I created a safe zone in the nightmare world.

Chapter 137 Preparing for the Extraordinary (4K)

"Me, the camp garrison commander?"

Chen Jianghuai was astonished.

He never imagined he would become the head of the camp.

What incredible trust!

But for Shi An, the principle is to not use those he doubts and to trust those he uses. Besides, he doesn't have anyone else he can use.

To manage and defend a camp, both strength and experience are indispensable.

Unfortunately, he was short of both staff in his security zone.

Li Feng and Zhuo Ling, these strange employees, are barely capable enough, but to let them manage the camp? Shi An couldn't even imagine what kind of accidents might occur.

It's also not advisable for employees with unusual behavior to be away from home for extended periods.

The only people he could choose from were the strongmen from Deer Village like Chen Jianghuai who had come to join him.

The camp and the safe zone are directly connected, so Shi An can keep an eye on things at all times, and he doesn't need to worry about anything.

Yes, that's right, that's the trust he, the store manager, has in him.

The villagers of Elk Village, except for a few whose vitality was severely depleted, mostly recovered after resting for only half a day.

复。

This is due to the miraculous effect of the purified water, and also because the villagers of Elk Village are physically strong.

It seems to be related to their unique specialty, the "Crimson Blood Fruit." That precious medicine can permanently enhance physical strength and recovery ability.

Soon, construction began at the outer camp of the first safe zone, which was actually temporarily named "Lighthouse".

Shi An also issued a construction task within the safe zone.

The construction task is not a single task, but rather a series of long-term tasks.

It includes patrolling the Firestone Mine, searching for rare materials, exploring the surrounding area, and building the most basic camp.

Most of the tasks that members take on are the first three.

The construction of the last camp mainly involves civil engineering, which is tedious, laborious, and time-consuming, making it less cost-effective for members to earn contribution points.

It's worth mentioning, however, that non-members can also take on the construction tasks within this camp.

Non-members cannot travel across the Dream Realm; they do not have the privileges of members.

The very existence of the lighthouse is equivalent to creating a spatial passage between it and the safe zone's base camp.

Ordinary dreamers can also pass through the passage to reach the lighthouse—provided that Shi An grants permission to open this access.

So when the quest appeared in the lobby, many non-member Dreamers were excited.

This is the kind of task they dream of, one of the very few that can earn them contribution points.

Even if it's not much, it's still meat.

The entire mission was completely safe.

For those Dreamers who are afraid to confront the bizarre or who are genuinely not good at fighting, this may be their only chance to obtain membership.

Connect! Connect! Connect!

One group after another of the dreamers emerged from the lighthouse and joined the construction of the camp.

A dreamer with a civil engineering background is surveying the terrain;

One of the dreamers, who came from a design institute, started drawing.

They also discussed with Chen Jianghuai how to build the campsite.

Chen Jianghuai has extensive experience in building camp defenses, but the store manager's requirements for this camp are: it must not only be built to be impregnable, but also grand, magnificent, and beautiful!

The safe zone provides all necessary supplies and manpower.

These are the requirements.

When it comes to design, Chen Jianghuai is indeed not as good as the professionals, so he humbly listens to their advice.

However, looking at the bustling construction scene around him, Chen Jianghuai was also filled with pride.

Supplies are plentiful!

As for manpower? More than one hundred people have already been involved in the construction.

With such a luxurious construction team, what kind of camp can't they build? Just get it done!

Luo Susu is one of the patrol team leaders. She is responsible for the defense of the area and checking for potential security risks.

She was also dumbfounded by the bustling scene.

"Is this how the camp is set up? It doesn't look quite like what I remember!"

"Shouldn't normal construction involve a lack of various materials, with everyone piecing things together and patching them up to barely manage to build up the camp's defenses?"

Grand and aesthetically pleasing?

They didn't have the time or inclination to think about these things back then.

It was already quite difficult to build the camp.

Team Leader Song also received the task.

He wasn't after the contribution points; rather, he felt he had considerable experience in camp construction, so he volunteered to help.

But he soon discovered that his experience was completely useless.

"Is this right? This isn't right!"

"Even when our operations bureau was building camps, including the main ones, we didn't have this many construction workers!"

"This—the fact that so many people gathered in this nightmare world to build a camp, what's the difference between that and cheating?"

The construction of the lighthouse camp proceeded rapidly.

Although the camp lacks the large-scale equipment found in reality, it also doesn't need to build any tall buildings.

The highest buildings are only allowed to be three stories high.

The manpower here far exceeds reality.

Leaving aside ordinary Dream Fallers, those who reach the Control stage are often quite robust. Dream Fallers who enter the Refinement stage can unleash unimaginable power when using cursed objects and spells.

Like Luo Susu, countless dark green vines, like pythons, spread from her sleeves. These vines could easily carry away timber and stone, moving these supplies elsewhere.

The power that Chen Jianghuai, the garrison commander of the Transcendent Realm, can unleash is equivalent to the combined power of a crane, an excavator, and a bulldozer.

He pressed his hand to the ground, his expression solemn, his eyes fixed intently on the earth.

Ten seconds of silence.

Then, "Boom!"

The twenty-meter by twenty-meter section of ground in front of him suddenly shattered, shattering perfectly.

"Chen Jianghuai's control over power at the Transcendent Realm is truly remarkable!"

Shi An murmured.

In the past two days, the Lighthouse Camp has taken shape, and he has gained a deeper understanding of the Transcendent Realm.

"Those in the Transcendent Realm inevitably possess a talent," and this talent has both active and passive states.

Chen Jianghuai's talent is breaking up soil.

He cannot manipulate the earth element omnipotently, and there are no elemental particles in this world.

But when Chen Jianghuai touches the earth, his senses continue to spread.

He can also break up clods of earth at will.

He can also turn any objects or enemies he touches into clods of earth, and then shatter them.

These are the active effects of innate abilities.

The passive effect is that when Chen Jianghuai suffers a fatal injury, the injured area will turn into a clod of earth, which will then quickly heal and restore him to his normal flesh and blood body.

"But I'm afraid that supernatural beings are no longer truly flesh and blood."

"The ascension of a Dream Fallen to the extraordinary is also a process of gradually transforming from an ordinary person into a non-human being."

"Since it's a transformation, since the very essence of a person's life changes, naturally, such a process is also incredibly dangerous!"

Shi An looked through the books and records of the deer village.

He has figured out the three key points in the process of ascending to the extraordinary.

"One is the resonance of the three natal incantation items representing 'essence,' 'energy,' and 'spirit.' I already knew this beforehand."

"However, I previously thought that one could break through to the extraordinary realm after reaching the third level of refinement, but that's not the case. After a Dream Faller possesses the three major types of cursed artifacts, their physical body, spirit, and cursed power must all reach a state of perfection in order to qualify for the breakthrough."

"Some experts at the third level of cultivation either have insufficient physical strength and need to continue their training. Or, some experts may have overused magical artifacts in their early years, damaging their spirit and vitality. In any case, they are not qualified to break through to the next level. Some may never even be qualified in their entire lives."

"Similarly, if all three natal cursed artifacts of a third-stage expert are only complete-grade cursed artifacts, their cursed power alone will not meet the requirements for breaking through. This is why it is said that a Dream Faller who desires to transcend must fuse with at least one rare-grade cursed artifact."

"Secondly, there are extraordinary rituals, and the extraordinary rituals of each peak of the Third Refinement Realm may be different. For example, some people are extremely skilled in swordsmanship, so if they swing their swords three thousand times in a day, they may fulfill their extraordinary ritual in the dark."

99

"There is not just one kind of ritual for ascension to the extraordinary. As long as the dreamer fulfills any one of them, there is a chance to resonate, sublimate, and then transform."

"However, the more thorough the preparation for the ceremony, the safer and less dangerous the entire transformation process will be!"

This leads to the third key point – the secret medicine!

"Generally speaking, the process of transcending to the extraordinary level requires a large amount of dream crystals. However, dream crystals are only used to make up for the energy deficiency. To increase the success rate of the transformation, or to save one's life after a failed breakthrough, secret medicines are needed."

Shi An has already obtained this secret medicine.

It is called the "Secret Medicine of Returning to One".

It means the unity of essence, energy, and spirit.

The secret medicine serves to facilitate the resonance of the three elements, act as a lubricant during the process of sublimation and transformation, and save lives in case of failure.

It is said that the ancient masters of the Great Xia Dynasty improved upon the secret medicine originally produced in the Nightmare World, creating a version most suitable for the constitution of the Blue Star baby.

"Individual foundation, triadic resonance, ritual, and elixir!"

"The difficulties required to advance to the extraordinary realm are one after another, which explains why there are many experts in the third level of the Baijiang City, but very few in the extraordinary realm."

Shi An even suspected that many of the captain-level powerhouses in the Countermeasures Bureau did not have the qualifications to break through to the extraordinary realm.

If their foundation is damaged, they will never have a chance to break through the barrier in their lifetime.

Shi An stroked his chin. "The most difficult part is still the extraordinary ritual and the resonance transformation."

"but----"

The danger of transformation lies in the fact that humans are mortal beings.

Shi An could only imagine the pain and suffering that would ensue in transforming from a flesh-and-blood body into a non-human one.

Nature poses numerous dangers.

but----

Zhuo Ling and Li Feng are not human!

It's not that difficult for a non-human to transform into a non-human.

The transformations of Xiao Xue into blood mist and Zhuo Miao into water elemental form don't seem much different from Chen Jianghuai's transformation into earth. However, Chen Jianghuai can only transform part of his body into earth, while Xiao Xue and Zhuo Miao can transform their entire bodies into blood mist or water.

Their "extraordinary characteristics" even seem stronger than those of real superhumans.

It's strange, after all.

The bizarre has a unique advantage in this regard.

"It is said that the cultivation system that enables humans to transform into extraordinary beings was created by imitating the bizarre."

"In that case, Zhuo Ling and the others probably won't need any secret medicine to break through to the extraordinary realm. However, we can still prepare dream crystals and some auxiliary precious medicines."

Shi An is still far from being extraordinary.

He would never risk attempting to break through a barrier, even if the conditions were met, until all the risks of achieving extraordinary advancement were eliminated.

The word "survival" is used to describe the situation.

He simply hoped that his four "strange" subordinates could be promoted as soon as possible.

"Normal weirdness has no intelligence; it can only advance under very coincidental circumstances."

"So, can a creature with intelligence simply advance in rank? Not necessarily."

Shi An thought of the eerie Black Crow.

The other party isn't even a leader.

It's clear that it won't be easy for the Weird to increase its power.

Even leader-level monsters may not meet the condition of perfection. Many monsters are born powerful but lack the means to become stronger.

And here in Shi'an—

"The four employees, Xiao Xue, Zhuo Ling, and Xiao Xue, have long since reached the state of perfection."

Shi An pondered, "The Strange One has three major skills, which coincide with the three natal cursed artifacts of the Dream Fallen. The Dream Fallen needs to unite the cursed artifacts during the advancement process, and the Strange One should also do so in theory. Little Blood and the others can focus on training them to combine their three major abilities."

"In addition, there is the search for the advancement ritual. If the correct ritual is found, the dreamer will have a kind of inexplicable sense. The more the ritual is in harmony with the individual, the stronger this sense will be."

"And there are clues to follow in finding the rituals."

This is recorded in Chen Jianghuai's notes.

In addition, the Great Xia also created eighteen kinds of universal rituals. These rituals can be used, but naturally, if the rituals are not suitable enough and the sublimation is not strong enough, the probability of breakthrough will be greatly reduced.

Most top-tier experts are unwilling to take the path of the "universal ritual".

However, deriving one's own personal ritual through a "general ritual" is also a highly efficient method.

In the days that followed, construction of the lighthouse camp continued at a feverish pace.

In just one week, the entire camp was largely completed.

The camp has 10 houses, each a two- or three-story villa.

An administration hall was built in the center of the camp.

Chen Jianghuai also ordered people to dig up some soil from other areas. "This is all waste soil," he said, but he planned to try to clear and cultivate it to see if he could turn it into farmland.

-

Other important buildings in the camp include the "Blacksmith Shop" and the "Herbal Hut".

The former can create some commonly used tools.

The latter cultivate and refine medicinal herbs, and are also responsible for treating some simple injuries.

Blacksmiths, tailors, herbalists, and carpenters—these were all professions that the elk camp originally had.

The camp doesn't support idlers.

Those who survive in the nightmare world must either possess extraordinary combat skills or have acquired or learn a special skill.

However, the tailors and carpenters of the original Deer Village had already perished in the disaster caused by the fake humans.

One of the main responsibilities of the Lighthouse Camp is mining.

The blacksmith shop is responsible for forging various mining tools.

The mine tunnels and railways have been completed in recent days. Mining of the firestone deposits has begun.

At the same time, Shi An also obtained a number of auxiliary medicines that were beneficial to his extraordinary advancement by issuing tasks or trading with the Countermeasures Bureau and the Wizard's House.

The four kings of the safe zone are also giving it their all.

After upgrading the training ground to LV3 and having 15 training rooms, Shi An specially reserved one room for each of the Four Devils.

The monsters either hone their skills in the training room, where they have already honed all their skills to the pinnacle.

Alternatively, they would go to the library and seek inspiration through the benefits of a "quiet room".

Xiao Xue changed his usual slacking-off habits and became exceptionally hardworking.

It is the store manager's number one employee, and it must be the first to be promoted to the extraordinary level!

The store is now filled with more and more talented people, and even Master Xue is feeling the pressure.

So, on a certain day...

"You've already experienced the extraordinary ritual?"

Shi An asked.

Li Feng nodded affirmatively.

>