Chapter 104: The Blue Sabre

“Friend, aren’t you being a bit too overbearing? Are you absolutely sure I have no means to resist?”

“Absolutely.”

Colin nodded and used a prompt to confirm once more.

[You realize that this somewhat peculiar survivor before you is not powerful and unlikely to pose a lethal threat.]

“This…” Russell, dressed in a tattered suit, was momentarily taken aback.

He truly had no effective way to affect Colin.

A mysterious parsing item? Was there really such a ridiculously powerful parsing item that could directly see through a person’s strength...

Russell’s mind raced rapidly.

At that moment, Colin spoke again, “It seems you’re not willing to hand over the item, so we’ll have to settle this with a fight.”

Mid-sentence, Colin made a subtle hand gesture. Two servants immediately opened fire with cannons.

No honor in combat!

Russell’s expression froze in surprise; he hadn’t expected Colin to strike before finishing his sentence. Survivors these days really lacked manners!

Colin stared intently at the man, knowing that since he had appeared, he must have a backup plan and wouldn’t die easily.

Sure enough, for some unknown reason, both cannonballs misfired, striking the stone archway behind Russell without causing the slightest harm.

Seeing this, Colin didn’t hesitate and ordered everyone to open fire.

Yet...

All the cannonballs ended in mishaps.

Some misfired, some veered off course, and others fell to the ground immediately after leaving the barrel, as if cursed and powerless.

Watching one cannonball about to fall, Shana stepped forward, flicked her toe, and kicked it toward the man before it hit the ground...

But she missed.

How absurd!

Colin stared in astonishment at this scene, feeling as if everyone had been afflicted with a debuff—all attempts against him failed...

[You sense he has suddenly become extremely lucky at this moment...]

“Luck? A mysterious item affecting luck?”

Colin speculated, his mind racing to plan the next move without rashly using “Mental Pierce.”

He had already used two skills today and had only one left—wasting it now would be a shame...

Seeing all attacks against the opponent fail, Colin had a strange thought—

The law of conservation really holds.

If he’s lucky, then they must be unlucky...

However, Colin knew this luck couldn’t last forever; it would inevitably expire at some limit or moment.

So he kept firing.

At that moment, Colin saw the man calling himself Russell draw a dagger with a blue blade.

Preparing to guard himself, Colin suddenly heard a clear hissing sound beside the man.

Immediately, a fully equipped skeletal white horse appeared.

It seemed to have come from some unknown realm, its hooves clattering as it materialized from blurry to clear.

Colin and the others saw that the skull-like horse’s head, as white as porcelain, emitted blue flames from its nostrils.

Its eye sockets glowed with eerie ghostly flames.

“Qi-animated horse?” Li Chou exclaimed.

As the horse fully appeared, Russell flipped onto its back amid Colin’s group’s “body-outline” attacks.

Colin finally understood why the man had been standing still all along—he was waiting for his horse!

“Sorry to bother you, but I must take my leave,” Russell said politely, straightening his back and smiling as he prepared to depart.

Secretly, he breathed a sigh of relief because his “luck value” was nearly depleted, and he would soon have to endure those metal tubes directly.

But now that his horse had arrived, the situation reversed. Mounted, all pursuits against him would be far less effective.

A wall was nearby, but he didn’t seem worried about crashing into it. He flicked the reins, and the horse took long strides.

Colin and the others tried to chase, but suddenly sensed something was wrong. When they pursued him...

It felt as if no matter what, they couldn’t catch up.

The distance between them inexplicably stretched...

Seeing this large, fat “treasure chest monster” about to escape, Colin gritted his teeth, adhering to the principle that only mysterious items can counter mysterious items.

He pulled out a heavily corroded triangular shield and aimed it at the man.

A duel to unseat the dueling emperor!

In an instant, both parties were forcibly drawn into a distorted space. The horse beneath Russell vanished, and he fell from midair...

Yet, a battle-hardened veteran, he used one hand to brace himself, rolled, and stood up again, then looked around confusedly.

Where did his horse suddenly go?

At that moment, he sensed something was off all around.

...

His physical fitness was no joke—Colin was certain. Normally, trying that move would snap an arm.

This alone confirmed his base attributes were above 3!

Mine are around 2, but with various methods, I can briefly push it to 6...

While rapidly analyzing, Colin didn’t forget the proper formalities. Holding the triangular shield, he declared:

“Before the ‘Knight’s Shield of Justice,’ I earnestly request a fair and just duel with the man before me!”

“Duel? One-on-one? Friend, gang up all you want, but a duel...” Russell smiled, “Are you sure you can beat me? After all, I have a bit more life experience than you, and none of my six base stats is below three.”

He had secretly observed the six fanatical, dead survivors and noted their average strength was low.

After all, amplification potions were like water to him—no fanaticism would arise.

This must mean their stats were low, and their exploration time short...

The only mystery was where the rare bloodlight came from...

But soon, he figured it out.

Miss Bluebell had left carrying some rare blood...

They had obviously encountered her...

Yes, otherwise, killing a lord-level mutant so quickly would be impossible.

Russell had deduced the answer.

But his main purpose in saying this was to probe Colin, hoping to figure out the mysterious item’s function.

There were always fools who, if you showed even a hint of disdain or contempt, would practically spill everything about their weapon’s powers...

What he didn’t know was that Colin’s attention was completely captured by his mention of the “personal stats.”

Personal stats?

The system had that too?

At that moment, Colin realized this man could not be allowed to escape!

His value was immense!

Not for the items he carried, but for the knowledge he possessed!

Through him, Colin could understand the differences between the two generations of survivors’ systems.

Though he had always been wary of the system, since this man knew the system had problems, he must know which things could be spoken of and which could not...

Most importantly, Colin was certain the man’s inspiration stat was definitely above 3!

That meant...

What he knew was basically safe to reveal.

Otherwise, he’d be dead already.

Calming the storm of thoughts in his mind, Colin raised his shield with his right hand and took a bottle of “Amplification Potion” from his backpack with his left.

“In this fair and just duel, we shall abide by the following three rules.”

Colin flicked the cap off with his left thumb, downed the potion in one gulp, then quickly said:

“I promise not to use any buff potions in this fight, and for fairness, you shall not use any buff potions either.”