Next thing he purchased was the barrier upgrade [Complete Isolation], which could allow the inn to completely lose presence as required, which costs 5,000 Hearth Points.

It was the temporary solidification of the barrier. If he activated it, nothing would be able to come in or out of the barrier. It was closer to the locals' concept of a barrier.

In this case, the monsters wouldn't be able to sense them at all, even if he cooked seasoned meat outside for a picnic, or even if a fortified-level person was bleeding to death inside the barrier.

However, it could not be activated at all times. Apparently, it would only last 150 hours—which was just 5 days here—at a time, and it also had a cooldown of once every one month. Since it was not an emergency, he did not plan to activate it too often.

When he bought this, he already considered the Aphelion nights, which seemed to last a few weeks at a time.

He was hoping that if the mobs got too big near him, he could use this until they could either pass him or were killed by strongmen. In any case, regardless of whether he needed it now or would ever need it, the peace of mind that he had the option was invaluable.

[Purchased! Barrier Upgrade: Complete Isolation]

[-5000 Hearth Points]

[Bonus Received! Accumulated Hearth Points Spending has exceeded 10,000 Points!]

[Received! Permanent +3 Defense]

"Already upgraded the Barrier, la~" Pang said, looking blissful that he looked like he was about to melt.

"That said, I have been wondering about this for a while. The barrier, does it detect people's versus monsters' signatures? So it's more like a curtain than an actual blockage?"

"I didn't know you could think about that, la."

"Hey, I have a pretty decent IQ, thank you very much," he said. "So am I right?"

"In a sense," the Panda said, rolling around comfortably in his cushion.

"What about hostile humans and the like?"

"Nah. They wud onwy get kicked out once they diwd anythwing agwainst the wules, othewise is aw in," Pang said, speaking while his head was cushioned well so his words were muffled. "That is what I am hew for, la. Do you find me amazing now?

That said, that anti-bug feature probably wouldn't even happen though. Because, well, the ecosystem. Those bugs were probably useful in some ways to the plants, so even if they were annoying he couldn't—and shouldn't—block them.

And if he had to, say a swarm entered his area, then he could find comfort in the fact that he purchased the [Complete Isolation] upgrade.

That said, he couldn't help but feel concerned when some imaginary scenario popped up in his head. "What if the bugs were poisonous?" he said. "What if my enemies decided to send out bug attacks?"

Pang paused and looked at him. "You're smarter than you look."

"You don't want breakfast, huh?"

"..."

"Anyway," Finn rubbed his temple, getting increasingly impatient. "Just answer the question."

"Well, if some bastard decided to use bugs as a weapon, then they'd be using influence in whatever form, likely magic. The barrier will then notice it and alert me to block it."

"Can you do it?"

"Pang cannot be defeated within the barrier, la."

"Well, good to know that my only chance of dying due to rabies and bugs inside my territory is when my enemies didn't purposely send them."

"Well, it's not like you can't do anything."

"Bug repellents are too expensive and not sustainable."

"For bugs, I'm sure that there are plants that they hate, like how many monsters dislike the sapsuge sap," Pang said. "You'd just have to find it."

"Fair point."

"For wild animals, it's not like you can't put up a fence."

But an excessively sturdy fence would make the 'stabbing from the inside' strategy a bit cumbersome. Not to mention, it could hurt people who were rushing in this direction.

For now, he'd probably just manually fence his farm. Some animals had been trying to get them, but fortunately, Pang was a decent guardian spirit and would scare them away.

Anyway, he spent a few hundred hearth points upgrading what he could in the Inn. As long as there was no new item materialized, he could upgrade most places. The Inn Functions had other requirements, so things like the [Everfresh Ward] still had to wait a bit.

For example, he improved the rug under the sofa, he improved the seats in the dining table, he expanded it a bit, and made the waiting areas more comfortable. He also added a few ambient lighting and so on.

He spent a full 10 gold for everything.

"They'd be surprised when they wake up tomorrow," he said, finally heading inside to finally take a well-deserved rest.

…

…

…

[Defense Point -1]

[Defense Point -1]

"Well-deserved rest, my ass," he mumbled as he sat up, rubbing his head in annoyance. Finn rolled around the bed and jumped out of the bed and into the next room.

He stood outside the men's room. He didn't want to bother the guests while they rested, but they might want to hunt for cores.

He just thought that if he were in their position, he'd like to earn back the amount he spent, and the perfect way to do so was to take advantage of the barrier.

It wasn't just him taking advantage of free labor or anything. Ahem.

However, when he opened the door, he couldn't find the words.

Zzzzggnnnhhh….shhuhhuhhh…ggggrrnnkkgnnnkk

Finn's eyes twitched, wanting to close the door immediately. What was that? A snoring whale?

He shook his head and peeked in, seeing that it was not a whale, only Marcus. He then looked at the person on the other bed, Durgan, who had a very thick fabric covering his ears. He was sound asleep though, obviously used to this already.

He smiled and shook his head. Oh well, let them rest.

He might as well improve his own fighting prowess right now.

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