Arrow Tower Upgraded to Level 4: Arrow Fort

This had been the unchanging pattern of this region for nearly a century. Yet from this day forward, that pattern would change because of him. There would no longer be a single outpost left across the wasteland. He intended... to build a highway connecting the two regions. A highway constructed out of copper pipes, with ghost fire flowing through them. That way, even when night fell, the entire thoroughfare would remain shrouded in ghost fire, permitting non-stop travel day and night. While vastly expediting the transport of caravan goods, it would also bring him immense revenue. In the past, all toll fees across this region had been pocketed by the camps scattered over the wasteland. Once this highway was carved out, however, that entire revenue stream would belong entirely to him. He could even replace Jiangbei Market and become the new gathering hub for commerce! After all, the ghost fire, arrow towers, and other structures he built cost less to produce and could be sold at a much lower price than anywhere else. This was an enormous profit. One hundred and seventy kilometers equaled one hundred and seventy thousand meters. It would take him a mere seventeen days to pave this highway. However... how to defend such profits would also pose a major challenge. It would inevitably trigger a frenzied backlash from the three great factions of Jiangbei City. He had to amass sufficient strength during the golden window of the rainy season. Once the rainy season ended, he would wipe out the three great factions and open the highway. *** A cup of tea's time later. Chen Fan stared at the hundred-odd meters of copper pipe he had already laid down. After a brief silence, he glanced at the surrounding wilderness and turned back toward his camp. The situation was somewhat more complicated than he had imagined. Although laying the copper pipes cost nothing, fabricating them required his personal touch. He could not delegate it to anyone else. Walking step by step across the wasteland to lay the pipes meant traveling back and forth multiple times, which would take ages at this rate. He had to finish developing the cart first. Then he could drive the cart to lay the copper pipes and build the highway that belonged to him. "Qi Chong!" "Come here, I've got a task for you." Stepping into the camp, Chen Fan called over Qi Chong, who was busy in the farmland transplanting all the wheat brought back from the other camps. "Stationmaster, the farmland is too small to keep up. Could we get another plot?" "We'll talk about that later." *** Two hours later. "Much better this time." Chen Fan looked at the cart he had modified with a satisfied expression. This time, he named it "Tricycle 2.0." He had removed one wheel, leaving two in the back and one in the front. The front wheel connected to a copper pipe that ran up through the wooden deck. By steering the handles mounted on this copper pipe left and right, the wheel turned accordingly, steering the vehicle. In this way, the cart gained directional steering. It required two people to operate simultaneously. One stood at the front of the wooden board controlling the direction, while the other stood at the rear, continually prodding the ground spikes to generate forward propulsion. The tricycle's acceleration was far from smooth. Because it had only a single cylinder, and the power depended entirely on the recovery speed of the ground spikes, the ride hitched and jerked violently. As for twin-cylinder, four-cylinder, or eight-cylinder setups... those were far more complex and would have to wait for future optimization. Still, laying down copper pipes from the cart was incomparably faster. "Hop on." "I'll steer." *** An hour later. Standing on the tricycle with his hands resting on the control lever, Chen Fan looked back at the series of interconnected copper pipes trailing behind the vehicle. A satisfied grin broke across his face. With a means of transport to aid him, the work was vastly quicker. In less than an hour, he had laid down a ten-kilometer stretch of copper pipe, exhausting all of today's free daily quota. He only needed a few more runs like this, and by the end of the rainy season, the highway could be put into operation! "How are you holding up?" He looked back at Qi Chong, who was panting heavily behind him. "Had enough?" "Of course not!" Panting for breath, Qi Chong pulled a waterskin from his tunic, drank it dry in one gulp, and stuffed several dry flatbreads into his mouth, chewing voraciously. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he raised his aching arms and stood before the ground spikes, wheezing, "I'm not tired. This isn't all that different from transplanting rice seedlings." "Good. Then... let's head home!" Chen Fan cheerfully turned the control lever. Standing on the wooden board and gazing into the distant horizon, his body had already grown accustomed to the jostling rhythm, bumping along as they drove back toward camp. Today's testing was virtually complete. This tricycle was fully ready for regular service. He planned to build two more. One would be for Zhou Mo to retrieve resources from other outposts. One he would use to lay copper pipes. The last one would let Wang Mazi scout the daytime wasteland to check for activity and map out the terrain. *** Back in the camp, Chen Fan strolled about on patrol in high spirits. Taking stock of which areas urgently needed improvement, his gaze finally came to rest upon a Level 3 arrow tower. As the rainy nights passed day by day, the strength of the ghost creatures would steadily increase, and they would grow exceptionally ferocious. Zhou Mo had warned him about this. He felt he needed an arrow tower with even greater destructive power. Without hesitation, he ascended the wall and spent one hundred ghost stones to upgrade the arrow tower that had not learned the "Arrow Rain Storm" skill to Level 4! The next instant— The arrow tower dissolved into an illusory silhouette, shifting and collapsing inward until it settled into a solid brown stone brick, exactly one meter in length, width, and height. It no longer bore the slightest resemblance to an arrow tower. On one face of the stone block, a pitch-black rectangular slit emerged, almost blending seamlessly into the wall. Through the dark opening, one could clearly see the chilling gleam of an embedded ballista mechanism. - [Arrow Tower upgraded to Level 4, becoming an 'Arrow Fort'. Must be anchored in place; cannot be moved at will. Power significantly increased.] [Please select an upgrade path.] [1: Increased firing rate.] [2: Increased attack power.] [3: Reduced energy consumption.] - "..." Chen Fan looked at the Arrow Fort before him with thoughtful appraisal. After the upgrade, it occupied far less space, was substantially sturdier, and offered far greater concealment. He chose increased firing rate. This arrow tower had already received multiple boosts to its raw power. What it needed now was rate of fire. Drawing from his past life's gaming experience, an ADC lacking attack speed dealt far less damage overall. He issued an attack command. Enveloped in scalding flames, flaming bolt after flaming bolt shot forth from the ballista nestled within the dark aperture, striking the barren earth thirty meters outside the walls with pinpoint precision. While any change in raw power was not immediately apparent, the increase in firing speed was distinctly noticeable. Just then— "Hm?" Chen Fan's brow furrowed slightly as he spotted Zhou Mo sprinting toward the camp through the dreary rain, disheveled and frantic. Moments later, Zhou Mo rushed inside like a gust of wind, coming to a halt before Chen Fan, gasping for air. "Drink some water first, then take your time." If nothing went wrong, something had clearly gone wrong with Zhou Mo. "I ran into ghosts!" Zhou Mo took the waterskin Chen Fan handed him and drained it in a single breath. A trace of lingering terror flickered in the depths of his eyes, and his voice trembled. "On my way back to camp, I ran into a crowd of people... brazenly rutting in the open wilderness." "More than thirty of them!" "An orgy of wanton filth!" "The moment I saw them from a distance, I didn't hesitate for a second. I spun on my heel and bolted!" "We're right in the middle of the wasteland. There's no way living people could be out there, so they had to be pseudo-human ghosts! The instant they spotted me, the whole pack went berserk and chased after me in a frenzy." "Thank the heavens I'm a Level 2 cultivator and run fast." "But..." "That young brother with me was a step too slow. The pack caught up to him, tore him to shreds, and devoured him alive! In the chaos, even all the supplies we scavenged from the other camps today were left behind out there..." "Stationmaster... I..." "..." Chen Fan patted Zhou Mo's shoulder without speaking right away. Only after a long silence did he look at the Arrow Fort beside him, and then... at the tricycle parked in the camp. A sudden inspiration struck him—a method that could extend an architect's reach. "Now isn't the time to grieve." "Let's go. I'm taking you back to wipe them out."