Night of Despair

Chapter 173: Threat 3
 

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Second floor of the stone castle.

In the spacious small hall with a pointed roof, bright lights shone on everyone present.

Old Zhou’s bulletproof outfit was tattered, a large piece of white porcelain exposed from his back, slashed by something unknown.

He seemed unconcerned, holding nutrition paste in one hand and a cup of water in the other, gobbling down food.

Everyone else in the camp was there.

Li Rushan was sitting in a corner with Aisena in his arms, Doctor Xu was sitting against the wall holding his stomach, Yu Hong had his arms crossed, standing by the window watching Old Zhou, waiting for his response.

After eating for over ten minutes, Old Zhou finally seemed a bit comfortable and looked a bit energized.

He set down the water and nutrition paste, raising his head to glance around at everyone.

“The luminous stone mine, I checked it,” he said. “The one I went to is also gone. It’s all turned black. I suspect something unexpected happened that caused…”

“It’s the Meisha family,” Yu Hong interrupted, “I learned from other points on the communicator that a small family force called Meisha is secretly using unknown methods to destroy the luminous stone mines. Everyone has passed the word around. If anyone encounters Meisha’s people, they are to be killed on sight.”

Meisha…

The hearts of everyone sank. They memorized the name, but it didn’t mean much. Without a face for identification, a name alone couldn’t lead them to these people.

“Are they not human!? Even the most disgusting people wouldn’t intentionally destroy luminous stone mines! Without luminous stones, we all can’t survive!” Old Zhou said, his emotions rising.

He had thought it was a natural disaster, but now Yu Hong told him it was man-made!?

“Who knows what they’re thinking. What kind of people aren’t there in this world? Boss, since the communicator can contact other points, how are conditions elsewhere? Can you tell us?” Li Rushan asked.

It was a question everyone else cared about too.

All eyes turned to Yu Hong, who didn’t hold back, truthfully explaining the situation of the Wei Song and Zhang Kaijun points.

When they heard that newcomers have to take on various dangerous tasks outside for food and medicine… Everyone felt fortunate they joined Black Wind Camp.

“Alright, I’ve said what needed to be said. Old Zhou, back to you—besides those small appliances in your car, what else did you find?” Yu Hong turned his gaze back to Zhou Xueguang.

“I… hey.” Zhou Xueguang, realizing the conversation was back to him, showed a slightly smug expression.

He scanned everyone, stood up, unfastened his suit belt, and reached into his crotch, pulling out a neatly folded white sheet of paper.

“This is my biggest find this trip!” He held up the paper, exclaiming.

Yu Hong stepped forward, took the paper, looked at the confident Old Zhou, and opened it with some curiosity.

Rustle.

The paper was unfolded, revealing a color photocopy of Baihe City’s map.

The focus wasn’t on the map itself but rather… A series of black lines drawn on it with a pen.

“What’s this??” Yu Hong frowned.

“This is a Black Disaster safe route!” Old Zhou cried out, “On my trip out, I discovered a buffer zone between high-risk Black Disasters that never cross each other. Meaning, between two high-risk Black Disasters, they’ve voluntarily isolated a narrow buffer demarcation line. As long as I’m within this line, I won’t be attacked by the Black Disasters on either side.”

He paused, looked at the shocked faces, and continued.

“More importantly, because both sides are high-risk Black Disasters, ordinary Black Disasters don’t dare approach, so in this buffer zone, there’s not even a shadow, nor any Blood Tide bugs! It’s absolutely safe!”

Silence…!

No one spoke, as everyone was absorbed in the impact of his words.

Several seconds later.

“Old Zhou, can you be sure it’s absolutely safe!?” Li Rushan couldn’t help but ask first.

“I can’t!” Zhou Xueguang admitted, “I can only guarantee that I personally experienced it without high-risk Black Disasters attacking me. That’s all. This is a gamble of a route. If you also want to go out, you can use it as a reference. Our vehicle is already highly stealthy, and using the buffer zone makes even less noise; the safety is much better than before.”

His words brought a quiet among them.

Yu Hong, too, silently pondered. Old Zhou’s response was more direct than Zhang Kaijun’s information; he even came up with a specific route map.

The outside environment was harsh and changing rapidly. Although it’s uncertain how long this route would be valid, as long as they could identify this pattern, they could adapt accordingly.

“Old Zhou, did you find the buffer zone with a detector?” Yu Hong asked.

“You really are the boss. The enhanced detector you modified is excellent. Using it to detect the environmental Red Value, I could slowly determine the stable route of the buffer zone.”

“This means we might be able to make contact with other points!” Li Rushan said with a hint of excitement.

Not only him, but others in the camp also felt a surge of excitement, as it had been long since they saw other people.

The outside was always a gray, dangerous, and profound place.

“Besides these, I met a group of survivors heading to the airport, led by someone named Tang Shanzhong. I traded some supplies with them and chatted about the situation we each knew,” Zhou Xueguang’s tone calmed down.

He glanced at Yu Hong involuntarily and continued.

“Captain Tang is a good person. He’s been striving to rescue others along the way. He was originally a warehouse manager, and combined with good luck, he wasn’t short of food and drink. Plus, there were several elite warriors helping him, including Xu Fan, the butcher you mentioned, in their team.”

Yu Hong raised an eyebrow, surprised that Xu Fan had made it this long and was still alive.

But he said nothing, signaling Old Zhou to continue.

Zhou Xueguang nodded, “They intend to take an air route to the supposedly safest New Aurora City number two. You won’t believe where this new Aurora City is located….”

He smiled and continued.

“From Captain Tang’s group, I met several older folks, all of whom had escaped from Baihe City. They were surprised to learn I was from a camp near Baiqiu Village and shared some rumors about the Lin family from Baiqiu Village.”

“The Lin family?” Yu Hong was alerted, immediately thinking of Stammering Yiyi, Lin Yiyi.

“Yes, the one you’re thinking of. Those two older folks said that Baiqiu Village used to be quite populated, but when the Black Disaster broke out, the environment worsened, and people gradually moved out. The Lin family was the only household in the village skilled in crafting White Stone. Back then, people still referred to luminous stone as White Stone.”

Zhou Xueguang paused, then continued.

“They shared some legends about the Lin family. It’s said that at the very beginning of the Black Disaster outbreak, Donghe secretly summoned all experts with a high competence in the arcane to the capital and then gathered them to the initial point of outbreak. At that time, all the men from the Lin family went, leaving behind only two orphaned mothers and daughters.”

“You mean to say that before the Black Disaster outbreak, people were already dealing with White Stone—which is luminous stone?” Yu Hong suddenly asked.

“Apparently so. Those two older men told me that not a single expert from that summoned group returned. After the Black Disaster outbreak, many in the official quarters died, and later, as the Black Disaster spread globally, a united coalition was formed by all countries, but no one knew where the experts went, as the rest is common knowledge now.”

“Did they say where the initial Black Disaster outbreak was?” Yu Hong asked.

“This I know. Within Donghe, it was in a place called Black Tree Village. All over the world, the outbreak sites share a commonality: initially, Black Wells appear.”

Li Rushan said solemnly, “At first, it all started with the discovery of ancient wells of unknown depth. Over time, these Black Wells multiplied, from which flowed the initial Blood Tide, namely blood ticks.”

“Black Wells….” Yu Hong silently noted the name. “So, all men from the Lin family went to Black Tree Village?”

“That’s very possible. Given there were mid-situation developments that no one knew of, the nationwide recruitment probably aimed to target Black Tree Village initially.” Old Zhou nodded.

Yu Hong formed an assessment. Considering how early it was, the two from the Lin family were probably long dead from the Black Disaster. Why was Yiyi still so determined to find them?

Even if found, what then? Everything was irreversible.

The specific reasons were probably known only to Lin Yiyi herself.

As he pondered silently, Old Li and Old Zhou had already begun passionately discussing the viability of the safe route.

A fixed, known safe route—both understood its implications clearly.

After some excitement, everyone went back to rest.

In the days that followed, everyone returned to their previous state, each taking on their own tasks, yet with a lighter, more active mood than before.

Ding Shao took control of the vehicle, beginning preparations for the journey out.

Yu Hong didn’t plan for her to leave immediately, instead intending to modify the vehicle after the Black Mark enhancement concluded. The sunlight duration was too short, and solely relying on solar energy couldn’t sustain the vehicle’s power.

Of course, the deadline he gave Ding Shao was within two months since, according to the broadcast, in three months, the sky would forever fall into darkness.

By then, without solar power, the vehicle would become a burden instead.

In the blink of an eye, several days later…

On the rooftop of the fort in the camp.

A new waterproof pointed roof had been added, forming a small triangular structure.

At that moment, above the pointed roof, Yu Hong sat quietly leaning against a section of the roof, gazing at the misty and grand mountain forest in the distance.

Beams of golden sunlight pierced the gray mist like spikes, illuminating the entire forest.

Croak.

In the distant sky, several small dots hovered, emitting frog-like calls.

Further in the mountains, a large black bug was slowly pushing aside trees, making its way into the distance.

To the left of the giant insect, on the nearby hillside, Baiqiu Village bathed in sunlight gleamed with faint white light.

Occasionally, vague silhouettes appeared and disappeared within the village.

Thin clouds floated above, the pure and azure sky like a gem, with the gray mist as a veil over its surface.

Roar!

In the extreme distance, a faint roar drifted over. Through the mist, a gigantic bird-like shadow larger than the entire Baiqiu Village cleaved through the mist, gliding over the edge of the forest, flying off into the distance.

*…This world…* Yu Hong watched as the immense shadow flew away, feeling an inexplicable sorrow rise within.

*Is there really still hope?*

Sitting quietly on the rooftop, he remained motionless for a long time. At that moment, under the surveillance of the Black Lizard, the area around the Black Wind Camp was already entirely encircled by the territory of the Insect men.

Though they hadn’t discovered the camp yet, the Insect men’s territory was getting closer to this area.

No escape, nowhere to hide.

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