Cultural Export

A full crate of standard Black Powder, over fifty kilograms, emitted a faint, peculiar odor.

This Black Powder was in powdered form; generally speaking, if one had egg whites, they could be added to bind the powder, which could then be ground into granules the size of rice grains.

In that state, there would be gaps between the granules, allowing the flame to pass through faster when ignited, making the power even more terrifying.

However, Colin currently lacked such conditions and couldn't find similar substitutes in the short term, so he had no intention of further processing it.

Moreover, Colin knew that even in this powdered form, it was enough.

[Hint: Fifty-plus kilograms of standard-type Black Powder. You have never made such a thing, but you feel that this crate of Black Powder is enough to cause non-negligible damage to a Lord-level Aberration.]

"Still can't blow it to bits? This monster is pretty durable, huh."

Colin reached out and kneaded the Black Powder, feeling an indescribable sense of harvest-time satisfaction. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and his expression was vibrant and spirited. "Then let's add another hundred pounds!"

He didn't say these thoughts out loud.

Beside him, Shana looked at the powder in Colin's hands. It was hard for her to believe that this stuff possessed the power to shake the earth as he claimed, and even harder to understand what this had to do with art.

Even those members of the Storm Church, known for their recklessness and ferocity, couldn't achieve power capable of shaking the earth unless they were at the level of a bishop.

At this moment, under the puzzled gazes of the group, Colin synthesized a wooden barrel and poured about ninety-plus pounds of Black Powder into it.

While pressing it down with his hands, he used a wooden stick to poke some holes into it, making it look a bit like a honeycomb briquette, then covered it to seal it shut.

He then traded for a vine from the trading market, bound it over and over, and left only one hole at the bottom.

Doing this was meant to enhance the power of the explosion.

As for the remaining Black Powder, he used it to make a fuse; otherwise, it would be impossible to just light it with a match nearby.

After finishing all this, Colin looked around. This area was near a mining zone, so it was obviously unsuitable for experiments, otherwise, he might collapse this already precarious mine shaft.

Recalling the layout, he led the group away from this place and placed the powder barrel on an open piece of land quite a distance away.

After thinking for a moment, Colin covered the top of the barrel with a flat, large stone.

Then, holding a stick, he drew a line on the ground while trailing the powder behind him.

He retreated nearly a hundred meters, by which point Colin had no Black Powder left in his hands.

Because of the fog, Colin could no longer see the powder barrel; there was only a black line extending into the distance before him.

[You believe there is some risk in detonating this hundred-pound powder barrel at this distance. Fortunately, there are no steel fragments or the like inside, so you don't need to worry too much about corresponding injuries.]

[However, because you placed a stone on top of the powder barrel, you feel that if possible, you should retreat another fifty meters or find a suitable shelter.]

"A hundred meters already, is the power of Black Powder really that great?"

Colin was stunned. The power of Black Powder was far inferior to yellow explosives, but he hadn't expected that with only a hundred pounds, retreating a hundred meters wouldn't be enough.

Whoosh.

The trail of powder was ignited, burning rapidly toward the front while emitting a white, pungent odor along the way.

Colin suddenly felt his blood flow accelerate and his heart begin to beat rapidly.

"Retreat."

At his command, without question, everyone followed him and retreated quickly.

It wasn't until Colin saw the hint stating that there shouldn't be any problems at this distance that he truly stopped.

The group became somewhat nervous under Colin's influence.

They held their breath, staring into the fog ahead, even though they couldn't see anything.

Ten seconds passed.

Did nothing happen?

"Mr. Colin, did something go wrong?"

Shana was just about to say this, but before she could open her mouth, a massive ball of red fire erupted from the front, reflecting in her pupils.

The firelight vanished extremely quickly, so fast that in the next instant, before she could even react, the sound of the explosion and the shockwave arrived simultaneously!

On the ground, a white ring flashed past. Everyone present felt as if they had been struck by an invisible wall; their chests felt dull and uncomfortable, as if they had been punched.

The explosion was brief.

But that buzzing sound seemed to linger in their minds, echoing in their ears, and it wasn't until several seconds later that they gradually recovered.

Compared to them, Colin had covered his ears just before the sound was about to explode, so his hearing recovered much faster than theirs.

Colin turned his head slightly. From the complex expressions on the faces of Shana, Number Two, and the others—whether it was shock, fear, excitement, or a mix of several—he felt something called a sense of accomplishment.

At this moment, Number Two slowly came back to his senses from the immense shock.

Feeling the violent energy lingering in the air after the massive explosion, his heart couldn't calm down for a long time. It made him want to say something, but due to a lack of vocabulary, he didn't know what to say for a moment.

But just then, a spark went off in his brain. Almost without thinking, he blurted out a phrase that the Lord occasionally said, though he didn't know exactly what it meant:

"Holy shit!"

As soon as the words fell, a dozen "Holy shits" rang out one after another.

Everyone's vocabulary was equally limited.

"Ahem, cough, cough."

Shana covered her mouth, managing to avoid joining the others in repeating that vulgar-sounding language she didn't understand.

After silently repenting for her "sin" in her heart, she tilted her head slightly to look at Colin, her gaze completely different from before.

In this moment, she finally seemed to understand what those people in the chat channel had been talking about.

[Holy Light Priest Shana Heraka's loyalty to you has increased by 10%, currently at 70%.]

It increased again, though given Miss Shana's personality, even if it were only 50% or lower, she would likely still fight to the death to protect us.

Colin didn't pay much attention to the notification; he felt this thing wasn't accurate, as human relationships couldn't be measured so simply by such metrics.

Compared to the concept of loyalty, Colin felt that "friendliness" was a better way to describe it.

However, in the split second Colin was distracted, he suddenly saw Shana lunging toward him.

With almost no room to react, Colin was tackled to the ground.

Most importantly, he didn't believe she would ever harm him.

The very next second, with a loud bang, an object smashed down from mid-air, hit the ground, and rolled twice before coming to a stop.

It was a rock about the size of half a head.

Even though only a small fragment remained, Colin could recognize that this was the very rock he had placed on top of the gunpowder barrel.

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