Chapter 104 - 94: Active Skill: Gale Inhalation
Chapter 104: Chapter 94: Active Skill: Gale Inhalation
Meanwhile, following his orders, Hey Hey had already dug a pit one meter deep beneath the canyon passage floor.
He walked over to the pit and built a Level 3 Ghost Fire inside, at a cost of 63 Ghost Stones.
Then he filled the dirt back in.
After finishing all this, Chen Fan clapped his hands in satisfaction.
The Level 3 Ghost Fire he had built in the pit was not lit. It was already connected via a Copper Pipe to the Level 5 Ghost Fire in the camp.
With just a thought, this Ghost Fire would instantly ignite. At the same time, the six Level 5 Cannon Towers on both sides of the canyon would activate, attacking any enemies who dared to charge in.
After choosing the upgrade direction to increase its range, a Level 3 Ghost Fire could extend the camp’s effective diameter to a maximum of 50 meters.
This was just enough to cover the width of the canyon.
The entire canyon was a thousand meters long.
In other words, he only needed to place 20 Level 3 Ghost Fires in sequence. The moment they all lit up, the entire canyon would fall within his attack range.
He named this deployment Meat Grinder Stage Two.
When Meat Grinder Stage Two was activated, the entire calm and seemingly harmless canyon would transform into a frenzied reaper of lives.
Of course, this was just a prototype for now. The project was quite large and would be difficult to complete in a short amount of time.
After Meat Grinder Stage Two was activated, these 20 Level 3 Ghost Fires would be expended once the battle ended. Of course, if he preferred not to lose them, the 20 Level 3 Ghost Fires could be left permanently lit.
The daily upkeep wasn’t expensive—just 20 Ghost Stones a day, equivalent to the cost of cultivating two Snow Lotuses.
But doing so would eliminate the element of surprise.
The main scenario he envisioned for Meat Grinder Stage Two was one where an enemy army was cautiously advancing through the canyon, preparing to attack the Celestial Pit. By that point, their forces would have formed a long, stretched-out line within the Celestial Valley Canyon.
The Ghost King, for example.
An opponent like that would never imagine that this thousand-meter-long canyon, shrouded in darkness, would instantly fall within his camp’s range.
The effect of activating Meat Grinder Stage Two at that moment would be utterly astonishing.
Being forced to abandon his old camp had taught him several lessons. Many Ghost Objects would deliberately stay just outside his camp’s range to attack him. He didn’t dare venture into the darkness after them, leaving him forced to endure their assaults. It was an infuriating tactic.
That was why this thousand-meter-long canyon was the trap he was setting. The fixed cost to activate the 20 Level 3 Ghost Fires was 1,260 Ghost Stones per use, a price he could afford.
Any enemy worthy of forcing him to activate Meat Grinder Stage Two would absolutely provide a reward to match.
"Not bad."
Chen Fan stood in the center of the canyon, gazing at the rock walls on either side with a satisfied expression.
The next step was to get this canyon fully rigged before the rainy season.
He had placed the Ghost Fire one meter underground. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to place it deeper, but the Copper Pipes could only be laid at a maximum depth of one meter. If the Ghost Fire were any lower, the pipe wouldn’t be able to reach it.
"Good work."
Chen Fan looked at the alligator wagging its tail beside him, clearly fishing for praise, and said with satisfaction.
"Keep up the good work. Try to get all the Meat Grinder Passages on both sides of the canyon dug out as soon as possible."
...
Back in the camp, standing atop the City Wall, Chen Fan finally examined the two Exotic Treasures he had taken from the Warehouse.
After cleaning up the battlefield from the fight with Qian Hu, he found that Qian Hu had dropped two Exotic Treasures.
Two more had dropped from the other thousand corpses; Wang Kui had put them in the Warehouse, and they had yet to be examined.
He toyed with the familiar pearl in his hand.
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[Exotic Treasure Name]: Wind-Resistant Pearl.
[Exotic Treasure Level]: Green.
[Exotic Treasure Effect]: One of the essential materials for building a ’Wind Tower,’ a special City Defense Building that can summon strong winds.
-
’Old friend.’
He had obtained a Wind-Resistant Pearl before and used it to build a Wind Tower.
He looked toward the slender and elegant, jet-black stone tower behind the City Wall.
’This building is so cool.’
’Even though it’s a White-grade building, it’s unbelievably cool.’
The "Copper Eagle" at the top of the Wind Tower and the countless spiraling, streamlined silver runes inlaid on its surface were exceptionally beautiful.
"Hmm..."
He didn’t hesitate for long. He spent 1,000 Ghost Stones and the Wind-Resistant Pearl in his hand to upgrade the Wind Tower to Level 2. He felt that upgrading the existing tower was a better choice than building a second one.
The next moment—
The countless silver runes on the surface of the Wind Tower before him suddenly began to flash, their pace quickening before coming to an abrupt halt.
Its appearance was no different than before.
A panel also popped up before his eyes.
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[Wind Tower upgraded to Level 2. Wind force is stronger and adjustable.]
[Please select an Upgrade Direction.]
[1: Can blow warm wind, increasing the temperature within the camp’s range.]
[2: Can blow cold wind, decreasing the temperature within the camp’s range.]
[3: Can Mutate: Mutation direction is unknown.]
-
"..."
Chen Fan stood there, silent and expressionless.
’The first Upgrade Direction is really good. The temperature is dropping, and winter is coming soon. With something like this, the whole camp could stay warm. The second option would be great in the summer, too.’
’But...’
’Who could possibly refuse a mutation?’
’He certainly couldn’t.’
’This left him no choice at all.’
This was the second time he had encountered a "Can Mutate" option. The last time, it had given the City Wall the excellent Thorn Armor effect.
Without the slightest hesitation, he quickly walked down from the City Wall and returned to his room.
He bathed.
He burned incense.
Only after completing this ritual did he return to the City Wall, take a deep breath, and confirm the third Upgrade Direction.
-
[Mutation commencing...]
[Mutation complete.]
[3: This Wind Tower can now use the Active Skill ’Gale Inhalation’. When activated, it generates a powerful, adjustable suction force within the camp’s range. (Ordinary)]
-
"Uh..."
Chen Fan looked at the Wind Tower’s building panel with some hesitation.
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[Building Name]: Wind Tower.
[Building Level]: White.
[Building Level]: Level 2.
[Building Effect]:
1: Can summon strong winds.
2: Can activate Gale Inhalation.
ps: Upgrading to Level 3 requires 2,000 Ghost Stones and either Wind-Resistant Pearl x2 or Wind-Stabilizing Pearl x2, etc.
-
"Gale Inhalation?"
This was the camp’s second Active Skill; the first had been "Arrow Rain Storm."
But he hadn’t quite figured out what this thing could be used for.
’Collecting loot?’
’That sounds like it would be a huge mess. Corpses and everything would get plastered against the base of the City Wall by the suction, making cleanup even more difficult.’
’Maybe it could be used against enemies.’
’After the enemies charge into the canyon, I could just... WHOOSH... suck them straight into the Celestial Pit, and then activate Meat Grinder Stage One.’
"Hmm..."
Chen Fan grinned. That sounded like a pretty good idea, perfect for a Control Skill. But then he saw the addendum: it was only effective within the camp’s range.
In other words, he couldn’t suck enemies from the canyon into the Celestial Pit.
Not unless he activated the Ghost Fires placed in the canyon passage.
’But if I’m already activating those Ghost Fires... why would I need the Wind Tower? I’d just activate Meat Grinder Stage Two directly.’
"Forget it."
After pondering for a moment, Chen Fan still couldn’t think of a use for the "Gale Inhalation" Active Skill. ’I’ll just set it aside for now,’ he thought. ’A use for it will pop up eventually.’
He looked at the other Exotic Treasure.
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[Exotic Treasure Name]: Soybeans.
[Exotic Treasure Level]: Green.
[Exotic Treasure Effect]: Must be planted in ’Level 2 Farmland.’ Matures in 5 days. Delicious and slightly enhances physical constitution.
[Planting Conditions]: Must be watered twice daily with Ghost Blood.
-
’A Ghost Plant Class Exotic Treasure.’
He casually called over Qi Chong, who had spent the last few days by the Farmland fawning over the "Sunflowers." He handed this Ghost Plant to Qi Chong and also built two more plots of Level 2 Farmland, since there were quite a lot of soybean seeds.
"Whew..."
The sky had just brightened.
After finishing all this, Chen Fan scanned the camp’s surroundings, stretched, then walked off the City Wall and mounted his horse. He planned to take a ride through the canyon—not to leave Nameless Mountain, just to wander around for a bit. A person can’t just sit on the City Wall all day.
It would make your body atrophy.
You have to move around every now and then.
’If only it wasn’t raining.’
Although he had already donned a straw raincoat and a conical hat, the downpour was getting rather annoying.