
Thus, there were always people going out hunting or returning, so the appearance of Yang Yuan and his group was quite common.
Yang Yuan estimated and found that the military camp had about three thousand people, and at least five to six thousand followers.
In other words, the total population here ranged from eight to ten thousand.
With so many gathered, even groups of three or five surrounding a bonfire seemed quite spectacular.
The densely packed bonfires illuminated the sky with a reddish hue in the Barbaric Forest (the giant trees had shed their leaves), and with mighty Superpower Users stationed, weaker monsters dared not approach.
Among the fleeing refugees, the number of Superpower Users wasn't small; this temporary camp was no easy target.
Yang Yuan observed for a while, noted the patrolling soldiers maintaining order, and saw that the nearest groups were dozens of meters away, which eased his mind.
Seeing that Jiang Yiyi had already lit the campfire, he picked up the Wolf Sinew for roasting and rubbing.
Once adequately roasted, he took a twenty-centimeter-long short knife from his waist, slashed the surface of the Wolf Sinew, and extracted a tough inner tendon the size of hemp rope—this would be his crossbow string.
After crafting the crossbow string, he set it aside, then selected a sufficiently sturdy dry branch from the wood Jiang Yiyi had found.
Jiang Yiyi looked on in puzzlement but didn't ask any questions, instead, she began grilling the meat, a task she was quite skilled at.
Yang Yuan trimmed the branch into small wooden pieces about twenty centimeters long, slowly shaping them to his needs.
He was preparing to craft a crossbow, exploring his method for gaining personal experience points.
Under Jiang Yiyi's curious gaze, he shaped the branches to his liking, then used the Wolf Sinew to bind them and make the crossbow string.
Of course, he wouldn't make a high-quality crossbow, but rather the simple toy crossbow he played with as a child.
Half an hour later, a very simple, vaguely gun-shaped crossbow was completed.
Because the Wolf Sinew itself was highly elastic, and for portability, the arrow groove wasn't made into a bow shape to enhance elasticity.
The spring holding the crossbow arrow was tied on the exterior middle part of the arrow groove, a very short segment that remained taut even without an arrow; with an arrow, the elasticity increased enough to fire the arrow.
Just as the crossbow was completed, a faint white light flashed.
[Experience +1]
This information flashed through his mind, and his personal information transformed:
[LV.2: 1/2]
"Just as expected, only items I personally craft or assemble will grant me personal experience."
This point was confirmed.
Yang Yuan's eyes lit up with joy as he looked at the simple crossbow in his hand.
The crossbow was indeed simple, resembling a pistol, with an arrow groove at the barrel, and a very basic trigger in front of the grip. Loading the arrow required manually placing it in the groove and aligning it with the crossbow string, allowing only one arrow at a time, so cumbersome.
The reason it's called a crossbow is because the handle can be removed, and the crossbow body tied to the arm and hidden under a sleeve.
However, because Yang Yuan made the simplified version, the other hand is still needed during firing.
[Simple Crossbow LV.1: 0/2 (children's toy crossbow, effective range ten meters, don't talk to me about accuracy or lethality.)]
The latter part of the description had a hint of mockery.
But Yang Yuan was delighted, placing one of the previously crafted ten-centimeter-long crossbow arrows into the groove, aiming at a distant patch of ground, and pulling the trigger.
"Poof!"
The ten-centimeter, chopstick-thick wooden crossbow arrow shot seven or eight meters, stuck into the ground but quickly fell over, failing to penetrate.
Jiang Yiyi: "..."
She quickly focused on roasting the meat diligently, worried her big brother might feel embarrassed and angry.
But Yang Yuan didn't mind at all; he was looking for the initial power.
After firing one arrow, the crossbow's data changed to [LV.1: 1/2 (...)]
He took another arrow, loaded it, and fired towards the ground.
Another point of experience was gained upon firing the arrow, and the crossbow immediately displayed 'Upgrade available.'
Without hesitation, he upgraded the crossbow.
With a flash of light, the crossbow upgraded instantly, showing no external changes, though the materials seemed reinforced and slightly refined.
[Crossbow LV.2: 0/4 (knock-off crossbow, effective range twenty meters, average lethality.)]
Yang Yuan smiled, taking another arrow, loaded it, and fired.
"Poof!"
This time, the power increased significantly; the arrow embedded itself into the ground several meters away without falling, surprising Jiang Yiyi.
Earlier, it was so weak, how did it suddenly become strong?
The young girl didn't overthink; she simply found it miraculous.
"It's yours now, practice your accuracy later."
Yang Yuan handed the crossbow to Jiang Yiyi, curious if others using it could gain experience.
With iron arrows loaded, the crossbow could kill, no longer a child's toy.
Jiang Yiyi's eyes lit up, "Thank you, big brother."
Yang Yuan smiled and prepared to use the remaining Wolf Sinew to craft another crossbow.
There's enough Wolf Sinew to craft at least one more crossbow, just enough to gain some experience points and elevate his personal level, allowing further enhancement of the handgun's level later.
Just then, Zhao Jiayan returned, looking somewhat upset.
"What's wrong?" Yang Yuan asked worriedly, fearing the items he wanted weren't exchanged.
"I saw Liang Gao and his crew," Zhao Jiayan said with a grim expression, "They followed us."
Just then, Yang Yuan noticed the group he'd seen when first waking up was trailing behind Zhao Jiayan, his face turned cold, and he shouted, "Get lost!"