Chapter Seventy: Eyes in the Night

After the steady knock echoed through the door, Colin quickly washed up and strode across the hall. As he walked, he activated a status prompt for himself.

[Though being disturbed makes you uncomfortable, having slept almost eight hours, you’re not especially bothered.]

Not especially bothered, my foot—right now I could crack open the skulls of those people outside... Colin muttered inwardly, feeling considerably better after venting. Still, nearly eight hours had passed, and dawn was about an hour away. Why were these people causing such a fuss at this hour? As his mind worked, he gripped the doorknob, took a deep breath, and then opened the door to see who was outside.

“What’s going on?”

Outside stood Li Hang, Li Chou, Number One, Number Two, and a few other survivors—six in total. Aside from his own subordinates, the unfortunate pair of Hang and Chou looked rather pale, as if something had frightened them. But upon seeing Colin, they seemed to find their backbone, visibly relaxing, which let Colin know the situation wasn’t too dire.

At almost the same moment Colin spoke, the door opposite his room creaked open. Shana appeared, looking somewhat disheveled, her azure eyes sweeping the corridor alertly. Only after confirming nothing was amiss did she let out a breath of relief. After all, it was still dark, and sudden footsteps and knocking at this hour could very well mean trouble.

“Come in and talk; my room is spacious enough.”

Colin stepped aside, making way for them to enter. No one protested, and they filed in one after another. Colin’s suite was on the third floor, over a hundred square meters, occupying a third of the entire floor—a large space, truth be told, almost uncomfortably so. Apart from Colin and Shana, who had their own rooms, Number One, Number Two, and the other “Lamp Bearers” bunked with their squads in much more modest quarters. Yet, these tough men didn’t seem to mind the cramped conditions.

The second floor housed other outstanding “Lamp Bearers” and their troops, ensuring no threats could reach the heart of the manor. The first floor was set aside for the survivors, while the remaining servants slept in the war wagons or the garrison barracks within the third-level territory. Honestly, if he hadn’t known Shana was right across the hall and there were plenty of people downstairs, Colin would have found the solitude of this place rather unsettling.

“Shana, you might want to tidy up a bit—your hair’s sticking up.”

“Of course, Sir Colin. Apologies for my appearance...” she replied, quickly closing her door.

Shortly after, everyone was seated in the lounge, forming a circle. Li Chou spoke first, his nerves still raw. “It’s like this—about an hour ago, we kept having the feeling something was staring at us from outside the window, peering through the curtains...”

“You stared into the mist?” Colin looked up with curiosity, recalling a tale of an old fellow who gazed into the grey haze, only for the mist to gaze back. As the story went, that man had never been left alone again—a crowd of “people” always accompanied him in his struggle to survive.

“No, we wouldn’t dare...” Li Chou shook his head, well aware of those strange rumors. “Boss, could you check out what’s going on?”

“No,” Colin refused flatly. Investigate the grey mist? That was suicide. For Colin, anything involving the mist, the system, or the darkness was to be avoided if possible—only to be confronted when there was no other choice.

Still, seeing the hope in their eyes, he relented slightly. “The grey mist is extremely dangerous. Investigating it is courting death. I suspect that woman’s corpse ended up like that because of the mist...”

At his words, Li Chou and the others shivered, recalling the female corpse. Li Hang, though he had been sent to search for the mineshaft after killing the mutant yesterday and hadn’t witnessed it himself, had heard the tale recounted by the survivor from proctology, and felt a chill all the same.

“In short, don’t bother with those things. If they can’t get in, ignore them. The more attention you pay, the more trouble you invite.” Colin spoke from experience; he knew that the more one engaged with these entities, the more likely one was to be “chosen.” He had guessed yesterday that, for now, both sides were in a state of “you can’t see me, I can’t see you.” Whoever broke that equilibrium—no matter who—it would be them who died.

Still, with the countdown ticking away, Colin realized anomalies were beginning to occur. Some preparations were in order.

“If we don’t have enough resources to upgrade the territory today, just seal the windows with some stone. Oh, and Li Chou, you’ll be accompanying me underground today, so you needn’t worry on that front...”

A fourth-level territory covered over ten thousand square meters, fully equipped with functional buildings—a veritable estate. But the required materials were immense: beyond the staggering amounts of basics, it demanded two thousand steel plates, two thousand brambles, and a thousand and five mist points. Even Colin struggled to gather that much—if he had it, he’d prefer to invest in war wagons, since only they could project force beyond the territory.

Presently, with nine war wagons, multiple level-two outposts, and a third-level territory of over three thousand square meters, a thousand people could squeeze in comfortably enough—and in reality, it wouldn’t be too cramped.

“Understood...” Li Chou nodded, offering no objection.

After discussion the previous day, Colin had decided that Number One’s team would head this operation. The squad comprised eighteen men, all upgraded to level three. Number One’s familiarity with the wooden cartwheel was crucial, as it could prove invaluable in the tunnels. This time, they’d also carry three kerosene lanterns as a precaution.

In addition to them, Colin, Shana, and Li Chou—the “backup lord” with the sheepskin scroll—would accompany the team, twenty-one people in total. Other survivors would have their own tasks.

At dawn, four war wagons would be stationed at the saltpeter mines, overseeing extraction. Survivors would be assigned to the mineshafts to ensure communication, transport, and material transfer. Two more wagons and several lords would work on developing the underground river at the collapsed cave in the forest. Two wagons would garrison the church, guarding against any threats to Colin’s rear.

The remaining four wagons would stay mobile in the mist, training the “new recruits” and improving the combat abilities of the servants. While hunting minor mutants for supplies, they’d also scout the surrounding area and provide rapid support as needed—this was overseen by Lord Rogge, Li Hang, and others.

Meanwhile, Huang Weiyang was tasked with researching and developing firearms for mass production in the territory. Without schematics, the synthesis table couldn’t produce firearms or similar items directly. Even Colin had no idea how to obtain the blueprints he needed—it was up to them to figure it out on their own.