"We Are Greatly Pleased!"

The atmosphere in the room grew increasingly stifling, making it difficult to breathe. Kneeling on the floor, Chen Quan could not stop trembling. Even so, he did not leave. Instead, he steeled himself and remained kneeling at the doorway. He was determined to get an answer today—at the very least, he had to know who his biological father was! "Your father..." The woman sitting by the edge of the bed spoke in a calm tone laced with amusement: "...is actually Chen Fan." "What?!" As if struck by lightning, Chen Quan froze where he knelt. He looked up in utter disbelief at his mother seated by the bed. "Mother... Chen Fan is only four years older than me. You..." "Just teasing you. I don't know who your biological father is either. When you grow up, go find the answer yourself." After Chen Quan left, the white-robed man materialized once more. Glancing at the closed door, he frowned and asked, "What is the situation with the Chen Family Head?" He had no interest in such trivialities; serious business took precedence. The woman before him was notoriously wanton—a dazzling, venomous scorpion. Even though they were on the same side, he had to remain wary lest she strike him with her tail at any moment. Completely ignoring her exposed, alluring charms, he asked in a deep voice, "Have you still not found it?" "Mm..." The woman leaned lazily against the edge of the bed, toying with an exquisite teapot in her hands. "Indeed not. All I know is that over the years, he has continuously had Retainer Liu construct large quantities of very ordinary structures. Aside from that..." "There's no other information." "He must have some scheme. After all, he should have noticed something over the years. But I don't know the exact details of what he's planning. He has always been guarded against me, and his secrecy has been impeccable." "You truly never shared a bed with him?" The white-robed man frowned. "Sharing a bed is the easiest way to pry for information. Didn't the two of you live in the same room a few years ago?" "We lived together, yes, but he never touched me." The woman looked at her reflection in the bronze mirror and tilted her head. "Perhaps... I've grown old?" "......" The white-robed man remained silent. No ordinary man, sharing a room with this woman, could ever resist her seduction. She did not even need to do anything, nor did she need to shed a single layer of clothing. Simply sitting there, she effortlessly aroused the rawest animal desires buried deep within a man's heart. And any man capable of restraining himself under such circumstances had to harbor grand ambitions. "You never mentioned this to me before. I must report it to the master to prevent any mishaps." The expression on the woman's face visibly frosted over. "Shao Qiu." "I hope you understand one thing: I am the person in charge of this operation, and you are merely here to assist me." "Return to the Pingtian Chamber of Commerce and do your job." "Besides..." "Even though I don't know the specifics of his scheme, I can guess the general idea. He is single-mindedly devoted to strengthening his family, not caring in the slightest even for his own flesh and blood. His so-called scheme is nothing more than borrowing our Level 5 architect to swallow the remaining two major factions in one stroke, making the Chen family the strongest in Jiangbei City." "He is probably hoarding goods to monopolize the Jiangbei market or something similar." "It will not affect our deployment." "I can exercise my own judgment." The white-robed man fell silent and said no more. As though insubstantial, he took a few steps backward and soon melted into the wall, vanishing without a trace. *** "Not bad." In the Jiangbei Wasteland, on the Nameless Mountain, inside the sinkhole. Chen Fan looked at the flag Xiao Qiu had crafted, nodding repeatedly in satisfaction. The flag was fully finished, and Xiao Qiu had even added a bit of artistic flair. "The background of the flag is white." "A single character, 'Fan', in black." "And the dot in the center of 'Fan' takes inspiration from the Level 6 Ghost Eye Cannon Tower, incorporating the element of an open vertical pupil, dark red in color." This unique design stripped away the banner's plainness, lending it an eerie, ominous aura. "Very nice. I like it." Chen Fan handed the flag to Zhou Mo and gestured for him to ride out and plant it at the canyon's entrance. Cave No. 1 directly faced the canyon. Standing at the cave mouth, Chen Fan gazed toward the canyon entrance a full thousand meters away. Even through the rainy night, the fluttering banner remained vividly clear. That smear of a scarlet vertical pupil seemed almost alive, resembling a ghost king surveying the world. That was the primary purpose of a banner: even from a great distance, it could be clearly seen, instantly identifying which faction held the ground. Afterward, Chen Fan walked over to the Vehicle Workshop installed inside Cave No. 2. He deactivated the wall at the entrance and looked at the massive workshop nestled inside the cavern. It was the only yellow-grade structure in the entire camp. Upgrading it to Level 2 required 2,000 ghost stones. Previously, he hadn't possessed enough ghost stones to upgrade it, but now he had a full 79,940 ghost stones to spare. It was time for an upgrade. Before long, after consuming 2,000 ghost stones, the building was upgraded to Level 2. Its exterior showed little change. A panel popped up before his eyes. [Vehicle Workshop upgraded to Level 2.] [Please select an upgrade path.] [1: Slightly reduce vehicle crafting time.] [2: Slightly reduce vehicle crafting cost.] [3: Slightly reduce vehicle energy consumption.] "Hmm..." After pondering for a moment, Chen Fan chose the first option. Although crafting a Skeleton Horse was fairly quick right now—taking only a dozen breaths—crafting higher-tier vehicles in the future would undoubtedly take much longer. His reasoning was simple: the latter two options could be compensated for with ghost stones, whereas the first could not. Naturally, he chose the first. A new craftable vehicle was added to the list: [3: Ghost Camel. Can travel on land. Slower speed, but possesses high carrying capacity. Crafting cost: 200 ghost stones, some ghost creature bones, ghost skin.] "Not bad." Chen Fan nodded. While the Skeleton Horse possessed decent speed, its load-bearing capacity was poor. If he wanted to transport bulk cargo, the Ghost Camel was indeed far more suitable. "These are all prime commodities..." he muttered under his breath. He didn't know much about Jiangnan, but he figured that even there, very few factions possessed a Vehicle Workshop. His Skeleton Horses and Ghost Camels would surely fetch handsome prices. Before that, however, he needed to kill a few people first. Without killing people, how could he make a name for himself and establish dominance? As the saying went, to earn a seat at the dinner table, one must first slaughter the chicken. He glanced at the upgrade requirements. Raising it to Level 3 required only 3,000 ghost stones. He upgraded it once more. [Vehicle Workshop upgraded to Level 3.] [Please select an upgrade path.] [1: Slightly reduce vehicle crafting time.] [2: Slightly reduce vehicle crafting cost.] [3: Qualitatively Changed: No upgrade direction to choose this time, but the next upgrade will have a thirty percent chance of yielding a qualitatively changed rare upgrade direction (Ordinary).] "..." Chen Fan stood there in expressionless silence. He didn't like gambling, but... He shrugged. Who could resist the urge? Take a gamble and turn a bicycle into a motorcycle; even if the gamble failed, walking on foot wasn't bad either—it built character and stamina. He promptly chose the third option. This time, another craftable vehicle appeared: [4: Carriage. Drawn by three Skeleton Horses. Can travel on land. The carriage cabin possesses a degree of defense, roughly equivalent to fifty percent of a Level 1 wall's defensive strength, and boasts good carrying capacity. Crafting cost: 500 ghost stones, some ghost creature bones, ghost skin.] "Nice!" Chen Fan grinned. Even if the Vehicle Workshop failed to hit that thirty percent chance on the next upgrade, he would have no regrets. He loved this vehicle; from now on, this would be his personal ride. He checked the requirements to upgrade the Vehicle Workshop to Level 4. It required only 5,000 ghost stones, with no extra material requirements. He decided to upgrade it in a moment. After consuming 500 ghost stones and some ghost creature bones, the long-dormant Vehicle Workshop started up again with a low rumble. Roughly half the time it took to drink a cup of tea later, three Skeleton Horses pulling a carriage slowly rolled out from the workshop's exit, coming to a halt on the sinkhole floor. At first glance, he fell completely in love with it. The three skeleton horses had milky-white ghost stones embedded into their joints, giving off a dark-silver metallic sheen with golden undertones. Ghostly blue flames wrapped around their hooves, while cold-white fire burned within their eye sockets. Unlike the skeleton horse Zhou Mo rode, these three were draped in dark bronze barding, exuding a formidable sense of intimidation as they stood there. Three bone chains served as reins, fastening the skeleton horses securely to the carriage. The carriage itself was crafted from wood and pale bone, with black curtains hanging over the windows. By this point, Sick Monkey and the others who were bustling about the camp had also been drawn over. Emerging from the caves, they stared in awe at the carriage before them. It wasn't that they had never seen the carriages of prominent families, but those couldn't compare to this at all. It was a difference of night and day. "Young Master!" Sick Monkey limped over eagerly. "Once the rainy season ends and we march back to Jiangbei City, you must ride in this carriage! When it pulls up, I'll be right beside it to help you down! "That scene will look so damn majestic!" Chen Fan stood admiring his carriage with a smile. Now that the faction's name and banner had been finalized, a flag fluttered at the rear of the carriage as well, bearing the character "Fan". "Let's give it a spin." Chen Fan hopped up into the driver's box at the front of the carriage. After fiddling with it for a moment, he figured out the controls: everything relied on tugging the bone chains. Pull the left chain, and it turned left. Pull the right chain, and it turned right. Pull the middle chain, and it moved forward. Pulling all three together slowed it down and braked. It was remarkably simple to operate, and he got the hang of it in no time. Only... Sitting in the driver's seat didn't feel particularly dignified. If he wanted to ride in proper style, he ought to sit inside the cabin while a driver handled the reins. "We really are short on hands, aren't we?" After driving the carriage on a circuit through the canyon, Chen Fan returned to the sinkhole. Leaping down, he let out a sigh. Establishing a faction truly required people everywhere. Right now, he was practically splitting every person in the camp in half to do the work of two. "Young Master, Young Master!" Sick Monkey trotted over eagerly, thumping his chest. "Me! Whenever you go out in the future, I'll be your driver!" "Alright..." Chen Fan nodded, agreeing to the request, before heading inside with a smile to bathe and change. Next, he was going to upgrade the Vehicle Workshop to Level 4 and see if he could hit that thirty percent chance. The usual routine: bathe first, change clothes, then burn incense. May Heaven bless him with smooth fortune in all things. "So majestic..." Wang Mazi walked up to the carriage, stroking it with an expression full of envy. "When will I ever get to own a carriage like this..." "Dream on," Zhou Mo retorted with an amused scoff from the side. "This is the stationmaster's exclusive ride. You're actually thinking of riding in it? How about I serve as your driver, eh?" "I wouldn't say no." "Say no to my foot!" Before long, Chen Fan returned in fresh clothes. Taking a deep breath, he fixed his gaze on the Vehicle Workshop with a solemn expression, muttering a quick prayer for Heaven's blessing. He then spent 5,000 ghost stones to raise the Vehicle Workshop to Level 4. [Vehicle Workshop upgraded to Level 4.] [Please select an upgrade path.] [1: Slightly reduce vehicle crafting time.] [2: Slightly reduce vehicle crafting cost.] [3: Qualitatively Changed: Can craft the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage (Rare).] "..." Chen Fan froze on the spot, his breath catching in his throat. After a long pause, he couldn't help blurting out: "We are greatly pleased!" The Nine-Five Dragon Carriage! It was a carriage, yes, but one fit for the supreme sovereign—an emperor's exclusive ride, far more luxurious and domineering! Deep down, he had always considered himself a minor figure. Take the faction name Sick Monkey had proposed earlier, for instance: "Fan Domain." He had thought it sounded fine, and the symbolism was great: *Every domain your feet tread upon is your territory.* *Every domain you have yet to tread upon is your conquest target.* Yet he had felt it was too boastful. The word "Domain" carried too much weight. He hadn't felt worthy of such an unyielding name, just as ordinary folk wouldn't name a child "Immortal." When a name was too heavy, a person whose fate wasn't strong enough would be crushed by it. And so they had settled on Fan Gate. Except... Why did he feel like his fate was actually remarkably strong right now, more than capable of bearing the weight? For the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage to just appear like this? [4: Nine-Five Dragon Carriage (Only one can be crafted). Drawn by nine Flame Dragon Horses. Can travel on land. The carriage cabin possesses a degree of defense, roughly equivalent to the defensive strength of a Level 2 wall, and boasts tremendous carrying capacity. The interior holds a world of its own, with its own wondrous permutations. Crafting cost: 5,000 ghost stones, some ghost creature bones, ghost skin, and the skeleton of a ghost king.] "Phew..." After a long time, Chen Fan took a deep breath, coming to terms with the reality that he was destined for the imperial mantle. It couldn't be helped; his fate was laid out right before him, and it was undeniably unyielding. Had he known, he would have stuck with "Fan Domain." It seemed he could carry it after all. The only problem was the crafting requirements: they were somewhat demanding. It required the skeleton of a ghost king. That would be tricky to get. Qiu Kui's man still hadn't broken through to ghost king. From what he knew, breaking through required a Mountain Skeleton Embryo, which the man in all likelihood wouldn't be able to find. Regardless of whether the other party could break through or not, Chen Fan had only one objective for the remainder of the rainy season: to fortify this sanctuary to absolute perfection. That way, when the enemy came, he would have the power to contend with them whether they had reached the ghost king stage or not! "Back to work!" Chen Fan surveyed his surroundings, a smile in his eyes as he waved his hand grandly. Then he turned to Wang Mazi. "Work hard. Once the rainy season ends and I've set up the chamber of commerce for you, this carriage is yours." "Truly?!" Wang Mazi, who had been staring longingly at the carriage, jumped straight into the air the moment he heard those words, overtaken by wild delight. This stroke of good fortune had come so damn suddenly!