"The old saying is absolutely right."
"There is strength in numbers."
There was only about a stick of incense’s worth of ti left before eternal night descended.
On the outskirts of the camp, standing in the dreary rain, Chen Fan gazed at the extrely crude and dilapidated... ’cart’ before him and let out a long, emotional sigh. Once everyone in the camp had sprung into action, it took only about an hour for the world’s first vehicle to be born.
The bones of a Bamboo Pole Ghost ford the fra for the driveshaft.
Several fairly flat Wooden Boards were nailed together to form the main body of the vehicle.
It had no body and no windows.
It was just a single, thick Wooden Board, about 30 centiters thick.
Embedded in the center of the Wooden Board was a sturdy Copper Pipe, about 20 centiters high with much of it shaved down, sitting flush with the surface. At the bottom of this pipe was an Earth Spike trap wrapped in Monkey Skin, serving as the ’Earth Spike Engine’—the vehicle’s Power Source.
In addition—
There were also several gears, carved from Mantis Blades, installed beneath the Wooden Board. They were connected to four wheels by the driveshaft. The wheels themselves were made of wood and wrapped in the skin of a Monkey Head Ghost.
In the center of the Wooden Board, directly above the ’engine,’ was a relatively thin Copper Pipe that served as a control stick.
Continuously pushing down on this Copper Pipe would trigger the Earth Spike.
The driveshaft would take the impulse from the activated Earth Spike and, through the gears, convert it into rotational motion, propelling the Wooden Board forward.
But...
"..."
’Chen Fan’s mouth twitched. It was just too crude. As it was, he had no idea what its top speed was, and he couldn’t vouch for its durability at all. It might fall apart the mont it started, or it could run fine at first but disintegrate halfway out of the camp.’
"Zhou Mo, give it a try."
"I’ll do it!"
...
There wasn’t a trace of fear in Zhou Mo’s eyes. Instead, he eagerly hopped onto the Wooden Board. As La Monkey and the others watched, he slowly gripped the thin Copper Pipe that the station master had dubbed the ’control stick’.
He slamd it downward.
Instantly!
The Earth Spike activated.
The impulse traveled down the driveshaft to the gears, which started to turn the wheels.
The vehicle... moved.
Zhou Mo’s eyes lit up. Feeling the Earth Spike below quickly rebound, he slamd the thin Copper Pipe down again. The impulse once more shot down the driveshaft to the wheels, setting them spinning rapidly.
One pump, two pumps, three pumps.
The wheels began to spin faster and faster.
The extrely crude Wooden Board cart sped out of the camp, racing toward the Wilderness beyond. The wooden wheels, wrapped in Monkey Head Ghost skin, seed quite well-suited to the terrain of the Wilderness.
"YAHOO!!"
Everyone watched as Zhou Mo’s figure disappeared into the distance, listening to his excited whoops.
"It’s that fast!?"
A flash of disbelief crossed La Monkey’s eyes. He murmured, "It’s so much faster than a regular cal... It’s almost as fast as a horse! And... it doesn’t tire you out."
"Actually, it is a bit tiring."
Chen Fan sighed resignedly. That control stick had to be manually and repeatedly pumped to trigger the Earth Spike, which was physically demanding work. ’I, for one, wouldn’t be able to do it for long.’
Just then—
From the gloomy rain in the distance ca Zhou Mo’s terrified shout, "Station Master, how do I stop it!"
’There was only half a stick of incense’s ti until eternal night. If he went too far now, he might as well find a place and wait for death.’
"Let go!"
"I let go and it’s still moving!"
"Let go and wait a mont!"
The Wooden Board cart gradually slowed to a stop. Then, Zhou Mo’s voice echoed through the rain again, "Station Master, how do I turn it around?"
"Jump off, pick up the cart, and point it toward the camp!"
’Braking was just coasting to a stop.’
’And turning ant getting out and carrying it.’
It couldn’t be helped.
Conditions were primitive; this was the best they could do.
A short while later.
Zhou Mo, standing on the Wooden Board, excitedly piloted the vehicle back toward the camp. He misjudged the stop, however. Even though he let go of the control stick ahead of ti, inertia carried the cart right past the entrance.
It wasn’t until Zhou Mo, panting for breath, had shouldered the entire cart and carried it back into the camp that he looked to Chen Fan, his face flushed with excitent.
"Station Master!"
"With this thing, I can go to farther stations and bring back more Ghost Stones and resources!"
’He’s surprisingly strong.’
Chen Fan glanced at Zhou Mo. "This is just the first prototype. Over the next few days, while Qi Chong and the others are farming, have them drive this thing around the vicinity a few tis. See if any problems co up."
"You can keep visiting the nearby stations for the next few days."
"We’ll give it to you after it’s been tested."
"We don’t want it to fall apart on you halfway through a trip, leaving you stranded."
’Co to think of it... ’
’...this thing could really only be used by Zhou Mo. No one else had his kind of brute strength.’
’If he ran out of stamina, the engine would die.’
’When I have ti, I’ll have to optimize it. See if I can make it automatic so it doesn’t require manual power.’
"Alright!"
"It’s almost dark. Those who are sleeping, go to bed. Those heading up to the wall, get to your posts. Everyone, dismissed."
...
「Half an incense stick later.」
Endless darkness surged forth once more, shrouding the entire world. Only the light emitted by the Ghost Fire created a safe zone, enveloping the camp within it.
On the City Wall.
Chen Fan stood inside the simple rain shelter Qi Chong had built on the wall earlier that day. Feeling the cool night wind and the fine drizzle, he gazed out at the gray fog beyond the camp, wondering if tonight would be as peaceful as the last.
"They’re here!"
Almost in the sa instant that night fell, Chen Fan saw Ghost Objects begin to erge one by one from the gray fog.
There were Monkey Head Ghosts.
There were Bamboo Pole Ghosts.
And Mantis Ghosts.
And, an old, familiar friend: the female ghost sitting in a sedan chair, carried by four Bamboo Pole Ghosts.
’It was the sa crowd—no, the sa pack of ghosts!’
But there were far more Ghost Objects than last ti. Back then, there were close to a hundred. Tonight, a quick scan revealed more than 300 of them. They had the camp surrounded from every direction, ready to attack at a mont’s notice.
Clearly, the reason last night had been so peaceful was that this female ghost had likely intercepted all the other Ghost Objects passing through the area.
’Huh?’
’Why am I seeing nearly a hundred at Worm Ghosts, all tied up and thrown on the ground, struggling in front of the other Ghost Objects?’
’Are the Ghost Objects fighting among themselves?’
"Everything’s ready."
Chen Fan turned to look at the ten Level 2 Arrow Towers and two Level 3 Arrow Towers positioned on the City Wall, and he breathed a small sigh of relief. ’They should be able to hold them off. I still have over 300 Ghost Stones, so if the situation gets dire, I can boost the camp’s defenses at a mont’s notice!’
The female ghost obviously possessed so intelligence. She probably figured that her last attack failed because she sent her forces in scattered waves. That must be why she had all the Ghost Objects gather near the camp first this ti.
Then, with a burst of shrill, maniacal laughter, she launched an all-out assault.
No probing, no feints.
One by one, Bamboo Pole Ghosts, each over three ters tall, strode out of the gray fog and toward the camp, picking up speed. As soon as they began their charge, they snatched up the nearby at Worm Ghosts and hurled them at the City Wall with all their strength.
The Arrow Towers on the City Wall imdiately activated.
Crossbow Arrows shot out, accurately striking the at Worm Ghosts arcing through the air.
They exploded in mid-air, creating blossoms of eerie green fire.
But so of them slipped through the net, smashing hard against the surface of the City Wall. The mont the eerie green liquid splattered, the wall began to corrode, and soon the points of impact were pitted and scarred.
’She’s basically using the at Worm Ghosts as hand grenades.’
’I have to admit...’
’...it’s pretty damn effective.’
"Damn it!"
Chen Fan ducked down behind the battlents, peeking out to watch the series of explosions in the sky beyond the wall. He couldn’t help but curse out loud.
"What kind of fucked-up tactic is this?"
’So that’s what the female ghost was doing last night!’
’She must have followed the at Worms’ Ghost Tide and snatched a bunch of them to use as grenades.’
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