Start Farming!

The next moment—

The ten Eerie Stones on the ground shattered instantly, turning into milky-white liquid that flowed into the Eerie Fire seed at the center of the camp. A panel slowly appeared before him.

"Eerie Fire has been upgraded to Level 2. Safe range increased to a diameter of 20 meters. Its deterrent effect on Strange Entities has been strengthened."

"Please choose an upgrade direction."

"1: Safe range increased to 30 meters."

"2: Deterrent effect on Ghost Beings moderately strengthened."

"3: Slightly reduce the consumption of city-defense structures when activated within the camp."

"..."

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes slightly. He had spent ten Eerie Stones to raise the core building, the Eerie Fire, to Level 2. Its basic effects had been enhanced, and he had once again received three upgrade directions.

He was rather curious. The native Builders of this world surely could not see this panel when upgrading buildings—so how did they decide which direction to upgrade?

Was it completely random?

After a brief moment of thought, he chose the third upgrade direction.

With two Level-2 Arrow Towers, he had some confidence in his camp's safety for now. There was no need to further strengthen the Eerie Fire's deterrence against Strange Entities. As for the first option, while practical, the third would undoubtedly yield the greatest returns in the long run.

The Arrow Towers' consumption was not particularly high.

During last night's battle, the two Arrow Towers had consumed only one-tenth of the Eerie Stones embedded in each of them. But there would certainly be more city-defense structures in the future. This upgrade direction would save him a great deal of consumption and directly raise the camp's strength.

After he made his choice—

The Eerie Fire began to change slowly. Its base became more ancient and unadorned, while two milky-white veins of energy spread across the ground like blood vessels, connecting to the bases of the two Level-2 Arrow Towers.

"Whew."

Chen Fan let out a soft breath. His camp now had a diameter of twenty meters, which was enough for the time being. Upgrading to Level 3 would require fifty Eerie Stones.

Without lingering any longer—

He immediately spent another two Eerie Stones to construct a Farmland, placing it at the edge of the camp.

Five meters long, five meters wide.

A square field.

As the phantom image of the Farmland gradually solidified in midair, a square plot of freshly tilled land appeared at the edge of the camp.

If ordinary crops, such as wheat, were planted there, their maturation cycle would be greatly shortened. But if "seed-type Exotic Treasures" were planted, their maturation cycle would not be reduced.

Still, it did not matter much.

The two piles of seeds in his hands both had fairly short maturation cycles.

"Crippled Monkey!"

Chen Fan looked toward Crippled Monkey, who was squatting beside the Eerie Fire and studying those two white veins, and shouted, "Get to work. Move all the Monkey-Head Ghost corpses out from behind the Wooden Hut and bury them in the Farmland."

"Got it!"

By the time all the Strange Entity corpses had been buried in the Farmland, it was already noon.

Chen Fan took out the Monkey-Head Mushroom Seeds and Ghoststone Vein Seeds from his pocket, burying them in the Farmland one by one. They did not need watering—at least, the panel had not mentioned it, which meant they did not need it.

After quite some time—

"Whew."

Chen Fan stood where he was, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he let out a long breath. Farming was physical labor too. There were seventeen Monkey-Head Mushroom Seeds in total.

There were twelve Ghoststone Vein Seeds in total.

He had no idea exactly how much he would harvest.

But this did remind him of something. He would certainly obtain more and more seeds in the future, and every seed had different growing conditions. For example, Monkey-Head Mushroom Seeds did not need Strange Entity corpses as fertilizer, while Ghoststone Vein Seeds did.

As the Farmland grew larger and larger, he and the ghost monkey would definitely be unable to keep up on their own.

So he had to build up a force. He needed to find people to help him farm and tend this patch of Farmland properly.

Yet when he turned his head to look at Crippled Monkey in the distance, using the Godslaying Spear to loosen the soil, Chen Fan narrowed his eyes slightly. Loyal and hardworking subordinates like Crippled Monkey were not easy to find.

"Young Master."

Crippled Monkey had finished his work as well. He limped over in a little jog, his movements looking somewhat comical, and reported with a grin, "I found a few seeds under the bed in the house just now. I couldn't tell what crops they were, so I found a corner of the Farmland and buried them there."

"Maybe they're fruit tree seeds or something. Then we won't be short on fruit in the future."

"..."

Chen Fan smiled but said nothing. They were probably wheat seeds or something similar. After all this time, whether they could still sprout was hard to say. Still, he would not say it aloud and dampen Crippled Monkey's enthusiasm.

Just then—

"Stationmaster Chen?"

A surprised voice sounded by his ear. Stationmaster Wang had somehow arrived beside the camp with his men.

"Didn't we see each other just two days ago? What is all this...?"

Wang Kui stood within the camp's boundaries, staring at the Eerie Fire that had clearly reached Level 2 and the two Arrow Towers that looked anything but friendly. His eyes were filled with confusion and bewilderment.

What was going on?

Wasn't Chen Fan the Chen Family's illegitimate son, sent to the Wasteland to die after being persecuted?

What was with these Arrow Towers?

And there were two of them?

He had hardly seen any stations with Arrow Towers. Stations were merely temporary footholds and generally faced no threat from Strange Entities. Who would spend such a great price to build Arrow Towers? They were usually placed within the family head's territory or at vital hubs.

If Chen Fan had not been an illegitimate son, it might have been understandable. The Chen Family could have sent him down to gild his résumé, then arranged for the family's Level 5 Builder to construct two Arrow Towers to escort him.

But now—

A flash of unsurprised understanding flickered in Wang Kui's eyes. The situation was now crystal clear. Chen Fan's mother had indeed left him a backup plan, and that backup plan was very likely related to a Builder.

If that was truly the case—

Then the Chen Family would regret it until their hearts and livers ached.

Though countless thoughts churned through his mind, Wang Kui showed only a hint of helplessness on his face. "Stationmaster Chen, you really had me fooled. I thought you... but this..."

"..."

Chen Fan glanced at the two large vats on the cart behind Wang Kui and chuckled. "Here to return things again? My former stationmaster seems to have borrowed quite a few things from your station."

"Stationmaster Chen, please stop making fun of me." Wang Kui turned his head aside awkwardly. "It seems the little bit of kindness I finally managed to muster ended up being wasted effort."

"Not at all."

Chen Fan shook his head and looked at Wang Kui. "I have remembered Stationmaster Wang's kindness. The things you sent last time truly helped me greatly."

"If the opportunity arises in the future, I will certainly repay you handsomely."

"Good, good, good!"

Wang Kui could not help sounding a little excited. "Then I'll head back to the station first. If anything comes up, just send someone to find me."

Leaving the cart behind—

He took his men and headed back toward his own station, his steps growing light and airy despite himself. This time, he had truly made the right bet. Chen Fan had very likely already become a Builder.

Five Eerie Stones in exchange for a Builder's goodwill.

Was there any deal more worthwhile than that?