Global Fog Survival

“Based on the hint, her ‘soul’ should be imprisoned beneath the Temple of Suffering. Strange, everything else is called a church, but this one’s a temple…”

Colin didn’t think much about it and was ready to let it collect dust.

If there’s any campaign plan next, it’s likely to be against the “Witch’s Head” in Silver Moon Bay.

He didn’t dwell on it any further and prepared to lead his team out of this area to the next. But just as they were about to leave the cavern, crossing over Kimino, he suddenly remembered something important.

The “Bloodthirsty Stigma” hadn’t been distributed yet…

After a moment’s hesitation, Colin decided to allocate this item first.

In a sense, this was the only item in his possession with healing capabilities. Besides recovery cards, the system had not provided any items for treating wounds. The existing ones with healing effects were simple medications that some survivors had synthesized after trial and error with wild herbs.

Their efficacy wasn’t great, they were expensive, and they were sold out almost immediately. Even Colin hadn’t managed to snag any.

He had obtained the formula for the materials through hints, but unfortunately, those materials were not available nearby, so he had to give up.

Another item effective for wounds was the Fog Points, but they could only provide purification or anti-swelling effects, akin to using alcohol for disinfecting and reducing swelling.

Survivors rarely got infections unless they were poisoned, so the Fog Points seemed quite useless.

Swelling could be treated by eating and resting for a night, and it would mostly recover…

This seemed to be due to a “modification,” making their bodies “perfect” in a certain sense. It could be said that this was the world’s only act of kindness towards the survivors.

But this only applied to minor injuries. For larger wounds, like when Colin had his flesh torn out, even if he survived, most of his arm would be useless…

Now, with the “Bloodthirsty Stigma” copies, healing 5% or 1% per minute seemed small, but as long as the injury didn’t involve losing limbs, most fatal injuries could be saved.

Without further hesitation, Colin took out ten “Thorns of Suffering” from his imventory, holding them in his right hand.

Each of these black thorns was about half a meter long and as thick as a finger, covered in sharp spikes.

They usually grew from the spines of those who had turned into mutants.

At this moment, the red fog-like blood aura emitted from the thorns enveloped them. In the next second, something magical happened.

The black thorns melted…

They were like iron wires that were melting but didn’t drip. Instead, they fused together in Colin’s hand.

Boiling, shaping, solidifying…

Finally, a delicate black metal bracelet appeared.

Its style was similar to the stigma on Colin’s wrist, with uneven spikes on the outer ring and none on the inner ring.

“Just like titles, the basic title is an emblem, and after upgrading, it’s a tattoo… I wonder what form the next upgrade will take…”

Colin muttered to himself as he placed the first “Bloodthirsty Stigma Copy” on Sanna, then proceeded to make the next one.

Making copies wasn’t too troublesome and didn’t take much time—only a minute or two.

However, it did consume a lot of energy. Doing it once or twice was fine, but doing it frequently…

Especially thirty times in a short period…

It was quite exhausting.

Thirty to forty minutes later, Colin, pale and unsteady, sat on a stone to rest. His body was fine, but his mind was extremely fatigued, making him very uncomfortable.

He wanted to sleep, but when he closed his eyes, he felt alert…

Yet when he opened his eyes, he was exhausted…

“If Kimino hadn’t become my good friend, I’d want to stab him twice right now to recover…”

He glanced at Kimino, who had turned into a tree, and the thought crossed his mind, but it was just a thought.

Despite their short interaction, Colin felt he and Kimino had formed a deep friendship, becoming good friends.

Sanna was beside him, casting a revival wind to help dispel his soul’s fatigue.

Now, the entire exploration team was equipped with a “Bloodthirsty Stigma Copy,” and Colin hadn’t taken any share from these copies.

He knew very well that, compared to him, surrounded in the middle, the slaves were the real frontline members who would take damage for him.

Obtaining the stigma was to enhance their overall strength, and he wouldn’t be selfish at this time.

However, he did plan to give ten “Bloodthirsty Stigma” to the outside world for research, and this portion could be skimmed.

In his exhaustion, Colin took out a scroll and contacted Li Hang.

“What’s up, boss? We’re in a meeting…” Li Hang replied.

“A meeting?” Colin asked curiously.

“Yes.”

At this moment, they were in a level-three territory, discussing the “Level 1 Custom Blueprint” Colin had recently sent back—

Discussing what kind of weapon to create as their standard armament.

Guns had been ruled out.

The only guns available were outdated, simple-structured pistols… or muskets.

Anything more precise would fail due to insufficient computational power.

Choosing such weapons wouldn’t effectively kill mutants and were less effective than an axe.

Besides, bullets were a hassle…

New gunpowder had to be mixed, which could take a day, two, or more…

However, with the help of a saltpeter mine, they were able to find the majority of the necessary materials.

Supporting equipment, like heating furnaces, was also being built.

Currently, Huang Weiyang was primarily focusing on developing production sequences.

For instance, there is now a dedicated production sequence for black powder suitable for crafting tables, updated through several iterations, making it quicker and simpler than Colin’s previous process.

It was almost a 1-2-3-4 mix, then done… taking less than ten minutes, producing tons of black powder based on available materials.

Of course, this was because making black powder was too simple; more advanced gunpowder wouldn’t be as easy.

While most survivors were still using crafting tables to make oatmeal or similar items, only a few had discovered their true potential.

However, the only one capable of harnessing its war potential at this stage was Colin. Others, even if they discovered it, unfortunately lacked the materials…

But now, widely available to Colin’s group, was only black powder.

Using black powder for bullets could work for killing humans, but against mutants, it was too weak…

Unless every shot was a headshot…

But that was clearly unrealistic.

Too many factors limit the effectiveness of firearms.

Thus, firearms were ruled out.