Night of Despair

Chapter 54: Calmness Two

Forty-some kilometers from Baiqiu Village.

Night.

White Python Guo Xudong was resting quietly, half-leaned against a branch of a huge tree that required two people to embrace.

He was wrapped in a luminous stone blanket that isolated the shadow, breathing through the vent holes in the blanket.

With time passing by, the night grew ever deeper.

A rustling sound of insects crawling gradually emerged from the ground.

Guo Xudong abruptly opened his eyes, yanked off the blanket, and looked down.

In the dim moonlight, large clumps of black insects surged from the dark soil below, like fountains erupting from spot to spot.

The black insects surged up from the ground, spreading like crazy ants around the area, and in less than fifteen seconds, the entire grassland turned black.

Wave after wave of blackness moved through the woods, seeking any living thing it could devour and tear apart.

Soon, some of the black insects seemed to catch a scent and began to climb up the large tree where Guo Xudong was perched.

Guo Xudong’s expression was unchanged as he quickly took out a small bottle, opened it, and poured some sticky liquid onto his body, smearing it for a while.

In no time, a foul odor emanated from him. This scent quickly dispersed the black insects that were trying to approach below.

After putting away the small bottle, Guo Xudong was about to continue sleeping.

Boom!

Suddenly, a heavy, muffled sound came from not far away.

His expression shifted slightly as he stood up again and looked in that direction.

Between the trees, a huge black shadow, as tall as a man and resembling an enlarged beetle with a mouthpart made up of many pincers, was charging towards him.

Boom boom boom boom!

“Big Skin? This place can actually attract a Big Skin? Or is it… the strength of the Blood Tide has increased again??” Guo Xudong’s complexion darkened as he muttered quietly to himself.

Seeing the Big Skin approaching, he swiftly took out a special rope and threw it towards another large tree.

The rope wrapped around, swinging him away in an instant.

As he swung through the air, Guo Xudong quickly took something out of his bag, tore off the lid, and tossed it behind him.

The object landed precisely in the Big Skin’s gaping maw.

One second.

Two seconds.

Boom!!!

In an instant, a blast of fire exploded, tearing the over two-meter-long body of the Big Skin to pieces, turning it into countless black fragments that scattered like rain.

In the glow of the fire, a vast number of the surrounding black insects evaporated into black smoke and disappeared.

Guo Xudong had no intention of staying; he continued to speed away into the distance. He didn’t believe that his homemade bomb could completely resolve the crisis.

Blood Tide Monsters and shadow were two completely different styles; their most distinctive feature was their limitless numbers.

*

*

*

The next morning.

Thud thud thud…

Yu Hong was groggily awakened by the knocking at his door. He slowly got up and squinted towards the door.

He had trained late into the night yesterday and had dug up quite a few stones, expanding a new single room a little. Furthermore, the enhancement had consumed a fair amount of his mental and physical energy.

So his condition wasn’t very good at the moment.

“Who is it?” he called out.

Due to the Pyroxene Secret Room’s effect, shadows were no longer knocking on the door much. Therefore, the knock at this time was most likely a living person.

“Little Yu, it’s me.” The voice of Doctor Xu Ruoying came from outside.

“Do you have any food here? I’m running short where I am… something happened.”

Yu Hong frowned, crawled out of his sleeping bag, and put on his pants.

He remembered that Xu Ruoying had bartered for enough food from Li Rushan not long ago. It had only been a few days; how could she suddenly be running short?

“What happened?” He walked to the door and peered through a crack in the barrier.

Outside, Xu Ruoying’s eyes were as red as a rabbit’s, her expression haggard; she obviously hadn’t rested for a long time.

After confirming there was no one else and the talisman array behind the door showed no signs of disturbance, Yu Hong opened the door and quickly let her in.

“Sigh…” As soon as she came in, Xu Ruoying let out a long sigh. “Yesterday evening, a group of fleeing civilians passed by, and a family of three settled down in a nearby empty cave. I couldn’t bear it, so I lent them some food.”

“A group of fleeing civilians passed by?” Yu Hong frowned, “Which direction did they come from?”

“They said from Yuehe City, Hope City… There… An extremely terrifying Evil Shadow erupted, and many, many people died… They didn’t even have time to evacuate, and the official personnel tried to stop the situation from worsening, but all of them died. The citizens are fleeing everywhere; they had a car, so they were able to run fast,” Xu Ruoying explained with a sigh.

Yu Hong was speechless, he took out a bag of protein bars to offer her, the protein bars had been repackaged, so he was not worried about them being recognized.

Previously, Li Rushan had traded a lot of food from the supply team, and he also used talisman arrays and anti-diarrheal medicines to trade for some, and then converted them into protein bars.

Now, there were fifty or sixty protein bars piled up in the cave, enough to last a very long time.

With an abundance of food, he didn’t mind sharing some with Xu Ruoying.

“Do you want to go have a look?” Xu Ruoying asked in a low voice, taking the bag of food.

“No need to go. It would be useless,” Yu Hong said after a moment of silence, refusing the suggestion.

Although he carried the Black Mark, he could only just manage his basic living and safety needs.

As for the rest, he was powerless.

“Thanks…” Xu Ruoying, holding the protein bars, turned around, opened the door, and left. @@novelbin@@

Yu Hong remained seated on the stool, took out a radio, and turned it on.

After the hissing noise, the faint sounds of the radio broadcast soon resumed. Two male voices seemed to be conversing back and forth.

‘… We hope to handle this matter well. In response to the recent widespread worsening of the Black Disaster, the relevant departments have identified the sources, which consist of seven high-risk Evil Shadows causing breaches in Hope City’s internal defense lines, ultimately leading to the flooding of the Black Disaster.’

‘These seven types of Evil Shadows have been targeted for collection by the Silver Tower, determining their corresponding levels of threat. According to information released by the Silver Tower, we know that the current Black Disaster is mainly divided into levels one to nine of danger, where danger level doesn’t indicate strength; rather, it indicates the harm it can do to the surrounding environment and society. This time, the seven types of Evil Shadows happen to be dangerous entities ranging from level two to five.’

‘So does that mean the lowest level of Black Disaster is easier to handle?’

‘The lowest level means we have a thorough understanding and can accurately develop countermeasures, avoiding most of their harm, which is why the danger level is extremely low. For example, a common Black Insect, scientifically known as Hemoleech, is a level one danger.

However, in fact, according to Silver Tower’s current statistics of all Black Disasters, we can see that levels one to nine are just the standard danger levels; beyond that, there are three higher categories: War Level, Nightmare Level, and Despair Level.’

‘I’m aware of that. Right now, Aurora City is battling against the frontline Black Disaster, which is War Level,’ the host answered.

‘Of course, we can’t simply judge the strength of a Black Disaster by this classification; if you don’t have information about the corresponding Black Disaster and its weaknesses, then even a level one, for you, would be Despair Level, impossible to block and certain death,’ the other man replied.

‘I understand that. But for the higher levels, where does the main danger lie?’ the host asked.

‘It lies in the scope of erosion and the desire to erode. Everyone knows that now, outside the central circle of Hope City, many districts are facing a new round of challenges, so my suggestion is to move to the central circle as soon as possible. Only behind the protection of the Aurora defensive line can you avoid harm to the maximum extent.’

What followed were some uninformative thank-yous and compliments from the host to the guest; Yu Hong didn’t listen closely. The radio hosts and experts spoke about the casualties and collapse of defenses in the outside world of Hope City without any emotional fluctuation, as if they were talking about trivial matters unrelated to themselves.

“Have I gotten used to it, or is it… some other reason?” Yu Hong stood up. “Among those seven types of Level 5 Black Disasters Evil Shadows, could the Withered Woman be one of them?”

He had no way of knowing.

If so, behind that were so many levels and varieties of Black Disaster. The casualties of humanity had simply turned into cold numbers — cheap and frequent.

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt an indescribable sense of suffocation.

He poured a glass of water and drank it in one gulp. He immediately began practicing the Heavy Leg Skill.

A stream of heat flowed through his legs and spread throughout his body, this sensation of nourishment made his mood much better.

After relaxing for a moment, he stood in front of the enhancing gray lizard suit. The countdown was nearly at its end.

He watched the numbers decrease rapidly and glanced at the corner where his pyroxene reserves were. The ordinary luminous stones he had saved up were almost used up. He had to go to the mines to restock.

A few minutes later, the countdown for the gray lizard suit finally ended.

A blur of distortion covered the entire suit, and a second later, the distortion disappeared. A new, pitch-black, thick bullet-proof suit appeared in front of Yu Hong.

It maintained the appearance of the gray lizard suit, but without the camouflage color, and it became significantly thicker overall.

The helmet came with wind goggles and a filter mask. The alloy plates on the body were thicker than before, and the details were more tightly sewn. The coverage of the bullet-proof ceramic plates basically completely shielded the entire torso.

Even the gaps around the neck were blocked by high-strength alloy plates.

Yu Hong was in high spirits. He picked it up and quickly put it on.

The new gray lizard suit was heavier than before, weighing about sixteen or seventeen pounds, but the mobility was almost the same as wearing regular clothes. The effect on flexibility was minimal.

Fully armed, after putting it on, he also discovered the Red Value detector had been integrated into the collar. Inside the collar was a small LCD screen that displayed the specific Red Value of the external environment.

Yu Hong moved around in the suit and began practicing the Heavy Leg Skill again. This time, with the added weight, the Heavy Leg Skill generated even more heat than before.

With a trace of heat flowing through his entire body, he simply pushed the door open and stepped out of the safe house to move around outside in the open space.

With the Red Value detector continuously monitoring, any Evil Shadows that might appear around him could be detected in time.

After moving around for a while, he thought of the fleeing team Xu Ruoying had mentioned. Perhaps he could trade with them for some new items to enhance.

Furthermore, with Xu Ruoying alone there, she might encounter danger. Feeling the four cool air currents still in his possession, Yu Hong turned back, grabbed a bag of protein bars, and hurried to Doctor Xu’s residence.

With spike boots, the enhanced gray lizard suit, along with the Heavy Leg Skill and the four cool airs in his possession, Yu Hong felt somewhat more secure.

He planned to check on her and then return to enhance the solar generator to charge the radio and Red Value detector. Otherwise, once the power ran out, they would be completely useless.

Following the familiar route, the suit weighing several pounds seemed non-existent on Yu Hong’s body. He had built up strength by dragging wood and working as a carpenter, chiseling stone; he was already well-trained.

What puzzled him was that ever since he had started practicing the Heavy Leg Skill, the skin and bones on his legs felt less and less pain, and even the sense of touch had become somewhat numb.