"Wang Kui."
After finishing all this, Chen Fan walked to the city wall, looked at Wang Kui, and said with a smile, "From now on, you are responsible for this warehouse."
"If anything goes wrong, I will hold you accountable."
"Yes!"
Wang Kui rose to his feet, excitement shining in his eyes and chest out, roaring in response. Warehouse manager? This was a key position. He would be in charge of all the camp's resources. Its importance was self-evident.
After thirteen years of being a worker bee, he finally got a decent office.
"Before it gets dark."
"Get some people to move everything we brought from the old camp into the warehouse. There's no need to sort them out tonight. We'll deal with that tomorrow."
"There's a kitchen in the house."
"We have had our fill of flatbread these past few days. Go see if there are any ingredients, and make something hot for everyone to eat."
"Does anyone know how to cook?"
"I do." Qi Chong raised his hand from the side. "I used to be a cook."
"You've done a lot of jobs, haven't you? From a farmer to a cook." Chen Fan beamed at Qi Chong and waved his hand. "Then get to it. Let's have a hot meal before dark. Back at the old camp, Zhou Mo mentioned we had gotten a few bottles of booze, right? We'll drink them tonight as a housewarming banquet."
"Eat and drink your fill, have a good sleep tonight, and continue working tomorrow."
"Hooray!"
The crowd on the city wall immediately jumped to their feet and rushed toward the supplies inside the cave, intent on putting them in order and starting to cook.
...
Chen Fan, who was left alone on the parapet, began another important work- upgrading the city wall.
The city wall could not be upgraded as a whole; it needed to be upgraded meter by meter.
To upgrade one meter of the city wall from Level 1 to Level 2 would cost 50 Eerie Stones. The city wall at the cave entrance was 21 meters long.
After using 1,050 Eerie Stones, the city wall was upgraded to Level 2.
But... among the numerous identical panels, one special panel stood out conspicuously.
「The city wall has been upgraded to Level 2. Sturdiness increased.」
「Please choose the upgrade direction.」
「1: The color of the city wall matches the surroundings.」
「2: Qualitative Change: All city walls connected to this city wall will gain a Slow Self-Repair ability (Ordinary).」
「3: Unknown Qualitative Change.」
"..."
Chen Fan looked at the panel, then down at the city wall underfoot. Previously, he couldn't afford to upgrade the city wall, but the chests from those Mourning Specters' escort provided abundant resources, making him rich right away.
There were still over ten thousand Eerie Stones left.
After the city wall was upgraded to Level 2, it was obvious that the wall looked sturdier and taller. Its surreal shape reached 7 meters high from the original 5 meters.
Standing on the city wall, with the mountain body overhead, he would be crushed to death if it rose to full height. That was why he hadn't had it thrust up.
There was a gap between the battlements and the mountain body at the cave entrance.
After upgrading it to Level 2, as long as he wished, he could have the city wall join seamlessly with the mountain body, without leaving a single gap. Moreover, the Cannon Tower would coalesce into the wall, exposing only the Cannon Tower's "rectangular opening".
Unless the rectangular opening had been precisely stricken, a Cannon Tower would not be destroyed, as it had become part of the city wall.
Safe and secure.
"Very good."
Chen Fan smiled with satisfaction, then studied the panel. This was the second time he had encountered a 'Qualitative Change' upgrade direction. The difference was that this time, there was also an additional "Unknown Qualitative Change" upgrade direction.
He dismissed the first upgrade direction out of hand. He would surely choose a Qualitative Change so long as there was one.
He didn't really need the second "Qualitative Change" either. With the Altar and Copper Pipe, his walls could already repair themselves automatically. Moreover, as long as there were enough Eerie Stones, the repair rate was much faster than that of "Slow Self-Repair."
Thus, only the third was an option for him.
"Let me go take a shower first."
He didn't confirm immediately. Instead, he entered the stone house and bathed. This was his first bath in many days. After changing clothes, he returned to the city wall and turned his attention back to the panel.
The bad luck had been washed away.
The next moment—
「Qualitative Change beginning...」
「Qualitative Change completed.」
「3: All other walls connected to this city wall will possess the 'Thornmail' effect. Before reaching the city wall's maximum damage limit, a small portion of the damage sustained will be reflected back onto the enemy (Ordinary).」5
"Good stuff!"
"Good Qualitative Change!"
"Good bath!"
"Good clothes-changing!"
With a wide grin, Chen Fan cheered four times in a row. It seemed luck was with him after all. He really liked this Qualitative Change. If only he had had Level 2 city walls with this effect back when the Mourning Specter boss had turned up.
Given the Mourning Specter boss's physique, he might not have even needed any Cannon Tower.
The reflection alone would have been enough to give the other side a hard time. Eerie Creatures with long-range attack methods definitely wouldn't have a strong build. This Qualitative Change countered just this type.
However, he thought this Qualitative Change was already powerful, but it turned out to be only Ordinary level. The Qualitative Change of the old camp's Eerie Fire was Rare level.
He checked the cost to upgrade the city wall to Level 3.
500 Eerie Stones per meter.
It would cost 10,500 Eerie Stones. After pondering for a moment, he still chose to upgrade again. With a Level 3 city wall, this home base would be secure in the real sense. That he had no idea of the Eerie King's strength was what prompted this decision. If the Eerie King found him, the Level 2 city wall probably wouldn't hold up.
A Level 3 wall was more secure.
The next moment!
Wang Kui, who was hauling chests, suddenly discovered that the Level 2 Eerie Stones in the chests began to shatter one after another, turning into a flood of dark green light that surged into the entrance wall. The heavy chests instantly became light.
Right away, he cast a bitter, grieved gaze at the Station Master's back on the parapet, as it hit him that the Station Master was upgrading the wall.
Just before he could lug this batch of Eerie Stones into the warehouse, they were gone like this?
This was like just putting him in charge of the accounts and then immediately spending all the money in the accounts. For some reason, he felt a bit empty inside. At least let them stay in the warehouse for one night, so that he could get a taste of what it's like to be a warehouse manager.
...
"No Qualitative changes at all, huh?..."
Chen Fan wondered aloud with some regret. The 21-meter city wall had 21 sections, all upgraded to Level 3 in one go.
Not a single Qualitative Change had been encountered.
Any Qualitative Change for a city wall must be able to"apply to all connected city walls."
Unfortunately.
Lady Luck did not favor him again this time.
"That's right..."
"Even whatever good luck should have a cooldown period."
「The city wall has been upgraded to Level 3. Sturdiness increased.」2
「Please choose the upgrade direction.」
「1: Gain 'Eerie Blood Pattern.' Can absorb the blood of Eerie Creatures that fall within the camp during combat, bolstering the city wall's sturdiness.」3
「2: Gain 'Vine Pattern.' Comes with vines covering the city wall. The vines can draw nutrients from nearby plants to slowly repair damaged city walls.」
「3: Gain 'Earth Water Pattern.' Can keep the city wall moist and smooth, thereby making it extremely difficult to climb.」1
All of these 21 upgrades had triggered this panel.
All for choosing a Pattern.
Moreover, none of these three patterns possessed the effect of "apply to all connected city walls." In other words, he would be free to choose 10 "Eerie Blood Pattern," 10 "Vine Pattern," and 1 "Earth Water Pattern."
But it didn't make much sense.
He chose "Eerie Blood Pattern" for all.
He gave a scanning look.
The city wall hadn't changed much, but as its surreal shape suggested, the wall could reach a maximum height of 10 meters. It could be automatically or manually adjusted.
Moreover, the stone wall was now graced with a mysterious Pattern.
Its significance was lost on him.
But anyway, they looked quite nice.