"..."

The corner of Chen Fan’s mouth twitched. He took a deep breath, pressed a hand to his forehead, and remained silent for a long moment before saying hoarsely, "No one’s sleeping tonight. I’m opening the City Wall. Go bring back all the Ghost Corpses, start a fire, and let’s roast some meat!"

"Understood."

A section of the City Wall far from the crocodile slowly sank into the ground. Lame Monkey and the others pulled their flatbed carts, warily eyeing the crocodile lying at the base of the wall as they cautiously made their way toward the cliff’s edge.

Standing on the City Wall, Chen Fan gripped the Glowing Green Lantern. If the crocodile were to suddenly attack, he would deliver a fatal blow.

However...

The crocodile showed no intention of attacking. Instead, it lay quietly at the base of the City Wall, exceptionally well-behaved and expectant, its mouth held wide open as it waited patiently.

’Doesn’t it get tired?’

Chen Fan rubbed his chin. The creature had been holding its mouth open for so long that just watching it made his own jaw feel a little sore. He then looked at the crocodile below and offered some earnest encouragement.

"If you want good food in the future, you have to bring your own ingredients, just like today."

"But roasted meat shrinks, you know."

"Even though there are several hundred Ghost Corpses here, it won’t be much once it’s all cooked. You get that, right?"

The crocodile lying below sped up the rhythm of its tail slapping against the ground, its huge eyes filled with happiness and anticipation.

...

「Daybreak.」

Sporting dark circles under his eyes, Zhou Mo swayed unsteadily on the City Wall, looking like he could fall at any moment. He watched the crocodile finally depart, turning back every few steps with great reluctance, and said in a trembling voice, "Chief..."

"It ate 127 Ghost Corpses in one night..."

"And it looks like it’s only just barely full."

"..."

Chen Fan didn’t speak, just quietly watched the crocodile’s retreating back. Its belly was bulging; it looked a little stuffed. Its crawling speed had slowed considerably. After a long pause, he said softly, "Alright, everyone go get some sleep."

Originally, the plan was to get a good night’s sleep right after the Moving Banquet.

But they had been busy all night long.

To be honest, there was no culinary skill involved whatsoever.

At first, they added a bit of seasoning, but later, when salt ran low, they just cooked the meat over the fire with no seasoning at all. Even so, the crocodile ate with great relish.

Humans couldn’t eat Ghost Corpses. It was lethal.

Only this creature could devour them without a second thought.

After Lame Monkey and the others had all returned to their Wooden Houses to sleep,

Chen Fan began to take stock of the camp’s current resources.

They had acquired over six hundred Ghost Stones last night. Added to what was left after building the Level 3 City Wall, the camp now had 4,755 Ghost Stones. Roasting the meat had also been a time-consuming task. They were short-handed, so managing to cook 127 corpses was the result of an entire night’s work.

The remaining Ghost Corpses were collected to be used as fertilizer for the Farmland and for offerings at the Sacrificial Tower.

"Not bad."

Chen Fan looked at the two Exotic Treasures in his hand and suddenly smiled. ’It would be great if this guy brought its own ingredients every day when it comes for a meal,’ he thought. ’I’d be more than happy to charge a processing fee.’

However, this also served as a reminder.

The camp was severely short-staffed. He had to replenish their numbers as soon as the rainy season ended, or else many tasks couldn’t be run simultaneously. For example, Zhou Mo hadn’t been able to go out and scavenge resources from the fallen outposts for several days now.

-

[Exotic Treasure Name]: Celestial Awakening Cannon.

[Exotic Treasure Level]: White.

[Exotic Treasure Effect]: A single-use Exotic Treasure. Upon activation, it can instantly disperse the darkness in a large area for ten breaths.

-

This was one of the two Exotic Treasures.

It was equivalent to a flare.

Its value was hard to estimate. If he had to buy one with Ghost Stones, he’d be willing to spend 100 on it. Sometimes, knowing exactly what kind of situation you were in was quite important. At least you would know how you died.

The other Exotic Treasure was...

-

[Exotic Treasure Name]: Sunflower Seed.

[Exotic Treasure Level]: Green.

[Exotic Treasure Effect]: Must be planted in ’Level 2 Farmland’. Has a maturation period of 7 days. Consuming the mature product increases one’s Cultivation.

[Planting Conditions]: An emotional plant. The more praise and encouragement it hears during its growth period, the greater the yield and the better the quality upon maturation.

-

’An Experience Pill that can directly raise my Cultivation. This is good stuff.’

The seed was wrapped in a transparent film.

He would give it to Qi Chong once he woke up.

After finishing all this, Chen Fan looked toward the canyon pass directly opposite the City Wall. His next plan was to build another wall at the canyon’s entrance. The canyon he was in was a natural defensive chokepoint.

It was located at the bottom of a cliff.

Few Ghost Objects could descend into the canyon from the cliffs above as if appearing from the heavens. As long as he didn’t encounter the horde of Ghost Objects that had destroyed Big Fish Village, it shouldn’t be a big problem. The only path in was through this canyon pass.

He would set up defenses at the entrance of the canyon pass.

But all of that could wait until after he woke up. He needed to sleep now. He was exhausted...

Just then—

A faint rumbling sound came from the canyon pass. The crocodile had actually come back. Its once-bulging belly was now visibly flatter. It ran to its usual spot at the base of the City Wall, opened its mouth, and waited, a hint of expectation visible in its eyes.

"..."

Standing on the City Wall, Chen Fan was silent for a moment, his face expressionless. Then he asked hoarsely, "Did you go and make yourself throw up?"

But soon, he noticed something in the crocodile’s mouth... It was a strange-looking rock, wasn’t it?

It looked a bit like a starfish.

But it was much larger than a starfish and was a beautiful jade color.

It slowly dawned on him. He asked hesitantly, "Is this your toy? You want to give it to me?"

It was unclear whether the crocodile understood or not.

It just used its tongue, pressed flat against its lower jaw, to push the starfish-like rock out. Then it crawled back a few steps and bobbed its flat head up and down, as if expectantly waiting for Chen Fan to take the rock.

Seeing that Chen Fan made no move for a long time,

The crocodile advanced a few steps again, swallowed the rock, and ran over to a nearby cliff face. It began scratching wildly at the rock wall with its front claws, quickly digging out a hole. Then it repeatedly pointed its head toward the canyon pass.

With its back to Chen Fan, it continuously wagged its tail.

"..."

Chen Fan watched this scene with a slightly odd expression. This time, he understood. The creature had come specifically to thank him, bringing its favorite toy to give to him as a gift.

But perhaps sensing that he didn’t like the gift, the creature now wanted to take him back to its "lair" and let him pick out a toy for himself.

The scene moved him a little.

He didn’t actually mind forming a cooperative relationship with the crocodile; after all, he could gain Exotic Treasures and Ghost Stones from it. But the crocodile was clearly unaware of this "cooperative relationship." It only knew that it had eaten a delicious meal all night and wanted to give its best possession to a friend as a reward for their friendship.

’This guy...’

He couldn’t help but smile, his gaze falling on the hole the crocodile had dug into the cliff face.

The rock of the mountain here was extremely hard.

He would have to bombard it for ages with a Level 5 Cannon Tower, yet this crocodile could dig a hole so quickly with just its claws.