A Night of Desperation

‘Activate!’ Yu Hong confirmed in his mind.

Immediately, he felt the trace of internal energy in his abdomen surge upwards, flowing into the black mark on his hand before disappearing completely.

One second later.

The glowing dot in his vision suddenly brightened and then burst apart with a soft pop, vanishing completely.

‘Activation successful. Luminous Stone Grass has entered accelerated growth mode. Duration: twelve hours. Growth location: previous growth site.’

Releasing his hand, Yu Hong felt relieved.

With the Luminous Stone Grass taken care of, he stood up and went down to the basement, making his way toward the newly transported food supplies.

All the food had been piled up in the second basement.

In the dimly lit basement, the atomic lamp cast a hazy green glow.

In addition, there were four dried salted fish of varying lengths—some as long as an arm, others only the size of a book.

“Truly kind-hearted people,” Yu Hong sighed. He had long grown tired of eating protein bars and jerky. Now, finally, he had a chance to change things up.

‘First, enhance them to extend shelf life.’ He reached out and gently placed his hand on one of the cardboard boxes.

‘Enhance food. Parameters: Extend shelf life, increase calories and nutrition, reduce side effects.’

A black line flashed, flowing from the black mark into the cardboard box.

Soon.

A black countdown appeared on the box: 3 days 15 hours 32 minutes.

‘Enhance food?’ The black mark’s mechanical voice prompted.

Yu Hong did a quick calculation.

‘When I enhanced lizard jerky before, a single piece took three hours to turn into a protein bar. A bag of ten pieces took over a day. Now, enhancing all this food to a higher quality only takes a little over three days.’

It wasn’t just that. He had also noticed recently that the time required to enhance various items had shortened slightly.

At first, these small reductions in time weren’t noticeable, but when applied to a large quantity of food at once, the cumulative effect became significant.

After confirming the enhancement process, Yu Hong settled in patiently, returning to the first floor to enjoy his freshly prepared protein soup.

Three days—he could wait.

After his meal, he rested for half an hour before starting his training.

His new martial arts technique, which had integrated Heavy Leg Technique, had added a lot of stillness-based exercises. His goal was to develop a technique capable of dealing damage to Ghostly.

Because of this, Yu Hong held high expectations for it.

Standing in the first basement, he resumed practicing the first level of the technique’s stillness exercises.

Following the method described in the manual, he sat cross-legged in a Taoist-style meditation posture.

As he meditated, his depleted internal energy began slowly absorbing an unknown type of particle from the surroundings, gradually forming new strands of internal energy.

With his eyes closed, he focused his mind on the visualization diagram of the first level, feeling as though he was soaring through the strange illustration.

Time seemed to lose meaning. He didn’t know how long had passed or where he even was.

When he finally regained awareness, a second strand of internal energy had begun forming in his abdomen.

Comparing it to the first strand, he estimated that two more progressions like this would allow him to fully condense the second strand of internal energy. That would mean he had completely mastered the first level’s stillness exercises and could move on to the second level.

Splash.

The sound of rain faintly reached the basement.

Raindrops struck the wooden door with dull, rhythmic pattering.

Yu Hong slowly opened his eyes from his meditation, standing up with satisfaction.

“Almost there… I didn’t expect that just one trip outside would allow me to complete the first level’s stillness exercises.”

He wasn’t sure why this was happening, but as long as his progress was good, that was enough.

Glancing at the red-value detector, he saw that only three hours had passed since he started training.

Ignoring the food still undergoing enhancement, Yu Hong climbed up to the first floor, walked to the door, and pulled open the wooden shutter.

Beyond the reinforced glass, a torrential downpour blanketed the night.

No black insects. No moonlight. No stars. Outside was an abyss of ink-like darkness, where nothing could be seen.

The whooshing rain was the only sign of life.

Not only that, but the temperature had dropped considerably, and the moisture in the air made the front door emit a constant chill.

Yu Hong stoked the fireplace, feeding the flames to provide more warmth and dispel the creeping dampness.

Then, he switched on the radio, tuning it to the only nationwide channel: AM500, National Security Broadcast.

After rummaging through his supplies, he found a bottle of Luminous Stone Ink and a stack of thin wooden boards. As he listened to the radio, he carefully began drawing new talisman boards.

There was no news on the broadcast—only soft, melancholic music. It was a blend of piano, bamboo flute, and drums, carrying an air of longing, solemn and low.

As time passed, Yu Hong methodically created one array board after another, setting them aside for later enhancement.

On his last outing, he hadn’t needed the Vortex array Boards, but that didn’t stop him from contemplating their potential applications.

Judging by how the fusion of Vortex array with his Survival Leg Technique had noticeably increased his internal energy absorption rate, the talismans likely had an effect that enhanced energy intake.

After completing a stack of array boards, Yu Hong drank some water, lay down in his sleeping bag, and closed his eyes, quickly drifting into restful sleep.

That night passed in quiet stillness.

*

*

*

At the entrance of a comprehensive research park in Baihe City—

Squads of heavily armed United Army soldiers stood guard, protecting the black solar-powered sedans parked at the gate.

Before long, the car doors opened one by one, and men, women, young, and old stepped out. Their appearances were disheveled, some even wounded, but at this moment, their faces all shared a common expression—joy.

Joy mixed with relief.

The soldiers organized them into two lines, systematically checking, registering, and guiding them into the park.

Among them were Wei Shanshan and her mother. The two stood in the middle of the queue, surrounded by other key family members of major research institutions.

Some had been rescued just like them, while others had rushed here from different cities, all for one reason—to make it in time for the complete relocation of Baihe City’s research facilities.

Once registration was completed, Wei Shanshan and her mother were led by an assigned personnel to a five-story building within the park.

A group of people was already waiting in front of the building. Leading them was a middle-aged man with short hair, black-rimmed glasses, and a weary expression.

His facial features resembled Wei Shanshan’s, but were more defined, hinting at a trace of foreign ancestry.

The moment he saw Wei Shanshan and Qiu Yanxi, his lips trembled involuntarily. Taking a few steps forward, he spread his arms wide.

Thud.

Father and daughter embraced tightly, holding each other as they sobbed.

It was an incredibly touching scene, yet Qiu Yanxi remained calm on the side.

“This time, it’s all thanks to you. Consider this a favor I owe you.” She spoke softly.

“Xixi, are you still angry with me?” Wei Hongye held his daughter and turned to his wife, gripping her hand.

“No… it’s just…” Qiu Yanxi sighed. After experiencing life-and-death hardships, she seemed to have lost the sharpness and severity of her past demeanor.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about this now. This time, we brought something back for you. Although it turned into powder halfway, perhaps you can still study it as a sample.”

She carefully took out a plastic bag containing the powdered remains of Luminous grass and handed it to Wei Hongye. The moment she noticed the herb had turned to powder, she realized its significance and immediately sealed it in a bag.

“I understand. I’ll conduct a thorough analysis. Tell me more about where it came from.” Wei Hongye nodded, his expression serious. “Also, that wild man who helped you, the one named Yu Hong… Did he…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but a strange weight settled in his gaze behind the glasses.

“…No!” Qiu Yanxi’s voice was firm. “Neither I nor your daughter were harmed! You can rest assured on that.”

“That’s good.” Wei Hongye let out a breath—whether out of genuine relief or not was unclear. “In exchange, I gave him the token for the nuclear-powered motor. Only with that token can he locate and activate the real micro nuclear reactor. It was a fair trade.”

“Was it really fair?” Qiu Yanxi stared at her husband. She knew his nature all too well.

“I told him the location and gave him the key. Whether he gets the motor or not is no longer my concern. My reach ends there—I can’t interfere beyond that.” Wei Hongye remained composed.

As for whether he knew that the nuclear motor’s location was under surveillance by the Black Crow team, or that he had sold the information to multiple buyers—only he himself knew.

Holding the powdered Luminous grass, he spoke again.

“Alright, come inside and rest. Then tell me everything you encountered and what this powder is.” He smiled, visibly more relaxed.

“Alright.” Qiu Yanxi nodded.

“Our time here is running out. We must leave for New Aurora City as soon as possible.” Wei Hongye stated.

“What happened? Another incident?” Qiu Yanxi frowned.

“Yes. The defense lines keep falling back, the red zone contamination levels are rising, and Shadow entities are appearing more frequently. Even previously low-threat creatures and Shadows are becoming increasingly difficult to handle. The Luminous Ore deposits are also shrinking. This place won’t be safe much longer.” Wei Hongye sighed.

“…Even Aurora City and Silver Tower are struggling?” Qiu Yanxi’s eyes widened.

“Silver Tower’s wireless communications have been down for half a month… The situation is likely dire.” Wei Hongye exhaled heavily. “The rising red zone contamination has triggered unpredictable and dangerous environmental changes. The Aurora City Council, in agreement with the United Army leadership, has signed a new treaty. From now on, all Black Disaster ranked Level 4 or above will be dealt with through isolation and containment—no longer through combat and rescue missions.”

“How could this be!?” Both Qiu Yanxi and Wei Shanshan were stunned.

“That’s why I was so desperate to bring you back. This might be the last retrieval mission. From now on, there won’t be any more rescue operations from the United Army. Those left outside… will have to fend for themselves.” Wei Hongye sighed.

He lifted his gaze toward the dark and eerie night sky.

“We have one month to leave. According to reliable intel, a wave of high-risk Black Calamities from the frontline breach will arrive in a month and a half. Aside from the troublesome Whisperers, the Many-Eyed Birds, and the Withering Maidens, this wave also includes a Level 6 threat—the Intermittent Man.”

He closed his eyes, and for the first time, a flicker of fear crossed his face.

“With the current conditions in Baihe City, if it encounters this wave… the city will be wiped out. We must leave before word spreads.”

(End of Chapter)