He Called It an Arrow Cart

"Kill our way back?"

Zhou Mo did not understand what that meant at first. His legs were still trembling uncontrollably as he looked toward the darkening sky beyond the city. There was only a little over half an hour until Eternal Night descended.

Time was running out.

What was more.

He knew the stationmaster was a highly promising Builder, but a Builder's methods mainly lay in reinforcing the camp. Their combat capability outside the camp was practically nonexistent. How were they supposed to fight their way out?

"How far are those Impostors from the camp?"

"Not far. They're behind that hill, near Wang Kui's former camp."

"Let's go."

"..."

Chen Fan climbed down from the City Wall and came to the outskirts of the camp. Looking at the "Wooden Hut Three-Wheeler" parked in the wilderness, he immediately crafted an Arrow Tower and placed it on the cargo bed.

Then he upgraded it repeatedly.

He raised it all the way to Level 4 in one go.

When it reached Level 3, the upgrade path he chose was—

"Crossbow bolts will carry lightning element, effectively paralyzing enemies and dealing a certain amount of chain damage to up to three creatures near the target struck."

He knew about Strange Entities like Impostors.

Their defenses were not strong.

Their main trait was their ability to confuse people, and this effect worked very well against Impostors.

When it reached Level 4, he chose to increase its firing speed.

Very soon—

The Arrow Tower transformed into an "Arrow Fort," shrinking several times in size and embedding itself into the "Wooden Hut Three-Wheeler."

This was the fusion of an "Arrow Tower" and a "Three-Wheeler."

He called it—

"Arrow Cart."

"Get on. You'll operate the Power Rod."

Chen Fan jumped onto the cart first and stood before the control lever. Looking at the stunned Zhou Mo beside him, he said, "Time is tight. Stop standing there."

"Alright!"

Zhou Mo did not waste any more time. He immediately jumped onto the flatbed. Witnessing his companion's death with his own eyes had left his eyes bloodshot, veins bulging across his hands as he tightly gripped the Power Rod. Once the stationmaster adjusted the direction, he threw all his strength into pushing the Power Rod.

With the power boost.

The Arrow Cart slowly drove out of the camp and vanished into the rainy gloom.

"Young Master."

Chen Fan had left too quickly. He had not even spoken much with them. Only the few of them remained in the camp, but—

"What a genius idea."

Crippled Monkey looked in the direction his young master had left, dazed. "That's right. As long as you combine an Arrow Tower with a carriage, it becomes a mobile Arrow Tower. Why had no one used it like this before?"

"Actually, some had. It just never became widespread, for many reasons." Wang Kui replied with a complicated expression, "For example... Arrow Towers can't attack creatures outside the camp."

"That's true. In that case... wait, how can Young Master's Arrow Cart attack creatures outside the camp?"

"I don't know, but I believe the stationmaster must have thought of that."

"What if he didn't?"

Crippled Monkey paced anxiously in place. His young master had left too quickly and had not even told them the coordinates of those Impostors. Even if he wanted to catch up, he would not know where to find his young master.

Jiangbei Chen Family Station No. 37 was not very far from Wang Kui's former station.

After crossing a hill.

They saw that group of Impostors.

They were gathered inside Wang Kui's former station.

More than twenty Impostors were clearly visible, copulating wildly in the rain. Their expressions were extremely bizarre, a madness bordering on frenzy.

"..."

Chen Fan stood at the front of the Three-Wheeler, expressionlessly watching the scene before him. He was actually somewhat angry. Trapped on the Rainy Season Wasteland, every human resource was extraordinarily precious.

An absolutely nonrenewable resource.

In his eyes, one person was worth far more than 100 Eerie Stones. One person had died now.

Which meant he had no choice but to arrange for someone in the camp doing other work to become Zhou Mo's assistant.

There had originally been ten people in the camp. Now there were only nine.

Just then—

That group of Impostors noticed them as well. With a piercing shriek, the Impostors hiding inside the Wooden Hut rushed out too. Together with those outside, they roared and charged toward Chen Fan and Zhou Mo!

They were slightly faster than a middle-aged man sprinting at full speed.

They were nothing like the mother and daughter he had encountered before. There was not the slightest disguise as they roared and charged at them, madness flashing in their eyes.

One hundred meters.

Eighty meters.

Fifty meters.

In the blink of an eye.

They were less than thirty meters away, yet the Arrow Fort embedded in the Three-Wheeler showed no reaction. Outside the camp, the Arrow Fort simply could not activate.

Chen Fan waited no longer.

As the three Eerie Stones in his palm shattered, a phantom of Eerie Fire formed from white lines gradually condensed on the cargo bed and solidified.

The Impostors had now charged into the camp's range.

The Arrow Fort, which had shown no reaction until now, flashed with a streak of white light inside its pitch-black opening.

The next moment—

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!"

Bolt after bolt wrapped in lightning, like spears hurled by the Thunder Lord, shot at extreme speed toward the Strange Entities about to reach the Three-Wheeler.

The first Impostor struck froze in place almost instantly, its entire body charred black. After staggering forward a few steps, it collapsed to the ground. At the same time, a flash of lightning surged from its body and shot toward the three nearest Impostors.

In the blink of an eye.

Those three Impostors caught in the blast also instantly turned to charcoal.

This was the upgrade path chosen when the Arrow Fort reached Level 3.

Upon hitting a target, it would deal a certain amount of chain damage and paralysis to up to three nearby creatures.

The main effect was actually paralysis, and the damage was low. But Impostors' defenses were truly not much to speak of. Even low damage was enough to instantly kill them.

Every crossbow bolt could easily take the lives of three Impostors.

However.

"..."

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes slightly and looked toward the Impostors rushing out of the Wooden Hut through the rain in the distance. There were far more than thirty Impostors here, and this batch charging out from the Wooden Hut was clearly younger.

If the Impostors outside at the start had all been middle-aged.

Then the Impostors rushing out from inside this time were young people.

"So that's how it is."

He looked thoughtfully at one middle-aged female Impostor and turned the cart around. While continuously moving away from the Impostors, he ensured they remained within his Arrow Tower's attack range, constantly slaughtering the Impostors charging at the front.

After killing all the middle-aged Impostors that had charged out at the beginning.

The Arrow Tower fell silent.

He did not continue attacking.

Instead, he began crafting multiple Beast Traps and placing them along the path the Impostors were taking as they followed the Three-Wheeler. He wanted to capture them alive.

Impostors possessed a certain degree of intelligence, but not much. One after another, the Impostors stepped into Beast Traps while chasing the Three-Wheeler in circles, becoming trapped in place and roaring helplessly as they struggled to move.

About the time it took to drink a cup of tea later.

The Three-Wheeler came to a stop.

Not a single Impostor remained standing. The older Impostors were all dead, while the younger ones were all bound by Beast Traps, brutality and madness flashing in their eyes as they struggled nonstop.

"..."

Chen Fan stood on the Three-Wheeler and looked toward the Wooden Hut in Wang Kui's camp not far away. He had already circled the Wooden Hut several times, but not a single Impostor had rushed out. He looked at Zhou Mo behind him and said softly.

"There should be some Impostor cubs inside. Go check the situation."

"I'll cover you from outside."

(End of Chapter)