To seize time, Night Three Even personally joined the skeletons to fell trees, and the victims were the neglected, crooked-neck trees on the periphery of the forest.
These trees, due to their twisted growth, would pose quite a challenge in terms of processing for construction materials. However, for Night Three Even, this was hardly a problem.
After all, the skeletons were the ones toiling, not him. Besides, the system determined things based on the quantity of logs, regardless of whether they were straight or crooked; in the end, they could all be used.
Considering these two points, compared to venturing deep into the forest and facing potential dangers, Night Three Even found it more prudent to proceed gradually from the periphery.
As one man and six skeletons busily chopped wood until noon, the final building, the Bone-Chopping Lumber Camp, was finally constructed.
However, apart from the goblin hand bones embedded at the entrance, this lumber camp was essentially no different from a regular wooden house. According to Night Three Even's estimate, with 100 gold coins, he could easily commission at least five such wooden houses in Loran City.
What's more disheartening was that the promised logging bonus was a meager 5, and there was no sign of training specialization for axes. Night Three Even furrowed his brow in disappointment.
Nevertheless, the Bone-Chopping Lumber Camp had to be built.
Due to the excessive intelligence of the basic skeletons, Night Three Even had no choice but to illuminate all the prerequisite buildings, hoping to summon skeletons that were more intelligent, or at the very least, capable of understanding human speech.
Then, Night Three Even opened the construction interface and discovered a new line of blue text scrolling there:
"Unlocking a new building sequence requires a maximum soul energy of 30, a requirement you have not yet met."
A soul energy cap of 30...
Night Three Even silently closed the construction interface. His current cap was only 15, and he wasn't even sure how to increase it. The grand plan he had just laid out for development and empowerment seemed to backfire rapidly.
Shaking his head, Night Three Even checked the sky. It was the most scorching time of day, but he couldn't afford to rest. He still hadn't secured his soul energy for the day.
Night Three Even recalled the goblin camp from last night. According to his reconnaissance, this camp should be the nearest goblin camp to him. After decimating their leader, there were probably still 11 goblin warriors and nearly fifty enslaved elderly and weak goblins left in the camp. However, he wasn't planning to trouble them now.
It wasn't about the fear of not being able to defeat them, or disturbing their afternoon nap; rather, he could afford to wait for a more opportune moment.
What happens when a group loses its leader?
Naturally, it splits or selects a new leader!
Given the greedy, brutal, and intellectually challenged nature of goblins, Night Three Even doubted they would peacefully sit down, raise their hands, and vote for the next leader. Thus, they would likely engage in a power struggle!
Moreover, this struggle might happen at night, when they awaited their leader to return and distribute food.
If the leader was absent for only one reason—death—Night Three Even could potentially raid the camp with very low risk and obtain sufficient soul energy. If luck was on his side, wiping out the entire camp might be possible.
Therefore, Night Three Even decided to wait until a more suitable time. Before that, he found himself with some free time.
Glancing at the seeds on the cart, Night Three Even walked over.
"Idle time is still idle time..."
Night Three Even hadn't paid much attention to the Corpse Stench Farm, which consumed the most logs. Although he could convert life energy into soul energy by devouring food, what was the point? It was more efficient to kill a few goblins in the forest!
Since he had the time now, he didn't mind experiencing what it felt like to be an undead farmer.
Moreover, he had informed Elder Ling that he was planting something, and she had even sent seeds over. If she came later and saw this bare field, wouldn't it be a slap in the face?
Holding the seeds, he walked to the farmland. In Night Three Even's eyes, the 2525 square meters of farmland suddenly turned into 25 squares of 11 meters each. This meant he could plant 25 seeds.
"The land utilization efficiency is not good..." Night Three Even sighed.
One square meter of land could only support one wheat plant. Even an inexperienced farmer would probably ridicule him for not knowing how to cultivate the land. However, that was how the system had set it up, so Night Three Even could only follow suit.
Potato and vegetable seeds were limited, so he decided to try with wheat first to test the waters and avoid waste.
After planting five squares carefully, his expression suddenly changed, and he stood up straight.
What should he do after planting?
Watering?
Where was the water?
Night Three Even turned around and scratched his head.
The drinking water brought by Elder Ling had been used up during bathing and washing clothes. At that time, he thought he didn't need to drink water, so he washed thoroughly, not wanting the strong smell from the goblin loot to linger.
But now, he was in a dilemma.
Can crops grow without water?
The answer was clear. Even an amateur knew the importance of water for crops.
"Or, should I try this?"
Night Three Even shifted his gaze to the Putrid Pond. After tossing various goblin treasures and ancient tents into it, the green water inside had risen to over half a meter.
However, he had always been clueless about how to use this green water.
It seemed to lose its corrosiveness once scooped out; soaking wood, metal, and leather in it for a night had no effect.
Calling it poisonous water didn't seem right. When he smelled it, it didn't resemble poison at all. Night Three Even even boldly licked it, and it turned out to be slightly sweet...
Considering this liquid was obtained from decomposing garbage and corpses, it surely had some use, especially when he thought about the buildings in the system interface: farms, ponds, lumber camps, and barracks.
Eliminating the peculiar prefixes, weren't they essentially farms, water holes, lumber camps, and barracks?
Since it was a water hole, then shouldn't he be able to water the fields with the water inside?
Thinking of this, Night Three Even quickly grabbed a small pot and scooped a pot of green water from the Putrid Pond. Then, he cautiously poured it into the squares where he had planted the seeds...