Night of Despair

Chapter 135: The Second Seal Part Three
 

Holding the black lizard in one hand, Yu Hong couldn’t help but feel that this creature didn’t appear to be newly synthesized in a short time.

The edges of the lizard’s belly even had moss growing on it, which seemed to have come from who knows where. There were also specks of white sand on its tiny claws.

He weighed the black lizard in his hand; it was very light.

“How do you control this thing?”

After pondering for a moment, Yu Hong suddenly thought of the regenerative plant, the luminous stone grass, and was inspired. He mobilized his Inner Qi and quickly sensed the mark on the black lizard, slowly infusing Inner Qi into the mark.

To him, the mark felt like an extra limb beyond his hands, one that he could sense at any time.

This sensation was quite marvelous. Because the two marks were not connected to Yu Hong, they were like two round spheres floating nearby in midair, vague and hazy. They would greatly reduce their presence when not needed, yet when he needed them, they would rapidly and automatically strengthen their presence.

Hiss…

The input of Inner Qi was quickly completed.

The second mark trembled slightly as if it had reacted.

Meanwhile, the black lizard in Yu Hong’s hand also trembled slightly, crawled forward a few steps, and extruded a white, walnut-sized lizard egg from its behind.

“….” Yu Hong was at a loss for words and gently picked up the lizard egg with his hand.

The egg’s surface was a limy white with natural, vine-like black patterns.

‘Black Lizard Egg: Absorbs Red Value radiation to hatch, time three days. Black lizard needs one week to grow from birth to adult.’

At this moment, the second mark naturally conveyed related information.

But this extremely comprehensive information, along with the inexplicable details on the black lizard’s body, all made a certain speculation in Yu Hong’s mind even clearer.

He held the black lizard egg and gently placed it into a plastic box.

‘Could it be that the Black Mark directly moved this thing from somewhere else?’

To be honest, when he enhanced jerky and got a protein bar last time, he was a bit doubtful. Now another plague bug lizard had popped up, and they even deliberately labeled it with a scientific name.

‘Could it be that the Black Mark sometimes synthesizes and enhances on its own, and sometimes directly transports and copies from outside?’

Yu Hong speculated in his mind, but there was insufficient evidence for now, so he could not verify it.

He then refocused his eyes on the black lizard.

‘Now, it’s time to try out the black lizard’s specific abilities.’

He had enhanced the black lizard not with the intention of keeping it as a pet for fun.

Moments later.

The cave’s main gate opened.

In the night, countless tide-like plague bugs swarmed past from the outside of the wall.

They looked like a black ocean, endlessly flowing. Like moving sand, they rubbed against each other, creating strange noises.

All luminous stone grass in the yard shone with a white glow, and combined with the lights, vaporized all the black bugs that approached the inner wall.

The three little wooden cabins in the yard were all tightly closed, with no sign of activity.

Only the wind blew against the hanging electric lights, causing them to creak.

Accompanied by the shadows swaying with the light.

Yu Hong, dressed in an enhanced gray lizard suit, slowly walked out of the cave’s gate, down the steps, through the yard, and steadily approached the enclosure wall.

His body was now one meter eighty tall, and wearing the suit, he could reach over two meters. His bulk was imposing and pressuring as he paced.

Passing by Zhou Xueguang’s cabin, a faint noise came from inside.

“It’s me, Old Zhou. Keep sleeping; I have some things to take care of.” Yu Hong spoke up before anyone else.

There was a pause inside the cabin, and then no more sounds were heard.

Yu Hong walked past the cabin and came to the edge of the wall.

Gazing at the ceaseless tide of black bugs outside, he took a deep breath and opened his right hand.

In his palm, a strangely shaped black lizard flapped its wings quietly, as if adapting to the environment.

In half a minute, the black lizard seemed to awaken from the dense Red Value radiation from outside.

It leisurely moved its body in Yu Hong’s palm, shaking its head, twisting its legs, and flicking its tail.

Then.

Plop.

The black lizard leaped, gracefully landing on the wall, facing the tide of black bugs, and opened its small mouth.

A faint red tongue shot out like lightning, precisely sticking to a black bug and retracted back into its mouth to swallow.

The tongue moved so quickly that Yu Hong hardly saw it.

He took a step back, watching the black lizard perched on the wall, then closed his eyes and thought.

Suddenly, a fine sensation came from the second mark.

He seemed to be able to vaguely sense the black lizard’s condition, status, and whether it was safe.

Quickly, the black lizard moved and jumped back into the luminous stone grass inside the wall, where it became motionless.

As there were no black bugs in sight around the black lizard, the sensation in Yu Hong’s heart became much more peaceful.

If the feeling when encountering the black bugs before was like a burning flame, then now that the flame had extinguished, the black lizard gave Yu Hong the feeling of being a movable stick of wood.

The contrast between the two sensations was very clear.

After the black lizard stopped moving, it soon began to slowly absorb the Red Value around it.

‘Do encounters with the Black Disaster and lying in wait both have distinctive mark statuses?’ Yu Hong carefully experienced it.

With a thought,

the black lizard immediately stood up from the grass and, with a biu, climbed back up the wall along the enclosure.

Upon seeing the vast swarm of black insects outside, Yu Hong’s perception of the black lizard immediately changed in his heart.

It went from a wooden stick to a small flame.

The difference between the two states was very clear.

This allowed Yu Hong to easily distinguish between them and firmly memorize them in his mind.

The testing of the black lizard continued for over half an hour. Yu Hong quickly mastered the delicate methods of controlling it, and ascertained the various abilities of the black lizard.

Then, he left the little creature behind, waiting for daylight to let it out.

The biggest use of this thing was not to purify a piece of land like the luminous stone grass, but to patrol the surroundings and determine the approximate types of Black Disaster hazards.

After testing, Yu Hong found that the black lizard would trigger different states when encountering different types of Black Disaster.

Encountering black insects would produce a small flame.

Encountering something bigger like Big Skin would result in a medium flame.

As for more situations, they couldn’t be tested yet because there were no encounters.

But in a state of rest, the black lizard would absorb the surrounding red value radiation. This absorption, seemingly slow and useless, actually allowed the black lizard to rest and feed, significantly concealing itself.

After the test was over, Yu Hong returned to the cave and took off his suit to rest.

“It’s a bit weak,” he thought as he lay in his sleeping bag, his face showing a slight disappointment.

“Compared to luminous stone grass, the uses of the black lizard are obviously much less. It can only patrol the edges, acting as a temporary mini radiation purifier.”

“But maybe it’s just that the numbers are too few. Perhaps later on, as the numbers increase… the situation might change,” he comforted himself internally.

With that thought in mind, Yu Hong rested, but did not fall asleep. Instead, he got up again, took out pen and paper, and quickly recorded the basic leg technique moves they had summed up earlier.

Then, he took out the booklet of the Basic Survival Leg Technique that he had previously enhanced and placed it next to the records.

He placed one hand on the paper.

“Enhance the leg skill, direction: improve movement speed, maneuverability of moves, and adaptability to various environments.”

The previous basic leg skill was strong, but many times it was inconvenient to apply, and he often needed to use other weapons in combination.

So, this enhancement served as an addition.

“Enhance the leg skill?” The cold mechanical voice of the Black Mark resounded once more.

A countdown appeared on the paper: 5 hours 12 minutes.

“Yes!” Yu Hong was somewhat surprised that merging some basic moves would take so long, but after calculating, he figured it was just enough time to sleep until dawn, so he did not inquire further and confirmed his response to the Black Mark.

Then he turned over and slowly curled up to sleep.

Tomorrow, he still had to make a Radiation Hand Grenade for Old Li to send him on his way. He also had to continue testing the black lizard’s effect on shadows, and there was still much to do…

*

*

*

In the early morning.

In Baihe City.

Streets that were once bustling with life were now eerily quiet and desolate.

Vehicles were sprawled chaotically, with some emitting white smoke, others ablaze with fire, and some crashing into the shops on the street, never to move again.

In buildings previously hiding people, walls were splattered with blood, and torn-apart corpses were being pecked at by Multi-eyed Birds.

In the corridors, beside broken doors and windows, stiff and eerie shadows flitted by, appearing on one side one moment and another side the next.

Underground in the city, within the vast tunnel network.

The grating sounds of gunfire, cannon fire, and explosions continued unabated.

Occasionally, there were human screams of despair and crying, but such sounds would quickly cease, disappearing altogether.

In the dark tunnels, the nuclear engines were still running, sustaining the dim yellow lights that lit the surroundings at intervals.

Bloodstains were visible on the floors of the tunnels, but there were no traces of bodies, only sets of clothing arranged in human shapes.

Buzz!

Suddenly, a black, sealed military vehicle sped out from one of the main tunnels.

The entire vehicle was covered with something akin to a luminous stone blanket, and talisman array patterns were clearly visible on the windows.

Despite some obstruction to their view, this was the safest way to stay concealed at the moment.

Inside the vehicle, at the driver’s seat, was a pale, panicked-looking mixed-race girl.

The girl was pretty, with a hint of exotic flair. If it were peacetime and she were dressed up a bit, she wouldn’t fall short of many female stars on the screen.

But at this moment, a pretty face was utterly useless for survival.

Ou Li breathed rapidly, focusing all her energy on driving, occasionally swerving urgently to avoid sudden obstacles ahead.

“Hold on! Team Leader Xue! As long as we break through and get away from the city surface, we can find medicine at the auxiliary base!” A man’s anxious voice came from behind in the vehicle.

At the moment, Little Stutter, Xue Ningning, Chen Qiaosheng, and also Fang Shijun and Chen Xinji, who had acted together with them previously, were in the car.

These two had not believed Lin Yiyi before but had their attitude towards her greatly changed after she saved them. Now, they were together in the car.

Specifically, at the critical moment, it was these two who drove this vehicle and rescued the still dazed Little Stutter and the others, escaping into the underground tunnels.

“Even if we go to the auxiliary base, what then? Without the breeding production line, food will be a big problem… And with so many Black Disasters outside, the Multi-eyed Birds, Language Persons, shadows, the sea is completely sealed off, and we have no way to contend with that big creature…” Chen Qiaosheng said with a defeated look while watching Fang Shijun treat Xue Ningning’s wound.

“One step at a time!” Fang Shijun said sharply, “If you yourself don’t want to live, do you expect others to drag you along?”

Her gaze swept across the others, noticing the despairing look on everyone’s face except for Lin Yiyi.

“The port attack before killed too many people in the city, but a lot also scattered and fled by car. These people attracted many Black Disasters that went after them. Cruel as it may be, the gap that has opened up is our best chance to escape.”

“The key issue is where to go? I don’t think going to the auxiliary base is a good idea,” said Chen Xinji, the second male member of the team, joining in the conversation.