Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Arrow Tower to Level 4, the Arrow Fortress

For nearly a hundred years, the layout of this region had remained unchanged.

But from now on.

This layout would be changed by him. Soon, there would be no more outposts in the Wilderness.

He planned...

...to build a highway between the two locations.

A highway constructed from Copper Pipes. Ghost Fire would flow within them, keeping the road bathed in its light even at night. This would allow for uninterrupted, round-the-clock travel, greatly accelerating the flow of merchant caravans and goods.

It would also bring him a massive income.

Previously, all the tolls in this area were pocketed by the camps in the Wilderness. But once the highway was opened, all that revenue would be his.

In fact!

He could even replace Jiangbei Marketplace and become the new nexus for trade.

After all, the Ghost Fire, Arrow Towers, and other structures he built were cheaper to produce and sold for less than anywhere else.

This represented an enormous profit.

kilometers is 170,000 meters.

It would only take 17 days.

He could finish paving this highway.

But...

...how to protect this interest was a major problem. It would surely provoke a frenzied counterattack from the three major powers of Jiangbei City. He had to use the golden opportunity of the rainy season to accumulate enough resources and power.

After the rainy season.

Annihilate the three powers, and open the highway.

...

A short while later.

Chen Fan gazed at the hundred-plus meters of Copper Pipe he had already laid. After a moment of silence, he scanned the surrounding wilderness and headed back into his camp.

The situation was a bit more complicated than he had imagined.

Although laying the Copper Pipe was free...

...he had to craft them personally; he couldn’t delegate the task. Trying to lay the pipes step-by-step would mean making countless trips back and forth across the Wilderness. That would take forever.

He had to finish developing a vehicle first.

Then he could drive out to lay the Copper Pipes and build his highway.

"Qi Chong!"

"Come here, I have a job for you."

As Chen Fan walked into the camp, he called over Qi Chong, who was busy in the Farmland transplanting all the wheat they had brought back from other camps.

"Chief, the Farmland is too small; it’s not enough. Can we get another plot?"

"We’ll talk about that later."

...

「Two hours later.」

"Much better this time."

Chen Fan looked with satisfaction at the vehicle he had modified, which he now named the "Tricycle 2.0".

He had removed one wheel.

Two wheels in the back, one in the front.

The front wheel was connected to a Copper Pipe that passed through the Wooden Board and stood upright on it. By turning the handle embedded in this Copper Pipe left and right, the wheel would turn, thus steering the vehicle.

This gave the vehicle the ability to steer.

It required two people to operate.

One person stood at the front of the Wooden Board to control the direction, while another stood at the back, constantly prodding the Earth Spike to generate forward momentum.

The tricycle’s acceleration...

...was not smooth.

Because it was only "single-cylinder" and the power depended on the Earth Spike’s recovery speed, the ride was very jerky. As for two-cylinder, four-cylinder, or eight-cylinder versions... those were more complex. He would optimize it later.

Laying Copper Pipes with a vehicle would be much faster.

"Get on."

"I’ll steer."

...

「An hour later.」

Chen Fan stood on the tricycle, his hands on the control lever. He looked back at the series of interconnected Copper Pipes trailing behind the vehicle and smiled with satisfaction. With a vehicle to help, the speed was much faster.

In less than an hour...

...he had laid ten kilometers of Copper Pipe, using up all of his free quota for the day.

’Just a few more trips like this.’

’After the rainy season ends, the highway can be put into service!’

"How are you holding up?"

He looked at the panting Qi Chong behind him. "Can’t take it anymore?"

"Of course I can!"

Gasping for breath, Qi Chong pulled out a water pouch and drained it, then quickly stuffed a few dry biscuits into his mouth and chewed heartily. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he lifted a sore arm and stood before the Earth Spike, panting, "I’m not tired. This is no different from planting rice seedlings."

"Good. Then let’s... head home!"

Chen Fan chuckled and turned the control lever. Standing on the Wooden Board, he gazed toward the horizon. His body had already adapted to the bumpy ride as they jolted their way back toward the camp.

’The testing for today is pretty much done.’

’This tricycle is perfectly ready for regular use.’

’I’ll build two more.’

’One for Zhou Mo to travel to other outposts and bring back resources.’

’One for me to use for laying Copper Pipes.’

’And one for Wang Mazi to go out and see what’s happening in the Wilderness during the day. Consider it map exploration.’

...

「Back at the camp.」

Chen Fan cheerfully patrolled the camp. He was in high spirits today, inspecting his camp for areas in urgent need of improvement. His gaze finally settled on a Level 3 Arrow Tower.

’As the rainy nights pass, one by one...’

’...the strength of the Ghost Objects will continuously increase, and they’ll become exceptionally violent. That’s what Zhou Mo told me.’

He felt he needed a more powerful Arrow Tower.

Immediately after.

He walked onto the City Wall, spent 100 Ghost Stones, and upgraded the Arrow Tower that hadn’t learned the "Arrow Rain Storm" skill to Level 4!

The next moment—

The Arrow Tower dissolved into a phantom image and began to shift and collapse.

...until it collapsed into a one-meter, cube-shaped block of brown stone.

It no longer resembled an Arrow Tower at all.

On one face of the stone block, a dark, rectangular opening appeared, almost blending in with the City Wall. Through the dark hole, one could clearly see a Crossbow Mechanism with a cold, gleaming light embedded within the stone.

-

[Arrow Tower upgraded to Level 4, becoming an "Arrow Fortress." Must be fixed in one location and cannot be moved. Power increased.]

[Please select an Upgrade Direction.]

[1: Increase Firing Speed.]

[2: Increase Power.]

[3: Reduce Energy Consumption.]

-

"..."

Chen Fan looked thoughtfully at the Arrow Fortress before him. After the upgrade, it took up much less space, was sturdier, and also more concealed.

He chose to increase the firing speed.

’This Arrow Tower has already had its power increased several times; it needs a boost in firing speed.’ He thought back to his experience playing games in his past life. ’An AD carry with no attack speed has much lower damage output.’

He issued a command to attack.

A volley of flaming bolts, wrapped in scorching fire, shot out from the Crossbow Mechanism inside the dark opening. They precisely struck a patch of barren land 30 meters outside the walls. There was no discernible change in power for now, but the increase in firing speed was visibly significant.

Just then—

"Hm?"

He frowned slightly, his gaze falling upon Zhou Mo, who was frantically running toward the camp through the miserable rain. Soon, Zhou Mo zipped into the camp and arrived, gasping, in front of Chen Fan.

"Have some water. Speak slowly."

’It was clear something had gone wrong.’

"I ran into Ghosts!"

Zhou Mo took the water pouch Chen Fan offered and drained it. A flicker of deep fear crossed his eyes as he said in a trembling voice, "On my way back to camp, I saw a group of people... openly having sex on the barren land."

"There were more than thirty of them."

"A wild orgy."

"I saw them from a distance and didn’t hesitate for a second. I turned and ran on the spot."

"We’re in the middle of the Wilderness. There’s no way real people would be here, so they had to be Fake Human Ghosts. The moment they saw me, they went crazy and all started chasing me." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Luckily, I’m a Level 2 Cultivator, so I’m fast."

"But..."

"My companion... he was a bit slower. The Fake Human Ghosts caught up to him, tore him to pieces, and devoured him. Even the resources we gathered from the other camps today were dropped there in the chaos..."

"Chief... I..."

"..."

Chen Fan clapped Zhou Mo on the shoulder but didn’t speak right away. After a long silence, his gaze shifted to the Arrow Fortress beside him and... the tricycle parked in the camp. A method to expand the Architect’s sphere of influence suddenly occurred to him.

"This isn’t the time to grieve."

"Come on. I’m taking you back there to kill them."