Night of Despair

Chapter 161: Pollution
 

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Clang, clang, clang.

The constant sound of knocking echoed throughout the camp, adding a touch of human activity to the otherwise silent forest.

These days, it seemed the high-risk Black Disaster was repelled; the concentration of Red Value in the surrounding air environment had also dropped a bit, and there were far fewer shadows. It seemed the Red Value concentration alone couldn’t support the revival of so many Black Disasters at once.

Peace and tranquility descended upon the Black Wind Camp.

Yu Hong carved out large, square blocks over a meter in length and width from the mountain wall, moving away from the edge of his cave.

These stone blocks were about fifteen centimeters thick, not very regular or even, weighing about half a ton each.

But to Yu Hong, they were like ordinary small stones. He grabbed two at once and stacked them all in the center of the camp.

To avoid the underground array structure, Old Zhou and Old Li had already dug the foundation in advance, exposing the Black Wind Array below.

The two were squatting by the edge of the large foundation pit, observing the Black Wind Array structure buried underground.

In the pit of black soil, a silvery-gray network resembling plant roots was exposed.

This network spread throughout the pit, sparse in some places and dense in others, as if it had naturally grown. Yet, the linear structure of the network was similar in material to metal or rock, clearly a man-made product.

The two had been squatting there for a while, discussing after seeing the base of the Black Wind Protective Array.

This artificial creation sparked their great interest.

Seeing Yu Hong approaching, the two stood up.

“Boss, the stone material for the stone castle is almost enough,” Li Rushan said, pointing to the large pile of over a hundred square stones stacked to one side.

“Next, we need to grind and level the stones and use adhesives like cement or seam glue.”

“I can’t help with the adhesives,” Yu Hong shook his head.

“Then we’ll use dry masonry method,” Old Li nodded. “The next phase is a big project, but we can’t build too large a stone castle with dry masonry.”

“No problem, we’ll slowly improve it later,” Yu Hong nodded.

Once confirmed, Li Rushan took Old Zhou, and the two started measuring data with their tools.

Yu Hong wasn’t skilled at this technical work, so he stood further away, looking toward the outer courtyard where Doctor Xu was playing on a swing with Nana.

A few days ago, at his daughter’s request, Old Li built a wooden frame in the yard, hung two ropes, tied a wooden plank, and made a super-simple swing.

The whole thing took less than twenty minutes.

This guy was really good with his hands. He worked quickly, even while injured.

A cough… cough…

Suddenly, a faint coughing sound could be heard.

It was Doctor Xu.

Yu Hong frowned, looking at Xu Ruoying, who was pushing Aisena on the swing.

Her face looked pale. She covered her mouth with one hand, coughing repeatedly.

“The weather is getting colder. We must increase warmth equipment, or we’ll risk getting sick,” Ding Shao approached and said in a low voice.

She buried Yao Feiling outside the perimeter of the secondary safety zone, under the largest, thickest old tree, carving a name into the trunk as a tombstone.

After days of recovery, she could now slowly walk around the camp’s outer courtyard.

But because she wasn’t a formal member, she still had to live in the wooden shed.

Warmth equipment…

Yu Hong had already made preliminary arrangements.

He said nothing, instead looking toward the inner camp.

*He thought of utilizing the water cooled from the nuclear engine to encircle the camp with warmth and form a temperature regulation structure. However, the release of heat might induce other Black Disasters. Once the stone castle was initially built, coated with an insulating layer, and marked with Concealing Symbols, it should be fine.*

Listening to Doctor Xu’s coughing, his gaze shifted toward the second cave housing the breeding room.

*Perhaps I could introduce the cooling water into the second cave first to ensure the temperature of the breeding boxes and then bury it underground in the inner camp to maintain a basic temperature.*

Mushrooms and cockroach lizards required temperature maintenance; too cold, and their yields would plummet.

After all, cockroaches and lizards weren’t self-heating, warm-blooded creatures.

With this plan in mind, Yu Hong reinforced the Radiation Hand Grenade supplementation over the past few days, and now the Black Mark could start a new strengthening task.

Having settled his thoughts, he looked at Ding Shao.

“How much longer do you need to recover?”

“The medicine here is quite effective. I should be good in about a week,” Ding Shao replied honestly.

Yu Hong looked at her abdomen with slight surprise. He hadn’t held back when he kicked her.

To think she only needed a few weeks to recover… It was clear to Yu Hong that Ding Shao was quite a remarkable type even among those with enhancements.

“Alright, I’ll prepare what you need by then,” he said solemnly.

Stammering Yiyi’s appearance was recognizable enough. That wasn’t an issue; the main concern was her current whereabouts.

“Okay,” Ding Shao nodded. She knew staying in the camp for so long without conditions was already a grace period Yu Hong considered for her recovery.

If she delayed any longer, she might indeed be kicked out.

After arranging tasks, Yu Hong returned to the cave and closed the door.

He placed his hand on the wall, closed his eyes.

*Strengthen the cave safehouse, reinforce the cooling water pipes of the nuclear engine’s outflow into a network of root structures; the direction is…* Yu Hong imagined in his mind the cooling water pipes bending, branching into finer tubes.

The pipes extended downward, covering the cave walls and the adjacent second breeding cave and then the empty space in the inner courtyard underground.

*Strengthen the cave safehouse?* came the inquiry from the Black Mark.

Black lines shot out, and soon a dark red countdown appeared on the wall.

*16:42.*

The timing was acceptable.

“Yes.”

With the countdown started, Yu Hong entered into a cultivation of the Thunderbolt Leg state.

Cough, cough, cough…

From outside the courtyard, a cough could be heard again, but this time it wasn’t from Doctor Xu, it was from Old Zhou.

Yu Hong’s brows furrowed, a sense of urgency slowly creeping in.

He glanced at the detector beside him, which showed the temperature: 3 degrees.

*Once the temperature rises, things should be fine,* he thought to himself.

Time slowly passed. The next morning.

At the moment the Black Mark strengthening ended,

At a depth of more than ten centimeters underground throughout the inner camp, the soil suddenly blurred for an instant. In the next moment, there appeared some thin black pipes.

Each pipe was only as thick as a pinkie finger, evenly laid out under the inner courtyard.

Hot water from the nuclear engine cooling system began flowing continuously through the new pipes, releasing a large amount of heat into the cave and the inner camp.

Slowly, the temperature began to inch upwards.

Yu Hong walked to the door and looked outside through the observation window.

Before long, one of the workers, Old Li, who was working outside, was the first to feel the warmth, and Li Rushan’s eyes lit up as if he realized something and quickly ran over.

“Boss? It’s getting warm outside?” His expression carried a hint of exploration and speculation.

“Yes, it’s my doing. I used engineering robots to work underground, laying some cooling water pipes to disperse the heat from the nuclear engine and keep everyone warm,” Yu Hong answered, nodding.

“Engineering robots?!” Old Li’s eyes lit up. “Can we…?”

“No, they have wear and tear. For what we can do ourselves, let’s do it ourselves. Otherwise, once they’re worn out and gone, we’ll struggle when we need them later,” Yu Hong casually made up a reason.

“Alright…” Old Li figured he was truly wise to stay with Yu Hong. Just listen, engineering robots!

Such advanced technology!

In his entire life, he had only heard about such high-tech gadgets in the news from Silver Tower.

Old Li carried this news to others, immediately causing a cheer among everyone.

The drop in temperature had been a major issue recently that everyone was very concerned about.

It was so cold that people were increasingly reluctant to go out, staying in their houses, relying on windbreaks and blankets to keep warm.

Now things were better; the camp was gradually warming up, and they didn’t have to worry about getting chilled to the point of illness. They could move about freely again.

This major issue was resolved, so there shouldn’t be any problem for the time being.

Yu Hong believed so, and Old Li did too.

But…the second and third days, everyone in the camp, except Yu Hong himself, started to cough.

“Something’s not right!”

Just after condensing the sixth strand of Inner Qi, Yu Hong didn’t have time to celebrate before the sporadic coughing sounds furrowed his brow.

He left the cave, walked along the ground of the inner courtyard, and felt the temperature of the camp was significantly higher.

“Boss.”

Li Rushan and Zhou Xueguang were discussing something under the lamppost. Seeing him come out, they quickly approached.

“Boss, we might have trouble,” Li Rushan said gravely, unable to resist coughing a few more times after speaking.

“Isn’t it just a cold?” Yu Hong asked.

“No, it’s pure pharyngitis. Doctor Xu concluded it’s likely an air issue,” Li Rushan replied.

“Air… Do we have an air purifier in the camp?” Yu Hong asked in a deep voice. Last time Old Li had brought back so many small appliances, he let them divide among themselves without further inquiry.

“No, the crucial part is replacing the materials. Without the materials, just having a machine is useless, so I didn’t take it,” Li Rushan somewhat regretted.

“And we can’t currently operate in an isolated space. Even with an air purifier, we can’t say if it will filter out the source causing the coughing,” Zhou Xueguang added after coughing.

“…Old Li, speed up the construction of the stone castle. Once it’s built, we can take shelter inside to filter the air. Assuming this cough is indeed caused by the air,” Yu Hong continued.

He suddenly felt very tired.

*This world… Originally, it seemed like it was just the Black Disaster; as long as we kept growing stronger, we could hold back the Black Disaster and settle down. Now, it seems even the air is problematic…*

*Layer upon layer…*

*And he suddenly wondered what the future of humanity in this ever-desperate environmental change would be.*

*Just surviving requires one to give their all.*

“First, we need to determine what’s in the air causing the cough. I’ll conduct a test,” Yu Hong sighed.

“Sigh…” Old Zhou sighed without saying anything further.

“Doctor Xu used a breathing valve, and the coughing was significantly reduced after filtering the breath, so she confirmed there’s something airborne in the air causing our coughing,” Li Rushan explained.

“Then let’s all use the breathing valve. I’ll cross-check the rest and, once confirmed, we’ll fast-track building the stone castle,” Yu Hong nodded.

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