"Even so, we should try not to give anyone grounds to criticize us."
The youth slowly shook his head and said softly, "The rainy nights have arrived early. A strange tide will most likely run rampant, so our focus now has to be on surviving this rainy season. You and I..."
Before he could finish—
A servant strode over from a distance, leaned toward his ear, and spoke quietly.
"Young Master, the Three Great Families of Northbank City have gathered to discuss how to handle the rainy season. The master wants you to join them."
"Understood."
The youth's expression remained perfectly calm, but as he rose, he could not stop the corners of his mouth from lifting slightly.
They were clearly grooming him as the successor.
Sooner or later, he would become the Chen Family Head.
As for Chen Fan...
He was probably waiting to die in despair out in the wilderness right now. An irrelevant nobody, no longer worth any attention.
When eternal night fell and strange entities ran rampant, only staying near Eerie Fire could keep people safe.
But—
Certain areas formed natural "Eerie Fire zones," which remained safe without a daily supply of eerie stone. These areas varied in size, and human settlements had gradually formed within them.
Northbank City stood within a fairly large Natural Eerie Fire Zone.
That natural geographical advantage was precisely why it had recovered so quickly, even after being nearly wiped out thirty-seven years ago.
Otherwise, simply maintaining the Eerie Fire for a city that large would consume vast amounts of eerie stone every day. No faction could afford it.
No one knew how Natural Eerie Fire Zones formed, or whether they might suddenly stop working one day.
But so far—
No one had heard of a Natural Eerie Fire Zone suddenly failing.
The Wasteland.
North River Chen Family Station 37.
Chen Fan stood in the Torrential Rain, looking at the group outside the Camp's safety zone. There were seven people in total, all brought over from nearby Stations by Wang Kui.
Crippled Monkey was searching them one by one, confiscating Message Talismans and any other means of communicating with the outside world. He also placed an eerie stone in each person's palm to prevent impostors from slipping among them.
Just then—
"Station Master Chen."
A Middle-Aged Man in coarse linen clothing, carrying a long saber, looked toward Chen Fan in the Torrential Rain and spoke with a slight tremor in his voice. "Stationmaster King gave me a rough rundown of the situation. Our lives are in your hands now. If we really survive the rainy season, my life will belong to you from then on, Station Master Chen!"
"If you tell me to go east, I'll never go west!"
He had been a Station Master serving the Qiuhe Wang Family. The moment he learned that the rainy season had arrived early and his family could not send help—
Utter despair had flooded his mind.
Being a Station Master meant living on a knife's edge. He knew all too well what this meant. Just as he was about to slit his throat, he heard Wang Kui shouting his name outside the hut. Half believing, half doubting, he followed him here.
Even if it was a lie, he would accept it. After all, it was the only lifeline he had found.
Only after arriving at this Camp and seeing the two Arrow Towers standing in the rain had a spark of hope finally kindled within him. Perhaps... perhaps he really could survive, however slim that hope might be.
"..."
Chen Fan calmly walked up to the Middle-Aged Man carrying the saber. Two shallow cuts were still faintly visible on his neck, the blood seeping from them already diluted by the Torrential Rain.
These were Hesitation Cuts.
Few people could bring themselves to make a clean, decisive cut when killing themselves with a blade. Anyone who could possessed extraordinary mental fortitude.
Such Hesitation Cuts formed when people wavered and could not bring themselves to do it.
"It looks like if Wang Kui had arrived even a moment later, you wouldn't be standing here."
"Station Master Chen."
The Middle-Aged Man's face was full of bitterness as he said shakily, "You're in the same line of work as us. You know that even if you walk into the darkness after night falls, you won't die immediately. But hardly anyone can endure waiting to die in despair in that darkness."
"If I really have to die, I'd rather die by my own blade than wait for death in despair."
"Everyone!"
Chen Fan looked toward the others. Instead of continuing the conversation with the Middle-Aged Man, he swept his gaze across their faces and said hoarsely, "You all belong to the three great factions. You've probably heard my name at least once."
"My name is Chen Fan."
"I'm an heir to the North River Chen Family, and my birth mother was a Level 4 Builder. Family disputes have made me a constant target over the years, until I eventually came here to serve as Station Master of this formerly abandoned Station."
"At this point, I'll speak plainly. Before my birth mother died, she left me a Builder Inheritance. I deliberately distanced myself from the family's eyes and ears to build up my strength here in secret."
"These two Level 2 Arrow Towers were my work."
"From now on—"
"As long as you follow my orders, I, Chen Fan, will do everything I can to keep all of you alive through the rainy season."
"Once the rainy season ends, I won't stop you, whether you choose to stay or leave."
The six exchanged glances, then each took a bundle from inside his clothing and set it on the ground, saying hoarsely, "We're yours to command, Station Master!"
"Good!"
Chen Fan glanced at the Ghosthide Map, then turned to Wang Kui beside him and gave another order. "Time is short. We can't reach any Stations farther away. Two nearby Stations were destroyed last night."
"You and Little Qiu, pick two more men and split up to visit those abandoned Stations. Bring back anything useful. They might still have some Eerie-Stone Reserves."
"Yes."
After Wang Kui left—
Four men remained, all grown men. No women stayed at the Stations. All four were from other Stations.
None of the six was a traveler. As it happened, no passing travelers had stayed overnight at their Stations over the past two days.
Mostly, that was because the nearby Stations were rather remote, with few people passing through.
"..."
Chen Fan turned toward the Wooden Hut behind him. He found that his identity as a son of the Chen Family and the reputation of the birth mother he had never met were quite useful. In this world, having those two things to back him made earning an initial measure of Trust much easier.
The Station business in the Wasteland was a monopoly. Almost every Station had been established by the Three Great Families, with none set up by independent operators. Only a handful had been established by factions from Flat City.
"Station Master."
A man with a face covered in pockmarks hurried over through the heavy rain and asked, "Is there anything we can do?"
He was the Station Master of North River Chen Family Station 36. With the rainy season arriving early, he too had been abandoned in the Wasteland.
During a trip back to the family on leave, he had once seen Chen Fan from afar. Back then, Chen Fan had kept his head lowered as he walked, looking terribly weak and insecure—nothing like his bearing now. At the time, he had even lamented how the rightful eldest son of the first wife had been reduced to a position beneath that of a servant.
Now it seemed—
It had all been an act, a disguise meant to preserve himself until he could seize a chance to rise.
He had known it. People from these great families were more calculating than the last. Not one of them was simple or straightforward.
But...
In this rainy season, when they were all but waiting to die, a Young Master with a Builder Inheritance who had spent years lying low, enduring, and waiting to rise had become his only hope of survival.
He swore!
No one under heaven wanted Chen Fan to rise successfully more than he did right now!
"..."
Standing in the Torrential Rain, Chen Fan turned toward the pockmarked Middle-Aged Man beside him and said calmly and softly, "I know you. The Station Master of North River Chen Family Station 36, nicknamed Wang Mazi."
"Take the other three men and dismantle this Wooden Hut as quickly as possible before night falls."
Disbelief first flashed through Wang Mazi's eyes. Then he hurriedly nodded and called the men behind him over to start work, without even asking why they were dismantling the only Wooden Hut that could shelter them from the wind and rain.
He swore!
He had never had any dealings with Chen Fan. He had only heard stories about him through gossip and seen him from afar during his last visit to the family. Chen Fan had not even lifted his head then.
Yet Chen Fan knew his name, and even which Station he served at.
That was enough to prove that while Chen Fan had been lying low and biding his time, seemingly resigned to his fate and waiting to die without contesting anything, he had actually been doing plenty of work in secret. He had even thoroughly investigated a Station Master as utterly insignificant within the family as him.
The depth of that calculation... frightened him!
Yet at the same time, the faint hope in his heart grew a little stronger.
Perhaps...
Following Chen Fan really could get him through the rainy season alive.
Before you continue