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After circling around, Shuixi found a statue and a bronze bell near a cave.

The plump lama statue was covered in a thick layer of snow. Shuixi brushed the snow off the statue’s head and shoulders, then turned to see Jian Xingyi standing behind him, fully prepared.

Jian Xingyi stepped forward and tied the green banner to the lama’s body.

【Player 【Xinghe】 has obtained Auspicious Cloud White, Earth Yellow, and River Green in the Thousand Bells Snow Mountain map quest 【Five Wisdom】. Flag progress: 3/5. Keep up the good work!】

Yay!

“Let’s go. We’ll wander around here a bit to see if there are any other good resources, then we can come back to the cave to rest and wait for Meimei and the others to arrive.”

Jian Xingyi stepped forward to take Shuixi’s hand, but Shuixi instinctively pulled back slightly.

Jian Xingyi paused.

He sensed that Shuixi might have figured something out, but since he didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t ask—it was just that…

Jian Xingyi firmly took Shuixi’s hand and said with a smile, “If you don’t hold my hand, I’m afraid I’ll fall.”

Shuixi opened his mouth, then closed it again, unable to speak.

Jian Xingyi blinked and said, “I feel safer when you’re holding my hand.”

Shuixi lowered his gaze. “Really?”

“Mm-hmm!” Jian Xingyi nodded vigorously. “It’s super safe with Shuixi by my side!!”

Shuixi wasn’t some terrifying presence at all!

Shuixi paused for a moment, then carefully clasped Jian Xingyi’s hand in return. “Let’s go, then.”

Jian Xingyi had gathered quite a bit of wood from the surroundings, as well as a good number of hazelnuts and essence. After upgrading the water pool to Grade B, he was now left with a pitiful 23 points of essence.

After Jian Xingyi and Shuixi returned to the cave together, he opened his backpack to check the wood.

The system’s previous announcement had been vague, revealing only that the next zombie wave would be a “Bastion Battle,” during which the system would remove the initial fences surrounding guilds. After all, those initial fences were actually very fragile and couldn’t withstand much damage; it was just that during the first zombie wave, the zombies had been routed by the system to avoid attacking the fences and head straight for the main gates.

Therefore, for the second zombie wave, players would need to build their own sturdy fortifications to defend against zombies coming from all directions.

Just imagining it sends a chill down Jian Xingyi’s spine—after all, everyone was already struggling enough when the zombies came from just one direction last time.

You could say that the “Crack Zombies” from the last wave served as a preview of just how insane the second zombie wave would be.

But even though the goal is to build a barrier, the game’s construction system is rather rudimentary.

Jian Xingyi had previously tried clicking to build along the edge of the vanished wall and discovered that a single brick required 1,000 dawn coins, one piece of lumber, and a zombie head.

But to build a complete fortress encircling the entire guild, who knows how many hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of bricks it would take?

The goal seemed too distant, and it was hard to even know where to start, so everyone suggested gathering a batch of resources first and then figuring out the next steps.

Jian Xingyi checked his wood supply; he had collected about 215 pieces from Flag Mountain and Snow Mountain.

Jian Xingyi asked in the “Long Live for A Hundred Years” Guild Administrator chat group.

Xinghe: 【How is everyone’s wood collection coming along?】

Jian Xingyi took the opportunity to share a screenshot of the wood in his inventory with the chat group.

Xinghe: 【Wood x215】

More than ten days have passed since then. During this time, Akita led the guild’s high-level members on dungeon runs to collect wood, while Lone Wolf, Haihai, and Feiyi each led teams to farm monsters and gather resources—including wood—in the wild.

Akita: 【Wood x980】

Lone Wolf: 【Wood x784】

Haihai: 【Wood x915】

Feiyi: 【Wood x955】

Heiye and Baizhou mentioned that they used the axes given to them by Jian Xingyi not only to build fences around Jian Xingyi’s homestead but also to chop down quite a few trees near the guild, yielding a substantial amount of wood. Moreover, the axes could be used continuously as long as they had the strength, so they actually gathered more wood than the adventuring parties outside.

Heiye: 【Wood x1250】

Doing the math, that’s roughly 5,000 pieces of wood.

Heiye: 【We’ve also discovered that the so-called “zombie skulls” don’t actually require a physical skull—just killing them counts. The guild backend shows the combined kill count for all members, which is currently over 3,000… Everyone needs to step up their efforts!】

This number is definitely lower because, aside from the Akita team, the other teams have been focusing on gathering materials and wood, not specifically killing zombies.

Xinghe: 【Alright, everyone, don’t worry about dawn coins—I should have enough here.】

I suppose so…

He’s currently working hard to expand his land and collect more seeds.

Moreover, the food he sells now is mainly for adventuring purposes—to fill everyone’s stomachs and make exploration easier—but Jian Xingyi’s bigger plan actually lies in the zombie hordes.

The last zombie horde gave him valuable experience. In fact, food sells better during a zombie horde, especially items with special bonuses, like lychees and meat from his breeding area.

Resources are consumed extremely quickly during actual combat, so Jian Xingyi isn’t worried that with so many fields now, the food produced every two days might go unsold. He plans to stockpile enough supplies to meet everyone’s needs during the war and ensure the survival of both himself and the guild.

Heiye: 【With Xinghe backing us on dawn coins, we’re not too worried about that. It’s just that the wood and zombie kill counts… right now, they’re nowhere near keeping up with the dawn coin demand. Baizhou and I have been trying to build these past few days, but one piece of wood only yields a tiny bit of brick. Filling the entire perimeter of the guild base is… a bit of a challenge.】

Baizhou: 【Yeah, the over 5,000 pieces of wood everyone’s worked so hard to gather recently can only cover a corner of the guild base.】

Lone Wolf: 【Is the system trying to force us into a direct fight?? This is ridiculous!】

Haihai: 【I’ve tried asking around about other guilds’ situations. No one has much wood either. Right now, the ceiling is Grapevine Peak. Their members go to remote, uninhabited areas to gather, so they have a bit more—but even that’s only a little over 30,000. 30,000 would cover… maybe one large corner at most?】

Jian Xingyi furrowed his brows slightly.

How are we supposed to fight like this…

The target is too massive, they’re too small, and the distance is too great.

And now, there are only 20 days left until the second zombie tide.

Heiye: 【Don’t lose heart, everyone. All we can do now is do our best and leave the rest to fate. Let’s gather more and work harder!】

Grapevine Peak has also been constantly updating its guides, indicating which maps and dungeons have the most wood.

Jian Xingyi noticed that Grapevine Peak had even ranked the wood supply at Thousand Bells Snow Mountain as T0, indicating that the amount of wood there was quite substantial.

Jian Xingyi blinked.

Could it be that a Grapevine Peak member has been at Thousand Bells Snow Mountain recently? But didn’t Meimei say that no outsiders had been there for a long time?

Maybe the big shots have some special connections!

Since Jian Xingyi rarely logs in, everyone immediately started checking in on him.

Lone Wolf: 【Where have you been lately? Are you okay on your own?】

Heiye: 【Yeah, we haven’t heard from you in ages. Remember to check the chat channel often and let us know you’re okay~】

Jian Xingyi suddenly remembered he wasn’t in the habit of chatting online—after all, he didn’t have anyone to chat with—so he hadn’t been checking the chat page. In reality, everyone had been checking in on each other these past few days.

Xinghe: 【Okay, I’ll keep that in mind】

Xinghe: 【I’m currently at the foot of Thousand Bells Snow Mountain】

Lone Wolf: 【Huh???? Thousand Bells Snow Mountain??】

Xinghe: 【Don’t worry, I’m with a friend】

Haihai: 【A friend? / Dog face】

Heiye: 【A friend? / Dog face】

Baizhou: 【A friend? / Dog face】

Lone Wolf: 【Huh? What’s wrong with a friend? Why are you all making dog faces?】

Akita: 【@Lone Wolf, step aside, you little brat】

Lone Wolf: 【@Akita, you F***er!】

Jian Xingyi couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time.

Come to think of it, he actually wasn’t very familiar with the Guild Administrators, Feiyi and Akita.

He’d had brief contact with Feiyi before; he could sense that Feiyi’s thoughts were more delicate and heavy, and he was generally quite reserved, rarely chatting or joking with everyone.

But he hadn’t had any contact with Akita at all; he’d probably have to wait until the next zombie tide.

Lone Wolf: 【@Xinghe, Heihei, and I are at Flag Mountain right now. A new strategy was posted yesterday at Grapevine Peak. There seems to be plenty of wood in Snow Mountain. If you’re there, should we come find you and join you?】

Jian Xingyi thought for a moment, then looked at Shuixi.

Shuixi had lit a campfire by the cave entrance; the interior was nice and warm.

Jian Xingyi asked, “Shuixi, my guildmates are also nearby and might come find me to team up later. What do you think?”

He wanted to get Shuixi’s approval first.

Shuixi paused, then replied, “Hmm.”

Shuixi glanced at Jian Xingyi, who was looking down and typing a message, and couldn’t help but wonder: if Jian Xingyi had companions, wouldn’t he no longer need him?

That memory bubble was like a sharp knife, tearing open the wound he had always tried to hide, causing him to constantly have negative thoughts.

This shouldn’t be happening.

“Lu Yan” was not allowed to have weaknesses or emotions, and “Shanhai” shouldn’t be someone so constrained.

His existence and purpose were solely for battle; there was no meaning to it, yet “Shuixi” wanted more.

Why had he become like this?

Was it because… Shuixi stared intently at Jian Xingyi.

He had an answer, but dared not admit it: Jian Xingyi… would never like “Shanhai” or “Lu Yan.”

Shuixi rubbed his temples, sat down at the cave entrance, and turned his back on Jian Xingyi to compose himself.

Jian Xingyi spread out a cloth by the campfire and lay down. He had just emerged from the icy lake and was still feeling tired and cold. After lying down, he asked, “Shuixi, aren’t you coming over to sleep with me?”

“I’ll keep watch. You go ahead and sleep.”

“Alright.”

Late at night.

After midnight, a system announcement echoed throughout the entire server.

【Hello, players of Dawnbreaker! It has been 15 days since the Zombie Tide Feast. The Ark has already been activated, and there are only 20 days left until the Zombie Tide Feast – Midnight Session! We are now past the 1/3 mark, but the system has detected that most guilds are still far from meeting the dawn coins, wood, and zombie counts required for the Fortress objective. Therefore, the system will make adjustments!】

Jian Xingyi jolted awake, staring blankly at his surroundings.

He sat up and exchanged a bewildered glance with Shuixi.

What was going on?

【Beep… Beep… Detected that players cannot achieve victory. Confirming the consumption of a safety pin. Initiating adjustment opportunity…】

【Safety Pin 1/2…】

Boom—!

At the same time, countless fireworks lit up the sky. The two stepped out of the cave to look. These fireworks were exactly the same as those from the anniversary celebration—the very day they got stuck in the game.

Brilliant, fleeting. Heralding a new phase.

【Activation successful! The following adjustments will be made】

【1. The system will calculate the number of forts required for guilds and grant permission for free fort construction!】

【2. Increase the amount of wood in the wild and distribute 1 Universal Axe to all players on the server】

【3. Guilds will be allowed to merge and build fortresses together】

Huh?

Jian Xingyi’s eyes widened—it seemed like quite a few changes had been made!

The general chat was exploding right now.

【Dawn and daybreak have not arrived, so I’ll build my own ship to cut through the night sky!】

【Wishing all players a smooth journey through this crisis!】