"Building name": Arrow Tower.

The next moment—

The ten Eerie Stones on the ground suddenly shattered, turning into milky-White Grade liquid that flew into the air.

At the same time, the phantom outline of an Arrow Tower appeared in the air, formed from White Grade lines. As the milky-White Grade liquid poured into it, the illusory tower gradually became solid and took on a rustic appearance.

With a thought from Chen Fan,

the Arrow Tower settled firmly near the Eerie Fire, right in the center of the Camp.

"Building name": Arrow Tower.

"Building grade": White Grade.

"Building level": Level 1.

"Building effect": Can inflict some damage on low-level ghost beings. Automatically attacks strange entities that enter the range of the Eerie Fire, or attacks other creatures at the lord's command. Requires one Eerie Stone to be inserted as an energy supply for attacks.

PS: Upgrading to Level 2 requires 20 Eerie Stones.

At a glance,

the wooden Arrow Tower stood a little over three meters tall in the middle of the Camp. It was pitch-black from top to bottom, while the Crossbow Mechanism mounted at its peak gleamed brilliantly. Its mechanism reflected a cold light in the sun, each gear meshing perfectly with the next.

At the base of the Arrow Tower was a slot just large enough to hold one Eerie Stone.

"Not bad."

A trace of pride slipped into Chen Fan's eyes. Having this thing gave him a much stronger sense of security. He had scouted Stationmaster King's camp before. Although that camp looked decent, it had nothing like an Arrow Tower.

Fully automatic attacks.

There was no need to station an archer inside the Arrow Tower, and it even had a repeating Crossbow Mechanism. Its power looked considerable—certainly greater than a Beast Trap's, at any rate.

After all, a Beast Trap's main purpose was to restrain strange entities until the night passed. Once dawn came, any strange entities unable to escape would die in the light.

But...

He hesitated a little. The strange entity that had escaped the Beast Trap last night had to be a big one. Could this Level-1 Arrow Tower really hold it off?

He still had twenty-five Eerie Stones.

Should I upgrade it to Level 2 first?

After thinking it over, he stopped hesitating. Better to have too much firepower than too little. If that big thing really came tonight and his Arrow Tower wasn't powerful enough, he wouldn't live to spend his Eerie Stones, no matter how many he saved.

The next moment!

At his mental command, twenty Eerie Stones on the ground shattered, turning into milky-White Grade liquid that poured into the Arrow Tower.

Immediately afterward, a panel popped up in front of him.

"Arrow Tower upgraded to Level 2."

"Please select an upgrade path."

"1: Add a repeating Crossbow Mechanism to the top of the Arrow Tower."

"2: Increase the Crossbow Mechanism's power."

"3: Increase the Crossbow Mechanism's firing speed."

"Huh?"

Surprise flashed through Chen Fan's eyes. He truly hadn't expected building upgrades to offer a choice of paths. Would he get to choose an upgrade path every time?

All three upgrades would directly improve the Arrow Tower's strength.

However, the first and third would both improve its effectiveness against weaker enemies. What he needed to deal with was the big thing that might attack tonight, so the second option was naturally the best fit.

Once he confirmed the second upgrade path,

the Arrow Tower before him began to change slowly. The formerly all-wooden tower grew a stone framework as though it were alive, becoming a sturdier structure of wood and stone.

The bolts on the Crossbow Mechanism at its peak became darker, harder, and slightly larger.

Just one look was enough to imagine what being pierced by one would feel like.

"Nice!"

He nodded in satisfaction and inserted an Eerie Stone into the slot at the base of the Arrow Tower. The Level 2 Arrow Tower looked far more reassuring.

I wonder what level that thing that escaped the Beast Trap last night was. Level 2 should be enough to deal with it, right?

Even if it wasn't, there was nothing more he could do.

After all, this was as far as he could go.

"Phew..."

Only after finishing everything did he prepare to get some sleep in peace. He had four Eerie Stones left and wouldn't build the Farmland for now. He still didn't know how quickly the Arrow Tower consumed Eerie Stones, so he needed to keep some ammunition in reserve.

The Eerie Fire could only last one more night, too. He had to set some aside for that as well.

He had killed thirty-seven Monkey-Head Ghosts last night.

But—

Only one exotic treasure had dropped: that Monkey-Head Mushroom Seed. The drop rate really was low.

As for a Level-3 Arrow Tower...

He took a look. Upgrading to a Level-3 Arrow Tower required fifty Eerie Stones. He couldn't possibly afford that for now.

Sleep first.

Chen Fan slept quite soundly, until the commotion outside woke him from his groggy slumber.

He stretched and instinctively reached for the cigarette pack on his bedside table, intending to have a smoke to start the day, but his hand found nothing. He froze briefly, then looked around and remembered where he was. Shaking his head with a smile, he washed up quickly and stepped outside.

The sky was growing dark.

The sun was about to set behind the Mountain. In no more than the time it took three sticks of incense to burn, Eternal Night would descend.

Crippled Monkey stood outside in the Camp, Spear in hand, watching a Mother and Daughter warily. "Get lost right now," he rasped, "or don't blame me for showing no mercy!"

"What's going on?"

Chen Fan stretched lazily, then looked at the sturdy Arrow Tower in the center of the Camp and smiled in satisfaction.

"Young Master."

Crippled Monkey hurried over with a limp. "This Mother and Daughter don't have any Eerie Stones, but they want to stay the night."

"Good sirs..."

The instant the middle-aged woman outside the Camp saw Chen Fan, she dropped to her knees on the Wasteland. She wore ragged clothes and a headscarf, and her face bore all the exhaustion and weathering of a long journey. Her complexion was pale, her voice dry, hoarse, and bitter.

"There were originally three of us, but bandits killed my daughter's father along the way. Now only the two of us are left, and they stole all our travel money."

"It's almost dark."

"Please, sir, have mercy and let us stay tonight. Otherwise... otherwise..."

Behind the woman stood a slender, graceful girl of about sixteen or seventeen. She clutched her mother's clothes tightly, her eyes filled with terror at the approaching darkness. She looked utterly pitiful.

"Not bad."

Chen Fan glanced at the setting sun, then let his gaze rest at the feet of the Mother and Daughter. Suddenly, he smiled. Taking the Spear from Crippled Monkey without the slightest hesitation, he thrust it sharply forward, striking the woman squarely in the head.

Blood sprayed.

He immediately pulled the spear free and rushed out of the Camp. In two or three strides, he caught the girl, who had realized something was wrong and begun to flee, and drove the spear straight into her back, through her heart!

His movements were clean and decisive.

Beneath the twilight sky, dusk deepened.

The light cast by the Bonfire offered an ample sense of security, like the only Camp on the lonely Wasteland.

Chen Fan walked back into the Camp, leaning on his Spear. He waved a stone glowing with White Light in his hand and smiled at Crippled Monkey. "Next time you run into something like this, don't chase them away. Kill them on the spot."

"See? Otherwise, wouldn't you have missed out on this opportunity?"

Behind him, the bodies of the Mother and Daughter rapidly shrank after death, turning into strange entities even smaller than Monkey-Head Ghosts. They resembled dead infants and were utterly horrifying.