This had been the general pattern in this region for nearly a century.
But from now on, this would change because of him. There would no longer be any stations on the wasteland.
He planned to...
Build a highway between the two places--a highway framed by"copper pipes".
With Eerie Fire flowing through the pipes, the road would be shrouded in Eerie Fire after nightfall, allowing passage day and night. This would greatly accelerate the flow of goods and also bring him substantial income.
Previously, all tolls had been collected by these stations. But once the highway was opened, these revenues would all belong to him.
Even more!
He could replace the "Rivernorth Marketplace" as the new trade center.
After all, the structures built by him, such as the Eerie Fire and Archery Towers, had lower costs and therefore could be sold more cheaply.
This represented enormous profits.
170 kilometers is equal to 170,000 meters.
It would take only 17 days for him to lay this highway.
However...
How to safeguard these gains was also a major issue. He would inevitably face a fierce backlash from the three major factions of Rivernorth City. He had to accumulate enough resources during this golden period of the rainy season.
After the rainy season, he would eliminate the three major factions and open the highway.
...
After a pot of tea's time(the time it takes to savor a pot of tea, about 15 minutes), Chen Fan looked at the copper pipes he had already laid out over a hundred meters. After a moment of silence, he glanced around the wilderness and walked toward his camp.
The situation was more complicated than he had imagined.
Although laying the copper pipes was free, crafting the copper pipes required his personal involvement. He couldn't entrust this task to others. Laying the copper pipes would mean traversing the wasteland several times, which would take forever.
He needed to complete the development of the small car first.
Then, he could drive the vehicle to lay the copper pipes and build his highway.
"Qi Chong!"
"Come here, there's something for you to do."
Chen Fan entered the camp and called Qi Chong, who was busy in the fields. Qi Chong was transplanting all the wheat brought back from other camps into the farmland.
"Station Master, the farmland is too small. Can we have another plot of farmland?"
"We'll talk about that later."
...
An hour later.
"This is much better."
Chen Fan looked with satisfaction at the modified small car. This time, he named it the "2.0 Tricycle."
He removed one wheel, leaving two wheels at the back and one in the front.
A copper pipe that was connected to the front wheel rose vertically through the wooden board. By swaying the handle embedded in this copper pipe left and right, the wheel could be turned, allowing the vehicle to change direction.
This way, the vehicle could be steered.
It required two people to operate simultaneously.
One person stood at the front of the wooden board to control the direction, while the other stood at the back, continuously triggering the "Spike Trap" to provide forward momentum.
This tricycle did not accelerate steadily.
Due to having only one cylinder and the power depending on the retraction speed of the Spike Trap, the vehicle kept alternating between gaining and losing momentum. As for dual-cylinder, four-cylinder, or eight-cylinder versions, those were more complex and would be addressed at a later time.
Driving the vehicle to lay copper pipes was much faster.
"Get on the vehicle."
"I'll control the direction."
...
Half an hour later, Chen Fan stood on the tricycle, his hands resting on the control lever, and looked at the length of copper pipes behind the vehicle. A satisfied smile appeared on his face. With the aid of transportation, the speed was much faster.
In less than half an hour, he had laid out 10 kilometers of copper pipes, using up all the free quota for the day.
If he repeated this a few more times, the highway could be put into use after the rainy season ended!
"What is it?"
He looked at the panting Qi Chong behind him. "Can't go on anymore?"
"Of course, I can!"
Qi Chong, panting heavily, took out a waterskin from his chest and drank it all in one go. He then quickly stuffed a few flatbreads into his mouth, chewing them voraciously. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he lifted his sore arm, stood in front of the Spike Trap, and gasped, "I'm not tired. It's no different from transplanting rice seedlings."
"Good, then let's... head home!"
A happy Chen Fan turned the control lever, gazing into the horizon from the wooden board. His body had already adapted to the bumpy ride as they drove back toward the camp.
The tricycle had been tested enough today.
It was fully ready for normal use.
He planned to build two more.
One for Zhou Mo to travel to other stations.
One for himself to lay copper pipes.
One for Pockmark Wang to go out and check if there was any activity on the wasteland during the day.
...
After returning to the camp,
Chen Fan inspected the camp with good cheer. He was in a good mood today and wanted to see if any improvements were needed elsewhere. Finally, his gaze settled on a Level 3 Archery Tower.
As the rainy season passed day by day, Eerie Creatures would become ever more powerful and ferocious. This was what Zhou Mo had told him.
He felt he needed a more powerful Archery Tower.
Immediately after, he ascended the city wall and spent 100 Eerie Stones to upgrade the Archery Tower that had not learned the "Arrow Storm" skill to Level 4!
In the next moment—
The Archery Tower transformed into an ethereal shape, constantly shifting and collapsing.
Until it collapsed into... a brown brick cube measuring one meter in length, height, and width.
It no longer resembled an Archery Tower at all.
On one side of the brick cube, a dark rectangular opening gaped, blending almost seamlessly with the city wall. Through the opening, one could clearly see a crossbow mechanism, gleaming with a cold light.
「The Archery Tower has been upgraded to Level 4 and transformed into an 'Arrow Fort.' It cannot be moved freely. Its power has been enhanced.」
「Please choose the upgrade direction.」
「1: Increased firing speed.」
「2: Increased power.」
「3: Reduced energy consumption.」
"..."
Chen Fan thoughtfully observed the "Arrow Fort" in front of him. After the upgrade, it occupied much less space, becoming sturdier and more concealed.
He chose to increase the firing speed.
This Archery Tower had already been enhanced in power several times. It needed an increase in firing speed. Based on his past life's gaming experience, an AD lacking in attack speed would deal much less damage.
He issued the attack command.
One after another, arrows wrapped in scorching fire shot out from the shadowy opening, accurately hitting the wasteland 30 meters outside the city. The power didn't seem to have changed much for now, but the firing speed was visibly faster.
Just then—
"Hmm?"
He furrowed his brows, looking toward Zhou Mo, who was running toward the camp in a disheveled state through the drizzle. Soon, Zhou Mo dashed into the camp in one breath, panting heavily before Chen Fan.
"Have some water, take your time."
Obviously, Zhou Mo must have encountered something unexpected.
"We ran into Eerie Creatures!"
Zhou Mo took the waterskin Chen Fan handed him and emptied it in one go. With a flicker of fear deep in his eyes, he said in a trembling voice, "On our way back to camp, we encountered a group of people... openly having intercourse on the wasteland."
"There were over thirty of them."
"Having wild sex over there."
"As soon as we saw them from afar, we turned and ran without hesitation."
"Since we're in the center of the wilderness, there definitely wouldn't be people here. That could only mean they were 'Pseudo-Human Ghosts.' As soon as they saw us, all of them went berserk and chased after us."
"Fortunately, I'm a Level 2 practitioner, so I ran fast."
"But..."
"My little brother ran a bit slower and was caught up by those Pseudo-Human Ghosts. They tore him apart alive and devoured him. Even the resources I gathered from other camps today were left behind in this chaos."
"Station Master... I..."
"..."
Chen Fan patted Zhou Mo's shoulder and didn't speak immediately. After a long silence, he looked at the "Arrow Fort" beside him and... the tricycle parked in the camp. Suddenly, it struck him how to extend an Architect's sphere of influence.
"Now is not the time for sadness."
"Come on, let's go back and fight them."