I Build a Shelter in the Eternal Night

"..."

Chen Fan silently looked away from the Bamboo Slice. ’So, Big Crocodile and Little Crocodile must be Hey Hey’s parents.’ He just hadn’t expected that powerful figure to be stationed in Jiangbei. He had assumed they had simply found a quiet place for their Cultivation.

’Why does it sound like he was following orders?’

The journal wasn’t continuous.

The last Bamboo Slice was from year 176 of the Eternal Night Calendar, and the next one was from year 181.

The Bamboo Scroll had been broken apart.

Only some of the Bamboo Slices remained.

-

"Eternal Night Calendar, Year 181. So bored."

"Eternal Night Calendar, Year 183. I’m horny."

"Eternal Night Calendar, Year 190. The rainy season arrived early this year. But with me here, the Ghost Tide doesn’t dare make landfall. Ah... I’m truly incredible, aren’t I?"

-

’He’s a bit narcissistic,’ Chen Fan thought.

And he was a man, complete with worldly desires.

He silently updated his mental profile of the powerful figure. ’And... the Ghost Tide makes landfall from the sea?’

What surprised him the most was.

Someone so powerful was still thinking about getting laid. He had thought such beings would have long since transcended worldly desires.

-

"Eternal Night Calendar, Year 198. The battle on the front lines is urgent, the situation critical. I must leave. After I’m gone, this gap in the defenses will be unmanned. A massive Undersea Ghost Tide will make landfall, push through Jiangbei, flood into Jiangnan, and ravage the Guanxi Plain."

"Thankfully, the aura I’m leaving behind can continue to deter the Undersea Ghost Tide for another 185 years."

"The Celestial Dao Blessings I received from guarding this place for 27 years have been incredibly fruitful. If the war on the front lines weren’t so urgent, I would likely return before my aura dissipates."

"Unfortunately, if only the old Level 4 City Wall of the Jiangbei frontline..."

-

There was nothing more.

A Bamboo Slice couldn’t hold many words.

Chen Fan took a deep breath, trying his best to calm down. But after a long moment, he couldn’t help but curse out loud, "Does the timing have to be so damn precise?"

"Why not 190 years!"

"Why not 200 years!"

"Did it have to be exactly 185 years?"

That guardian had been gone for 180 years, almost 181. ’That means in four years, the aura he left on Nameless Mountain will dissipate, and then the Undersea Ghost Objects will start making landfall in droves?’

And who would bear the brunt of it?

His Mortal Realm, of course.

Fuck!

’Move!’

The thought flashed through Chen Fan’s mind. ’When the sky falls, the tall guys hold it up. I’m not one of the tall guys. I’m too short to handle this. I have to move.’

But where to?

Jiangbei was out of the question; it would be the first to die when the Ghost Tide landed.

Jiangnan was no good either; it would also be overrun.

The Guanxi Plain further inland was also not an option—it would fall too. Further back... ’Shit, any further back and I’d be running straight to the front lines!’

That was even more dangerous!

There was nowhere to move.

There were three more Bamboo Slices, but they were face down on the ground. He couldn’t touch them or read what was on them for the time being. Without lingering, he climbed onto Hey Hey’s back and returned to the surface.

...

"..."

Chen Fan sat alone on the ground, picking up a branch and sketching a rough map of the Eternal Night Continent in the dirt. He didn’t know what the continent actually looked like; he could only guess as he drew. Nobody else knew, either. Nobody knew at all.

But he could infer a few things from the information on the Bamboo Slices.

First.

There were two kinds of Ghost Tides.

Those on land and those from the sea.

At least the Ghost Kings on land clearly knew that the guardian had left 180 years ago, but the Ghost Tide in the sea was still unaware and thus hadn’t dared to make landfall.

’Assuming it isn’t just a case of land and sea Ghost Objects not getting along...’

’...then the Undersea Ghost Objects must have lower intelligence, acting purely on instinct and unable to communicate.’

’Their power is probably also greater.’

’Otherwise, that guardian wouldn’t have needed to come all the way to Jiangbei just to stand guard.’

"A gap..."

Chen Fan furrowed his brow and drew a coastline in the dirt. ’The guardian called Jiangbei a gap. Does that mean the Undersea Ghost Objects won’t make landfall anywhere else? Or does it mean other places have defenses, but Jiangbei’s were destroyed, leaving it vulnerable?’

"Celestial Dao Blessing."

He closed his eyes and leaned back, murmuring the words.

’Guarding Jiangbei...’

’In the eyes of the Celestial Dao, is that a meritorious act worthy of great rewards?’

"..."

He fell silent for a long time.

Barring any surprises, the guardian definitely wouldn’t be back before his aura dissipated. In four years, Jiangbei would face an unprecedented landing of the Ghost Tide, and this wouldn’t be anything like the Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide.

For that guardian to have been stationed here specifically...

...one could only imagine the scale of the coming Ghost Tide.

It might be the kind of tide where even Ghost Kings are nothing more than minor commanders.

To run or not to run, that was the question.

But where could he go?

He would have to retreat far inland, to a place where someone else could hold the line. But that meant abandoning everything he had built here. The authority he had recently established, the connections he had cultivated, his entire Silk Road plan—it would all be for nothing.

Besides, the powers in the rear regions were much stronger; it would be difficult for him to get a piece of the pie. He couldn’t go any further back. Any further and he’d hit the front lines, which was even more dangerous.

Running meant starting over from scratch.

If he didn’t run...

He’d have to make a stand.

The Jiangbei Coastline, this gap, was about 170 kilometers long.

’Build a City Wall along the coast, completely sealing the gap.’

A Level 3 City Wall?

’Definitely not enough. It has to be at least Level 4. The Bamboo Slice said there used to be a Level 4 City Wall here; that’s what it took to defend the Jiangbei gap.’

It would also require countless turrets and various other City Defense Buildings.

This was a colossal undertaking.

The total cost to build one meter of a Level 3 City Wall was 500 Ghost Stones.

kilometers is 170,000 meters.

Building a Level 3 City Wall to completely seal the Jiangbei Coastline would require a staggering 85,000,000 Ghost Stones. And if he were to build the Level 4 City Wall mentioned on the Bamboo Scroll, plus all the other turrets and City Defense Buildings...