Chapter 9 「Building Name」: Arrow Tower.
The next moment—
The ten Ghost Stones on the ground suddenly shattered one after another, turning into milky-white liquid that flew into the air.
At the same time, a phantom Arrow Tower composed of white lines appeared in the air. Accompanied by the milky-white liquid pouring into this phantom, the originally illusory tower gradually grew thick and ancient.
With a thought from Chen Fan.
This Arrow Tower settled steadily near the Ghost Fire, standing in the very center of the camp.
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「Building Name」: Arrow Tower.
「Building Grade」: White.
「Building Level」: Level 1.
「Building Effect」: Can deal certain damage to low-level ghosts. Will automatically attack ghost creatures entering the Ghost Fire's range, or attack other creatures according to the Lord's commands. Requires 1 Ghost Stone to be embedded as attack energy supply.
PS: Upgrading to Level 2 requires 20 Ghost Stones.
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At a glance.
The wooden Arrow Tower, standing over three meters tall, towered in the middle of the camp. It was pitch-black throughout. The ballista at the top appeared extremely bright, its mechanisms reflecting a cold light under the sun, each gear meshing together perfectly.
And at the bottom of the Arrow Tower was a notch, just large enough to fit one Ghost Stone.
"Not bad."
A hint of pride inadvertently surfaced in Chen Fan's eyes. The existence of this thing gave him much more of a sense of security. He had scouted Station Chief Wang's camp before; although that camp had looked decent, it didn't have anything like an Arrow Tower.
Fully automatic attacks.
There was no need to station an archer inside the tower. Moreover, it was a repeating ballista—the power wouldn't be small at a glance. In any case, it was definitely greater than the 「Beast Trap」.
After all, the main function of the Beast Trap was to restrain ghost creatures and endure through the night. When dawn came, those ghost creatures that couldn't leave would die upon seeing the light.
However…
He hesitated slightly. The ghost creature that had escaped the Beast Trap last night was definitely a big one. Could this Level 1 Arrow Tower really withstand it?
He still had 25 Ghost Stones left.
Should he upgrade it to Level 2 first?
After pondering for a while, he stopped hesitating. He'd rather have damage to spare than not enough damage. If that big one really came tonight and his Arrow Tower lacked the power, then even if he saved up more Ghost Stones, he'd have no life left to spend them.
The next moment!
The twenty Ghost Stones on the ground, accompanied by a thought from him, suddenly shattered, turning into milky-white liquid that surged into this Arrow Tower.
Immediately after, a panel popped up before him.
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「Arrow Tower upgraded to Level 2.」
「Please select an upgrade path.」
「1: Add another repeating ballista to the top of the Arrow Tower.」
「2: Increase ballista power.」
「3: Increase ballista firing speed.」
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"Huh?"
A trace of surprise flashed through Chen Fan's eyes. He truly hadn't expected that building upgrades came with upgrade path options. Could he choose an upgrade path every time he leveled up?
All three upgrades could directly increase the Arrow Tower's strength.
However, options 1 and 3 both enhanced the tower's ability to deal with small fry. What he needed to deal with tonight was that potentially attacking big one, so naturally option 2 suited him best.
After confirming the second upgrade path.
The Arrow Tower before him began to slowly change. The originally purely wooden tower, as if alive, expanded stone framework, becoming a wood-stone hybrid—sturdier.
The bolts on the top ballista became a darker, harder black, their size slightly larger as well.
Just looking at it directly, one could already imagine the feeling of being pierced through.
"Excellent!"
He nodded in satisfaction, embedding one Ghost Stone into the notch at the bottom of the Arrow Tower. The Level 2 tower looked much more secure.
He wondered what level that thing that had escaped the Beast Trap last night was. Level 2 should be enough to handle it, right?
Even if it wasn't enough, he was out of options.
After all, this was his limit.
"Whew."
After finishing all this, he finally prepared to sleep in peace. He had 4 Ghost Stones remaining; he wouldn't build farmland for now. After all, he didn't know how fast this Arrow Tower consumed Ghost Stones. It was best to keep some ammunition in reserve.
Also, the Ghost Fire could only last one more night. He needed to keep some for that too.
Last night, they had killed a total of 37 Monkey Head Ghosts.
But—
Only one strange treasure had dropped, namely those Monkey Head Mushroom seeds. The drop rate was indeed low enough.
As for Level 3 Arrow Tower…
He glanced at it. Upgrading to Level 3 required 50 Ghost Stones. It was temporarily impossible.
Sleep first.
Chen Fan slept quite soundly this time, groggily awakened by the noise outside.
He stretched, subconsciously reaching for the cigarette pack on his nightstand for a morning smoke, but grasped empty air. Slightly stunned, he looked at his surroundings before reacting, shaking his head with a laugh. After a simple wash, he walked outside.
The sky was darkening.
The sun was about to set. At most, there was time for three sticks of incense before the Eternal Night descended.
Meanwhile, Que Hou stood inside the camp outside the house, holding a spear, staring vigilantly at a mother-daughter pair, and said hoarsely, "Scram immediately, or don't blame me for being ruthless!"
"What's going on?"
Chen Fan stretched lazily, looking at the heavy Arrow Tower in the center of the camp, and smiled with satisfaction.
"Young Master."
Que Hou hurriedly hobbled over. "This mother and daughter have no Ghost Stones, but want to stay tonight."
"Sirs…"
Outside the camp, that middle-aged woman in tattered clothes wearing a headscarf knelt on the wasteland the moment she saw Chen Fan. Her face was etched with the exhaustion and weathering of a long journey, pale, her voice dry and hoarse with bitterness.
"We were originally a family of three, but midway the child's father was killed by bandits. Only us mother and daughter remain, and all our traveling money was stolen."
"It's getting dark soon."
"Please, sir, have mercy and take us in tonight, or else… or else…"
Behind this woman followed a slender, graceful young girl, around sixteen or seventeen, tightly gripping her mother's clothes corner, her eyes full of fear at the approaching darkness, looking extremely pitiful.
"Not bad."
Chen Fan glanced at the setting sun, then fixed his gaze on the ground beneath the mother and daughter, and suddenly laughed. Taking the spear from Que Hou's hand without the slightest hesitation, he abruptly thrust it out, precisely striking the woman's head.
Blood sprayed.
Then he quickly withdrew the spear, rushed out of the camp, and in two or three steps caught up to the young girl who had sensed something wrong and started fleeing, striking her squarely in the back!
His movements were clean and decisive.
Under the dusk, twilight gradually deepened.
The blazing campfire provided ample security, like the only camp on the lonely wasteland.
And Chen Fan walked back into the camp leaning on the spear, shaking the stone in his hand that emitted white light as he smiled at Que Hou: "When you encounter this kind in the future, don't chase them away. Kill them on the spot."
"Otherwise, wouldn't we have missed this fortuitous opportunity?"
Behind him, the mother-daughter pair rapidly shriveled after death, transforming into ghost creatures even smaller than Monkey Head Ghosts, like dead infants—extremely horrifying.