I Build a Shelter in the Eternal Night

’If I can develop this group successfully, the camp will have the beginnings of a core team.’

Aside from letting everyone get familiar with each other, this evening’s discussion served another important purpose: to assess their character and abilities.

’So far, it looks pretty good. Everyone has something they excel at.’

’As for him... he excelled at discovering what others were good at.’

...

Just as everyone was getting into the lively conversation, the voices suddenly stopped, and the room became deathly quiet.

A feeling of dread instantly washed over everyone.

Chen Fan got up, walked to the entrance of the Wooden House, and pushed the door open. He gazed at the darkness rapidly sweeping in from the distant horizon and said softly, "They’re here."

Without a moment’s hesitation, he quickly shed his dry clothes, put on the still-damp linen garments by the door, grabbed a Long Spear from the nearby weapon rack, and stepped out into the heavy rain.

Even though they had moved all the resources from the other sites to the camp, there was still a shortage of clothes.

Changing clothes before going out ensured there was always a dry set to wear indoors. Otherwise, constantly wearing damp clothes would lead to a body full of rashes.

Lame Monkey was the first to react.

He quickly changed his clothes, grabbed his Godslaying Spear, and limped out into the rainy night, sticking close behind Chen Fan. ’There are too many people in the camp now,’ he thought. ’On the surface, everyone has submitted to the Young Master.’

’But people’s hearts are hard to read, and you can never be sure about things.’

’I have to stay by the Young Master’s side at all times, to protect him from any treacherous attacks.’

The others also quickly changed their clothes and rushed out into the rainy night.

...

「On the City Wall.」

Chen Fan and his men stood behind the battlements, holding an assortment of weapons and facing the downpour as they gazed outside the camp.

The endless night descended, completely shrouding the entire camp in darkness.

Overhead and all around was a profound, deep darkness.

Only the light from the Ghost Fire formed a dome over the camp, like an eggshell protecting what was inside.

These weapons were all brought by the other station masters when they sought refuge. They were just Ordinary weapons, capable of harming Low Level Ghost Objects, but of little use against High Level ones.

Weapon Category Exotic Treasures, like the one Lame Monkey wielded, were still quite effective against High Level Ghost Objects.

"RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE..."

Waves of rustling sounds rose from the darkness outside the camp, like a passing swarm of insects. They couldn’t see through the darkness, but they could hear the sounds approaching clearly.

The sound alone, suggesting their vast numbers, was enough to strike fear into one’s heart.

Zhou Mo subconsciously held his breath and gripped the hilt of his blade, terrified that the slightest noise would draw the Ghost Objects from the darkness into the camp.

SKREEEEE...

A sudden, piercing shriek erupted from the darkness, like fingernails scraping repeatedly across a rusty sheet of metal—sharp and ear-splitting.

"..."

Chen Fan’s brow furrowed slightly, and he couldn’t help but tighten his grip on his Long Spear. ’Tonight is completely different from the others. The past few nights were never this chaotic.’ He had been somewhat confident before, but now, he wasn’t sure if they could withstand this.

The next moment—

A sudden burst of laughter came from the darkness.

The sound was incredibly loud and piercing.

There wasn’t a trace of mirth in the laughter, only a maniacal frenzy, as if celebrating a great vengeance and a desire to destroy everything. Mixed with the patter of the rain, it sent a chill down everyone’s spines. Wang Kui’s legs were already trembling, his face on the verge of tears.

Though they hadn’t seen a single Ghost Object, the mental pressure on them was already immense.

Immediately after.

The high-pitched laughter, which had been sweeping over them like a tempest, instantly transformed into a low, intermittent sobbing that lingered in their ears. The crying wasn’t loud, but it was soul-chilling.

The laughter grew increasingly shrill, like the cries of countless female ghosts layered one on top of another, flooding the camp like a tsunami.

Just as everyone was about to reach their mental breaking point.

The laughter stopped dead.

Then, they saw dozens of Ghost Objects charge out of the darkness and into the camp, rushing toward the City Wall with bared claws. They were a type of... humanoid Ghost Object, extremely tall—over three meters—and as thin as bamboo poles.

Their arms were exceptionally long, nearly reaching their ankles.

Their sharp, long fingers glinted with a ghastly white light.

It was a type of Ghost Object they had never seen before.

At the same time—

The two nearest Level 2 Arrow Towers on the City Wall swiveled their Crossbow Mechanisms in unison, aiming at the dozens of Ghost Objects that had charged into the camp. With a violent shudder from the mechanisms atop the towers, a Crossbow Arrow nearly as thick as a baby’s forearm shot out, becoming a black streak that cut through the heavy rain with the force of a thunderbolt and a piercing whistle.

"WHOOSH!

The Crossbow Arrow accurately pierced the chest of the foremost Ghost Object, pinning it directly to the ground. The bamboo-pole-like creature twitched a few times and then went still.

Crossbow Arrows shot out one after another.

Soon, all twenty-something Ghost Objects were shot down. Only one managed to reach the base of the City Wall, but a full-force swipe of its claw failed to even leave a white scratch on the stone.

"Phew..."

Seeing this,

Chen Fan let out a sigh of relief, the tension that had gripped him finally easing. He took his hand from inside his robe and looked down at the twenty-odd Ghost Corpses within the camp, a smile spreading across his face. He even saw a white, glowing object that had dropped beside one of the corpses.

’That’s an Exotic Treasure.’

’An Exotic Treasure finally dropped again!’

After building all the traps and Wooden Houses during the day, he had 3 Ghost Stones left.

When Wang Kui had gone to the two abandoned sites, he brought back not only some daily supplies but also 127 Ghost Stones. These stones had been the entire fortune of the other survivors, but once their sites were breached, the stones became ownerless.

It was all a windfall for him.

Now, he had a total of 130 Ghost Stones.

He kept these 130 Ghost Stones as an emergency reserve, choosing not to use them immediately.

If the number of Ghost Objects became too great for the two Arrow Towers to handle, he would build more. If a powerful Ghost Object appeared that the Level 2 Arrow Towers struggled with, he would use the stones to upgrade them to Level 3.

This gave him room to maneuver.

He would adapt to whatever came his way.

Only by being prepared could he handle the situation with ease.

The Farmland was on the left, but this wave of Ghost Objects had completely ignored it, so they hadn’t triggered the five Earth Spike traps at its edge. Tonight’s primary objective was to ensure the camp’s safety; the secondary objective was to protect the Farmland.

When this wave of Ghost Objects was completely annihilated by the Arrow Towers at the foot of the City Wall, everyone’s hearts, which had been caught in their throats, finally settled. A feeling of excitement began to grow. ’It seems... it seems... it’s actually safe in here!’

"Station Master!"

Wang Kui leaned excitedly over the battlements, looking down at the Ghost Corpses below. "From the looks of it, we could hold them off even if their numbers doubled!"

He had originally addressed him as "Young Master," but Chen Fan told them to just call him "Station Master," as "Young Master" was no longer appropriate.

So, he had changed his form of address.

"..."

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes, peering into the depths of the darkness. Although the City Wall and Arrow Towers seemed effective, he didn’t let his guard down. He knew, after all, that this was just the appetizer.

For one thing, that bizarre laughter definitely hadn’t come from these bamboo-like Ghost Objects. This meant that somewhere in the darkness, a far more powerful Ghost Object was watching the camp like a predator, ready to charge in at any moment.