Four days later.

The daylight was perfect.

The sky, washed clean by the heavy rain, was a blinding blue. The sunlight poured down scorchingly, steaming the Reed River bank with a warm, earthy, and humid scent.

Summer was announcing its arrival with its glaring palette.

On the Reed River bank, the water flow remained swift, carrying the post-rain turbidity, washing over the reeds lying haphazardly along the shore.

The old beaver, Gnaw-gnaw, sat motionless on the wet, muddy bank, its back to the warm sun. Its once glossy brown fur was now damp and plastered to its body, the small figure exuding an air of dejection.

Its precious dam... was gone.

Just a few days ago, during that earth-shaking heavy rain, the floodwaters surging from upstream had smashed through it as easily as a mischievous child tearing a piece of scrap paper.

The branches it had painstakingly gnawed down, the carefully selected mud clumps and stones, and that safe, warm little nest hidden deep within the dam structure... all gone.

Only a few lonely, crooked thick branches remained in the river, pitifully wedged between rocks, serving as proof it had ever existed.

Gnaw-gnaw's small eyes stared blankly at the devastated river channel.

It whimpered, heartbroken.

That was its home!

The fortress it had carved out bite by bite with its large incisors, the hope for resisting otters and raising its young!

Now, everything was ruined.

Whimper...

Meanwhile, on the deeply rutted dirt road along the riverbank, Yano was walking.

After eliminating the Corrupted Lizardfolk a few days prior, every member of the adventurer group had received a generous share of the commission, and he was no exception.

This money was enough for Lola and the children to live quite comfortably for a while. Thinking of their smiles should have brought relief and joy.

Yet, Yano's face wore the same troubled expression as that damp beaver on the bank.

The rain had passed, the commission was in hand, and life seemed to be accelerating toward a better direction.

However, right at this moment meant for celebration, the Petrification had once again spread onto his right arm.

This arm had been aching faintly during the storm's rampage. Now, it felt as if it were being eroded from within by cold stone, stiff as a piece of deadwood. Even bending his fingers had become exceptionally difficult.

The curse, like maggots clinging to bone, had never truly left. It might have even worsened because of that mana-saturated heavy rain.

A hint of frustration crept into his heart, but he quickly suppressed it. He vigorously shook his numb arm, as if trying to fling off the bad luck.

He muttered under his breath, "It's troublesome, sure... but thankfully, there's still the Boss."

Thinking of the Boss's miraculous "acupuncture" skills, the gloom in his heart was immediately dispelled by more than half.

As long as he could go back and get a few needles, he was guaranteed to be lively and energetic again.

Even if the Petrification Disease couldn't be cured, he was already satisfied. At least Lola and the children could live well even without him.

Thinking this, it seemed he no longer harbored the same hatred for the Petrification Disease as before.

Yano felt relieved inside.

He had ultimately made peace with himself.

His mood buoyant again, he tightened his left arm around the clay pot and scroll of plant-fiber letter he had just retrieved from the Rotten Moss Tribe, and strode vigorously into the Swamp Forest.

Delivering items—this was just another ordinary day for the Rider.

Sunlight was sliced into fragments by the dense canopy, sprinkling onto the damp forest floor.

Following the familiar Smooth Wasp Forest Path, the swamp air grew increasingly humid, carrying a mixed scent of decaying leaves and newly sprouted fungi.

After walking for half a day, just as he was nearing the castle deep in the swamp, Yano keenly sensed that the forest seemed different from usual, holding a new change.

A faint "squish-squish" sound and a rhythmic "hum, hum" vibration reached him, replacing the previous silence.

Curious, he pushed aside a large fern leaf. The scene before him made him stop in his tracks, his mouth slightly agape.

Right there, on the relatively dry open ground outside the castle, a "construction project" of a scale far beyond his imagination was underway.

A small Slime, the size of a fist and resembling a translucent piece of jelly, sat steadily on the back of a Beetle.

Its surface rippled slightly as it waved a small branch, releasing a soft glow.

Where the light fell, the wet mud on the ground seemed to be kneaded by an invisible hand, rapidly shaping, compressing, and hardening into neat mud bricks.

These were then lifted by growing, spreading Tree Roots and precisely stacked, layer upon layer, becoming... a wall!

It was actually building a wall!

And judging by the outline of the foundation, the scale of this wall...

Yano narrowed his eyes, estimating. By the looks of it, it was clearly intended to encircle an enormous fortress outside the castle, large enough to house a town's population!

He finally understood how the previous ruins had suddenly appeared within a few days.

No matter how many times he marveled at it.

He still felt awestruck by the Demon's mighty power.

Just as Yano was watching, dumbfounded, the small Slime that had been quietly nestled against his chest plate slipped out with a soft "plop."

Its jelly-like body bounced slightly up and down, sending a simple, clear thought directly into Yano's mind:

"Come in."

After leaving these three words, the little creature lightly dropped to the ground, paying Yano no further mind.

It hopped a couple of times, and immediately a patrolling Beetle guard scurried over.

The small Slime deftly jumped onto the Beetle's broad carapace, sitting steadily like a little knight.

The Beetle immediately set off on its six legs, clattering as it carried its passenger, joining the bustling wall-building army not far away, becoming another diligent speck in the construction site.

Holding the clay pot, Yano stood dazed in place, watching the busy yet orderly expansion scene before him, which resembled an ant colony moving house. It took him a good while to snap out of it.

"I'm coming, Boss."

He stepped towards the castle entrance.

On the oak watchtower, a mass of Slime, like a true lord, was surveying the entire fortress construction site from the highest point of the territory.

Chen Yu's gaze lingered on Yano for only a moment before shifting his attention, planning internally.

For the swamp castle's second-phase project, he intended to enclose an area equivalent to six football fields to build a larger fortress capable of housing more Magical Creatures.

Holding the clay pot, Yano stood dazed in place, watching the busy yet orderly expansion scene before him, which resembled an ant colony moving house. It took him a good while to snap out of it.

The west side needed defenses against invasions from other swamp Magical Creatures, making it suitable as a training ground and nesting area for the Magical Creature army.

The south side had dense oaks and a damp environment, ideal for cultivating mushroom farms and Magical Creature breeding grounds.

This would be the crucial future food production base for the Magical Creature army and could also produce valuable materials like Moonlight Moss for trade with Demi-humans and humans.

As for the east side, he hadn't yet decided what to do with it, so he tentatively planned to build a few small wooden cabins first and leave the rest empty.

Perhaps it might prove useful in the future.