Night of Despair

Chapter 70: Ending Two

“I am the one who posted the task, just call me Yu Hong,” Yu Hong nodded at Xu Fan in a friendly manner.

“How about the reward for the task?” Xu Fan asked directly.

“I need to check first, then determine your needs, finalize the required materials, and then proceed with the repair. This is the standard procedure, no problem, right?” Yu Hong replied.

With the Black Mark in hand, he wasn’t worried about whether it could be repaired, just how long the repair would take.

“That’s fine,” Xu Fan nodded, “but I can only stay here for half a month. Can you fix it in that time?”

“First, I need to check,” Yu Hong emphasized.

Xu Fan glanced at Li Rushan, who nodded at him, and decided to trust Li’s reputation.

Li, despite his shady demeanor, had an unquestionable reputation.

Without hesitation, Xu Fan grabbed one of his gloves and began to remove his suit piece by piece.

Soon, a burly, muscular, bald giant over two meters tall appeared before them.

The giant’s face was smeared with paint, with a fresh cut on the tip of his nose, obviously a recent injury.

“The main area needing repair is the helmet’s faceplate. If possible, I’d like to enhance it. There’s also damage at the lower back, from being hit by armor-piercing rounds, and a dent on the left knee, inflicted by a troublesome guy I killed.”

“Bronze Statue Chris?” Li Rushan asked offhandedly.

“Yeah, that guy’s strength was comparable to mine, his suit was comprehensive too. We fought for over three hours before deciding life and death,” Xu Fan nodded.

“Got it. I need specialized tools for a thorough assessment. I’ll take the suit with me now, leave it here, and will get back to you in about an hour. Any problems?” Yu Hong packed up the suit components, stacking them neatly.

“No problem,” Xu Fan nodded, showing no hint of his ruthless temperament. Perhaps such ruthlessness only erupted under certain circumstances.

“You all know where I live. Come to my place in an hour,” Yu Hong said simply.

“Okay.”

Soon after, Yu Hong parted ways with the group, carrying the equipment back to the safety shelter in the cave.

As he held the gear, he silently began to consult with the Black Mark about how much time the enhancement would take.

Though the Black Mark could not repair items not enhanced by itself, Yu Hong could exploit a loophole by performing a minor enhancement fusion on an object, thus utilizing the automatic repair function post-enhancement to achieve his goal.

Next time a repair was needed, he could directly use the Black Mark to restore it.

This ability was a crucial element in his strategy for maintaining a foothold in these times.

With the ability to repair advanced equipment, he could easily trade for a wealth of various resources and information.

Now, the only thing he lacked, as Li Rushan had said, was the power to protect himself.

Returning to the cave with the Blue Whale Suit, Yu Hong smoothed it out on the ground, then went out to sift through a pile of spoils in the courtyard, picking out a metal machete about the length of a forearm.

Clutching the machete, he returned to the room and laid it next to the Blue Whale Suit, planning to integrate the material from the machete as enhancement material for the suit.

On his way back, he had already tested that repairing and enhancing the Blue Whale Suit with minimal enhancement, choosing the lowest, weakest level of enhancement, would take just over an hour.

Now with additional material and per Xu Fan’s request to strengthen the faceplate of the helmet, he reached out and pressed his hand on the Blue Whale Suit again.

“Enhance Blue Whale Suit, direction: minimum strengthening of the faceplate’s durability.”

Soon, a black line flashed, and a response sounded.

“Do you wish to enhance the Blue Whale Suit?”

Yu Hong saw the countdown that emerged on the surface of the suit: 2 hours and 12 minutes.

He nodded, finding it acceptable.

“Although the time is short, I can’t demonstrate this easily to Xu Fan and the others. I must let them know that I’m struggling with the repair, that the process is complicated and troublesome. Only then, coupled with a satisfying repair outcome, will they feel they’ve gotten their money’s worth.”

Yu Hong knew well that when people see results obtained so effortlessly, the process too easy, they instinctively feel distrust and a sense of being cheated.

“You’re fixing it so easily, why are you charging me so much? Are you scamming me!?”

That was what he worried Xu Fan and others would think.

Reasonable, logical.

This was Yu Hong’s key pursuit.

Soon, an hour later.

Xu Fan and Anna approached the stone courtyard outside the cave’s safety shelter.

A large fire burned not far away, showing no signs of dying down anytime soon.

The two stood outside the courtyard, looking at the lush, strange crop of grass inside.

“This place… seems off…” Anna whispered. “Why does the Red Value data look similar to a luminous stone mine?”

Her expression flickered with shock and uncertainty, her eyes continuously scanning every corner inside the courtyard.

But no matter how she looked, she couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary here.

Apart from the grass, there was nothing else arranged.

Xu Fan had realized it too; when he’d previously been exposed to high concentrations of luminous stone radiation, his body had developed a special sensitivity to the Red Value. Whenever there was significant fluctuation in the Red Value radiation in the environment, he would have a corresponding skin sensation.

For example, standing outside the courtyard right now, he felt the hair on his skin stand on end, a chill running through him.

“It must be arranged with some kind of luminous stone patterns, similar to the structure of the outer walls of Hope City,” he guessed.

“I didn’t see any patterns like that,” Anna shook her head. “It seems the employer for this job is quite skilled… such an arrangement can effectively avoid the nightly harassment of the shadow. Thus, obtaining a more stable living environment.”

“Yu Hong… I’ve never heard this name before. If we can repair it successfully this time, we might have to deal with him for the long term,” Xu Fan said. After all, not just anyone could repair equipment of this caliber.

“Mm.” Anna nodded.

They waited a few more minutes, and soon, the wooden door of the cave opened.

A burly shadow slowly walked out. He was still wearing the same heavy suit as before, but now the minor dents and bullet marks had vanished.

This detail, noticed by Xu Fan, made him more convinced of the other person’s ability to repair the Blue Whale suit.

The three met quickly outside the courtyard. The inside of the courtyard now had a Red Value of over a hundred; it was filled with luminous grass and was not suitable for conversation.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I’ve estimated the repair time; it’ll take about a week. I have some of the materials here. They’re not the original materials, but the repair results won’t be much different. Are you okay with that?” Yu Hong asked earnestly.

“A week!?” Xu Fan was taken aback and looked down at Anna, who was equally stunned.

“Really, only a week?” he repeated.

“Of course. I guarantee it’ll be ready in a week!” Yu Hong said confidently.

“… As long as it can be repaired, and the results are close enough, I have no problem with it!” Xu Fan quickly decided, though he was still somewhat in disbelief.

He had asked around many armories, and apart from Aurora City and Silver Tower, which needed two weeks, all the others required at least three months.

If it weren’t for the fact that the face shield’s damage significantly affected combat, he would have often settled for just using it as is.

“The reason it’s faster is that I don’t have any unnecessary procedures or distractions here. My full focus is on repairing your equipment, that’s why it’s quicker,” Yu Hong immediately knew he had underestimated the timeline and promptly justified why.

“I can understand.” Anna spoke up, “Then, we’ll come back in a week to pick it up, just as our job ends, giving ourselves a few days off.”

“Sounds good,” Yu Hong nodded. “By the way, have you ever considered settling down somewhere?”

He thought the two of them had strong combat abilities and provided a sense of security, so he decided to test the waters.

According to Li Rushan, they were currently living as mercenaries who moved from place to place, traveling by car.

“We’ve thought about it, sure, but these days, the more people there are, the safer it is momentarily, but it also attracts more attention from Blood Tide and shadow. Too much trouble,” Anna said helplessly, sizing up Yu Hong as she suddenly chuckled.

“Here’s a piece of advice: if you want to hire long-term bodyguards, you’d better ensure a stable supply of water, food, and a resting environment first. If these basic conditions are guaranteed, you’ll naturally have people to choose from.”

Clearly, she had figured out Yu Hong’s intentions.

“Good advice,” Yu Hong nodded, accepting the hint. @@novelbin@@

Indeed, he couldn’t even provide a stable water source, so why would the strong choose to leave Hope City, with all its amenities, to live next to him?

They had food, drink, and safe sleep in the city and could even indulge in a little alcohol or special services for entertainment. That was much happier than being in the wilderness where taking a bath was a problem.

Soon, they agreed on a time and place. Yu Hong gave them a leaf of luminous grass as a token, to be used to retrieve the item if he himself couldn’t come.

Luminous grass was not found elsewhere. Once uprooted and losing its life force, it quickly lost its luminous stone radiation, making it a unique token of Yu Hong.

Xu Fan and Anna left swiftly.

Yu Hong went to see Li Rushan again.

“Thank you for your help this time,” said the two as they sat down on new wooden benches in the courtyard.

“Mm, taking people’s money, after all. If there’s more work like this in the future, I don’t mind,” Li Rushan said, still smiling gently.

“Excellent, I’ve brought your payment,” Yu Hong said, handing over some silver dollars he had scavenged from his spoils, along with a stack of talisman arrays he had made, to Li Rushan.

Although Li Rushan was just a middleman, without a little incentive, there would be no next time. Yu Hong still valued Li Rushan’s access to the mercenary channels and the postal service.

“No need to be so polite, way too polite,” Li Rushan quickly took the items and put them away in the house. When he came back out, his expression had softened even more.

“I may have finished the job, but to avoid similar incidents in the future, I’m indeed considering hiring a strong protector long-term,” Yu Hong said simply. “But as you know, our current place lacks basic utilities, old Li. Thus, we need to solve issues of water and electricity supply before we can attract people to settle down. Otherwise, they’ll definitely choose Hope City, which has much better conditions. Don’t you think?”

“That’s true,” Li Rushan nodded. In his opinion, Yu Hong, the naive fellow, had gone from knowing nothing at the start to gradually getting the hang of things.

“So, I wanted to ask, does the postal service have a way to solve our water supply issues? I thought about digging a well, but I found that once you dig to a certain depth, it’s all Black Mark…” Yu Hong sighed.

“Groundwater is definitely not an option,” Li Rushan said with a smile, shaking his head and stretching his hand out behind him. A small hand quickly handed him a cigarette and lit it for him.

Then he pulled back his hand, placed the cigarette in his mouth, and took a pleasurable drag.

“The water supply for many in Hope City relies on rivers and oceans. Your only option is to move, to a location near a river that’s convenient for water collection. But you also need to be careful. Streams and rivers are not entirely safe either. Just as land has Blood Tide Black Insects, the rivers have equally or even more dangerous creatures…”

“…” Yu Hong nodded in silence.

Rainwater was toxic and needed to be filtered and boiled multiple times before it was safe to consume, and it wasn’t a stable solution.

Now, it seemed that rivers and streams were his only hope. But the idea of giving up his cave safety house, which he had fortified so much, was something he was extremely reluctant to do.