He connected this 20-meter-long copper pipe to the one linked with the Eerie Fire, running it through the base of the city wall.
Extending it all the way outside the camp.
Stretching out a full meter.
The next moment—
As soon as he was finished building it, the copper pipe solidified, and the cold white flames from the Eerie Fire flowed into it.
What he saw next was utterly astonishing.
The area around the one-meter copper pipe extending outside the camp had also become a safe zone!
"..."
Chen Fan held his breath, staring at the "Copper Pipe" building module on the Lord Panel. After a long pause, he couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Good, good, wonderful!"
This "Copper Pipe" could actually extend the range of the safe zone!
The Eerie Fire could flow along the copper pipe, and wherever it reached would become his territory!
Almost instantly, a flurry of architectural fantasies flooded his mind!
For example...
Nighttime Roads!
In this world, nighttime travel was unheard of, but with the copper pipes, he could create a road that was passable even during the Perpetual Night.
If he had enough resources in the future, he could even encircle the entire continent with copper pipes, turning the entire Perpetual Night Continent into his territory!
If the Perpetual Night Continent were a body, his copper pipes would be the capillaries spread throughout it.
And this was just one of the most basic applications of the "Copper Pipe."
...
He crouched outside the camp, gazing at the "Copper Pipe" lying on the cracked wasteland. With a thought, the pipe transformed back into an "illusory shape" made of lines, with a " three-way pipe connector" appearing at its tail.
It could connect to three copper pipes.
One significant advantage of this building module was that, even after solidifying, it could revert to its illusory state for free modifications without consuming any resources.
Currently, the copper pipe was 10 centimeters in width.
The safe zone around it extended half a meter on each side, totaling one meter.
He wondered if using a thicker pipe would change the safe zone's range.
He immediately created another one-meter-wide copper pipe and connected it to one of the interfaces. The other two interfaces remained sealed without connections.
He was experimenting.
After all, connecting a 10-centimeter pipe to a one-meter pipe was quite challenging.
Like trying to fit a large vehicle into a small space.
The sizes didn't match.
But----
Just leave any problem to the Panel.
As the two illusory pipes touched, the two differently sized pipes fused seamlessly, with no welding marks, as if they were naturally one.
At the same time, the safe zone on both sides of the one-meter "Copper Pipe" remained half a meter wide each, totaling one meter.
But including the pipe's own footprint, the safe zone protruding outside the camp was two meters wide.
"Phew..."
Chen Fan let out a light sigh, stood up, and willed the copper pipe to sink into the ground, buried beneath the wasteland, leaving no trace behind.
Even Crippled Monkey and the others had no idea what had happened. They only knew he was building something they'd never seen before.
After all, Crippled Monkey and the others could only see the camp's safe zone when the Perpetual Night fell, and the ring of light fanned out from the Eerie Fire.
Chen Fan was the master of this camp.
Naturally, he was the first to know about any changes.
"Great stuff!"
Chen Fan grinned again. If ordinary buildings were like the number 1, with no room for customization—like Archery Towers fixed at over three meters tall, with no option to lower or raise their height—
That was set in stone.
But this building module was like 0.1, freely customizable.
Whether it was width, length, interfaces, straight, curved, or serpentine shapes, everything could be customized freely without consuming additional Eerie Stones. The building module alone had no intrinsic value.
But the building module could be applied to all structures.
This meant—
He could use it to create buildings like 1.8, 2.7, or 3.1, offering great flexibility to his camp and perfectly suiting its needs. His control over the entire camp would become more unrestrained, and he'd have more room to maneuver!
...
Chen Fan left the copper pipe alone. It was just a prototype. He needed to test whether copper pipes could interact with other buildings.
Over the next half hour, he was incredibly busy.
He constantly connected various buildings with copper pipes, searching for possible interactions. After using 47 Eerie Stones to create copper pipes for various experiments, he finally stood on the city wall, looking down at the camp with a satisfied grin.
Hands on his hips, his eyes brimmed with pride.
This was his territory.
Even the cool rain now seemed like champagne at a victory banquet.
First, he connected the "two Archery Towers" to the "Eerie Fire" using copper pipes.
Activating Archery Towers consumed Eerie Stones, but reloading them repeatedly was cumbersome. This was especially true when using the active skill "Arrow Storm," which required reloading after each use. Even if it took a short time to reload, it was still an issue.
Moreover, as the number of Archery Towers increased, he'd be overwhelmed.
After connecting them, all Archery Towers would consume Eerie Stones from the "Eerie Fire," eliminating the need for repeated reloading. In emergencies requiring continuous use of the "Arrow Storm" skill, there would be no intervals.
Single-shot reloading had become fully automatic.
When an Archery Tower had been activated, the Eerie Stones would shatter inside the "Eerie Fire," and the energy would be transmitted to the tower through the copper pipe.
Additionally...
He created another copper pipe, connecting one end to a boiler on a stove inside the cabin and the other end to the roof. Rainwater would flow through the pipe into the boiler, heating it to a boil.
He made yet another copper pipe, connecting one end to the boiler and the other to the walls and floor of the wooden house.
Boiling water would flow through the pipes, keeping the interior warm.
He named it the "1.0 Heating System."
He had just gone inside to test it.
The room was incredibly warm, with none of the damp, chilly feeling from the previous night.
Although the "1.0 Heating System" was nearly perfect, it had a minor flaw: there was no pressure source. Hot water struggled to flow smoothly through the winding, up-and-down copper pipes, and without circulation, the temperature wouldn't last long. This world had nothing like a circulation pump.
But where there's a will, there's a way.
He already had a plan.
Given Fact 1: Spike traps trigger when they sense weight.
Given Fact 2: Triggering spike traps doesn't consume Eerie Stones.
Conclusion:
This was a reusable, resource-free... "power source," or what could be understood as a "piston."
It would only wear out and break after extended use.
So, he planned to use this piston to create a heating system that could automatically circulate hot water.
But that was part of his "2.0 Heating System" plan.
Tonight, he had other tasks. For now, the hot water in the "1.0 Heating System" had to be manually replaced—meaning when the temperature dropped, the copper pipe had to be removed, emptied, and refilled.
It was a bit cumbersome, but sufficient for the time being.
...
The building module offered extreme flexibility, but it couldn't be upgraded. There was no upgrade option.
"This is the means an Architect should have..."
Standing on the city wall, Chen Fan looked down at the camp below, his eyes filled with satisfaction. Although the original camp had multiple buildings, it always felt somewhat rigid.
But the "Copper Pipes" had shown up, connecting all the buildings like blood vessels.
Only now did he feel the entire camp was truly activated, like an extension of his own body.
...
After finishing all this, Chen Fan cheerfully descended the city wall, heading to repair the damaged area of the wall that had been struck by the Flesh-Worm Ghosts the previous night.
The Flesh-Worm Ghost's self-destruction had caused some damage to that section of the wall, but it wasn't severe and hadn't affected the foundation.
Just then—
Zhou Mo led his subordinate through the heavy rain to the camp's entrance. Looking at everyone inside, he shouted, "Station Master, we're back."
Crippled Monkey quickly approached, verified that the two weren't Pseudo-Human Ghosts, and brought them to Chen Fan.
"Station Master, we were too late. Everyone at Station 16 of the Ravine Wang Clan hanged themselves last night.
By the time we arrived, the bodies were already cold.
The entire wasteland... now has only our station left..."