A Night of Desperation

“Ah!!!”

After being smashed more than ten times in a row, a painful and furious roar finally erupted from within the mountain wall—Du Chengtao’s voice.

Pa!

He suddenly reached out and grabbed the Spiked Club, mustering all his strength as he charged out from the rock wall, ramming his head straight into Yu Hong’s.

Their heads clashed violently on the spot.

Boom!!

Du Chengtao’s vision blurred instantly. It felt like he had crashed into a steel wall. The impact force rebounded, sending him hurtling back into the dented section of the mountain wall.

Yu Hong took a step back and shook his head.

His visor became even more distorted, making it impossible to see clearly.

A low-tier sweeping kick from Basic Survival Leg Techniques—executed with his current strength and condition—was devastating.

At this point, his Spiked Club alone was already sufficient to handle most opponents.

There were very few occasions where he needed to use his leg techniques. However, right now, Du Chengtao was proving to be more resilient than any opponent he had faced before, finally giving him a chance to utilize his leg techniques once again.

Boom!!!

In an instant, Yu Hong’s leg lashed out, striking Du Chengtao’s abdomen.

The immense force instantly shattered the muscles in Du Chengtao’s abdomen. Not only that, but the impact also completely pierced through his torso, taking his spine along with it and reducing it to a mist of flesh and blood that splattered against the mountain wall.

“Argh!!” Du Chengtao still managed to scream. His arms flailed wildly in front of him, struggling in resistance.

His strength was almost on par with Yu Hong’s. His frantic resistance was actually causing considerable disruption to Yu Hong’s movements.

Aside from his sheer strength, Du Chengtao’s physical endurance was outright monstrous, even surpassing Yu Hong’s post-training physique.

If he had been wearing a bulletproof suit, he wouldn’t have been so easily injured.

However, now that his abdomen had been punctured and his body had suffered multiple fractures from the attacks, Du Chengtao could no longer move. He could only slump against the mountain wall, relying on his still-functional arms to flail and block attacks blindly.

Yu Hong pulled out the Spiked Club that had shattered his opponent’s shoulder and observed this so-called Tier 3 Fully Enhanced Human.

In just this short exchange, he noticed that the gaping wound in Du Chengtao’s abdomen was already beginning to clot and heal.

“His physical endurance is outrageous, stronger than mine, but his strength is inferior to mine.” Evaluating the situation, Yu Hong determined that while his raw power surpassed Du Chengtao’s, his opponent’s resilience and recovery speed were beyond his own.

“What a pitiful guy. Instead of living like a deranged beast in this world, he might as well just die. In a place like this, death might be more peaceful than struggling to survive.”

Yu Hong gazed at Du Chengtao, who was wailing miserably, and suddenly lost interest.

At this rate, it was clear—he had surpassed Fully Enhanced Humans in terms of physical capabilities, reaching the pinnacle of human potential.

While this didn’t mean much in a world dominated by powerful weaponry—where a single bomb could still obliterate him—it was an undeniable advantage in wilderness survival.

At the very least, as long as his opponents were human and lacked firearms, they stood little chance against him.

“Argh!!” Du Chengtao continued screeching, his voice shrill and grating, like that of a crow.

Boom!

A Spiked Club slammed down viciously, striking his forehead directly.

The immense force granted the weapon an unparalleled impact, instantly shattering his skull and caving it inwards.

Du Chengtao’s body trembled violently before finally ceasing all movement. Embedded in the mountain wall, he remained motionless.

His arms went limp and dropped to his sides. His breathing stopped soon after, and his skin rapidly darkened as though being tainted by ink.

Yu Hong was about to step forward and scavenge for anything useful when he saw this and furrowed his brows, retreating a couple of steps to maintain distance.

Just as he stepped back, he witnessed Du Chengtao’s body quickly being engulfed by a layer of black gelatinous substance. Within moments, he transformed into the same black gelatinous humanoid he had encountered before.

Yu Hong glanced at the red-value detector on his suit collar, which had spiked to over one hundred.

“Time to go.” He swiftly withdrew, supporting the middle-aged military officer who had warned him earlier, and the two of them quickly got into the vehicle. They sped away down the highway.

Behind them, Du Chengtao’s body rapidly softened. After a few dozen seconds, he extracted himself from the mountain wall, now fully transformed into a humanoid figure composed entirely of black gelatinous material. Step by step, he began making his way toward Huafeng City.

He didn’t even glance at the departing solar-powered jeep, as though he were responding to some unseen summons, striding briskly toward the black-gelatin-covered Huafeng City.

Yu Hong, seated in the vehicle, observed this scene through the rearview mirror, his expression darkening.

He had already removed his visor. The shattered and blurred lens had become more of a hindrance than a help.

The middle-aged officer sat in the passenger seat, breathing heavily, clearly still injured.

He stared at Yu Hong, his expression conflicted, his eyes still reflecting the shock he had just experienced.

“What do you want to say?” Yu Hong asked casually.

“Brother… you’re an Enhanced Human too, aren’t you?” The officer asked in a deep voice.

“I’m not. I’m just an ordinary person,” Yu Hong replied. He had just confirmed it himself—he didn’t belong to the Enhanced Human system. His path was entirely different.

“… My name is Zhou Xueguang, a deserter who just escaped from the front lines,” the man finally said after a moment of silence.

“Aren’t you going to ask how I managed to kill Du Chengtao?” Yu Hong asked, a bit surprised.

“Everyone has their secrets, just like how I wouldn’t want you asking why I became a deserter,” Zhou Xueguang replied.

“Fair enough. I was just about to ask that,” Yu Hong raised an eyebrow. “What’s your plan now?”

“No plan. Find a place to settle down and survive. Heal my wounds first—only then will I have the luxury to think about anything else,” Zhou Xueguang sighed.

“Come with me. There are plenty of abandoned safe houses nearby where you can rest. The post office also has basic food supplies. I’ll ensure you have access to Great luminous Stones and Rune Arrays,” Yu Hong offered.

“You trust me that easily?” Zhou Xueguang wiped the blood from his face with his sleeve, looking skeptical.

“It’s not like we’ll be living together—just neighbors. You warned me earlier, and you don’t seem like a bad person,” Yu Hong replied.

“Being too trusting isn’t good,” Zhou Xueguang remarked.

“Don’t worry. I’ve met far more good people than bad ones,” Yu Hong chuckled.

“Then you’re just lucky.”

“If you’re strong enough, bad people turn good in front of you,” Yu Hong laughed.

Zhou Xueguang was momentarily speechless. “… That’s a solid point.”

“How’s the injury?” Yu Hong asked.

“It’s not too bad. Two broken ribs, a dislocated wrist, and a cut on my shoulder. Once we settle down somewhere, I’ll cauterize the wound with fire and take some antibiotics. Speaking of which, do you have any antibiotics?” Zhou Xueguang asked helplessly. “Consider it a loan.”

“I’ll get you some soon,” Yu Hong said casually. His attitude gave Zhou Xueguang some confidence—at least medicine didn’t seem to be in short supply.

The two of them chatted idly as they drove. After more than an hour, they finally returned to the spot where the other Jeep was parked.

Click.

Yu Hong opened the door and stepped out. Looking at the fully loaded vehicle, he suddenly found himself in a dilemma.

“How am I supposed to carry all this back?” he asked.

Zhou Xueguang limped out of the car, looked around at the gray mist that surrounded them, and noted that it was already nearing dusk.

“It’s getting dark. I suggest not staying here to slowly haul everything back and forth. If the distance isn’t too far, we can come back tomorrow,” he replied.

“No worries, let’s take the most important stuff first,” Yu Hong thought for a moment before reaching out to unfasten the nuclear generator from the car roof.

Luckily, the thing was only the size of a freezer.

‘Wait a minute.’

He suddenly recalled something, climbed back into the car, and rummaged around until he found the chip Wei Hongye had given him. Then, he walked around the nuclear generator, searching carefully. Soon, he found a long, narrow slot that was just the right size.

Holding the chip, he slid it into the slot.

Click.

It fit perfectly.

“And now?” Yu Hong looked at the large “freezer,” waiting to see what would happen next.

Buzz.

Suddenly, the black surface of the “freezer” where the slot was located slowly split open, revealing a small door—just like a real refrigerator. When the door swung open, it exposed a narrow space about the size of a watermelon.

Inside sat a black, box-like metal device, about the size of a car battery.

The box was surrounded by countless unknown slots and holes, with rows of tiny green lights blinking on and off. It looked a lot like a power adapter.

After carefully inspecting the interior walls of the “freezer,” Yu Hong confirmed that this little box was the actual nuclear generator.

The outer shell was just a protective casing—the real generator was only the size of a watermelon.

When Yu Hong lifted it out, he found it was much heavier than expected.

He then manually detached the solar panels from the vehicle before carrying the generator. With Zhou Xueguang walking beside him, both of them left the road, climbed into the forested hills, and disappeared into the mist, making their way toward the safehouse.

The journey was slow and full of stops, taking over half an hour before they finally reached the cave safehouse.

Standing outside the courtyard wall, Yu Hong quickly placed their supplies inside the cave before leading Zhou Xueguang toward the post office.

Most of the primary safehouses—underground shelters abandoned by former residents—were located near the post office.

Before long, Yu Hong settled Zhou Xueguang in the basement of the post office, briefly explained the rescue to Old Li, and then hurried back to the cave safehouse.

He was eager to integrate the nuclear generator into his hideout.

Bang.

The wooden door of the cave shut behind him as Yu Hong sat down on the ground. Looking at the nuclear generator in front of him, his eyes gleamed with hope.

“How long has it been since I last took a bath?”

“So long that I can’t even remember,” he sighed.

The stench on his body had become so ingrained that his nose had completely adapted—he could no longer smell it. Only particularly strong odors could still trigger his dulled sense of smell.

Quickly, he boiled water, prepared soup, and threw in mushrooms and wild vegetables before setting the fire to its lowest heat. After glancing outside at the darkening sky, he rushed out again.

He spent ten more minutes hauling another load of supplies from the car, stacking them in the second basement.

This would be his future storage and breeding room.

Since there was still some daylight left, Yu Hong sped up his pace, making two more trips. Finally, he had transported all the supplies generously gifted by Lang Feng and his group.

After a rough estimate, the canned food and other rations would last him more than ten days. Combined with his protein bars, he wouldn’t have to worry about food for a long time.

‘Better get everything in order and fortify my food supply before I start integrating the nuclear generator.’

Outside, the sky had completely darkened. Thunder rumbled faintly in the distance, hinting at an approaching storm.

Yu Hong secured the barricades, then sat at the wooden table, placing his hand over the black mark on the back of his hand and closing his eyes.

At that moment, a glowing white dot, like a living firefly, slowly appeared in the darkness of his mind and drifted about.

‘Current Imprint: 1.’

A cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind.

‘First Imprint: Luminous Stone Grass. Would you like to activate Luminous Stone Grass?’

(End of Chapter)