True Village Residents

"Greetings, Lord. We are your loyal servants."

The two servants did not dare raise their heads as they spoke, looking terrified and reverent.

At the same time, Colin saw a "prompt" appear in his mind.

[Two servants who belong solely to you. You can view their personal information through the words above their heads. Beyond that, they will unconditionally obey your commands. Their loyalty is beyond question; quantified numerically, it is one hundred percent—an absolute one hundred percent.]

With a thought, Colin opened their personal information.

[Servant One]

Identity: A servant belonging solely to Colin.

Status: Extreme Hunger.

Satiety: 19 (1–20 Extreme Hunger, 21–40 Hunger, 41–60 Normal, 61–80 Full, 81–100 Fully Satisfied)

Strength: 0.8 (a normal adult male is 1 point)

Endurance: 0.7 (a normal adult male is 1 point)

Stamina: 0.6 (a normal adult male is 1 point)

Servant No. 2 was much the same as Servant One. Colin gave him a glance, roughly memorized the details, and closed the panel.

He did not particularly like dealing with things whose values were displayed on panels.

Just looking at such data made it difficult to tell what it meant in the short term, much less form a clear understanding.

He would need time to accumulate experience before he could gradually understand the meaning behind those numbers.

However, the word "Hunger" in the status section of the two servants' information sounded an alarm for Colin.

Yes, the Wooden Cabin was safe and could keep out the fog.

But danger did not exist only outside. Hunger could kill Survivors like them as well.

And Colin noticed that this daily task only provided one Black Bread.

Never mind whether Aberrations were easy to kill—surviving on this Black Bread alone would be a slow death.

One Black Bread a day. In less than two days, they would probably be too weak to move, and before long, they might not even be able to lift an axe.

Colin looked at the Black Bread on the table.

[A Black Bread as hard as a stone. It could even kill someone if thrown at them. Can this thing really be eaten?]

After receiving the prompt, Colin stepped forward, picked up the rough-skinned Black Bread, and squeezed it. It was dry and hard. Other than being lighter than a stone, it was exactly as the prompt had described—a damn rock.

And before eating it, there was still one final problem: no water.

Colin had eaten similar bread before, though that one had been long and needed to be softened in soup or boiling water before it could be swallowed.

Otherwise, one could only soften it with saliva before eating it.

That would consume a great deal of the body's water and energy, likely making it more trouble than it was worth.

After all, compared to hunger, thirst killed people much faster.

Thinking of this, Colin's expression turned ugly. This was undoubtedly a trap!

He was hungry too. If he chose to eat this bread like some of the people in the Chat Channel, he would likely lose a great deal of combat strength to thirst.

Then he thought of the servants' condition: Extreme Hunger, yet only just on the edge of it.

That seemed to indicate one thing: while heading out with an axe to complete the task, he needed to search for water.

Once he understood that, Colin could not help sighing inwardly. So many tricks. Would it kill this survival game to be a little more honest?

He could leave the bread on the table and let it absorb moisture from the air until it softened.

But by then, it would already be night. Even if they endured until the next day, their situation would not be much better than it was now.

At the end of the day, one piece of bread simply was not enough to stave off hunger.

At least two pieces.

Then he shifted his gaze.

[A magical Synthesis Table. As long as materials and recipes are provided in the correct manner, it can synthesize all things.]

[You realize that if you had water or some other basic food, perhaps you could synthesize it with that stone-like Black Bread into something better.]

Colin narrowed his eyes. So the proper use for the bread was synthesis?

At that moment, he heard gulping. Looking up, Colin saw the two servants stealing glances at the bread in his hand as though it were the finest delicacy in the world.

Colin shook the thing in his hand. "Want some?"

The two servants hurriedly shook their heads. "N-no, we would not dare. This is the only food, and naturally it belongs solely to you, Lord. Even if we starved to death, even if we died outside, we would never touch a single crumb of your food."

Did you two really grow up in a True Village? Colin grumbled inwardly before saying, "This bread is a trap. Whoever eats it now dies. In a moment, I'm heading into the Gray Fog to complete the task. Are you afraid of death?"

"No. We cannot guarantee that we can face everything, but until we become corpses, we will use our lives to guarantee your safety."

The two servants made their promise together.

The words sounded nice enough, but the answer was far too standardized, too formulaic. Looking at the lively servants before him, Colin found it difficult to think of them as NPCs.

Still, Colin did not dwell on it. "I promise that as long as we finish the task and return safely, neither of you will go without food."

"Thank you for your mercy." The two servants seemed to imagine the joy of filling their stomachs, and their voices became a little more excited.

Wangbao Zhie

Colin shook his head, casting aside his distracting thoughts, and looked at the axe.

[An old axe. Its head bore dark red rust, while its wooden handle was blackened. The whole thing was somewhat loose and shabby, as though it could not be swung more than a few times.]

There was nothing special about it.

But there were clearly not enough weapons.

Three people, one axe.

"Right."

Colin turned his eyes toward the wooden table and chairs, intending to break off a few sticks. Though the furniture looked worn and rotten, Colin knew it was not as fragile as it appeared.

Like old ship timber, it looked dilapidated but was actually tough. Under scarce conditions, it could make a fine weapon.

But just as Colin was about to act, he heard a servant say:

"H-how can this be? These are your noble furnishings, Lord. We are merely lowly servants. Even if we die—"

"What's noble about this piece of junk?"

Colin rolled his eyes and tapped the table. His voice was gentle and magnetic, yet carried an unquestionable edge. "Only if you perform better can I be safer. Compared to that, if you're dead, what meaning does a broken table have?

"Besides, compared to these things, I care more about whether you live or die. I don't want to come back and find that you've lost someone because you lacked a weapon. I won't accept even one less person.

"I said we would come back and eat together. That means we come back and eat together."

After hearing this, the two servants were visibly moved. Their eyes reddened, and their bodies trembled as they dropped to their knees.

"Thank you, Lord, for your care. We will surely use our lives to protect your safety."

Similar words, but a more resolute attitude.

Colin could clearly feel their morale rise. He opened the villagers' personal information and discovered that besides "Extreme Hunger," their status bars now included "Inspired."

Moreover, because of this "Inspired" status, all their attributes had increased by around twenty percent.

"So that works too?" Colin rubbed his chin. He did not feel that what he had said was particularly inspiring.

He wondered whether he could talk himself into becoming Inspired.

Of course, that was only a passing thought.

Dismantling the furniture did not take much time.

Before long, the preparations were basically complete. Colin dripped a drop of blood onto the Hurricane Lamp's wick, and a dim flame began to burn.

Then he opened the door of the Wooden Cabin.