Night of Despair

Chapter 160: Assault of 158
 

“…It’s over,” Yu Hong panted heavily.

He could feel that his last kick must have had an overflow of attack power.

Unlike the first three kicks, which felt solid, this one had a strangely weightless feeling as if he had kicked through air.

But no matter what, he had repelled this high-risk Black Disaster!

He wasn’t sure how long it would take for it to revive next time, but at least it wouldn’t return here for a while.

According to the common knowledge he had obtained from Zhang Kaijun, the higher the level of Black Disaster, the slower it was to revive, with the exception of a very few special cases. Ninety-nine percent of them took a long time.

They needed to gather a massive amount of Red Value radiation to slowly reconstitute their bodies.

On the other hand, Black Disasters like ordinary Shadow Black Bugs could revive very quickly.

Huff… huff…

Standing in the middle of the inner courtyard, he breathed heavily and tested his right leg, finding it a bit weak.

This was the first time he had consecutively unleashed four bursts of Inner Qi. The exaggerated power made his right leg feel as if it didn’t belong to him. If not for the suit providing resistance and cushioning, his right leg might have been dislocated or injured by now.

“Is it gone?” Li Rushan’s voice drifted over cautiously from one side.

“It should be…” Yu Hong looked around while panting, and no new shadows emerged from the mist outside the courtyard.

“What a pity… the second Array was one-time-only… After it fully unleashed its power, it was depleted…” he lamented.

Plop.

At that moment, Li Rushan sat down on the ground with an expression that showed he had narrowly escaped death.

“That thing, it had to be at least level six or seven, right? With such momentum, being bombarded by our Radiation Hand Grenades for so long and still so fierce…”

His face was pale. He hadn’t entered the building just now, but had stood at the doorway, gripping several Vortex Talisman Plates, ready to rush out and provide support at any moment.

Fortunately, Yu Hong hadn’t left any loose ends. He made a direct blast and took down the incoming high-risk Black Disaster.

“It must have been a level eight Speed Man…” Yu Hong now felt his leg had recovered. Glancing at his right leg, where the reinforced suit had burst open and was thoroughly damaged, he knew it was due for repairs.

It was just the right time. The current reinforced suit was barely keeping up with the strength he required, so it was essential to enhance it. New symbols could be added during the repair to imbue new functions.

“Level eight?!” Li Rushan exclaimed with an exaggerated expression, giving two thumbs up, his grin growing uncontrollably wide.

One by one, the wooden cottages opened up.

Old Zhou, sweating profusely, hurried over to Yu Hong, accompanied by Doctor Xu.

The two quickly checked Yu Hong for injuries, finally letting out a sigh of relief when they confirmed he was unharmed.

Together, they surveyed the mess in the campsite, recalling the surreal scene of the recent siege.

For a moment, they were at a loss for words, as if waking from a dream, unable to distinguish reality from illusion.

“…” Yu Hong walked over to where the Black Disaster woman had disappeared and looked down to inspect the spot.

Finally, he spotted a black bone on the ground, shiny like a piece of jade.

He bent down to pick it up and examined it.

The bone was as long as an adult’s index finger, smooth, cold, and delicate to the touch.

It was also roughly the same thickness, slightly finer, and it wasn’t perfectly straight, possessing a subtle wave-like curve.

“Boss…” Zhou Xueguang’s voice came from behind.

Yu Hong turned around to face him.

“What is it? It should be safe now, go and rest,” he said.

Old Zhou opened his mouth, his lips trembling slightly—he too was frightened by what had just transpired.

The Black Disaster had breached the heart of the camp, and the fragile wooden houses were no match for an attack of such magnitude. They had been a hair’s breadth from death.

And yet, at the very last moment, Yu Hong had burst forth and literally kicked the Black Disaster woman to pieces.

The dramatic turnaround, dancing on the line of death, involuntarily reminded him of life on the front lines.

“If there’s anything I can do to help, just say the word!” Old Zhou said earnestly.

“Go, do your own thing. That’s the best help you could give me,” Yu Hong replied.

Now was not the time, but once things were more stable, he planned to use the Black Mark to strengthen some equipment and weapons that he could control and distribute to others to fight off the Black Disasters.

But it was too soon to talk about that.

Although he had just managed to defeat that high-risk Black Disaster, its incredible resilience and the ability to control Shadow Elephant Worms made him feel even more urgency.

After all, there wasn’t just one high-risk Black Disaster…

“Everyone go back to rest,” he called out loudly, “I have equipment monitoring the security outside. Don’t worry.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and went back to their respective houses.

As the doors closed one after another, calm returned to the camp. Only in the mists outside, patrolling black lizards began to maintain post-battle security.

Inside the wooden shelter.

Ding Shao hugged her knees, leaning back against the wooden panel, recalling the sight of Yu Hong kicking the Black Disaster to pieces.

It was a display of terrifying power, even more extreme than that of people with full body enhancements. Although the destructive force hadn’t been shown against other things, the wave of air and the strange laugh he had produced as he kicked were something she had never seen in any other enhanced person.

This indicated that Yu Hong’s strength and speed were far beyond those of other fully enhanced people.

Coupled with the various technological weapons against Black Disasters he had just shown, it was clear that this camp was much more complex than they had previously thought.

Ding Shao hung her head low and suddenly understood why Yu Hong wasn’t worried about her leaving with the belongings.

Such a camp, if missed, would never be encountered again.

Cough cough…

Beside her, Yao Feiling let out a cough.

Her injuries were worse than Ding Shao’s, and the grenade had been closer to her own body. The extensive burns and Ding Shao’s internal injuries from being thrown by the explosion were not at the same level.

“Sister…” she suddenly called out.

“I’m not your sister,” Ding Shao replied calmly.

“…..” Yao Feiling fell silent.

The shed became gradually quiet for a time as both of them stopped talking.

That night, nobody slept well. Despite Yu Hong’s assurances, everyone was still worried about a possible Shadow Black Bug attack from the outside.

Even Yu Hong, in silence, practiced his Inner Qi Thunderbolt Leg Technique alone in the basement all night, staying vigilant.

The next morning.

His Inner Qi was fully restored, and he had successfully condensed the fifth thread of Inner Qi.

Every layer of the Thunderbolt Leg Technique mastered granted a slight whole-body strengthening.

And when all six layers were perfected, one would achieve a powerful move called the Thunderbolt Transformation.

According to the secret texts, its might was formidable, capable of greatly enhancing the strength and speed of one’s legs in a moment.

Furthermore, the enhanced and combined Thunderbolt Leg Technique, in the state of Thunderbolt Transformation, definitely possessed an extremely potent radiation lethality.

Initially, Yu Hong felt no urgency since the camp had become self-sufficient and safer, but the perilous Black Disaster attacks and the sudden pale arms reaching out from the communicator had kindled within him a desire for even stronger security.

Now the camp had only the Black Wind Protection Array left as its trump card; the luminous stone array that had served as their protection had already been expended. The Radiation Hand Grenades were now used up, and only a little bit of the Vortex Talisman Plate remained.

If they were to face another high-risk Black Disaster attack now… the consequences were unimaginable.

So, it wasn’t until the next morning, when daylight came, his Inner Qi fully replenished, the Black Wind Protection Array recharged itself, and Hong had fashioned over a dozen more Radiation Hand Grenades,

that Yu Hong finally felt somewhat secure.

Fortunately, it seemed like the battle the previous night had drained a significant amount of Shadows in the vicinity, and on the second, third, and fourth days,

no Shadows approached the camp.

The occasional Black Bug Blood Tide that appeared did not have any elephant worms amongst them, and there were only Big Skins passing by, halted by the lights and the Black Wind Protection Array, daring not to enter.

Such a situation allowed everyone in the camp to breathe a sigh of relief. They began helping Yu Hong in digging up stones on the side beneath his cave.

But contrary to what Yu Hong had in mind,

Li Rushan and Zhou Xueguang proposed a new idea: to build a small stone castle in the center of the camp. This, compared to a cave linked to the mountain, had a better location for the stone castle, which could be expanded later and connected to where Yu Hong was.

As for how to connect them, all they needed was to construct a stone corridor and link the doors on both ends.

But Yu Hong pointed out that the ground could not be dug deep due to the Shadow Black Bugs lurking underneath. And the equipment (Array) he had installed underground would definitely affect the stability of the stone castle.

These problems were all taken up by Old Li in one go.

He surprisingly knew architecture and, upon receiving Yu Hong’s permission, began drawing up the design plans himself.

Just like that, another week passed.

Cough cough cough…

Early in the morning, the precious sunlight pierced through the mist and shone down from the woodland sky above.

Yu Hong opened the door and immediately heard a fit of violent coughing from a distance.

Frowning, he followed the sound, stepped out of the inner yard, and quickly arrived in front of the outer yard’s shed.

Inside the shed, Ding Shao was kneeling beside Yao Feiling, looking at her once-close friend with a complex expression.

Ever since that night when Yu Hong displayed terrifying strength and literally shattered the woman in white, Yao Feiling became as if she had lost her soul, simply staring blankly into the sky.

In the following days, her mental condition deteriorated further, and she began to cough incessantly.

Until today, when Ding Shao couldn’t resist and still went over to assist Doctor Xu in checking on her.

After examining, Doctor Xu merely shook his head, said nothing, sighed, and then stood up and left.

Leaving Ding Shao alone, watching the dazed Yao Feiling.

“I really wish… I really wish all of this… was just a dream…” Yao Feiling didn’t look at the approaching Yu Hong but kept her gaze fixated above.

“I wish… I was still in Baihe… Daddy… would give me a lot of, pocket money… Mommy would make me… my favorite, crab yellow tofu…”

She murmured softly, her lips turning white, her complexion turning blue.

“All of this, it’s just a dream… I didn’t betray you… as long as I wake up… wake up, sister… you’ll still be, my sister…”

She stretched out her hand with difficulty, reaching for Ding Shao’s hand.

Ding Shao recoiled a bit but couldn’t bear it and gently reached forward, touching her fingertips.

“Sister… I’m just… dreaming…”

Yao Feiling’s voice gradually weakened and, before long, went completely silent.

However, her hand still clung tightly to Ding Shao’s, not letting go.

“….” Yu Hong silently watched the two of them, saying nothing.

After a while, he turned around and headed back towards the cave. Yao shouldn’t have died; she simply lost the courage to keep living, facing an increasingly hopeless world, facing a reality she didn’t want to confront.

Putting those thoughts aside, Yu Hong quickened his pace. The new stone castle still needed his strength as well; without him, based on Old Li and their progress, the efficiency of chiseling stones would be more than ten times worse.

Compared to him, with his enduring Inner Qi, what he least lacked was stamina.