Good Stuff!

"Wang Kui." Having finished all this, Chen Fan walked up to the wall, looked toward Wang Kui, and said with a smile, "From now on, you're in charge of this warehouse. If anything goes wrong, I'll hold you accountable." "Yes, sir!" Wang Kui rose, puffing out his chest and shouting his acknowledgement, his eyes shining with excitement. Warehouse keeper? That was a vital post! All resources moving in and out of the camp would have to pass through his hands—its importance went without saying. After thirteen years as a little worker bee, he had finally become an official! "Before it gets dark, take some men down and move everything we brought from the old camp into the warehouse. No need to sort it meticulously tonight—we'll deal with that tomorrow. The houses have kitchen stoves now. We've eaten dry flatbread for so many days we're practically ready to puke. Go see if there are any ingredients or anything, and make everyone a hot meal. Does anyone know how to cook?" "I do," Qi Chong raised his hand from the side. "I used to be a cook." "You've worn quite a few hats—farmer and cook." Chen Fan glanced at Qi Chong and waved his hand with a chuckle. "Then get to it. Get a hot meal ready before dark. Back at the old camp, didn't Zhou Mo mention he scavenged a few bottles of liquor? We'll drink them tonight as a housewarming feast. Eat and drink your fill, get a good night's sleep, and get back to work tomorrow." "Will do!" The men on the wall sprang up immediately and dashed toward the supplies laid out across the cave floor, eager to tidy up and fire up the stoves. ... Left alone on the wall, Chen Fan began the main event of the day: upgrading the wall. The wall couldn't be upgraded all at once; it had to be upgraded meter by meter. Upgrading one meter of the wall from level 1 to level 2 cost 50 ghost stones. The wall across the cave entrance was 21 meters long in total, and after consuming 1,050 ghost stones, the wall reached level 2. However... amidst the swarm of identical status panels, one special panel stood out conspicuously. - [Wall upgraded to Level 2. Structural durability increased.] [Please select an upgrade path.] [1: The wall's color will match the surrounding environment.] [2: Qualitative Change (Pre-existing): All wall sections connected to this wall will gain slow self-repair capabilities (Common).] [3: Qualitative Change Available: Direction of qualitative change is unknown.] - "..." Chen Fan glanced at the panel, then down at the wall beneath his feet. Previously, he hadn't been able to afford upgrading the wall, but the boxes carried by the mourning ghosts had replenished his resources considerably, suddenly making him quite well-off. He still had more than ten thousand ghost stones left unspent. After upgrading the wall to level 2, the most noticeable difference was that it appeared far sturdier and also taller; in the architectural phantom projection, its height had reached seven meters. Originally, it had been five meters. The reason it hadn't grown taller yet was that he was standing on top of it, directly beneath the mountain rock. If it rose right now, he would be crushed to death. At the cave entrance, there had been a gap between the top of the wall and the mountain ceiling. After the upgrade to a level-2 wall, he could now make the top of the wall align seamlessly with the mountain rock whenever he wished, fitting together without leaving the slightest gap. Furthermore, the cannon towers mounted on the wall would fuse into it, leaving only their rectangular embrasures exposed. Unless an attack struck those rectangular slits with pinpoint accuracy, the cannon towers couldn't be destroyed, as they were completely encased within the wall. Extremely safe. "Not bad at all." Chen Fan smiled with satisfaction, then examined the panel closely. This was the second time he had encountered a "Qualitative Change" upgrade option, but this time, there was an additional unknown option: "Qualitative Change Available." He disregarded the first option immediately. Whenever a qualitative change was offered, choosing it was a no-brainer. He didn't really need the second option, the pre-existing qualitative change, either. With the altar and the copper pipes in place, his wall could already repair itself automatically, and as long as he had enough ghost stones, the repair speed was vastly superior to that "slow self-repair." That left only the third option. "Time for a bath." Rather than confirming immediately, he went into the wooden cabin inside the cave to take a bath. This was his first bath in days. Only after bathing and changing into clean clothes did he return to the wall and face the panel once more. To wash away bad luck! The next moment— - [Qualitative change initiated...] [Qualitative change complete.] [3: All wall sections connected to this wall will gain the 'Thorns Counter-Armor' effect. Before the wall reaches its maximum damage tolerance, a small portion of an enemy's attack strength will be reflected back onto the attacker (Common).] - "Good stuff!" "Good qualitative change!" "Good bath!" "Good clean clothes!" Chen Fan grinned, uttering praise four times in a row. It seemed his luck wasn't bad at all. He loved this qualitative change. If only he had had this effect and a level-2 wall back when the mourning ghost chieftains attacked! Given the physical durability of those mourning ghost chieftains, he wouldn't even have needed cannon towers. The reflected damage alone would have made them suffer. Ghost creatures with ranged attacks certainly couldn't have had exceptionally strong physiques; this qualitative change was specifically meant to counter such foes. He thought this qualitative change was already formidable, yet unexpectedly it was merely rated Common. The qualitative change from the ghost fire at the old camp had been Rare. He glanced at the cost to upgrade to a level-3 wall: 500 ghost stones per meter. That required 10,500 ghost stones. After pondering for a moment, he decided to upgrade once more. Only with a level-3 wall would his rear base truly be considered safe. Most importantly, he didn't know how powerful the ghost king was. In case the ghost king found him, a level-2 wall would probably fail to hold. Level 3 was safer. The next moment! While moving the crates, Wang Kui suddenly noticed that the level-2 ghost stones inside began shattering en masse, turning into a tidal surge of eerie green light that poured into the wall at the cave entrance. The once-heavy crate instantly became light as a feather. Wang Kui immediately cast a somewhat aggrieved look at the back of the stationmaster standing on the wall. He realized right away that the stationmaster was upgrading the wall. He had just been getting ready to carry these ghost stones to the warehouse, and now they were gone? This was like being appointed accountant, only for the funds in the accounts to be completely spent the very next second. For some reason, an empty feeling tugged at his heart. If only they could have sat in the warehouse for just one night, giving him a taste of what it felt like to be a real warehouse keeper! ... "Not a single qualitative change..." Chen Fan clicked his tongue in regret. The twenty-one-meter-wide wall was divided into twenty-one sections. He had upgraded them twenty-one times consecutively, bringing them all to level 3. Yet not once did he encounter a qualitative change. A wall's qualitative change ought to share that "shared with connected walls" effect; encountering it just once would suffice to apply across the entire wall. What a pity. The goddess of fate hadn't favored him this time. "Makes sense..." "Even the best luck should have a cooldown period." - [Wall upgraded to Level 3. Structural durability increased.] [Please select an upgrade path.] [1: Gain 'Ghost Blood Patterns'. Can absorb ghost creature blood spilled within camp grounds during battle, slowly increasing the wall's durability.] [2: Gain 'Vine Patterns'. Can slowly sprout vines covering the wall, drawing nutrients from nearby vegetation to slowly repair damaged sections of the wall.] [3: Gain 'Ground Water Patterns'. Keeps the wall perpetually wet and slick, making it exceptionally difficult to climb.] - All twenty-one upgrades presented this identical panel. Every option was a pattern selection. Furthermore, none of these three patterns possessed that "shared with connected walls" effect, meaning he could have chosen ten "Ghost Blood Patterns," ten "Vine Patterns," and one "Ground Water Pattern." However, there was little point in doing that. He uniformly selected "Ghost Blood Patterns" across the board. Looking across the wall, it hadn't changed drastically in appearance, but the architectural phantom indicated that its maximum height could reach ten meters, adjusting automatically or manually to the installation height. Furthermore, the stone bricks of the wall were now etched with mysterious patterns. He couldn't read them. Still, they looked quite nice.