Global Fog Survival

As Colin walked towards the lowest level, he noticed more of the dilapidation beneath the “glamorous” building.

Many areas were damaged, with dark brown and red bloodstains and a thin layer of dust. It appeared that after the battle, the place hadn’t been maintained, let alone repaired.

Leading the way, Russell explained, “You can clean and repair manually, or spend money for automatic repairs. Cleaning alone costs about three thousand fog points each time, and repairs, depending on the extent, might be over ten or twenty thousand. I don’t have the money for repairs; what about you?”

“Same here.” Colin shook his head. “Let’s just make do and repair it ourselves. The damage isn’t too severe.”

A few stairs were missing, the walls were full of holes, and some public facilities seemed to have been erased by some force. These issues could be handled with a few stones, some wooden boards, and some patching up.

However, as Colin observed the battle marks, he curiously asked, “By the way, how did you deal with that thing?”

“We were caught off guard,” Russell said, reflecting on the past. “No one expected the breakdown of that ‘special talent’. The entire ring city was filled with ‘slender figures’. Killing one brought ten more. A touch from them would make you lose a chunk of flesh; a slower reaction would vaporize you on the spot. The main issue was that due to their nature, we couldn’t identify the source of the problem.”

“Luckily, I and a few others managed to retreat to the ‘core fortress’, where the mental impact lessened, and we ‘fortunately’ discovered the problem. Then I noticed that it had split into more people than we had, about ten times more.”

“After identifying the issue, solving it became easier, but the overall incident cost us dearly.”

“Only two of you survived in the end?” Colin asked, recalling that a woman named “Bluebell” had left alone after being “watched”, appearing in the outside world from a sealed tunnel.

Russell shook his head, “Accurately speaking, including ‘servants’, about a dozen survived. We had around six survivors at the time. After resolving the problem, most of us were left with some physical disability. However, we only had two recovery cards. Red potions don’t regenerate a lost limb.”

“I don’t mind missing a leg,” he paused, sighing before continuing, “At that time, some people had no desire to live on. Their ‘servants’ died in the incident, as did several completely ‘loyal’ special talents. With the system almost useless and no way to contact the outside world, they wanted to rest.”

When physically disabled, with no future in sight, and with loved ones suddenly gone, breathing itself can be torment. In such circumstances, even knowing some had negative thoughts, they didn’t try to comfort them.

“In the end, only two survivors remained. Bluebell and I used the last two ‘recovery cards’.”

“But shortly after using the ‘recovery card’, she told me she was going to be ‘sanctioned’.”

“And being in the same area and also watched, maybe I was ‘lucky’?” Russell gave a helpless smile. “In this so-called survival game, we lost thoroughly. We lost everything, both what we should and shouldn’t have lost. In those final days, we could do nothing but run, unable to save anything. We couldn’t even see what the final disaster looked like.”

Colin and the others remained silent, not knowing how to respond. Observing the increasingly dense battle marks, they could imagine the past horrors.

“No need to be so gloomy. Talking about it has lifted a weight off my shoulders. Ah, we’re here.”

Speaking, they stopped in front of an inconspicuous manhole cover. Colin and the others couldn’t help but grumble internally: another manhole cover. Without a guide and clues, finding this place would take a lot of effort. Who would think to find a hidden passage under a manhole cover?

Russell squatted by the cover, placing his hand on it, seemingly unlocking something. He then opened the cover, revealing a deeper passage below.

Colin soon received a system message asking if he accepted a “gift.” Agreeing, he received the legacy from the previous generation.

【Level 5 Underground Fortress: Total space size 100*100*30.】

【Portable Modification: Original volume reduced by 50%.】

【Basic Buildings: Core Underground Fortress (4% damaged), Ring City Three Layers (21% damaged), Eco Park (79% damaged), Water Tower, Sun Simulator】

“That’s huge.”

Colin roughly calculated, feeling surprised. He wondered how much material was needed for such a structure. A non-spacious level 5 underground fortress was already so big. How large would the most extensive level 5 territory be? The hint told him it was “very large” but didn’t specify how large.

Without overthinking, Colin opened the building function page to familiarize himself with new options.

【You are attempting to repair building damage. This repair will cost 21,846 fog points. Confirm?】

No, I refuse. Colin dismissed the message and quickly familiarized himself with the place through the hints.

After thoroughly understanding it, the hints became noticeably more accurate. However, soon he felt mentally exhausted and empty.

He had overused his brain today. If he could see his personal panel, Colin guessed he’d have some related debuffs.

“Indeed, humans have limits,” Colin muttered.

As he reviewed the information, Russell climbed out of the “core fortress,” having descended earlier.

“I have some good stuff to show you,” Russell grinned, dumping out a pile of metal objects that clattered on the ground. He picked one up, waving it around.

It was a metal weapon comprising a long metal tube, a wheel, a handle, and a trigger. Seeing these items, Colin and the others looked as if they’d seen a ghost.