-"And even if you do know, so what? I'm simply Chen Luo, but the truth is, I don't know anything. All I know is that I have to survive." Chen Luo finally opened up and voiced the thoughts weighing on his heart. "But..."
After saying that, Chen Luo and Chris quietly returned to their rooms. Chen Luo resumed his unfinished business of opening safes. This kind of random activity that tested his luck gave him a surprisingly thrilling feeling, even though he did not expect much from the rewards. He still had more than seven hundred safes left, and without hesitation, he decided to open 110 of them at once.
This time, Chen Luo grinned from ear to ear but managed not to make a sound. At last, he had obtained the ammunition he had long wanted for his M4-XT rifle. He had neglected the gun for a long time, but this opening yielded more than 300 rounds as well as many other items, most of them extremely useful. Realizing that he had accumulated too much equipment, Chen Luo immediately sold off his excessive supplies, especially weeds and various seeds. He then spent another two hours organizing his inventory before finally going to sleep.
The next morning, everyone woke feeling more refreshed than ever. Chen Luo alone had risen early and begun expanding the temporary base. The most urgent task was to enlarge the living space; otherwise, staying here for a long time would become unbearably cramped.
-"Hey, everyone, let's expand the base together. Captain Zhang's team, could you go hunt a few monsters? We need to clear a huge area before we can expand the base." Chen Luo was busy knocking down sections of wall connecting the buildings. As soon as the walls broke apart, they were collected into his inventory. He then used the materials to build a sturdy staircase connecting the two buildings. When he saw everyone had woken up, he quickly assigned tasks.
-"Got it! Come on, brothers, let's get out there and fight!" After receiving the order, Zhang Zewei led several members of the team outside to clear away monsters. Their hurried, steady footsteps gradually faded into the distance until they disappeared beyond the base.
Chris and the children rolled up their sleeves and helped Chen Luo clean and refine the stone blocks removed from the walls. Yet Chris could not help sinking into thought, his mind circling around the two things Chen Luo had said the previous night.
-"Even if you do know, so what..."
-"But if you insist on asking whether I'm really from this world, that depends on how you define me. I'll only say one thing: I'm a wanderer."
The words "a wanderer" made Chris reconsider how he should view Chen Luo. Though his hands continued working with everyone else, his feelings were complicated. He sank into confused thoughts about what he had heard.
Just then, a sharp *clack* startled Chris. A spherical object rolled out from inside a stone and came to rest at his feet. He picked it up and examined it, but could not interact with it in any way, so he called Chen Luo over to inspect it.
The moment Chen Luo saw it, he raised a hand to his forehead and sighed. It was no unfamiliar object, but one of the most important items he had read about in Alvibion: 「Blood Jade」. Whether constructing an altar or creating a high-grade Blood Jade, 「Blood Jade」 had to be consumed. Chen Luo began to take a slight interest in this kind of magic.
Holding the Blood Jade, Chen Luo walked along, deep in thought. He already had one, and with this newly discovered one, he now had two. It would be an ideal time to build a Blood Altar, since he would have one spare Blood Jade. However, he still lacked many of the materials needed to complete a proper Blood Altar, making it difficult for now. He would set the matter aside temporarily and focus on finishing the base first.
Chen Luo worked diligently, carving and carefully fitting the stone blocks together. Combined with the extensive "construction" experience he had gained in *Infinite Class*, he completed the staircase in less than thirty minutes. He was delighted that his old construction method still worked so effectively. Although the result could not match the strength of a single cast piece or an untouched original structure, it was at least sturdy enough for long-term use.
Chen Luo made full use of the remaining materials to keep expanding into neighboring buildings. The buildings in this entire area stood tightly packed together and were connected across floors, so there was a solid basis for expanding the base into them.
Although the pace could not match a team of hundreds, Chen Luo's work was hardly slow. In just four hours, they had successfully expanded into five surrounding buildings, making the entire area far more spacious and open.
Chen Luo looked over the result with satisfaction. The others had not expected his construction method to work so well. The finished structure did not look bad at all; given the scarcity of supplies, it was actually quite impressive.
-"Huh... I didn't expect that! You even know how to build things, but this looks... a little rough, doesn't it?" Galahad commented. It was hard to tell whether he was praising or criticizing, but by his standards, it was an unpolished gem.
-"Exactly. That's why we need this." Chen Luo casually took a chisel out of his inventory. Galahad stared at it in surprise. "You even know how to chisel stone?"
-"I know a little. Don't mind it." Chen Luo brushed him off and focused on the construction knowledge stored in Alvibion. He had only just looked through it and could not memorize everything immediately, but the System interface displayed it visually, making the process much easier. A holographic projection was cast directly onto the object, allowing him to chisel and shape it with precision.
Chen Luo continued carving for another five hours. Everyone had long since eaten and returned to the base renovation. From the outside, it looked as though Chen Luo was working effortlessly, but in reality, he was manipulating a rough stone block whose dimensions had already been fixed. He could not afford even the slightest mistake, or the results of an entire day's work would be ruined.
-"Congratulations, Host, you have obtained 「Chiseling」. When activated, this skill reduces the Host's error rate during microscopic operations and improves the finish of the final product. Please keep up the good work."
The Guardian approached to observe the patterns Chen Luo was carving. He did not hide his astonishment. "I never expected you to be skilled in sculpting too, kid. Couldn't you have just been patient and hit me a little? Why did you have to throw that skill at me?"
-"Come on, even you admitted I won. Now you're complaining? That's called deliberate planning. You got hit, and now you're accusing me of playing dirty? Isn't that a bit much?"
Chen Luo recalled the battle. At the exact moment he threw out the Truth-Seers, he had also activated 「Surprise」. Even he had not expected the skill to actually hit the Guardian. The piercing metallic clash had marked the official end of the match, leaving the Guardian utterly stunned. Nobody could have guessed that the decisive blow would be a small skill orb with such limited damage.
Just then, Chen Luo failed to notice the ground beneath his feet and slipped straight into the pile of rubble and powder produced by his carving. He popped his head up, coughing violently. Chris could only shake his head helplessly, while Zhang Zewei and Galahad burst into loud laughter.
-"Hahahaha... pfft... hahaha..."
Chen Luo was now covered from head to toe in a layer of white dust, as though he had been plastered like a statue. Every breath he spat out was full of dust, and he kept coughing. His appearance was... not only strange, but utterly miserable.