At last, Colin and the others reached a mine cave clearly marked by human activity, its entrance supported by several wooden posts bent under the strain.
The mine cave's entrance was damp, with withered plants and scattered rubble strewn about.
Without hesitation, Colin used his ability.
[Prompt: You realize this is what you've been yearning to obtain: niter. It can be used to synthesize a crucial weapon.]
[Although the gunpowder synthesized from it through simple means has already fallen behind the times in your era.]
[But just as you dreamed last night, you yearn to baptize this land in cannon fire and sweep away all the gloom. This will be the first step.]
That's too much! You even know what I dream about?
Colin didn't dwell on this little matter. He looked at the niter chunks that had fallen on either side of the mine cave.
This natural niter hadn't been refined yet and contained many impurities. A gentle squeeze produced plenty of powder.
But when Colin took out the Synthesis Table and combined several portions before taking the result out, the impurities had vanished.
Colin didn't understand how it worked, but the niter in his hands had now become a fine, faintly yellow powder, with no other impurities visible to the naked eye.
Colin's eyes gleamed, but he knew there were still a few steps before he had a finished product.
Even with the Synthesis Table simplifying the process over and over, and the prompts to guide him, it would still take some time.
But Colin didn't plan to return. Instead, he decided to try it nearby and make a packet of "powder" on the spot.
The prompts could provide some data, but he needed to witness its true power for himself. Otherwise, he'd risk getting bogged down in theory.
He ordered his people to gather the niter scattered outside the cave. Colin ended up with several dozen portions.
After finding a nearby makeshift shelter and killing the Aberration inside, Colin ordered everyone to keep watch there.
At the same time, Colin took out some food and synthesized it into jerky for everyone to replenish their strength:
When food wasn't scarce, it was very important to stay in good shape.
Shana, Number Two, and the rest of his subordinates had no objections. But when Shana saw Colin trade away valuable food that could restore a great deal of stamina for various materials, she couldn't help feeling a pang of pain.
"Are you really going to trade food for ordinary charcoal?" Shana couldn't help asking quietly.
She didn't have much of a concept of the explosive thing Colin had mentioned. In her mind, it was probably no more powerful than a mage's Explosion Spell.
But an Explosion Spell was only really good for dealing with ordinary people.
By Shana's rough calculations, if someone gave her a little food, she could take on a whole crowd of ordinary people.
Besides, Colin hadn't tried to hide the messages on the World Channel from her.
"Someone's trading food for charcoal? What an idiot."
Shana could see messages like that too. Many mocked and questioned Colin, making her frown. She felt like setting the record straight about the things they were saying about Mr. Colin.
"It's fine. You'll soon realize how important it is."
Colin kept working without pause. He watched the chat messages go by, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Shana's sapphire-blue eyes studied Colin's profile. His handsome face was focused.
Shana knew he was serious, so she said nothing more. She simply nodded and continued her close protection.
As the strongest fighter in the whole group, it was only natural that she should take on this responsibility and ensure nothing happened to Colin.
Just then, Colin took some strange-smelling rocks out of the Trade Market.
Shana saw someone post in the Regional Channel.
"Hahaha, I just traded a few pieces of Sulfur for some food. Hahaha, how can someone be so stupid? They bought up all the Sulfur in the Trade Market with food."
"Sulfur? That stuff's completely useless for survival. Why would he trade for it?"
"Wait, you're saying someone traded with you for Sulfur? Why would anyone be trading for Sulfur at a time like this?"
"I have a bad feeling. I don't know if I'm right, but someone might have found a Niter Mine."
"What does Sulfur have to do with niter? Why do you sound like this is a big deal?" someone asked, puzzled.
"No way, are there really people who don't know how to make Black Powder? Charcoal, Sulfur, and niter—the three essentials for time-traveling natives. Did you graduate from kindergarten and go straight to work, buddy?"
"LMAO, some lucky bastard in some region found it. The Survivors over there are probably doomed. Someone with access to Black Powder this early is basically invincible."
"Neighbors stockpiled food, so I stockpiled guns. My neighbors became my larder," someone gloated in the Chat Channel.
He didn't think that person would be in their region. The Trade Market was shared by the entire region, with a thousand people per area and over a million areas. What were the odds they'd be in the same one?
Later on, once everyone had developed, Black Powder wouldn't be much use.
They'd have plenty of chances to grow stronger.
"Uh... It shouldn't be our area, right?" The person in the Regional Channel seemed to realize it too and said dejectedly, "Besides, niter is naturally scarce. Most of us have trouble even leaving home. How would we have a chance to find any? Maybe there are a lot of snakes where they are."
Neighbors stockpiled food, so I stockpiled guns. Stockpiling guns meant stockpiling food? Was Lord Colin stockpiling guns? It didn't look like it.
Shana wondered curiously. Her attention was usually focused on food, so she was intrigued by the saying.
The guns she knew of were weapons like spears, so she couldn't understand what they were talking about.
Still, judging by how their tone had suddenly changed, Lord Colin really did seem to be doing something impressive.
That eased her worries a little. She'd been concerned that Colin might be part of some cult or be a mad doctor, believing that combining all sorts of random things could grant great power or fill their stomachs.
But usually, they just made a pile of useless junk, then insisted that eating something that would probably kill them would make them stronger, or that swallowing powder made from different stones would keep them alive.
A faint white light radiated from Shana. Her hands were half-clenched, and her face was calm and composed, giving nothing away, but her mind was busy.
Just then, she heard Colin say with a laugh, "I finally made it!"
Shana turned around curiously. In a battered box on a long bench lay nearly a whole boxful of black powder.
Was this the powerful weapon Mr. Colin had been talking about?
Before you continue