Night of Despair

Chapter 185: Heart and Soul – Chapter 3 (Thanks to the Invincible Male Alliance Hierarch)
 

“Everyone must take responsibility for their choices, whether they are right or wrong.”

Inside the communicator, Zhang Kaijun’s voice was cold and cruel.

“As leaders, our responsibility is to keep the flame alive and ensure the survival of the majority. The fate of individuals is irrelevant,” he continued.

Upon learning of Yu Hong’s handling of some people in the camp earlier, he immediately gave a negative evaluation.

“What about yourself?” Yu Hong asked. “The leader is also a person, an individual.”

“The same applies. If I no longer serve the survival of the group, then I can also be discarded. Of course, I won’t let myself end up in that situation,” Zhang Kaijun said calmly.

“You are a cold person,” Yu Hong paused for a moment, then replied.

“Many people say that,” Zhang Kaijun said indifferently, showing no anger.

Inside the communicator, for a moment, there was only the sound of their light breathing.

Currently, in the communication channel, only the two of them were online for long periods. Wei Song had logged on a few days ago, saying he was moving and needed to conserve energy, so he couldn’t come online temporarily. Since then, there had been no activity.

After a pause.

“The trading team is about to arrive. I’m using a contracting system, where outsiders bid monthly to form a trade caravan. I only want fixed returns; profits and losses don’t concern me. So, there’s no need to cut me any deals on the trading prices,” Zhang Kaijun explained.

“I didn’t plan to cut you any deals,” Yu Hong replied. From the beginning until now, his relationship with the other party was only a normal exchange relationship.

“But you manage so strictly; are there still people in the city daring to form caravans?” he suddenly asked, puzzled.

“They’re all outsourced individuals. The elites in the city won’t, and don’t have the time to do such risky things. They’re formed entirely by leftover outposts outside, and I only take the materials,” Zhang Kaijun said. “The small outposts outside here basically survive on the remnants of the previous Hope City. Too many people died in a short time, leading to vast amounts of supplies left untouched, with some cities having enough stored food for thousands of people to eat for years. But those places harbor various dangers. I won’t sacrifice my elites in vain to search them; outsourcing only to receive the results is the best choice.”

“….” Yu Hong was at a loss for words.

The communication was silently cut off after a while.

He stood up and heard it was still raining outside, with rolling thunder. The rainfall not only hadn’t stopped but seemed to be getting heavier.

Sigh…

He sighed.

He made himself a pot of yam and meatball soup. The yam was dried, one of the supplies Old Zhou scavenged last time he came back. In addition, there were some assorted snacks and frozen smoked meat, all piled up in the basement.

With so many deaths, in many places, entire warehouses of supplies have been left untouched. In some places, even if people obtained supplies, they didn’t have time to consume them. When the Black Disaster hit, everything was gone.

After eating, he picked up a book and lay on the bed to rest.

Long hours of cultivating Inner Qi had caused a vague, indescribable irritation to rise in his heart.

But at this moment, outside the heavy rain poured, the cold was biting, while inside the cave it was warm like spring, brightly lit. Having eaten and drunk his fill, he turned the pages of a book he had just gotten his hands on and hadn’t read yet.

Yu Hong felt an inexplicable trace of tranquility arise in his heart, and with this trace of peace, the irritation slowly faded away, dissipating.

After reading the book for a while, this randomly found, previously dull political logic now surprisingly captivated him.

Feeling more relaxed, Yu Hong got up again and went to the basement to practice the Thunderbolt Leg Technique.

He stood in the center, slowly assuming the Thunderbolt Leg stance, one leg in front of the other, front toe raised, body slightly bent, arms raised in a defensive posture.

Swish!

Suddenly, a white phantom flashed by.

It was Yu Hong’s right leg sweeping out, its shadow slicing through the air, producing a piercing whistle.

Not only that, at the moment of the sweep, his right leg was filled with amplified Inner Qi, causing a thin translucent layer of airflow to surround it.

This layer of airflow appeared and was immediately noticed by Yu Hong.

He had sensed it before but hadn’t paid much attention. It was just that today, the practice seemed to have reached a qualitative change, and this layer of airflow faintly had a texture resembling a solid form.

Swish swish swish!

In just a few seconds, his consecutive kicks unleashed several dozen leg strikes.

Bang!

In an instant, a transparent air current flew from the tip of his leg and slammed into the wall with a muffled sound.

This was the previously achieved air current long-range attack.

At the same time, Yu Hong felt the airflow layer on his legs growing thicker, like wearing an extra thick leg armor. However, the Inner Qi still hadn’t reached an explosive state.

‘It seems the Thunderbolt Leg Technique has improved again.’

He rejoiced in his heart.

This martial art, with a total of six layers, had helped him greatly, primarily due to its astonishing speed and explosive power.

Of course, the Thunderbolt Leg wasn’t without its weaknesses; its lack of protection was one of them. So he relied on strengthening suits to protect his legs. Otherwise, if his legs got injured, his speed would plummet, and he wouldn’t even be able to escape.

Thinking back to those martial arts films he had watched, whenever a master of leg techniques appeared, they were incredibly impressive. But when they got injured, their combat power diminished almost instantaneously. After all, with injured legs, they couldn’t even walk, let alone fight.

So, to avoid this, he planned to train his legs to become his strongest asset.

And now, the Thunderbolt Leg seemed to be showing signs of compensating for this aspect.

‘This layer of airflow should be the protective effect inherent to the leg technique…. Viewing it like this, the technique, after reaching the Fourth Layer, finally possesses true defensive power, greatly enhancing its combat capability. Previously, I only relied on the protective suit to temporarily make up for the shortcoming; now it’s truly improved.’

In the basement, the more Yu Hong practiced, the smoother he became. The piercing whistle soon turned into eerie, maniacal laughter, which, as his leg speed increased, grew more hysterically frenzied.

*

*

*

“We can’t… can’t go on…!” Xue Ningning slammed on the brakes, her face pale beneath the helmet.

Outside the car window, right in front.

A landslide of rocks, mud, and trees had completely blocked the road ahead.

The original highway had suddenly turned into a dead end here.

With the torrential rain, even the fog was beaten away by the downpour, and with the moonlight shining through, the entire world seemed to turn into a desolate gray.

“Get out!” Xue Ningning commanded decisively. Being a person who acted as a captain, she was quick in making decisions.

A few people immediately made up their minds, opened the doors, grabbed their belongings, donned their luminous stone cloaks, and rushed along the edge of the landslide.

Due to the urgency of the situation, there was no time to close their eyes. Yiyi and An’an didn’t even wear protective suits, only carrying a breathing valve. Ou Li held a Radiation Hand Grenade, covering the rear.

The cold and moisture continuously seeped into their bodies.

Xue Ningning glanced at the detector, which already showed the temperature reaching 2 degrees. Such low temperatures made her feel cold all over, even in her suit. Not to mention Lin Yiyi and An’an, who were behind her in regular clothing.

“Stay close! Yiyi, I’m not familiar with the way, you lead!” Xue Ningning shouted.

“Okay!” Lin Yiyi’s face was firm. On this outing, her teammates had died because she led the investigation into Black Tree Village, filling her heart with pain and guilt.

*If only I had never agreed to go with the captain in the first place.*

*Unfortunately, it’s too late to say anything now…*

The group abandoned the car and ran forward like crazy. An’an remained dazed, so Lin Yiyi simply carried her. At eighty or ninety pounds, she was weightless in Lin Yiyi’s hands.

Amidst the sound of rain, Fang Shijun’s gunfire faded, becoming faint, until it finally went silent.

As they ran, all three couldn’t help but feel a pang in their hearts. The cessation of gunfire perhaps meant that Fang Shijun was likely already…

“Damn!!” Xue Ningning screamed angrily.

They ran with all their might.

After running for who knows how long, they saw the road leading out of Black Wind Camp ahead. Suddenly, they vaguely spotted a red abandoned car on the left side of the road.

Rain battered the car window, and in the blur, they could make out someone sitting in the driver’s seat.

*

*

*

Yu Hong finished his exercises, exhaled, and felt the newly gathered Inner Qi inside him, and his heart grew increasingly calm.

He wiped off some sweat, then took a hot shower and changed into clean clothes. He left the room, passed through the stone passage, and arrived at the stone castle.

The two-story stone castle was also lit everywhere.

He first went to the breeding room to check the humidity and temperature: 72%, 14 degrees Celsius.

‘The increasingly damp air outside nicely offsets the dryness inside. The chilled water pipes and air purification keep humidity down, which works out just fine.’

He inspected each breeding box one by one, found no issues, and then checked for any damage or defects in the rune on the inner wall.

After finishing these tasks, Yu Hong returned to the cave and piled up predefined amounts of jerky, wild vegetables, and dried insects to strengthen.

These quantities had been pre-calculated, allowing the Black Mark to continuously produce fortified nutrient paste while he slept.

The strengthening process would finish just at the end of his sleep, with a margin of error not exceeding ten minutes.

Finally, he relied on the Black Lizard to check the surroundings of the camp.

“The Black Lizard is incredibly useful…. Without leaving the house, I can monitor the surrounding environment while ensuring a certain level of safety. Once I resolve my Inner Qi issues, I can consider further enhancing the Black Lizard.”

Lying on the wooden bed, Yu Hong’s mind began planning how to reinforce it.

*Now, the individual strength of a Black Lizard is essentially sufficient. To make it capable of countering high-risk Black Disasters would be immensely challenging, and it would probably require a great deal of time…. But if I simply increase the number…. it might save a lot.*

Yu Hong pondered.

‘The number of Black Lizards is determined by the mark. Since I can enhance the strength of the Black Lizards, perhaps I can also increase their numbers.’

He closed his eyes and began to sense the Black Lizard mark.

The mark was still the same as before, like two extra arms growing inside his mind, which he could control to float around at any time.

As his Inner Qi grew, and his physique strengthened, Yu Hong found himself increasingly able to see them clearly.

They were two black spheres, with white dots of light enclosed inside. If his consciousness focused on the light dots, he could quickly see the faint images emerging within.

Looking closely, he could further magnify them.

‘How can I increase the number of creatures controlled by the mark?’ Yu Hong’s mind once again entertained this thought.

Suddenly, he noticed something.

The two marked black spheres seemed slightly larger than when he had first discovered their functions.

‘I remember, initially, the marks appeared to be much smaller…. the light points inside occupied more space within the spheres at that time.’

He observed carefully.

He found that in the two black spheres, the array contained only one light point, while the Black Lizard had nine light points within it.

‘The array has only one, while the Black Lizard has nine, which matches. Now, the Black Lizard’s light points don’t occupy much of the black sphere’s space, and there seems to be more room. Does this imply that I can try to increase the number of Black Lizards?’

Yu Hong’s mind flashed with this thought.

‘Previously, I only nurtured up to the ninth Black Lizard and stopped increasing. The initial attempt’s outcome seemed to limit my thinking. This inertia led me to stop trying to increase numbers…. But maybe…’

He decided without hesitation, immediately injecting a strand of Inner Qi into one of the Black Lizard light points.

The reproduction of Black Lizards required Inner Qi.

And now he had nearly twenty strands of Inner Qi, so using one temporarily was no problem; it would quickly replenish.