My Father Was a Blacksmith

The permission he assigned to this command token was... To sink the wall of Cave No. 1 into the ground. It was effectively a gate key with set permissions. "Quehou." Chen Fan called over Quehou, who had been waiting outside the doorway, and tossed the token to him. The moment Quehou's fingertip blood seeped into it, the command token officially took effect. With it in hand, Quehou could pass through the tier-3 wall of Cave No. 1 without any impediment. "Not bad." Chen Fan glanced around and nodded to himself. This Living Workshop was quite useful. It could produce plenty of handy items to make the camp run more orderly, but... it was also a place that ate up manpower. And his manpower was critically low. He had only eight people under his command. Where could he possibly spare someone just to staff this Living Workshop? That would have to wait for later. After conveniently crafting another tier-3 wooden cabin, he instructed, "Take someone with you and move all the clothes and sundry items from the Living Workshop into the new cabin I just built." ... He walked over to the altar again and dipped his finger into the milky-white liquid pooling like a stone well. The wound on his fingertip healed rapidly. This was another vital structure in the camp. It safeguarded the lives of the living and the integrity of the walls. Right now, it was only tier 1. That was genuinely inadequate. Expending 100 ghost stones, he upgraded the altar to tier 2. - [Altar upgraded to Tier 2. Healing effect enhanced.] [Please select an upgrade path.] [1: Further enhance healing effect.] [2: Retain activity after leaving the altar, valid for one month.] [3: Reduce consumption during holy water production.] - Chen Fan's instinctive first thought was to pick the first upgrade path, but after pondering for a moment, he chose the second instead. Previously, once holy water was taken from the altar, it lost its potency and had no healing effect whatsoever. With the second option selected, holy water could be bottled in porcelain flasks. If anyone were injured while out on a mission, they wouldn't need to rush all the way back to camp—drinking the holy water would quickly heal their wounds right then and there. This upgrade path offered far greater practical utility. Without lingering, he spent another 300 ghost stones to upgrade the altar to tier 3. - [Altar upgraded to Tier 3. Healing effect enhanced.] [Please select an upgrade path.] [1: Further enhance healing effect.] [2: Accelerate holy water production rate.] [3: Reduce consumption during holy water production.] - This time, he chose the first upgrade path: enhanced healing effect. He had no need for faster production. At present, the only structures connected to this altar in the camp were the main wall of Cave No. 1, five unmanned outposts, and the wall at the old camp. So long as they weren't all in peril at the exact same moment, the production rate was more than enough. Even if production speed ever proved insufficient, he could simply build a few more altars. Upgrading to tier 4 required 500 ghost stones, plus... any one item among an Earth Core Spring Stone, an Exquisite Bead, or a Purple Lotus. He had never even heard of such things, so upgrading to tier 4 was out of reach for the time being. Still, tier 3 was plenty for now. Having finished all this, there was only about the time it took to drink a cup of tea before the Eternal Night would fall once more. He walked out of Cave No. 1 and looked toward the Vehicle Workshop housed inside Cave No. 2. Expending 1,260 ghost stones, he crafted a twenty-one-meter-long tier-2 wall at the entrance of Cave No. 2. For its upgrade path, he chose to blend seamlessly with the surrounding landscape. With that— Tonight's basic construction and upgrade work had come to a close. The camp had once again undergone notable changes. After returning to its lair to replenish its saliva, the crocodile had also marked all the shallow pits Chen Fan had blasted into the cliff face during the day. Once it ate and drank its fill, it could begin excavating later tonight. "Does this guy really not need to sleep at all?" Standing beneath the wall, Chen Fan looked down at the crocodile, which was sprawled obediently on the ground waiting to be fed. If memory served, the beast hadn't closed its eyes for days, yet it looked entirely free of any need for rest. At last, Chen Fan could take a breather as well. Qi Chong was busy tending the fire and cooking, preparing dinner for everyone, while Da Yu washed vegetables and helped out beside him. A'le was crouched by the farmland, taking over Qi Chong's shift and endlessly heaping praise upon the sunflower in the dirt. Zhou Mo, Wang Mazi, and a few others were busy kindling fires to roast meat for the crocodile. Wang Kui was alone in the storehouse, methodically sorting and shelving the recent ghost materials, bones, and other spoils, grouping identical items together so they would be easy to find later without having to rummage through a chaotic mess. Xiao Qiu had slipped into the Living Workshop, tinkering with who-knew-what. Ever since the Living Workshop had been built, he had shown tremendous interest in the building. Quehou stood beside the crocodile, God-Slaying Spear in hand, picking the creature's teeth. The beast couldn't clean its own mouth, and meat scraps had accumulated between its teeth; it had already narrowed its eyes in blissful contentment. Soon... Darkness fell over the entire wasteland, just as it did every evening. Even in the dry season, when ghost creatures rarely charged ghost fires, the outposts across the wasteland always felt a pervasive tension once the Eternal Night descended—after all, one could never be too safe. Yet here in their camp, amid the rainy season, the arrival of darkness brought a scene bursting with vibrant life. Everyone was busy. "It's good to be busy. Keeping busy is good." Chen Fan stretched atop the wall and gazed out at the sinkhole completely blanketed by ghost fire, admiring the camp he had built piece by piece with his own hands. Just then, an eager voice called out from behind him. "Stationmaster, why don't you try this out?" He turned around. Xiao Qiu stood there cradling something crafted from ghost creature bone... a rocking chair. "A rocking chair?" Chen Fan was slightly surprised. He took the rocking chair from Xiao Qiu and ran his hand across it. Its surface was remarkably smooth, feeling almost like polished jade. He had indeed seen this item listed in the Living Workshop, but the crafting process was so intricate and tedious that he hadn't even considered attempting it. "If I recall, the process for making this rocking chair is pretty complicated, isn't it?" "My father was a blacksmith, sir. Having watched and learned since I was a boy, I picked up a bit of the craft myself." "Everyone has seen how hard you've worked for the camp these past few days, Stationmaster. My abilities are limited, and I haven't been able to help much. But when I saw in the Living Workshop that a rocking chair could be made, I wanted to do my part to ease some of your stress." "Would you like to try it out, Stationmaster?" "Let's give it a try." Chen Fan set the rocking chair down atop the wall. The moment he settled into it, the exhaustion of multiple days instantly drained away, seventy to eighty percent gone. To tell the truth, he really hadn't reclined like this in a very long time. "Not bad at all." Unable to hold back a smile, he tapped the armrest with deep satisfaction and waved a hand toward Xiao Qiu. "Thoughtful of you." "Since you have an interest in the Living Workshop, spend more time looking through it whenever you're free. From now on, you'll be in charge of the Living Workshop." "Will do!" A gleam of excitement flashed deep in Xiao Qiu's eyes. Suppressing his emotions, he took a deep breath, cupped his fists, and said, "Then please rest, Stationmaster. I'll get back to work."