The silver light from the House Title Deed exploded, sweeping through the entire hall like a tidal wave!
In an instant, the entire safe house seemed to be shaken by an invisible giant hand, emitting a deep rumble as its area suddenly expanded!
The cracked and mottled walls were like being flattened by a bulldozer, and under some mighty rule, they instantly rejoined and were repainted, looking brand new!
The old items like the sofa and coffee table twisted and changed in the strange light, their contours rapidly reorganizing...
Su Lin's mind shook, as a profound thought came from the House Title Deed.
Upgrading to a Level 2 Safe House would grant the homeowner the authority to reshape the layout and decor of the house!
He almost thoughtlessly immersed his mind into the familiar little nest where he spent four years after graduating from university in his previous life.
After all, a golden nest or a silver nest is not as good as my own nest.
As soon as the thought fell, the light of rules flowed in response.
The dilapidated post-apocalyptic shack shed its decaying shell like shedding skin, revealing the outline of a cozy and simple rented house from his previous life.
Although only five or six-tenths of the original appearance was restored due to area and structural issues, it already warmed Su Lin's heart.
This familiar environment made him feel a sense of belonging.
"Boom..."
Dust rose slightly, and the noise from the transformation finally subsided.
The House Title Deed flipped by itself, pausing at the mechanism blueprint page, with two blank pages suddenly lighting up.
This meant he had two more new mechanism slots!
At the same time, the upgrade bars for doors, windows, walls, construction table, and decomposition table were simultaneously activated: [0/100].
As for the next level of the safe house, it was boldly marked as [0/1000].
Su Lin clutched the remaining forty cold Shadow Cores in his pocket with some toothache.
These things wouldn't last forever.
After a little consideration, he decisively placed all the Shadow Cores into the construction table.
Progress bar: [40/100].
"Like playing a game..."
Su Lin shook his head and sighed.
What a crazy world!
...
Another half hour passed!
It was close to eleven o'clock.
Su Lin's expression was tense, his face serious as he looked outside the door.
Su Tongxi softly reminded, "Brother Kirin, the intensity of the beast wave facing a Level 2 Safe House is vastly different from that of a Level 1. Although the strength of the incoming Shadow Beasts hasn't changed, their numbers have increased to another level."
Although she wasn't sure how many monsters a Level 1 Safe House would attract, she was well aware of the scale for a Level 2.
In the past, she had hidden in this house, worried sick while witnessing Mr. Su and Mrs. Su struggling to fend off the beast wave.
"The initial beast wave for a Level 2 Safe House has as many as 100 beasts, with each of the first four waves increasing by 50. Although they won't all rush in at once, if they aren't killed in time, they'll keep accumulating."
"Brother Kirin, you also heard the noises around, everyone is desperately killing Shadow Beasts to avoid getting trapped in a subsequent beast sea!"
Su Tongxi emphasized with a grave tone, "And this wave at eleven o'clock will amount to 300 beasts! By the last wave at eleven-thirty, the number will surge to 400!"
Tragic incidents where entire families were annihilated due to being overrun by a sea of Shadow Beasts after rashly upgrading their safe house during the apocalypse's early days were not uncommon!
However, with the power of the Earth Spike she just witnessed, it should handle a significant portion of the Shadow Beasts a Level 2 Safe House faces in her memory.
As for the other ones that slip through...
Su Tongxi's gaze was directed at the towering, menacing reinforced impact walls on both sides of the door.
Their performance would be crucial.
She thought the problem wouldn't be major.
Otherwise, even if she didn't want to dampen Su Lin's enthusiasm and confidence, she would try to dissuade him.
"Understood." Su Lin nodded in agreement while unbuttoning the holster, ready to draw his gun at any time.
Eleven o'clock sharp.
The shouts of battle throughout the village suddenly intensified.
Outside Su Lin's door, a surge of beasts rushed like a flood, bringing with it a fishy wind!
Su Lin was mentally prepared, his expression calm.
The rapidly increasing beast horde didn't allow any moment to breathe; this wave of 300 Shadow Beasts, with a hundred in the front row, roared and charged forward one by one without hesitation.
"Screech, screech, screech, screech—!"
The Earth Spike bloomed in response, a sharp metallic screech forming a continuous line!
The front-row Shadow Beasts were instantly turned into sieves, spraying filthy blood!
However, the numbers were just too large, as the beasts trampled over their fallen comrades, forcibly squeezing through the deadly gaps of the spiked hell, charging straight for the doorway!
Bang—!
The fierce wind howled!
The impact walls, likewise enhanced ten times and doubled in number, finally revealed their edge tonight!
A ferocious Shadow Beast resembling a wild boar and half the height of a person charged to the door in an instant.
The impact wall diagonally facing the doorway suddenly struck out like a heavy cannon firing! Its speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye!
The wild boar-shaped Shadow Beast had no chance to even let out a final cry before being squashed into a twisted meat patty by the immense force, shot backward like a cannonball, the massive shockwave carrying shattered bones and flesh, plowing a clear path through the beast horde!
The shocking scene announced the official participation of the tenfold reinforced impact wall!
Total time spent: 9 minutes and 26 seconds.
The fifth wave of the beast tide, under the violent cooperation of spikes and wall impacts, turned into a field of corpses slowly sinking into the shadows.
Meanwhile, Su Lin's keen ears caught the sound of gunfire from nearby safe houses one after another.
Firelight erupted in the heavy night!
The sounds of fighting and shouting around also became more urgent and fierce.
Clearly.
The neighbors were already forced to the brink by the beast tide, having no choice but to use firearms.
After all, even Su Lin, who owned a tenfold reinforced mechanism, took a full nine minutes to deal with this wave.
The predicament faced by others could be imagined.
For them, the last few waves of the beast tide could only be endured until midnight, while waiting for the Shadow Beasts to dissipate according to the rules, to survive tonight's crisis.
And safe houses like Su Lin's, capable of completely exterminating each wave of the beast tide, almost didn't exist!
11:30 p.m.
The last wave of the beast tide arrived tonight!
Gunfire became increasingly intense, sounding almost every few dozen seconds.
On Su Lin's side, facing the simultaneous onslaught of over a hundred Shadow Beasts, the beasts continued to replenish in endless waves.
Even though the mechanisms were ferocious, in the face of the absolute number of impacts, there were still beasts that slipped through the net, using their bizarre speed and form to roar through the firepower net, claws reaching directly inside the door!
He was forced to use his handgun.
The .45 caliber bullet accurately pierced the head of the Shadow Beast lunging in front of him!
"Brother Kirin!" Su Tongxi exclaimed, her short bow fully drawn, swiftly following up with a kill.
"It's okay!" Su Lin repressed the heartache.
This one bullet is worth 20 copper coins!
After spending 15 minutes, the battle finally ended.
He hadn't handled a gun for several years before crossing over, and given the rapid speed of the Shadow Beasts, it was inevitable that shots would occasionally go astray.
During this wave of assault, he used 7 bullets to patch the leaks.
A total of 140 copper coins!
Which was one-fifth of his morning earnings from selling goods!
"Hiss..."
Heartache to the extreme.
During the subsequent battlefield cleanup, the ground was littered with Shadow Cores, so full that he and Su Tongxi needed to use brooms to clean them up within half an hour.
Thus, tonight's crisis was declared over.
While sweeping the ground, Su Lin suddenly looked up towards a certain spot in the night.
He hadn't forgotten Su Tongxi's words.
The Shadow Beasts that attacked the previous two nights only came in groups of four or five per wave.
He wasn't stupid, he could deduce there was someone secretly guarding them.
...Grandfather or Second Uncle.
But why was tonight the standard attack?
Was it to test his changes?
Or...
...
The stroke of midnight sounded like a pardon, and the murderous aura engulfing the village suddenly dissipated.
The survivors looked at the chaotic surroundings, each breaking into a cold sweat.
Family members looked at each other, and finally, the weary faces broke into relieved smiles.
At this very moment.
At the rear door of the Su Family's Old Mansion.
Old Su, wearing white long pants, bare-chested, held a giant sword as wide as a half-door panel, stood like an iron tower.
His naked upper body was muscular and well-defined, forming a standard inverted triangle figure, far stronger than any middle-aged man.
The only exception was a large patch of skin near his shoulder on his right side, which was glaringly black, with dense, red and black alternating blood lines bulging, the taut skin surface uneven, a sight that was terrifying!
However, Old Su was long accustomed to the spreading poison on his back.
At the moment the Shadow Beasts dissipated at midnight, a trace of undisguisable urgency, anxiety, and worry flashed deep in his bright eyes.
Footsteps approached from his side.
Zhao Yaxin wore black tactical clothing, holding a rifle, with a long saber on her back, her graceful figure accentuated by tightly fitted clothes, adding a touch of sensuality and valiance to her austere appearance.
She had just retreated from the front door's defensive line.
"The beast tide has receded."
Her voice carried a trace of barely noticeable fatigue, her eyes falling on the tense shoulders and back of Old Su, "Old master, leave the house to me, you..."
"I'm going to see that boy!"
Old Su abruptly interrupted her, his tone resolute, his bloodshot tiger eyes brimmed with impatience and unease that nearly overflowed.
He gripped the giant sword tightly, the heavy blade dragging across the ground, scraping out a piercing screech, as his towering figure crashed into the thick darkness without looking back.