"Meat Grinder, Phase One, Activate!"

The Level 3 wall at the entrance of Cave No. 1 had risen completely, melding into the mountain rock and shielding the entire camp securely behind it. These ghost creatures were unfamiliar to him. He didn't know what attack methods they possessed, so standing on the wall right now was out of the question—it was simply too dangerous, and he might catch a stray shot at any moment. It was safe, yes, but it left him blind to what was happening outside. However, he had already prepared a contingency for this. *Thud, thud, thud...* The sound of impacts slamming against the wall echoed into the cavern. With every strike, the crocodile curled up in the corner shuddered, its eyes filled with terror and panic, its tail tucked beneath its body as it huddled into the corner. "Are you really that scared?" Chen Fan glanced at the crocodile and walked toward the passage it had excavated within the cave over the past few days. He truly believed that even if Weiwei couldn't beat these ghost creatures, they definitely wouldn't be able to stop it if it wanted to run. Those giant turtle ghost creatures, two or three meters across, certainly looked intimidating, but compared to Weiwei, they paled in comparison. Before long, he followed the conduits of the "Meat Grinder" system all the way to a cavity at the highest point of the left rock wall. Gently phasing away the wall at the opening, he leaned out and looked down. This spot was over forty meters above the ground, situated directly above the "Vehicle Workshop" in Cave No. 2. From this vantage, he could take in the entire ghost tide within the sinkhole at a single glance. The giant turtle ghost creatures were tanking the cannon towers' fire to protect the ghost tide behind them, inching steadily toward the wall. Their shells, formed of skeletal framework, spread out to five or six meters across when fully opened, shielding the tide underneath. At a glance, the nine giant turtles with outspread shells stood out conspicuously among the swarm. Every time a Level 5 cannon tower's beam struck a shell, it produced a web of cracks, yet it held long enough to escort the horde to the foot of the wall. "As expected of a regular army," Chen Fan murmured, perched at the cave opening forty meters above the ground. He had roughly guessed where this ghost tide came from—in all probability, one of the ghost king's subordinates. Coordinated and disciplined, they posed a far greater threat than swarms that attacked without command. However... His Level 5 cannon towers possessed chain attacks. While the giant turtles could block the direct beam, they couldn't stop the chain damage; every hit on a shell invariably caused three ghost creatures nearby to drop dead. *Boom! Boom!* The carapace of one giant turtle shattered completely, and it collapsed into the standing water. More and more ghost creatures reached the base of the wall. Crabs with massive pincers and human faces lurked beneath the shells, furiously pounding against the stone. Each strike produced a resounding thud. Had this been a Level 1 wall, it would likely have collapsed after just a few blows. Unfortunately for them, this was a Level 3 wall. After several consecutive strikes, they managed only a fist-sized depression. The wall was several meters thick; punching through it would take some serious effort. Meanwhile, the female ghosts in soaked white robes and fish tails began to dance in the pouring rain, their movements breathtakingly alluring. Watching from above, Chen Fan's eyes began to glaze over, but almost the next instant, a jolt of coolness swept across his chest, snapping him back to lucidity. Looking down again, it was merely an ordinary dance, stripped of all its captivating enchantment. "I have to admit, Qiu Kui, you do fine work." "Thanks." Perched at the opening, Chen Fan patted the breastplate inside his robes. It was normally warm to the touch, but just now it had radiated a chilling coolness. Qiu Kui had crafted it for the ghost king, only for Chen Fan to claim it as spoils. [Exotic Treasure Name]: Ghost Skin [Exotic Treasure Grade]: Green [Exotic Treasure Effect]: A special piece of ghost skin, handcrafted by a high-level ghost creature. Kept close to the chest, it can block a fatal attack. The description only stated it could block a fatal strike, but he hadn't realized it could also clear the mind and protect against charms. Could this have been Qiu Kui's personal touch? Hoping the ghost king wouldn't mess around and get seduced by other female ghosts? A genuinely practical feature. He liked it. Naturally, these fish-tailed female ghosts posed no threat to Sick Monkey and the others inside the cave. The wall completely sealed the entrance; they couldn't see a thing, so charm effects were entirely out of the question. As for the sea serpents, they were truly something. Skeletal from head to tail without a shred of flesh, they oozed a black fluid from the joints between their vertebrae. They slithered up the surface of the wall, attempting to scale it and slip into the cave, but unfortunately, the wall was completely enclosed, leaving not a single gap for them to slip through. They could, however, burrow into the "rectangular slits" of the cannon towers and sabotage the internal core structures. A clever tactic. Except... The cannon towers were connected to the altar via "copper pipes." A steady stream of milky-white holy water flowed through the pipes into the towers, swiftly repairing them the moment they took damage. As things stood, the enemy's opening gambit was exhausted. It couldn't pose the slightest threat to the camp. And the wall was even less of a concern. The moment the human-faced crab ghost hammered out a small dent with its pincer, the holy water instantly restored it. If he were a ghost creature witnessing this, it would indeed be utterly despair-inducing. The wall held fast, while outside, the ghost tide continued to dwindle under the bombardment of the Level 5 cannon towers. Body after body collapsed into the puddles. Ghost blood flowed uncontrollably toward the base of the wall, and the corpses quickly shriveled into desiccated husks. Meanwhile, the wall at the entrance of Cave No. 2, where the Vehicle Workshop was housed, blended seamlessly with the cliff face. Not a single ghost creature noticed a wall existed there; they might have found it had they searched carefully, but their attention was completely consumed by the Level 3 wall. After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, no more creatures emerged from the canyon. What few remained in the sinkhole showed signs of retreating. "Thinking of leaving?" Watching the defense unfold from his perch, Chen Fan frowned slightly and scanned the horde once more. Leaving was not an option. Up until now, he hadn't seen any exceptionally powerful creature, which meant the commander had yet to enter the fray. If it got away, it would remain a lurking danger for the future. Besides, his eyes were set on whatever exotic treasures high-level ghost creatures would drop upon death. He immediately shut off the copper pipes connecting the altar to the wall and cannon towers. Soon, without the altar's repairs, several sea serpents slithered through the rectangular slit of one Level 5 cannon tower embedded in the wall, wrecking its internal core. The tower abruptly went silent. Then, one after another—a second, a third... All ten Level 5 cannon towers fell silent. The crude bunker he had built when first arriving to carve out the caves, along with the Level 5 cannon tower atop it, was also utterly wrecked. Denied the altar's mending, the wall finally began to show pockmarks and craters once more. The ghost tide, which had been preparing to withdraw, suddenly surged back on the offensive. What was more, from the pitch-black canyon poured yet another wave of ghost creatures, including a full six giant turtle ghost creatures, along with swarms of human-faced crab ghosts, mermaid-like female ghosts, and sea serpents. And among this fresh reinforcement... There was a massive octopus. Standing roughly three meters tall, it resembled a mountain of flesh. Its main body was a sickly, near-translucent pale white, beneath which faint streams of eerie blue energy sluggishly flowed. At the center of its massive torso was a circular mouthpart lined with spiral rows of teeth, opening and closing continuously like an artificial masturbator lined with barbs, dripping viscous fluid. Its most striking feature was its eight thick, muscular tentacles. Embedded densely across the surface of each tentacle were countless eyes of varying sizes, all currently closed. "Here comes the big one..." Perched at the opening, Chen Fan carefully pulled back his gaze from the giant octopus. He suspected it could sense when it was being watched—after all, it had so many eyes. With every wave of its tentacles, the swarm's attacks grew more frenzied. It appeared to be commanding the ghost tide through its tentacles. With these reinforcements and the octopus joining the fray, the wall began breaking down at an accelerated rate. *Boom!* All the eyes on one of the octopus's tentacles snapped open. Eerie blue energy surged rapidly beneath its pale, translucent flesh, channeling straight into every eye along that limb. Dozens of narrow, eerie blue beams slammed heavily against the wall. Basketball-sized craters pitted the wall's surface. Immense power. The creature was evidently pleased with the strike. Its eight tentacles whipped through the air in excitement, and as the eerie blue energy coursed through its body, the eyes on another tentacle snapped open! "That should just about do it," Chen Fan calculated silently as he looked down. It seemed everyone had arrived, and the leader had entered the battlefield. The next instant— A phantom outline of a wall, sketched in glowing white lines, abruptly materialized at the boundary where the canyon met the sinkhole. The sudden spectacle stunned many of the ghost creatures in their tracks. Simultaneously, three thousand ghost stones within the Warehouse shattered into dust, rushing up through the conduits, bursting out of the cave entrance, and transforming into a milky-white liquid that shot straight toward the phantom wall. The wall solidified at terrifying speed. By the time the horde reacted, a Level 2 wall—fifty meters long and seven meters high—stood like an impassable barrier, sealing off the canyon entrance completely. What was once a sinkhole with an escape passage had become an absolute deathtrap. Witnessing this, the octopus grew visibly panicked. Spurred by an impending sense of dread, it held nothing back. All the eyes across its remaining six tentacles snapped open at once, unleashing hundreds of terrifying, eerie blue energy bolts like a swarm of fireflies crashing into the wall. It sought to breach the defense in a single blow and wipe out this ghost fire camp that unsettled it so deeply. Yet, the altar had already reconnected to the wall. Not only were the previously damaged craters mended in a flash, but when the devastating barrage struck the wall, the craters made by the initial hits were repaired before the trailing attacks could even land. The ten disabled cannon towers were also swiftly restored and brought back into the fight. "Heh..." Looking down on the scene, Chen Fan grinned. Running? You come into my territory and think you can run? An expanded camp territory didn't merely mean placing more buildings; it meant that anywhere within his boundaries, no matter how distant, so long as he had line of sight, he could erect structures. The sinkhole had now become a cage of death. Still, he had to admit that the octopus possessed genuine intelligence. Seeing that breaching the Level 3 wall was impossible, eerie blue energy surged beneath its translucent skin, and the eyes on its tentacles opened once again, shifting their focus to the Level 2 wall sealing the canyon. It no longer sought to conquer this ghost fire; the urge to retreat had taken hold once more. Forcing its power repeatedly had visibly weakened its attack, but the blow remained formidable. The newly constructed Level 2 wall shuddered under the strike, spraying gray-brick dust into the air as a noticeable crater caved into one section. This wall had been thrown up on the fly and was not yet linked to the altar via copper pipes. Before long, the creature could hammer it down and flee. Unfortunately... Chen Fan looked down with a mocking smile at the ghost tide, which was already descending into subtle chaos—the octopus clearly had lost its stomach for commanding. He said softly, "Meat Grinder, Phase One, activate!" Around the rock walls of the sinkhole, the walls concealing the remaining seventeen cave openings suddenly sank into the mountain stone, revealing pitch-black mouths. Inside, Level 5 cannon towers were ignited one by one through the copper pipes. Eerie blue energy lines spread from their cores, crawling across the towers' surfaces. The bottomless sinkhole resembled a colossal stone sarcophagus, while high along the surrounding cliffs, the eighteen dark cave openings sat like the cells of a honeycomb. At the floor of the pit, countless ghost creatures squirmed, their low growls echoing and compounding against the rock walls, blending with the rain and wind into a spine-chilling din. Without warning— *Buzz—!* Eighteen cannon towers flared to life at once! The next moment! Eighteen beams bearing devastating power ripped through the rainy night from different heights and angles, forming a crisscrossing net of fire that pierced down into the bottom of the sinkhole, engulfing the horde. It was a cascading waterfall of death. If any ghost creature possessed the presence of mind to look up, it would have witnessed a sight of terrifying beauty—like divine judgment called down from dark thunderclouds. The glare was so intense that every twisted face crawling across the pit floor was stripped bare under the light. At the same time! The ten Level 5 cannon towers along the wall joined the fray as well. A total of twenty-eight continuous beams of light slaughtered the ghost creatures in the pit from multiple angles. Completely sealed off, the sinkhole became an absolute slaughterhouse. The chain attacks triggered by every beam sent arcing lightning splashing across the pit floor. "Splendid. Truly splendid." Perched at the opening forty meters up, Chen Fan grinned, savoring every moment of the spectacle. It looked just like a cinematic blockbuster—and he had an immersive 3D view. A swelling sense of satisfaction washed over him. This place! This was the camp he had forged piece by piece over these past days. This was the "Meat Grinder" he had meticulously constructed with vast resources! Once activated, it reaped down any ghost creature brazen enough to trespass on his domain from every possible angle. And this was merely the activation of Phase One. His Meat Grinder was only an embryonic framework, far from completion. After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the light abruptly went out. The cannon towers slowly ceased firing. The entire world seemed to plunge into a momentary deafness, leaving only the steady patter of the falling rain to break the silence. Countless mangled limbs and shattered corpses drifted like tiny skiffs across the bottom of the sinkhole. A foul stench rose into the air, mingling with the earthy smell of rain. It was over. The giant octopus lay blasted into several chunks amidst the sea of gore. The night grew quiet, and no more ghost creatures came.