Night of Despair-Chapter 174 - : Threat 4

Chapter 174: Threat 4

“Even if I manage to block the insect man, there will be more Black Disasters, stronger Black Disasters attacking. Can I really keep this up?” Yu Hong felt a tinge of doubt in his heart.

He felt that he must determine a direction for the future development of the entire camp.

“We must achieve complete self-sufficiency! Not relying on external resources, implementing a closed-loop system within ourselves, and further strengthening external defensive capabilities.”

“In that case, an absolutely sturdy and safe camp defense is essential, and the internal self-circulating self-sufficiency system must also be established… Others may not be able to, but I have the Black Mark, which is not impossible to achieve.”

He sighed, Yu Hong stood up and gazed into the distance.

The sunlight was gradually dimming, and the fog was thickening, becoming denser.

...

That gloomy fog was gradually blocking out the sun from afar, spreading towards here.

It looked like a large mass of gray-black cotton, as well as a large patch of gray clouds casting faint shadows on the mountains and forest floor.

The shadows moved quickly, drawing nearer, covering the mountains and forests, covering Baiqiu Village, covering the camp.

Until Yu Hong on the stone castle’s roof was completely enveloped.

He looked up again at the sun.

At that moment, the glaring sunlight completely disappeared, never to be seen again.

“Phew.”

Yu Hong lightly leaped, with one hand on the outer wall of the stone castle, slid down, and then firmly jumped off the ten-meter-high roof, rolling on the spot to unloaded the force, and stood up.

Taking one last look at the sky, he entered the cave and began his arduous cultivation.

Several days later.

As the Array neared completion, Ding Shao decided to leave early without taking the vehicle for the mission.

She quietly went out once, checking the safe route named Black Disaster Rift summarized by Old Zhou. She decided to take advantage of the route still being effective and leave immediately.

Yu Hong had condensed the third layer of Inner Qi, but even so, he had no good solution for the insect man.

Everyone together bid Ding Shao farewell within the camp.

“You really don’t need to rush like this,” Yu Hong said. He handed her a set of women’s bulletproof vest marked with Concealing Symbols which he had drawn during his spare time in the past few days.

This was the last set of women’s bulletproof outfit left, with only two men’s sets remaining.

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Moreover, with the exhaustion of luminous stones, the new symbols could only be drawn using the stored Large Pyroxene Stone ink powder. Whether runes would still be effective in the future remained uncertain.

“I think, I want to check out the larger strongholds,” Ding Shao spoke softly.

“You are honest,” Yu Hong chuckled, “Decide for yourself. You can also stay there if you wish, but if you find new symbols and want to return, you’re welcome here.”

He gave Ding Shao the addresses and directions of both Zhang Kaijun and Wei Song’s strongholds. She had to decide everything on her own.

“Since you want to see what’s at the large stronghold and possibly detach, I can’t give you too much material. I hope you understand,” Yu Hong continued. This was also fair for other camp members.

Since Ding Shao harbored thoughts of leaving the camp, they couldn’t allow her to take too many supplies. At most, because of her previous help and contributions to the camp, they would provide some resources.

“I understand, I’m grateful for having been sheltered for so long,” Ding Shao solemnly said. “I don’t need the car either, just some basic supplies would be good.”

“Ding, are you really determined to go?” Old Li felt reluctant. It was rare to have a beautiful woman in the camp, and now she was leaving.

“Take care, Brother Li. Don’t keep taking the boss’s matters upon yourself,” Ding Shao smiled.

“Sister, you’re going to regret this,” Aisena suddenly spoke.

“….” Ding Shao paused, then showed a cryptic smile and ruffled Aisena’s hair.

Old Zhou kept silent and didn’t mind Ding Shao’s departure.

Soon, Yu Hong prepared a portion of food and water for her, along with some foldable Vortex Talisman Plates for self-protection.

Then he watched her leave.

Ding Shao didn’t take the Radiation Hand Grenade, signifying she indeed intended to go to other strongholds.

Perhaps the lack of luminous stone supply was the key reason truly influencing her decision to leave the place.

Yu Hong noticed that Old Li seemed to be staring at Ding Shao’s disappearing figure for a long time.

“Don’t worry everyone, I’m enhancing the camp’s defensive abilities. There won’t be any problems in the future, even if we run out of luminous stones, I have newly designed protective measures,” Yu Hong reassured.

He was pondering, after stabilizing the situation, he might find Black Mark to strengthen a basic Cultivation Technique that would allow ordinary people to cultivate Inner Qi.

The effect didn’t need to be very strong, but it had to be sufficiently prevalent to enhance the survival capability of camp members.

Of course, to prevent it from leaking out and becoming a method for enemies to attack and seize the camp, this Cultivation Technique ideally could differentiate between friend and foe. In case it was used against oneself, it would automatically fail, resulting in a permanent loss of Inner Strength.

Yu Hong did not doubt the Black Mark’s ability to strengthen something like this. The key was time…

There were too many things that needed the Black Mark’s enhancement.

Soon, Ding Shao’s figure disappeared into the fog, and everyone dispersed.

As Yu Hong was returning, he paused for a moment.

In his mind, he had already controlled a black lizard to spit on a nearby insect man. Seconds later.

Three black lizards died, successfully diverting another insect man approaching the camp.

These days, spitting to divert had gradually become less effective. The distance it could divert was increasingly shortening. The insect men seemed to be adapting to this method, making it increasingly ineffective.

Initially, it could divert distances over a hundred meters, but now at most, it could divert thirty to forty meters.

“Quickly… it’s about time,” Yu Hong checked the countdown of the Array Patterns on the ground of the inner courtyard before entering the public passageway.

“16 hours 7 minutes.”

He shifted his gaze, waited for everyone to enter, then shut the door and locked it. Then he followed into the cave entrance.

In these last dozen or so hours, he had to stay vigilant at all times, keeping an eye on the movements of the insect men outside.

If he were to perish right before dawn, it wouldn’t be worth it at all.

Yu Hong sat at the entrance without resting or practicing his cultivation techniques, monitoring the situation outside the camp at all times through the mark and the black lizards.

One hour passed.

Two hours.

Five hours.

He ate some nutrient paste and water, took a hot shower, and went to the toilet.

He carried out a large container of waste to dump into a big pit outside the camp.

Outside, it was completely dark except for the light from the camp, and there were no other sources of illumination.

Faintly, he thought he could hear the soft buzz of insects flying outside, rustling, very many of them.

“Not blood ticks… blood ticks can’t fly… maybe it’s the insect men.”

On high alert, Yu Hong turned around, went through the corridor, and returned to the cave to continue waiting.

Time slowly passed.

The sounds of insects outside the camp grew closer.

Meanwhile, in the inner courtyard, the dark red countdown had entered the final few minutes.

Yu Hong, carrying all of the Radiation Hand Grenades, walked out of the cave and through the corridor to wait on alert in the inner courtyard space.

Five minutes went by.

No movement.

Ten minutes went by.

Still no movement outside the camp.

Finally.

Thud.

The countdown for the last minute abruptly vanished.

The entire inner courtyard camp flickered slightly, blurred, and then there was no other movement.

But Yu Hong breathed a long sigh of relief.

From the mark in his mind, the Black Wind Protection Array buried underground had been successfully enhanced.

Because on the ground in front of him, an instruction manual had magically appeared.

He walked over, picked up the sheet, and examined it closely.

“Black Wind Protection Array: Also known as the Wind and Fire Slaughter Spirit Array, it targets any Black Disaster entering and conducts a dual sustained attack with wind and fire.

The Black Wind Erosion is 2000 radiation units per second, coupled with slight resistance to prevent the enemy from entering.

The Black Fire Erosion is 3000 units per second, with sustained burning damage that increases over time, with a maximum ceiling of 10000 units per second, ceasing once out of the array.

Usually, it can absorb surrounding Red Value radiation during dormancy and store it until needed for release. Storage time is 30 minutes. Additionally, the range of the array has doubled from the original.”

Looking at the contents of the manual, Yu Hong really breathed a sigh of relief.

“The combination of wind and fire erosion means it’s five thousand ongoing damage per second, ten thousand in two seconds. Compared to Speed Man’s kind which easily reaches hundreds of thousand of Red Value radiation, it’s really not much, but the array’s range has also doubled, covering the entire outer courtyard.”

Yu Hong walked to the outer courtyard and felt the coverage of the array under his feet. Even as the owner of the Black Mark, stepping on the array, he could feel a subtle tingling sensation.

“If the Black Disaster stays within the array longer, the damage will increase… If it reaches the maximum of twelve thousand per second, in ten seconds, that’s one hundred twenty thousand. Combined with the Radiation Hand Grenade…” Initially pleased that the array had been enhanced, Yu Hong, doing the math, suddenly felt that relying solely on the array might still be insufficient.

The insect man’s speed meant they could charge through the array in less than two seconds; was this slight damage meant just to scratch them?

“It seems the strengthened large-scale array can only handle mid to low-level Black Disasters, and for those with high radiation values… other methods must be considered… The array can, however, be used to buy some time.”

Yu Hong returned to an idea he previously had.

He designed a new array that could delay and entangle the movement speed of the Black Disaster, causing it to be immediately affected upon entering the range of the camp’s array.

Yu Hong carefully considered the few symbols and runes he currently mastered.

“Luminous stone rune, Vortex Rune, Concealing Symbol. What could slow down the Black Disaster?”

His thought process returned to the expulsion fluid and extraction fluid suggested by Zhang Kaijun.

“No, this isn’t the right direction to think from!” All of a sudden, Yu Hong realized something — since the newly appeared array itself already possessed some capability to hinder the Black Disaster, why not continue to enhance this aspect?

The Black Wind Erosion function could perhaps be separately enhanced!

Yu Hong’s eyes lit up, and he immediately sensed the mark in his mind. Through the mark, he could see every detail of the new array from above.

Soon, he noticed something unusual.

“Wait… this array pattern, why does it look a bit like the visualization in my Thunderbolt Leg Technique manual??”

Suddenly, he discovered that some patterns within the array actually overlapped with the Thunderbolt Leg Technique.

“Could it be… that this array also integrates some mysteries of the Thunderbolt Leg Technique!?”

“This being the case, I might also be able to explore further strengthening methods through martial arts.”

Immediately, Yu Hong returned to the cave, reorganized the visualization of the Thunderbolt Leg Technique, and then combined it with some special patterns from the new array, he directly hand-drew both based on his feelings.

This drawing, he actually felt it made some sense.

He discovered that, as he drew, his Inner Qi unconsciously flowed into the array patterns, and then this newly drawn pattern really subtly started to affect the flow of Qi.

“The imitated visualization is okay, no activity, but this imitation of the new array’s pattern, drawn with Inner Qi, actually has some effect… This is interesting…” This was the first time Yu Hong had discovered a pattern similar to a new symbol on his own.

If he managed to summarize it successfully, he might master a new ability rune similar to the Vortex Rune or the Luminous Stone Rune.

In that case, the new array would have found its place.