...
Time passed swiftly.
In the blink of an eye, several days went by.
"Tonight is the 17th night of the rainy season."
As dusk fell, Chen Fan, from the parapet, looked out on the Eerie-Fire-illuminated abyss pit, murmuring to himself.
The camp had been undisturbed over the past three days.
Though a few Eerie Creatures had found their way in, there had been no Eerie Tide at all.
And the Phase Two of the Meat Grinder had been pushed ahead at a steady pace.
Twenty Cannon Towers had already been deployed for 100 meters towards the end of the canyon; there was a Cannon Tower every five meters.
Furthermore, they had also buried twenty Level 3 Eerie Fire along the canyon.
Once activated, these Eerie Fires would instantly brighten the canyon, turning it into part of the camp.
Twenty from Phase Two and thirty-eight from Phase One; his home base was now fortified with fifty-eight Cannon Towers.
These past few days, he hadn't brought in much. The camp still had a little over 32,000 Eerie Stones, which would not be enough for Phase Two of the Meat Grinder. He was now hungering for an Eerie Tide to come.
He had already prepared himself. Let the tide come quickly, or he'd soon be destitute.
"Eerie Stones, come! Eerie Stones, come!"
"Come, Eerie Stones! Come, Eerie Stones!"
Chen Fan sat on the city wall, holding a porcelain bowl in both hands, taking small sips of bone broth and muttering.
It was getting cold. As he remained in his chair on the city wall, his hands were turning red from the cold.
This bowl of bone broth warmed his stomach considerably.
Zhou Mo had gotten a few strips of cured meat from an abandoned station, which all the camp greatly treasured. They couldn't bear to stir-fry the meat; instead, they sliced a bit to make a broth so that they could enjoy it for a long time.
Just then, a sudden disturbance came from the canyon.
Taken aback, he hurriedly set the bowl aside, propped himself up on the parapet, and looked towards the canyon.
A glint of anticipation flashed in his eyes. Was an Eerie Tide coming?
He was already fully prepared. Let the Eerie Tide come, and fiercely.
Could it be "Qian Xi" coming to him?
"They got quite a number."
Chen Fan stared intently into the canyon, his expression increasingly serious. Although he hadn't seen a single Eerie Creature emerge from the canyon yet, he could feel the Altars' energy consumption suddenly spike before dropping to zero. That meant there was nothing left to repair.
The unmanned outposts out there were under attack. The rate at which the Altars mended had failed to keep up with the damage.
He had set up ten more unmanned outposts over the past few days.
Now, three of them had been destroyed in a flash.
The next moment, dozens of fleshy balls, limbless and about the size of a baby, turned up within camp range.
Each ball was covered with several palm-sized human faces, each contorted in extreme agony. They charged into the abyss pit and slammed right into the Level 3 city wall beneath him, dissolving into puddles of green, viscous liquid.
"..."
Chen Fan was stunned for a moment, but soon snapped out of it. The Eerie Tide, laying waste to his unmanned outposts, was his old acquaintance --- the Flesh Worm Ghost Eerie Tide.
"Perfect timing!"
He grinned widely. If it were any other Eerie Tide of this scale, he might have been worried. The Flesh Worm Ghost Eerie Tide was an exception.
These Eerie Creatures had no limbs and couldn't move on their own, just going wherever the wind blew.
Back at the old camp, the Flesh Worm Ghost Eerie Tide had brought him the greatest crisis ever. At that time, his walls were at Level 1.
There was no Altar back then to repair the walls. He could only rely on Archery Towers to handle the Flesh Worm Ghosts, but some still slipped through and hit the walls, posing a great threat.
But now it was different.
The mountain itself surrounding the abyss pit was terribly hard. The Flesh Worm Ghosts' self-destruction was negligible to it and would hardly take any toll.
And beneath him was a Level 3 city wall, with the Altar continuously repairing it.
In other words, no matter how tremendous the Flesh Worm Ghost Eerie Tide was, it posed little danger to him. Instead, it was a source of Eerie Stones.
Only...
This Flesh Worm Ghost Eerie Tide seemed much smaller in number than last time. After a while, only a few dozen more drifted into the abyss pit via the canyon, a tiny number.
"..."
With a frown, Chen Fan grabbed a charcoal pencil from the side and started sketching on the floor. He first marked the locations of the unmanned outposts. Then, based on the sequence of their destruction and the wind direction outside, he had a fix on the route of the Flesh Worm Ghost Eerie Tide tonight.
"Heading towards Ping City?"
He looked at the arrows he had drawn on the ground. Judging from this route, this Eerie Tide was moving in Ping City's direction.
It was only passing by the Nameless Mountain, instead of dashing right into the canyon. Only scattered Flesh Worm Ghosts might stray in.
"This won't do..."
Chen Fan leaned out, peering into the canyon, muttering distractedly, "Ping City definitely can't handle such a feast. Let me have it. How many Eerie Stones would that be? Maybe even a couple of Extraordinary Treasures to drop."
He returned his attention to the sketch on the ground, then marked two more unmanned outposts that had just been destroyed. This Eerie Tide was approaching the Nameless Mountain. If he didn't act soon, they would pass by and proceed on to Ping City.
Just then—
He suddenly thought of something.
He turned his gaze toward the "Wind Tower" behind him, then took a deep breath. "Execute the 'Storm Suction' for all you're worth!"
The next moment!
Pale cold fire flowed from the Level 5 Eerie Fire all through the copper pipes into the first Eerie Fire in the canyon.
"Boom."
The Level 3 Eerie Fire buried underground was ignited.
The darkness within a fifty-meter radius instantly faded away. Pale yellow firelight illuminated the vicinity.
Then, one, two, three...
One by one, the twenty Eerie Fires in the canyon had all been ignited. The canyon, previously shrouded in darkness, was now lit up from head to tail, bright as day.
From a high vantage point, one could see, within the endless darkness, an Eerie Fire zone shaped like a hammer or a "T," inset in the mountain.
Cave No. 1 opened straight onto the canyon.
Now, from the battlement, Chen Fan could make out, through the misty rain, that the massive Eerie Tide, drifting on the wind, was brushing past the canyon entrance, as several stragglers rolled into the canyon.
Seeing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but grin.
"Guys."
"It's been a few days. Do you remember me?"
"Unlimited Eerie Stone supply! Full power activation!"
The next moment!
The Level 2 Wind Tower behind the city wall was activated.
The two Wind-Warding Pearls inlaid in the Copper Eagle's eye sockets burst into light, emitting an eerie indigo glow. Those countless pores all over the tower began to moan.
The air ahead got violently pulled in.
Until a massive, twisted air-current vortex emerged!
All the dust got swept up from the ground.
The powerful suction sucked the passing Flesh Worm Ghost Eerie Tide through the canyon into the abyss pit.
"Pah!"
Chen Fan wiped the rainwater from his face, struggling to keep his eyes open as he strained to see if the Flesh Worm Ghost Eerie Tide had been drawn in. But visibility was dropping rapidly; even the rain was being inhaled into the cave.
He couldn't see anything.
But immediately after, through the rainy mist, he saw a huge number of Flesh Worm Ghosts rumbling across the ground, but more, caught in the air current, were hurtling straight towards him.
"Well done, Little Windy!"
Chen Fan grinned excitedly at this sight. Without the slightest hesitation, he jogged down from the city wall and constructed a 20-meter-wide Level 2 wall behind the Wind Tower.
It joined the cave ceiling, sealing off Cave No. 1 with no crevices.
He then connected copper pipes to both the Wind Tower and this new Level 2 wall.
...
The Wind Tower stood behind the Level 3 wall.
He couldn't have the Level-3 wall retract into the ground; otherwise, the Flesh Worm Ghosts pulled in would wreak havoc on the camp. But neither could it touch the cave ceiling. Or else, from behind the Level 3 wall, the Wind Tower couldn't pull air currents in from outside.
Therefore, there had to be a gap between the Level 3 wall and the cave ceiling such that the Wind Tower could work.
But this way, Flesh Worm Ghosts might be drawn in through the gap, threatening to harm the structures and people inside.
So—
The solution was to erect a Level 2 wall behind the Wind Tower, which protected the camp and also allowed the Wind Tower to perform its function.