I built a safe house in the eerie night.

Ultimately, Jiang Ning chose a vacant lot slightly to the right of the village entrance.

The view from here is relatively open, covering a large area in front, and the location is slightly behind, making it less likely to be directly submerged by the first wave of impact.

Select a location and invest the resources [200 jin of Black Tai Sui, 20 yin wood] to confirm construction.

A wisp of thin black smoke rose from the familiar direction of the warehouse, quickly merging into the air.

Then, on the open ground in front of Jiang Ning, light and shadow began to distort and converge, first outlining a model of an arrow tower skeleton made entirely of transparent energy lines.

Immediately afterwards, a portion of the Yin Wood stored in the [Warehouse] concept disappeared out of thin air, turning into denser black smoke that quickly filled the skeletal lines.

The wood grain, the mortise and tenon structure, the supporting base... as if time were playing at an accelerated pace, a real, two-story-high arrow tower rose from nothing in just a dozen breaths!

The arrow tower looks similar to an ordinary arrow tower, but the wood throughout has a unique dark pattern that absorbs yin energy.

The base is supported by four thick wooden pillars, while the upper part is a somewhat ferocious skull-shaped launching device, with the open "jaw" serving as the channel through which bone arrows are fired.

Become!

Jiang Ning watched the construction process with a mixture of amazement and astonishment.

He didn't know if other [Heavenly Craftsmen] followed the same construction process, but in any case, he felt that the [Heavenly Craftsman] was incredibly awesome!

Afterwards, Jiang Ning circled the first defensive building in his territory twice, feeling a surge of pride and a sense of accomplishment, and also feeling a little more at ease.

This is my own masterpiece!

Moreover, the interface shows that this arrow tower has a lot of room for future upgrades.

Jiang Ning was increasingly satisfied with what he saw, hoping that he could display his power that night, not only to block out the strange creatures, but also to ruthlessly retaliate against those ghostly things, and to unleash some good resources, letting those things know whose territory this was!

Jiang Ning also tried to climb up to the second floor to see the view, but found that the upper space was closed and there was no platform for people to stay on. It seemed to be a completely automated building.

Jiang Ning felt a little disappointed, but could accept it.

Without further delay, he then brought up the blueprint of the second "Bone Arrow Tower," this time choosing a symmetrical position on the left side inside the village entrance.

It was the same process again, with the same billowing black smoke and rapid construction.

A moment later, another hideous skull arrow tower materialized out of thin air and stood majestically on the land.

On the left and right, the two arrow towers stood like two silent guards, blocking the village entrance from the most likely direction of attack.

Now, as long as the collected eerie bones are "charged and infused," the arrow tower can automatically condense bone arrows. When those things enter the range at night, they will be met with a satisfyingly deadly shot!

Jiang Ning rested his chin on his hand, looking forward to the harvest that night.

However, he also knew that without front-line protection, the two long-range towers could easily be destroyed in close combat, and squishy marksmen like ADCs wouldn't last long before being sacrificed.

Jiang Ning already had a rough defense plan in mind, but unfortunately, resources were running out.

The construction of the two arrow towers consumed 400 jin of black Tai Sui and 40 pieces of Yin wood, leaving only 400 jin of black Tai Sui and 3 pieces of Yin wood in the warehouse.

The pressure of resource shortages has always existed.

Just then, the sound of rustling footsteps and voices came from outside the village.

It was Wang Fu who led the elderly and infirm team, carrying the "black jujubes" they had harvested from the mountains that day, and they trudged back.

As soon as the group stepped into the village, they were stunned by the two towering, menacing bone arrow towers in front of them.

Everyone's eyes widened and their mouths gaped open in disbelief as they stared at the two enormous creatures that had appeared out of nowhere.

In such a short time... two towers were built?

Moreover, judging from that skull-shaped launcher, it is definitely not an ordinary object!

This was completely beyond the comprehension of ordinary refugees.

Wang Fu's heart was also in turmoil.

Having lived for so many years, he had naturally witnessed the skills of other master craftsmen in the city from afar, but nothing quite like his young master's ability to erect a tower with a wave of his hand, with such astonishing efficiency...

This talent seems a bit too strong.

Jiang Ning walked over at this moment and asked directly, "Uncle Fu, how many black sea monsters did you harvest today?"

Startled by the question, Wang Fu quickly averted his gaze from the arrow tower, his face darkening as he sighed.

"Young master, after more than two years of mining, there are very few black sea cucumbers left in this cave near the village. We have only managed to harvest about 10 jin (5 catties) despite our best efforts."

He paused, then added, "The tools are no good either; they're all rusty, broken knives and axes, making mining too slow."

Although Jiang Ning had anticipated the difficulty in obtaining resources, he was still somewhat stunned when he heard the number 10 jin.

So little? The "satisfaction" of spending hundreds of kilograms of black oyster shell to build the arrow tower has disappeared.

Jiang Ning also clearly realized that, in the past, the village had more than 60 people working themselves to the bone for a month, and on average they could barely collect 1,000 catties of black jujube.

Building a single arrow tower requires 200 jin (100 catties), which is equivalent to the labor of dozens of people for several days!

Not to mention the wooden walls surrounding the village that would require massive amounts of resources later on.

Jiang Ning was having a headache. The key issue was that time was of the essence at this stage. There was no time to "slowly develop and slowly accumulate resources." He had to race against time and have enough resources before death came.

Resources are consumed quickly, but output is so slow it's frustrating.

In comparison, the harvesting speed of Yin wood is much faster; Xiong Meng and his team can bring back the equivalent of 40 pieces in just one morning.

Previously, the villagers did not know its purpose and did not deliberately hoard it in large quantities.

"There's no use rushing things; resources have to be acquired gradually." Jiang Ning suppressed his anxiety, glanced at the sky, and said to Wang Fu and the others:

"Keep working, harvest as much as you can. As for the tool issue and other places where black fungus might grow, I'll figure something out."

The villagers nodded, their gazes toward Jiang Ning now filled with admiration and even a hint of awe, a stark contrast to their previous expressions.

The children looked at Jiang Ning with pure admiration in their eyes.

Wang Fu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Young Master, when we came back, we saw Xiong Meng and Yu Niu cutting down trees in the mountains. How about... we let them stop for a while and go into the cave together to harvest everything today? We can probably get another twenty or thirty catties of black jujube."

He realized that Jiang Ning seemed to have an urgent need for the Tai Sui.

Jiang Ning shook his head decisively: "No, we can't be half-hearted. The priority now is to concentrate our manpower and stockpile the relatively easy-to-obtain raw materials. Twenty or thirty catties of black jujube won't solve the problem; it will only disrupt our rhythm."

Jiang Ning's idea was that once there was enough Yin Wood reserves, manpower could be freed up to do other things. Otherwise, the current haphazard approach, seemingly addressing shortcomings, would actually result in doing nothing well.

Wang Fu nodded upon hearing this.

They felt that what the young master said made sense, and that he was short-sighted.

"Uncle Fu, you can continue to the cave, but," Jiang Ning said, looking at the few thin children in the group.

"Let the children stay. It's too dark and damp in the cave. Staying there for too long won't be good for them. Just stay in the village and do what you can."

Jiang Ning also felt a little sorry for them. Looking at their dark little faces and their innocent, bewildered, and helpless eyes, he felt inexplicably heartbroken, which is only natural.

It would be good to have them as mascots to add some life to the place, and also to keep an eye on the supplies. After all, children have limited physical strength and can't do any heavy work. They won't be of much help going into the cave, and might even cause trouble.

Wang Fu understood Jiang Ning's meaning, responded, and led only a few older, still relatively healthy women and elderly people out of the village again, heading towards the increasingly impoverished mountain cave.

Jiang Ning watched their desolate figures as they walked away, then looked at the two brand-new arrow towers, his brows furrowing slightly.

Finally, turning his head to look at the children staring at him expectantly, Jiang Ning suppressed his sense of urgency and put on a gentle smile.

"My brother has to go out to work too," he said, crouching down to try and get his line of sight to the children's.

"Your task is also very important. Stay in the village and take good care of the house. Don't be lazy or slack off. If any monsters come, you'll chase them away for your brother, okay?"

The children looked at him blankly; the oldest was only about ten years old, and the youngest was only five or six. They were all a little reserved in front of this somewhat distinguished young master Jiang.

A little girl with two crooked pigtails looked up and said in a childish but earnest voice:

"Okay, Brother Jiang Ning, we'll definitely complete the mission!"

As she spoke, she waved her small, muddy fist and added, "You be careful too."

Jiang Ning's smile softened even more as he reached out and ruffled the little girl's hair. "Good girl."

He also recognized the little girl; she was Xiong Meng's daughter, and she seemed quite clever.

Seeing the expectant looks in the eyes of the children behind him, Jiang Ning took care of each of them, patting their heads, giving them a high five, and lightly bumping their fists to encourage them.

Try your best to maintain the image of a trustworthy and reliable "big brother" in front of them.

After doing all this, Jiang Ning stood up, picked up a chipped old axe from the side, its blade dull and its handle cracked, but it was still usable.

It was still early, and there was still some time before it got dark.

Although he is the architect and core of the village, he cannot just sit idly by and do nothing.

Resources don't fall from the sky.

Holding an axe, Jiang Ning walked out of the village alone and stepped into the silent, oppressive, withered forest once again.

This time, he decided to venture deeper into the forest on his own.

The strange corpses and scattered resources on the outskirts have been almost completely scavenged. To find a still-warm corpse that might still contain resources, or even to try one's luck and see if anything else of value can be discovered, one must take risks.

Deeper into the forest, the light was even dimmer, the twisted branches blocked out the sun, and the fallen leaves on the ground were thicker and damp, making an unsettling rustling sound when stepped on.

It was deathly still, without even the sound of ordinary birds.

There are no other living creatures left in these mountains.

The putrid and chilling atmosphere in the air grew even stronger.

Jiang Ning tightened his grip on the broken axe, took a deep breath to suppress the instinctive chill in his heart, scanned the surrounding environment with his eyes, focused his mind, and began to cautiously advance into the unknown, dark depths ahead.