I Build a Shelter in the Eternal Night

"Hey."

Chen Fan looked at the crocodile and called out, "You can keep the toy for yourself to play with. If you’re up for it, could you help me dig a big hole in the cliff face next to this one? Just like the cave behind me."

He gestured with both hands as he spoke.

He wanted to make his meaning as clear as possible.

The crocodile, lying on the ground, tilted its head to look at Chen Fan, who was waving his arms about on the City Wall. It tried hard to understand what Chen Fan was communicating. After a moment, it walked over to the cliff on the left, tentatively dug out a small pit with its claws, and then looked back at Chen Fan.

"Yes, that’s it!"

Chen Fan nodded emphatically in satisfaction. Fearing the crocodile couldn’t see clearly from so far away, he spread his arms wide with exaggerated movements. "But it needs to be bigger. Deeper. Just like the one behind me."

This time, the crocodile understood. It let out an excited, low roar.

Its front claws moved rapidly, continuously digging a cave into the cliff face.

’So it’s an engineering croc, huh...’

After observing for a while, a flash of surprise crossed Chen Fan’s eyes. The creature was swallowing all the dirt produced from digging the cave. He was now certain it must have a spatial pouch in its stomach, and a large one at that.

He didn’t linger. After ordering the Mountain Remains Embryo within the Ghost Fire to extend its bones into the newly excavated cave to prevent a collapse, he left the creature to its work. He had to go to sleep first.

He couldn’t hold on any longer.

...

It wasn’t until afternoon that Chen Fan stretched and walked out of the Wooden House.

Another refreshing day.

The sound of Lame Monkey and the others chatting drifted from outside the cave.

He walked outside the City Wall.

He saw the crocodile panting on the ground, its mouth wide open, clearly exhausted. Lame Monkey stood beside it, using the Godslaying Spear to pick out the dirt and crushed rock packed between the crocodile’s thick teeth one by one.

And on the cliff face to the left,

a dark, gaping cave had appeared on the precipice.

Its size was almost identical to the one he currently occupied.

Seeing Chen Fan walk out,

the crocodile’s eyes lit up. It wagged its tail as if seeking praise.

"Well done."

Chen Fan walked to the bottom of the canyon and looked at the dark, gaping cave on the nearly vertical cliff to the left. A flash of surprise crossed his eyes. He truly hadn’t expected the creature to be so efficient. A project that had taken the three of them three days to complete, this creature had finished in a single day.

Moreover...

He strode to the entrance of this new cave.

A single glance revealed it was a full fifty meters deep, much deeper than his current cave. The ground was extremely solid and level, as if smoothed by a road roller, without a single speck of excess dirt or rock.

Perfect engineering.

The Yellow-Level building, the Vehicle Workshop, finally had a place to be built.

The price was that this creature was now panting nonstop, looking completely exhausted.

That is, 127 Ghost Corpses.

"Fantastic!"

Chen Fan turned to the crocodile, gave it a thumbs-up, and grinned. "Perfect. Qi Chong, get it something good to eat."

"ROAR..."

Humans and animals may not share a language, but the expression of emotion is universal.

Although the crocodile couldn’t understand his words, it could sense his emotions from his body language and expression. It, too, let out a happy, low roar, like a child who had just been praised.

"Such a good boy."

Chen Fan quietly stuffed the Glowing Green Lantern he was holding into his clothes. Carrying it in his hand felt a little too conspicuous...

The crocodile lay down again in its usual spot below the City Wall, opening its great maw in anticipation of being fed.

...

"...

Chen Fan stood alone before the newly excavated cave. He named this one Cave No. 2.

There were four cliff faces at the bottom of the canyon.

He had carved out Cave No. 1, his main camp, in the cliff face directly opposite the canyon entrance. This newly excavated cave was in the left cliff face, and the Vehicle Workshop would be placed here.

The next moment—

The phantom image of a building, vast in size and composed of intricate white lines, slowly materialized inside the cave.

It took up the better part of the cave’s area.

Immediately after.

The shattered Ghost Stones from Cave No. 1 transformed into a ghastly green liquid that flew through the air, rapidly pouring into the phantom building.

The phantom image rapidly solidified.

It settled firmly inside Cave No. 2.

This enormous structure crouched in the shadows of the camp. It covered a massive area, its main body riveted together from materials like black stone and giant timbers. It wasn’t a single room, but a combination of several huge rooms, as coarse and menacing as a factory.

At a glance,

the most eye-catching feature was the workshop’s main entrance.

It wasn’t a pair of door panels.

Instead, it was a gigantic, protruding metal tunnel over five meters in diameter. The great door was shut tight, emanating an aura of majesty and coldness.

He walked up and gently stroked the metal tunnel. The material looked like copper.

With a thought, the great door opened.

Inside was a rather deep, straight corridor.

Lining both sides of the corridor were numerous metal gears and their connecting Copper Pipes... Yes, they were the same Copper Pipes he had piled up on the canyon floor. However, unlike his own crude methods, the placement of these Copper Pipes was extremely precise and complex.

Beneath his feet was a currently inactive conveyor belt.

Once activated,

Vehicles would be produced inside this Vehicle Workshop and sent outside via the conveyor belt.

The entire structure was filled with a kind of complex beauty.

He didn’t understand it.

But there was something he *could* understand.

"..."

Chen Fan looked at the building panel in front of him. Creating this building had consumed a full 1,000 Ghost Stones, making it the most expensive structure he had ever built.

-

[Building Name]: Vehicle Workshop.

[Building Grade]: Yellow.

[Building Level]: Level 1.

[Building Effect]: Can produce Vehicles. Currently producible Vehicles...

1: Bone Ship, can travel on the sea. Cost to build: 100 Ghost Stones, some Ghost Object Bones.

2: Skeleton Horse, can travel on land. Cost to build: 100 Ghost Stones, some Ghost Object Bones.

ps: Upgrading to Level 2 requires 2,000 Ghost Stones. Each upgrade grants a new Vehicle Blueprint.

-

’This construction cost isn’t low...’

Chen Fan’s eyes narrowed slightly. 100 Ghost Stones was equivalent to the price of ten Level 1 Arrow Towers. He spent another 100 Ghost Stones and seven or eight Ghost Object Bones to create a "Skeleton Horse." There was only text, no picture, so he had no idea what this Skeleton Horse looked like.

The next moment—

A rumbling sound came from within the Vehicle Workshop.

A few breaths later,

the workshop’s great door opened, and a "Skeleton Horse" was delivered by the conveyor belt to the waiting area outside.

"..."

Chen Fan stared at the Skeleton Horse before him, silent for a long time.

He had thought "Skeleton Horse" might just be a name, but he hadn’t expected it to be literal.

It stood quietly in the waiting area, every bone gleaming with a dark, silvery metallic luster. Milky-white Ghost Stones were embedded in its joints.

Faint, cold white flames burned in its eye sockets.

He was very familiar with them.

That was the look of burning Ghost Fire.

Its four hooves were wreathed in ethereal blue flames, a kind of exquisitely brilliant fire that was as soul-stirring as the final wail of a dying Ghost Object.

Looking at its overall appearance,

he could only give a one-word evaluation.

—Wild.

He fucking loved this goddamn Skeleton Horse. The sheer sense of ferocity it gave off just by standing there made him want to leap onto its back, gallop across the Wilderness, and roar the words, "When autumn comes on the eighth day of the ninth month, my flower’s bloom will be the death of all others."

This horse hit his G-spot perfectly.

He loved it.