"You Can Fucking Do That?"

"Our ancestors really had it right."

"There's strength in numbers."

Only an Incense Stick's worth of time remained before eternal night descended.

On the outskirts of the Camp, in the Rain, Chen Fan gazed at the incredibly crude, ramshackle... "Cart" before him and let out a long, awed breath. Once everyone in the Camp had pitched in, it had taken about two hours for this world's first Cart to come into existence.

Bamboo Pole Entity bones formed the drive shaft's framework.

Several reasonably flat Wooden Boards had been nailed together to serve as the vehicle's main body.

There was no bodywork, no windows.

Just a lone, thick Wooden Board, roughly thirty centimeters thick.

A stout Copper Pipe, cut down by more than half to about twenty centimeters high, had been embedded flush into the center of the Wooden Board. At the bottom of the pipe sat a "Ground Spikes" trap wrapped in Monkey hide, serving as a "Ground-Spike Engine" to provide power.

Besides that—

Several gears carved with a "Mantis Blade" had been installed beneath the Wooden Board, connected to the four Wheels through the drive shaft. The Wheels were made of wood, with Monkey-Head Entity hide wrapped around their exteriors.

At the center of the Wooden Board, directly above the "engine," was another, thinner Copper Pipe that served as a Control Lever.

As long as someone kept pressing this Copper Pipe down by hand, the Ground Spikes would trigger.

Through the gears, the drive shaft would convert the thrust generated by the Ground Spikes into the Wheels' rotary motion, propelling the Wooden Board forward.

But...

"..."

The corner of Chen Fan's mouth twitched. It really was far too crude. For now, he had no idea how fast it could go, nor could he guarantee its sturdiness. It might fall apart the moment it started, or start up just fine only to fall apart halfway after leaving the Camp.

"Zhou Mo, give it a try."

"I'm on it!"

Without a trace of fear in his eyes, Zhou Mo eagerly hopped onto the Wooden Board. Under the gazes of Crippled Monkey and the others, he slowly gripped the thin Copper Pipe the Station Master had named the "Control Lever."

Then he jabbed it down hard.

Instantly!

The Ground Spikes activated.

The thrust traveled along the drive shaft to the gears, setting the Wheels spinning.

The vehicle... moved.

Zhou Mo's eyes lit up. Feeling the Ground Spikes beneath him spring back into place, he jabbed the thin Copper Pipe down again. Another burst of thrust traveled through the drive shaft to the Wheels, making them spin rapidly.

Once, twice, three times.

The Wheels gradually picked up speed.

The incredibly crude Plank Cart sped out of the Camp and raced across the Wasteland beyond. The wooden wheels wrapped in Monkey-Head Entity hide handled the Wasteland's terrain quite well.

"Woo-hoo!!"

Everyone watched Zhou Mo's figure disappear into the distance, listening to his excited whoops from afar.

"It's that fast?!"

Disbelief flashed through Crippled Monkey's eyes as he murmured, "That's much faster than an ordinary camel. It's almost as fast as a horse, even. And... it doesn't tire you out."

"Actually, it does tire you out a little."

Chen Fan sighed helplessly. The Control Lever had to be jabbed against the Ground Spikes over and over by hand. That took physical effort. He certainly couldn't manage many thrusts himself.

Just then—

Zhou Mo's terrified shout came from the distant Rain. "Station Master, how do I stop?!"

Only half an incense stick's worth of time remained before eternal night descended. Anyone who strayed too far now might as well find somewhere to wait for death.

"Let go!"

"It's still moving!"

"Wait a little after letting go."

The Plank Cart gradually came to a stop. Zhou Mo shouted through the Rain again, "Station Master, how do I turn around?"

"Jump off, pick up the Cart, and turn it to face the Camp."

Braking depended entirely on releasing the accelerator.

Steering depended entirely on carrying the vehicle.

There was no helping it.

With such crude conditions, this was all they could manage.

Before long.

Standing on the Wooden Board, Zhou Mo excitedly drove the Plank Cart back to the Camp. But he misjudged the distance. Even though he released the Control Lever early, the vehicle's momentum carried it straight out of the Camp again.

Only after Zhou Mo returned once more, panting with the entire Cart slung over his shoulder, did he look at Chen Fan with a face full of excitement.

"Station Master!"

"With this thing, I can visit Stations farther away and bring back more eerie stones and resources!"

"You're pretty strong."

Chen Fan glanced at Zhou Mo. "This is just the first prototype. Over the next few days, have Qi Chong and his partner drive it around nearby while they're out farming during the day. See if any problems crop up."

"Keep visiting the nearby Stations for now."

"I'll give it to you once the testing's done."

"That way, it won't fall apart halfway through a trip and leave you stranded."

Come to think of it.

Zhou Mo really was the only one who could use this thing. Nobody else had his strength.

Once he ran out of strength, the engine would stall.

When there was time, they could improve it and see whether it could be made automatic, without needing human power.

"All right!"

"It's almost dark. Those who need to sleep, go to sleep. Those on wall duty, get up there. Dismissed."

Half an incense stick later.

Endless darkness surged in once again, enveloping the entire world. Only the light emitted by the Eerie Fire formed a safety zone that enclosed the entire Camp.

Atop the City Wall.

Chen Fan stood inside the crude rain shelter Qi Chong had built on the wall that day. Feeling the cool night breeze and wisps of Rain, he gazed into the Gray Fog outside the Camp, wondering whether tonight would be as peaceful as the night before.

"They're here!"

Almost the instant night fell, Chen Fan saw one strange entity after another emerge from the Gray Fog.

There were Monkey-Head Entities.

There were Bamboo Pole Entities.

There were also Mantis Entities.

And their familiar old friend, the Female Wraith, seated in a sedan chair carried by four Bamboo Pole Entities.

The same bunch of people—no, the same bunch of wraiths!

But there were far more strange entities than last time. Previously, there had been barely a hundred. Tonight, a glance revealed over three hundred, surrounding the Camp from every direction, ready to attack at any moment.

Clearly.

The reason last night had been so peaceful was most likely that this Female Wraith had intercepted all the strange entities passing nearby.

Huh?

Why were there nearly a hundred Meatworm Wraiths tied up and dumped on the ground, writhing in front of the other strange entities?

Had the strange entities been fighting among themselves?

"Everyone, get ready."

Chen Fan turned toward the ten Level-2 Arrow Towers and two Level-3 Arrow Towers installed atop the City Wall and relaxed a little. They should be able to hold. He still had over three hundred eerie stones, so if things went wrong, he could strengthen the Camp again at any time!

The Female Wraith clearly possessed some intelligence. Perhaps she believed her previous defeat had resulted from splitting her forces by sending them out in waves. This time, the strange entities had barely finished gathering near the Camp.

With a burst of piercing, deranged laughter, she launched an all-out assault.

No probing attacks, no feints.

One Bamboo Pole Entity after another, each over three meters tall, strode out of the Gray Fog toward the Camp, moving faster and faster. The instant they charged into the Camp, they scooped up the Meatworm Wraiths beside them and hurled them at the City Wall with all their strength.

Several Arrow Towers atop the City Wall activated immediately.

Bolt after bolt struck the Meatworm Wraiths arcing through the air with pinpoint accuracy.

They burst into blooms of Ghostly Green Flame in midair.

But some slipped through, slamming heavily into the surface of the City Wall. The instant the ghostly green liquid burst out, the wall began to corrode. Before long, the impact sites were riddled with pits.

They were straight-up using Meatworm Wraiths as hand grenades.

And honestly.

It worked pretty damn well.

"Fuck!"

Chen Fan crouched low behind the Parapet and poked his head out to watch the explosions filling the air outside the wall. He couldn't help cursing.

"You can fucking do that?"

He finally knew exactly what that Female Wraith had been doing last night!

She had apparently followed the meatworm wraith tide and abducted a batch of Meatworm Wraiths to use as hand grenades.