Chapter 49: Give It a Try?
The Dry Season didn’t an rain was unheard of.
But according to the records, even when spring or sumr showers swept through in years past, Ghostbeasts had never lost control and gone on a rampage.
So that answered the question that had always nagged at him: what kind of “natural” rainy season could possibly bring downpour after downpour, day after day, for an entire month?
The rain of the Rainy Season—was nothing like the gentle showers of spring or sumr.
It was as if...
He couldn’t quite find the right word.
Sleep, he told himself.
Dawn was just breaking. After seeing Zhou Mo off and acquiring the Ghostskin, Chen Fan wasted no ti. He climbed down from the Wall and returned to his wooden cabin, planning to snatch a few hours of rest. Once he woke, it would be back to work—laying down that road.
A true highway, safe to travel even at night.
Whether it would be used for tolls or to serve the Camp—
Either way, it was all benefit and no drawback.
Most importantly—
The special Upgrade Path that unlocked when the Ghostfire reached Level 3 was only available during the Rainy Season. He had a daily quota of free upgrades; to waste them would be a cri.
Even if he didn’t need the structures imdiately, he could build them now and store them in the warehouse for later.
...
Nearly three hours remained until Eternal Night fell.
Chen Fan awoke.
He built a brand-new Trike, brought Qi Chong along, and set out from the Camp, venturing into the night to continue laying his highway.
The vehicle lurched across the rain-soaked, muddy Wasteland.
Standing at the front, Chen Fan thodically laid Copper Pipe after Copper Pipe, each one perfectly aligned and joined end to end.
He buried the pipes a full ter beneath the surface—the deepest the system would allow. Under normal circumstances, barring deliberate sabotage, they’d be almost impossible to destroy. And even if one section was damaged, it hardly mattered.
Only the broken segnt would fail.
As long as the Copper Pipe remained connected to the Camp at both ends, Ghostfire would continue to flow through the rest. Even if a section was lost, only that part would stop working—the overall network would remain intact.
There was just one problem...
He was the only one who could maintain these pipes.
If the Camp survived the Rainy Season and continued to grow, he couldn’t possibly spend every day running around repairing every structure himself.
That ant the Camp needed at least one more Builder.
This Builder wouldn’t even need to construct anything new—just handle routine maintenance.
Builders... Artificers... Alchemists... and the laborers to keep everything running.
If he wanted to build a real organization, people were indispensable.
Once the Rainy Season ended—
He’d have to go to Jiangbei City and recruit a team.
But finding a Builder was as hard as plucking a star from the sky. It wouldn’t be easy. He’d have to plan carefully and wait for the right mont.
“Station Master.”
Just then—
Qi Chong, standing on the Trike and gripping the Power Lever, wiped the sweat from his brow. He hesitated for a long mont before finally speaking, his voice hoarse. “There’s sothing I haven’t been sure whether to tell you...”
“The other night, I happened to discover that Wang Mazi’s n... they’d hidden away so Ghoststones. When they first joined the Camp, they didn’t turn everything in.”
“...”
Chen Fan’s brows knit together. He didn’t stop working.
Wang Mazi’s n.
They’d always kept a low profile in the Camp, quietly doing their jobs. On their very first night, the Camp had faced its greatest crisis yet—a Ghostbeast Swarm. They’d burned through nearly all their Ghoststones.
Xiao Qiu and Zhou Mo had risked their lives to leave the safety of the Camp and bring back more Ghoststones, keeping the Arrow Towers running.
But Wang Mazi’s n, who’d had Ghoststones all along, had just stood by and watched as Zhou Mo threw himself into a near-suicidal mission. That was... nearly unforgivable.
He could understand selfishness.
After all, who didn’t look out for themselves?
But selfishness in a situation like that—that was just foolish.
If the Camp was destroyed, who would survive?
Now, Wang Mazi’s n were following Zhou Mo, assigned to gather resources from other waystations.
After a mont of silence—
Chen Fan finally spoke. “Does Wang Mazi know about this?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Did you tell anyone else?”
“I haven’t told a soul.”
“Good.” Chen Fan nodded slightly and kept working. “I understand. Don’t ntion this to anyone else.”
“Understood.”
Qi Chong nodded firmly, then kept his focus on the Power Lever, never bringing up the subject again. He hadn’t wanted to say anything at first—he didn’t want to disrupt the fragile peace inside the Camp. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that people like that could bring disaster one day.
After wrestling with it for a long ti, he’d finally decided the Station Master needed to know.
...
When they finished laying Copper Pipes for the day—
Chen Fan and Qi Chong returned to Camp. Next to the original Farmland, Chen Fan created a new Level 1 Farmland and left it to Qi Chong, who would transplant crops collected from other waystations.
Only then did Chen Fan begin his daily inspection of the Camp.
Eternal Night was almost here.
Less than an hour remained.
“...”
Standing atop the Wall, Chen Fan gazed at the slightly dim Ghoststone in his palm, and let out a quiet sigh. Yesterday, he’d asked Zhou Mo for a cultivation manual—a thod to absorb Ghoststones and increase his own power.
At present, he was a Level 1 Builder.
In this world, the higher a Builder’s level, the less energy wasted during construction, the greater the power they could wield, and the more advanced their creations could be.
But he was different from other Builders.
He only needed to glance at the System Panel to build anything.
It was like being a max-level Builder from the start.
Raising his own level didn’t make building any easier—but it would improve his physical stats. And a stronger body was always a good thing. If he had ti to spare, there was no harm in training and absorbing Ghoststones.
But—
The absorption rate was painfully slow.
According to Zhou Mo—
To go from Level 1 Practitioner to Level 2, you needed to absorb about fifty Ghoststones.
The exact speed depended on the grade of your cultivation manual—and your own talent.
It had taken Zhou Mo a whole year to go from Level 1 to Level 2, and that was with plenty of Ghoststones but little ti to train.
Chen Fan did the math.
If he had enough Ghoststones and dedicated a few hours each day to cultivation, using Zhou Mo’s manual, it would still take at least six months to absorb fifty Ghoststones and reach Level 2 Builder.
That was hardly fast.
And even then, the boost to his physical stats would be minimal.
Not exactly a great return on investnt.
That’s how he’d always seen it—there wasn’t much difference between Level 1 and Level 2, not really.
But...
Ever since Zhou Mo and his n had run into a False Human Ghost out in the Wasteland—and only Zhou Mo made it back alive—
He’d realized sothing.
When it really mattered, there was a difference between Level 1 and Level 2.
That was why he’d asked Zhou Mo for the cultivation manual and started training. Level 2 was better than Level 1. Any edge in physical strength was worth having.
“...”
Suddenly, Chen Fan thought of sothing. He turned, his gaze lingering on the wooden cabin beside the Ghostfire.
He’d never upgraded it.
It was just a shack to keep out the wind and rain—but maybe he should try upgrading it?
Who knew, maybe there’d be an Upgrade Path that could speed up cultivation?
Worth a try?
Let’s give it a shot.
Upgrading the cabin didn’t take many Ghoststones. He still had about three hundred left—no harm in seeing what would happen.
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