Night of Despair

Chapter 57: Hope I

Luminous Stone Grass… A bizarre plant synthesized from luminous stone and wild grass, the most crucial part was that he seemed able to control it??

Yu Hong pinched the enhanced stem of the grass and pondered. Then, he looked up at the sky outside.

The sunset’s red light, filtering through the cracks of the door, dyed a small area at the entrance red.

He exhaled, stood up, pinched the Luminous Stone Grass, opened the door, and walked into the courtyard outside.

After several days of adjustment and arrangement, the stone courtyard outside was beginning to take shape.

It started with a large circular ring made of stones, which were slowly mixed with black mud and compacted into mixed mounds.

At this time, the ring of gray mounds was about ten or so centimeters high, encircling an area of about two hundred square meters.

The terrain was filled with black mud-covered ground sprouting green grass, with several large stones protruding from the surface. In one corner, a tree of unknown variety grew lush, casting a diagonal shade about five or six meters in diameter.

Yu Hong glanced at the sunset, squatted down, picked up a random branch, and stuck it into the ground to estimate the time.

Then he got up, wandered around the simple courtyard, and thought about where to plant the Luminous Stone Grass.

Turning around, his gaze soon fell upon a small slope dip in front of the cave entrance.

On one side was a white stone wall, and on the other, the courtyard’s black mud ground, with sparse wild grass not being plentiful.

“Right here!” he moved forward, plucked out all the sparse wild grass, and even dug out the roots with a chisel.

Finally, he dug a small hole, stuffed the roots of the Luminous Stone Grass into it, and packed the soil tightly.

He finished by watering it.

After finishing these tasks, he stood up satisfactorily, returned to the safety shelter in the cave, and waited for the results of the planting.

Soon, the sky outside darkened.

The solar-powered generator placed at the entrance, on its LCD screen, displayed that it had accumulated two grids of power.

The solar-powered generator consisted of two parts: one was the solar panel, which could be folded and unfolded. The other was a control wire-linked display and main control console, a small plastic box the size of a book, with operation buttons and a square LCD screen that showed the remaining power.

Additionally, the solar-powered generator also had special outlets for powering other equipment.

On its side, a row of more than ten outlets were all able to charge other devices.

Yu Hong took out the radio, searched it briefly, and drew a half-meter-long power cord from a hidden box at the base of the radio, plugging it into the solar panel.

“Finally, I can charge…” he sighed with relief. He had been afraid to use the radio frequently because he was worried about running out of power, but now things were looking up with the solar-powered generator still being barely functional.

After confirming there was no problem with the charging, Yu Hong calculated the charging time. The radio, still half-charged, was fully powered in just over ten minutes.

And the solar-powered generator’s display still showed one remaining grid.

By this time, the sunset had completely disappeared, and the sky had fallen into darkness.

“It looks like it’s still better to enhance it, but in which direction should I strengthen it?”

Yu Hong began to contemplate.

“Previously, I only enhanced the durability, which was a bit shortsighted. Since it’s possible to add functions, integrate those functions, then I should think carefully about how to enhance them…”

Yu Hong pulled down the blinds, raised the furnace, sat down, and turned on the radio.

Soft melodies wafted from the radio, resembling some sort of harp music, long, delicate, and melodious, like a woman softly weeping. A piano-like accompaniment chimed in intermittently, crisp and pleasant to the ear.

His gaze fixed on the solar-powered machine, his mind filled with various thoughts.

“Firstly, durability is essential. Secondly, increasing the overall battery capacity is necessary, in case of consecutive cloudy days without a chance to charge.”

“Thirdly, the conversion efficiency must be improved; otherwise, if the days get shorter, it may not be sufficient.”

“Fourthly, the sturdiness must be strengthened; otherwise, a slight mishap could damage it, and I’d have no idea where to get it repaired.”

After setting these four points, Yu Hong stretched out his hand and placed it on the solar-powered machine, beginning the enhancement.

He silently recited his chosen direction for enhancement, and the Black Mark quickly provided feedback, initiating the countdown.

“2 days, 7 hours, 15 minutes.”

“Not too long.” Yu Hong nodded in satisfaction, stood up to drink some water, and continued his daily training and practice routine.

In this monotonous environment, having a radio to listen to music while practicing was an immense improvement over his previous state.

This made Yu Hong feel as if there was a breath of life around him, rather than living alone in the uninhabited woods spanning several hundred meters.

As the music constantly repeated, Yu Hong gradually entered a deep state of practice.

Time thus quietly slipped away day by day.

The solar-powered machine was quickly enhanced, its appearance refreshed and significantly fortified. Yu Hong placed it outside the cave during the day to absorb sunlight, and brought it in at night.

And he spent his days cleaning, washing, exercising, gathering wood and water at noon, foraging, exchanging resources, practicing in the afternoon, and creating talisman arrays with the Large Pyroxene Stone. He listened to the radio in the evening, continued his practice, and enhanced the talisman arrays.

This routine repeated.

Before he knew it, over three weeks had passed.

In the early morning, in the stone courtyard outside the cave, some green grass with spots had begun to grow.

This grass was sparse, scattered across the mud, and when illuminated by the sunlight, the spots on them reflected a faint fluorescent glow.

Click.

The wooden door of the cave opened, and Yu Hong walked out, fully armed in his enhanced gray lizard suit, holding a freshly cleaned Luminous Stone Wolf Fang Club, with a multi-purpose knife slung on his back.

He followed the stone steps down, walked to the side of the Luminous Stone Grass, and squatted down to inspect it.

As he got closer, the LCD display on his collar started rapidly showing the surrounding environmental Red Value data.

After a series of fluctuations, the values stabilized—’-24′.

Yu Hong sighed, his face inside the helmet showing a trace of relaxation.

He took out a thin wooden board and pulled out a charcoal pencil from his pocket, recording the date and data. The number of luminous stone plants.

The board was already packed with many records.

From top to bottom, it was visible that the luminous stone plants had spread from a single stem at the beginning, disseminated seeds, and grown into a patch of the same kind.

In a short span of ten to twenty days, it had proliferated from one to more than ten plants.

And at the beginning, the influence of the surrounding environment’s Red Value was only in the single digits. Now, it had actually reached twenty.

Yu Hong stood up, expanded the distance, and continuously tested the data on the Red Value detector on his collar.

One meter, two meters, three meters.

As the distance expanded, the Red Value also continuously decreased.

At last, he stopped at the boundary of the rock courtyard and stood still. The LCD screen on his collar also displayed a fixed data: -2.

“This is it, it seems just right. This is the limit.” Yu Hong circled around, confirming the influence range and limit of the Red Value of the luminous stone grass.

Returning in front of the cave, he looked at the sprouts in the muddy ground, pressed his hand on the Black Mark, and silently imagined controlling the luminous stone grass.

Soon, a strange sense of connection emerged in his mind.

It was as if a light point floated deep within his chest, a green light point, which was the marker representing the luminous stone grass. @@novelbin@@

“Should ‘Inner Qi’ be used to catalyze acceleration?” At the moment his consciousness touched the light point, the cold mechanical voice of the Black Mark quietly sounded by his ear.

Yu Hong’s expression became serious, this was exactly the function he intended to test. Letting it grow naturally before was just to record comparison data before and after. After all, if he didn’t know the normal growth rate, he wouldn’t be able to compare how much Inner Qi could increase the growth rate.

He settled his mind, silently murmuring.

“Yes.”

Suddenly, one strand of his Inner Qi within him began to stir, as if eager to move upwards, towards the light point representing the luminous stone grass.

Thinking it over, Yu Hong, with his intent, controlled that strand of Inner Qi, mobilized it, and swiftly moved it upwards.

Shortly after, the Inner Qi collided with the light point of the luminous stone grass.

Hiss.

A soft faint sound seemed to ring in his ears.

That strand of Inner Qi disappeared in the blink of an eye, as if completely devoured by the light point of the luminous stone grass.

At the same time, the light spot representing the luminous stone grass suddenly brightened significantly, at least half brighter than before.

Then, it seemed to remain in that state continuously, brighter than before, as if burning, consuming the absorbed Inner Qi.

Yu Hong observed for over ten minutes, ensuring there were no other issues, then came back to his senses and checked the patch of luminous stone grass on the ground.

But no matter how he looked, he could not discern any change from before.

After the fruitless observation, he could only reluctantly put it aside for now and continue with his daily routine.

As time gradually passed, the night grew deep and quiet, gradually covering the sky.

Inside the cave.

Yu Hong quietly adjusted the firewood in the fireplace, using a stick to push aside excess ash so that oxygen could enter and allow full burning.

The firelight shone on his face, imprinting fine beads of sweat and grease.

Long periods of physical labor and exercise had made his body increasingly muscular and well-proportioned.

The rustling sound of creeping insects gradually came from outside the door.

Soon, through the door cracks and air vents, streams of black insect swarms poured in like flowing water.

Before the black insects could touch the ground, they quickly evaporated in the light of the fireplace, turning into black smoke.

Yu Hong stood up, silently watching this scene.

Previously, he would have been flustered and frightened by the Blood Tide’s black insects, but now, he had long since adapted.

Time gradually passed, and soon, about half an hour or so.

The black insects began to come intermittently, no longer as continuous and accelerated as usual.

Yu Hong’s expression shifted slightly, he flipped out a spare candle from a corner, lit it, and held it in his hand, slowly approaching the door.

Swoosh.

He pulled open one side of the door’s glass window with a stick.

Through the high-strength glass, he lit up the outside with the candlelight.

Immediately, a small circle of black insects outside instantly turned into black smoke and disappeared, clearing out a safe area.

At the same time, the candle’s flame also shrank considerably, as if suppressed, and the burning speed increased substantially.

Yu Hong ignored these common changes, but instead looked outside with the aid of the candlelight.

This look revealed a trace of surprise on his face.

Outside the cave, in the rock courtyard, the pitch-black night currently displayed a few luminous stone plants emitting a soft, faint white light.

The luminous stone grass emitting light?!

Yu Hong blinked, looking carefully again.

No mistake. The luminous stone grass was indeed emitting light, and the white light exactly covered the entire small rock courtyard, exactly corresponding to the Red Value influence range he had tested during the day.

With the help of the candlelight, Yu Hong could clearly see.

The black insects, under the faint white light of the luminous stone grass, surged towards the cave, but only a small part came through, while more as if disliking the white light, dispersed towards the darkness in the distance, like river water split by rocks.