4: Upgrade your base camp

The next morning, Lin Feng was awakened by a chilling stiffness.

The wooden plank bed that came with the Level 1 Main Base was inexplicably hard, making his back bones ache faintly.

The air was still filled with that lingering, cold, dead silence, a mix of rock and metal.

He expressionlessly picked up the only supplies he had.

A compressed biscuit that tasted like sawdust.

A mouthful of lukewarm purified water.

He chewed mechanically, swallowing with difficulty.

These almost torturous living conditions, far from crushing his will, instead made his gaze sharper, like an eagle's.

To escape all this, he must become stronger!

He must stand at the pinnacle of everyone!

With a thought, a light blue virtual panel quietly unfolded before his eyes.

Overnight, a small, alluring red number had accumulated on the building icons of the two Refined Gold Mines.

"Ding! Your Refined Gold Mine has been operating for 12 hours, producing 480 Gold Coins."

"Ding! Your Refined Gold Mine triggered the 'Touch of Gold' effect 4 times, gaining an additional 80 Gold Coins!"

A total of 560 Gold Coins!

Looking at this number, the slight irritation Lin Feng felt due to the primitive environment was instantly replaced by a burning ambition capable of starting a prairie fire.

This huge sum was enough for him to undergo a crucial transformation.

His gaze, like a beast that had locked onto its prey, was fixed on the upgrade option at the very top of the panel.

"Upgrade Main Base to Level 2 (Cost: 500 Gold Coins)"

He didn't hesitate for even a thousandth of a second.

"Upgrade."

The moment these two words were silently uttered in his mind, the entire fortress platform violently shook!

Boom—!

A visible golden energy halo, like ripples, spread out from the core of the Main Base, sweeping over every inch of the grayish-green rock beneath his feet.

The platform beneath his feet extended outwards in a way that defied the laws of physics, its area increasing by nearly a third out of thin air.

The originally slightly rough stone city walls became thicker and more solid under the golden light's baptism, with a faint metallic luster even appearing on their surface.

The system's prompt, like an epic, resounded solemnly in his mind.

"Congratulations! Your Main Base has been upgraded to Level 2!"

"City Wall Durability Increased: 1000 -> 2000"

"Defense Turret Slots: 4 -> 5"

"Resource Building Slots: 2 -> 3"

"New Building Unlocked: Institute"

"New Authority Unlocked: Personal Information Hiding Function (Can choose to hide nickname, talent, and other information from others on the leaderboard)"

Along with the prompt, a silver-white dome building, full of futuristic technological sense, appeared as a phantom in the empty space behind the Main Base.

Lin Feng immediately focused his consciousness on it.

"Institute: Gold Coins can be spent to unlock new building blueprints. The type and quality of building blueprints are closely related to the Main Base's level."

"Currently Unlockable Blueprints:"

"Trebuchet: Unlock cost 200 Gold Coins. (Area damage, effective against dense ground units)"

"Anti-Air Rocket: Unlock cost 400 Gold Coins. (Anti-air, specifically hunts flying units)"

Anti-Air Rocket?

Seeing these four words, Lin Feng's pupils suddenly constricted, and a chill rose from the bottom of his heart.

The appearance of this building was, in itself, the most dangerous signal.

It silently declared that at some point in the future, enemies would no longer be confined to the ground!

Flying units capable of ignoring city walls and directly attacking the core of the fortress would appear!

By then, everyone's defenses would be easily torn open from the sky, and so-called impregnable defenses would become a joke.

Lin Feng took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart.

The upgrade cost 500 Gold Coins, leaving him with only 60 Gold Coins.

It was far from enough to unlock any new technology.

He calmly closed the Institute panel and redirected his gaze to that precious extra Resource Building Slot.

Planning ahead was necessary, but not now.

Compared to preparing in advance for a threat that had not yet appeared, he had more important and urgent things to do.

That was, to continue rolling his economic snowball to the extreme!

The three-day novice protection period given by the system was a merciful reprieve for the weak, but for him, it was a golden window to leave everyone far behind!

A Level 3 Main Base required 1000 Gold Coins.

He had to accumulate this money as quickly as possible!

...

Time passed minute by minute.

Three hours later, with the gold mine's next settlement, Lin Feng's account balance rose back to 200 Gold Coins.

He didn't hesitate and immediately purchased two Initial Gold Mines.

"In that empty resource slot, build, and then... synthesize!"

Light flashed, and as soon as the two new gold mine models appeared, they were pulled and merged by an invisible force, eventually transforming into a third identical Refined Gold Mine, settling firmly into the third resource slot.

After completing all this, Lin Feng's economic panel was refreshed.

"Current Gold Coin Production Rate: 60 Gold Coins/hour! (With a 10% chance of triggering a critical strike)"

The corner of his mouth curved into a cold arc.

While other survivors were still struggling with a maximum income of 20 Gold Coins per hour, his economic engine had already reached three times that of others!

This was an absolute, overwhelming advantage!

...

Night fell again, and the cold countdown reached zero.

In the fog outside the fortress, the sounds were no longer the noisy roars of Goblins.

Instead, there were deep, suppressed howls, full of wildness and power!

Awoooo—!

Twenty heavy-bodied, muscular Werewolves, with heavy footsteps, charged out of the fog!

Their eyes were blood-red, and their sharp claws scraped dazzling sparks across the rocky ground.

"The second wave of monsters has arrived!"

"Monster Information: Ferocious Werewolf x20"

"Attributes: HP 100, Armor 0, Attack 10, Movement Speed 3 m/s"

"Kill Reward: 10 Gold Coins"

"One hundred HP, huh..."

Lin Feng's eyes showed no fluctuation; he calmly analyzed the data.

The monsters' attributes were climbing at a rather terrifying rate.

His two Double-shot Heavy Crossbow Towers were already in position, like two silent grim reapers.

The moment the first Werewolf entered range, the sound of deadly crossbow strings played again!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Four crossbow bolts, thicker than before, shot through the air, accurately embedding themselves in the chest of the same Werewolf.

"-20!"

"-20!"

"-20!"

"-20!"

"-20!"

A series of crimson damage numbers floated up.

That seemingly ferocious Werewolf didn't even let out a whimper before its massive body was pierced by the immense impact, collapsing to the ground.

Instant kill!

Still an instant kill!

But Lin Feng keenly noticed that the turret with the Rapid Fire skill required three full volleys to eliminate a target.

While the other regular Heavy Crossbow Turret required a full five rounds of attacks!

However, the Werewolves' sluggish speed of 3 m/s gave the turrets ample time to deal damage.

The entire battle was uneventful; rather than a battle, it was more like a patient target practice.

When the last Werewolf fell, filled with unwillingness, tens of meters away from the city wall, the generous reward prompt finally sounded.

"Ding! You have successfully repelled the second wave of monsters!"

"You gained: 200 Gold Coins."