Amidst his excitement, Waldo’s mind was jolted.

A wealth of information came from the system.

"Refining the safe house, merging with it to enhance its defensive capabilities?"

Waldo was slightly startled upon seeing this information.

According to the system, each safe house is extraordinary and can form a contract with a challenger.

Once a challenger refines the safe house and becomes its true master, the safe house will become a part of the challenger’s body.

Like an arm or a leg.

The challenger can control the safe house with just a thought.

Also, as the challenger’s strength increases, the defensive capabilities of the safe house improve as well.

For the challengers, this is great news.

A timely aid, indeed!

However, for Waldo, it was not essential.

He was confident in his ability to survive in an environment ravaged by monsters.

"But just to be safe, I might as well refine it. It adds an extra layer of protection. If level three or even level four monsters appear, I’ll have a strategy to deal with them."

"I wonder, can the safe house withstand attacks from level three or even level four monsters?"

"The defensive strength of the safe house is proportional to the challenger’s own strength. The stronger I am, the higher its defense. With my strength, I guess even a level four monster won’t be able to get through."

With these thoughts, Waldo did not hesitate and began refining the safe house immediately.

However, the process was not simple.

According to the system, refining the safe house required a certain level of mental strength and energy within the challenger.

Moreover, the process was lengthy.

It usually took several hours.

After all, the safe house was quite large.

However, this was not a problem for Waldo.

"Let’s do this!"

With a thought, Waldo’s mental power, carrying the surging energy within him, spread out like a boundless sea from his center, engulfing the entire villa rapidly.

His energy covered every brick and corner of the safe house.

Moments later...

All the energy swiftly returned to Waldo’s body.

"Is it done?"

A look of surprise appeared on Waldo’s face.

In his perception, the safe house seemed to have merged with him, becoming a part of his body.

Waldo was slightly astonished.

"The system clearly stated that refining a safe house would take at least seven to eight hours, and in some cases, even days!"

"But I managed to refine the safe house in less than two minutes?"

Amazed, Waldo tried something.

With a thought.

Click, click, click...

All the windows and doors of the safe house opened and then closed automatically.

If Waldo didn’t know that the safe house was responding to his commands, he might have thought there were ghosts in this world...

Then, with another thought.

Hum, hum, hum...

The entire safe house began to vibrate, like billions of bees buzzing their wings.

At the same time, golden light suddenly rose on the walls of the safe house.

Like flames, it was similar to the fire controlled by Waldo.

However, it was not fire, but pure light.

It was filled with countless runes flickering in and out of existence.

This was the protective shield of the safe house.

A message suddenly appeared in Waldo’s mind.

"The protective shield can effectively defend against attacks from monsters, as well as from natives and other challengers. Moreover, it can even inflict damage on those who attack the safe house."

Following this, Waldo’s expression became even more peculiar.

It seemed that he had truly refined the safe house and merged with it.

But...

The speed was too fast!

It far exceeded his expectations.

Amidst his confusion, Waldo opened the system’s chat channel, ready to see what the situation was like for other challengers.

...

"Damn, what’s going on? Restrictions lifted? Monsters running rampant?"

"We’re doomed with our meager strength, how can we possibly handle so many monsters?!"

"This is too sudden, only one hour to prepare? No, to be precise, only fifty minutes left! What can we prepare in fifty minutes?"

"Hahaha, it’s funny to think about it, preparing for our doom more like it."

"It’s over, what are we going to do?"

...

Many challengers were complaining bitterly.

They were qualified to enter the land of darkness, which meant they were far from ordinary.

Their mentality and strength were top-notch.

Their current panic was mainly due to being completely unprepared.

And, of course, their insufficient strength...

They had a sinking feeling that they might not be able to get through this challenge.

Therefore, they couldn’t help but lose their composure a bit.

Seeing this, Waldo’s brow furrowed slightly.

He skipped past these messages and focused on those discussing the safe house.

"This crisis came too suddenly, how is your progress with refining the safe house?"

"Refining? I haven’t even started yet, there’s too much to prepare and there are many restrictions. I need to be extremely careful..."

"I’ve already started. Honestly, the refining process is slow, it might take about a day to fully control it. But I’m not in a hurry, my safe house is far from the city. Even if monsters appear, it will take them a while to reach me, so I have enough time..."

"Damn it! Although it only takes me four hours to control the safe house, mine is too close to the city!"

"Hahaha, you’re in a tough spot, good luck! The monsters will definitely attack your safe house first, hope you can withstand it..."

"Everyone’s panicking, the refining speed is just too slow..."

...

Seeing the discussions of other challengers in the chat channel, Waldo couldn’t help but laugh.

"It seems that I’m the first, and possibly the only one, to master the safe house this quickly!"

"The speed of refining the safe house must be related to strength. The stronger the strength, the faster the refining process. A typical second-level challenger needs three hours, while I only needed a few minutes..."

"This shows that the gap between a second-level challenger and me is still very huge."

"Although I’m not a third-level challenger now, my strength is no less than that of an average third-level challenger!"

Waldo felt a bit of pride in his heart.

Then, he familiarized himself with the sensation of controlling the safe house.

The safe house felt like a part of his body; he could clearly sense where it was being attacked and where its defensive weaknesses were.

He could also instantly get information about any movements outside the safe house or anything approaching it.

Moreover, Waldo could control the power of the safe house to form a strong protective shield in a certain area.

He could even use the safe house to launch attacks.

Of course, only Waldo dared to play like this.

Typical challengers couldn’t afford it.

The energy consumption was too rapid. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

With the size of the safe house, their power could be drained in minutes.

But Waldo was an exception!