Chapter 58: Chapter 58: "No One Can Win Forever.
"Station Master."
Zhou Mo sat cross-legged in the Wilderness, wiping the rain from his face. He said hesitantly, "Finding a safe place to develop steadily would definitely be better."
"It’s just..."
"We went through a major crisis last night, but our gains were immense. With the resources we seized, we can not only rebuild the camp but also drastically increase its strength again."
"If we keep fueling our war with war..."
"After we kill the next three leaders they send, one by one, we might even be able to face the Ghost King head-on."
"If we go somewhere else, we’ll never have such rich rewards again."
The camp’s losses last night had been truly devastating.
Now, they didn’t even have a roof over their heads to shelter them from the rain.
"Hmm."
Chen Fan gave a slight nod and looked at the others. Zhou Mo had a point. Fortune favors the bold. Finding a place to avoid the Ghost King would certainly be safer, but they would also miss out on this kind of massive fortune.
"Zhou Mo, your idea is based on the assumption that the Ghost King’s next three leaders will come one by one. What if they come all at once?"
Wang Kui spoke up, shaking his head and refuting Zhou Mo’s idea. "Would the camp still be able to hold them off?"
"Last night, I was thinking about a problem."
"Under the Station Master’s leadership, our camp has developed extremely quickly. But there’s a major flaw: we have no line of retreat. Once we encounter an enemy, we have to win."
"If we don’t win, we die."
"Losing just once means losing everything."
"No one can win forever."
"We need to give the camp a sufficient margin for error, ensuring that even if we lose once, it won’t be a crippling blow."
"We can afford to earn a little less in the short term."
"But as long as we survive long enough, looking at it from a long-term perspective, it’s definitely a healthier way to develop than this life-or-death gambling."
"I understand what you’re saying."
"Safe places have fewer rewards. Unsafe places have great rewards, but they’re also far too dangerous."
"That’s why last night, I was actually thinking about how to solve this. Based on the camp’s current situation, I came up with a theoretical compromise. Whether it’s actually feasible is up to the Station Master to decide."
"Oh?"
Chen Fan looked at Wang Kui with some surprise. He hadn’t been able to find a suitable balance between the two options himself. "Let’s hear it."
"Station Master."
Wang Kui met Chen Fan’s gaze and took a deep breath, calming his tone as much as possible. He knew this was his moment to shine. If this plan was approved, his status in the camp would be secure.
"The current camp has one major drawback."
"Buildings like the Farmland and Warehouse can only be placed outside the City Wall, which means they risk being destroyed in an attack. There’s no helping it, since the cost of building the City Wall is too high. We don’t have enough Ghost Stones to support it."
"But—"
"This camp can be completely downsized."
"No Farmland."
"No Warehouse."
"No ranches either."
"We don’t even need things like the Sentry Towers or Sacrificial Towers. They’re all just dead weight."
"We only need three things."
"The City Wall, Arrow Towers, and Ghost Fire."
"That’s all it takes to repel enemies."
"..."
Zhou Mo shot Wang Kui a speechless look. "Did you sneak some drinks last night? I just brought back a few bottles yesterday, and you already got into them? Why don’t we just get rid of the people, too?"
"Exactly."
Wang Kui nodded with a serious expression. "We don’t need people, either. People are dead weight, too."
"The Arrow Towers can automatically attack any Ghost Objects that enter the camp’s range."
"When Ghost Objects invade, the role people can play is minimal."
"So—"
He picked up a branch from the ground and gestured on the Ghost Map. "If we can find a relatively safe place to serve as our main base, we can place all the logistical buildings like the ’Farmland’ and ’Warehouse’ there."
"Then, we build multiple ’unmanned outposts’ out in the Wilderness."
"They’ll have only a City Wall, Arrow Towers, and Ghost Fire."
"They’ll be used to attack Ghost Objects that step into the unmanned outposts."
"This way, we can both ensure the absolute safety of our rear and make sure we aren’t so far from the Wilderness that we can’t get enough Ghost Stones."
"There’s a lot of flexibility with unmanned outposts. We could even deliberately make noise to attract Ghost Objects and lure them into the outposts."
"It’s like... fishing."
"Casting one fishing net after another into a river to catch the passing Ghost Objects."
Chen Fan looked down, contemplating the plan’s feasibility. ’It’s a simple idea: strip an outpost of all its dead weight, leaving it with only one function—attack. No people means it wouldn’t matter even if the City Wall was breached. It’s equivalent to a giant "Beast Trap." Meanwhile, we’d be hiding in a safe place, avoiding major crises like the Ghost King and developing in secret. It’s both safe and profitable. And—I have the Copper Pipe. I don’t even need to build Ghost Fires. If I connect the altar to each unmanned outpost, I can repair any damage to the walls in time. These unmanned outposts would not only bring me a harvest of Ghost Stones every night, but they could also serve as my eyes and ears. If the outposts in a certain area are destroyed on a large scale, it would mean a Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide is coming, or the Ghost King has arrived. If I build a Warehouse and upgrade it to have monitoring functions, I could even know the specific details. It’s like building the camp in the rear and stretching our claws out into the Wilderness. Most importantly, this way, if we run into a powerful Ghost Object like Qian Hou again, we won’t be caught off guard. If we can’t beat it, we avoid it. If we can, we lure it to our main base. We can advance or retreat, and the initiative will be in our hands.’
"..."
Wang Kui watched the Station Master’s expression, a hint of nervousness in his eyes. He couldn’t tell from Chen Fan’s face whether he approved or rejected the plan. ’I don’t know the specific Ghost Stone cost for the Station Master to construct buildings, but I’ve been keeping track of the camp’s total Ghost Stone income these days, and I have a rough idea. For any other Architect, it definitely wouldn’t be enough to construct so many buildings. That’s why I’ve always suspected that the Station Master’s Ghost Stone consumption for construction is far lower than other Architects’. That’s the only reason I proposed this plan. For any other Architect, this plan would be impossible. If my goal at the beginning was just to survive the rainy season, that’s changed now. I want to make the camp stronger. After being a worker bee for the Wang Family for thirteen years, this is the first time I’ve seen a glimmer of hope for moving up. I don’t just want to survive; I want to live better.’
"Alright!"
Chen Fan spoke, bringing the discussion to a conclusion. "It’s settled. We’re relocating. We’ll find a safe place to build a main base in the rear. Now, let’s talk about where to go. If it’s too far, it’ll be hard for us to get there."
Everyone fell silent.
That was indeed a problem.
The rainy season didn’t just cover the entire Jiangbei Wilderness. Finding a relatively safe place was easier said than done.
"What about here?"
Big Fish, who was off to the side, tapped a spot on the northern, coastal edge of the Ghost Map and said hesitantly, "This was my old village. It’s a Natural Ghost Fire Zone, on the northernmost coast of the Jiangbei Wilderness. I don’t think even the Ghost King would come to a place like this if it came to the Wilderness, right?"
"And it’s not too far. We can definitely get there before dark."
"..."
Chen Fan looked at the spot on the map. ’I’ve heard Big Fish talk about that Natural Ghost Fire Zone before. It’s surrounded on all four sides by extremely steep mountains. The last time it fell was because Ghost Objects had jumped into the village from the cliffs. However... I can first build a Level 5 Cannon Tower and use it to blast a huge cave into one of the cliffs. Then, I can use the "Mountain Remains Embryo" Exotic Treasure I just acquired to maintain the cave’s stability. That way, I’ll only need to build a City Wall at the cave’s entrance. That would drastically reduce the resources needed to build the City Wall. Instead of being surrounded on all four sides, we’d only face the enemy on one front. I can build an absolutely secure main base there.’
Having made up his mind, he looked up at the others, paused for a moment, and then smiled.
"This is the place."
"Alright everyone, let’s get to it. Dig up all the Ghost Stones, pack up, and prepare to move."
"We need to find a place to process this massive haul."
