Night of Despair-Chapter 196 - : Hope Four

Chapter 196: Hope Four

“The outside world is getting more and more vicious, I must plan ahead, Since I’ve determined that the key to ensuring my safety lies in these two, then next, after the weapon reinforcement is over, I will focus on strengthening these two.”

“Array formation must achieve comprehensive protective effects, covering both underground and the sky, The scope also needs to be expanded, and a buffer space added to prevent Black Disasters moving too quickly from crossing the Array and breaking into the core area.”

“The appearance of dragon lizards indicates that many remnants of the Black Disaster have good reinforcement effects, as do the air crows within the Array, So in the future, collecting these types of remnants for synthetic strengthening is also a key point.”

“After establishing the dragon lizard’s nest, we’ll investigate whether further strengthening is possible, If it’s not feasible, then we will research new synthetic creatures – having one or two Black Marks suggests that perhaps three or four are possible, This area must be thoroughly explored in the future.”

Yu Hong swiftly noted down all the key points.

“Compared to Cultivation of Inner Strength, I now see clearly that direct strengthening of Array formations and Black Mark creatures offers much greater improvement, In such an increasingly dangerous environment, securing a safer living environment first, before dedicating oneself to the arduous increase of Inner Strength, is the best strategy.”

After deciding to reinforce the Array and the dragon lizards and other movable creatures, Yu Hong had a goal in mind and felt much more at ease.

Although he was still worried about Yiyi’s situation, he had done all he could for now and could only silently pray for her.

Yiyi herself seemed to have a special constitution, When she stayed still and quiet, she was ignored by the Black Disaster and thus not attacked, This kind of constitution already greatly increased her chances of survival compared to others.

And with the equipment and supplies he had given her, as long as she was careful not to act recklessly and withdrew slowly when encountering dangerous Black Disasters, monitoring the fluctuations of the Red Value on the detector, she shouldn’t have too many problems…

Yu Hong cooked something to eat, rested for a while, then continued his practice, The increase he gained from the fifth layer of Thunderbolt Leg had far exceeded his expectations, His movement speed and emergency response burst speed had both been greatly enhanced beyond that of an average person.

“Having ensured my speed for escape, the next step is to improve my defensive capabilities… Many cannot even bear to come into contact with Black Disaster, Once the fight begins, I would certainly be hamstrung, So, improving my own protection rises to the top of my agenda… choosing an appropriate Cultivation Technique next time is key…”

After pondering over the future, he finished his practice and refined his Inner Qi, then turned on the communicator.

This time, the communicator seemed to be interfered with and did not connect to Zhang Kaijun’s channel immediately, Instead, it emitted a hissing sound of static.

After a short wait.

The communication returned to normal.

The exhausted voice of Zhang Kaijun came from the speaker.

“Sorry, something happened here, I’m dealing with it,” Along with his words came bursts of gunfire.

“Do you carry the communicator with you?” Yu Hong asked.

“Yes, just a personal extension,” Zhang Kaijun replied, “Two hours ago, I received unfortunate news that I need to inform you about.”

“What is it?” Yu Hong paused, then asked, In these tumultuous times, good news was rare, and he had grown used to that.

“The investigation team failed,” Zhang Kaijun said, “They joined forces with the elite from Aurora City and took a helicopter there, It turned out that someone had entered Black Tree Village before them, Consequently, the investigation team decided to split up, part of them tracked the people ahead hoping to make contact and glean more information, The others followed the original plan, heading straight to the site of the initial outbreak of the Black Disaster in Black Tree Village, but…”

“I have a question, Surely the state has also investigated the source relics before, why nothing was discovered then, and what guarantees the investigation can find any clues now?” This was something that Yu Hong had long wondered about.

“According to information from an unknown source, Auroroa City first received a message that the Black Disaster originated from the Black Well, which in turn originated from a sealed relic, At first, due to lack of verification, it was unsupported, Later, as the situation worsened and there were no other options, the formation of the investigation team was seen as a last resort,” Zhang Kaijun answered.

“So you’re saying, Aurora City and you guys also don’t know whether the investigation team’s efforts will be fruitful?” Yu Hong understood.

He heard that someone had gotten into Black Tree Village ahead of them and guessed that it was very likely Yiyi and An’an, But he also didn’t rule out the possibility of others.

“Yes, the detailed information is all in New Aurora City, it is said that linguists there have decoded some of the unknown script from the relics, uncovering part of the cause of the Black Disaster outbreak, But at that time, without evidence of effectiveness, it was shelved – now, the situation has changed,” Zhang Kaijun explained.

Yu Hong finally understood completely.

That is to say, initially the authorities did not take the information about sealing and such seriously, Later, when every other method had been tried and too many people had died, they had no other choice but to take a shot in the dark, deciding to try following these cryptic methods.

“Also, the trader I sent should have arrived, Their journey following the Black Disaster Rift went smoothly,” Zhang Kaijun said.

“Okay,” Yu Hong replied.

Click, the communication cut off.

He sat at the desk for a while, sighed, stood up, and continued to go down to the basement to practice.

What else could he do now, apart from practice?

Rather than venturing out, staying and continuously strengthening his camp was the best option.

Time flew in his intense Cultivation.

Just as Yu Hong was fully immersed in his Cultivation, one of the dragon lizards patrolling outside the camp suddenly sent him a prompt through the Black Mark.

He had instructed them to report promptly about any disturbances aside from the Black Disaster.

Yu Hong halted his Qi Cultivation, glanced outside through the dragon lizard’s perspective, quickly put on his reinforced suit, exited the cave, and went to the enclosure of the outer yard.

By this time, dawn was breaking in the gray sky.

Outside the fence stood a short man draped in a thick black cloak.

He hung his head low, his neck adorned with a heavily rusted helmet, from which came the occasional phlegm-ridden cough through the breathing valve.

Compared to Yu Hong, he was only as tall as Yu Hong’s chest, and his entire body was covered in gray-white luminous stone runes and stealth inscriptions.

The stealth inscriptions were obviously ineffective; the unpowered lines were immediately recognized as useless by Yu Hong.

“I am from Shu Cheng, entrusted by Commander Zhang of Gray City, to come to Black Wind Camp to trade for the necessary resources,” the man said with his head down, his voice humble and calm, completely devoid of the panicked and terror-filled tone of the refugees outside.

“You traveled such a long distance by yourself?” Yu Hong was somewhat surprised, looking through the dense fog behind the man. Not a soul was in sight, and farther away, the view was obscured by the thick mist.

“Not just me, there were three of us. For the safe transport of resources and goods, we have all undergone bodily modifications to a certain extent. Please forgive us, Mr. Yu,” the man who claimed to be from Shu Cheng continued.

“Modifications?”

“Yes… Due to the appearance of high-risk Black Disasters, single-layer Pyroxene Secret Room designs proved ineffective. Thus, the expert group from Gray City proposed three safeguards: reducing the presence of live human scent, increasing the layers of Pyroxene Secret Rooms, and blending in to mask the scent,” Shu Cheng explained with a smile.

“Reducing the presence of live human scent… You all…” Yu Hong’s gaze sharpened, but before he could finish his sentence, he was stunned by the man’s right leg, which he had lifted slightly.

Shu Cheng’s right leg was not made of flesh and blood; it was a prosthetic limb.

Subsequently, he lifted his left leg and then his left hand, all of which turned out to be dark metallic prosthetic limbs.

“Additionally, the amount of living tissue on my body has been reduced to the minimum possible extent.”

Shu Cheng removed his cloak’s hood, revealing bald ears and a nose.

His ears and nose had been cut off!

“According to research, the Black Disaster targets living flesh and is a special group that conducts predation and erosion activities. As such, by greatly reducing the amount of living flesh on our bodies, we can significantly diminish our presence,” he explained.

“…..” Yu Hong was left speechless.

“In addition, all the skin on my body has been tattooed with luminous stone powder, a layer of skin, a layer of inner armor, and a layer of coat—three layers in total. It’s quite laborious to ensure protection without any slips during movement,” Shu Cheng said with a smile.

“What about blending in and masking your scent?” Yu Hong inquired. “How do you do that?”

“Ah, that…,” Shu Cheng emitted a strange low chuckle. He put the hood back on and bowed his head, looking like a hunchbacked dwarf.

“Based on laboratory tests and calculations, we implanted low-level Black Disaster radiated remnants into our bodies. As a researcher, you must know that sometimes low-level Black Disasters are not necessarily inferior to high-level ones. Some just have less lethal power and a smaller range, lacking in expressiveness. So…”

He paused, then continued.

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“…we implanted those types of Black Disaster remnants in our bodies to emit radiation with a Red Value slightly higher than the environment, confusing the scent of living beings… Of course, the cost of this is that our lifespans are shortened to about five years. But that’s all right… Even so, many people are still willing to undergo this surgery…”

Yu Hong was left speechless.

He thought the survivors he had encountered before had done everything to the extreme to survive. But now, seeing Shu Cheng from Gray City, he realized what it truly meant to go to the extreme.

“Well, let’s proceed with the resource exchange quickly, shall we? The items you need, I have already brought some of them,” Shu Cheng said.

“Right!” Yu Hong turned back and carried out Vortex Talisman Plates from a cave; these items were not like Radiation Hand Grenades that required a Black Mark to strengthen and refine the design before processing.

These could be mass-produced with Inner Qi and were not considered precious.

The and two hundred Vortex Talisman Plates, along with a Radiation Hand Grenade, were prepared to be studied by the other party for their structure and design, and afterwards, it was expected that Gray City would be able to mass-produce the Vortex Talisman Plates into Radiation Hand Grenades.

This, in turn, would significantly increase the defense force there.

As for the items Yu Hong was trading for, they were mainly luminous stone powder. After the disappearance of the luminous stone mines, the powder became a scarce resource.

Two hundred Vortex Talisman Plates plus one grenade, consuming less than a pound of large pyroxene stone powder, could be exchanged for two hundred pounds of luminous stone powder.

That amount would suffice for Yu Hong’s use for a long time.

Apart from the luminous stone powder, these items also brought him a barrel of Sunshine No. 7 special material paint.

“Because in the current environment, luminous stone powder will be offset by the Red Value in the air, we did not dare bring much. Please understand. This is just a preliminary transaction. Here, I’m including a simple surveillance system as a gift to you. It can be used with a standard electric plug,” said Shu Cheng, pulling out a white package from the bag he was carrying.

The packaging was the size of a magazine and as thick as a dictionary.

On its surface was an LCD screen surrounded by an advertisement featuring six miniature cameras.

The side was embossed with the logo for Galaxy Technology.