22: Spend a fortune! Six major camps are coming!

Lin Feng stood alone amidst the shattered rubble.

His expression was as indifferent as ice.

The air was filled with the scent of crushed rock, mixed with the faint, ozone-like smell of residual arcane energy.

He looked up at the city wall, whose energy shield glow had dimmed to near extinction after successive bombardments.

"City Wall Durability: 850 / 5000"

A line of cold numbers silently spoke of the ferocity of the battle that had just taken place.

Just a little more.

Just a little more, and this barrier, on which he depended for survival, would have been utterly crushed by that endless tide of stones.

His brain worked rapidly, instantly quantifying the gains and losses of this battle.

He exchanged nearly maximum city wall damage for the full rewards of the Elite Challenge.

It was worth it.

He still held thousands of gold coins in his hand; if things went awry, he could always build more towers at any time, using synthesized defensive towers to forcibly turn the tide of battle.

He chose to conserve his gold coins to deal with any unknowns before the Blood Moon.

Lin Feng swiped open his virtual panel, and the clamorous regional channel, like a bursting dam, instantly flooded his vision.

He wanted to see how ordinary people, struggling on the edge of survival, were coping with this disaster.

Sure enough, the familiar [Strategy Group] prefix once again dominated everyone's screens.

The speaker was still the [Divine Strategist], revered as a god by countless people.

"[Announcement] The Hammer Warrior's attack wind-up is very long. All hero units, pay attention to kiting; do not tank it head-on! Use movement to buy output time for the defensive towers behind you!"

His words carried the calm assurance of someone dictating the course of events.

Below, there was a chorus of gratitude and flattery.

"Boss is awesome! This kiting strategy really works! My city wall didn't lose a single drop of blood!"

"Strategist, my god! I just used this method to make a comeback at the last second!"

"Wuwuwu, thank you, boss, I survived!"

Amidst this post-disaster revelry, a discordant voice weakly spoke up.

"Um... boss, how do you unlock heroes?"

The channel instantly fell silent for a second.

Then came the merciless mockery.

"Pfft! Bro, are you kidding me?"

"Still asking this question now?"

"Bury him, he's beyond saving, just wait to die, hahahaha!"

The player who asked the question never spoke again.

Lin Feng scrolled through the chat history with an expressionless face.

His gaze was cold, like a precise scanner, rapidly filtering out all useless information.

His finger finally stopped.

The word he was searching for did not appear.

Stone Golem.

No one mentioned that word.

A cold thought clearly emerged in his mind.

After the doomsday-like despair brought by the five Flame Dragonss last night, no one dared to touch that blood-red [Elite Challenge] button anymore.

They couldn't afford to lose.

One failure meant being completely wiped from this world, both person and fortress.

In the entire war zone, perhaps only those few at the very top of the pyramid were still rushing along that thorny, death-filled path.

Lin Feng's gaze fell on his resource panel.

"Gold: 13800"

"heavy oil: 4200"

This was the capital he had gambled his life for.

But the Elite Challenge's visibly skyrocketing difficulty was also like a cold needle, constantly reminding him.

Lin Feng decided to temporarily avoid the direct confrontation tomorrow night.

Any unnecessary risk before the Blood Moon descended could lead to a complete loss.

If he encountered a monster that countered his current system and was forced to waste a large amount of gold on building useless defensive towers, that would truly be a net loss.

His gaze moved from the cold resource numbers, finally landing on the ladder leading to a higher dimension.

"Upgrade Main Camp to Level 6: 10000 Gold Coins"

What he needed to do now was not to take risks.

Instead, it was to convert the advantage he had already gained into an unshakeable strength.

"Upgrade."

Rumble—!

This tremor was more violent than any before!

The entire fortress platform let out an overwhelmed roar, and a golden beam of light, almost solid, shot into the sky, actually scorching a huge hole in the eternal dim yellow sky above!

The grey-blue rocks beneath his feet expanded wildly outwards, and the area once again surged.

On the sturdy city wall, the flowing energy shield became even more solid, emitting a reassuring, heavy glow.

"Congratulations! Your Main Camp has been upgraded to Level 6!"

"City Wall Durability increased: 5000 -> 6000"

"Defensive Tower Slots: 10 -> 12"

"Resource Building Slots: 6 -> 7"

"New Feature Unlocked: Offensive Spells"

"Institute Unlocked New Blueprints"

A series of brand new information exploded in his mind.

Lin Feng's thoughts immediately delved into the new feature.

"Offensive Spells: When actively attacking, you can cast spells to assist your troops."

"Currently Available Spells: [Healing Spell]"

"Current Spell Storage Limit: 1"

"Effect: Creates a healing aura in the designated area. All friendly units within the aura recover 50 health per second for 10 seconds."

A sharp glint flashed in Lin Feng's eyes.

This skill would completely change his PVE combat style.

His elite squad would have stronger sustained combat capabilities, allowing them to challenge more dangerous, higher-reward monster camps.

The Institute also unlocked new defensive towers and troop types.

But Lin Feng merely glanced at them, then forcibly suppressed the urge to research them immediately.

He decided to plan all of this carefully tomorrow.

For now, he had something more important to do.

Lin Feng's thoughts stirred, and in an empty resource slot, he once again built a [heavy oil Derrick].

Immediately after, he selected the two identical structures.

"Synthesize!"

The two derricks transformed into two deep black lights, colliding and merging violently in the air!

Finally, they transformed into a larger, more complex drilling platform, which crashed down!

"Synthesis Successful! You have obtained the Epic Building - Geothermal Extractor!"

"Geothermal Extractor"

"Quality: Purple (Epic)"

"Effect: Produces 30 heavy oil per hour."

After completing all of this, Lin Feng slowly exhaled a turbid breath and turned to walk into the stone hut.

The Blood Moon was approaching.

He needed to arm his war machine to the teeth as quickly as possible.