"Wang Kui."

After taking care of everything, Chen Fan walked onto the City Wall. He looked at Wang Kui and said with a smile, "From now on, you’re in charge of this Warehouse."

"If anything goes wrong, I’m holding you responsible."

"Yes!"

Wang Kui shot to his feet, his eyes filled with excitement. Puffing out his chest, he roared his assent. ’The warehouse manager? That’s a key position!’ All the resources in the entire camp would pass through his hands. Its importance was self-evident.

’Thirteen years as a worker bee, and now I’m finally an official.’

"Before it gets dark," Chen Fan continued,

"take some men down and move everything we brought from the old camp into the Warehouse. Don’t worry about organizing it perfectly tonight; we’ll handle that tomorrow."

"The Wooden House has a kitchen now."

"We’re all sick of eating dry rations these past few days. Go see if there are any ingredients and get everyone something hot to eat."

"Does anyone know how to cook?"

"I do." Qi Chong, who was standing nearby, raised his hand. "I used to be a cook."

"You’ve done a bit of everything, haven’t you? Farming, and now cooking."

Chen Fan glanced at Qi Chong, smiled, and waved his hand. "Alright, let’s get moving. A hot meal before dark. Didn’t Zhou Mo say he had a few bottles of wine back at the old camp? We’ll drink them tonight. We’ll call it our Moving Banquet."

"Eat and drink your fill, get a good night’s sleep, and tomorrow, it’s back to work."

"You got it!"

The men on the City Wall immediately jumped to their feet and rushed toward the supplies laid out on the ground inside the cave, ready to sort things out and start cooking.

...

Chen Fan remained alone on the City Wall.

It was time for the main event of the day.

Upgrading the City Wall.

The City Wall couldn’t be upgraded all at once; it had to be done one meter at a time.

Upgrading one meter of the wall from Level 1 to Level 2 cost 50 Ghost Stones. The section of wall at the cave entrance was 21 meters long, so after spending 1,050 Ghost Stones...

The City Wall reached Level 2.

But... among the many identical panels, one special panel was particularly eye-catching.

-

[The City Wall has been upgraded to Level 2. Durability increased.]

[Please select an Upgrade Direction.]

[1: The City Wall’s color will blend with its surroundings.]

[2: Already Mutated: All connected City Walls will gain a slow self-repair ability (Ordinary).]

[3: Can Mutate: Mutation direction is unknown.]

-

...

Chen Fan glanced at the panel, then at the City Wall beneath his feet. Before, he couldn’t have afforded to upgrade the City Wall, but the chests brought by the Mourning Ghosts had given him a substantial resource boost, making him feel quite wealthy.

He still had over ten thousand Ghost Stones left to spend.

After the upgrade to a Level 2 City Wall, the most obvious changes were that the wall looked sturdier and was also taller. In the architectural projection, its height now reached 7 meters.

It was previously five meters.

The reason it hadn’t actually risen yet was that he was standing on it, and the mountain face was right above his head. If it rose, he’d be crushed to death.

There was a gap between the top of the City Wall at the cave entrance and the mountain.

After upgrading to a Level 2 City Wall,

he could now, at will, make the top of the wall align perfectly with the mountain, leaving no gaps. Furthermore, the turrets installed on the wall would merge with it, leaving only a rectangular aperture exposed.

Unless an attack struck that rectangular aperture precisely, the turret could not be destroyed. The entire body of the turret was now completely encased by the wall.

Extremely safe.

"Very nice."

Chen Fan smiled in satisfaction before carefully examining the panel. This was the second time he had encountered an "Already Mutated" Upgrade Direction. The difference was that this time, there was also an unknown "Can Mutate" option.

’If there’s a mutation option, you always choose the mutation.’

He didn’t really need the second, "Already Mutated" option either. Thanks to the altar and the Copper Pipes, his walls could already repair themselves. And as long as he had enough Ghost Stones, the repair speed was much faster than the "slow self-repair" offered.

That left him with only the third option.

’Time for a bath.’

He didn’t make his choice immediately. Instead, he went into the Wooden House in the cave for a bath. It was his first in days. Only after bathing and changing his clothes did he return to the City Wall and look at the panel again.

To wash away the bad luck.

The next moment—

-

[Mutation beginning...]

[Mutation complete.]

[3: All connected City Walls will gain the ’Thorn Armor’ effect. Before the wall’s maximum load capacity is reached, a small portion of the enemy’s attack power will be reflected back onto the attacker (Ordinary).]

-

"Good stuff!"

"A great mutation!"

"A good bath!"

"A good change of clothes!"

Chen Fan grinned and exclaimed four "goods" in a row. It seemed his luck was pretty decent. He really liked this mutation. If only he’d had this effect and the Level 2 City Wall when the leader of the Mourning Ghosts was here.

Given the Mourning Ghost leader’s physical strength,

he wouldn’t have even needed the turrets.

The reflected damage alone would have been more than enough for it to handle. A Ghost Object with ranged attacks couldn’t have been that physically strong. This mutation was the perfect counter to creatures like that.

He just found it strange that this mutation, which he thought was already amazing, was only an Ordinary Level. The mutation from the Ghost Fire at the old camp had been a Rare Level.

He glanced at the cost to upgrade to a Level 3 City Wall.

One meter required 500 Ghost Stones.

It would cost 10,500 Ghost Stones. After a moment of thought, he decided to upgrade again. With a Level 3 City Wall, his rear base would finally be truly secure. The main reason was that he didn’t know how strong the Ghost King was. If the Ghost King found him, a Level 2 City Wall probably wouldn’t be enough to stop it.

’Level 3 is the safer bet.’ 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The next moment!

Wang Kui, who was in the middle of moving the chests, suddenly noticed that the Level 2 Ghost Stones inside were all shattering in unison. They transformed into a tide of eerie green light that surged into the City Wall at the cave entrance. The once-heavy chests instantly became light as a feather.

His gaze immediately turned a little resentful as he looked at the silhouette of the Station Chief on the wall.

He instantly realized the Station Chief was upgrading the City Wall.

’I was just about to move this batch of Ghost Stones to the Warehouse, and now they’re gone?’

It was like being made an accountant only to have all the money in the accounts spent immediately. For some reason, he felt a little empty inside. ’At least let them sit in the Warehouse for one night, let me get a taste of being the manager!’

...

’None of them had a mutation...’

Chen Fan clicked his tongue with a bit of regret. The 21-meter-wide City Wall was divided into 21 sections, and he had upgraded it 21 consecutive times, bringing them all to Level 3.

And he hadn’t encountered a single mutation.

A City Wall’s mutation effects should all have that "shared with connected walls" property. As long as he got one, it would apply to the entire structure.

It was a real shame.

The Goddess of Destiny had not smiled upon him again this time.

’Then again...’

’Even the best luck needs a cooldown period.’

-

[The City Wall has been upgraded to Level 3. Durability increased.]

[Please select an Upgrade Direction.]

[1: Gain ’Ghost Blood Pattern.’ Can absorb the Ghost Blood of Ghost Objects that falls within the camp’s range during battle, slowly increasing the City Wall’s durability.]

[2: Gain ’Vine Pattern.’ Can slowly grow vines to cover the City Wall. The vines can absorb nutrients from nearby plants to slowly repair damaged areas of the wall.]

[3: Gain ’Earth and Water Pattern.’ Keeps the City Wall perpetually damp and smooth, making it extremely difficult to climb.]

-

He upgraded 21 times, and this was the panel he got for every single one.

They were all pattern choices.

And none of these three patterns had the "shared with connected walls" effect. This meant he could, for example, choose 10 ’Ghost Blood Patterns,’ 10 ’Vine Patterns,’ and 1 ’Earth and Water Pattern’.

Not that there was any point in doing so.

He chose the ’Ghost Blood Pattern’ for all of them.

At a glance,

the City Wall didn’t seem to have changed much. However, the architectural projection showed that the wall could now reach a maximum height of 10 meters, adjusting automatically or manually based on where it was placed. Furthermore, the stone bricks of the wall were now covered in mysterious patterns.

He couldn’t understand them.

But they looked pretty cool.