Eternal Night Calendar, Year 380, Early July

"Domain Lord Chen—what breadth of mind!" The Guanxi Plain. Within the Immortal Slaughter Holy Land, after the Holy Lord received the reply from Fan Domain, seven days of unease at last turned to a breeze and scattered into the air. Thoroughly satisfied, he unhurriedly brewed himself a pot of hot tea. Fan Domain had accepted his apology. From this moment, the two sides had no further quarrel. Every old grievance was written off in a single stroke. "Heavenly materials and earthly treasures go to those with the affinity for them." The Holy Lord of the Immortal Slaughter Holy Land raised his teacup with a merry chuckle and took a light sip. "Domain Lord Chen's thinking happens to match my own." "So it does." The Great Elder of the Immortal Slaughter Holy Land, standing to one side, said quietly, "Back then you held the same idea when you went scheming after the Snow Lotus left by that person on Nameless Mountain in Jiangbei. In the end it fell into Fan Domain's hands." "He had a greater affinity than I did." "Seven days ago, you saw that scene as well. I am ten parts wary of Fan Domain. If we can make peace, making peace is naturally best." "Ten parts wary is what you call plain fear." "Nonsense. Who isn't afraid?" The Holy Lord rolled his eyes at the Great Elder. "If you aren't afraid, I'll yield my seat as Holy Lord to you. You can take the Immortal Slaughter Holy Land right now and go fight Fan Domain to the death." The Great Elder silently shut his mouth. He was eleven parts wary—one part more than the Holy Lord. After returning to Fan Domain, Chen Fan was somewhat weary from several days of rushing about. He did not delay, and turned in early. Until dawn the next day. Full of vigor, Chen Fan finished washing up and stood in the room. He looked at the calendar hanging on the wall and stretched contentedly. No more troubles weighing on him. In a life, one did not need vast wealth to count as happy. So long as nothing pressed on the heart, that was happiness. "Eternal Night Calendar, Year 380, the twentieth day of the third month." "Almost the fourth month." Chen Fan muttered a few words. He meant, before the beginning of the fifth month, to finish laying every high-speed rail track and signal tower across the Guanxi Plain. The Guanxi Plain was rather large, and the laying would take quite a bit of work. He wondered how Shao Qiu's exploration was going over there. When he walked up onto the city wall, Wang Kui began his report as usual. At present, all the reporting work in Fan Domain was done by Wang Kui. "Domain Lord." "Fan Domain's ghost stone reserves were originally around two hundred million, fairly ample. But the battle to destroy the Hentian Sect consumed one hundred million ghost stones to build a hundred flying boats, leaving only about one hundred million ghost stones." "These past days, though, ghost stones mined on the New Continent have been sent over in a steady stream, and Fan Domain's reserves have risen again to one hundred and forty million ghost stones." "Mm." Chen Fan gave a slight nod. The battle to destroy the Hentian Sect had cost a great deal, but that battle had to be fought. And those hundred flying boats were still in Fan Domain. They were not structures to be used once and done. He stood on the city wall of Cave No. 1. His gaze crossed the gorge toward the faintly visible Jiangbei Defense Line standing guard on the Jiangbei coastline beyond Nameless Mountain. The Jiangbei Defense Line, all 170 kilometers of it, had now been built. But this Jiangbei Defense Line was only an empty shell. There were walls, and nothing else—no cannon towers or other defensive support buildings. It had only the power to defend, and no power to attack. A wall that could not strike back would, sooner or later, be ground flat by the ghost tide. He still had to save up another store of ghost stones and fill the Jiangbei Defense Line out completely. There were still two and a half years until the seabed ghost tide made landfall. They would have to pass through two more rainy seasons. When the rainy season after next arrived, an endless ghost tide would make landfall at Jiangbei, and black fog filling the sky would shroud this Jiangbei. If one called this landing of the seabed ghost tide an examination paper, then in two and a half years Fan Domain would have to write a sufficiently satisfactory answer upon that paper. "Let's go." After hearing Wang Kui's report, Chen Fan set out with Weiwei and two members of Fan Domain. For the next stretch of time, Fan Domain's plan was to build high-speed rail and signal towers on the Guanxi Plain. He would be away from Fan Domain for a while. Before leaving, he went to look at the hundred-odd Heaven-Reaching Pillars at the port. If the Heaven-Reaching Pillars had already finished charging completely, he would not have needed to send out flying boats to destroy the Hentian Sect this time. He could have activated the cannon towers directly. Once these hundred-odd Heaven-Reaching Pillars finished storing their energy, they would be another part of Fan Domain's foundation. "Won't do." Standing before the Heaven-Reaching Pillars, Chen Fan touched the Heavenly Dao Stone in his arms. His heart itched. Some time ago he had obtained a Heavenly Dao Stone. It could be used on a max-level building and grant a Heavenly Dao blessing—for example, the damage overflow of the God-Slaying Cannon. He had not used it all these days. He was reluctant to use it, and he had not yet decided which of Fan Domain's present max-level buildings to use it on. But he had to use it now. If it turned out to be a development-type Heavenly Dao blessing, then the later he obtained it, the more he would lose. Only, the Heaven-Reaching Pillars would not do. The Heaven-Reaching Pillars would not finish storing their energy for two and a half years. Even if he obtained a fine Heavenly Dao blessing, it would amount to leaving a Heavenly Dao Stone unused until two and a half years from now. That stretched things out too far. Fan Domain currently had eleven max-level buildings in all. Aside from the Heaven-Reaching Pillars, the remaining ten were these. The God-Slaying Cannon, farmland, ground spikes, the Spirit-Nurturing Pavilion, the Living Workshop, the Soul-Devouring Sculpture, the hanging basket, the bridge, ghost fire, and the Anti-Air Cannon. The God-Slaying Cannon had already had a Heavenly Dao Stone used on it. He could not use a second. Max-level buildings that only filled out the count, such as farmland, ground spikes, and the bridge, were certainly the lowest priority. The Spirit-Nurturing Pavilion. No. On a large battlefield when a ghost tide struck, the role cultivators could play was extremely small. In the end he began to choose between the two max-level buildings, ghost fire and the hanging basket. Ghost fire, then. This was Fan Domain's most central building. One could say it was the support of every other building. At present Fan Domain's core ghost fire had long since been wrapped in layer upon layer of protection. It was the most tightly guarded building of all. He had even set several decoy ghost fires around it, pretending they were Fan Domain's core ghost fire. That way, even if someone infiltrated Fan Domain and tried to destroy Fan Domain's ghost fire, they would only be able to destroy the false ones. And inside Nameless Mountain he had also built two spare Level 9 ghost fires. These two ghost fires were likewise connected to the various buildings by copper pipes. On ordinary days they would not be activated, and no ghost fire would flow through the pipes. But if an emergency arose and Fan Domain's core ghost fire was destroyed, these two would start in an instant and take up the work of sustaining Fan Domain's buildings. They would not let the buildings of Fan Domain fail because the core ghost fire had been destroyed. Only, the qualitative-change upgrade direction that came with that core ghost fire would be gone. In the next moment— He snatched up a handful of withered grass from the ground and tossed it into the air. The phantom of a ghost fire building slowly surfaced in the air, then swiftly landed on the ground. He threw the Heavenly Dao Stone in his hand onto it. Once the Heavenly Dao took effect, it would take effect on every building of the same type under the camp's name. Thereafter, any ghost fire within the camp's range would have this Heavenly Dao blessing. There would be no need to make a special trip back to Nameless Mountain. Soon a panel floated up before him. "You have used a Heavenly Dao Stone on the ghost fire and obtained three Heavenly Dao blessings. Please choose any one within a hundred breaths." "A building may possess only one Heavenly Dao blessing." "1: Heavenly Dao blessing (Steady Stream): The ghost fire will absorb the energy of the eternal night and condense a thousand ghost stones each day (only one ghost fire takes effect)." "2: Heavenly Dao blessing (Once More): When any building in the camp upgrades and randomly receives a qualitative-change upgrade direction, you may reroll once. The reroll will not change the grade of the qualitative-change upgrade direction, but will randomly replace it with another." "3: Heavenly Dao blessing (Sovereign of the Myriad Nations): Ghost fires built and placed within the camp's range will require no heavenly materials and earthly treasures upon each upgrade, only ghost stones." Chen Fan stared at the three Heavenly Dao blessings on the panel for a long moment. Then he suddenly grinned, his eyes fixed on the third, Sovereign of the Myriad Nations, unable to look away. Immediately afterward, without the slightest hesitation, he chose the third. Sovereign of the Myriad Nations. This Heavenly Dao blessing would let him build Level 10 ghost fire without consuming any heavenly materials and earthly treasures, only ghost stones. That also meant that once Wang Mazi finished surveying the continent and produced a ghost-skin map of the entire New Continent, he could set about covering the whole New Continent with ghost fire. And obtain that special reward, Sovereign of All Under Heaven. The harder the task, the greater the reward. Covering an entire continent with ghost fire—he felt this already counted as very difficult. Under normal circumstances, by the time someone could do this, the war would already be over, and humanity would have thoroughly won. Only then would it be possible. He had allowed himself a little laziness. He would complete this special task on a New Continent that had already been defeated, and take this reward. It meant he was obtaining early a reward that ought to have come only deep in the late stage. The greatest regret of his life was this: what he had wanted in his youth, he had never had. In his previous life, when he was young, he had wanted a model car. It was only a car model worth a few dozen yuan, but he could not afford it. When he was small, every Christmas he hoped Santa Claus would come down from the sky and give him a model car. He had never hoped for that on his birthday. He was an orphan. He had been one from childhood. He had no parents. Compared with his parents suddenly coming down from the sky to give him a gift, the chance that Santa Claus would suddenly appear and give him a Christmas gift was a little higher. But this wish had never come true through all his boyhood. Later he grew up, and he even had model cars to play with, yet he still could not forget the model car he had never owned as a child. Many times he thought: if the self of his boyhood could use the wealth he had now—he would not need to give much, just a thousand yuan—that small self of his would surely be so happy he could not sleep night after night. In a life, so long as one lived on, one would slowly come to have everything. But the time would already be wrong, and the taste of a thing once it was in hand would no longer be the same. And this Heavenly Dao blessing, Sovereign of All Under Heaven, brought forward a reward he should only have obtained deep in the late stage, so that he could obtain it a few years from now. Naturally, that made him happy. "Not bad." Chen Fan smiled, looking at the Heavenly Dao blessing now fixed upon the ghost fire before him, as if he saw himself once more possessing the model car he had longed for in his youth and never obtained. "Go!" He strode toward the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage at his side. First he would go to the Guanxi Plain and lay the high-speed rail lines. Once Wang Mazi finished drawing the ghost-skin map of the New Continent, he could begin planning this matter. The dragon-horses neighed. The Nine-Five Dragon Carriage drove out of the port. Once again it roared across the Jiangbei wasteland, heading straight toward Jiangnan. Fan Domain formally moved south. Two days later, Chen Fan had already reached Fuyao City, the southernmost city of Jiangnan. Along the way he had lingered a while beside the Great River, then strolled a circuit around a mountaintop, taking in the scenery of Jiangbei, which had delayed him a little. For the moment he was not in much of a hurry. Whenever he passed a place with fine scenery, he stopped. This world had no cameras. Only image stones. The picture quality of an image stone was not high. It could not record what one saw one-to-one, and came out rather blurry. That meant that in this world, every landscape one saw would never be seen a second time. Precisely because of this, scenery not yet destroyed by ghost creatures seemed all the more precious. When a phantom copper pipe drawn in white lines fell onto the ground outside Fuyao City, quickly solidified, and sank into the earth, the work began. The Nine-Five Dragon Carriage traveled in front, heading all the way toward the Guanxi Plain. Behind it, copper pipes sank into the ground one after another in an unbroken line and solidified. Three days later, the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage had entered the Guanxi Plain. Wherever it passed, it drew a crowd of onlookers. They did not recognize the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage, and did not know whose conveyance it was, but the banner floating above it—these days they remembered that perfectly clearly. Not a single person blocked the way. Even though Fan Domain was laying those copper pipes inside their territories. The Little Grass Wang Family. On the wall of a smaller city built of Level 3 walls, the head of the Little Grass Wang Family watched, his expression complicated, as the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage rapidly departed, and as the copper pipes behind it constantly formed and sank into the ground. He knew Fan Domain was laying a high-speed rail line. Only— They too counted as a family of architects, and on ordinary days took quite a few jobs building structures. He had never seen anyone build so fast, and... from the moment the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage entered his sight until it vanished from his sight, he never once saw a construction fail. Ghost fire counted as the most basic of buildings. No architect would say he did not know how to build ghost fire. But even ghost fire, built this many in one breath, was bound to have failures. Like writing. Writing from 1 to 10 was extremely simple. But writing from 1 to 1,000 without a single mistake the whole way—of a hundred people, nine out of ten could not do it. Even though the thing sounded so simple, human beings were creatures who made mistakes. How could anyone manage zero mistakes the whole way? It did not accord with common sense. The Nine-Five Dragon Carriage held the Fan Domain banner high and laid the high-speed rail network across the Guanxi Plain the whole way without the least restraint, yet not one person dared to block it, and still less did anyone dare step forward to sabotage it—especially when the rail network drew near their own power. These powers would grow somewhat fearful and, of their own accord, organize people to guard the line, terrified that someone would come and damage it. If it was damaged, what if the blame fell on their heads? After all, this high-speed rail line lay within their territory. These days had been enough to turn the scene of that day at the Hentian Sect into image stones and spread them across the entire Guanxi Plain. Any power that had seen that scene with its own eyes would not want to offend Fan Domain, unless its brains were truly a bit lacking. Until— Time crept, little by little, to the end of the fifth month. From late in the third month, he had been busy straight through to the end of the fifth. For this month and a half, Chen Fan had not returned to Fan Domain once. He had stayed on the Guanxi Plain, laying his high-speed rail lines and signal towers. "Hoo..." Chen Fan stepped down from the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage and wearily thumped his own shoulder. He was nearly dazed. The exhaustion had almost left him unable to catch his breath. This place was Zhenggui Pass. It was the junction of the Guanxi Plain and the Guandong Plain. He looked back at the Guanxi Plain behind him. Weary as he was, he still smiled with satisfaction. The results were quite good. The rough framework of the Guanxi Plain's high-speed rail lines had been completed all the same. During this time the Logistics Pavilion had also been making repairs in the rear, filling in some of the basics. In no more than a few days, the high-speed rail of the Guanxi Plain could officially open. Only then did he raise his head toward the ruins of a defense line not far before him. In the ancient battlefield this place had possessed a defense line separating the Guanxi Plain from the Guandong Plain, also called Zhenggui Pass. Of course, it was now utterly abandoned. Peddlers sat crowded along both sides of the ruins, and there were inns and the like open as well. "Sir." A waiter scurried over, his face full of expectation. "Sir, one look at your bearing and I can tell you're no ordinary man. Have you come specially to watch the ghost duels?" Chen Fan waved a hand and said nothing more. The Fan Domain member behind him immediately understood, stepped forward with a blank face, and stood before the waiter, stopping him from speaking any further. "Defense Line No. 7." He stood where he was. His gaze passed over Zhenggui Pass toward the Guandong Plain farther south, and he murmured, his expression dazed. He had already received the message Shao Qiu had sent someone to bring back. In the last rainy season the Guandong Plain had nearly fallen. In the end the Eternal Night Hall had sent people who, by some special means, nearly cleared away the ghost tide that had broken into the Guandong Plain, and at dawn the next day spared no cost to urgently repair Defense Line No. 7. Only then was the Guandong Plain kept from falling completely. But... Because it was in a half-fallen state, some ghost creatures could move freely by day in parts of the Guandong Plain. From this was born the entertainment of watching ghost duels. If the Guandong Plain fell entirely, then every ghost creature that set foot on the Guandong Plain could move freely by day. He paid close attention to Defense Line No. 7. After all, Defense Line No. 7 did not only protect the Guandong Plain. It also protected the great rear he had in Jiangbei. If Defense Line No. 7 fell completely, there was not a single defense line in the stretch between the Guandong Plain and Jiangbei. Vast ghost tides would charge north without restraint and surge into Jiangbei. According to Shao Qiu's message, the fighting on the Eternal Night Hall's side was desperate. They no longer had the strength to aid Defense Line No. 7. If Defense Line No. 7 was breached again this rainy season, then... it might truly fall completely. So he had another plan for the second half of the year. That was to spread high-speed rail lines and signal towers all across the Guandong Plain, so that if anything happened he would know at the first moment, and would not still be in Jiangbei knowing nothing while the Guandong Plain had already fallen. Only reacting when the ghost tide burst out of Jiangnan, and realizing then that Guandong had fallen. There were many powers in Guanxi, and no threat of a ghost tide there, so laying the high-speed rail lines had required making an example. But on the Guandong Plain it was much simpler. When Defense Line No. 7 was lost last time, not three in ten of the people here remained. Of those who remained, more than half had fled, and those who had not fled had all joined Defense Line No. 7. No one would interfere with him. He could do as he pleased on the Guandong Plain. Chen Fan looked down at the ghost-skin map in his hand. From the northernmost stretch of Jiangbei to the southernmost end of the Guandong Plain was a distance of several thousand kilometers. And west of Jiangbei lay Jiangxi. Jiangxi connected to the Guandong Plain. From Jiangxi all the way to the Guandong Plain, that westernmost coastline of several thousand kilometers had natural, unbroken mountain ranges as a barrier. No defense line was needed. This region of theirs—Jiangbei, the Guanxi Plain, and the Guandong Plain—was one of the larger protrusions on the outermost edge of the Eternal Night Continent. Sea on three sides. Normally, mountains could not stop a ghost tide. But the nodes in those regions had not shattered, so a ghost tide could not make landfall there. The nodes of Jiangbei and the Guandong Plain had already shattered completely. A ghost tide could attack this region of theirs only from these two directions. Which was to say, he only needed to finish building the Jiangbei Defense Line and, at the critical moment, support Defense Line No. 7, and he could be assured of safety. As for the east? That is, the east of the Guanxi Plain? That side was the core heartland of the Eternal Night Continent. If a ghost tide came from there, it would mean the entire Eternal Night Continent had already fallen completely, and only this little protrusion of theirs was still holding out. Then what was the point of holding? Death would be certain. Calling it a little protrusion was not quite accurate. It made it sound as if their protrusion was only a very small share of the Eternal Night Continent. This region of theirs did not lie in the core heartland of the Eternal Night Continent. It lay on the edge. Just how large a share of the Eternal Night Continent it was, he did not know. But it ought to be roughly a turtle's head. A turtle's head with sea on three sides. "Guandong... Guanxi..." Chen Fan's gaze moved to the ruins. He studied the ruins not far off and muttered. He actually did not quite understand why they were called the Guandong Plain and the Guanxi Plain—east of the pass, and west of it. By geography, if one took Zhenggui Pass as the dividing line, they ought to be called the plain north of the pass and the plain south of it. The waiter, blocked in front by a burly man, smiled awkwardly. But when his gaze fell on the banner floating above the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage, he suddenly froze where he stood, a flash of shock and panic in his eyes. "Fan... Fan Domain?" The voice was not loud. But the surroundings instantly went quiet. Quite a few people looked this way by instinct. When they saw that banner floating in the air, they froze where they stood, not even daring to draw a deep breath. Even though they were at the southernmost end of the Guanxi Plain. Still... They had long since heard of Fan Domain. After all, one of the greatest powers of the Guanxi Plain, the Hentian Sect, had been destroyed in an instant, in a manner close to outright crushing. The news had almost at once become something to talk about, spreading not only among the great powers, but among the common folk as well. Chen Fan swept a glance around. In his heart he very much wanted to stay a night in an inn, eat something hot, and rest. But he still climbed back into the carriage. The Fan Domain member in the driver's seat cracked the whip. Before everyone's eyes, the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage passed through the ruins and drove straight into the depths of the Guandong Plain. Better to press on in one go. Finish the work, then go back to Fan Domain and rest at his leisure. Originally, in his plans, laying high-speed rail across the Guandong Plain had been very low in priority. A man could not grow fat in a single mouthful. Reaching a hand this far, if something went wrong, Fan Domain would have no time at all to deal with it. But Shao Qiu had sent back word that there were not many people left on the Guandong Plain. Then it would not be a problem. He would press on and finish laying the high-speed rail of the Guandong Plain as well, then return to Fan Domain and rest slowly. After the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage entered the Guandong Plain, Chen Fan laid copper pipes while lifting the carriage curtain to look outside, his brows drawing slightly together. On the Guanxi Plain he could see farmland everywhere, planted with great quantities of crops. On the Guandong Plain, he could not see that anymore. From what he had understood before, the Guandong Plain was a richer region than the Guanxi Plain. Now, at a glance, countless gray mists drifted in the air. He did not know what they were. They hung over the whole of the Guandong Plain like an air of death. The farmland on the ground still faintly showed traces of rot. It had been thoroughly destroyed by the ghost tide. Just then, the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage passed a city. The city's walls had already fallen into ruins. No travelers came or went. The place had clearly become a dead city. The stench of rotting corpses drifted in the air. No one had gathered them. No one had cleared the city's dead. The city was no longer fit to live in. Great numbers of vultures circled above the city, letting out cries that grated on the ear. At that moment— His pupils contracted. A ghost creature charged out of the city, stumbling toward him. It looked extremely weak. At that speed it could not possibly catch the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage. He had already known of this, but this was still the first time he had seen it with his own eyes. A great reason the Eternal Night Continent had held out this long was that ghost creatures could appear only after the eternal night descended. People had the whole daytime as a rest period. In that time they could rest, treat their wounds, and repair the defense lines. If ghost creatures could descend in daylight as well, the Eternal Night Continent would not last three days. Defeat would be certain. Unending ghost tides, surging onto the defense lines without cease—no defense line could withstand attacks so frequent and so fierce, like a tide. The Nine-Five Dragon Carriage continued deeper into the Guandong Plain, constantly laying the high-speed rail network and setting signal towers in place. Until the time came to early July of the Eternal Night Calendar. Under the scorching sun, Chen Fan saw Defense Line No. 7 with his own eyes. He stepped down from the carriage. Solemn-faced, he looked toward that Defense Line No. 7 in the distance, whose beginning and end could not be seen, nearly joined to heaven and earth. Uniform Level 6 walls, thirty meters high. Merely standing there, they brought an overwhelming sense of pressure. In ancient times, the Jiangbei Defense Line had been only Level 4 walls. His present Jiangbei Defense Line was only Level 5 walls. This was Level 6. Walls of this level, if they stood guard in Jiangbei, would leave Jiangbei utterly safe. This also showed that the pressure facing the Guandong Plain was greater than Jiangbei's. A ghost tide capable of breaking a defense line on this scale—one could well imagine it. He had never seen it with his own eyes. But he could imagine it. Yet he knew this was not enough. Even a defense line of Level 10 walls would not be enough. When the Eternal Night Continent met its final battle, even a Level 10 defense line would be insufficient to shelter the whole of the Eternal Night Continent. Those several defense lines of the New Continent had all been Level 10 walls. Yet they had still fallen completely to the ghost tide. They had even forced the New Continent's Heavenly Dao to self-destruct, clear the field, and perish together with the enemy. This was why he had barely stopped. The time left to him was truly not much. He had to develop as far as he could in this stretch of time, develop to a sufficient height. Afterward there would not be so much time left for him. "Domain Lord!" Shao Qiu appeared out of empty air at his side and looked at Chen Fan with some excitement. "You're here. I'll go find the person in charge of Defense Line No. 7 and have him receive you. I still haven't told them my true identity." They had not met for half a year. Shao Qiu had grown much more weathered, and looked considerably older than before. He had even grown a beard. As if he had become another person. "We won't see them." Standing beside the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage, Chen Fan looked far ahead at that wall of Defense Line No. 7. He could faintly see quite a few people moving back and forth beneath it. He had not seen so many people the whole way here. They were all in this place. He gave a light shake of his head. "No need to tell them your true identity either. Just come with me." Shao Qiu was slightly stunned. He looked back at Defense Line No. 7 with some hesitation, but still nodded, and quickly contacted the other members of the Shadow Pavilion. He had not yet said goodbye to those friends of his. These days he had made quite a few friends. Forget it. There would be chances to meet again later. Chen Fan turned, returned to the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage, and prepared to head back. He knew the importance of Defense Line No. 7. But he did not want to make contact with the person in charge of Defense Line No. 7. It was not yet the time. His strength was not enough now. Under too deep a contact, he would very easily be taken by the Eternal Night Hall and used as a blood bag. He could garrison Jiangbei. He could even support the Guandong Plain, and go so far as to contribute his own share of strength for the entire Eternal Night Continent. But being a blood bag—he would rather not. After the members of the Shadow Pavilion gathered here one by one, the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage began speeding toward the Guanxi Plain. It was time to go home. He had been outside too long this trip. "Eternal Night Calendar, Year 380, early July." The tracks of Fan Domain's high-speed rail had been successfully laid in every corner of the Guanxi Plain and the Guandong Plain. With this, Fan Domain's influence expanded once more. Defense Line No. 7. The middle-aged man whose lower body had been severed at the waist now sat at the dining table, looking at the two meals on his table. He did not take up his chopsticks. He only stayed silent for a long time. After who knew how long, the people around gradually grew much fewer. The hour for the meal had already passed. Still no sign of Shao Qiu. Only then did he pick up his chopsticks and slowly begin to eat his own portion. On ordinary days, that fellow would eat with him before nightfall. But he had not come today, and he had just learned that the group who had come with that fellow were all gone as well. So he understood. They had left. The pressure brought by the ghost tides over this half year had left that fellow unable to hold on as well. Especially with this year's rainy season about to arrive. That pressure weighing on everyone's hearts left many people unable to breathe. Every day quite a few people ran. That was normal too. Especially since that fellow was not even from Guandong. Running was all the more normal. But somehow, today's food did not taste as good as it used to. "Hey, Uncle Liu." A young fellow came up to the table and, without the slightest courtesy, picked up the unclaimed meal and shoveled great mouthfuls into his own mouth. "Since that guy ran off, I'll eat this meal. I just didn't eat my fill. One more portion is perfect." The middle-aged man did not speak. He only lowered his head and ate the food in his hands, minding his own meal. "Uncle Liu, have you noticed something amazing? Everyone on Defense Line No. 7 who was infected by a ghost creature and had his body cut off is only an upper half. Seems I've never seen one who's only a lower half. Don't you think that's amazing?" The young man looked seriously at Uncle Liu, his mouth full of food, his words unclear. The middle-aged man moved. He lifted his head, stared at the young man without expression, and said, "Do you think you're very funny?" "Ahem." The young man awkwardly set down his bowl and chopsticks. "I just saw you seemed a bit sad, Uncle Liu, and came to cheer you up. I'm not leaving. I'll definitely garrison Defense Line No. 7 with you." "You can leave." "I really won't." "You really can leave. You're still young. It would be a pity to die on Defense Line No. 7. You should go to the heartland of the Eternal Night Continent. It will be much safer there." "But if everyone goes to the heartland, who'll hold the front?" "That isn't something you should worry about." "I do worry. My family and my friends all died in Guandong. Of course I care about this place. If I die, I have to die in Guandong." The middle-aged man said nothing more. His expression was somewhat dazed as he looked past the ghost fire at the darkness rapidly covering over from the distance. After a long while he murmured, "Honestly... if you're going to leave, at least say goodbye before you go. Then I could have given you a bit of money for the road..." Faintly, the roars of countless ghost creatures reached his ears. That was the ghost tide outside Defense Line No. 7 beginning its assault again. A new night's battle had begun. "I'm off. Today I'm in charge of replenishing the ghost stones for the ten cannon towers of Small Section Seven." After the eternal night descended, the young man opposite quickly dumped the two mouthfuls of food left in his bowl into his mouth all at once. Mumbling unclearly, he ran quickly into the distance. Soon he vanished into the crowd. Gone from sight. A person like this could be said to matter almost not at all to Defense Line No. 7. But Defense Line No. 7, standing guard over the Guandong Plain, was made of countless such people who mattered almost not at all, and so had grown immensely solid, standing without falling. Eternal Night Calendar, Year 380, early July. The height of the scorching summer. Chen Fan returned to Fan Domain and lay prone on the bed in the wooden cabin of Cave No. 1. A porcelain vat beside him held ice to bring the heat down. A maid at his side kept pounding his back, working the fatigue out of him. "Only a few months until the rainy season." Lying on the bed, Chen Fan turned his head to look at the Eternal Night Calendar hanging on the wall. Once this rainy season passed, there would be a proper two full years until the seabed ghost tide made landfall. Busy for several months, he had finally finished laying all the high-speed rail tracks. These days, the existence of Fan Domain's high-speed rail had also changed the whole balance of power on the Guanxi Plain. The most obvious point was this: the pattern of the various powers of the Guanxi Plain constantly fighting one another, a pattern of nearly a hundred years, had been broken. While sales of Skeleton Horses declined, the whole of the Guanxi Plain had gradually grown peaceful. "Domain Lord..." Just then, the maid kneeling on the bed and pounding his back suddenly said in a low voice, "These months while you were away, Pavilion Master Wang's authority seems to have grown a little too great." Chen Fan, whose mind had been wandering through idle thoughts, suddenly paused. He quickly snatched up the jadeite cane beside him, gripped it, rose from the bed, and dressed. He looked at this unfamiliar maid before him. She was not the one he had had before. He did not let the back-pounding continue, but strode out of the wooden cabin. He took out a voice transmission talisman and contacted Xiao Qiu. "Xiao Qiu, look into this maid of mine. Where she comes from, how she got into Fan Domain, who arranged for her to come in, how she became my personal maid." At present, Fan Domain's hiring was all handled by the Logistics Pavilion. Truly strange. When a power grew large, a few people slipping in was normal. Sowing discord was normal too. But... shouldn't you at least chat a while about ordinary things, and only then bring it up as if by accident? For instance, say that in the time he was away Wang Kui had seemed a bit too pleased, or that while he was away Wang Kui had often sneaked about near Fan Domain's core ghost fire, looking it over. Plant a seed in his heart? Wouldn't the effect be better? No scheme of discord was meant to take effect on the spot. You planted a seed first, and only when the seed sprouted did it bear fruit. Coming straight at him? Wasn't this a little too direct? What a mess this all was. He loosened his limbs, boarded the high-speed rail, left Nameless Mountain, and headed for the Jiangbei Defense Line. Soon. Chen Fan stood on the wall of the Jiangbei Defense Line, gazing far out at the Dead Sea. Waves struck the reefs again and again, throwing up spray. The fishy stench stung the nose. The matter of investigating her could just be left to the Logistics Pavilion. These few months, Fan Domain had saved up quite a few ghost stones. He could finally fill out the defensive buildings of the Jiangbei Defense Line completely. As for that maid... even if some power had sent her, a power that could send a person like this was certainly no strong power. At least they were very poor at judging people. Planting someone in the core position of his personal maid must have cost no small price, yet the way she went about it was clumsy. The sea before him was named the Dead Sea. To this day he was not clear why this sea had been named the Dead Sea. There did not seem to be any story behind it. Simply because a few more people had died here, the place had been named the Dead Sea. He gave his head a shake. After tossing the messy thoughts out of his head, he rode the hanging basket installed on the track atop the wall and quickly reached the end of the Jiangbei Defense Line, where he saw that familiar Skeleton Horse. Only then did he begin, starting from the beginning, to build the defensive structures. God-Slaying Cannons, copper pipes, Anti-Air Cannons, Soul-Devouring Sculptures, ghost fires, and the rest. Building after building was rapidly completed. Until nightfall. Only then did Chen Fan stop building. He had not completely finished. He estimated it would take several more days. This was much more troublesome than laying copper pipes. He came down from the wall of the Jiangbei Defense Line and once again rode the high-speed rail back to Nameless Mountain. Just as he stepped into Cave No. 1, he ran into Xiao Qiu coming toward him. "Domain Lord, the investigation is finished." "Which power is she from?" Chen Fan asked as he walked toward his wooden cabin. "She doesn't come from any power. She had never joined any power before, and she didn't take any bribe. After our interrogation and verification, she simply wanted to climb higher... After all, Domain Lord, you still don't have a woman you favor." Chen Fan let out a light sigh and waved a hand. "You may go." What was all this. Only afterward did he return to the wooden cabin. Without even taking off his clothes, he lay on the bed sprawled wide, arms and legs flung out. He was done for. This time he was truly exhausted. He had to rest a while. He had only just come back from building the high-speed rail, and gone straight on to building the Jiangbei Defense Line. Even a beast of burden was not used like this. Why did he feel he was more tired than even Fan Domain's affiliate members on the New Continent? Today, no matter what, he was not working. He would rest a day first.