Night of Despair

Chapter 223: Estimation 221

By the wooden bridge’s edge.

Black Fog churned on both sides, and the mysterious black water below was equally turbulent.

Yu Hong crouched at the edge of the bridge, staring intently at the flowing black water.

He slowly formed the Water Control Hand Seal with his hands, Inner Qi swirling within, aimed at the black water.

He began to carefully absorb the flowing black water using Hydrophilic Energy Particles.

As long as this substance was still water, it could definitely be absorbed.

Maintaining his stance, Yu Hong remained motionless, and quickly, ten minutes had passed.

The black water still showed no sign of movement.

He persisted, continuing to hold his position.

Before long, more than half an hour had gone by.

The black water remained immovable as ever.

Sweat started to form on Yu Hong’s forehead; he had expended six streams of Inner Qi, but there seemed to be no effect.

‘Should I give up and try another method?’

‘No… The Hydrophilic Particles can feel the subtle force of absorption, which means this black water is indeed a liquid and not some other disguised substance. As long as it’s a liquid, there’s a chance that the Condensing Water Technique can take control.’

Yu Hong made up his mind and continued to stand firm.

Quickly, another hour passed…

Suddenly, Yu Hong saw a small water tentacle protruding from the swift current inside the black water.

His spirits soared, knowing there were finally signs of success, he hurriedly maintained the output of his Inner Qi.

This was possible only because of the Tao Breath Circulation within him; otherwise, such continuous expenditure of Inner Qi would become unsustainable over time.

But now, replenishing while using, the two counteracted each other, significantly extending the duration he could maintain this.

Another half an hour passed, and Yu Hong finally held up a ball of black water in his palm.

The water sphere was pitch black as ink and began to rapidly evaporate into smoke as soon as it left the river, but Yu Hong forcefully controlled it using the Condensing Water Technique and kept it absorbed.

Holding the black water sphere, he cautiously moved out of the range of the wooden bridge.

Snap.

His footing slipped as he stepped on a small stone, causing his palm to tilt slightly.

Instantly, a bit of black water escaped his control and evaporated into black smoke in the blink of an eye, disappearing without a trace.

The detector on his collar immediately sounded an alarm, the numbers skyrocketed insanely to over a hundred thousand, then quickly descended and stabilized at around forty.

‘Could this black water be a high concentration of liquidized Black Fog?’ Yu Hong had a thought, seemingly onto something.

Holding the black water sphere, he returned to the inner courtyard of Black Wind Camp, carefully examining the object, then began to practice refining his manipulation.

The next step was to repeat the first and second layers, enhancing his meticulous control over the black water.

An hour later, Yu Hong accidentally lost focus due to fatigue, and in an instant, the black water sphere evaporated away, causing the Red Value inside the camp to spike significantly.

Fortunately, the Array was powerful, quickly neutralizing and offsetting the levels.

Yu Hong exhaled and checked the enhancement level of the Black Mark; with the enhancement by luminous stone powder completed, he went to find some remnants of the Black Disaster along with a radar to begin a new synthesis enhancement.

He did not specify a particular direction for the enhancement but let the Black Mark upgrade randomly. The countdown revealed it would take close to two days.

After completing these tasks, he immersed himself again in the practice and tempering relating to the black water.

The outside world was unreachable, as communicators seemed to be disrupted once more, even the national broadcast stations could not be received.

In the entire camp, only he was present, and due to concerns about the Black Giant, Yu Hong could only drown himself in continuous practice and enhancement.

Looking at the constantly strengthening camp, looking at the constantly improving state of his cultivation, he felt an ever-increasing sense of security.

*

*

*

“The food… It’s not enough anymore,” said a man in a cave.

A foreign man sat quietly against the stone wall, leaning back with his knees bent apart, lighting a cigarette in his hand and taking a drag.

Exhale.

He blew a smoke ring and watched Lin Yiyi and the little nurse across from him, both looking haggard.

“The nearest place around here is the one I mentioned to you before, where the local hunters deposit emergency supplies for the winter. That’s all there is,” he said.

“We must… go back,” Lin Yiyi gritted her teeth, touching the nurse’s forehead, which was burning hot.

“What’s the point of venturing out if you can’t see anything in this darkness without guidance equipment?” the man said calmly.

“Are we just… supposed to wait here… and die?” Lin Yiyi said helplessly.

“You’re a good girl,” the man took another drag of his cigarette, “but these are tough times…”

“How come… you don’t eat… and it doesn’t affect you?” Lin Yiyi asked curiously, looking at the man.

Since meeting him, she had never seen him eat anything, yet his consciousness was clear without any sign of fatigue or pain.

“It’s related to a secret,” the man said with a smile, “Encountering me was both unlucky and fortunate for you.”

“What kind of secret?”

“A secret that would surely kill you if you knew.”

“Worse than… the Black Disaster?”

“In a sense, yes.” The man looked at Lin Yiyi’s skeptical face and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Forget it, if you don’t believe it, that’s fine. Are you hungry? I’ll take you to find something to eat. Since you’ve already bumped into me, just don’t tell anyone afterward.”

It had been a long time since he had encountered normal people. A long time ago, he was just an ordinary man himself, but… things were different now…

“Okay!” Lin Yiyi looked at the nurse, quickly got up, and knew that saving the nurse was the priority.

*

*

*

Black Wind Camp.

On the perimeter.

In the darkness, Yu Hong advanced toward Huafeng City, escorted by four dragon lizards on all sides.

He had led a Black Giant there last time and was unsure of the current situation, so he decided to get closer and take a look.

The core reason, of course, was that after perfecting the Thunderbolt Leg Technique, he was able to condense pure water using the Condensing Water Technique, resolving the drinking water issue.

So, Yu Hong planned to find a few Black Disasters to test his own strength. Only by knowing oneself and the enemy could one be victorious in every battle, and to know oneself meant to clearly understand one’s own limits. Only by doing so could he avoid overestimating himself and retreat in time when encountering an opponent beyond his limits.

The Black Giant would be a good reference.

After all, with the dragon lizard there, if he couldn’t beat the enemy, he could let the dragon lizard lead them away.

Amid the crisp sound of crunching snow, Yu Hong took one step at a time forward. The surroundings were so dark he couldn’t even see his own hand stretched out before him, and the only source of light was the atomic lamp flashlight in his hand.

The flashlight’s light formed a cylinder, projecting forward and illuminating the ground several meters away.

The highly condensed light from the improved lamp could now penetrate the nearby parts of the Black Fog.

‘Being complete in my cultivation, I still have not made a formal move. This time, I want to see what effect I can achieve when fighting. After all, given the frequency of my encounters, the Black Giant is a threshold I must face.’

Soon, the woods in front began to thin and then disappear.

A broken highway appeared in front of Yu Hong.

The gray asphalt was covered with various-sized footprints; clearly, Black Giants of different sizes had passed by here, thoroughly crushing the road.

Some of the road surfaces protruded above the horizontal line, curving upward, revealing the black rock layer below.

Hiss.

The light from Yu Hong’s flashlight just happened to hit the road surface, and it illuminated a black rhino about the size of a small car.

The rhino was dripping with black blood, its skin appeared as if it had been flayed, with blood pouring down.

Hiss, huff, hiss, huff.

The rhino’s heavy breathing sounded nonstop, like a giant bellows.

It had a pair of amber-colored, diamond-shaped pupils, which contracted slightly when they caught sight of Yu Hong’s flashlight, looking in his direction.

“No Black Giant found, but I ran into a Black Blood Rhino instead?”

Yu Hong passed the flashlight to a dragon lizard beside him, wedging it between the row of spines on top of the dragon lizard’s head.

“Elephant worms are only Level 3, while Black Giants are between Level 9 and War Level. I haven’t encountered a Level 7 creature of this size before,” Yu Hong recalled. Although Level 8 Insect men are higher, they are not the same type; Insect men belong to the black disasters with unique abilities.

“Let’s try this out.”

He became interested; he had come out on this trip to start a fight and test his Power, and the Black Blood Rhino was just perfect.

Puff.

Puff.

Puff.

Yu Hong took the repaired huge spiked meteor hammer from his back and approached the Black Blood Rhino step by step.

The enormous iron ball and his expectant smile under the green light complemented each other.

*

*

*

Swoosh!!

In an instant, a tracer shot out from the darkness, striking a Black Blood Rhino hiding among the stone forest.

Boom!

The explosion’s firelight instantly illuminated the surroundings for a moment.

The raging flames stuck to the rhino’s body, burning continuously.

The Black Blood Rhino was slightly pushed back by the explosion, with half of its side blown away, creating a basin-sized hole.

It shook its head, and its eyes revealed a surge of rage.

Moo!!

With an angry roar, the Black Blood Rhino turned and charged towards the defensive line from where the anti-tank rockets were launched.

Dadadadada!

The heavy machine gun fire burst out, and rows of bullets flew across the mid-air, striking the rhino’s body and shredding its flesh.

But as soon as these wounds appeared, they were quickly covered and enveloped by black flesh, healing in an instant.

Including the huge hole blown open by the rocket, which was also rapidly healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

An incessant barrage of artillery fire fell, exploding around the rhino, causing it to sway side to side.

Yet, no matter the bombardment, the Black Blood Rhino would get back up and charge towards the artillery position.

A Level 7 Black Disaster!

Far from being as easy to deal with as a Level 3 elephant worm.

Rumble!

Suddenly, a loud noise erupted as the ground exploded into a huge burst of orange and white flames.

The terrifying landmine explosion sent the Black Blood Rhino flying heavily into the air, tumbling over a dozen times.

After shedding half a ton of flesh and blood, the rhino fell, breaking two stone pillars in the stone forest before collapsing to the ground.

With a splash, the rhino transformed into a large pool of black blood, dissolved, evaporated, and dispersed into black smoke.

But then, massive amounts of black smoke quickly condensed on the spot, and within two seconds, a brand-new Black Blood Rhino charged out from the smoke.

“Second phase now!! Quick, quick, quick!! Watch the trajectory!!”

In the distance, amidst the darkness, someone was shouting anxiously.

“There are three phases! Hold on, everyone!!”

“The second phase will be faster, and the third phase will have a significant increase in defense. Pay attention to the diversionary Array!”

Shouts from the enhanced humans echoed all around.

The sound of artillery fire rose again.

It lasted for more than ten minutes.

When the Black Blood Rhino stood for the third time and then was blown to pieces, everything finally ended.

In the darkness, series of bright yellow lights came on, illuminating the full scope of the ambush force.

Five Chi Yun light tanks, more than a dozen enhanced humans with portable rocket launchers, three armored vehicles with mounted machine guns.

In the distance, there was a standard artillery squad of fifteen soldiers, each three-man team operating a portable grenade launcher.

Apart from these, not far off, there were two Dong River mass-produced Wu Yun heavy tanks acting as shields blocking the front, dented in by the Black Blood Rhino’s direct charge, now appearing to be unusable.

Additionally, a supporting combat team of twenty people had mostly fallen in the deep darkness, failing to evade when charged by the Black Blood Rhino, and dying on the spot.

The faces under the helmets of the group of enhanced humans were pale, watching the Black Blood Rhino’s body gradually turn into black smoke, they finally regained some spirit from the shock they had just experienced.