Chapter 102 - 93: Post-War Tally
Chapter 102: Chapter 93: Post-War Tally
Wang Kui was the one who had turned in the most. He had toiled like a worker bee for thirteen years, painstakingly saving up a little "honey," only to hand it all over in one fell swoop, leaving nothing for himself.
And since they had all been relying on the Station Master’s shelter for survival these past few days, none of them would dream of asking for any kind of payment.
You don’t take refuge in someone’s home and then demand money from them. Being able to help out was their way of giving something back.
"Nope. My pockets are cleaner than a whistle."
Wang Mazi said bluntly, with the air of a complete scoundrel, "But you don’t need to worry about where my Ghost Stones come from. As long as the Station Master takes us for a trip to Jiangbei City when the time comes..."
"...assuming Jiangbei City hasn’t been wiped out by the rainy season."
"Give me one night, and I can get my hands on enough Ghost Stones to treat you all."
"Quite the operator, aren’t you, Wang Mazi." Zhou Mo chuckled, looking over at him. He set a Wooden Board aside, stretched lazily, and lay down.
"Alright, let’s all get some sleep. We have to be up for work tomorrow. Can’t believe you’re already thinking about having fun after the rainy season. Let’s focus on surviving it first."
He didn’t doubt Wang Mazi’s claims. To be frank, while they were currently down on their luck, anyone who could become a station master in the Wilderness was no ordinary person.
They all had skills to make a living. Even if he showed up in Jiangbei City empty-handed, he’d still be able to scrounge up some Ghost Stones.
The Wooden House gradually fell silent as everyone drifted off to sleep.
The Level 3 City Wall at the cave’s entrance allowed them to sleep particularly soundly.
They even felt they were sleeping more soundly than the people in Jiangbei City. After all, despite its large population, Jiangbei City only had a Level 1 City Wall. For all they knew, the city might have already fallen.
...
Back in the camp, almost everyone was asleep.
Chen Fan, however, stood inside the Level 1 Warehouse, admiring his haul for the day.
A smile he couldn’t suppress spread across his face.
Especially as he stood at the entrance to the Jiezimai Room, gazing at the Ghost Stones floating in the air. It was a delightful sight, like an old farmer looking upon a bumper crop.
"Station Master."
Following behind him, Wang Kui held a Bamboo Scroll he’d retrieved from the Archives Room and began his report.
"Last night, Qian Hu, one of the Ghost King’s four lieutenants, was completely annihilated along with his forces. We also captured the four chests he was carrying."
"One chest was filled with various Ghost Materials, which I’ve already sorted. The other three were packed with Ghost Stones, for a total of exactly 17,000."
"A nice round number, too."
Chen Fan gazed at the Ghost Stones floating in the Jiezimai Room, his eyes crinkling with a smile as he nodded repeatedly.
’This Ghost King is a real saint.’
’His wife, Qiu Kui, sends me a Heart-Protecting Armor.’
’His underlings rush over to deliver Ghost Stones.’
He knew of another lieutenant named Qianxi, who should have already arrived in the Wilderness from the southern desert by now. He just wasn’t sure how much Qianxi knew about the situation here.
’I wonder if he’ll launch a night raid.’
’That one should have a good number of Ghost Stones, too. After all, if the Ghost King had Qian Hu bring a year’s worth of savings, he probably had Qianxi do the same.’
’If he doesn’t attack tonight, I’ll have to find a way to head out into the Wilderness and bait him over myself.’
’It’s not just about the Ghost Stones. The Ghost King has two other lieutenants. If I can take them out one by one before the King himself descends, things will be much easier for me even when he does find me.’
"Have you finished counting the Ghost Stones we brought back from the mountain this afternoon? There should be a fair amount, right?"
Chen Fan turned his head to look at Wang Kui.
"Reporting to the Station Master, the count is complete." Wang Kui glanced down at the scroll in his hand before looking up again. "A total of 36,726."
"That many?"
Chen Fan’s pupils contracted slightly as he gazed at the Ghost Stones floating in the Jiezimai Room.
They knew there were a lot of Ghost Stones in that Deep Pit while they were excavating, but they hadn’t expected this many.
"So in total, how many Ghost Stones does the camp have right now?"
"A total of 56,570 Ghost Stones," Wang Kui reported, pulling a small notebook from his pocket as he continued.
"In last night’s battle against Qian Hu, the altar consumed a total of 437 Ghost Stones for repairing the City Wall and turrets."
"The majority of that was for repairing the Level 3 City Wall, as it consumes far more Ghost Stones."
"Activating all eighteen phase-one Meat Grinder turrets, along with the ten turrets on the City Wall, cost a total of 217 Ghost Stones."
"So for last night’s battle, the total expenditure was 654 Ghost Stones."
"We made a significant profit from last night’s battle."
"Mm."
Chen Fan nodded lightly. His assignment for Wang Kui went beyond being a simple quartermaster. He had granted Wang Kui permission to view the Ghost Stone consumption of many structures. This allowed Wang Kui to gather sufficient data to compile reports for him, saving Chen Fan the effort of checking and calculating everything himself.
Of course, this was also a core privilege. If this data were to leak, other factions could easily deduce a great deal of information about their operations.
In a way, it was a sign of immense trust.
"We definitely came out ahead," Chen Fan said, unsurprised. "In the Wilderness, as long as you survive a Ghost Tide, you’re guaranteed to turn a profit."
"These last few days, what has our daily Ghost Fire consumption been, approximately?"
Many of the camp’s buildings were now connected to the Ghost Fire network—the Warehouse, which required embedded Ghost Stones, the Yunling Pavilion, and the unmanned outposts that monitored the area outside the canyon.
A lot of these structures required a continuous daily supply of Ghost Stones to function, and he hadn’t kept track of the exact figures.
"The Warehouse currently consumes eleven Ghost Stones per day. It was originally only one—it didn’t need that many. But that was before we received the Snow Lotus you brought back, Station Master."
"The special storage environment for that Snow Lotus alone consumes ten Ghost Stones a day."
"That much?"
Chen Fan’s brow furrowed slightly. He walked down the Warehouse corridor to the Treasure Room at the far end, pushed open the door, and looked inside.
Inside, a thin membrane composed of emerald-green mist floated in the air. A bone-chilling cold emanated from within it, and visible snowflakes coated its surface. It looked strangely like a womb that had been stored in a freezer.
And suspended within this membrane was a single Snow Lotus.
It was the very same Snow Lotus he had brought back from the nest—a special kind of Heavenly and Earthly Treasure.
...
Chen Fan stared at the Snow Lotus for a moment before turning his head to Wang Kui. "I see. Continue."
’Even though this Snow Lotus is useless for now and costs me ten Ghost Stones a day, I’m not about to just give up on a Heavenly and Earthly Treasure. A Heavenly and Earthly Treasure, especially a Green Level one, would be worth at least 5,000 Ghost Stones, maybe even more.’
’Once the rainy season is over, I can try to make contact with other factions to get more information. Whether I learn the Snow Lotus’s true purpose or just sell it, I definitely won’t take a loss.’
"The only other structures with continuous daily upkeep are the unmanned outposts. We have ten of them now, and their average nightly consumption is about 100 Ghost Stones."
"But the return on them is good, too."
"The unmanned outposts bring in about 700 Ghost Stones per day."
"Not bad."
Chen Fan nodded. The rate of return was actually excellent. It meant they’d recoup their investment in a few days, and everything after that would be pure profit. But for someone who had received the inheritance from Hey Hey’s parents, this pace of acquiring Ghost Stones felt a little too slow.
"You don’t need to give me such a detailed breakdown. Just give me the total."
"Understood. Outside of a Ghost Tide attack, the camp’s fixed daily upkeep comes to about 120 Ghost Stones."
"Mm."
Chen Fan stood outside the Jiezimai Room, gazing at the Ghost Stones swirling within its green, misty confines. He patted Wang Kui’s shoulder. "Good work. Go get some sleep."
Then, he walked out of the Warehouse alone.
「Rainy Season Countdown: 16 days remaining.」