Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Arrow Tower Upgraded to Level 3

Upgrading a Level 2 Arrow Tower to a Level 3 Arrow Tower required 50 Ghost Stones.

He currently had 120 Ghost Stones.

He didn’t hesitate.

He took out five glowing green Level 2 Ghost Stones from his robes. Immediately, the Ghost Stones shattered, transforming into wisps of eerie green liquid that floated in the air and flew toward the nearest Level 2 Arrow Tower.

A panel quickly popped up before him.

-

[Arrow Tower upgraded to Level 3.]

[Please select an Upgrade Direction.]

[1: Crossbow Arrows will be imbued with the Fire Element, increasing their power.]

[2: Unlocks the Active Skill ’Arrow Rain Storm.’ When activated, the Crossbow Mechanism on top of the tower will rapidly fire upward, unleashing a dense volley of arrows upon a designated area for several seconds. Costs 1 Ghost Stone.]

[3: Crossbow Arrows will be imbued with the Thunder Element, effectively paralyzing enemies and dealing chain damage to up to three nearby creatures upon impact.]

-

’An Active Skill.’

Chen Fan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the Upgrade Directions. This was the first time he had encountered an Active Skill as an upgrade option, and it looked very effective.

’If we encounter a swarm of Ghost Objects charging the camp...’

’...one skill could take care of them.’

’And the cost is low, only one Ghost Stone.’

After the Arrow Tower was upgraded to Level 3, it began to slowly transform. First, its original wood-and-stone frame became pure stone, seamlessly integrating with the City Wall.

It had become much sturdier.

The power of the Crossbow Arrows from the Active Skill named "Arrow Rain Storm" was equivalent to that of a Level 2 Arrow Tower. It wasn’t a significant power boost, but it would be extremely useful against a Ghost Tide with large numbers of weak enemies.

Although he was tempted...

...in the end, he still chose the first Upgrade Direction, once again boosting the tower’s single-target damage.

The two minor Ghost Object bosses outside the camp, along with the female ghost of unknown strength in the sedan chair, were still eyeing him menacingly. Right now, what he needed most was a way to threaten those three.

The moment he made his choice...

...the Arrow Tower transformed again.

The Crossbow Mechanism at the top slowly changed from its original pitch-black to a dark red. The nocks at the front of the mechanism burst into roaring flames that danced defiantly in the downpour. The entire Crossbow Mechanism became more intimidating, more soul-shaking.

’From the looks of it...’

’...it seems that for every level a building gains, three Upgrade Directions will pop up.’

’And these three Upgrade Directions seem to be fixed.’

’At least, the options for both of his Arrow Towers were identical.’

Just then, Lame Monkey’s urgent voice suddenly rang in his ears. "Young Master, a Ghost Tide is charging us!"

Chen Fan followed Lame Monkey’s gaze. Dozens of meters outside the camp, a huge swarm of Ghost Objects surged from the north like a tide, heading straight for the camp with no intention of turning aside.

His brow furrowed slightly.

This group of Ghost Objects didn’t belong to the three bosses. They were a traveling batch of Ghost Objects from the Eternal Night. They were small, about the size of a human child, and had no limbs. Their entire bodies were plump balls of flesh, and the surface of the flesh was covered with human faces about the size of a palm.

It was an extremely bizarre sight.

They moved by rolling.

There were many of them—well over a hundred at a glance—and a continuous stream of more fleshy balls was emerging from the gray mist behind them, with no end in sight.

Their speed, however, was not fast; they ambled along as if they were out for a stroll.

One could even discern emotions on the multiple faces covering the fleshy balls. At first, their faces all wore joyful smiles, but as they neared the camp, every face on the balls turned ugly, contorting into expressions of great pain.

"Station Chief, those are Meat Worm Ghosts."

Zhou Mo, standing on the City Wall with his Big Saber in hand, spoke in a rapid, urgent tone. "I know these Ghost Objects. They only appear during the rainy season and are never seen in the normal Eternal Night. They have no attacks—their only method of attack is self-destruction."

"They explode upon contact with any relatively hard object, their entire bodies turning into a viscous green liquid. It’s highly corrosive. If a human is touched by this liquid, they will melt in extreme agony."

"They can cause considerable damage to the City Wall."

"The Meat Worm Ghost is the culprit behind the fall of many cities during the rainy season. These Ghost Objects are social creatures that surge forward like a tide. Once they appear in swarms, it often means the fall of the city walls!"

"..."

Chen Fan didn’t reply. Time was of the essence. Even though the Meat Worm Ghosts weren’t fast, they were now only a dozen or so meters from the camp. Some were even briefly lifted into the air by the gale-force winds before falling back to the ground and continuing to roll forward.

He glanced toward the sedan chair in the gray mist to the west of the camp.

The moment this swarm of Meat Worm Ghosts appeared, the sedan chair and its surrounding Ghost Objects had withdrawn from the gray mist and vanished into the Eternal Night.

’How considerate!’

He couldn’t help but take a deep breath. He once again pulled five glowing green Ghost Stones from his robes, slapping them onto the adjacent Level 2 Arrow Tower. As he upgraded it to Level 3, he chose the "Arrow Rain Storm" Active Skill Upgrade Direction!

The camp was now at a moment of life and death.

If both groups of Ghost Objects had attacked the camp together, it would have been extremely tricky. Fortunately, the female ghost had withdrawn her underlings into the Eternal Night. Of course, he didn’t think she was genuinely unwilling to use superior numbers to overwhelm him.

It was obvious that she also feared the Meat Worm Ghosts and didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire.

"YAAA!!!"

An extremely piercing shriek echoed through the camp. The first Meat Worm Ghost had broken through the gray mist and charged into the camp. Upon sensing the presence of the Ghost Fire, the many faces on the fleshy ball uncontrollably let out horrific screams, their expressions twisting in extreme pain.

They clearly did not want to get near the Ghost Fire.

But their bodies obediently continued to roll straight toward the camp.

As more and more Meat Worm Ghosts rushed into the camp, a cacophony of overlapping, piercing screams filled the air.

The next moment—

The runes inlaid on the Crossbow Mechanism atop a Level 3 Arrow Tower on the City Wall suddenly flared brightly. Dozens of complex, arcane runes glowed with white light, lifting off the mechanism to float around the tower.

Then, with an almost inaudible click of a mechanism...

"CLICK."

...countless arrows of light shot from the Crossbow Mechanism at incredible speed. They surged toward the sky like a waterfall in reverse, forming a cloud of light arrows dozens of meters high. Then, like divine punishment, they rained down, intersecting with the torrential rain to completely cover an area north of the City Wall.

"TSSSSS..."

Dozens of rolling Meat Worm Ghosts were caught in the disaster and almost completely annihilated. A sizzling sound, like red-hot iron pokers plunged into butter, echoed out. The light arrows slowly dissipated, leaving behind only the remains of the Meat Worm Ghosts, which dissolved into pools of green liquid that corroded the wasteland.

One after another, Ghost Stones dropped from their bodies, lying quietly in the middle of the liquid, looking extremely tempting.

The first wave of the Meat Worm Ghosts’ charge was almost completely wiped out.

The area of effect of the arrow rain wasn’t that large, so a few slipped through the net.

Although a few of these stragglers charged into the camp, their path wasn’t toward the City Wall. Instead, they skirted the edge of the wall, quickly passed through the camp, and continued rolling on into the Eternal Night, without a hint of looking back or lingering.