Chen Fan

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Chen Fan (陈凡) 1
Alias(es)	Young Master; Station Chief Chen 1 22
Species/Race	Human 6
Gender	Male 1
Affiliation	Leader of Jiangbei Chen Lineage Station No. 37; eldest legitimate son of the North River Chen Family 18 47
Occupation/Role	Station chief; Builder; camp architect and leader 3 18
Status	Active; developing Station No. 37 into a self-sufficient sanctuary 50
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Level 1 Builder	3	Awakens the Builder ability through the Eternal Night Lord panel and constructs a Level 1 Beast Trap using complete blueprints. His construction is more efficient and reliable than that of ordinary Builders. 3 10
Level 2 Eerie Flame	12	Spends ten Eerie Stones to expand the camp’s Safety Zone to a 20-meter diameter; chooses reduced defensive-structure consumption. 12
Level 3 Eerie Flame — “Qualitative Change”	42	Expands the Safety Zone to 50 meters and reduces the construction cost of each camp building by one Eerie Stone, up to 10,000 uses daily during the Rainy Season. 42
Level 4 Arrow Fort	43	Upgrades a Level 3 Arrow Tower for 100 Eerie Stones; selects faster firing, creating a concealed fixed defense capable of rapidly firing flaming arrows. 43

Background

Chen Fan dies in a modern-world traffic accident and awakens in the body of a similarly named young man at a desolate Chen Family station in the Wasteland. The station is supplied with only three Eerie Stones, leaving its Eerie Fire with roughly three days of fuel before Eternal Night exposes its occupants to Strange Entities. 1

The former owner of his body was the Chen Family’s eldest legitimate son. His mother, a Level 4 Builder, died while he was young; his father later remarried into the Sky-Pacifying Merchant Association and gained the support of a Level 5 Builder attendant. After failing to awaken as a special cultivator at sixteen, Chen Fan lost his standing and was assigned to the abandoned Station No. 37 under procedures designed to leave him isolated and vulnerable. 5 6 17

After awakening the Eternal Night Lord panel, Chen Fan becomes a Builder with access to complete Construction Blueprints. Rather than return immediately to the Chen Family and depend on its recognition, he chooses to stockpile resources, fortify Station No. 37, and establish an independent foundation. 3

When the early Rainy Season makes evacuation impossible, Chen Fan publicly presents himself to rescued survivors as an heir who inherited architectural knowledge from his late mother. He accepts their allegiance, consolidates their resources, and turns the outpost into a fortified settlement. 16 18 19

Personality

Chen Fan is pragmatic, patient, and highly risk-conscious. He consistently favors sustainable advantages—traps, farmland, walls, infrastructure, and resource reserves—over immediate profit or recognition. He recognizes that openly selling extremely cheap Eerie Fires would attract dangerous attention, and he postpones the plan despite its potential value. 3 5

As a leader, he evaluates people by their usefulness and reliability, sometimes making harsh calculations in life-or-death situations. He sends Little Qiu to retrieve an Exotic Treasure because he considers Zhou Mo more valuable to the camp, but he also recognizes and rewards courage when it is shown. 23 24

Despite his cold practicality, Chen Fan cares for those who follow him. He ensures Crippled Monkey eats when rations are scarce, distributes strengthening mushrooms among the camp, and ultimately defines his ambition not as ruling the world, but as building a safe home for himself and the people who trust him. 6 36 50

Abilities & Skills

Eternal Night Lord Panel

Chen Fan possesses a visible system panel that provides blueprints, building information, structure upgrades, and item identification unavailable to ordinary Builders.

• Uses complete Construction Blueprints at full efficiency, reducing material loss and construction costs. 3
• Initially obtains blueprints for the City Wall, Farmland, Arrow Tower, Wooden Hut, Sacrificial Tower, and the special Beast Trap. 6
• Identifies Exotic Treasures, including the Monkey-Head Mushroom Seed and Human Blood Strange Flower, without relying on local appraisers. 8 47
• Repairs damaged structures through the panel; he restores the City Wall’s Meatworm Wraith damage with one Eerie Stone. 34

Builder Construction

Though classified as a Level 1 Builder, Chen Fan can construct advanced facilities so long as he has the required blueprints and resources. He considers the panel’s construction functions more important than ordinary Builder cultivation. 10 49

• Constructs Beast Traps capable of harming Strange Entities and repeatedly reuses them with hemp ropes. 3 7
• Builds and upgrades defensive structures, including Arrow Towers, City Walls, Ground Spikes, and the Arrow Fort. 19 37 43
• Creates farmland, warehouses, housing, a Sacrificial Tower, and a Breeding Farm for captured Doppelganger Wraiths. 12 35 45
• Controls City Wall entrances by thought and repositions defenses onto the wall’s walkway. 19

Territory Engineering

Chen Fan applies the panel’s structures in unconventional ways, developing infrastructure beyond their intended defensive purpose.

• Discovers that Copper Pipes extend the Eerie Fire Safety Zone by half a meter on either side, allowing his territory to spread beyond the camp. 33
• Connects Arrow Towers directly to the Eerie Fire, eliminating manual reloading and enabling sustained use of Arrow Rain Storm. 33
• Creates a rainwater heating system and later uses Ground Spikes as pistons to drive a continuous hot-water system. 33 37
• Develops crude Ground Spike-powered carts and the Three-Wheeler 2.0 for resource recovery and Copper Pipe highway construction. 38 39 43
• Plans an illuminated highway between Station No. 37 and North River Market, intended to support trade and expand his influence. 43

Cultivation

Chen Fan remains a Level 1 Cultivator physically, despite his exceptional building capabilities. He begins considering cultivation after recognizing that even modest physical improvements may determine survival outside his territory. 49

• Receives a Cultivation Manual from Zhou Mo. 49
• Estimates that advancing to Level 2 would require absorbing roughly fifty Eerie Stones and at least six months of practice with his current manual. 49
• Relies primarily on camp defenses and armed subordinates rather than personal combat. 40 42

Notable Items

• Ghosthide Map — Gifted by an unnamed green-robed traveler; displays the status of nearby Eerie Fires. 4
• Building Replication Stone — A consumed Exotic Treasure that duplicated a Level 2 Arrow Tower. 10
• Human Blood Strange Flower — Green-grade Exotic Treasure grown from an unidentified seed planted by Crippled Monkey; required to reveal the function of a special piece of Ghost Hide. 42 47
• Cultivation Manual — Given by Zhou Mo for Chen Fan’s personal cultivation. 49

Relationships

• Crippled Monkey — Personal servant, earliest companion, and trusted confidant. He remains loyal despite being sent to the Wasteland to die alongside Chen Fan and contributes to hunting, farming, construction, and camp security. 1 12 50
• Wang Kui — Former Qiuhe Wang Family stationmaster who initially aids Chen Fan as an “investment.” He later abandons the Wang Family, contributes his resources, and becomes one of Chen Fan’s principal subordinates. 6 16
• Zhou Mo — Level 2 cultivator, swordsman, and Chen Fan’s appointed security chief. Chen Fan supports his cultivation in exchange for his protection of the camp. 21 27
• Qi Chong — Cautious former station chief assigned to manage farmland and crops; he becomes one of Chen Fan’s trusted workers and reports internal concerns directly to him. 21 35 49
• A Le — Qi Chong’s brother and former pig farmer. Chen Fan assigns him to livestock and later to the Doppelganger Wraith Breeding Farm. 35 45
• Chen Quan — Younger half-brother and political rival who arranged Chen Fan’s assignment to the abandoned Station No. 37. Chen Fan’s survival threatens Quan’s position as heir. 17 30 31
• Chen Family Patriarch — Chen Fan’s father. He regrets neglecting Chen Fan but resolves to either support him as successor or eliminate him if he becomes hostile to the Chen Family. 31 47
• Unnamed green-robed traveler — A passing survivor who gives Chen Fan vital Wasteland survival advice and a Ghosthide Map, promising further aid if Chen Fan survives three months. 4

Story Role / Major Arcs

Exile and awakening

Stranded with Crippled Monkey at Station No. 37, Chen Fan survives the first days of Eternal Night by accepting paying travelers, using the Eternal Night Lord panel, and constructing Beast Traps to harvest Eerie Stones from low-level Strange Entities. 1 3 8

Founding Station No. 37

Chen Fan upgrades the Eerie Flame, builds Arrow Towers and farmland, and gradually attracts Wang Kui and other survivors. When the Rainy Season arrives early, he accepts their resources and allegiance, builds a City Wall, and establishes himself as station chief. 12 16 18 19 22

Surviving the Strange Tide

During the Meatworm Wraith tide, Chen Fan expends Eerie Stones to maintain the Arrow Tower’s defenses while Zhou Mo risks his life to retrieve additional fuel. The wraiths are ultimately carried away by the wind, allowing the camp to survive and collect the tide’s spoils. 26 27

Expansion through infrastructure

With Station No. 37 apparently the Wasteland’s last surviving outpost, Chen Fan develops Copper Pipe territory extensions, heating systems, vehicles, expanded defenses, farms, and a breeding operation for Doppelganger Wraiths. His focus shifts from mere survival toward transportation, trade, and a durable independent settlement. 33 37 43 45

Building a home

By upgrading a Wooden Hut into a Stone House with a Shadow-Viewing Formation, Chen Fan clarifies his underlying goal: not conquest, but a secure sanctuary where he and his followers can live without constant fear of death. 50