Global Fog Survival

Plop…

The head of the “Mourning Watcher” fell off and rolled forward, repeating history. Only then did the vision before Colin finally end, with all scenes and objects rapidly losing color, dissolving into white mist and disappearing. As he returned to reality, clear sounds reached his ears, as if he had resurfaced from the deep sea.

“Huff, huff, huff…”

A terrifying sense of dread surged through Colin. He bent over slightly, clutching his chest and taking several deep breaths. At this moment, a gentle white light lit up, dispelling the gloom that had formed in his heart.

Seeing Colin recover, Sanna softly asked, “What happened?”

She wasn’t particularly interested in the events themselves, but she wanted to help Colin release the pressure in his heart effectively.

“Nothing, just a minor incident, but it’s fine now.”

Colin chose to conceal the truth almost without thinking, smiling to ease their worries. What he had seen in the dream was useless to say out loud. As he spoke, Colin removed the “Meditation Headscarf” from his body, having realized the cause of the anomaly.

It was this headscarf…

[You vaguely sense that the follow-up anomaly of the “Twisted Soul” stemmed from the lingering mental influence on this item, but it has now dissipated and indeed poses no harm.]

Seeing the hint, Colin felt as if he had been tricked. Only now did he understand the concept of “mental remnants.” Without this concept before, he naturally wouldn’t have thought to use the hint in this regard. This realization made him aware that mysterious items aren’t always safe to use immediately; it’s best to disinfect them if possible.

“The monster’s lingering mental influence anticipated that I would use this headscarf… It seems to have some understanding of me, or rather, our group…”

“What exactly did its words mean? A warning? Warning us ‘outsiders’ who have invaded this land?”

Reflecting on the recent events, Colin thought of many things in an instant, but… gained little insight. Key information was still too scarce…

Without rushing to check on the task, Colin glanced at the large remains on the ground. After a moment of silence, he took out a dozen barrels of explosives…

Before anything else, let’s disinfect.

Without mysterious methods, physical means would suffice…

After handing the task to them, Colin opened the car door, got in, and instructed them to continue advancing inward, clearing a path towards the church. Finally, Colin took this time to open the quest list.

[Triggered Quest: Guardian of the High Court]

[Quest Requirement: Explore the “Church Tunnel—High Court Ruins” and confirm the internal situation of the High Court.]

[Quest Time: Unlimited.]

[Quest Description: The former guardian has fallen and no longer considers himself worthy of watching over this place. But he wishes to know the situation behind the gate. Please fulfill his wish as soon as possible.]

[Quest Rewards: Hardened Black Bread *99, Recovery Card *3, Treasure Map Fragment *1, Random Artifact Blueprint *1.]

[Hint: You sense that if you explore the underground tunnel and search for the source of the bright stone, you can complete this task in passing, as the source is likely within the High Court Ruins.]

“How… convenient.”

After reading, Colin felt a bit at a loss for words. It seemed like many things were steering him towards that area. However, Colin had already decided to go there. But before that, they needed to rest for a night, to be fully prepared for exploring the underground tunnel tomorrow and to look for the underground collapse mentioned by another group.

To compare which path to take.

If memory serves, the dangers in the tunnels and the dangers in the fog do not overlap. The tunnels are free from the gay fog, shielded by some mysterious force. So even at night, there’s no worry about the fog affecting that area. However, it’s a multi-layered dangerous area, filled with many threats. The danger level is likely no less than that of nighttime exploration.

So far, neither the chat channels nor any discussions have provided useful information about the night. Venturing out of the cabin at night leads to two possibilities: nothing happens, or one disappears. No one knows what lurks in the darkness.

“Moreover, according to the information gathered, triggered quests almost always involve lord-level mutants. It might not always be the case, but there’s no evidence to the contrary yet. So it’s safe to assume there’s at least one lord-level mutant in the underground area…”

Of course, since this quest originates from a lord-level mutant meeting the condition of involving such an entity, it’s not as dangerous as Colin thought. But nothing can be left to chance.

Besides, as he revisited this area, a nearly forgotten matter resurfaced in Colin’s mind.

That female corpse…

He had encountered that corpse shortly after leaving the cabin, before taking on the quest to go to the church. Back then, in his ignorance, he thought she was a survivor like himself, an unlucky soul who had died shortly after stepping out. But with a better understanding of the fog world now, he realized the corpse held numerous mysteries.

No, it’s not just mysteries…

It’s riddled with suspicions. With the knowledge he now possessed, many of his previous assumptions were overturned.

For example…

The most obvious point: the one who behead her…

It couldn’t have been the “Mourning Watcher.”

From what Colin knew of the watcher, it would more likely smash someone with a multi-ton candlestick and not leave a neat, intact body sitting there.

So… Who tore off her head?

Colin was sure it wasn’t another survivor…

Ripping off her head without damaging the body… it wasn’t a matter of sheer strength.

If someone could do that, he wouldn’t be the top-ranked survivor.

However, it’s certain that the creature did approach the corpse…

The footprints were indeed its own; no one could fake that.

But it was clear that there was a misconception: the woman’s death and the arrival of the Mourning Watcher weren’t the same event.

It likely just arrived there.

Before that… She was probably already dead…

For reasons Colin couldn’t yet imagine.