I built a safe house in the eerie night.

A new day begins, and every second counts. After all, we are racing against time right now, and there is no time to waste.

Jiang Ning immediately gathered the villagers who had come out of the house.

Looking at the eerie ruins scattered on the ground, made even clearer and more terrifying by the morning light, and the shock and disbelief on the villagers' faces, and their triumphant joy at seeing the arrow tower still standing firm.

Jiang Ning was genuinely proud and delighted, but he quickly issued today's instructions.

"Wang Fu, Xiong Meng," Jiang Ning called out to the two of them.

"Your team leader, take the dozen or so people you've selected, leave the village, and explore other caves in the surrounding area that might harbor black fungus. Prioritize collecting black fungus. Xiong Meng, you're familiar with the mountain terrain, you'll lead the way."

Xiong Meng nodded vigorously, his eyes showing little fatigue but rather full of enthusiasm. After witnessing what he had seen last night, he was now completely convinced of Jiang Ning's abilities.

"Remember," Jiang Ning said, his tone becoming more serious as he glanced at each of the people about to depart.

"Safety is our top priority. If we encounter a danger we can't handle, we must immediately retreat to the village. Our goal is to survive, not to risk our lives."

The villagers solemnly agreed, their eyes shining with a light completely different from their usual numbness.

The scenes of last night and now have stirred up their dormant hearts, and they have also witnessed Jiang Ning's methods and abilities. They know that only by following orders can they survive.

Resisting the supernatural and protecting the village no longer seems like an unattainable dream.

They are willing to contribute, and they must contribute.

Carrying their tools, the group of more than a dozen people quickly left. Many of them couldn't help but look back at the devastated battlefield as they walked out of the village, their hearts still filled with shock.

Seeing the earnest look in Jiang Ning's eyes, they suddenly felt a sense of mission, quickened their pace, and felt their energy surge.

The remaining people were assigned by Jiang Ning to clean up the battlefield left over from last night in the village.

Yu Niu, along with several strong young men, endured the pungent stench and began collecting and moving the bizarre corpses.

Their faces showed little fear or disgust, but rather a strange excitement.

Even if the body becomes thin due to prolonged hunger, the youthful blood and energy are hard to cool.

Moreover, witnessing firsthand the fact that "monsters can be defeated and are not that powerful" stirred a strong sense of power and participation within me, making me work even harder.

Jiang Ning then walked to the two bone arrow towers.

The simple wooden wall surrounding the tower has been mostly destroyed, leaving only a mess of wood chips and deep scratches and impact marks.

He carefully examined the traces, secretly marveling at them.

These low-level, bizarre individual powers may be limited, but once their numbers accumulate, their destructive power is still astonishing.

However, he also had a general idea of ​​the defensive limit of a first-tier wooden wall.

What alarmed him even more was that he had a vague feeling that the number of strange creatures that had surged in last night was greater than the night before.

"Is it because they sensed the altar was weakening, and the suppression on those things was lessening? Or is it because someone in the village had deliberately killed another of their kind the night before, attracting more attention?"

Jiang Ning muttered a guess, whichever the possibility, it meant that the pressure would only increase.

Every night before nightfall, we must strengthen our defenses as much as possible.

Jiang Ning brought up the [Heavenly Craftsman] interface to view the repair information for the wooden wall.

[Wooden wall repair requires: 30 catties of black abalone per meter, and 5 pieces of yin wood.]

Jiang Ning's lips twitched. The wooden walls on both sides were severely damaged, and it would take at least three or four meters to repair them. This was another hundred pounds of black Tai Sui that had been thrown in.

The Yin wood is manageable; the wood cut yesterday is still stored in the warehouse. But the black Tai Sui is a real problem; the warehouse is almost empty. We can only hope that the mining team going out today will have a big harvest.

"Also, make sure the loot from last night is good; let's get some nice stuff for the kids..."

Jiang Ning turned around, looking expectantly at the crowd cleaning up the corpses.

These young men were working with great enthusiasm, giving it their all. They were working so hard that their faces turned pale, showing no signs of the fear they had shown just two days ago, even of the strange corpses.

Because they also knew that these remains were very valuable, and that once they passed through the hands of Young Master Jiang Ning, they could become a precious resource for protecting and building the village.

At that moment, a young man suddenly raised his hand excitedly, holding a filthy object in his hands, and shouted:

"Young Master Jiang! I found it! There's something there!"

Now everyone in the village calls Jiangning that by default.

Jiang Ning looked over upon hearing the sound, and was overjoyed to see it. He then strode over.

Upon receiving the object, I felt its rough leather texture, yet it was stained with eerie black blood and slime.

He frowned slightly. It wasn't the extraordinary treasure bead he had expected, but rather... a shriveled little skin bag.

Jiang Ning immediately accessed the interface to check.

[Low-Grade Material Lucky Bag: Contains various basic materials; you can obtain them randomly upon opening.]

[Note: The contents of the lucky bag vary (opening it involves a large element of luck).]

Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow as he looked at the message.

It wasn't a rare treasure, but it wasn't disappointing either.

At this stage, tangible resources are indeed more effective and reasonable in solving problems than a blueprint that may not be useful for the time being. After all, you can't expect to find some earth-shattering artifact in the newbie village.

Jiang Ning was quite satisfied. He vigorously wiped the bloodstains off the leather bag and tucked it into his pocket.

Since it's a matter of probability, there's no rush to open it now.

"Let's warm it up first, add some luck buffs, and wait for the lucky one to strike first..."

Hopefully, we can get enough resources to build two new arrow towers. The pressure last night has left Jiang Ning feeling a bit frustrated.

At the same time, he was also thinking that it seemed that the strange things that had fallen were not just rare treasures. The "Pulse-Seeking Compass" he found yesterday and the lucky bag he found today were both "unexpected gains".

It is unclear whether it originated from the strange body or was formed by some kind of rule of heaven and earth.

In any case, Jiang Ning clearly remembered that since ancient times, humans had been able to obtain resources and further develop by hunting monsters. Conversely, monsters could also evolve themselves by devouring humans. The two seemed to be ancient enemies, or perhaps some kind of natural law of heaven and earth.

"Young Master! Young Master! Over here!"

Another excited shout rang out, this time from Yu Niu's honest and excited voice.

Jiang Ning looked up and saw him stand up from a pile of corpses, his face smeared with black blood, holding a familiar grayish-white bead high in his hand—it was the rare treasure!

This kid's got such good luck!

A smile appeared on Jiang Ning's face as he quickly walked over and took the grayish-white bead with both hands. He felt a surge of excitement in his heart.

This thing has endless possibilities; whether it's protecting against strange treasures or providing rare architectural blueprints, it's highly needed.

After a moment's hesitation, Jiang Ning decided to open it on the spot. Compared to the resource lucky bag, he couldn't resist the rare treasure.

[Successfully activated Tier 1 "Exotic Treasure"]

[Obtain the "Tool Encyclopedia"]

[Description: Includes multiple blueprints for building common tools suitable for early resource gathering. You can choose to build the following:]

【"Mammoth", "logging axe", "quarrying pick", "digging hoe"... (all are specially tempered and designed tools, sturdy and durable, and far more efficient than ordinary ironware)】

Upon seeing this information, Jiang Ning nodded in satisfaction.

It's a small harvest, but it's quite substantial. The tools available in the village are too primitive and crude, which seriously slows down the efficiency of resource collection.

With these specially designed tools, efficiency will be greatly improved, which is exactly what is needed in the early stages of development.

He looked at the requirements for building the equipment and felt even more relieved.

"Black Tai Sui" is not needed; low-level "Gray Tai Sui" collected from the strange corpses and "Black Stone" mined are sufficient materials at present.

He immediately decided to forge a "machete".

[Consumables: 10 catties of Gray Tai Sui, 3 Black Stones]

Familiar black smoke rose from the direction of the warehouse, quickly condensing and taking shape.

The next moment, a brand new machete appeared in Jiang Ning's hand.

The blade has smooth lines and a cold, sharp edge. The handle is wrapped with a non-slip leather strap, giving it a heavy feel. Its texture is completely different from the rusty and chipped ironware in the village.

"What a fine knife! It's truly a fine knife..."

The young men standing nearby stared wide-eyed and couldn't help but praise him.

Jiang Ning weighed the heavy machete in his hand, feeling the sharpness of the blade, and gained more confidence in the speed at which the village would be able to mine resources in the future.

A new day, a new battle, starting with a good knife.