Buzz!
However, at that moment, the Prophetic Statue that Ethan had kicked onto the ground suddenly shot out a red beam.
And it was pointing directly west.
To the west was...
[West: Gray Ore Mining Region. Produces all kinds of ore. It contains high-grade stone that you urgently need.]
[PS: While the goblins still don't dare come out from underground, now is the perfect chance to go deep into the mining area and dig out advanced ore.]
"The Gray Ore Mining Region?"
'Could the remaining fragment of the Prophetic Statue actually be inside the goblins' underground palace?'
Ethan took out his Magic Book and glanced at it, but he had no plans to leave immediately. First, too many things had happened today, and it was already getting late. It was now 7 PM.
It wasn't exactly very late. During the polar night, the sun never appeared anyway, so there wasn't much difference between day and night.
But Ethan didn't want to take that risk.
According to the rule that you shouldn't go out at night in the Mist World, he wasn't sure what he might encounter if he went out now, and he also needed some rest.
Whether he stayed up late to do it or waited until tomorrow after waking up, there wasn't much difference.
So there was no need to rush.
Besides, there was another important reason.
Ethan figured that if he left his territory and headed for the goblins' underground imperial palace, he had no idea how much time it would take.
The last time he led a team into the Gray Ore Mining Region, he had already noticed that the goblins' underground maze was enormous, almost like an underground kingdom.
So he had no idea how long this trip would take.
On top of that, it wasn't only Shakun from Region 1 who would come looking for trouble now. Even Orin's people from Region 4 had entered the range of his territory.
So, to be safe, Ethan decided to upgrade his territory's defenses first.
Just in time, he had obtained the [Defense Tower Blueprint] from the Azure City Sect group.
[Defense Tower Blueprint Learned!]
[Defense Tower (Can be moved elsewhere as needed): Multi-Eyed Monster Eyeball 101/1, Wood 5833/10, Advanced Wood 10000/10, Vines 4308/10, Black Iron Ore 2400/10, Spirit Stone 1 (Can operate for 10 days)]
[PS: The only drawback of the Defense Tower blueprint is that the materials are difficult to obtain. It requires Advanced Wood. This type of wood is rare outside of certain primeval forests.]
No wonder it said the materials were hard to find.
'Damn it...'
'Besides Advanced Wood, this Defense Tower actually needs Multi-Eyed Monster eyeballs?'
'How is that not hard to find?'
Up until now, he had only encountered one Multi-Eyed Monster.
And for a Defense Tower, needing wood and vines made sense.
'But why does it need Black Iron Ore?'
'Forget it.'
'No point thinking about that. Better build a hundred first?'
Anyway, these Defense Towers could be moved. If he built a hundred around his manor now, that would be enough to protect the entire manor from every direction.
'Build 100 Defense Towers.'
[Multi-Eyed Monster Eyeballs -100, Wood -1000, Advanced Wood -1000, Vines -1000, Black Iron Ore -1000, Spirit Stone -1]
[Construction Complete!]
Once the Defense Tower was built, Ethan finally understood why it needed Multi-Eyed Monster eyeballs, Black Iron Ore, and ordinary wood.
He saw that the Defense Tower was about ten meters tall.
At the top sat an eyeball, rolling around as it watched everything and everyone nearby.
The fist-sized eyeball showed no emotion at all. It looked more like a strangely shaped surveillance camera.
Of course, if it weren't for the blood vessels covering the eyeball, Ethan might really have thought it was just an ordinary camera.
Besides the eyeball at the top, Ethan also noticed that every level of the ten-meter tower had a round opening.
Inside each opening was an arrow with a metallic shine, looking ready to fire at any moment.
No wonder it needed Black Iron Ore.
It was used to make weapons.
And this Defense Tower was pretty energy-efficient too. One spirit stone could keep it running for ten days.
The only question was whether it was actually powerful.
Unfortunately, there were no invaders right now.
Otherwise, he could have observed how strong these Defense Towers really were.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
"Ah!"
"AHHH!"
However, at that moment, Ethan suddenly heard arrows firing from the farm, followed by the screams of a man and a woman.
'Wait...'
'No way!'
Ethan's gaze sharpened. Only then did he suddenly remember the few people he had ordered the Scarecrow to immobilize in the farm to keep the Scarecrow company.
Actually, he had intended to leave them there for a while and let them suffer a bit before interrogating them later.
But after going out... And then having so many things happen after returning, he had completely forgotten about them.
Only now, after hearing their screams, did he remember again.
He quickly headed into the farm.
When the Scarecrow saw Ethan arrive, it immediately cried out, ("Ethan, I don't know why, but the three of them suddenly got shot to death!")
"Oh, the Defense Towers did it."
As soon as Ethan arrived, he saw that the three people standing in the farm had already been turned into porcupines by the Defense Tower arrows. They were completely dead.
But it didn't matter.
They were all lackeys from Region 4 anyway.
Now he had recruited Nini.
If he wanted to know anything about Region 4, he could just ask her directly.
There was no need to interrogate these people anymore. It would only waste time and effort.
So if they died, they died.
["So these weird towers were made by you,"] The Scarecrow immediately stared and said, ["No wonder I was wondering why these towers suddenly appeared, and every one of them has a giant eyeball on top. Who are you trying to scare to death?"]
["As my husband, how can you be so cowardly,"] The Cursed Doll sat on the Scarecrow's arm and said with a look of disgust, ["They're just Multi-Eyed Monster eyeballs! My master used to have plenty of them. I looked at them every day and never thought they were a big deal. You coward!"]
["I'm not your husband!"], the Scarecrow shouted, ["And yes, I'm that cowardly! If you don't like it, go find someone else! Stop bothering me!"]
["That won't do. I've already chosen you for this life,"] The Cursed Doll hugged the Scarecrow's big head and kissed it several times, ["At worst, I'll catch a few Multi-Eyed Monsters and make you look at them every day. After you've seen enough of them, you won't be scared anymore."]
["Well, thank you very much!"]
The Scarecrow rolled its eyes repeatedly.
But from this loving little couple's conversation, Ethan heard a new business opportunity.