Chapter 119: The Missing Statue

Colin relied on his notifications to continuously gather information about his surroundings, steering clear of any terrifying dangers. They were not in any particular hurry.

"By the way, what kind of special modifications do level-five buildings have?" Colin asked curiously while observing his surroundings. So far, he only knew of the "portability modification," which reduced volume by fifty percent.

"You've misunderstood something. It's not about what special modifications level-five buildings have; it’s that once you reach level five, you can use advanced blueprints for things like portability modifications. Otherwise, a level-five building stays exactly as it is."

"Oh, never mind then." Colin shook his head. Their system was so stingy these days that asking was a waste of time.

They hadn't traveled much further when the notification that the level-two war vehicle had been successfully built appeared in Colin's mind. The one who had performed the upgrade was Li Hang. Since Colin wasn't there in person, the upgrades had to be handled by his agents.

"Congratulations to Boss Colin... wait, what's going on? Why isn't the Boss leading the way? My youth is over..."

"I remember this guy; he's a survivor under Mr. Colin. The Boss must be busy and didn't have time to upgrade..."

"Yay! My youth is back again..."

Meanwhile, Colin accessed the information about the level-two war vehicle via his "notifications."

[Level-Two War Vehicle]
[Function: Repels gray mist within a five-meter radius of the vehicle. Suitable for fifty passengers. When filled with sufficient explosives and shells, it can consume one hundred Mist Points to trigger an 'Overheat' state, boosting performance metrics such as 'firing rate' and 'movement speed' for one hour, with a one-hour cooldown.]
[Auxiliary Function: Multi-functional Command Room.]
[Note: Immune to mental damage below Lord-level; reduces Lord-level mental pollution by fifty percent.]
[Notification: It is three times the size of a level-one war vehicle.]

"Five times the materials, three times the size..." Colin muttered to himself. "A pity I can't see what it actually looks like, but I hope it's reliable."

At this moment, Russell, walking alongside him, glanced at the parchment and couldn't help but comment: "Tsk tsk, your chat channel is quite lively." As a "loser," he couldn't use the "parchment," much like Shana No. 1 and the others.

"What about yours?" Colin asked casually.

"Back in our first few days, the chat channel was unreadable. A third were asking where their dads were, a third were asking where their moms were, and a third were asking where their brothers and sisters were..."

"And the remaining small portion?" Li Chou asked.

Russell scoffed: "Crying and screaming about how the world was too hopeless and wanting to go home, or some people claiming they were the 'Chosen One' destined to save the world. In short, it was a mess..."

Colin couldn't help but remark: "People were saying it was too hopeless even in your first few days?"

Given the supplies Russell and his group had received at that time, Colin felt they should have been laughing in their sleep; it was essentially a vacation for them. Moreover, once those firearms were in their hands, they had the ability to design their own ammunition and manufacture gunpowder, so they wouldn't just end up with a pile of scrap metal.

Of course, the "Special Talent Summoning Cards" were another matter. The disaster caused by that many special talents resulted in nothing but despair. Even if Colin or someone else had immense prestige, it would be useless; they couldn't stop it through words, as people would only assume they had ulterior motives before the disaster arrived.

Hours passed as they traveled. Through the parchment, Colin learned that his influence had undergone another major expansion. One level-two war vehicle, eighteen level-one war vehicles, and a total of over two thousand people—not counting the three hundred here with Colin. Various plans were proceeding in an orderly fashion.

Just then, a message arrived from his territory: "Should we make the materials required for the 'Level-Two War Vehicle' public?"

Colin hesitated for a moment and asked, "What's the price of iron right now?"

"It’s doubled since yesterday..."

Doubled... Colin rubbed his forehead. "Go ahead and release it."

The announcement of the materials for the level-two war vehicle would inevitably trigger another surge in the price of iron ore. The survivors who had finally saved up a bit of money, planning to buy vehicles or housing, would likely be in tears again. "Housing prices" and "vehicle prices" were rising much faster than the "wages" they earned from killing monsters. In contrast, those "cute ones" who mined solely to fill their stomachs had come from behind, earning quite a bit of money and even reaching the "peak of their lives."

After a quick review, Colin stopped paying attention. As long as everything was moving in the right direction, that was fine.

After nearly half a day of travel, Colin and his group stood on the side of a hillside. Looking down, they saw a tall structure that appeared to be built inside a crater. The entire area looked as if it had been forcefully smashed into the ground by some terrifying force. At the very center stood an ancient-style structure built of white stone, divided into inner and outer layers, with a distinct religious temple aesthetic.

[You realize this is the ruin you were looking for, known as "Highgarden," the place where the "Light" resides.]

Having confirmed this, Colin continued to observe. At this moment, the outer layer of "Highgarden" had fallen into ruins, and the inner city was no better; it had suffered severe collapses, as if it had been struck by a massive earthquake. Furthermore, perhaps due to the "darkness under the lamp" effect, aside from the building at the center whose dome had already collapsed, the rest of the area appeared exceptionally dark against the backdrop of the light.

The next second, Colin felt a tremor in his heart. He instinctively looked toward the front of a shattered tower gate on the outermost perimeter of the "Highgarden Ruins." A large statue had been placed at the center of the entrance. It was a massive gray stone statue depicting the classic image of a Mother Goddess compassionately cradling a weeping infant.

This "Lady" of mercy had her arms looped in front of her, as if holding a sleeping baby. The face of the sculpture had been eroded by the passage of time, yet one could instinctively feel words like "mercy" and "comfort" emanating from it.

[The style of this Mother Goddess of Mercy statue is completely out of place in "Highgarden." After a brief thought, you realize this statue should have been housed in that "Thorn Cathedral," not here.]

"The missing sculpture from the cathedral where that human-faced rat died?" Colin thought, feeling surprised. When he had explored that cathedral, he hadn't found anything inside, and even the statue had vanished. He hadn't expected it to have been moved here.

But there was no time to dwell on this, as even from a considerable distance, Colin and his group could feel a heavy, restrained pressure emanating from the statue. The pressure was like a dormant volcano, coming not from the statue itself, but from what it was cradling.

Because, resting in the arms of the Mother Goddess of Mercy was not an infant, but a giant beast with antlers, twisted together from wood, flesh, and white bone. It lay quietly in the Mother Goddess's arms, as if fast asleep.

At that same moment, as Colin stared directly at it, a certain condition was suddenly met. A quest was triggered.