"Hmm."
Chen Fan looked at Zhou Mo, who stood before him looking weary and travel-stained. His already weathered face was flushed red from the storm, and his lips were beginning to turn blue. Clearly, he wasn't in a good state.
An ordinary person couldn't hold up after running back and forth in such a storm for so long.
Especially with the added psychological pressure of having to return to camp before dark.
After a brief pause, Chen Fan said softly,
"Bit of a shame."
"You must be tired from journeying so long. Go back to the hut first, change into dry clothes, and warm up by the fire."
"It's nothing."
Zhou Mo shook his head, took a burlap sack from his chest, and pointed to his subordinate. "All the Eerie Stones from that camp are here, 48 in total. He helped me collect them. The remaining valuable items I've loaded onto this cart and brought back. They should all be useful."
"Good."
Chen Fan took the sack with a smile.
He naturally understood the meaning behind Zhou Mo's words.
"Go and rest."
...
There was still an hour left before nightfall.
Time was tight.
Chen Fan walked alone to the section of the city wall that had been damaged by the Flesh-Worm Ghosts last night. The green, viscous liquid left behind after the Flesh-Worm Ghost exploded had caused some damage to the wall, leaving numerous fist-sized holes.
The wall was three meters thick.
Damage of this extent had almost no impact on the city wall.
After all, it was just a few stragglers, and not too many.
The next moment—
The city wall inside the camp suddenly transformed into a surreal shape composed of white rays. Among these rays, it was clearly visible that several of them had broken and needed repair.
"This repair requires 1 Eerie Stone."
"The price isn't expensive."
Chen Fan took an Eerie Stone from his chest and crushed it. Immediately, the Eerie Stone turned into a milky white liquid, slowly flowing into the surreal shape before him. The broken white lines began to repair themselves at a visible rate.
After a few breaths.
The ethereal shape solidified again.
And the city wall before him was once again intact, as good as new.
"I wonder how other Architects repair city walls."
Chen Fan tilted his head and murmured as he looked at the gradually darkening sky. He could repair the city wall so easily because he had the panel. But how do other Architects, who can't see the panel, repair city walls?
They can't just build a new section whenever it's damaged, right?
He knew that Rivernorth City was a natural Eerie Fire Zone, with a considerable area. The three major forces in the city had jointly built a wall that encircled the entire city, much larger in scale than his.
Without a way to repair the wall, the maintenance cost would be astronomical.
He didn't dwell on this.
He began to count his Eerie Stones.
He had 508 in total.
A sizable number, but definitely not enough to upgrade the wall to level 2, which requires 1,600 Eerie Stones. However… it was enough to significantly enhance the camp's defenses once more.
Currently, there were 2 level 3 Archery Towers on the city wall.
The strength was sufficient.
But the quantity was lacking.
Building a level 1 Archery Tower consumed 10 Eerie Stones.
He first spent 100 Eerie Stones to build 10 level 1 Archery Towers, neatly fitting all of them into the slots behind the battlements.
These 10 Archery Towers were uniformly made of wood, appearing quite fragile.
Their power was also somewhat lacking.
He then spent 200 Eerie Stones to upgrade all 10 Archery Towers to level 2.
As the Eerie Stones transformed into milky white liquid.
The Archery Towers also began growing as if they had life until becoming a mixture of wood and stone. The Archery Towers got more sturdy.
Among the upgrade options that popped up, he chose "Enhanced Crossbow Power" for all.
He then spent 26 Eerie Stones to create a 26-meter-long copper pipe, connecting these 10 Archery Towers to the Eerie Fire at the center of the camp.
Since he had already connected the two level 3 Archery Towers to the camp's Eerie Fire earlier, now, he only needed to connect the originally built 2 Archery Towers to these 10 new ones via copper pipes running along the city wall.
This provided the shortest route.
And the most resource-efficient.
The next moment!
The copper pipes connected to the bases of the ten Archery Towers emitted a white light, quickly vanishing into the wall.
He placed 50 Eerie Stones in the Eerie Fire as a reserve, to cover the daily consumption of the Eerie Fire and provide energy for the Archery Towers.
By the point—
The defense of the entire camp had undergone a qualitative improvement.
...
"..."
Standing on the city wall, Chen Fan looked at these Archery Towers and smiled with slight satisfaction. This way, the camp's safety had been greatly enhanced.
Only then did he look into the distance and say softly,
"Success lies in human effort; I've done my best."
"The rest is up to Heaven's blessing."
Although the camp's safety had been greatly improved, it still couldn't withstand a frontal assault from a "Flesh-Worm Ghost Eerie Tide."
After all this, he still had 132 Eerie Stones left.
He looked at the building on the panel that he hadn't constructed yet. Now, with extra Eerie Stones, he could build this structure.
"Sacrificial Tower."
"Can obtain special resources. Requires 20 Eerie Stones to build."
After 20 Eerie Stones were shattered, an incorporeal form of a Sacrificial Tower composed of white lines appeared before him, about one meter tall, quite small—a petite and exquisite seven-storey pagoda.
Made entirely of bluestone.
The eaves were adorned with ink-red.
He placed it next to the wooden hut.
The camp's circular wall had a diameter of ten meters, and the interior area wasn't very large. With a wooden hut, the Eerie Fire, and a watchtower already placed within, the remaining space was becoming somewhat tight.
But there was no other way; the wall enclosing a larger area would cost far more.
It could only be like this for now; adjustments could be made later.
Chen Fan looked at the small Sacrificial Tower before him, and a panel slowly appeared in front of him.
"Sacrifice Eerie Creature corpses to obtain special resources."
"The stronger the Eerie Creature corpses and the greater the number, the more valuable the special resources obtained."
"This building cannot be upgraded."
"Sacrificial, as in offering sacrifices?"
Chen Fan nodded thoughtfully. The effect of this building wasn't bad. Over the past few days, the Eerie Creatures killed had been buried in the farmland. Although they could serve as fertilizer, it was a bit excessive.
The Sacrificial Tower offered a good way to utilize Eerie Creature corpses in the future.
After that, he didn't take any further action.
Instead, he quietly waited for the Perpetual Night to descend.
...
An hour later.
The familiar impenetrable darkness appeared on the horizon, sweeping over the entire world like a tide.
An eggshell-like halo of light once again enshrouded the camp.
"Huh?"
Crippled Monkey, lying prone behind the battlements, was the first to notice the anomaly. The originally circular safe zone had suddenly bulged outward in one spot. A trace of confusion flashed in his eyes. "This..."
"How is it?"
Chen Fan chuckled lightly, looking at the gray fog outside the camp, patiently waiting for the Eerie Creatures to attack tonight.
That was his new creation, the safe zone overflow!
This inconspicuous bulge would be the starting point for many of his wild Architectural ideas in the future.
"...Why is there a "gl*ns'?"
"..."
Chen Fan glanced at Crippled Monkey, then looked away and said expressionlessly, "Stay alert."