abcnovels
Chapter 107: We Too Have Struggled
Chapter 107: We Too Have Struggled
“You…”
Li Chou took a step forward, intending to ask a question, but Colin stopped him.
“Let me ask. These things… asking about them is dangerous,” Colin whispered.
Because this involves the system, he had to be cautious.
Hearing this, Li Chou closed his mouth, still shaken.
He knew Colin wasn’t just trying to scare him.
Some people in the chat channel liked to dig into the questions behind the system…
They would dig and dig until suddenly, they stopped talking.
No one knew whether they encountered danger and died in the mist or if something else happened.
Some alliances of survivors had released information stating that these people simply vanished into thin air.But the specifics of what happened, they didn’t reveal.
The mist is terrifying…
But the system is no less so…
And compared to the mist, the system’s dangers are closer, and the most despairing part is that they can’t escape the system at all right now.
Even if there were a way to escape the system, they couldn’t do it because, without the system’s functions, they wouldn’t survive for long…
At this moment, Colin only felt an unspeakable suffocation.
“Come down! What are you all standing there for? This place stinks…”
From the manhole, Russell’s half-exposed body called out to them.
This time, Colin didn’t hesitate. He had the servants go down first, ensuring there were no problems, then Li Chou, followed by Colin, Sanna, and the others…
As they completely entered, the entire family cemetery seemed to fall into utter silence.
Meanwhile, after entering the Level 5 Underground Fortress, Colin and the others felt as if they had arrived in a different world.
They descended the stairs step by step.
Eventually, a multi-layered, ring-structured, massive underground space unfolded before Colin’s eyes, looking like a large underground shopping mall.
Colin and the others emerged on the top floor.
In the center of the ceiling, there was something emitting a soft light… an “artificial sun.”
The light it emitted illuminated the entire underground space.
Looking down from the stainless steel handrails, the Level 5 Underground Fortress had three layers in total, with an “open-air” plaza at the bottom.
This is the Level 5 Underground Fortress…
Colin couldn’t help but gasp…
Yes, the air is pretty clear.
The only downside is that it’s too quiet…
In this vast space, not a single person was visible.
“This has to be more than ten thousand square meters, right?”
Colin surveyed the enormous underground area; it looked much larger than ten thousand square meters.
Moreover, Colin and the others clearly felt the constant mental influence from the outside world had disappeared.
Li Chou felt this the most strongly.
Russell chuckled and proudly said, “It’s just over ten thousand square meters per floor, totaling over thirty thousand. There’s another floor at the bottom, but its total area is only about three thousand meters.
“In here, not even a lord-level mutant could break in.”
“Very well, it’s all mine now,” Colin nodded.
Russell couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of his mouth.
But just then, Colin and the others suddenly heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching, as if someone was rushing toward them.
Seeing Colin and the others pulling out explosives and cannons, Russell quickly said, “Don’t get excited, it’s just a few of my… subordinates.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Colin and the others saw three female figures rushing over.
Unsurprisingly, these women were all very attractive—some tall, some petite, others exuding mature feminine charm…
And…
[You know, they are not survivors but characters summoned by the system.]
Colin saw this prompt and moved slightly closer to Russell…
If anything seemed off, he would immediately detain him.
Because…
As far as he knew, the system could only summon servants…
These three women were clearly not servants!
Three special character summon cards!
Even Colin only had one by his side!
He knew firsthand how strong and terrifying Sanna’s physical capabilities were!
“Relax, they’re just ordinary people summoned by the system, not monsters created by special talent summon cards…”
Russell explained with a smile, “You can see a person’s strength, so you should be able to tell.”
Indeed… Colin nodded. The source of special talents seemed to be outside the system…
“Monsters…” Shana gave him a displeased look, not liking the term.
“Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that special talent summon cards are indeed… very special…” Russell said, his scalp tingling as if he was deeply worried about something happening. “I’ll tell you about it later…”
As he spoke, he glanced at the inscriptions on everyone’s arms before looking away.
Then, under the expressionless gaze of Colin and the others, Russell quietly rubbed his waist, stepping out of the crowd as the three beautiful women surrounded him, showering him with affection.
“What happened to your face…”
“I fell; it’s nothing serious.”
“Ah, then you should take your medicine quickly…”
Seeing their concerned faces, Russell’s mood improved: “You’re still the best… You’ll never betray me.”
“Who would betray you?”
“…Xiao Bai. Sigh, it doesn’t recognize me anymore.”
“How could it do that? You were so good to it…”
“…No more talking, it’s all tears.”
…
“Boss, I want to chop him up…” Li Chou, eyes fixed on Russell, whispered to Colin with jealousy.
Why the hell doesn’t their system summon people like this?
He wanted pretty girls too!
“Let it go for now…” Colin sighed, looking at Russell, “I don’t think you brought us here just to show us… this, right?”
“Sorry, I just got excited, having been apart for only an hour. Come with me. You, go prepare something for our guests…”
Russell led Colin and the others to a spacious balcony where a large round table and several chairs were placed.
Colin and the others took their seats one by one, while the servants stood guard nearby.
Once seated, Colin immediately asked:
“Start from the beginning, and also, where did your scroll and crafting go…”
Earlier, when Colin searched Russell’s inventory, he hadn’t found those items, but he forgot to ask at the time.
“…We don’t have those things.”
Russell shook his head, “Our ‘social’, ‘trade’, and ‘team-up’ functions are all in our minds, but now they’re all unusable…”
“In your minds…” Colin murmured.
Without a doubt, if those functions were in their minds… it would be much faster.
Wait, team-up function?
“You have a ‘team-up’ function?” Li Chou exclaimed in surprise.
“You don’t?”
Colin and the other survivors all shook their heads in unison.
Russell also became surprised. He originally thought the differences between them were just the scroll and the crafting table, but now it seemed there were more…
“Describe every detail from the beginning. Explain each function…” Colin said in a serious tone.
Russell didn’t answer immediately. He pondered for a moment, as if recalling how to answer the question thoroughly.
Two or three minutes later, Colin and the others finally heard his voice.
“About six months ago, we were mysteriously sent here. At that time, some advice appeared in our minds, saying this was the toughest survival…”
“The advice told us how to light a lantern and go out to hunt mutants. I remember I first chatted for a while, then opened the newbie gift pack…”
“I remember the newbie gift pack contained a recovery card, a bottle of water, some food, two warrior summon cards, and a fine steel axe…”
“…Wait a minute.”
Li Chou couldn’t believe it, “You got a recovery card? On the first day? Warriors? And, you were already told how to light a lantern?”
“Wasn’t it the same for everyone? The instructions for lighting a lantern were in the advice. Didn’t you read it carefully?”
“No, we didn’t have any of that. We only got a loaf of bread, no water, two servants, and the lantern lighting method was something Colin figured out while risking punishment…”
“Uh, what…”
Russell was stunned. That’s harsh!
But he quickly realized something—punishment? “How many days have you been here?”
“Four days…”
“Four days? How could there be punishment already? That kind of thing doesn’t appear until at least a month in…”
Russell said in disbelief. After observing Colin, he felt this group had been exploring for at least ten days.
How could they have any skills after just four days?
And punishment… doesn’t appear until after at least a month.
“We…” Li Chou was about to say something about his countdown being off, but seeing Colin’s gesture, he stopped.
Colin looked at him and said sternly, “Continue.”
He wanted to see just how wide the gap between the two sides was on the first day.
“Uh, I forgot to mention earlier that on the first day, we also had a sign-in feature. Daily sign-ins gave us a set of red and blue potions and food supplies. There were also many good things later, of course, provided you survived…”
Everyone’s faces twitched… Damn, they had a sign-in feature too?
Everyone gets a cheat code?
Surviving is the only requirement?
That’s practically living on easy street!
“I remember I mentioned earlier that those were the supplies we had on the first day. Then a nearby survivor came knocking, and we went exploring together…”
“Nearby?” Colin couldn’t help but ask, “Were you all grouped together?”
“Not exactly, we were randomly grouped in teams of thirty, arriving within a one-kilometer radius. I recall that the elderly, children, and pregnant women received special care; any illnesses were cured, and they received the most substantial supply drops. Four hundred of them were gathered in one area…”
“Elderly and children?” Colin was too weary to even consider the arrangement of these groups.
“Yes, you didn’t have them?”
Colin and his group shook their heads again. The oldest among them was no more than forty years old, all in peak physical condition.
“Keep going,” Colin urged.
“Alright,” Russell continued. “After we formed our team, we grabbed lanterns, and dozens of us went to complete that stingy daily task…”
Hearing the word “stingy,” Colin and the others finally felt like they had found some common ground, but the next second, they dismissed the thought.
Russell complained, “Ugh, that task was miserly, just ten loaves of bread that even dogs wouldn’t eat and a bottle of water—who would want to do that?”
After he finished, he saw Colin and the others turn pale, and added quickly, “Not that I don’t understand why you did it; after all, survival is key, but ten loaves of bread and a bottle of water is nothing to be excited about…”
“No… We only had one sour, hard loaf of black bread, and no water…” Colin murmured.
“Oh… well…”
“Just keep going, don’t mind us…”
“Then we followed the map and started exploring outside…”
“A map?”
“And we encountered some monsters with low health bars…”
“Health bars?”
“Later, we accepted some triggered quests—those were killer. We almost died fighting a knight in a pointed hat…”
Dozens of people nearly getting wiped out by a single opponent?
Wait a minute…
“You dared to do triggered quests on the first day? Weren’t you afraid of a Lord-level mutant?” Colin asked again.
“Why wouldn’t we dare? It wasn’t that hard. Besides, what does that have to do with a Lord-level mutant?”
[You realize that at this point, they wouldn’t have encountered any Lord-level mutants…]
Listening to their story, Colin felt a huge disconnect. Were these people really survivors from the previous generation, or were they just here on vacation?
As Russell continued talking bit by bit, Colin roughly pieced together what the previous generation’s system was like…
On the first day, they had a forty-five-day countdown, a team system, a map, health bar displays, personal panels, and detailed quest descriptions…
The quest descriptions even had warnings about which attributes were suitable for exploration…
They also had a sign-in feature…
Just by signing in on the third day at home, they could get a boosting potion…
By the fifteenth day, everyone could acquire a random skill…
All of their system functions were embedded, so they didn’t need parchment scrolls or crafting tables…
Additionally, their crafting list wasn’t hidden…
And then there was the talent recruitment feature…
They could buy three servants for one coin!
Not only that, but they had a wide range of choices—they could summon “Warriors,” “Mages,” “Generals,” “Priestesses,” “Rangers,” “Assassins”…
Meanwhile, Colin and his group could only summon “Servants.” And the price had gone up to three coins each, with no choices…
Their survival…
“Why does it feel like we’re the only ones trying to survive while you guys were playing a game?” Li Chou couldn’t hold back any longer.
This wasn’t just a case of being raised by a wicked stepmother…
“Ignore him, keep going,” Colin sighed.
So, with all those advantages, it wasn’t until the fifteenth day that this bunch of useless people finally defeated a Lord-level mutant…
And received a reward that Colin couldn’t even dream of…
A bundle of recovery cards, a complete treasure map, an airship construction card, and more…
“With such good conditions, you only killed a Lord-level mutant on the fifteenth day?” Li Chou couldn’t help but interject again.
“You have no idea how terrifying a Lord-level mutant is; don’t think just because you’ve killed some Fallen Nobles that you’re hot stuff…”
“We killed a Lord-level abomination on the second day.”
“Ha.”
Upon hearing this, Russell sneered at Li Chou, “My friend, you’re bragging the wrong way (system translation). You must’ve confused some larger-than-normal mutant with a Lord-level one. I’ve seen your cannons, and they’d barely make it itch…
“Moreover, to put it bluntly, if you have all attributes under five when you face a Lord-level mutant, you’re likely to be instantly killed just by looking at it; you won’t even be able to fight it.
“With your current strength, encountering one means certain death, and running away would be almost impossible.”
Li Chou was about to retort, but Colin spoke first, “We really did kill a Lord-level mutant on the second day…”
Before Russell could respond, Colin described some characteristics of a Lord-level mutant.
“That… does sound like a Lord-level mutant…”
Now it was Russell’s turn to look incredulous. He realized that the blood burning in these people’s lanterns had been earned by their own efforts, not by being led out by Lady Bluebell…
He didn’t know that when Colin met that woman, she didn’t have a single valuable item on her…
“With your start, how did you manage to kill a Lord-level mutant on the second day? Even the weakest one shouldn’t have been possible…”
“Did you have someone hacking the system?”
Li Chou immediately retorted, “No, none of us were hacking; we fought our way through with our own efforts.
“And compared to that, I think you guys must’ve used some kind of modding tool—how else could you have such an abundance of resources?”
“Right, right, so we all ended up dead with barely anyone left; maybe I’m the last person from Gondor…”
Russell said with a good-natured smile, without the slightest trace of anger.
He hadn’t chatted like this in a long time.
“Gondor?”
“Our civilization’s name is ‘Gondor,’ and we call ourselves Gondorians. Let’s continue—what follows isn’t very pleasant…”
As Russell continued recounting his personal experiences, the atmosphere grew heavier.
As the countdown progressed, the system began to malfunction more and more, with the map function increasingly leading them into extremely dangerous areas.
The team system, health bars, quest descriptions, talent recruitment—everything started to go haywire…
Moreover, internal divisions began to arise within Gondor’s civilization…
“I feel like the civilization’s split in the later stages was not quite natural, but unfortunately, I don’t know what caused it…” Russell said, his mood heavy.
Finally, just before the countdown ended, a group of them used a “treasure map” to open a passage and descend into this area, where they discovered this place by chance and hid here…
Something happened at that time that prevented them from dealing with the Fallen Nobles…
After that incident, only he was left as the sole surviving Gondor refugee.
“How did you manage to produce so much stuff without leaving any trace of yourselves for us to find?” Colin asked, puzzled.
“I don’t know; the world of fog is vast. We only explored up to 37% of it; you might be on the other side…”
Russell leaned back in his chair, “Maybe all our traces were wiped out. After all, we’re just failures, and we didn’t find any traces of the ‘previous generation’ either…”
As the conversation continued, Colin and Li Chou realized…
The later stages of Russell’s system seemed more like the system they were now interacting with…
And for this “previous generation,” apart from the inventory that was still functional and the daily sign-in for a set of medicine and food, everything else was gone…
The discussion gradually wound down, but for Colin, many questions still remained unresolved…
However, at that moment, Russell suddenly asked, “Mr. Colin, could I ask you to come over alone for a moment? There’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“…Alright.” Colin gave him a look.
With just a thought, he could kill the man with the oath of the “Shielfd of the Just Knight”
Moreover, Russell couldn’t subjectively do anything harmful to him…
With that safety net, Colin agreed, though he also took other precautions.
For instance, he searched Russell’s entire body, leaving no stone unturned, even down to his fingernails. He tied Russell up like a zongzi and added a few barrels of explosives to the rope.
“Aren’t you being a bit too cautious? We’ve been talking for hours now.”
Russell smiled wryly and shook his head, signaling to his three subordinates not to worry.
“My apologies.”
Despite his words, Colin didn’t show a hint of embarrassment. “I can’t afford anything to happen to me here; there are still many people in my territory waiting for me to bring back good news.”
He had never let his guard down with this “previous generation.”
“I understand,” Russell nodded.
Being carried by Colin, he was taken to a slightly secluded spot, about thirty meters away from the crowd, where Russell’s usual “seen it all, world-weary” expression faded.
“What do you want to ask me?” Colin asked directly.
Russell’s face grew serious as he cautiously glanced at Sana, who was still watching from afar, and then said:
“Please forgive my rudeness… I wanted to ask if you’ve fulfilled the wish of the female priestess summoned by your ‘Special Talent Summoning Card’? Is her loyalty to you one hundred percent?”
“Tell me why you’re asking this, and I’ll decide how to answer based on your reason.”
Colin wasn’t particularly surprised by the question. From the very beginning, he had noticed that Russell had been extremely cautious and wary of Sanna.
Russell’s suspicion of Colin was nothing new, and he didn’t answer immediately, as if contemplating where to start his explanation. After a few seconds, Russell leaned back against the armrest, glancing at the scab on Colin’s arm:
“…If I’m not mistaken, you’ve already encountered it, right? That thing that summons shadowy beings…”
“The Slender Ghost? The Trailblazer’s Curse?” Colin hadn’t expected to hear news of this here. He had given both those names himself.
“Uh, you could call it that, though we refer to it as the ‘Group Activity Curse’…”
“You’re saying this has something to do with Sanna?” Colin frowned, observing the tense expression on Russell’s face.
“Yes and no… About four months ago, we also had several characters summoned by Special Talent Summoning Cards…”
Russell spoke with lingering fear, “One of them had a loyalty level of ninety-five percent, and then… nine-tenths of our group died because of him…
“The highest death toll wasn’t from the countdown itself, but from that Special Talent Summoning Card…
“Anyone summoned by a Special Talent Summoning Card has a chance to collapse and turn into something similar to that…”
Shana could turn into the Slender Ghost?
Colin’s breath caught, nearly disrupting his train of thought from the shock: “Do you realize what you’re saying?”
This news was too horrifying to believe. The “Slender Ghost” had once been a person summoned by a Special Talent Summoning Card?
“Heh, I know it’s hard to believe, but I can tell you that the ‘Slender Ghost’ is what happens when a Level 3 ‘Shadow Mage’ collapses and becomes a ‘curse’…”
“Surely, you’ve noticed that characters summoned by the system are absolutely loyal, while those summoned outside of the system only have a loyalty percentage? Oh, I forgot, you can only summon servants, my apologies…”
“Haven’t you realized that this curse is out of place in this world?”
“In fact, our collapse occurred even before we encountered the countdown, so I don’t really know what dangers await after the countdown ends because we all scattered and disconnected before the countdown finished…”
“In the final days, unusual events kept happening, and the death rate skyrocketed. Among these numerous incidents, the primary cause of our heavy losses was the ‘Special Talent Summoning Card’…”
“Around the thirtieth day, some characters summoned by Special Talent Summoning Cards with lower loyalty began to collapse, turning into various disasters that could only be sealed at great cost…”
“If an area had a Level 4 special talent, it would turn the entire area and neighboring regions into a no-man’s land…”
“The most terrifying case was one of the top ten lords. He had plundered a large number of Special Talent Summoning Cards, amassing over a hundred, with the strongest reaching Level 5…”
“A Level 5 Special Talent Summoning Card character could single-handedly take on multiple lord-level mutants without being outmatched…”
“But the first to collapse was this character with seventy percent loyalty, and along with the other Special Talent Summoning Cards, nearly a hundred regions became death zones. Heh, you can’t imagine such a scene…”
“It was so hopeless, all we could do was flee…”
“Only those Special Talent Summoning Cards with one hundred percent loyalty from fulfilling their wishes won’t collapse, which is why I asked you that question…”
Russell tried to clap his hands but then realized he was bound. He tried to shrug instead… but that didn’t work either.
Damn, he shot a glance at Li Chou from a distance. How could someone tie a knot so tightly? What kind of man is so skilled at tying people up?
After listening, Colin stared at him for a full minute before slowly replying:
“Sanna is safe.”
Phew… Russell let out a sigh of relief. This meant that the female priestess’s wish had been fulfilled and she wouldn’t collapse into a terrifying and unknown disaster.
“If fulfilling their wish can prevent it, why didn’t you complete their wishes? I remember it shouldn’t be too hard.” Colin recalled…
Sanna had only needed to save someone, and her wish had been fulfilled…
“Heh, it’s not hard, as long as you know what their wish is. But the system was malfunctioning back then, so it didn’t indicate their wishes… How could you help them fulfill it if you didn’t know?”
Russell said helplessly, “Their wishes are likely their greatest despair before death, instinctively suppressed and unspeakable. If they’re repeatedly triggered by similar situations, there’s a chance of collapse…
“The key is, some wishes are simple, while others are nearly impossible to figure out, leaving you to guess…”
“Before death?” Colin couldn’t help glancing at Sanna. She noticed and blinked as if asking if he needed help.
Colin shook his head slightly.
She… had already died once?
“This is just a guess we’ve formed based on their wishes. It may not be right before death; it could be at the moment of greatest despair when they were turned into a… card…”
“Wait,” Colin suddenly remembered something from Russell’s words. “You just said there were a few Special Talent Summoning Cards here? What happened to them?”
“They’re dead.”
Russell responded bluntly,
“After paying a heavy price, we finally managed to locate and expel it from our territory…
“Heh, at first, whenever it split off a ‘decoy form,’ it would immediately become a beacon to summon countless shadowy beings for an attack, but from the engravings you’ve made, it now requires more than half the group to trigger a summoning…
“This is much easier than it used to be…
“Anyway, to get back on track, at the time we had four Special Talent Summoning Card characters, all at Level 3, three of whom were one hundred percent loyal, and one at ninety-five…
“Only when a wish is fulfilled can loyalty reach one hundred percent; otherwise, it never will…
“We didn’t kill that ‘Shadow Mage’ before he collapsed because we were overly optimistic, thinking ninety-five percent wouldn’t be a problem…
“But we paid a terrible price for it. There should have been more lords left alive…”
Russell sighed, “But we don’t hate him; after all, this kind of collapse isn’t under their control.”
Avoiding another pitfall… Colin felt a mix of emotions, but what made his scalp tingle was…
How many special talents have they summoned now?
Colin’s head began to ache.
In a way, Special Talent Summoning Cards are…
If loyalty isn’t absolute, then it’s absolutely disloyal.
“If you can’t fulfill their wish, what’s your strategy for dealing with them?” Colin asked.
“Before they collapse, do everything possible to raise their loyalty, use all resources to level them up…”
Seeing Colin’s confused expression, Russell slowly continued: “Then, explain everything to them, make them understand your actions, and then kill them.
“A Special Talent Summoning Card character of Level 2 or higher will drop a mysterious item when killed. The stronger they are, the better the item’s effect, and the more loyal they are, the lower the negative effects…
“This is the best solution we’ve come up with…”
“Has it come to this…” Colin sighed.
Russell smiled, his eyes filled with helplessness: “If you don’t want to end up like me, the last one left standing.”
With that, he strained to turn his neck and looked toward a spot in the lower square.
Colin followed his gaze and suddenly noticed something he hadn’t seen before.
There, a hundred black stone tablets stood neatly in a row.
As Colin stared at them, he constantly processed the information with the help of the system, confirming that…
There was no false information.
This was worse than being deceived…
In the somewhat oppressive atmosphere, Colin couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger:
“Why would the system do this? Just for fun?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we’ll find out after the countdown ends. I’ve told you everything I know. Anyway, you still have plenty of time, just be careful and avoid it…”
Russell thought of Colin’s abilities and mysterious items, glanced at those graves, and seemed lost in thought,
“If you can avoid it all, maybe you’ll get a chance to face what comes after the countdown. When that time comes, I’d like to see it too…
“See what lies at the end of the road our civilization couldn’t reach.”
“…Our countdown only has three days left…” Colin suddenly said.
“Three days, that’s still plenty… Cough, cough,” Russell turned his head in shock and disbelief, “Three days?”
“Yes.” Colin then explained their situation.
“You guys are just…”
Russell didn’t even know what to say after hearing this. No wonder these people got so excited over ‘junk’…
No wonder they looked at him as if they wanted to eat him alive before.
It wasn’t just misery; it was beyond comprehension.
Yet, despite such a start, they had accomplished what the Gondor civilization couldn’t…
They killed a lord-level mutant on the second day.
Maybe a miracle really is possible?
At this point, after Colin finished processing all the information in his mind and was fairly certain there were no major issues, he spoke with a mix of curiosity and caution:
“I feel like your assistance has been a bit too thorough… You’ve basically said everything you could, and what you couldn’t say, you hinted at indirectly. During some of the dangerous information, I noticed several times that your face went pale and you rubbed your chest… It looked like you were about to have a heart attack.”
“Is that so…” Russell smiled, his gray eyes finally calm after a long time. “I do have some requests, hoping you might help a little. If you’re willing to assist, I can offer even more support.”
“Go ahead, tell me. I’ll see if I can help.”
“If one day I accidentally die, if I’m the last Gondorian you encounter, and if you manage to survive, I just ask you to remember one thing…”
“There was once a civilization called ‘Gondor’ that existed on this land, that struggled and fought back… Even though we failed and were completely wiped out, if someone remembers us, perhaps we can be reborn with newfound strength…”
“To continue… even if it’s just a name.”
After a moment of silence, Colin slowly nodded:
“I’ll help with that.”