...
With a grin, Chen Fan watched from the battlement as the group collected Eerie Stones with great efficiency.
The Storm Suction didn't fit this job.
The wind force was too strong.
Eerie Stones weren't that tough.
If not for the skin that shielded them, the Eerie Stones would have shattered against the cliffs. This kind of work had to be done by hand.
The camp was seriously short-handed.
After the rainy season, he would be recruiting a careful selection of people.
...
One shichen later,
The battlefield had finally been cleaned up.
Crippled Monkey limped up the city wall and handed over two Extraordinary Treasures. "Young Master, we only found two Extraordinary Treasures. Not all the Eerie Stones have been transferred into the warehouse. The count hasn't been tallied, either."
With the warehouse, they no longer needed to count Eerie Stones on their own.
The "Archive Room" would produce an inventory of all stored Eerie Stones and record the handler—absolutely accurate, with no human errors.
This time, there were very few Extraordinary Treasures.
Almost all were Eerie Stones.
"Alright, let me see."
With a beam, Chen Fan took the Extraordinary Treasures from the rocking chair. It was no big deal if there were not many Extraordinary Treasures; what he sought after now were Eerie Stones to complete "Phase Two" of the Meat Grinder!
Then, he could sit and wait for the Eerie King's arrival and the end of the rainy season.
Extraordinary Treasure Name:* Eerie Eye
Extraordinary Treasure Grade: Green
Extraordinary Treasure Effect: Essential for upgrading Archery Tower to Level 6. When held, provides a 10-meter radius of visibility in Perpetual Night.
"Hmm..."
Chen Fan thoughtfully held the Extraordinary Treasure for inspection—a material-type Extraordinary Treasure.
He remembered it.
To upgrade an Archery Tower to a level-5 Cannon Tower required 300 Eerie Stones and any one of several materials, two of which were Mourning Lantern and Eerie Eye.
He had been using Mourning Lanterns to build level-5 Cannon Towers lately.
Besides, he also had a green-grade Mourning Lantern for constructing a level-6 Cannon Tower. It could fire a powerful light beam. Each fire ate away at the Lantern, and it would break after five uses.
He planned to use it four times first, then erected a Level 6 Cannon Tower with it.
He hadn't had a chance for that yet.
So, why not build a level-6 Cannon Tower with the Eerie Eye first?
To upgrade a Cannon Tower to level 6, the essentials are as follows:
1: 2,000 Eerie Stones.*
2: One of the following: green-grade Mourning Lantern ×1, green-grade Eerie Eye ×1, green-grade Octagonal Snail ×1...
"How pricey..."
Chen Fan curled his lip, hoping the power justified the cost.
He hesitated no more.
After 2,000 Eerie Stones and the green Eerie Eye were consumed, a panel popped up before him as usual.
Archery Tower upgraded to level 6 Eerie-Eye Cannon Tower. Must be fixed in place; cannot be moved freely. Power increased.*
Please select upgrade direction.
1: Increased firing rate.
2: Increased power.
3: Unknown Qualitative Change.
"..."
Chen Fan displayed a wry expression.
Such a stroke of sheer luck?
Just the other day, he got the Qualitative Change for the "Storm Suction", which had proved hugely useful tonight.
From his experience,
Whenever you encounter a Qualitative Change direction, just pick it blindly. Even if you get a bad one and the structure becomes useless, it's just a waste of some Eerie Stones. But if you get a useful one, it would quite literally be a qualitative change!
"Phew..."
He drew a deep breath, then, without the slightest hesitation, turned to go down the city wall and strode into the stone house.
Take a bath!
Change clothes!
Light incenses!
Where there is a wholehearted belief, miracles happen!
Perhaps the Eerie-Eye Cannon Tower might sense his sincerity and grant what reward he wanted.
Actually, "Light incenses" was a figure of speech.
There were no incense sticks in the camp, except one stick of "Heaven-Inquiring Incense."
"I got to buy some after the rainy season ends."
Chen Fan muttered to himself while bathing. Otherwise, the ritual didn't feel complete.
"Where is the Station Master?"
Just then—
Zhou Mo, who had rushed up the city wall, swept a confused glance around, then looked toward Crippled Monkey standing nearby. "Wasn't Station Master on the wall just a little while ago?"
"Where did he go?"
"Young Master went to bathe."
"Yet another good thing?"
Zhou Mo soon jolted out of a momentary shock. Every time Station Master stumbled upon something good, he would have a bath first.
Then, Zhou Mo scratched his head with a grin.
"Then I got to congratulate Station Master on two blessings at once. I also have good news to report."
"What good news?"
"I would like to tell the Station Master personally."
"..."
Crippled Monkey pursed his lips, withdrew his gaze from Zhou Mo, and said nothing more.
...
Soon—
After bathing and changing clothes, Chen Fan resumed his place on the city wall, then confirmed the choice of the "Qualitative Change".
The moment it was confirmed,
The Cannon Tower on the city wall began to change rapidly.
Previously, the level 5 Cannon Tower was a one-meter brick cube that had a brown shade to it. The front of it had a rectangular opening, inside which hung a white paper lantern.
As the upgrade went on,
The brownish brick Cannon Tower melted fast.
In the blink of an eye, it became a... vertical "Eerie-Eye"!
One meter high!
Awfully thin.
Its surface, crisscrossed with dark-purple capillaries, felt warm and hard to touch.
No stickiness.
Deep in the pupil was a rotating dark vortex. The whites of the eye were densely bloodshot.
Next—
This vertical Eerie-Eye slowly closed, the eyelid dropping to envelop the pupil. As it stood upright on the battlement, it looked like a vertical-eye sculpture.
Only when activated would the Eerie-Eye open again.
"God damn..."
Chen Fan was stunned at the sight of this level 6 "Eerie-Eye Cannon Tower," even momentarily forgetting to check out the upgrade direction.
Upgrading Cannon Towers to levels 5 and 6 required materials.
For example, Mourning Lantern, Eerie-Eye, etc.
Any one of the given materials could do. Yet, only now did he realize that although all these materials could upgrade a Cannon Tower, the post-upgrade appearance would vary. Presumably, the attack methods differed, too.
It remained unknown which was stronger: the Cannon Tower upgraded with Eerie-Eye or the one with Mourning Lantern.
He gave the panel an examining gaze.
"Qualitative Change begins..."
"Qualitative Change complete."
"3: This Cannon Tower's attack range reduced to one meter, but its power greatly increased. (Rare)"