Without hesitation, he immediately walked down the city wall towards the wooden cabin serving as a warehouse outside.
Once constructed, the building could not be moved.
The space inside the wall was already insufficient. If the upgraded version swelled larger and couldn't fit inside, he wasn't sure what would happen—would it integrate with the wall or simply shatter? He had no desire to experiment.
Upgrading the cabin to Level 2 only required 10 Eerie Stones.
He crushed 10 Eerie Stones.
Milky-white liquid flowed in the air. The illusory shape of the cabin, formed by white lines, appeared again. As the milky-white liquid flowed into it, the cabin did not increase in area. Instead, part of it changed from wood into stone.
Overall, it looked more solid and robust.
And a panel appeared before him.
「Wooden Cabin upgraded to Level 2, increased sturdiness. 」
「Please choose the upgrade direction.」
「1: Peaceful Sleep.」
「2: Tranquil Mind.」
「3: Increased chance of pregnancy. (Ineffective on Eerie Creatures.)」
"..."
Chen Fan calmly looked at the panel. Honestly, he originally thought this building might be without any upgrade directions like "Farmland".
The Perpetual Night descended hundreds of years ago.
Eerie Creatures rampaged across the world.
The fact that humans in this world hadn't been wiped out might have something to do with this "Wooden Cabin." With a piece of territory and a population, choosing the third upgrade direction would effectively increase the birth rate.
He chose Tranquil Mind.
For a warehouse, this was the only slightly useful upgrade direction.
At least it could calm one's mind when entering the warehouse.
He took out 20 more Eerie Stones, upgrading the cabin to Level 3.
The cabin changed again. No wood remained; it had transformed into a stone house. Both its defensive and weatherproof capabilities had visibly improved. It also grew from a single-story to a two-story building.
Two floors in total, taller than the city wall.
It had been a while since he transmigrated to this unfamiliar world.
From initial unease, he had gradually adapted.
At least...
He was somewhat fond of this world's underlying rules.
As long as you worked hard, you would definitely reap rewards.
If you spent Eerie Stones to strengthen buildings, those buildings would definitely improve. The sense of security brought by this certainty was hard to come by. In his previous life, it wasn't that effort guaranteed reward. Often, he had to gaze blankly into a mirror, wondering why luck never favored him.
Falling asleep without finding an answer.
Day after day, year after year.
「Wooden Cabin upgraded into Level 3 'Stone House,' increased sturdiness」
「Please choose the upgrade direction.」
「1: Increased area, additional optional rooms like kitchen, bathroom, etc.」
「2: Imbued with 'Dustless Formation,' ensuring the interior remains dust-free.」
「3: Imbued with 'Shadow Recording Formation,' allowing the lord to observe events anywhere in the house at any time.」
Three remodeling directions.
One for upscale interior, one for whole-house cleanliness, one for whole-house surveillance.
All good choices for improving the quality of life.
He chose the third upgrade direction.
For a warehouse, he didn't need it dust-free for now. The Shadow Recording Formation might be more useful.
"..."
Standing outside the camp, he looked at the two-story stone house. After reaching Level 3, it had transformed entirely. The camp originally seemed rather crude, but now, with this stone house, it looked considerably more upscale.
More like a human settlement.
Currently, there were no toilets inside the camp.
But on the wasteland, toilets were like stinging nettles—among the most useless things.
He didn't upgrade further.
This experiment had already consumed many of his Eerie Stones. He only had 269 left. He would wait until Eerie Stones were more abundant, then give it another try and see what effect a Level 4 Wooden Cabin had—or rather, a Level 4 Stone House.
Like the "Archery Fort."
It represented a qualitative change.
He had come to understand what an Architect was like. Many buildings underwent qualitative changes when upgraded to a certain stage, like from "Animal Trap" to "Spike Trap," from "Archery Tower" to "Archery Fort," from "Wooden Cabin" to "Stone House."
But this stage wasn't fixed.
Some changed at Level 2, some at Level 3, and others at Level 4.
It varied among different buildings.
He felt himself liking this world more and more. He was starting to enjoy slowly building his own domain here, then living happily in it for the rest of his life.
"..."
Chen Fan walked onto the city wall, gazing distantly at the horizon, with a dazed expression.
For some reason, he felt his emotions were a bit turbulent today.
Perhaps...
Since transmigrating, he had been in strained circumstances, with no time to think too much. Today, long-suppressed thoughts began to surge uncontrollably.
Zhou Mo's subordinate died yesterday.
He hadn't had time to ask the man's name. He only remembered a young, tanned boy with a clean-shaven jaw showing a bluish-black hue. He had seen Zhou Mo shave the boy's stubble with his blade.
No one in the camp mentioned it again. There was no simple funeral; no one asked further. The camp operated normally.
Perhaps everyone was accustomed to death.
Or perhaps everyone knew they were in the most critical moment of their lives and didn't want to disrupt morale.
There are always dead people.
No one lives forever.
During the evening chats a few days ago, Zhou Mo, Wang Kui, and the others spoke of their ideals. He hadn't spoken. Actually, he... didn't have any grand ideals. He just wanted to build a safe enough camp, then simply keep living in this camp. That would be good enough.
He wasn't much interested in things like saving the world or dominating it.
Even if he became the sole ruler of the world, what then? He'd still have to manage so many people; he might not even live as happily as he did now.
This world was quite good.
At least he found the social atmosphere decent. He felt he hadn't encountered many bad people: the man in the blue robe who had told him key information about the wasteland, Wang Kui who had delivered the first batch of food and water, Zhou Mo who, shortly after meeting him, had been ready to sacrifice himself to protect the camp, and Crippled Monkey who had loyally accompanied him all along.
He felt everyone was nice.
If he had to name an ideal.
Then his ideal was to build a safe camp to protect everyone well. Everyone trusted him so much; he didn't want to watch familiar people die one after another.
That would be good enough.
As for Pockmark Wang's subordinate, who hid Eerie Stones.
He could actually fully understand.
When first joining the camp, after all, wanting to keep a little of his own hard-earned savings for himself was completely human. Later, when the camp was in danger, it was already impossible for him to take them out.
He had been put on the spot.
He could do nothing but stick to his first choice.
That was his guess.
After all, back then on the city wall, he had actually seen Pockmark Wang's subordinate looking extremely conflicted, his young face changing repeatedly in the rainy night. He originally thought the young boy was dithering over whether to volunteer to go out.
Looking back now, he must have been debating whether to bring them out.
Before he could have reached a decision, Zhou Mo had jumped outside.
Then the Flesh Worm Ghost Eerie Tide subsided.