Global Fog Survival

“…I don’t know if the artist who drew this is simple or not, but I feel worse and worse. It seems like I’ve gained a lot, yet it also feels like I haven’t gained much at all.”

Colin realized that regardless of their mystical properties, these items were all incredibly heavy, some weighing hundreds or even thousands of pounds, especially the candelabrum, which weighed tons. None of the items seemed usable for him; they were all too large and unwieldy. Even the lightest item, the ritual robe, weighed over two hundred pounds.

However, when he saw the last piece of equipment, Colin could hardly hold back his tears of joy. Finally, there was something he could use!

[“Meditation Headscarf”: Wraps around the body to keep the brain sufficiently alert, resisting 80% of mental influence from lord-level mutants.]

[Note: Don’t disturb my thoughts!]

[Hint: You think it can be worn as clothing, doubling your thought processing speed and ignoring mental influences below the lord-level mutant. However, wearing it for more than three hours causes emotional loss, and over five hours, the effect is irreversible. The timer resets after a 24-hour no-contact interval.]

“Touching…”

Colin took a deep breath. The headscarf’s effects were decent and didn’t have severe negative consequences. He had been observing for about ten minutes, and the armored vehicles had all moved into the woods and arrived at his location. No one disturbed Colin while he assessed his loot, guarding him in tacit agreement. Some survivors curiously asked what he had obtained, and Colin didn’t hide anything, sharing the joy of his loot with everyone. Unfortunately, as a big shot, he couldn’t play the “newbie just got this item, is it any good?” game.

“There’s one last item. This should be the last of what this lord-level aberrant had on it…”

Colin’s eyes landed on the “Twisted Soul,” which was clearly more intense than the ones he had encountered before. After all, it came from a lord-level mutant! However, Colin didn’t crush it immediately. He had noticed that as the soul’s concentration increased, he felt increasingly drawn into a dreamlike state every time he crushed one.

Luckily, he always woke up on time. Without knowing what might happen if he didn’t wake up in time, Colin decided to be more cautious this time. He planned to thoroughly examine it with his prompt ability before deciding whether to crush it.

Just then, the system’s voice interrupted Colin’s actions.

[Global survivor progress check in progress…]

[Current total number of level three territories: approximately 0.0001%.]

[Current total number of level two territories: approximately 24%.]

[Current total number of level one territories: approximately 75%.]

[Current total number of level one chariot lords: approximately 0.0000001%.]

[Current total number of floating islands: approximately 0%.]

[Conditions for hunting lord-level mutants met…]

[Total kills…]

[Resource evaluation…]

[Survivor progress has met the requirements…]

[Issuing Global Quest: “Civilization Investigator”: Collect the hidden history and past events. Progress must meet the requirements to receive rewards. Duplicate information will be credited to the first and most accurate survivor, unless that survivor is completely dead.]

[This mission has been added to the “Parchment Scroll—Quest List.” Please open it to view details.]

[Issuing Global Quest: “Gray Fog Explorer”: Expand the gray fog vision. Each certain extent of exploration will grant a reward.]

[This mission has been added to the “Parchment Scroll—Quest List.” Please open it to view details.]

“A new mission?”

Colin looked up sharply at the other lords and saw that they too had expressions of surprise. Clearly, all the surviving participants had received this information. Nearby, a few survivors whom Colin had confiscated parchment scrolls from urged Li Hang:

“Hurry, Li Hang, get the scroll and see what the mission is.”

The group gathered around, staring at the scroll with the excitement of old generations watching black-and-white TV. Seeing this, Colin temporarily set aside the soul-crushing and handed out a few scrolls to them, while he also opened the mission list.

[“Civilization Investigator”]

[Quest Description: First mission settlement at 5% overall progress.]

[Quest Requirements: Collect the history beneath the fog, explore the origins of the disaster. The more you understand, the greater your chance of survival, including but not limited to humanities, geography, customs, history…]

[Current Overall Progress: Not meeting recording standards.]

[Current Personal Progress: Approximately 0.0002%.]

[Global Quest Rewards: One “Civilization Investigator” attribute title, nine pieces of hardened black bread, one inventory expansion card, one all-attribute enhancement potion (permanent).]

[Personal Mission Rewards: Rewards will be issued based on circumstances.]

“It’s here, it’s here. The system is giving out its favorite nuclear-powered bread machine for the mission again.”

Colin joked. No, nuclear-powered bread machine doesn’t quite capture its high civilization or superior existence status and dignity. It should be called a quantum engine bread machine.

Focusing his mind, Colin pondered this mission.

[Hint: You think this mission is tailored for you. You have an undeniable advantage.]

Undeniable advantage… hint?

Colin murmured softly, dismissing the hint from his mind. So far, the hints have been reliable, provided he could extract and discern useful information from them. Otherwise, they could be unreliable or even dangerous. Especially recently, the hint “One hundred pounds of explosives will cause noticeable damage” made Colin wary.

To fight the lord-level mutant, he used nearly four tons of explosives, almost a hundred steel shells, mobilized nine chariots, over four hundred people, and finally used mysterious items. Had he trusted the hint, bringing only a hundred pounds of black powder, he’d likely be six feet under by now.

Overall, Colin’s cooperation with this “golden finger” had been smooth. If it had any hidden problems, it was likely planning to fatten him up before killing him. Right now, he wasn’t fat, so everything could still be utilized.

Meanwhile, a group of survivors exclaimed in unison after seeing the mission rewards, looking incredulous. This game was actually about handing out items that could increase combat strength! This was as rare as the sun rising at midnight. Besides the axe, almost no one had gotten anything from the system that could increase combat power.

Sanna, Number One, Number Two, and the others stood aside, not quite understanding the survivors’ excitement. Human joy and sorrow are not connected; they only felt that these people were noisy. Too noisy for their lord!

Colin didn’t mind. He knew this mission couldn’t be completed in the short term. Reining in his scattered thoughts, he casually opened the other global quest.