To survive the remaining thirty hours, the convoy members had to rack their brains.

Someone suggested using bonfires for lighting.

A bonfire could emit light.

Maybe it would work...

Of course, Chen Ye didn’t stop them.

Back when they were near the Sea of Trees, those Door-Opening Anomalies were not afraid of ordinary flames.

More precisely, flames weren’t very effective against those Door-Opening Anomalies.

But the things here were clearly a different variety, so maybe fire would work?

The problem was that the area was full of grave mounds, not a single tree in sight.

The only things they could use to start fires were the weeds growing on the graves and the lumber the convoy had stockpiled earlier.

Those pieces of wood had been collected when they left the Sea of Trees, at Xue Nan’s instruction. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

After everything they’d been through, Xue Nan had long since grown into a competent convoy manager, almost on par with Old Bao.

Anything useful was picked up without hesitation and set aside.

In short, this scavenger-style survival tactic kept the Fair Convoy’s supplies steadily increasing.

And when they discovered those tree leaves could boost meatworm reproduction rates, the leaves became treasures.

The wood Xue Nan had gathered also caught Captain Chu’s attention.

Now that they needed to use that wood to make fires, he felt a little reluctant.

They lit the bonfire.

Before Ding Dong’s panel van ran out of power.

The flickering flames, the crackling from the fire, and everyone’s tense mood combined.

They set the bonfire right on the boundary between the camp and the darkness.

Under everyone’s anxious gazes, in the instant the vehicle lights went out, the things in the dark crept forward like sharks smelling blood.

Chen Ye gripped the handle of Hatred, his gaze sharp and expression grave.

At last, the shadowy figures drew close to the firelight.

The bonfire crackled and popped.

The entire fire suddenly grew hotter, flames leaping two to three meters high.

Like a male lion defending its territory.

Chen Ye even had the illusion that the flames themselves were enraged by the approach of those things.

The next second, the flames shaped into grotesque, ghostly faces and lunged at the approaching shadows.

The nearest shadows instantly retreated.

They were clearly extremely wary of this fire.

“This...”

Dantai Bie stared, dumbfounded.

“It should be Tree King Wood!”

Captain Chu looked at the few logs in the bonfire with some regret.

“This Tree King Wood is not ordinary...”

“Xue Nan, gather up the remaining lumber and save it, use it sparingly!”

“Even if we don’t know exactly what it is, it has to be valuable. We might trade it for supplies with other convoys later.”

Xue Nan nodded and turned to give orders.

Chen Ye hadn’t expected the material Captain Chu called “Tree King Wood” to be so useful.

“Back during the Anomaly Tides, I tried using Tree King Wood to light bonfires and form walls of flame!”

“But the flames weren’t very effective against the things in the Sea of Trees!”

“Who would have thought...”

If he’d known earlier, he would have collected much more of this wood.

“Survival of the fittest. Those things hide in the Sea of Trees because Tree King Wood doesn’t work well on them.”

“And whatever is here in the Sea of Chaotic Graves never went into the Sea of Trees—probably because Tree King Wood affects them.”

“If only we’d known... what a pity...”

That explanation made sense.

Tree King Wood worked against some Anomalies, which explained why the Pathfinder’s Blood Path ability led them into the Sea of Trees.

Though the Sea of Trees’ Anomaly Tides were dangerous, it wasn’t an entirely hopeless place.

Captain Chu even wanted to go back to the Sea of Trees to get more Tree King Wood.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t realistic.

Returning to the Sea of Trees now would be too difficult.

And besides, there were other Anomalies in the Sea of Trees that were almost immune to Tree King Wood fires.

With Tree King Wood burned in the bonfires, the convoy’s atmosphere instantly relaxed.

Xue Nan had several bonfires lit around the convoy.

Each fire contained some Tree King Wood.

Whenever an Anomaly approached, the Tree King Wood fires behaved like furious male lions, driving the Anomalies away.

Xue Nan even tried to develop other uses for Tree King Wood, like wearing it on the person to see if it offered protection.

The result nearly scared one person so badly he almost wet himself.

After several experiments, Xue Nan discovered the optimal usage ratio for Tree King Wood.

Not every bonfire needed to be made entirely from Tree King Wood.

They only had to throw some pieces into the fire.

Other fuel could be replaced by the convoy’s spare items, such as clothes they weren’t wearing or collected scrap.

Even so, usable fuel in the convoy was pitifully scarce.

They had to alternate between bonfires and lights.

Chen Ye’s Monster Pickup Truck was charging continuously.

Even though the charging efficiency was pitiful, it still helped a bit.

They even pulled out the convoy’s flashlights.

When it became absolutely necessary, they had Captain Chu’s and Sun Xixi’s two off-road vehicles idle in place to provide lighting.

Using fuel for light like that was a desperate remedy.

Luckily, Gong Yong’s kerosene lamp became usable again midway.

This time, to conserve the lamp’s energy, Captain Chu ordered a rope circle be strung around the camp.

They designated those ropes as self-illuminating objects.

That bought them more time.

Time kept creeping forward.

Each second was agonizing.

Gong Yong had been working for a long while.

The man was a workaholic.

Chen Ye even felt the man seemed to be burning with a flame called passion.

Compared to his usual timid, socially awkward self, Gong Yong was indisputably a king at the worksite now.

He no longer spoke with a trembling tone; his words were decisive.

At his command, everyone rallied to execute his orders.

He even treated Iron Lion like livestock to be used for labor.

Of course, after so much work, Gong Yong’s project had made real progress.

He had dismantled the vehicles planned for modification down to basic chassis.

Iron Lion’s school bus, Bus Number Seven, and Bus Number Nine had their engines removed.

Using the three chassis as a base, a larger vehicle chassis appeared before everyone.

Where original welds had been, Gong Yong applied his Supernatural Power, and the chassis looked like factory-made parts.

There was no sign it had been heavily modified.

Chen Ye didn’t understand the rest of the work in detail.

But judging from the current framework, it was obviously a very large vehicle.

The body width was at least five meters, length at least thirty meters.

It could rival the Mobile Palace the Little Fatty had once materialized.

However, this vehicle was not yet a Wonder, merely a large apocalyptic communal migration vehicle.

Such a vehicle would never have been roadworthy before the apocalypse.

There were many more tires under the chassis than usual.

This design reminded Chen Ye somewhat of the Apocalyptic Fortress he had seen earlier.

The chassis also rode high.

At the very least it was over a meter, perhaps as high as one and a half meters.

Clearly modified to handle the Sea of Chaotic Graves’ rough terrain.

Beams and other big-frame components were quickly assembled under Gong Yong’s direction.

Chen Ye’s Monster Pickup Truck’s upgrade was nearing completion too.

Because they hadn’t altered the Wonder properties of the Monster Pickup Truck, these upgrades didn’t take long.

During that time, the convoy ate three meals.

Just as they were about to eat their fourth, Chen Ye saw the Monster Pickup Truck’s countdown reach zero.