Wooden Cabin Upgrades to Level 3, Becoming a 'Stone House'

No sooner said than done. Stepping down from the wall at once, he walked toward the wooden cabin outside that served as a storehouse. Once the "Wooden Cabin" building was constructed, it could not be moved. Space inside the wall was already running tight. If upgrading a wooden cabin inside the enclosure expanded its footprint beyond the available space, there was no telling what might happen—whether it would fuse into the wall or be crushed to powder directly. He had no desire to test that theory. Upgrading the wooden cabin to Level 2 required only 10 ghost stones. He crushed ten ghost stones. Milky-white liquid flowed through the air, and an illusory blueprint of the wooden cabin formed of white lines emerged once more. The instant the milky-white fluid flowed in, the cabin's footprint did not expand; instead, the wooden structure began to grow and develop some stone components. As a whole, it looked sturdier and more solid. A panel popped up before his eyes as well. - [Wooden Cabin upgraded to Level 2. Increased durability.] [Please select an upgrade branch.] [1: Restful Sleep.] [2: Peace of Mind.] [3: Increased Conception Chance (ineffective on ghost creatures).] - "..." Chen Fan gazed impassively at the panel before him. Frankly speaking, he had originally thought this building might be like "Farmland," possessing no upgrade branches at all. The Eternal Night had descended hundreds of years ago. Ghost creatures rampaged through the mortal realm. That humankind had not gone entirely extinct in this world might partly be thanks to this "Wooden Cabin." If someone possessed a settled territory and a fixed population of subjects, choosing that third upgrade branch would effectively boost the birth rate. He selected Peace of Mind. For a storehouse, this upgrade branch was one of the few that held any practical use. At the very least, it ensured a bit more peace of mind whenever someone went in and out of the storehouse. He retrieved another 20 ghost stones to upgrade the wooden cabin to Level 3. The wooden cabin underwent another transformation. Not a trace of wood remained as it completely turned into a stone house. Both its defensive capabilities and its protection against the elements noticeably improved, and it expanded from a single story to two stories. Standing two stories high, it rose taller than the wall. It had been some time since he transmigrated to this unfamiliar world. From his initial unease, he had gradually grown accustomed to it by now. At least... He rather liked the underlying rules of this world. As long as you worked hard, you were guaranteed a harvest. As long as you spent ghost stones to enhance a building, that building was guaranteed to improve. The sense of security brought by such certainty was truly rare. In his past life, effort was by no means guaranteed a reward; all too often, one could only stare blankly into the mirror, wondering why fortune never smiled upon them, falling asleep with no answers, day after day, year after year. - [Wooden Cabin upgraded to Level 3, becoming "Stone House." Increased durability.] [Please select an upgrade branch.] [1: Expanded floor plan. Adds optional functional rooms such as kitchen, latrine, and washroom.] [2: Blessed with "Dust-Free Formation." Ensures the interior remains dust-free.] [3: Blessed with "Shadow-Projecting Formation." The lord may view what transpires in every corner of the house at any time.] - Three renovation options: One full furnishing, one whole-house cleaning, and one whole-house surveillance. When it came to improving the quality of life, all of them were good choices. He selected the third upgrade branch. For a storehouse, he had no immediate need for a dust-free environment; the Shadow-Projecting Formation would probably be more useful. "..." Standing outside the camp, he looked at the two-story stone house before him. Having reached Level 3, the wooden cabin had undergone an earth-shattering transformation. If this camp had looked rather rudimentary before, then with the addition of this stone house, it appeared considerably more respectable. It looked more like a human settlement. There were currently no latrines in the camp. Yet on the wasteland, latrines and nettles were both utterly useless things. He did not upgrade any further. This experiment had already consumed quite a few ghost stones, leaving him with only 269 ghost stones. Once his ghost stone reserves were more plentiful in the future, he would test the effects of a Level 4 wooden cabin—or rather, a Level 4 stone house. Just like the "Arrow Fort." It had undergone a qualitative leap. By now, he had gradually grasped the traits of the Architect class: most buildings underwent a qualitative transformation upon reaching a certain stage—just like going from "Bear Trap" to "Ground Spikes," "Arrow Tower" to "Arrow Fort," or "Wooden Cabin" to "Stone House." However, that stage was not fixed. Some transformed at Level 2, some at Level 3, and others at Level 4. Each had its own merits. He felt himself growing fond of this world. He rather liked slowly carving out his own little realm here and then spending the rest of his days happily within his camp. "..." Chen Fan climbed up onto the wall and gazed blankly toward the horizon. For some reason, he felt somewhat emotionally unsettled today. Perhaps... He had been in constant tension ever since transmigrating, never having time to think too much, and today those long-suppressed thoughts were beginning to surge uncontrollably. Zhou Mo's subordinate had died yesterday. He hadn't even had the chance to ask what the man was called. He only remembered him as a young, dark-complexioned lad whose clean-shaven chin had a dark bluish tint. He remembered seeing Zhou Mo shave the boy's stubble with a broadsword. No one in the camp had mentioned the matter again. There had been no crude funeral, and nobody asked about it; the camp carried on functioning normally. Perhaps everyone was used to death. Or perhaps everyone knew they were facing the greatest crisis of their lives and did not want to undermine morale. Someone always had to die. No one lived forever. During their late-night conversation a few days ago, Zhou Mo, Wang Kui, and the others had all spoken of their ideals. He hadn't said anything. In truth, he... had no grand ambitions. He simply wanted to build a sufficiently safe camp and live on inside it—that would be more than enough. He had little interest in things like saving the world or dominating the realm. Even if one became the sole king of the world, what of it? One would still have to manage so many people and might not live as happily as he did now. This world was quite nice. At least he found the general character of the people here wasn't bad; he felt he hadn't really run into wicked individuals. There was the green-robed man who had initially shared vital information about the wasteland, Wang Kui who had sent over the first batch of food and water, Zhou Mo who had been willing to lay down his life to protect the camp not long after meeting him, and Quehou who had followed him with unwavering loyalty. He thought they were all pretty good people. If he truly had to name an ambition, it was simply to build a safe camp where he could protect everyone well. They all placed such trust in him; he didn't want to watch familiar faces die one after another. That would be good enough. As for Wang Mazi's subordinate who had hoarded ghost stones, Chen Fan could actually understand him completely. Upon first joining the camp, having saved up for years, it was completely human nature to want to keep a little for oneself. Later, when the camp fell into danger and the lad wanted to hand them over, he could no longer do so. He was trapped by circumstances. Forced down a path with no turning back. That was his guess. After all, standing on the wall back then, he had actually seen how conflicted Wang Mazi's subordinate was. That youthful face had shifted through endless turmoil in the rainy night. At the time, Chen Fan had assumed the young boy was agonizing over whether to volunteer to head outside the wall. In hindsight, he had likely been agonizing over whether to bring out the stones. Before he could decide, Zhou Mo had leapt outside the wall. And after that, the flesh worm ghost tide had retreated.