Night of Despair

Chapter 87: Situation One

Yu Hong took Wei Shanshan to the post office. What should have been a ten-minute journey left the girl panting, her face flushed, and she constantly needed to bend over to rest.

It took them half an hour of dawdling before they arrived once more at the post office’s stone building.

Old Li was in the courtyard talking with two tall and sturdy young men.

Upon seeing Yu Hong coming, he immediately waved his hand enthusiastically.

“Little Yu, what brings you here at this time?”

Yu Hong glanced at the two men and noticed their frowns deepening when they saw Wei Shanshan, suggesting they recognized the girl. He had a good idea of the situation right away.

He pulled Old Li aside and quietly explained the situation to him.

“Such a trivial matter, I was just about to report the situation of the supply team to the higher-ups. This recent incident blew up quite big, and they promised to send someone new for support, but it will take a few days for them to arrive,” Li Rushan whispered, his voice low.

He glanced at Wei Shanshan and the two men.

“Most of these people are either rich or noble, with special statuses. If something really happens, the impact would be enormous, so I have no choice but to help out more here. If you have spare talisman arrays, sell them some. Don’t worry, you can charge as much as you want; these folks have the money.”

“That works.” Yu Hong smiled too, but then his smile faded, “Those flying insects, Biters, can you handle them here?”

“We’re fine, as long as we hide underground,” Li Rushan nodded. “But I’ve received word that the Black Disaster’s deterioration is speeding up. It’s getting more dangerous outside, especially in the wild. In the future, only supply teams with extremely high combat capabilities will be able to connect the cities. This could be very troublesome. Our small place might be directly cut off due to the reduced routes.”

“What about the higher-ups’ countermeasures?” Yu Hong felt a sinking feeling in his heart. If the supply team couldn’t make it, or if the cycle of their visits was prolonged, both he and Old Li could face serious problems. Now it became clear why this guy had such a laissez-faire attitude… it seemed ordinary people really had less and less hope.

“No countermeasures. The Black Disaster has been slowly gaining strength since its inception; it’s just that the rate of increase has accelerated recently. Otherwise, why do you think I’d take the risk of taking people in? It’s all to prepare for the future.” Li Rushan chuckled softly. “There’s no choice; I need to expand the lizard farming, work on the decayed soil, and much more. All are one-man jobs I cannot handle alone. Not to mention mining luminous stones, maintaining the house, taking care of Nana—these miscellaneous tasks all need manpower.”

“You sure are living it up,” Yu Hong scoffed, feeling his reasons were just for show.

“Don’t talk about me; you also need to start recruiting people for help. I’ll give you a set of cultivation boxes for free. You need to start mushroom farming on your own. If we get to the point where even our distance cannot be connected, then that’ll be truly awful.” Li Rushan’s face was solemn; he wasn’t joking.

As he spoke, he suddenly slapped his forehead as if he remembered something.

“Wait here for me.”

He ran toward the stone building and came back quickly with a black box.

He stuffed the box into Yu Hong’s arms and whispered.

“This is an instant communicator, connects to the local network, and has a range of one kilometer. We can use this to talk directly to each other.”

Yu Hong hugged the box, giving it a pat. Inside, various bits and pieces rattled slightly against each other.

“Great stuff! Good thing we both have solar charging.”

“Right, and I checked for you just now. On the list sent to me before, the name Wei Shanshan is indeed there. Her dad is Wei Hongye, a big shot in nuclear energy research,” Li Rushan changed the topic. “What now? You planning to get something from her? But this girl is part of their professional rescue team; she’s likely used this status to get help along the way, probably made promises to more than just one person, so be careful.”

“It doesn’t matter, as long as she’s valuable. It depends on whether her dad is willing.” Yu Hong said indifferently. “Can we contact her dad?”

“I’ll try.” Li Rushan nodded.

He went to speak with the other three briefly, then entered the stone building, asking Yu Hong and the others to wait outside quietly.

After about fifteen minutes, Old Li reopened the door and gestured for Yu Hong to come in.

Yu Hong’s heart stirred, and he entered the stone building.

Soon after, Wei Shanshan was also called in behind him.

The two of them sat down at the wooden table in the stone building’s living room, facing a set of special equipment that resembled a silver sound system.

“I am Wei Hongye, is Shanshan there?” A tense and worried, slightly shrill male voice came from the equipment.

“Dad! I’m here! I’m right here!!” As soon as Wei Shanshan heard the voice, her eyes reddened, and tears began to fall.

“Mom… Mom is not going to make it; we ran out of medicine! Antibiotics… I’m so scared… Recently, there are monsters everywhere outside! We just settled down and in just a few days, we already lost several people…sob…”

She buried her face against the equipment and burst into tears, her voice choked as she started talking about their situation after arriving.

Yu Hong listened on the side.

After the supply team’s incident, the group took some supplies and fled from the pursuit. Along the way, encounters with Evil Shadow cost the lives of many. But most had gradually adapted.

No sooner had they adapted to the Evil Shadow than the nocturnal Biters arrived, and in the blink of an eye, they’d lost several more.

The teachers and skilled bodyguards in the group were close to breaking; they began to only protect the most important things to them, completely ignoring the rest to fend for themselves.

“…In the whole group, there are now three types: offspring of the joint military high command, children of local officials, and relatives of scholars and research institution personnel like us… We’re the ones without protection! The food, drink, and medicine we begged for, they get first pick, we only get what’s left… The first night we arrived, two people were gone from our group…”

Wei Shanshan spoke with a sobbing voice, detailing the situation carefully.

“Where’s Yan Xudong? Didn’t that guy promise me he’d protect you?” Wei Hongye’s heart ached like being cut with a knife as he asked angrily over the communication line.

“Brother Dong… he… went out to find water on the second day… and never came back…” Wei Shanshan cried.

There was silence on the other end of the communication line for a while, followed by a long sigh.

“May I know the courier who is contacting me now is…”

“This is Li Rushan, Director Wei is being too polite. Just call me Old Li,” Li Rushan hurriedly replied.

“Director Wei has heard the situation of my daughter here; may I ask if it’s possible…” Wei Hongye requested.

“The thing is, it’s actually okay to simply stay here, but what Wei Shanshan lacks is anti-inflammatory medicine, and I’ve run out of it here. Only another settler nearby, Mr. Yu Hong, has it, so the key now is to exchange with Mr. Yu Hong,” Li Rushan quickly explained the situation.

“Is Mr. Yu Hong nearby then?” @@novelbin@@

“He’s right next door.”

“Alright, then, could you please ask Mr. Yu to help my daughter and wife? Whatever reward you need, I can get it here, and I will definitely send it to you afterward,” Wei Hongye said sincerely.

Yu Hong was waiting for just these words.

“I can. Something like a miniature nuclear battery, I want one of those. Is that possible?” he immediately stated his terms.

“Nuclear batteries… There’s still a long way to go from current technology to miniature nuclear batteries…” Wei Hongye said speechlessly; such a statement clearly came from someone who didn’t understand the forefront of nuclear research.

“I need a long-term stable indoor energy source. I’m not familiar with these things, but here’s the deal, as long as you can solve this problem for me, I’ll protect your daughter and wife,” Yu Hong quickly said.

With his current conditions, protecting two people shouldn’t be much of a problem. As long as no Language Person-like exaggerated Evil Shadow appeared in the short term, it should be okay.

Wei Hongye was pensive on the other end of the line.

“I understand what you’re saying. Since the radioactive raw materials are extremely scarce and tightly guarded, I don’t have the authority to use them privately, so I can’t give you any physical nuclear-related items. But…”

“But what?” Yu Hong frowned.

“But your current location, there’s an abandoned town nearby, which has what you need. I can give you the exact location,” Wei Hongye did not specify, but the implication was clear. Being a senior member of the nuclear research institute, he couldn’t explicitly say during the postal communication that he was using public resources for private purposes, offering nuclear energy-related equipment.

But there was another way… to provide critical information and let Yu Hong retrieve it himself. This was entirely different—it was just uncertain how many times he had sold this information.

Legal, compliant, and reasonable.

“Good!” Yu Hong caught the implied meaning. Though there might be a risk of being misled, he had no other choice under such circumstances.

If he really could obtain a nuclear energy system, he wouldn’t have to worry about energy problems for decades. Small reactors could last thirty years, and the big ones, even up to sixty.

This would completely solve one of his most pressing problems.

And with energy, the water supply system could also start operating, ensuring a steady supply of water.

“Next, my condition is this: please protect Shanshan and her mother with Old Li until a new support team arrives. And the item you want will also be delivered with the support team. No problems with that?” Wei Hongye spoke with gravity.

“Deal!” Yu Hong replied swiftly.

This was essentially a gamble. If it worked out, the benefits would be immense. If not, he would have wasted a few days, but it wouldn’t matter much.

“But how can I be sure you’re giving me real information?” Yu Hong asked again.

“I can’t guarantee…” Wei Hongye paused for a moment before answering, “but I can share another important piece of news with you.”

“Tell me,” Yu Hong said.

“Aurora City and Silver Tower are about to be overrun… The frontline has suffered too many casualties, and no one can stop the nightmare-level Black Disaster. They ignore most of our weapons. Only sunlight materials can hide from them and withstand them, but the production of sunlight materials is far too low. Since the last daredevil elite troops disappeared last month, the situation has spiraled out of control…” Wei Hongye sighed.

“Out of control? What do you mean?” Yu Hong became solemn, and Li Rushan’s expression grew grave as well, clearly oblivious to this news.

“Out of control in the literal sense—the front can’t hold. The real danger is approaching rapidly. These Evil Shadows are only minor troubles… War Level, nightmare level, and even the recently emerged Gate of Despair… in the future…”

Wei Hongye’s words made everyone present feel their hearts pound wildly.

“If the front can’t hold, endless Biters and Evil Shadows will pour into the inner districts. Then, the wilderness will no longer be this safe. The density and frequency will be many times higher than now, and those real threats will also rush in, unobstructed,” he continued.

“The United Forces…” Li Rushan began.

“Let me tell you a fact,” Wei Hongye said, “The weapons and equipment of the United Forces are useless against many Evil Shadows and Black Disasters, including luminous stone weapons. They are endless, undying. Even the Biters, once scattered by luminous stone weapons, will revive and reappear before long, so once the defense line collapses, those quickly regenerating monsters will also enter…”

“What about nuclear bombs? Why not use nuclear bombs?” Li Rushan couldn’t help but interrupt.

“How do you know they haven’t been used?” Wei Hongye retorted.