Chapter 40: The Infrastructure Fanatic's Manual

This was the third time Chen Shijin witnessed the collapse of a world.

However, unlike the previous two times, this time, due to "defection" or rather "cooperation", he did not absorb too much of the Dreamland's core energy.

Nonetheless, he still received a small pink core proactively given to him by the master of Dreamland.

[I know when you humans cooperate, you sign all those love contracts, prenuptial agreements, pledges of allegiance, etc., this is a core split from me. Once you input energy into it, you'll have the authority to control the buildings I construct.]

[After you start building the city, I can also contribute, but my core must be placed in the safest spot within the city.]

Chen Shijin raised his eyebrows at the sight of the small pink core, feeling the rich energy stored within it as he held it in his hand.

This energy could add at least 2 points to each of his five major attributes.

A pity it can't be consumed for now.

"No problem. I'll ensure you're placed in the safest spot."

"However, if you're too large, it might be difficult to accommodate you."

[No worries, my true form is actually quite adorable!]

The voice of the Dreamland Devourer was filled with pride and satisfaction as it made this claim, then repeated, [I'm the prettiest and most adorable of all the devourers!]

Chen Shijin was somewhat skeptical whether the aesthetic standards of the Devourer and humans were the same.

Then, a golden card fell in front of Chen Shijin. His first reaction was to look towards the construction site, but he didn't see the foreman in a tailcoat.

However, the golden card was emblazoned with the words "Royal Construction Company VIP."

Jin Chen pondered slightly while holding this VIP gold card. He had already collected three gold cards, what was so special about that tuxedo?

At first glance, these three gold cards didn't seem to have any special connection, but if one must say, perhaps they all related to... the service industry?

Jin Chen thought about it and placed the gold card in his storage ring, deciding to inquire about any VIP treatment next time he encountered someone in a tuxedo in the Devouring World.

As he stored away the gold card, a "Construction Maniac's Handbook" appeared before him.

[You've received the gratitude of the Dream Haven family members and obtained a "Construction Maniac's Handbook." This manual significantly increases the speed of building houses and collecting construction materials. Upgrading this handbook can also add various special properties to your house.

The family members of Dream Haven hope you have the best home.]

Jin Chen smiled slightly upon hearing this.

"I hope the family members can also rest in peace and return to their homeland someday."

With this, Jin Chen had received all the rewards from Dream Haven. The Dream Haven itself had almost entirely collapsed and vanished, leaving nothing but desolation.

The other exiles had already been sent away, leaving only two individuals and a silver-gray, blue-eyed mole in this space that seemed to be filled with void and chaos.

Chen Jia held the mole by the scruff of its neck, his eyes fixed on the person standing opposite him, the seemingly ordinary "Bystander B."

Neither of them spoke for a moment until Bystander B suddenly laughed.

"Oh dear."

"Caught by you again, huh?"

"Seems like the same trick won't work on you twice."

"And this time, I even used a body double?"

As Bystander B laughed, the unremarkable persona he had adopted completely vanished. A difficult-to-describe sinister aura and a strange sense of oppression enveloped the area.

Clutching the mole tighter, Chen Jia offered a forced smile: "Perhaps it's your unique aura and presence that make you stand out to me in a crowd."

That look in his eyes, as if everything was merely a source of amusement.

That look of condescension towards everything.

A genuine disregard for all, not out of arrogance, but as if it were a natural right.

That look was all too familiar to him; there was a time in his life on Earth when he viewed everything with the same gaze.

It wasn't about looking down on others, but knowing that his power was above all.

Bystander B slowly curled his lips into a smile: "The same goes for you."

"Among thousands of people and things, I would spot you at first glance."

"You exude a fragrance and shine brightly."

Chen Jia's mouth twitched, none of the adjectives seemed to describe a person.

Unaffected, he asked what he really wanted to know: "Why are you following me?"

"Who are you?"

"Are you human, or a Devourer?"

"Or perhaps... a Le Fang?"

As he asked, Chen Jia focused intently on the person opposite him, ready for any sudden outbursts.

The person across from him chuckled upon hearing the last question.

His figure began to fade, and the silver-gray, blue-eyed mole in Chen Jia's hand also started to disappear.

Just when Chen Jia thought he had finally subdued the troublemaker without any mischief, he suddenly felt a cold and hot sensation on his neck—

On the left was the warm touch of silver-gray fur, and on the right was the chill of sharp teeth piercing in.

“！”

At first, Chen Jia was startled, but then he stood still, sneering without moving.

The eyes of the mole gnawing on one side and the person on the other both showed confusion and a bit of wariness, but by then it was too late—

"Hmm?! Ah!"

"Squeak, ahh, squeak, squeak, damn—"

The person and the mole that disappeared and then sneakily reappeared both covered their mouths and necks, retreating several steps with distorted faces.

The face and neck of Bystander B turned bright red in an instant, tears uncontrollably streaming from his eyes, while the silver-gray, blue-eyed mole fared worse, jumping up and spewing a long, fiery stream of flames toward the sky. The scene was tragic yet somehow comical.

"How do you like the taste of the Carolina Reaper?" Chen Jia, covering the small bites on his neck, chuckled.

"I knew you wouldn't leave without a bite! How's the taste of the world's hottest chili? Super refreshing, right? Serves you right for your sharp tongue!"

If he wasn't unsure whether this person was Le Fang, he would have cursed him to feel agonizing pain starting from his third leg!

The man, unable to speak due to the burning, looked at the coldly laughing Chen Jia with his deep blue eyes first filled with frustration, anger, and irritation, but soon all these emotions turned into the amusement of finding a new toy.

"Jinjin. Let's find fun together next time."

"As long as you keep shining, I won't really eat you."

After saying this, he and the mole truly vanished, leaving unanswered whether he was Le Fang or even human.

*

When Chen Jia next saw the realm of the exiles, his first sight wasn't the endless darkness but the light of Feng Tianhuo's fire, illuminating a hundred meters around.

Alongside Feng Tianhuo stood eighteen excited survivors.

However, more captivating to Chen Jia than Feng Tianhuo and the survivors was a creature distanced from the fireball and humans, carrying a shiny spiky shell... a giant snail?

As Chen Shijin appeared, two voices sounded at the same time.

"Haha, Jin! Let me see what special gifts those residual souls gave you after defeating the core."

"[Humans! Eliminate all the guiders on them at once! Then hurry into my shell, or soon a dominator-level devourer will come to eat us!]"

Chen Shijin's expression immediately became serious as he directly addressed the eighteen surviving exiles: "Would you like to join the Eternal Heart? If you do, I will destroy the guider system in your bodies."

Jiang Hong, Chu Tiankuo, and others were stunned. At this moment, they heard the screaming and cursing of the guiders in their ears: "[Refuse him! Without me, you'll lose access to the guider mall!]"

"[Without me, you'll have no network for communication, no direction for advancement, and no strength to survive in this rogue world!!]"

"[Do not agree to him, just wait quietly in place! If you obey, I'll give you a 50% discount at the guider mall and reward you with 1000 energy points!]"

Two or three of the eighteen showed hesitant expressions, but Jiang Hong, Chu Tiankuo, and even Chen Qiang, who seemed most likely to switch sides, all revealed cold smiles without a hint of hesitation.

"Boss Jin! We'll join the Eternal Heart! Get rid of that damned guider who's been nagging in my ear! I'm truly fed up with being monitored all the time and having to obey!"

"Bro Jin, act fast; it's threatening and tempting us, this guy definitely means no good! We're all with you!"

Quickly, all eighteen chose to join the Eternal Heart, despite the angry screams and threats from the guiders in their ears, despite the intense, sharp pain they felt emanating from within their skulls, which made them all clutch their heads and collapse to the ground, pale-faced, in a very short time.

"[Damn it! Damn these foolish humans! You actually dare to think of breaking free from my control!]"

"Ugh ah ah,"

"Ah, my head, my head hurts so much!"

When everyone was almost unable to bear the pain, Chen Shijin had already activated his divine eye and instantly appeared before them.

He then effortlessly located the strand of thread attached to the exiles' skulls, resembling a strand of hair, and pulled it out, eliciting sharp, furious curses from the guider.

"[Chen Shijin! Chen Shijin Chen Shijin Chen Shijin! One day, I will devour you! Devour you—]"

Yet, Chen Shijin coldly smiled as he pulled out the blood-stained thread from atop Jiang Hong's head, saying, "Idiot, but right now, it's me who's devouring you."

Just this single strand of hair increased his energy value by 1%.

However, Chen Shijin's expression was not one of joy—

The "strand of hair" pulled from Jiang Hong's head was twenty centimeters long, half of which had burrowed deep into Jiang Hong's skull.

As Chen Shijin removed the strand, Jiang Hong's entire body trembled violently, his facial expression twisted in extreme agony.

It appears the guider's thread is not of a fixed length; rather than calling it a thread, it's more akin to a "parasite beast" that grows over time as it parasitizes the host.

When Chen Shijin eliminated the guider from his body, it was merely masquerading as a strand of hair atop his head, yet to penetrate his skull.

But these eighteen exiles who had been in the land of exile for a long time, each one of them had their brains invaded by the guider's thread, none spared.

Chen Shijin nearly failed to remove a guider thread from inside one person's skull—that was Chen Qiang's only remaining brother, who, being of the strength type, often charged to the forefront and was more prone to injury. He was the most frequent user of the exile's mall, and the guider thread inside his skull was a full meter long.

Even just a thread, when bunched up, occupied a considerable volume.

During the removal of Old Zhang's thread, he thrice contorted his face in agony, attempting to strike Chen Shijin and screaming for him not to pull out the guider. But in the end, he was firmly held in place by Chen Qiang and Chu Tiankuo, who forcefully exorcised the evil.

This single guider thread from Old Zhang directly increased Chen Shijin's energy value by 5%.

As he absorbed the energy from this thread, Chen Shijin heard the sensing deity scream like a panic-stricken chicken.

"[Quick, quick, quick! Get into my shell! Let's run and hide for now!]"

The bone-spiked, patterned giant snail, nearly as large as a person, suddenly swelled in size to that of a house, swallowing all eighteen people into its "belly."

When it attempted to swallow Chen Shijin and the seal heaven fire, Chen Shijin chuckled and spoke a word on the spot before entering the snail's shell. Then, watching the creature, the seal heaven fire burst into laughter and added a flame gold edge to it.

The snail's soft tentacles immediately melted the hard black earth beneath, sinking the entire shell into the ground.

This was somewhat more sophisticated than the seal heaven fire's ability to shrink the ground.

Ten minutes later, several high-level devourers arrived, unable to find the humans and the shell mentioned by the sensing deity. Instead, they immediately noticed an incredibly distinct, giant human palm made of flames.

"What is this?"

"A human... hand?"

"No, a fist."

"No, it's a fist with an extra finger."

Then, as several high-level devourers were examining this burning fist, the human palm with its middle finger raised suddenly exploded, and the laughter of a madman echoed through the night:

"This means 'screw your ancestors!' Hahahaha!"

*

Not to mention how furious the high-level devourers covered in ash were, after the giant snail carried Chen Shijin and the others for two hours, it finally stopped in a small, black hollow in the hills.

It slowly emerged from the ground, then spat out Chen Shijin and his group, before rubbing its tentacles together and speaking: "[This place is quite secluded and also has cover. Suitable for building houses.]"

This was one of the several locations it had chosen to build houses in after surviving in the land of exile for many years.

Although the geographical environment of the land of exile often changes drastically due to battles between devourers or between devourers and exiles, this small hollow had been fortunate enough not to be destroyed.

The snail thought this place was, in human architectural terms, "a site with good Feng Shui."

It was a high-level devourer with a specialty in architecture.

Chen Shijin, observing the concave land surrounded by hills, also thought the location was excellent. The main reason was that the surrounding hills were not too prominent, nothing too distinctive that would draw special attention from afar. Moreover, the hollow was situated to the right and concealed; if the city were not built too large, it would be difficult to spot even from the air.

"Then let's build the city here!"

Chen Shijin felt a rare surge of excitement.

Seal Heaven Fire and the eighteen laborers beside him were also excited, rubbing their hands together in anticipation.

"Great, great, great, building the house this time is voluntary! After the baptism of Dream Home, we are now skilled construction workers! Brother Jin! Assign the tasks quickly!"

"Exactly, hurry and bring out the 'Construction Maniac's Manual'! Let's all have a look together! See how we can build an unparalleled city-state within a day!"

Under everyone's eager anticipation, Chen Shijin took out the 'Construction Maniac's Manual' from his storage ring. With a devout heart, he turned to the first page of the manual.

[Construction Maniac's Manual 1: Those who engage in construction are the coolest!]

Chen Shijin: .

Everyone: ……

"Haha, haha, this, um, is indeed wild."

Chen Shijin had a subtle premonition in his heart as he turned to the second page.

[Construction Maniac's Manual 2: A solid foundation is truly what matters!]

Chen Shijin: .

Everyone: ……

"That statement isn't wrong. Keep flipping, keep flipping!"

Chen Shijin flipped to the third page with an expressionless face.

Then, everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

The third page finally contained useful diagrams instead of text, but Chen Shijin's expression didn't improve much upon seeing the illustrations and words on this page.

He even showed a hint of doubt regarding his own eyesight.

[Construction Maniac's Manual 3: Crazy Modification of the Spider Mobile Castle Construction Diagram.jpg

Advantages: The entire city moves very fast, strong attack power, good concealment. Can disguise as immobile rocks and mountains.

Disadvantages: Consumes a lot of joint materials, difficult to upgrade, challenging to add farming terraces.

Maximum occupancy for level one: 500 people.

Note: Extremely awesome. High energy value, pay-to-win exiles' top choice.]

Before Chen Shijin could comment, Seal Heaven Fire and Chen Qiang were already slapping their thighs in excitement, their eyes shining.

"Bro Jin! This one, this one! Super awesome!"

"Exactly, Brother Jin! The super awesome big spider!"

Chen Shijin ignored their enthusiastic reactions and flipped to the next page.

Then, the corner of his eye twitched again.

[Construction Maniac's Manual 4: Crazy Modification of the Earth Dragon Mobile Castle Construction Diagram.jpg

Advantages: Can move underground, extremely strong concealment, can add defensive skin, very easy to upgrade. As long as the skin is thick enough and the underground penetration deep enough, there’s no obstacle it can’t overcome!

Disadvantages: No exposure to sunlight, though the land of exile lacks sunlight. Cannot illuminate planting areas. Over time, one might feel like a maggot.

Maximum occupancy for level one: 10,000 people.

Note: Super sneaky. The choice of penniless, grind king exiles.]

This time, Jiang Hong and several women in the team showed a keen interest. Chen Shijin even felt a thin tentacle resting on his shoulder.

[Super sneaky. The snail thinks, not bad.]

Jiang Hong nodded vigorously.

Chen Shijin flipped the page with an expressionless face again.

[Construction Maniac's Manual 5: If you’re not satisfied with the first two! Then we have the ultimate transformation plan! The Construction Maniac never admits defeat!

Crazy Modification·True·Transforming Mimic Devourer Construction Diagram.jpg!]

What caught his eye was a very striking image, that of… the All-Seeing Eye.

[Advantages: Capable of high-speed amphibious movement on land and in the air, highly deceptive, likely to scare off all king-level devourers and below, but once exposed, it attracts frenzied retaliation.

Disadvantages: Extremely high energy consumption, requires a compound eye from a killed All-Seeing Eye as material.

Maximum occupancy for level one: 20 people.

Note: Super flashy. The top choice for show-offs.]

Chen Shijin's eyes gradually lit up at that last sentence.