By now, Shen Mu was thoroughly familiar with entering Third-person Perspective and knew exactly how to operate it.
Besides, a prompt from the Mount & Blade System had appeared before him.
Ding! You have activated "Magic Ball (Map Editor)" and obtained 30 minutes of usage permission. Time remaining: 00:29:59.
"Then let's begin."
Shen Mu watched the thirty-minute countdown. Feeling the thought process enhanced by the Mount & Blade System, a peculiar sensation rose within him.
With a slight movement of his mind, a small castle main tower, roughly ten meters tall and occupying around half an acre, instantly appeared before him as a phantom-like projection. It was wedged precisely into the Seventh Floor Apartment, with most of the castle's outline clipping through the roof like a bugged model.
This castle main tower was actually the castle Shen Mu had previously seen in the Spiritual Realm Scene.
It had a five-meter-high castle hall, two ten-meter-high towers on either side, and a three-meter-high lord's room above the castle hall.
"Dismantle!"
But with another thought from Shen Mu, the castle main tower—small by name but still enormous compared to an ordinary person—paused slightly, then completely dismantled as he commanded.
Like building blocks, stones, lumber, and all manner of decorations from its various structures floated in midair.
As long as Shen Mu connected with the system again, he could instantly rearrange and assemble them however he wished.
This was the authority of the Magic Ball Map Editor!
But that was not its only authority.
"There are also those Mount & Blade buildings that can be constructed within the stronghold!"
Shen Mu's thoughts stirred.
A dialogue box popped up on his retina again.
Constructible Buildings: Storage room, Granary, Wall, Livestock Pen, 1-Acre Wheat Field (Limited), Lake Rats Training Camp (Limited)
These were the buildings his Swadian Stronghold could construct.
Each had its own functions.
"But now isn't the time to talk about that."
Shen Mu connected with the system again.
Whoosh—
Inside the Seventh Floor Apartment, the six constructible buildings immediately formed phantom outlines before Shen Mu.
Just like bugged clipping, they appeared throughout the rooms on the seventh floor of the apartment building.
However, these phantoms were red, indicating that they could not be deployed.
"Then I need to open up those other twenty apartment units and fill them with this new one-acre wheat field."
Shen Mu made his decision.
Then, opposite the section of the Seventh Floor Apartment that had already been converted into a wheat field, the other twenty apartment units instantly underwent a peculiar dismantling process—
Countless reinforced concrete walls crumbled apart, while layers of fertile soil rose from the floor. Rows upon rows of lush wheat grew from it, their full ears bending low as they waited to be harvested later.
This meant that the newly acquired one-acre wheat field had been deployed and truly appeared within Shen Mu's stronghold territory.
"Perfect." Shen Mu was satisfied.
But he did not stop manipulating the Magic Ball Map Modifier's authority. Instead, his mind worked rapidly.
"It had originally been shaped like the character for 'sun,' with the elevator shaft, stairwell, and all sorts of miscellaneous utility rooms in the middle. Those became useless after the Necromantic Rules descended."
"Since they're useless, yet take up so much space..."
"Then they should all be removed!"
Data streams flashed through Shen Mu's eyes.
At that moment, the Magic Ball Map Modifier's authority spread out, directly covering the entire Seventh Floor Apartment.
As Shen Mu operated the Magic Ball Map Modifier through Third-person Perspective, he discovered that its authority had spread not only across the entire sixth floor, but even the fifth, third, second, and first floors—the entire apartment building was beginning to fall under the Magic Ball Modifier's authority.
Even Shen Mu's eyes held a trace of surprise.
Because he understood clearly.
This meant that the Magic Ball Modifier's Map Modification Permission had actually recognized the entire seven-story apartment building as his territory and included it within the editable area!
However, at that moment, more than a dozen undeployable red spots suddenly appeared starting from the fifth floor, with the fourth, third, and first floors having the most.
"Existing rules detected. Modification unavailable."
An explanation from the Mount & Blade System instantly surfaced in Shen Mu's mind, leaving him thoughtful.
He would need to clear out the other rule carriers on the fifth floor and below before the Magic Ball Map Editor's authority could spread there again and modify the map.
Those undeployable red spots were likely spaces with drawn curtains that were filled with Necromantic Rules.
Many Blue Star residents had now learned how to make use of the Necromantic Rules.
For example, they could place things inside a dark room.
As long as gray mist appeared,
space and time would freeze on their own, and anything placed inside would naturally be frozen at the instant the gray mist emerged.
It was a kind of refrigeration method.
Of course, the prerequisite was defeating the Undead Monster that would definitely appear, though no one knew how strong it would be.
And this method could not be used long-term.
Because the more Undead Monsters died in a given area, the more intensely the Necromantic Rules would react. Stronger Undead Monsters would descend, and if one capable of wielding Supernatural Power appeared, even those who had obtained a Spiritual Realm Mark would have to think twice.
But before Shen Mu could continue thinking of a solution, he discovered that the red phantoms began disappearing one by one, starting from the first floor.
Then from the first floor to the second, the second to the third, and the third to the fourth.
In a short time, all 280 units in the seven-story apartment building had been cleared of red spots and obstructions from the Necromantic Rules. Shen Mu had no idea what had happened.
"What is going on?" Shen Mu frowned. Unfortunately, his Third-person Perspective did not have X-ray vision.
It could only form the building's outline and details before him. He had no way of knowing what was happening inside, nor could he see any people or creatures.
Watching those spots disappear, Shen Mu felt that something was off. He frowned slightly and opened his eyes.
He had returned to his own body.
"Send men to guard the stairs."
"Be careful."
Shen Mu spoke to the Swadian Footmen and Light Footmen standing guard before him.
"Understood." The fifteen Swadian Footmen and thirty Swadian Light Footmen immediately turned and headed toward the stairwell.
They had only just returned, so none of them had removed their armor. They only needed to pick up their weapons and equipment before heading over.
Watching the backs of those Mount & Blade soldiers, Shen Mu finally relaxed a little.
He closed his eyes again and reentered Third-person Perspective.
He did not know the specifics.
But that did not interfere with what he planned to do next.
"Since the entire seven-story apartment building can now be freely modified with the Magic Ball Modifier, I can remove the elevator room and utility rooms just as I planned."
"And the stairs shouldn't remain in the center. Move them directly to the very top of the 'sun' shape."
"That means there's no need for two corridors either. Merge the one-and-a-half-meter corridors together, add the freed-up space, and create a five-meter-wide central corridor shaped like the character for 'say.'"
"On the fifth and sixth floors, place the castle beneath the original Stronghold Main House. It will occupy half an acre and merge with the Stronghold Main House."
"Then remove half the floor slab between the fifth and sixth floors."
"Expand the fifth-floor corridor to ten meters wide, creating a barely spacious Central Corridor."
"Remove all Security Doors from the rooms on both sides of the fifth floor. Turn them into small interior rooms accessible only from within, all connected to the towers on either side of the castle, becoming barracks where the soldiers normally live and rest."
"On the sixth floor, use the left side to construct the various basic Stronghold Buildings, while the right side directly deploys the Lake Rats Training Camp, which requires a large area."
Data streams flickered before Shen Mu's eyes.
The entire seven-story apartment building rapidly changed according to his thoughts, completely ignoring all physical laws and shifting as freely as a child rearranging puzzle toys.
(A cross-sectional diagram of the apartment building. The author drew it very seriously~)
The entire apartment building was quickly transformed.
"The first through fourth floors would be perfect for leveling once the curtains are all drawn."
"As for those neighbors, I really need to figure out how to persuade them to leave."
Only then did Shen Mu fully apply the Magic Ball Modifier's Map Modification Permission to the entire apartment building.
Ding! Your Magic Ball Modification Permission has expired! Time remaining: 00:00:00.
Just as Shen Mu finished everything, the countdown in the dialogue box before him reached zero.
Shen Mu returned to his body in an instant, once again sitting in the high-backed chair inside his Stronghold Main House.
Before him stood a wooden long table and the door leading to the wheat field.
But Shen Mu instinctively turned his head.
Behind him,
the stairs that had originally led upward to the second floor of the stronghold had completely transformed into a tower.
Inside the tower was a wide spiral staircase leading upward to the second floor of the Stronghold Main House and downward to the sixth floor.
A faint smile curled Shen Mu's lips.
As the chief designer, he knew that it did not merely lead to the sixth floor—it also led directly to the fifth floor!
Because the castle hall on the entire fifth floor was over there.
And it even had the main gate of the Small Castle Shen Mu had now built directly inside the apartment building!
"I need to take a look around."
Shen Mu was a little impatient.
But just as Shen Mu stood up, rolled his shoulders, and glanced around in confusion, he found that the Swadian Footmen and Light Footmen who should have been standing guard were nowhere to be seen.
Even the five burly Swadian Heavy Cavalry were absent, rather than idly wiping their lances with burlap as they usually did.
Shen Mu could not help growing even more puzzled. "Where did everyone go?"
Ding! Congratulations! You and your subordinates fought bravely and successfully defeated the enemy in a short period of time! You have achieved a perfect victory!
Then, a dialogue box suddenly popped up before Shen Mu.
"Huh?" Shen Mu was completely dumbfounded.
Before you continue