Global Fog Survival

“But what should I trade for… Oh, right, I should upgrade this house of mine. A level-one territory is too cramped and narrow. I can’t fit all my gains in here.”

Colin pulled up the information on his rundown wooden house.

[Level 1 Territory]: It can block the gray fog, can perform simple synthesis, but cannot be moved or be stored in the inventory.

After clicking on the upgrade option, four upgrade branches appeared:

[Underground Fortress] [Sky City] [War Chariot] [Level 2 Territory]

The descriptions only provided functionality, not the required materials. If the materials were insufficient, the upgrade would simply show that it was not possible. However, the hints allowed Colin to obtain the necessary material information without needing blueprints.

“Level 1 Underground Fortress requires 3000 units of iron, 2000 units of clay, 1000 units of gravel, 2000 units of stone, 1000 units of wood, 200 units of Thorn of Suffering, and 100 fog points… Hmm…”

Colin looked at the material requirements and silently closed the tab. The demand was too high; his materials added up to only a fraction of what was needed.

He then opened the [Sky City] option, which looked more friendly than the underground fortress.

[Hint: Level 1 Sky City: Floating Stones 0/200, Thorn of Suffering 4/10, Wood 54/300, Mist Points 20/200.]

Colin hadn’t even seen floating stones, so he shook his head and abandoned this choice.

Then he looked at the third option, [War Chariot]. As soon as he saw its functions, his eyes lit up.

[Level 1 War Chariot: It can block gray fog, resist mental attacks below lord level, be driven for movement, and be mounted with cannons…]

[Note: Driving the war chariot requires fuel.]

“Imagine an army of war chariots, a million steel giants, cannons plowing the ground, pushing through the gray fog. These mutants would be nothing!”

Colin thought excitedly. Then he saw the material requirements and silently closed the tab again.

However, the practicality of the war chariot made Colin note down the required materials to collect them slowly.

Finally, there was the last option: [Level 2 Territory].

[Level 2 Territory Information: The survivor’s territory range will expand from 4*4 to 10*10 with an additional 5*5 yard.]

[Hint: Required materials: Stone 49/2000, Thorn of Suffering 4/30, Wood 54/1000, Clay 0/500, Fog Points 20/50.]

Compared to the other upgrade plans, the level 2 territory seemed much more reasonable. The materials looked like a lot, but since they were basic, they were not hard to find outside the gray fog; it just required some time to gather and store in the inventory.

The gray fog world mainly lacked two things: food and water.

Of course, Colin had no intention of wasting time. Before people found a stable water source, water was his monopolized resource.

Colin calculated the materials he was missing and divided some of his water into several portions of 200 ml each, listing them on the trading market.

[Grade 3 Water]

[Item Description: Water with a slight odor, but should be drinkable.]

[Type: Consumable.]

[Quantity: 200 ml.]

[Price: 200 units of stone.]

[Seller’s Note: Other unique items can be negotiated via private message.]

“Two hundred milliliters of water for two hundred units of stone, one milliliter for one unit of stone. This trade is fair enough, considering the water is boiled from the precious wood at the foot of Crow Mountain…”

Colin muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, seeing this on the chat channel, people started to curse.

“Two hundred units of stone for two hundred milliliters of water? Why do not you just rob us?”

“How shameless can you be?”

“What a black-hearted merchant.”

“Everyone, do not buy this guy’s water. We must stand together and not condone these black merchants!”

Colin, who had the chat channel open, saw these messages but didn’t care. He leaned back in his scavenged chair and chuckled.

“If it weren’t for the almost instant arrival of two thousand units of stone, I might have believed you all formed an unbreakable alliance to resist me. This just shows these materials are abundant and almost everywhere. I was too focused on high-value items yesterday and didn’t notice them.”

Shaking his head with a smile, Colin had his two servants, who were already up, throw the 49 units of stone piled by the bed outside the door. Next, he followed the same method and quickly gathered the 1000 units of wood and the 500 units of clay required.

During this process, those who had been shouting to resist him started to split internally.

“You liars, calling for unity to resist the profiteers while secretly buying from them…”

“No way, right? You won’t really think these basic materials are treasures, will you?”

“To be fair, anyone trading water for common materials has a few screws loose.”

“Haha, I got some! This water tastes great~”

“Hey, wait for me, I have a mine nearby. I’ll dig and join in…”

“With so much water, you must have found a water source and don’t lack it. You should share it selflessly. Don’t you feel guilty?” …

Watching people go from “unity” to division, Colin found it amusing and deliberately posted a batch of water every ten seconds, letting many join in this circus.

To get water, those who objected had no time to speak up, especially those who spent money on horns for this matter.

Soon, Colin collected all the basic materials he needed, all within three liters of water.

“So this is the power of monopoly…” Colin marveled. It would have taken him until tomorrow to gather these materials, but through equitable trade with other survivors, it took less than ten minutes. Monopoly… truly evil!

“Now, the more challenging items are the ‘Thorn of Suffering’ and ‘Fog Points’…”

These two items were much harder to collect and couldn’t be traded one milliliter for one unit.

However, while Colin was considering how to trade for them, he received some private messages.

“Hey, buddy, I have some ‘Thorn of Suffering.’ It’s good stuff from monster drops. Can I trade it for some water? If you’re willing, I’ll tell you what it’s good for…”

Some? This guy must be lucky, Colin thought, stroking his chin. He ignored the latter part of the message since he knew the thorn’s use much better. The other guy probably only knew it could be combined with clay or axes.

However, the guy was right about one thing: the thorn was indeed a valuable item.

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