You're Lying!

"Stop, stop, stop."

Colin called out to halt his men, who were enthusiastically mining. Once they all looked over, he pointed behind them.

"Let's get out of here first. Someone's sneaking up on us."

"Someone's sneaking up on us? Other lords?"

Shana asked, but she didn't seem doubtful.

She had already suspected that Colin might possess some special ability, one quite different from her magic.

So she wasn't particularly surprised, and had no intention of asking about it.

"Yeah," Colin nodded. "Most likely the explosion just now attracted them. Anyway, let's get out of here first."

With that, everyone hurried out of the Mine Cave in a rush.

If they were surrounded and forced to fight in here, things would get very troublesome.

Outside the Mine Cave, all was quiet. Colin scanned several directions through the Gray Fog and realized that the newcomers seemed to be approaching from more than one direction.

There also seemed to be quite a few of them.

The nearest group, which was also the largest, was already less than a kilometer away.

Colin opened the Regional Channel and scrolled up. Only then did he realize that detonating the explosive had alerted more than half the people in the area.

The open terrain was ideal for sound to travel, so even people several kilometers away had noticed the explosion.

Then the news spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. Quite a few people were trying to make their way here, coveting the huge profits the Niter Mine could bring.

However, many people had started private chats by now, and messages had dwindled.

Clearly, they were all on their way here.

Colin only had Explosive Barrels. He didn't have any firearms or anything like that.

They were fine against mindless Aberrations, but he was at a disadvantage when it came to fighting people.

He could wait for them to approach and then blow them up, but the payoff would be too small.

The Hurricane Lamps, in particular, would very likely be blown to smithereens.

So Colin had no intention of killing them with explosives without even meeting them first.

Colin hadn't encountered any other Survivors yet, so he didn't know how far along they were in their development.

But as the current number one on the Leaderboard, he had every reason to be confident.

"Lord, is this going to be a problem?" Number Two asked.

"It's not that much of a problem. These people are probably here to take a share of what's in my pocket, but that depends on whether they're capable of it."

"Anyway, follow me. Let's go take a look first."

Colin looked toward the nearest group and led everyone over.

Along the route he expected them to take, Colin buried some explosives, then waited quietly.

Before long, he could make out the faint glow of lights in the Gray Fog.

In an instant, Colin received one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.

The good news was that, judging by the brightness of the lights alone, they seemed to be carrying nothing but Dim Filthy Blood.

That meant there were probably no more than five people accompanying each of those Survivors, so their group was definitely smaller than his.

But the bad news was that even with Dim Filthy Blood, there were as many as nine Hurricane Lamps.

Even if they only had their original Servants with them, they still outnumbered his side several times over!

Shadows shifted in the light. Colin used his ability without hesitation and received a notification.

[From the nine lights before you, you estimate that these people number around forty in total.]

"More than forty people. Looks like we're in for a tough fight."

Colin narrowed his eyes. That was a bit troublesome. If they acted, they would have to overwhelm the other side quickly and decisively.

If the fight turned into a drawn-out stalemate, there could be heavy casualties, which was not what Colin wanted.

As the two sides drew closer, they could see each other through the Gray Fog once they were less than twenty meters apart.

Both sides watched each other warily. No one spoke or made a move to attack or retreat.

Looking at them left Colin at a loss for words. These Survivors were dressed in a way that was... hard to describe.

Some had somehow gotten their hands on iron armor, which they wore while carrying heavily rusted longswords. One wore a tattered mage's robe and held a "staff" set with a shattered gemstone.

As for the others, Colin spotted a few upgraded Servants.

Overall, they really were weak.

If he ran into any of them alone, they'd basically be no match for him.

Colin also noticed keenly that they weren't a unified group. They kept their distance from one another, wary of each other.

That meant he might be able to exploit this later and gain the greatest benefit at the lowest cost!

Across from him, the group seemed startled when they saw Colin's side. Their first thought was, Why are there so many of them?

Their second thought was, Why is she so beautiful?

The radius of the bloodlight in Colin's hand was ten meters, illuminating a circular area of more than three hundred square meters.

The lights they carried had a radius of just five meters, illuminating an area of only seventy-eight square meters.

So the difference wasn't as simple as doubling the diameter. The area illuminated by Colin's light was several times larger, making the contrast striking!

Then some of them noticed the petite, blue-eyed, blonde woman beside Colin, wearing a white church robe trimmed in gold. Their breathing grew heavier.

The refined, sacred aura conveyed by her beautiful face stirred intense jealousy in their hearts!

She was obviously not from Earth, but a summoned subordinate!

The Special Talent Summoning Card.

Everyone knew about that thing, but none of them had one.

What a lucky bastard!

In their eyes, Colin had "absolute control" over his subordinates. There was no way he wouldn't take advantage of a beautiful subordinate like her.

He'd probably already had his way with her countless times.

Even the two female Survivors among the nine couldn't help having similar thoughts.

A loose alliance of rabble.

Colin quickly assessed them. From their eyes, he could clearly sense their wariness and hostility.

After all, the strength he had displayed had already upset the "balance." He had the largest group there.

If he decided to do anything, these "independents" would be in great danger. Under the circumstances, they had actually moved a little closer together.

After more than ten seconds of silence, Colin suddenly felt someone's gaze fixed on him.

He turned to look. It was the man wearing a battered breastplate that he'd apparently picked up somewhere. When the man saw Colin look his way, he asked:

"You here looking for the Survivor who found the Niter Mine?"

"Yeah."

Colin nodded and smiled. "Did you find that Niter Mine Cave?"

Before he could finish speaking, the man who had been staring straight at Colin suddenly cut him off in a low voice:

"You're lying."