Building My Empire in the Frozen Apocalypse (Riley Carter) novel Chapter 656

656 Settling Star Paths

PineappleBeer’s frown deepened as she stared at the pillar.

TartKing’s gaze locked onto her instantly. “Your head hurting again?”

“I’m fine.”

“That line doesn’t hold any credibility coming from you. If you’re struggling, we can pause.”

“Seriously, I’m okay.”

+5 Free Coins

PineappleBeer didn’t smile. Her eyes stayed fixed on the fish bone carving, like she was carefully sorting out a blurry pattern.

“Don’t press the fish head. Start from the middle spine and spread your touch outward to both sides.”

Riley walked over to the pillar.

Right as she lifted her hand, one of the distant Starlight Armor Figures suddenly tilted its head up.

All three of them froze at the same time.

The Starlight Armor Figure didn’t move closer. It simply turned toward the altar, its hollow faceplate locking straight onto their group. The starlight glowing on its body brightened slightly, as if the puzzle progress had woken it up.

TartKing lowered her voice. “Did it spot us?”

Riley held her fingers an inch away from the fish bone pillar.

‘Solving the puzzle is triggering the guard’s alert.”

PineappleBeer stepped half a pace back, her fingers brushing her Time–Severing Shadow Blade.

‘Keep going for now. It hasn’t crossed the silver lines to approach us.”

Riley placed her hand on the fish bone pattern.

The central spine lit up under her touch, then the tiny barbs on both sides flickered to life one after another in a fast sequence. She needed to pull her hand away before the light reached the fish tail and tap the other side to finish the sequence.

PineappleBeer reminded her, “Third broken barb on the left.”

Riley twisted her wrist and pressed down on the broken barb on the left side.

A sharp click echoed from inside the pillar.

The entire fish bone carving blazed to full brightness.

The Starlight Armor Figure in the distance turned its faceplate away from them once more, settling back into its idle state.

“Fourth pillar. Broken sword.” PineappleBeer’s voice sounded a little weaker than before.

The broken sword pillar stood a short distance away.

1/3

11:48 am M

Chapter 656 Settling Star Paths

It was carved with a half shattered blade pointing downward, with three fine crack lines marking the broken edge.

PineappleBeer’s complexion pated a little more as she looked at it.

Riley stopped walking, pulled a high–grade mental recovery potion from her bag, and tossed over to her.

PineappleBeer caught it, stared at Riley for two seconds, then twisted the cap open and drank nearly half the bottle.

The potion was pale and clear. As it went down, the tight tension behind her eyes subsided a little.

+5 Free Coins

TartKing layered a low–cost calming buff on her right after. Her Warm Feather Blessing Charm shimmered faintly, leaving a soft feather–shaped glow on PineappleBeer’s shoulder to stabilize her mental state.

This time, PineappleBeer didn’t refuse the help.

“For the broken sword, touch the cracked edge first, then the blade tip. Doing it backwards will spawn mobs.”

Riley stepped up to the broken sword pillar.

The second she pressed down on the broken edge, the pillar shook violently. The fractured blade pattern seemed to piece itself back together, and a burst of light surged upward from the crack.

Riley immediately pressed her hand over the blade tip.

She used a little too much force this time, and a harsh scraping sound rang out from the stone surface.

The inlay slots on her Storm Splitter Dual Axes suddenly grew warm. She hadn’t fitted any gems into them yet, but the empty slots faintly lit up, pulled by the surrounding star track energy.

Riley narrowed her eyes but kept her fingers pressed firmly on the blade tip.

Eventually, the broken sword pattern stabilized completely.

The fourth rune along the central stone lamp’s rim lit up, and a second stone box slid out from under the lamp base.

This box was longer than the first one.

TartKing rubbed her hands together, staring eagerly at Riley. “Can I open this one?”

Riley stepped back. “Go for it.”

TartKing quickly squatted down and carefully lifted the lid.

Inside lay a thin card with wood–grain edges. The center was printed with a small cabin, its roof dotted with tiny star specks

[Obtained: Star–Roof Reinforcement Card *1]

[Item Description: Usable on any wooden cabin, storage warehouse, sentry post, or small functional building within the snowfield settlement. It boosts roof and outer wall impact resistance and blizzard defense. It also slightly reduces structural durability loss from long–range mob projectiles during the night.]

TartKing let out a happy gasp.

“This is amazing too! We can use this on the row houses in the resident zone or our patrol sentry posts.”

2/3

11:48 am M

Chapter 656 Setting Star Patlis.

Riley Studied the rard for a moment before placing it in her special key item slot.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify