Chapter 111 - 98: "How Strong is the Pingtian Commerce Association?
Chapter 111: Chapter 98: "How Strong is the Pingtian Commerce Association?
"Where’s the Station Master?"
Just then—
Zhou Mo, who had just rushed up to the City Wall, looked around blankly before turning to Lame Monkey, who was standing to the side. "Didn’t I just see the Station Master up here on the wall?"
"How come he’s gone?"
"The Young Master went to take a bath."
"Something good happened again?"
Zhou Mo was stunned for a moment but quickly understood. Every time something good happened, the Station Master would first go take a bath. He then scratched his head and broke into a grin.
"Well, then, congratulations to the Station Master on this double blessing. I have some good news to report to him as well."
"What good news?"
"I have to tell the Station Master in person."
"..."
Lame Monkey pursed his lips and looked away from Zhou Mo, not saying anything more.
...
「Soon after」
Chen Fan returned after bathing and changing his clothes. Standing on the City Wall once more, he confirmed his selection of the "Can Mutate" Upgrade Direction.
The moment he confirmed it, the cannon tower installed on the City Wall began to change rapidly.
The original Level 5 Cannon Tower.
It had a cubic structure made of stone bricks, brown all over, and was one meter in length and width. The side facing the enemy had a rectangular opening in the middle, inside of which hung a white paper lantern.
But after the upgrade.
The brown stone bricks on the cannon tower’s surface began to melt rapidly. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into... a vertical "Ghost Eye"!
One meter tall!
And relatively narrow.
Its surface was covered in a pattern of dark purple vascular networks. Tapping it lightly revealed a surface that was smooth yet hard.
It wasn’t sticky.
In the Ghost Eye’s pupil was a constantly spinning, bottomless dark vortex, while the sclera was filled with blood-red veins.
Then—
The vertical Ghost Eye slowly closed, its eyelid completely enveloping the pupil. It stood erect on the City Wall, looking just like a statue of a vertical eye.
Only when activated would the Ghost Eye open again.
"Son of a bitch..."
Chen Fan stared in awe at the Level 6 "Ghost Eye Cannon Tower," momentarily forgetting to even check the upgrade options after the mutation.
Upgrading a cannon tower to Level 5 and Level 6 requires materials.
For example, a Mourning Lantern or a Ghost Eye.
Any material would do; only one was needed. He was only just realizing that while different materials could all be used for the upgrade, the cannon tower’s resulting form would be different. Unsurprisingly, its attack method would also vary.
For now, he didn’t know.
Which was stronger: a cannon tower upgraded with a Ghost Eye or one upgraded with a Mourning Lantern.
He looked at the panel that had appeared before him.
-
[Mutation beginning...]
[Mutation complete.]
[3: This cannon tower’s attack range is reduced to one meter, but its power is greatly increased. (Rare)]
-
"..."
Chen Fan stared blankly at the mutation’s effect. The cannon tower must have had an attack range, but he didn’t know the exact stats and had never paid much attention to it.
After all, the cannon towers could only attack enemies within the camp’s perimeter.
And the camp’s perimeter usually wasn’t that large.
In most cases, the camp’s perimeter was definitely smaller than the attack range, so there was no need to worry about it.
But—
’A range reduced to one meter... The implications of that are all too clear.’
’Can this even hit anyone...?’
’If a three-meter-tall Ghost Object came right up to the base of the City Wall, it wouldn’t be able to hit it...’
’The range is too short.’
’Even with a massive power boost, it feels like that’s not enough to make up for it.’
"..."
After a moment of silence, he decided to test it out first. He immediately activated the camp’s first Level 6 Ghost Eye Cannon Tower.
The next moment—
The vertical Ghost Eye snapped open!
The dark vortex in its pupil began to spin faster. It didn’t fire a beam of light or a Crossbow Arrow; instead, it erupted with a dark-brown ray. The biggest difference from the light beam was that this one was continuous!
The light beams fired by the old cannon towers were intermittent. Each beam would last for about a second before cutting out, followed by a pause before the next one was fired.
But this dark-brown ray.
Was continuous.
And it could be aimed freely.
One could imagine that once it hit an enemy, it would cling to them like a cancer. The "Ghost Eye Cannon Tower" wasn’t suited for group combat, as it lacked a "chain attack" ability, but it would be extremely effective against powerful, single Ghost Objects.
It’s just that...
Although this dark-brown ray emanated a powerful aura, it was only a meter long, waving back and forth just outside the City Wall.
"Hmm..."
Chen Fan looked thoughtfully at the Ghost Eye Cannon Tower. ’The attack range is short, but the power is extreme. If I take the Ghost King as a hypothetical enemy, under what circumstances would it come within one meter of the Ghost Eye Cannon Tower?’
"..."
His expression gradually turned strange as he looked down at Wang Kui, who was busy moving goods below the City Wall.
"Wang Kui."
"Is the Ghost Skin we took off Qiu Kui at the old camp still in the Warehouse?"
"It is."
Wang Kui blurted it out without a second’s thought. He had been taking inventory of the Warehouse supplies every day, so he knew exactly what was inside. He had been waiting for this moment.
"It’s being carefully preserved in the Vitality Room. The flesh hasn’t rotted yet. Ah Le skinned it himself—his knife work is excellent, there’s almost no damage."
"Good."
Chen Fan nodded. Without saying more, he waved his hand, signaling for Wang Kui to get back to work. ’With this,’ he thought, ’I might be able to lure the Ghost King close to the Ghost Eye Cannon Tower.’
Sentient Ghost Objects were certainly difficult to deal with.
But that also meant they had weaknesses.
’Things like love and romance are a person’s greatest weakness.’
’Just like your balls.’
’Once someone gets a grip on them, you’re completely powerless.’
"So, why bother with love..."
He sighed with feeling before continuing the simulation in his mind. Then, while the enemy was emotionally unstable, he would activate the Wind Tower’s Gale Inhalation. Gale Inhalation couldn’t lift anything too heavy, but it might work if the target was caught off guard.
He liked to run through various sudden scenarios in his head and devise solutions for them. That way, when a real crisis occurred, he wouldn’t be caught helpless.