Of course.
He didn't need to elaborate to Zhou Mo and the others. After all these days with him, unless they were blind, they could see that he was different from an ordinary Architect. The most obvious difference was that it cost him noticeably fewer resources to build structures.
But that was just speculation. There was no need to point it out.
Chen Fan aimed the fortress Cannon Tower at the rock wall above Cave No. 1 and blasted out several shallow pits again. This was the crocodile's workload for tonight, if it wasn't tired, that is.
For now, there wasn't any extra Eerie Stone to make a Level 5 Cannon Tower.
He had plenty of white Mourning Lanterns. They had salvaged over a thousand of them back then. It was just that the Eerie Stones were running a bit low. He'd dig the pits first to prepare for the future.
After finishing all this, he tilted his head to look at the crocodile. The creature immediately understood, opened its mouth, slightly lifted the tongue from its lower jaw, and shot streams of green liquid one after another, accurately hitting the shallow pits he had blasted with the Cannon Tower.
"Impressive."
Chen Fan couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
Perfect locating ability.
It was as if this crocodile was born from the creator's hands specifically for digging holes.
But just then—
The crocodile kept straining to lift its tongue, but no more green liquid came out. It seemed exhausted. It turned to look at Chen Fan, clawed a hole in the ground, and kept motioning toward the canyon with its head.
He understood.
It meant… the liquid had run out, and it needed to go home to replenish it.
"Go on."
However, the crocodile still didn't move. Its belly wriggled, and it spat out that "starfish"-shaped stone it had in its mouth yesterday, then swallowed it again.
"Alright then."
Chen Fan chuckled helplessly and swung himself onto the horse, "You lead the way ahead. I'll follow you home to take a look."
This guy still clung to the idea of giving him a toy as a reward. Actually, the rewards he had already received were more than enough. It's just that this fellow didn't seem to consider those as rewards. Although he didn't need these toys, to avoid spoiling the mood, he decided to follow along to see.
The crocodile, its eyes filled with excitement, skittered toward the canyon, frequently looking back to see if Chen Fan was following.
Soon.
One man, one crocodile, and one horse arrived at the end of the canyon at the foot of the mountain.
It seemed the crocodile's home was at the mountaintop.
But the Skeleton Horse was a bad climber.
The crocodile clearly realized this. It kept wriggling on the ground, shaking its head back and forth. It practically had the words "ride on me" written on its forehead.
"..."
After hesitating for a moment, Chen Fan dismounted, climbed onto the crocodile's back, and lay down close to the rock-like scutes, securing himself by gripping the gaping scales with both hands.
The next moment!
He felt a burst of pure power.
The massive body beneath him charged up the mountain in a seemingly clumsy but utterly savage manner. All the trees along the path fell—this was a trail that had long been cleared.
With each step the giant crocodile took, he could feel the solid, earth-shaking bulkiness.
The scenery on both sides rapidly receded, birds scattering in fright.
He turned to look behind him, and his breath unconsciously hitched.
It moved faster than the Skeleton Horse.
The sting from the rain and wind whipping against his face kept him alert. He even felt that this crocodile could withstand the lantern-holding Mourning Eerie Creature boss head-on and then tear him into pieces alive!
Its massive build offered an overwhelming sense of pressure and an equally solid sense of security.
The ascent was fast.
He even felt that barely a few dozen seconds had passed; his mind had wandered, and he didn't realize how much time had gone by. It felt like they had reached the mountaintop in no time. The crocodile brought him somewhere near the lip of a cliff at the summit.
"..."
Chen Fan walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down. The square abyss pit at the bottom was his home base. This was the first time he had viewed the abyss pit from this angle. Through the hazy rain mist, he could make out Zhou Mo and the others moving about at the bottom of the pit.
"Hey!!!"
He cupped his hands around his mouth, looked toward Zhou Mo and the others moving at the bottom of the abyss pit, and shouted.
However...
The rain and wind drowned out his voice. The people below didn't hear it at all.
Instead, from his side, the crocodile tilted its head and looked at him quizzically, as if wondering why he was shouting so loudly when they were so close.
"Never mind."
Chen Fan smiled, withdrew his gaze, and then looked at a nearby hollowed-out giant rock. "Is this your home?"
This giant rock and the ground seemed to have become a whole. The crocodile had dug an entrance on its side, slanting down into the earth. The entrance was raised above the ground.
The crocodile happily slapped its tail and crawled toward the entrance first, leading the way.
The entrance looked somewhat crude.
But the area below was like an underground palace.
The crocodile had dug out many chambers along the corridor. Whenever they passed one, it would stop, turning its head round and round, letting him explore thoroughly, as if showing its secret base to a new friend.
Chen Fan, in turn, offered enough emotional value. Anyway, he was genuinely surprised.
He had never imagined that a crocodile could keep its home… so neat and organized.
"Is this your pantry?"
Chen Fan saw a chamber filled with Eerie Creature corpses, among which quite a few had been barbecued—exactly part of their treat. Clearly, this fellow had moved all the barbecues from the last feeding back to this cave, saving them for the future.
"You have plenty of food here. Why were you so desperate the first few times we met, as if you were about to starve to death?"
That sentence was too complicated for the crocodile to understand.
It just tilted its head, thought for a while, and then continued along the corridor deeper inside.
"Another pantry."
"Three."
"Four."
"Five..."
"Buddy, you're really afraid of going hungry, huh?"
Chen Fan silently tagged along behind the crocodile. Along the way, he had already seen five pantries, containing at least several thousand Eerie Creature corpses. Moreover, by some method unknown to him, the temperature inside the pantries was fairly low, with no signs of rot or decay.
On the walls along the corridor and inside the pantries, every few steps, a stone emitting a pale yellow glow was embedded, providing light.
He didn't recognize them.
Finally.
After passing through several pantries.
The view suddenly opened up.
They arrived at a huge cavern at the end of the corridor. One corner was piled with withered grass and Eerie Creature pelts, obviously the soft bed the crocodile had made for itself. In another corner was a mound of… miscellaneous items.
Or rather, toys.
Among them were starfish-like stones, a nearly complete, large fish skeleton, a hoe, and… a rusty blade, and so on.
All sorts of things.
Some were probably found in the village ruins.
This fellow had gathered all rare things here on this mountain to its lair. It was now rolling its head round and round as it walked him up to this pile of toys, letting him choose.
"I like this hoe. How about I just take..."
Chen Fan smiled somewhat helplessly, inclined to take a random toy to avoid spoiling its enthusiasm, but his words cut off abruptly. He stared at several radiant Extraordinary Treasures among the pile and froze in place.