Chapter 109: Drained Dry

"Oh, right, there is one more thing. It’s not that we haven’t encountered 'Great Miracles' before. I remember people in one region saying before their destruction that they had seen the Thirteenth Miracle, the 'Shadow of Ash and Silver'."

In Russell’s description, this was a massive silver humanoid figure walking through the ashes, as tall as a mountain, a presence that could truly be considered a "god." After encountering it, every living being in that region—including aberrations, and even Lord-level aberrations—was reduced to ash.

"When our people went there later to investigate the cause, there was nothing but ash in the entire region. We couldn't find anything, so we don't know much..."

"Then there are the 'Small Miracles'..."

"...The 'Lord-level aberrations' you see nowadays are embodiments of 'Small Miracles.' Their numbers are abnormally high, and the information regarding them is quite fragmented, so I didn't pay much attention to it..."

"It’s unclear which 'Great Miracles' are stronger, but the power levels of 'Small Miracles' are sometimes quite obvious, and they come in all sorts of strange forms..."

On this front, Colin already knew a fair bit, even without the other party explaining...

The most terrifying "Small Miracle" he had seen so far was likely Cimino, a giant olive tree that had burst through the walls of a cave. If he hadn't used clever tactics, he never would have been able to defeat it.

"Beyond that, the Church of Suffering also has a rank known as 'Saints.' Their status in the church is second only to the 'Pope,' and to a certain extent, they can be considered candidates for the papacy..."

"The power of a 'Saint' is mostly related to the 'Great Miracles.' They serve as a transitional rank above Lord-level aberrations, possessing strength somewhere between a 'Small Miracle' and a 'Great Miracle'..."

"Among the last generation of 'Saints,' there was one called the 'Saint of Light' who was very special. The power he wielded didn't seem to have much to do with 'Suffering'..."

"Many people in the late-stage Church of Suffering followed him, which even threatened the authority of the current 'Pope,' so he was 'encircled and suppressed' by the others and eliminated..."

"Of course, he was also the most mysterious one. No one knows where he went in the end..."

*I killed him...*

Colin felt a strange sensation inside...

As he listened to Russell divulge what he knew bit by bit, Colin saw his "Task Progress" hit two percent...

The other survivors had also noticed the "sudden change" here, sparking a frantic discussion in the channel. But Colin had no interest in looking at any of that...

He was currently immersed in the joy of getting historical knowledge for free.

Occasionally exchanging a few words with Russell, his personal historical progress eventually reached three percent, while the global investigation progress hit four percent!

Before long, the historical knowledge Russell possessed had been thoroughly squeezed dry by Colin.

"Oh, I forgot. There’s one more thing, regarding the servants..."

*Why is there another issue?!*

Colin’s blood pressure spiked, and he said somewhat helplessly, "What now?"

Russell looked at the servants who were watching him like tigers waiting to pounce: "...It’s nothing major, I just wanted to mention that in our generation, servants were like puppets that only executed death orders, devoid of any emotions..."

"Also, our servants couldn't be upgraded, but yours are different..."

"I'm not trying to sow discord, I’m just giving you a heads-up..."

"Compared to the servants of our batch, your servants... have a very high learning ceiling, are stronger, and are very loyal to you..."

"I don't know the specific reason; it might just be a characteristic of your batch of survivors. Don't worry about it..."

[You realize that, regarding the servants, the current changes seem to be developing in a positive direction...]

*A positive direction...* Colin nodded, keeping a mental note, and replied, "I will keep that in mind."

In just a few hours, the density of the information had been so high that he felt his brain was about to wither...

Before long, the two returned to the round table.

"Boss, what did you guys talk about? Mind sharing?" Li Chou asked curiously, as did several other survivors nearby.

Because... they had just noticed the skyrocketing progress of the global investigation task.

They didn't need to look to know that such an occurrence was definitely related to the conversation between Colin and Russell—deeply related.

Facing their inquiries, Colin thought for a moment and shook his head: "I’ll sort through it when I have time later. Much of this information is dangerous. If I haven't organized it, I can't be sure about it. I'll talk when I'm certain..."

"Alright..." They sat back down, crestfallen.

Afterward, Colin looked at Russell, who had untied his ropes and was sitting opposite him: "You said your Level 5 underground bunker was modified to be portable. Can we take it with us in a moment?"

"Yes, but after the portable modification, every move—even just one meter—requires a 'movement fee' of 10,000 Mist Points..."

"Ten thousand? Why don't you just rob someone!" Li Chou and the others exclaimed.

"Then you’ll have to ask the system. Maybe it thinks that’s faster than robbing someone..." Russell shrugged.

Colin thought for a moment and asked, "If I pry up the entire floor, can I take the floor with me?"

He couldn't afford that many Mist Points right now... but he could afford a lot of explosives.

[You realize that your plan will not succeed. If you pry up the floor, it will simply hover in its original position...]

Before Russell could answer, the prompt gave him a negative response...

When Russell did answer, it was much the same.

"What a pity."

Colin shook his head, "But don't be discouraged. We'll have money by tomorrow."

This manhole cover—no, this Level 5 underground bunker—was extremely valuable. It could withstand a direct impact from a Lord-level aberration. Even if they encountered one head-on and were backed into a corner, they could just jump into the bunker and make a getaway on the spot.

So, if he could take it, he certainly would. Even if it cost a price.

"Oh, right, that shouldn't be a problem by tomorrow..." Li Chou suddenly realized.

Tomorrow, the boss was going to do another "good deed." And after doing a good deed, there would be money.

"Tomorrow? How will you have money in your current state?" Russell enjoyed the massage from a beauty, looking curious. In his eyes, Colin and his batch of survivors could be simply summarized by the word "poor."

Not answering the question, Colin pondered for a moment and asked: "Setting that aside, you said the entrance 'style' can be changed. Can it be made larger? Large enough to fit a battle vehicle..."

If it could be changed to that... then...

"Sure, as long as you pay. Probably another 10,000 or 20,000..."

*So expensive...*

*Can't I just use explosives to widen the opening?*

Colin got a headache and abandoned that line of thought, because doing "good deeds" might not necessarily earn that much money. His expenses elsewhere were also quite high...

*Forget it, let's just stick to moving it for now. We'll see about the rest later, and I don't even have a battle vehicle right now anyway...*

Colin quietly made his decision.

Next was how to solve the collapse of the "Special Talent Summoning Card." After a moment of thought, Colin had a few ideas he could try.

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PS: I wrote too much yesterday, my brain felt a bit empty, so I posted late...