North River Market

"200 Eerie Stones."

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the panel before him. According to his original plan, he could have sailed through the development phase with ease, but the Rainy Season had arrived early and completely thrown his plans into disarray, catching him off guard.

Now, he had to raise the camp's strength as much as possible if he wanted any hope of surviving.

He had two choices before him.

With a total of 200 Eerie Stones, he could spend 100 Eerie Stones to upgrade both Level-2 Arrow Towers to Level 3.

Or—

Save up 320 Eerie Stones and build a circular City Wall thirty-two meters long, forming a defensive barrier within the camp.

Of course, that would only cover the safe range of Level 1 Eerie Fire, not Level 2 Eerie Fire. Building a wall around a Level 2 Eerie Fire camp would cost far too much.

As for which would boost the camp's strength the most—

Naturally, it was the latter.

With a City Wall to block the Strange Entities rushing into the camp, the Arrow Towers could fire repeatedly and frequently to the greatest possible extent, rather than being overrun by the Strange Tide.

But he did not have that many Eerie Stones on hand.

If Wang Kui could bring back enough Eerie Stones after taking in the people from the other stations, then he would build the City Wall before nightfall. If not, he could only upgrade the Arrow Towers as much as possible first and construct traps and other buildings.

He could not wait.

Last night had only been an appetizer. Whether he could survive tonight, only heaven knew.

He looked at Crippled Monkey, who was still digging up the Farmland in the distance and burying Strange Entity corpses. Quite a few Strange Entity corpses had already been buried in this patch of Farmland. For a long while, he would not need to worry about running out of fertilizer.

Yesterday, they had killed a full forty-seven maggot-like Strange Entities, yet not a single Exotic Treasure had dropped.

He somewhat missed that mother and daughter.

If he had known, he would not have killed them. He could have raised them in captivity outside the camp—who knew, perhaps he could have set up some kind of Strange Entity production line.

"North River Market."

The largest market within several hundred miles, its market master was a Level 2 Builder. It was located in the western district of Northbank City.

Because it was so famous, people often referred to going to Northbank City as going to North River Market.

The torrential rain went on without end.

Countless merchants and travelers wandered among the various shops and stalls sheltered beneath oil-paper umbrellas. Everyone knew that the Rainy Season had arrived early, and the Strange Tide that had swept across the entire Wasteland thirty-seven years ago might erupt again!

They had to make preparations in advance, just in case.

"The Rainy Season came early."

A shopkeeper from the Sky-Pacifying Merchant Association stood at the entrance, staring at the downpour outside with worry and unease written all over his face. "Who knows how many people will die this time, or whether Northbank City can hold out."

"Shopkeeper."

The waiter happened to return from outside at that moment. Braving the heavy rain, he entered the shop, took off his clothes and wrung them out hard in his hands, then casually wiped the rain from his face. "Actually, there's no need for us to be so nervous."

"Northbank City's defenses were jointly built by the North River Chen Family, the Qiuhe Wang Family, and the Wild Wolf Gang."

"That costly City Wall protects all of Northbank City as solidly as an iron barrel."

"And there's an Arrow Tower every ten steps."

"It has never been breached by Strange Entities all these years. It definitely won't be breached this time either."

"..."

The shopkeeper looked at the waiter with a complicated expression and said nothing. All he could say was that the ignorant knew no fear. If it were an ordinary Rainy Season, Northbank City's location and its vast stretches of Level 1 City Walls truly could ensure everyone's safety.

But the Rainy Season had come early this time. There was a high chance that a Strange Tide would arrive!

He had lived through the Strange Tide thirty-seven years ago.

In the end, fewer than one in a thousand people in the entire city had survived. He had witnessed it firsthand, and the reason he had survived was because he had played a clever trick. When he saw things going wrong, he slipped into the Wild Wolf Gang's core territory in advance and survived only because of the Level 3 City Wall and defenses there.

That was also why he had remained in the Sky-Pacifying Merchant Association all these years.

The Sky-Pacifying Merchant Association was now one with the North River Chen Family.

Every major power had its own core territory. The City Walls within those core territories were of higher levels, and their defensive structures were more powerful. Once a city was breached—

The core members would retreat in an emergency to their faction's core territory, where they could cling to life.

After a long while.

The shopkeeper finally stood at the entrance, clasped his hands together, and looked toward the distant, endlessly gloomy sky and pouring rain as he murmured.

"Heavens, bless us."

"I hope no Strange Tide appears."

An early Rainy Season merely made a Strange Tide more likely; it was not certain. Naturally, it would be best if no Strange Tide came.

In this world.

To die peacefully of old age was far too difficult.

Northbank City, North River Chen Family.

Within a rather large courtyard, a pale middle-aged man with unsteady steps held a Ghosthide Map in his hands and eagerly approached a youth in a pavilion to report.

"Young Master, Jiangbei Chen Family Station No. 37 is still lit. It seems its luck was good last night, and no Strange Entities attacked the station."

"But Strange Entities will become more and more active during the Rainy Season. It probably will not be so lucky tonight."

"Mm."

The youth seated in the pavilion toyed with a jade bracelet in his hand, satisfaction flashing through his eyes. He accepted the Ghosthide Map from the man and stared fixedly at Station No. 37, located in the deepest northern reaches of the Wasteland.

As though he wanted to stare the station into extinction through sheer force.

According to the plan.

That station should have gone dark long ago. After all, they had only given that brat three Eerie Stones. He had not expected it to remain lit even after several days. That meant its luck was decent; at such a remote station, passersby had actually come by and stayed the night.

But that good fortune should be at an end.

The Rainy Season had arrived early, and the Strange Tide would rage.

For a station without a single defensive structure, he had no idea how it could survive.

Although they had always called that fellow a bastard, everyone within the Chen Family knew perfectly well that he was actually the Chen Family's true eldest legitimate son from the original wife, holding the absolute rightful claim to inheritance in name.

As long as that fellow lived, he could not rest easy.

His mother was the only daughter of the Sky-Pacifying Merchant Association's president and the current matriarch of the Chen Family. So long as that fellow died, he would possess an absolute and legitimate claim to inheritance.

"Oh, right—"

The youth frowned slightly. "Are there any loopholes in sending Chen Fan into the depths of the Wasteland?"

"No."

The middle-aged man shook his head solemnly. "Everything was done according to the rules. According to the Chen Family's ancestral precepts, every Chen clansman must rotate through one of the family's stations for a year after coming of age. It was time for Chen Fan to go as well."

"We gave him three Eerie Stones before he left. That is also stipulated by the ancestral precepts."

"Everything followed procedure."

"It was only that—"

The man grinned. "We sent him to an abandoned station where practically no passersby ever go. Even if the Master investigates, he will not be able to find any fault with it."

"Besides."

"How could the Master not know about this? He had already tacitly approved it."

"After all, the Master still has to rely on that Level 5 Builder Attendant your mother brought with her."

(End of Chapter)