Man Proposes, and I've Done My Best

"Yeah." Chen Fan looked at the travel-worn Zhou Mo before him. The man's weathered face was flushed red from the pelting storm, his lips tinged purple-blue. He was clearly in poor shape. No normal person could endure running back and forth in such a tempest for so long. Not to mention the crushing mental pressure of having to make it back to camp before dark. After a brief pause, Chen Fan said softly, "It's a pity." "You've worked hard rushing back and forth. Head into the cabin first, change into some dry clothes, and warm yourself by the fire." "It was nothing." Zhou Mo shook his head, pulled a burlap sack from inside his robes, and gestured toward his subordinate. "All the ghost stones from that camp are here, forty-eight in total. He and I gathered them together. I loaded everything else of value into this handcart and brought it back. It should all come in handy." "Good." Chen Fan smiled and accepted the sack. He naturally understood what Zhou Mo meant. "Go get some rest." ... There was still an hour before dark. Time was pressing. Chen Fan walked alone to the section of the wall damaged by the flesh worm ghosts the previous night. The viscous green liquid left behind when the flesh worm ghosts detonated had caused some damage to the structure, leaving behind quite a few fist-sized holes. The wall was three meters thick. This level of damage had practically no real impact on it. After all, they had only been a few stragglers that slipped through, not many in number. The next moment— The wall enclosing the camp suddenly transformed into an architectural phantom composed of luminous white lines. Amid those white lines, he could clearly see that several in this section were broken and needed repair. - [Cost for this repair: 1 ghost stone.] - "The price isn't steep." Chen Fan pulled a ghost stone from his robes and crushed it. The stone turned into a milky-white liquid that slowly flowed into the architectural phantom before him. The severed white lines began knitting themselves back together at a speed visible to the naked eye. After a few breaths. The phantom solidified once more. The wall stood before him completely undamaged, as good as new. "I wonder how other architects repair their walls." Chen Fan tilted his head toward the darkening sky and murmured. He could repair the wall so effortlessly because he had his panel, but how did other architects, who couldn't see a panel, repair theirs? They couldn't just build a brand-new section every time there was damage, could they? He knew Jiangbei City was a naturally formed ghost fire zone of considerable size, where the three major factions had joined forces to erect an outer wall encircling the entire city—on a scale far grander than his own. Without a way to repair walls, the maintenance costs would be astronomical. Pushing the thought aside. He began tallying his ghost stones. He had 508 in total. Quite a hefty sum. Upgrading the wall to Level 2 was certainly out of reach—that would take 1,600 ghost stones—but it was more than enough to give the camp's defenses another substantial boost. Currently, there were two Level 3 arrow towers on the wall. The power was sufficient. The numbers, however, were not. Crafting a Level 1 arrow tower cost 10 ghost stones. He first spent 100 ghost stones to craft ten Level 1 arrow towers, neatly snapping them all into the slots behind the parapets. These ten arrow towers were built entirely of timber, looking flimsy and frail. Their firepower was lacking as well. He spent another 200 ghost stones to upgrade all ten arrow towers to Level 2. As the ghost stones melted into milky-white liquid, the towers began to change. They grew as though alive, shifting into hybrid structures of timber and stone. The sturdiness of the towers noticeably improved, and among the upgrade options that popped up, he chose "Enhanced Ballista Power" for every single one. He spent another 26 ghost stones to craft a twenty-six-meter copper pipe, connecting these ten arrow towers to the ghost fire at the center of the camp. Because he had already connected the two Level 3 arrow towers to the ghost fire earlier, all he needed to do now was run copper pipes along the wall from the original two towers to link the ten new ones in sequence. This was the shortest route. It also saved the most resources. The next moment! The copper pipes beneath the bases of the ten arrow towers on the wall glowed with white light and quickly sank into the masonry. He placed 50 ghost stones into the ghost fire as a reserve to sustain its daily consumption and power the arrow towers. With that— The camp's defenses had undergone a qualitative leap. ... "..." Chen Fan stood on the wall, looking at the towers standing tall along the battlements, and smiled with faint satisfaction. With this, the camp's safety was significantly improved once more. Only then did he gaze toward the distant horizon and say softly, "Man proposes, and I've done my best. "The rest is in the hands of Heaven." Even though the camp's security had increased drastically, it still wouldn't hold up against a direct collision with a full-blown flesh worm ghost tide. After all the spending, 132 ghost stones remained. He looked at the building on his lord panel that he had yet to construct. Now that he had spare ghost stones, he could afford to build it. [Sacrificial Tower.] [Can yield special resources. Crafting cost: 20 ghost stones.] After twenty ghost stones shattered, the phantom of a sacrificial tower composed of white lines emerged before him. Standing about a meter tall, it was exceedingly compact—an exquisitely miniature, seven-tiered pagoda. Crafted entirely of bluestone. The eaves of the tower were adorned with dark crimson. He placed it beside the wooden cabin. The circular wall enclosing the camp was ten meters in diameter, leaving the interior space somewhat cramped. With a wooden cabin, the ghost fire, and a sentry tower already in place, the remaining room was running tight. Still, there was no helping it; expanding the area would drive up the cost of the wall. For now, this was all he could do; adjustments would have to wait for later. Chen Fan looked at the tiny sacrificial tower, and a panel slowly popped up in front of him. - [Sacrifice ghost creature corpses to obtain special resources.] [The stronger and more numerous the ghost creature corpses, the higher the value of the special resources obtained.] [This building cannot be upgraded.] - "So the 'sacrificial' part means actual sacrifices?" Chen Fan nodded thoughtfully. The building's function was quite decent. The corpses of the ghost creatures killed over the past few days had all been buried in the farmland. While they served as fertilizer, it was becoming somewhat excessive. The presence of the sacrificial tower would be a great way to dispose of future ghost creature corpses. After that, he made no further moves. Instead, he quietly waited for Eternal Night to fall. ... An hour later. A familiar, heavy darkness appeared on the horizon and enveloped the world like a surging tide. The eggshell-like halo of light once again encompassed the camp. "Huh?" Quehou, crouched behind the parapet on the wall, noticed something odd right away. Why was a section of the originally circular safe zone suddenly bulging outward? Confusion flickered in his eyes. "This..." "How's that?" Chen Fan chuckled, looking toward the gray mist outside the camp as he patiently awaited the ghost creatures' arrival tonight. That was his new masterpiece—the overflowing safe zone! This inconspicuous bulge would be the starting point for many of his wild architectural ambitions in the days to come. "...Why does it look like there's an extra... tip?" "..." Chen Fan gave Quehou a sideways glance, then looked back outward, saying deadpan, "Stay alert."