Building My Empire in the Frozen Apocalypse (Riley Carter) novel Chapter 91

Chapter 91 Level 4 Upgrade

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The once bare cabin now held a couch, a coffee table, a fireplace, an alchemy station, and several supply crates stacked in one corner. It was beginning to actually feel like a home.

“Alright, time to get to work.”

Riley walked over to the alchemy table, sank into the soft couch, and pulled up the camp management screen.

“Current Camp Level: Lv.3

“Requirements for Next Level (Lv.4)

“Stone Brick: 380/500

“Reinforced Steel: 310/300 (Met)

“Quality Timber: 3100/2000 (Met)

“Energy Core: 35/10 (Met)

“Precision Electronic Components: 35/50 (Insufficient)

“Camp Development Score: 830/800”

“A bit short on stone bricks and electronic components.”

Stone bricks could be made at the crafting bench–two units of rough stone for each brick. Even though Riley didn’t have enough on hand, she wasn’t short on things to trade.

She opened the Server Channel.

After the brutal “blizzard clean–up,” the number of active users in the channel had noticeably dropped. The list of grayed–out IDs was unsettling to look at. Those still around were either lucky, capable, or both.

Riley didn’t bother with small talk. She posted a trade straight away.

“Offering: High–Grade Anthracite Coal x30

“Seeking: Finished Stone Brick x150

“Note: Stone bricks only. No partial trades. Don’t waste my time.”

Before, most survivors couldn’t even use coal at their camp’s central firepit–their camps were too low–level. But now, with everyone’s camp at least at level 2, coal had become a lot more valuable.

Barely two seconds after she posted, her private message alerts started blaring nonstop with endless ding–ding–ding notifications.

“Hey, SpicyBurger! I’ve got stone bricks!”

“SpicyBurger, over here! I have a hundred bricks. Any chance I could get a couple extra coals?”

“Did you stumble into a coal mine or something? How’d you get this much anthracite?”

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3:54 pm

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Chapter 91 Level 4 Upgrade

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Riley picked two buyers with solid reputation scores people she’d traded with before and remembered as reliable and closed the deals quickly.

“Received: Finished Stone Brick x150”

Next were the electronic components. Normally, you’d need a tier–3 crafting bench to make these, but Riley’s setup didn’t have that restriction.

She loaded copper, zinc, silver, synthetic resin, and other materials into the workstation.

“Crafting Complete–Obtained: Electronic Components x15

“Materials: check.”

As for the “Camp Development Score“-that basically reflected how furnished and equipped the camp was.

Riley glanced around: the “Basic Alchemy Station” she’d just placed added 50 points, the “Lounge–Style Couch Set” added 80, and the “Wind Turbine“, once powered up, contributed another 200. She’d hit the requirement early.

“All good.”

Riley took a deep breath and hovered her finger over the glowing golden “Upgrade” button.

Level 4 camp.

This was the real turning point.

At this stage, a camp stopped being just a place to crash. It became a proper outpost–a small, functional fortress with basic base capabilities.

“Upgrade.”

She pressed down firmly.

“System Notice: Deducting required materials…

“Camp upgrade in progress… Estimated time: 10 seconds.

“Note: This upgrade will significantly expand camp territory. Ensure no obstructions are nearby.”

A low rumble shook the ground.

Riley looked out the window.

The sturdy stone wall that had stood firm just moments ago let out a deep groan, as if coming alive. It broke apart, shifted, and then pushed outward in all directions, aggressive and relentless.

Snow was shoved aside. Frozen earth was packed down.

The territory, once limited to a radius of just thirty feet, suddenly tripled in every direction.

A hundred feet in radius.

Before, the camp had felt cramped–the workshop and main cabin took up most of the space. But now, seeing the new fence line

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3:54 pm

Chapter 91 Level 4 Upgrade

far in the distance, Riley felt a surge of pride.

Once the walls settled, the interior began to transform as well.

The most obvious change was the camp’s central firepit.

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Bathed in a golden light, the ordinary stones shattered and were replaced by ancient–looking bluish–gray bricks. They stacked themselves into a circular altar about six feet wide at the base.

The surface of the altar was carved with runes, and at its center, a gold–red flame leaped upward–completely smokeless, burning steady and silent.

“Facility Upgraded: Basic Elemental Altar (formerly Campfire)

“Effect: Provides a 150–foot radius of coverage; maintains a constant temperature of 72°F.”

“New Features: Health Regeneration (recovers 1 HP per minute within range), Low–Grade Undead Ward (deals continuous burn damage to weaker undead enemies).”

“No way… that’s awesome,” Riley murmured under her breath.

But there was more.

The biggest change was happening right where she stood–inside the main cabin.

The wooden planks above creaked and groaned as they stretched. The once low, flat ceiling reshaped itself, rising slowly into a steep, peaked roof designed to shed snow easily.

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