Chapter 57: “Nothing Tastes Quite Like the Spoils of War”
Chen Fan rose to his feet, a strip of Ghostskin clenched in his hand, and turned to survey the battered remains of the Camp.
Last night’s battle had been nothing short of harrowing.
The Mourning Ghosts had proven far more formidable than even the swarming Flesh Maggot Ghostbeasts. The walls were shattered in several places, the wooden houses reduced to splinters, and even the watchtower and breeding grounds had collapsed into ruin. Now, only two Arrow Bastions, a handful of Arrow Towers, and the Ghostfire remained standing amidst the devastation.
It felt as though, overnight, they’d been blasted right back to square one.
And the Rainy Season still had more than twenty days left.
Qianhou was only one of the Ghost King’s four lieutenants—three more remained at large. Judging by the pattern, all of them would soon sweep through the Wasteland, paving the way for the Ghost King’s arrival. And their first target? Odds were, it would be him.
Staying put was starting to feel like painting a bullseye on his own back.
Once the Rainy Season ended, the Ghost King himself would descend.
That was a battle no one wanted.
A crisis as good as certain death.
But—
He was a Transmigrator, after all, and he had the “Eternal Night Lord” System Panel. If he ran at the first sign of danger, what kind of protagonist would that make him? He needed to grit his teeth and hold the line, stand and—
“Hold the line, my ass!”
Chen Fan muttered under his breath, cursing quietly. “If the sky falls, let the tall ones hold it up. I’m still short—I’ll be the first to duck out of here.”
The Ghost King’s true aim was to perform a blood sacrifice on Jiangbei City and Pingcheng, slaughtering their inhabitants as a stepping stone to his breakthrough. There was no way this little Camp could stop that.
He glanced over at Crippled Monkey and the others, who were busy digging up Ghoststones nearby. The carnage from last night had left behind plenty of spoils. With all these resources, he could easily find a safer place and start over.
No reason to die on this hill.
Sure, it would be a loss—he couldn’t take most of the buildings with him—but better that than ending up dead.
He’d need to discuss with Wang Kui and the others soon—if they were to move, where would be the best place to go?
But for now…
“Heh.”
Chen Fan grinned, crouched down again, and began rifling through the corpse of a Mourning Ghost. Looting a boss’s body after a hard-won fight was as much a ritual as lighting a cigarette after sex.
Three Unique Treasures in total—not counting that Green Lantern.
The first was a Night Pearl, shimring with a faint green glow.
—
Unique Treasure: Windward Pearl
Grade: Green
Effect: Essential material for constructing a Wind Tower—a special city defense structure capable of summoning fierce gales.
—
“Not bad.”
Chen Fan nodded. With this, fending off Ghostbeast Swarms would beco much easier. It was a pity he didn’t have the blueprint for a Wind Tower yet; for now, it would have to wait.
Next: an array disk.
—
Unique Treasure: Gentle Breeze Array
Grade: Green
Effect: Must be installed within the Ghostfire. Once placed, it blankets the Camp in a gentle breeze, slightly increasing movent speed within its range.
—
The last item looked downright nacing.
It was a mass the size of a human brain—a dark red, throbbing tumor, slow and steady, warm and tough to the touch.
—
Unique Treasure: Mountain Remnant Seed
Grade: Green
Effect: A rare heaven-and-earth treasure. Can be used in alchemy, forging, or array-crafting. If placed within the Ghostfire, it causes bone-like structures to grow underground throughout the Camp, stabilizing subterranean tunnels and cavities.
—
“Mountain Remnant Seed…”
Chen Fan’s eyes narrowed as he studied the System Panel. Unlike the other two Unique Treasures, which he’d fished out of the Mourning Ghost’s mouth—condensed from Ghost Qi after death—this seed had been carried close to its chest.
A real prize.
With this, a plan was already beginning to form in his mind.
He tucked all three Unique Treasures into his shirt. Just as he was about to inspect the Green Lantern nearby, Crippled Monkey’s shout rang out behind him.
He looked back.
Crippled Monkey ca hobbling over, clutching a paper lantern, excitent shining in his eyes. “Young Master, take a look at this lantern. Looks like sothing good.”
“Let see.”
Chen Fan took the white lantern from him. It was the sa kind the ordinary Mourning Ghosts carried—looked and felt like oily paper, but he knew it was tough as iron. He’d seen the ghosts battering them against the walls all night.
Each strike left a crater.
Even Zhou Mo, swinging his hoe with all his might, couldn’t leave a mark on the walls, but these lanterns did it with ease.
—
Unique Treasure: Mourning Lantern
Grade: White
Effect: Essential upgrade material for promoting an Arrow Tower to a Level 5 Gun Tower.
—
“Heh.”
Chen Fan paused, then glanced at the sea of scattered lanterns littering the Camp. A wide grin broke across his face. Jackpot.
There were easily over a thousand Mourning Lanterns here.
Just imagine…
If each lantern sold for a hundred Ghoststones at the market, that would be ten thousand Ghoststones right there.
But he suspected they were worth even more. After all, a single Arrow Tower cost a hundred and fifty Ghoststones. As a required material for upgrading to a Level 5 Arrow Tower, a Mourning Lantern had to be worth more than a hundred Ghoststones.
“Good stuff. Gather them all up—we’re moving out. We’re relocating today.”
“We’re moving?”
“Yeah. We’ll discuss the details in a bit.”
He bent down to pick up the fallen Green Lantern nearby—this one clearly superior to its common cousins.
—
Unique Treasure: Mourning Lantern
Grade: Green
Effect: Essential upgrade material for promoting an Arrow Tower to a Level 6 Gun Tower. When activated, fires a powerful beam of light at enemies. Each use consus the item; after five activations, it shatters.
—
“Level 6 Gun Tower…”
Chen Fan’s eyes narrowed in thought, then he grinned again. That ant he could use it to fire four tis for free—as long as he saved the last use, it would still count as an upgrade material.
“Station Master, co quick!”
Wang Kui’s urgent voice echoed from outside the Camp. “We found so crates out here!”
…
“Station Master.”
Wang Kui and Xiao Qiu stood around several large wooden crates. “We found these while cleaning up outside. When we opened them… there’s a ton of stuff inside.”
Chen Fan stared silently at the contents of the crates for a long mont.
Finally, he took a deep breath, gazing out into the distant drizzle.
“Nothing tastes quite like the spoils of war.”
There were five crates in all.
Two were packed full of Ghoststones—clear, erald-green Level 2 Ghoststones. The other three held all manner of Ghost Materials and assorted oddities.
Most of it he didn’t even recognize.
There were arm-blades from Mantis Ghostbeasts, Monkey-Head Ghostbeast hides…
Blood sealed in flasks—he couldn’t even guess what creature it ca from.
Organs—hearts, livers, lungs—wrapped in oil paper, each one far too large to be human.
A whole array of bizarre, neatly organized supplies.
Military gear, plain and simple.
Most of it looked like it was ant for array-crafting. If he had to guess, the Ghost King had sent Qianhou here to tear down the cities’ walls, then use these Ghoststones and Ghost Materials to set up so kind of formation.
But now…
All of it was his.
This haul was bigger than everything he’d gathered up to now, combined.
“Whew…”
Chen Fan exhaled slowly, then turned to Wang Kui. “Tell everyone to stop what they’re doing. We’re having a eting.”
…
They found a dry patch in the Wasteland and sat cross-legged in a circle, the Ghostskin Map spread out between them.
“There’s a huge crisis coming,” Chen Fan began, after quickly explaining the situation.
“The Rainy Season ca early, setting the Ghostbeasts loose. The Ghost King is coming to the Wasteland—and there are still three more high-level Ghostbeasts like Qianhou out there.”
“When they arrive, we’ll be the first target.”
“We need to relocate—get ourselves out of the path of this disaster.”
“If anyone has ideas, now’s the ti to speak up.”
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