Twilight

The crowd was suddenly shocked, filled with immense admiration for the world-building.

As more and more details accumulated and the world's lore was gradually revealed, this vast earth, which felt like stepping into another world, was the most captivating and desirable. The sense of immersion was as if they had gained a second life.

Just the various small details within the manor made it seem as if they could see the entire world.

"Speaking of which, it's almost sunset. If we sleep tonight and they attack us then, it'll be troublesome."

They began to worry.

Although the boss's intelligence had been nerfed, and with Green Hat dead, the pressure had been significantly reduced, nighttime presented another challenge.

Before Su Yu Niang could even speak, the command center began broadcasting unified instructions:

"As dusk approaches, please leave your defensive towers and gradually retreat underground."

"We will all gather in the underground artificial pool, swim to the other side, and return to our dormitories to sleep."

Everyone complied.

Soon, they slowly concentrated their forces and retreated to an underground intersection.

Caw caw caw!

The crows continued their attack.

Splash!

They each jumped into the water, swam through an underwater tunnel, and exited at their dormitories.

"Everyone, you can start sleeping now."

Su Yu Niang was already waiting there and commanded:

"Once everyone has returned, we'll place the copper stones to block the exit of the underwater tunnel, preventing them from entering our dormitories."

The crowd no longer worried about the safety of their dormitories.

Firstly, the dormitories were reinforced and very sturdy.

Secondly, those crows had no idea they had taken a detour underground and returned to the surface to sleep in the fully enclosed dormitory building, playing on the principle of "the brightest light casts the darkest shadow."

With their intelligence, they would only pursue the water path where they had disappeared, attacking frantically.

But the end of that water path was blocked by copper stones. They couldn't hold their breath and swim underwater for too long, and the stones were very solid, not something they could easily break through.

Some people were still concerned:

"If they can't get in here, what if they destroy our defensive towers tonight?"

"Yeah, if we go back to the defensive towers during the day, we won't have anywhere to defend from."

At this moment, Jiu Cai Rong also swam back to the dormitory through the water route. Seeing everyone gathered in a discussion, he offered an explanation:

"Don't worry. If the Crow King were still alive, it would definitely have destroyed the defensive towers beforehand. But with the current intelligence of the crow flock, they won't attack defensive towers that are already empty."

It was like animals; they wouldn't attack dirt or rocks without reason, only living beings.

If every beast in a common low-level wild beast pack were as intelligent as humans, the world would have been taken over by beasts long ago.

As long as the "taunt" wasn't present, they were safe.

Of course, they might still attack out of spite.

But there was nothing they could do.

They couldn't defend at night and had to log off, leaving the defensive towers empty.

Of course, this was precisely why they had to kill the Crow King today!

A commander's role in war was too significant. If the enemy leader wasn't dead, they might truly see them retreat and, under the cover of night, bring their forces to destroy the defensive towers, throwing the manor into chaos.

"I'm back."

"Wait, there are three more behind, cover them for a bit."

"Almost there."

Soon, all personnel had retreated, and a large copper stone blocked the entrance.

The crows that had followed them to dive into the water struggled, trying to peck at the large copper stone, but it was useless. Instead, due to holding their breath, they could only quickly turn back and head ashore.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like they had actually succeeded?

Being able to outsmart them like this was too satisfying.

Indeed, playing games with one's brain was the mark of a true high-level player.

Compared to the mindless monster-slaying of the Fourth Calamity, or repeatedly respawning at resurrection points in online games, or defending against large-scale sieges with their lives, this was what playing a game was truly like, full of realism!

"Alright, everyone is safe. We're already cooking. There might not be a bonfire party like on the surface, but we'll make do during wartime."

In the dormitory, Jiu Cai Rong began to give instructions:

"The more than ten blacksmiths who have died are currently 'Queuing to Log In.' Don't rush to revive; the first revival costs a full ten magic coins, which most personal savings won't cover. We will later convert your spoils of war to offset this."

"Furthermore, preliminary estimates suggest revivals will be at the manor's main gate. The moment you appear, you'll be attacked."

"Yan Hua Four Brothers, you all entered the dormitory together, right? You used your lives to lure the Crow King. The manor will record this merit. I suggest you wait until this expansion pack is over to revive; it will be safer that way."

The four brothers who were called out were indeed watching from the [Tourists Logging In] area after their deaths.

They thought about it. Since they weren't logging in tomorrow anyway, the four of them could go shopping, post on the forums, and upload personal videos to see if they could gain some traction.

At this moment, after comforting the fallen blacksmiths, Jiu Cai Rong continued, "There's still some time before dinner. If you're feeling bored, you can check out the blacksmith shop on the second floor above the dormitories."

"But no forging. Forging rough blanks will make noise and could alert the crows who are searching outside."

"Dao Jiujiu has already figured out the formal process for making magic artifacts. All that's needed is to reheat the magic artifact blanks, add materials, and engrave them. It won't make much noise, so you can give it a try. After all, we've already made plenty of magic artifact blanks, enough to go around!"

"I'm sure you all gathered a lot of crow materials during the day, so you can go forge and try your luck. Who knows, you might get something great! It'll make fighting monsters tomorrow even easier."

After he said this, everyone felt it made perfect sense.

Weren't they fighting the crows precisely for blacksmithing?

The main quest of the Sword Forging Manor was blacksmithing!

Fighting monsters was just for gathering materials.

If they didn't go play a few rounds now and try their luck with some weapons, how could they possibly sleep?

So, a group of people excitedly headed to the second-floor blacksmith shop, acting as if they were at a casino.

After Jiu Cai Rong sent them off, Dao Jiujiu, Su Yu Niang, and the leaders of several teams began to summarize the day's battle.

Jiu Cai Rong frowned deeply. "At night, our defenses are too weak. I don't think this is a designer's oversight."

Dao Jiujiu also nodded. After showcasing his superb skills, he had become the top blacksmith in the blacksmith shop. He said, "Could it be that we need to complete some kind of main quest to be able to operate at night?"

They really wanted to complain. What kind of game had such strict hours, like working from 8 AM to 7 PM?

It was too predictable.

Su Yu Niang analyzed, "That's true. We should be active at night, blacksmithing, patrolling, and standing guard. That would be a normal night in the manor."

In reality, they just wanted to play longer.

"Therefore, there must be a way for us to be active at night." A sense of urgency rose among them.