Chapter 10: The Legacy Left by the Mistress for the Young Master?
????The stone in his hand glimred with a gentle white light, still faintly warm from where it had just tumbled out of the little girl’s mouth.
??A Unique Treasure.
??Last night, he’d slaughtered thirty-seven Monkey-Head Ghouls before a single Unique Treasure finally dropped. Yet today, after dispatching that mother and daughter pair, another had fallen into his hands.
??It seems the drop rate is much higher for mother-daughter duos.
??That pair must have been the “False Man-Ghosts” the Green-robed Man had warned about—creatures lacking any real strength, disguising themselves as humans, sneaking toward the Camp just before dusk. As long as you saw through their deception, they were easy prey.
??False Man-Ghosts couldn’t handle Ghoststones either—the stones would burn them at a touch.
??“I get it now,” Crippled Monkey muttered, scratching the back of his head, guilt written all over his face. “Good thing you woke up, Young Master, or we’d have missed out on sothing big. I just didn’t want to hurt anyone by mistake, you know?”
??“How could it be a mistake?” Chen Fan shook his head, chuckling softly. “No Camp would ever take them in without Ghoststones. Even if they had been real people, driving them off would still an they’d die out in the Eternal Night.”
??“And besides, even if we did hurt soone by accident—so what?” He shrugged. “That’s just fate.”
??“You have to accept it.”
??“Anyway, you’ve slept enough during the day, haven’t you? Tonight could be a real battle. Eat sothing and keep your strength up—we’ll need it.”
??...
??As the sun slipped below the horizon, darkness surged in like a tidal wave, swallowing the world in an instant.
??Eternal Night had fallen.
??This was the third night Chen Fan and Crippled Monkey had survived together on the Wasteland.
??But compared to the past two nights, this one felt much safer.
??“Young Master,” Crippled Monkey said, sitting by the Ghostfire. He gnawed on a hard biscuit, running his hand affectionately over the sturdy Arrow Tower at his side, eyes shining with excitent. “From what I know, any Builder who can create an Arrow Tower isn’t just so apprentice who can only set up Ghostfire!”
??“To hire a Builder to make an Arrow Tower for your Camp, you’d need at least 150 Ghoststones!”
??“If the old master knew you could already build Arrow Towers, he’d regret everything he’s done all these years.”
??He left sothing unsaid.
??Who told the Young Master the details of the Arrow Tower blueprint?
??Could it be... the Mistress left him a secret legacy?
??Chen Fan only smiled and said nothing, eyes lowering to the stone in his hand. This was a real treasure.
??—
??【Unique Treasure Na】: Building Duplication Stone
??【Grade】: White
??【Effect】: Can be used on any building of Level 2 or lower. Instantly creates an exact duplicate of the target building.
??—
??Right now, the most valuable asset in the Camp was, without question, the Level 2 Arrow Tower.
??Without hesitation, Chen Fan pressed the stone to the side of the Arrow Tower. Instantly, a phantom tower of white light shimred into view. The stone lted into a milky liquid, which flowed into the spectral tower—almost imdiately, the new Arrow Tower solidified, settling on the opposite side of the Ghostfire.
??One on the left, one on the right: the Ghostfire stood perfectly protected between them.
??Arrow Towers could only strike at creatures that entered the Camp’s boundaries. If you placed them too close to the edge, they’d be the first to get hit by Ghostbeasts and would break easily. It was much safer to keep them well within the Camp.
??He took out another Ghoststone and slotted it into the base of the brand-new Arrow Tower.
??Now, he was down to just three Ghoststones left.
??Almost nothing in reserve.
??Crippled Monkey, who had been daydreaming about the future, stared in stunned silence at the sight. It took ages before he managed to stamr, “Young Master...”
??“Hmm?”
??“You really need to get married and have children soon.”
??“What for?”
??“You’re just a Level 1 Builder now, but your talent is leagues beyond any Builder I’ve ever heard of. You’re destined to beco a legend. If you start a family early, one day you’ll have an entire Clan of your own.”
??Chen Fan just laughed, shaking his head. Crippled Monkey was obsessed with the idea of family—always hoping the Chen Clan would finally acknowledge his worth, and now hoping Chen Fan would start a Clan of his own.
??Level 1 Builder...
??That was the cultivation system of this world.
??The higher a Builder’s level, the stronger their body, the less it cost them to construct buildings, and the higher the grade of structures they could create.
??But—
??For him, all of that was aningless.
??With enough resources and blueprints, he could build top-tier structures right now. The Builders of this world were like castrated versions, crippled by their lack of a System Panel. Only with a Panel could one beco a true Builder.
??In other words—
??This world was basically a ga world, but sothing had gone wrong in the transition. Now, none of the natives had a player’s System Panel. Only he could see one, making him the sole true player here.
??After all, his Eternal Night Lord Panel wasn’t anything special.
??It was just a player’s system interface, really.
??Absorbing Ghoststones to level up only had one effect: strengthening his body. Of course, with enough Ghoststones he’d want to level up eventually, but for now, it was a low priority.
??Just then—
??The darkness outside the Camp began to churn and roil, as if so massive creature was stirring. Sharp, piercing screeches echoed through the night.
??“They’re coming!”
??Chen Fan sprang to his feet, ducked beneath the Arrow Tower’s supports, and scanned the Camp with narrowed eyes. “Sothing big is coming. It might break into the Camp. Get ready.”
??“If it gets inside, don’t try to fight it—leave it to the Arrow Towers!”
??He hadn’t set any Beast Traps tonight, in case that huge one from last night returned. And now, it seed, it had.
??He drew a shaky breath, heart pounding. He had no idea how strong the enemy might be—or whether these two Level 2 Arrow Towers would be enough.
??If they weren’t...
??There’d be nowhere to run.
??The next instant—
??“Screee! Screee! Screee!”
??A shrill, ear-splitting cry tore through the night. Suddenly, a hulking Monkey-Head Ghoul—nearly two ters tall—burst from the darkness and charged straight into the Camp!
??It was incredibly fast!
??It was the first ti he’d seen a Ghostbeast dare to rush right into a Camp protected by Ghostfire.
??The black miasma swirling around it radiated a suffocating pressure.
??Humans were pitifully small before such monsters.
??But at the sa mont, the twin Arrow Towers flanking the Ghostfire swiveled their ballistae in unison, locking onto the giant Monkey-Head Ghoul. The Ghoststones embedded in their bases flared with a brief white glow.
??And then—
??Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
??Bolts sliced through the night, whistling past Chen Fan and Crippled Monkey’s ears.
??Multiple bolts struck the giant Monkey-Head Ghoul—not especially fast, but deadly accurate—hitting the mark more than seventy percent of the ti.
??Wounded and howling in agony, the monster abandoned all thought of revenge and tore out of the Camp at breakneck speed, vanishing into the darkness.
??“It ran?”
??Chen Fan peered out from behind the Arrow Tower, eyes searching the darkness as calm returned. A flicker of regret crossed his face.
??“What a pity.”
??“If that Monkey-Head Ghoul had died, it would definitely have dropped sothing good.”
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