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After a flurry of activity, they finally finished clearing away all the abandoned vehicles by the roadside.
They had scavenged every usable material.
In the end, they managed to find two wrecks that could still be pushed.
Besides the pickup with a tree growing in its bed, there was also a small car missing all its doors.
Both vehicles were packed to the brim with all sorts of supplies, stuffed into the cabins and piled on the seats.
They loaded the rusty parts, hoods, and metal pipes taken from the other wrecks, along with the vines salvaged from the fence, the half-dried animal hides, and the piles of bones. Layer upon layer, the materials formed two small mountains.
Gu Su had the skeletons lash everything securely with tough vines to keep it from falling off along the way, making sure not a single bit of material went to waste.
The eleven skeletons split into two groups. Five were assigned to push the pickup, while the other six worked together to push the small car.
They braced themselves against the rust-covered vehicles and trudged forward with stiff but steady steps, inching toward the Graveyard Demon.
The heavy vehicles scraped against the ground with a dull, creaking sound that rang out clearly through the silent, fog-shrouded ruins.
Gu Su held up the kindling they had brought back from the Goblin lair and used it to light a torch made from a branch wrapped in dry grass. He led the way at the front of the group.
The flickering firelight scattered the surrounding fog and illuminated the narrow path ahead.
Every so often, he stopped and looked back to check the caravan's progress.
Whenever they came to uneven ground or a spot where the vehicles got stuck, he went over and lent the skeletons a hand, helping them push the vehicles so the group could keep moving steadily.
It wasn't long before Gu Su and the skeleton squad slowly reached the Graveyard Demon, pushing the two supply-laden wrecks.
The rotting fence, the barren Weird Tree at its center, and the empty graves in front of the tent all came into clear view.
The Weird Tree standing watch over the graveyard seemed to sense their arrival. Its bare branches swayed slightly, as if responding to the returning group.
The injured skeleton that had gone into an empty grave to recover had climbed out of the mound long ago. Its bone arm had healed, and ghostly flames flickered in its hollow eye sockets as it mechanically patrolled the graveyard.
When the vehicles came into view, it happened to turn around, its eyes fixed on everything before it.
Gu Su paid the scene no mind and turned to the skeletons beside him, ordering in a low voice, "Push. Keep pushing until you're inside the graveyard."
The skeletons immediately put their backs into it, pushing the two mountains of supplies carefully through a gap in the rotting fence and inching toward the center of the graveyard.
Gu Su flipped lightly over the fence and walked straight to the extinguished Netherfire Pile in front of the tent, holding his burning torch over it.
The flames licked at the dry ashes, instantly leaping half a foot into the air. Pale blue fire, tinged with a chill, drove back some of the surrounding gloom.
The system prompt sounded in his mind:
[The Netherfire Pile has been relit. You may check resource information. Please add suitable fuel as soon as possible.] [Gold 0, Nether Energy 3, Wood 0, Stone 0, Metal 0, Gems 0, Crystals 0, Mercury 0, Sulfur 0]
Looking at the string of glaring zeroes on the panel, Gu Su couldn't help shaking his head. He cursed the unscrupulous merchant under his breath once more.
The guy had left him no room to maneuver, skimming off even the most basic resources.
Even the three paltry points of Nether Energy were absorbed automatically when Gu Su killed the Goblin Graveyard Demon near the graveyard.
They truly hadn't left Gu Su a thing.
Just then, the skeletons pushed both wrecks steadily into the graveyard.
As the supplies entered the graveyard's range, a string of system prompts popped up one after another, filling Gu Su's view:
[Collected a small amount of vines. They can be converted into 1 unit of wood.] [Collected a small amount of weeds. They can be converted into 1 unit of wood.] [Collected a rusty car hood. It can be converted into 1 unit of metal.] [Collected a discarded exhaust pipe. It can be converted into 1 unit of metal.] [Collected a broken car door. It can be converted into 1 unit of metal.] [...] [Collected a large amount of bone fragments. They can be converted into 3 units of Nether Energy or processed in another way.] [Collected a pelt. It can be converted into 3 gold coins or processed in another way.] [Collected a half-dried animal hide. It can be converted into 2 gold coins or processed in another way.] [...]
Watching the prompts refresh, a glimmer of amusement appeared in Gu Su's eyes, and his tightly pressed lips finally curled into a faint smile.
All that work along the way hadn't been for nothing. These discards, which others wouldn't even consider gray-tier junk, could be converted into a surprisingly substantial amount of resources.
He carefully read every prompt, then quickly tapped through the virtual panel, making his choices.
He set aside every material marked "can be processed in another way," leaving it unconverted for now.
After all, the bone fragments could nourish the Weird Tree, while the animal hides could be made into simple protective gear. Both were more valuable than converting them directly into gold coins or Nether Energy.
A moment later, the conversions were complete, and the panel's numbers had changed dramatically.
After taking stock, Gu Su found that he had kept one usable old pickup, a pile of bone fragments, and three intact animal hides.
He also had the [Gloomy Branch] and [Broken Red Balloon Skin] he had obtained from the Goblin Shaman.
The converted resources were plentiful too: 21 gold coins, 6 units of Nether Energy, 33 units of wood, and 39 units of metal.
The resource panel, which had been completely empty, finally looked a little less bare.
With resources in hand, the first priority was to repair the Graveyard Demon.
The easiest and most cost-effective thing to repair was naturally the rotting fence around the graveyard, which had barely served any purpose.
Gu Su hurried into the rundown tent and sat on the simple wooden bed, tapping the virtual panel with his fingertip.
He invested 10 units of metal and 10 units of wood directly into the fence repair project.
The instant the resources were consumed, a new prompt appeared on the Graveyard Demon's information panel, its words clearly visible:
[Rotting Fence repair complete. Rotting Fence upgraded to Rundown Fence. Attributes increased. Upgrade and enhancement paths unlocked.] [Rundown Fence (Level 1): Basic defensive structure. Can block low-level intruders. Units inside the fence: Defense +1. Current status: Intact] [Upgrade Path 1: Invest 10 units of stone and 100 units of Nether Energy to upgrade to Rundown Palisade (Level 2)] [Enhancement Path 1: Invest 5 units of stone, 5 units of metal, and 100 units of Nether Energy to build a branch Fence Watchtower (Level 1)] [Enhancement Path 2: Invest 8 units of wood, 3 units of metal, and 50 units of Nether Energy to reinforce the fence joints and increase impact resistance]
At the same time, a faint creaking sound came from outside the tent.
The fence at the very edge of the graveyard was visibly changing.
The rotted, broken wooden posts were replaced with sturdier timber, and a layer of rusty metal sheets covered the outside, forming a person-high metal fence.
The fence sections were firmly lashed together with tough vines and grass ropes soaked in resin, and the gaps were filled in tightly.
Even better, two rusty car doors had been joined together to form a simple gate on one side of the fence.
The edges of the doors were fastened to the fence with metal wire. The gate could swing open and shut easily while still providing a measure of defense.
Gu Su no longer had to struggle over the fence every time he went in or out, which made things much more convenient.
The fence wasn't particularly sturdy, but it was enough to withstand attacks from low-level monsters like Goblins, giving the graveyard its first proper line of defense.
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