Global Fog Survival

Chapter 23: The Green Leeks

The ?Trading Market?.

When Colin opened the parchment, he saw this newly added feature. He clicked it open and saw it filled with various materials. Particularly in the food section, Colin frowned: ?Rotten Mutant Flesh??Bones??Putrid Eyeballs??Fat Maggots??Old Corpse Legs?…

“These are all creepy things. Why would anyone sell such stuff?” Colin muttered, slightly disappointed, as he had some money to spend. Though he did see some people who seemed lucky enough to have hunted some wild animals and obtained fresh food, upon closer inspection, it seemed like they had no intention of selling.

?Fresh Deer Meat.?

?Item Description: A pound of rib meat cut from a deer, very fresh, more nutritious than bread.?

?Type: Consumable.?

?Remaining Time: 1 day?

?Price: 10 Hardened Black Breads, 500 ml of Foul Tainted Blood?

?Seller’s Note: Willing to negotiate price for “Mist Points,” “Grade 3 Water,” or other rare items.?

There were many similarly marked items that didn’t seem intended for sale. Only fools would buy them since current needs were more about filling the stomach than having good food. Eating a little less meat wouldn’t kill anyone. Ten hardened black breads could last many days if rationed, but a pound of deer meat, no matter how sparingly eaten, wouldn’t last long.

Moreover, the price included 500 ml of Foul Tainted Blood, which would require killing a hundred ordinary mutants to gather. And those hundred couldn’t be “wailers,” which were easier to kill.

“Wait a minute…” Colin suddenly noticed something fishy. Once an item was listed on the trading market, its ?Remaining Time? seemed to stop. In other words…

Colin stroked his chin, realizing that the trading market was being used as a refrigerator… Time was frozen, preventing decay or spoilage. Was there a better refrigerator than this? Absolutely not!

“No wonder everyone is listing their stuff…” Colin chuckled, then quickly checked his backpack, finding several pieces of meat that had gone from slightly spoiled to moderately spoiled, and from moderately spoiled to heavily spoiled overnight! Colin’s face turned green.

Slightly spoiled meat didn’t have a foul smell, just a change in taste, and was perfectly edible—he had eaten some yesterday. Moderately spoiled meat smelled a bit but was still edible, though it might cause some stomach discomfort. Heavily spoiled meat, however, had a strong odor and was hard to swallow, which is why he didn’t pick up any heavily spoiled pieces near the entrance.

Colin immediately followed suit, listing his pieces of meat. Once he saw that the remaining time had indeed stopped, he sighed in relief.

“These people are really clever,” Colin laughed, then continued browsing the trading market, curious about the strange items others had found.

As he browsed, he noticed that the most in-demand item seemed to be water. Yesterday, the lack of water wasn’t as apparent since many had completed daily tasks and survived on bread thanks to Colin’s tips. However, very few had found water.

Thus, the issue became evident today. A drop of water was worth its weight in gold, as most people couldn’t just step out and find water like Colin, who had received a direct hint from the fog. Most didn’t dare venture far from their houses for fear of getting lost in the fog and dying.

After a night, water became the most urgent necessity. If they couldn’t get water soon, they might die of thirst.

“The top trending topic on the world channel is ‘How to Produce Grade 3 Water’… Wait, trending topics?” Colin was surprised. The world channel had apparently been updated, now featuring posts and a search function, resembling a social media platform.

Moreover, replying to posts didn’t require a horn. The top three trending topics were:

1. “How to Produce Grade 3 Water.”
2. “How Not to Get Lost in the Fog.”
3. “Detailed Guide to Killing Mutants.”
4. “A Survival Tip a Day.”

All ten topics were related to survival, with no entertainment or gossip in sight.

“What the heck, is this still the trash channel I know?” Colin muttered, scrolling down, his expression becoming odd as he noticed his name in the seventh spot… Apparently, people were either thanking him or cursing him.

“Uh… the trash seems to be me…” Colin laughed, opening the first topic. People had indeed come up with some useful methods, such as heating monster body parts or other water-containing items to evaporate and collect “foul water.” By further distillation, they could produce “Grade 3 Water.”

This water, though somewhat rotten in taste, was still water, and no one cared about the taste at this point. They would drink urine if needed, so water was a luxury. This had turned items like rotten flesh into “hot commodities,” sold cheaply for things like wood and stones.

“I lost out…” Colin thought about the flesh he didn’t pick up yesterday, feeling like he had missed a great opportunity. Overall, though, survivors were lacking water. A unit of Grade 3 Water could fetch a “sky-high” price, yet demand still outstripped supply.

“One servant¹I’ll just stick to servant from slaves, for a liter of water, and at this rate, I’ll only have one servant left!”

“+1, exchanging servants for water. These useless servants only slow down my axe swings!”

“Here’s a big secret: you can combine black bread and water to make oatmeal! It’s much easier to digest than black bread. I couldn’t poop today after eating that trash bread yesterday.”

“No way! I hereby name you Colin the Second…”

“Who’s selling water? Didn’t someone just sell muddy water? It’s gone in a blink! You guys actually drank muddy water? Are you even human?!”

Reading these discussions, Colin suddenly had a question. Their actions were similar to him sharing the lantern-lighting method. Why weren’t they being punished? Was he the only one being penalized for this?

Feeling a sense of injustice, Colin’s face darkened, but then a prompt appeared in his mind.

?After serious consideration, you realize that only actions involving the system itself and causing significant impact are punished, such as the lantern.?

?Despite your dubious intentions, you even feel a bit guilty…?

?You saved many people.?

“Guilt… significant impact… saved many people… There are still over six hundred people in the regional channel, but nearly four hundred died in one day…” Colin felt a chill. How many people did this game intend to kill yesterday?

“Forget it, that’s not my concern. My priority is to survive.” Colin looked at the desperate for water and thought, “This isn’t me taking advantage; they’re bringing it upon themselves.”

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  I’ll just stick to servant from slaves,