The Crafting Cost Isn't Cheap...

"Hey!" Chen Fan shouted toward the crocodile. "Keep your toys—you can have them to play with yourself! If you can, could you help me dig out a big hole in this cliff face beside us, just like the cave behind me?" He gestured broadly with both hands as he spoke, trying to make his meaning as clear as possible. Lying flat on the ground, the crocodile tilted its head, watching Chen Fan wave his arms about atop the wall. It seemed to ponder hard over what Chen Fan was trying to convey. After a moment, it lumbered over to the cliff face on the left, tentatively gouged out a pit with its claws, and looked back at Chen Fan. "That's it! Exactly like that!" Chen Fan nodded vigorously in approval. Worrying the beast might not see clearly from that distance, he threw his arms wide with exaggerated movements. "Only make it bigger! And deeper! Just like the one behind me!" This time, the crocodile understood. It let out an excited, low growl. Its forepaws blurred into motion, digging relentlessly into the cliff. "Quite the construction croc, aren't you...?" After watching for a while, a glint of surprise flashed through Chen Fan's eyes. The creature was gobbling down every bit of earth and rock dislodged during the excavation. Now he was certain: it definitely had an internal spatial pouch, and a rather cavernous one at that. Without lingering any longer, he commanded the Mountain Skeleton Embryo within the ghost fire to extend its bones into the newly excavated cave to prevent any collapse. Leaving the beast to work on its own, he went to sleep. He simply couldn't hold out any longer. ... It wasn't until late afternoon that Chen Fan stretched and walked out of the wooden cabin. Another refreshing day. From outside the cave came the chatter of Quehou and the others. He stepped past the wall. There sprawled the crocodile, panting heavily on the ground with its massive jaws gaping wide. One look made it obvious how exhausted it was. Quehou stood beside it, using the God-Slaying Spear to pick out the dirt and rubble wedged between its thick, tightly packed teeth one piece at a time. And on the cliff face to the left, a pitch-black cavern had already been carved into the stone, its dimensions nearly identical to the cave where Chen Fan stayed. Seeing Chen Fan walk out, the crocodile's eyes lit up, its tail swinging back and forth as if claiming credit for a job well done. "Good job." Chen Fan walked down to the bottom of the canyon and gazed up at the dark hollow on the nearly vertical cliff. Surprise flickered in his eyes. He truly hadn't expected this fellow to be so efficient. What had taken their crew three full days to accomplish, this creature had finished in less than a day. What was more... He strode over to the mouth of the cave. At a glance, it went fifty meters deep—far deeper than his current cave. The ground was packed remarkably firm and flat, as if smoothed by a steamroller, without a single speck of loose dirt or stray rubble in sight. A flawless piece of engineering. At last, there was a place to install that yellow-grade structure, the Vehicle Workshop. The only cost was that the fellow was panting non-stop, looking thoroughly worn out. Well, that and 127 ghost creature carcasses. "Awesome!" Chen Fan turned toward the crocodile, gave it a thumbs-up, and grinned. "Perfection! Qi Chong, get him something good to eat." "Roar..." Speech between humans and beasts did not align, but the expression of emotion was universal. Though the crocodile couldn't understand his words, it clearly sensed his feelings from his body language and expression. It gave a happy, low rumble, just like a child receiving praise. "Good boy." Chen Fan quietly tucked the eerie green lantern back into his robes. Carrying it in hand always felt a bit too conspicuous... The crocodile sprawled back down in its old spot beneath the wall, opening its jaws wide in eager anticipation of feeding time. ... Chen Fan stood alone before the freshly excavated cavern, designating it Cave No. 2. There were four cliff faces surrounding the canyon floor. The cliff facing the canyon's entry passage had been hollowed into Cave No. 1 to serve as the main camp. This new cavern sat on the left cliff face, and the Vehicle Workshop would be placed here. The next moment— A massive, intricate phantom composed of white lines slowly manifested inside the cavern, taking up the greater part of the cave's area. Immediately afterward, the shattered ghost stones inside Cave No. 1 transformed into an eerie green liquid that flew through the air, swiftly sinking into the building's phantom outline. The projection rapidly solidified, settling firmly and squarely inside Cave No. 2. Crouched in the camp's shadows, the enormous complex occupied a sprawling footprint. Its main body was riveted and assembled from black stone, colossal timber, and other materials. Far from a single building, it was a cluster of several gigantic halls joined together, as rugged and imposing as an industrial factory. At first glance, the most eye-catching feature was the workshop entrance. Instead of two door leaves, it was a protruding giant metal tunnel over five meters in diameter. Its tightly shut gates radiated an aura of austere, icy majesty. He walked forward and lightly brushed his hand against the metal tunnel. The material looked like copper. With a thought, the gates opened. Inside lay a deep, straight passage. Along both sides of the passage lined a multitude of metal gears, connected to copper pipes and similar components... Yes, the very batch of copper pipes he had piled on the canyon floor. Only unlike his crude, heavy-handed installations, these copper pipes were positioned with extraordinary precision and complexity. Beneath his feet was an idle conveyor belt. Once activated, vehicles produced inside the workshop would be ferried outward along this belt. The entire complex brimmed with an intricate aesthetic beauty. He didn't understand the mechanisms, but there were things he could understand. Chen Fan looked at the building panel before him. Constructing this facility had cost him a full 1,000 ghost stones, making it the most expensive structure he had ever built. — [Structure Name]: Vehicle Workshop [Structure Grade]: Yellow [Structure Level]: Level 1 [Structure Effect]: Capable of producing vehicles. Currently available vehicles... 1. Bone Boat: Navigates across water. Crafting cost: 100 ghost stones, a few ghost creature bones. 2. Skeleton Horse: Travels across land. Crafting cost: 100 ghost stones, a few ghost creature bones. P.S. Upgrading to Level 2 requires 2,000 ghost stones. Each upgrade grants a new vehicle blueprint. — "This crafting cost isn't cheap..." Chen Fan narrowed his eyes. A hundred ghost stones was equivalent to the cost of ten Level 1 arrow towers. Spending another 100 ghost stones and seven or eight ghost creature bones, he initiated production of a Skeleton Horse. With only text and no picture on the interface, he had no idea what this Skeleton Horse would actually look like. The next moment— A deep, rumbling mechanical roar echoed from within the Vehicle Workshop. Several breaths later, the workshop gates opened, and a Skeleton Horse was rolled out onto the waiting area outside by the conveyor belt. "..." Chen Fan stared at the Skeleton Horse before him, rendered speechless for a long time. He had thought "Skeleton Horse" was just a name; he hadn't expected it to be so completely literal. Standing motionless in the waiting area, every single bone gleamed with a dark silver metallic luster, and milky-white ghost stones were embedded into its joints. Within its eye sockets burned faint, cool-white flames. A sight he knew all too well— the burning of ghost fire. Its four hooves were wrapped in eerie blue flames, a dazzling blaze as haunting and soul-stirring as the dying wail of a ghost creature. Taking in its entire appearance, he had only one word for it: Wild. He fucking loved this damn skeleton horse. Just the sheer, untamed ferocity it radiated while standing still made him itch to leap onto its back, gallop across the wilderness, and bellow at the top of his lungs: "When autumn comes on the eighth day of the ninth month, once my flowers bloom, all others shall die!" This steed hit his sweet spot perfectly. He loved it.