"War Profits Really Taste the Sweetest"

Holding the ghost skin in hand, Chen Fan rose and turned back toward his utterly ruined camp. Last night's battle had been far too brutal. The mourning ghosts posed a far greater threat than the flesh worm ghost tide ever had. A great deal of the perimeter wall had been destroyed, the wooden cabins were totaled, and structures like the sentry tower and the breeding farm had completely collapsed. It was fair to say that the only intact structures remaining within the camp were the two arrow forts, a few arrow towers, and the single ghost fire. They had practically been knocked back to square one overnight. The rainy season was set to last for more than twenty more days. Qianhou was only one of the ghost king's four chieftains; three others remained. Looking at how things were going, those three chieftains would all come to the wilderness over the course of the rainy season to pave the way for the ghost king's descent, and eight times out of ten, he would be their prime target. Staying here made him stick out like a sore thumb. On top of that, the ghost king was arriving near the end of the rainy season. That sounded like absolute bad news. It was practically a mortal crisis. However— As a transmigrator armed with the Eternal Night Lord panel, running away at the first sign of danger felt utterly pathetic. He had to tough it out. Tough it... "Tough it out, my ass!" Chen Fan cursed quietly under his breath. When the sky falls, let the tall bastards hold it up; right now, he was still short, so he needed to make a run for it first. The ghost king's objective was to perform a blood sacrifice on the living beings of both Jiangbei City and Pingcheng to break through its cultivation realm. How could a tiny outpost like his hope to stand in the way? "..." He looked around at Quehou and the others, who were busy digging up ghost stones. Although last night's battle had been brutal, their gains had been considerable. With the resources at hand, he could easily stage a comeback in a new, safe location. There was no need to dig in and die on this hill. He would take a slight loss since many structures couldn't be brought along, but that was still better than being dead. In a moment, he would consult Wang Kui and the others about where would be best to relocate if they moved. As for now... "Heh heh." Chen Fan chuckled, crouching back down to feel all over the mourning ghost's corpse. Looting the body came first. In gaming, looting a boss after a kill was just like lighting a cigarette after doing the deed—a strictly mandatory procedure. There were three exotic treasures in total, not counting that eerie green lantern. The first was a luminous pearl, white with a pale green hue. - [Exotic Treasure Name]: Wind-Sheltering Pearl. [Exotic Treasure Grade]: Green. [Exotic Treasure Effect]: One of the essential materials for constructing a 'Wind Tower'—a specialized defensive fortification capable of whipping up powerful gales. - "Not bad." Chen Fan nodded. With a structure like that, dealing with a flesh worm ghost tide would be vastly easier. It was just that he lacked the building blueprint for a Wind Tower at the moment, so it wouldn't be useful in the short term. The second item. It was an array disc. - [Exotic Treasure Name]: Clear Breeze Array. [Exotic Treasure Grade]: Green. [Exotic Treasure Effect]: Must be placed within the ghost fire. Once installed, it covers the surface of the camp's grounds with a layer of clear breeze, slightly increasing movement speed. - The final item looked rather intimidating. It was as large as a human head—a dark red, fleshy mass slowly throbbing, warm and tough to the touch. - [Exotic Treasure Name]: Mountain Skeleton Embryo. [Exotic Treasure Grade]: Green. [Exotic Treasure Effect]: A special treasure of heaven and earth, born of natural origin. It can be used for alchemy, smithing, and array formation. If placed within the ghost fire, it can be manipulated to extend osseous structures beneath the earth within the camp's boundaries, reinforcing the stability of subterranean hollows. - "Mountain Skeleton Embryo..." Chen Fan squinted slightly at the panel. The first two exotic treasures had been pulled from the mourning ghost's mouth, born from the condensation of ghostly energy after the ghost creature's demise. This exotic treasure, however, had been retrieved from the mourning ghost's robes—something it carried on its person. A fine prize indeed. With this exotic treasure, an idea faintly began to take shape in his mind. Chen Fan tucked all the treasures into his robes. Just as he was about to inspect the eerie green lantern beside him, Quehou's shout came from behind. He looked back. Quehou was hobbling over, holding a paper lantern in hand, looking rather excited. "Young Master, take a look at this lantern! It looks like good stuff!" "Let me see." Chen Fan took the white lantern from Quehou's hands. This was one of the lanterns carried by the ordinary mourning ghosts. Whether by sight or touch, it felt like oiled paper, but he knew for a fact that it was remarkably tough—the mourning ghosts had used these things to batter the walls. Every strike had gouged a pit. When Zhou Mo swung his hoe at the walls with all his might, he couldn't even leave a scratch. - [Exotic Treasure Name]: Mourning Lantern. [Exotic Treasure Grade]: White. [Exotic Treasure Effect]: Essential upgrade material for advancing an arrow tower to a Level 5 Cannon Tower. - "Ha!" Chen Fan paused, momentarily startled, then looked up at the lanterns scattered all across the camp grounds and broke into a wide grin. Truly good stuff. There were easily over a thousand mourning lanterns lying here. Suppose... Suppose one lantern fetched 100 ghost stones at the market; that would amount to a staggering 100,000 ghost stones. And he felt certain it would sell for more than that. After all, a basic arrow tower went for 150 ghost stones on the market. A material needed to upgrade all the way to a Level 5 tower definitely wouldn't go for less than 100. "Good stuff. Gather them up quickly. Work hard, everyone—we're relocating today." "Relocating?" "Yeah. We'll discuss it together in a bit." Only then did he look down to pick up the eerie green lantern that had fallen nearby. This lantern was visibly a tier above the ordinary mourning lanterns. - [Exotic Treasure Name]: Mourning Lantern. [Exotic Treasure Grade]: Green. [Exotic Treasure Effect]: Essential upgrade material for advancing an arrow tower to a Level 6 Cannon Tower. When held and channeled, it can unleash powerful light beams against enemies. Each activation causes wear; after 5 activations, it shatters. - "Level 6 Cannon Tower..." Chen Fan narrowed his eyes in contemplation, then smiled. Did that mean he could fire it four times for free, and as long as he saved that final charge, he could still use it as an upgrade material? "Stationmaster, come quick!" Wang Kui's urgent voice called from outside the camp. "We found some chests over here!" ... "Stationmaster." Wang Kui and Xiao Qiu stood around several large wooden chests. "While clearing the battlefield, we spotted these large chests outside the camp. When we opened them... there's a ton of stuff inside." "..." Chen Fan stared blankly at the contents of the chests, falling completely silent. Only after a long while did he take a deep breath. He lifted his head, gazing into the overcast rain in the distance, and murmured, "War profits really taste the sweetest." There were five chests in total. A single glance took it all in. Two of the chests were packed to the brim with ghost stones—translucent, vibrant green Level 2 ghost stones. The other three chests were filled with an assortment of ghost materials and all sorts of miscellaneous items. Not many were things he recognized. There were the arm blades of mantis ghosts, and the monkey skins of monkey head ghosts. There was also blood stored in canteens, though he had no idea what creature it belonged to. There were hearts, livers, and lungs wrapped in oiled paper, their sheer size making it immediately clear they weren't human. A massive assortment of bizarre items, all neatly stacked. These were military supplies. They looked like materials used for setting up an array. If he wasn't mistaken, the mission the ghost king had given Qianhou was likely to first demolish the walls of the two cities, and then use these ghost stones and ghost materials to erect some sort of array. And now... Every single bit of it had fallen into his hands. This haul was greater than everything he had collected previously combined. "*Phew...*" Chen Fan exhaled a long breath, then turned to Wang Kui. "Tell everyone to stop what they're doing. Meeting!" ... The group found a clean patch of ground and sat cross-legged in the wilderness, with a ghost-skin map spread out between them. "We're about to face a massive crisis," Chen Fan began, getting straight to the point after briefly summarizing the situation. "The ghost creature rampage caused by the premature rainy season means the ghost king will soon arrive in this wilderness. There are three more high-tier ghost creatures just like Qianhou." "Once they arrive on the wasteland, we will be their primary target." "We need to migrate immediately to avoid this crisis." "If anyone has any thoughts, speak up."