Night of Despair

Chapter 168: Chapter 166: Awful Behavior
 

The group of people had nothing to say.

“There’s also a pamphlet here, it’s intelligence! Black Disaster intelligence!” Chen Qiaosheng suddenly exclaimed.

Intelligence!

In this world, perhaps the most important thing was the intelligence on the Black Disaster. Who would have thought that even this was considered by Yu Hong!

Everyone’s hearts skipped a beat, and they all crowded around, looking at the pamphlet that Chen Qiaosheng had flipped through.

Stammering Yiyi was squeezed in the middle, with everyone’s big heads hovering next to her. They all wore the breathing valves they had just been given, their eyes piercingly focused on the pamphlet.

The big heads pressed together created an inexplicable oppressive feeling.

Swish.

The first page of the pamphlet was flipped open.

“I am Yu Hong, and this is a record, primarily based on my personal experience, of all the Black Disaster information I have faced.

From low-level to high-level, from Blood Tide Blood Ticks to elephant worms, all the Black Disasters I have experienced will be presented here….”

As the pages continued to turn, Blood Ticks, Big Skin, Small Multi-eyed Birds, Large Multi-eyed Birds, elephant worms, shadows, speech people, Speed People, back-to-back people, intermittent people…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Ɲονɡο.сο

The information about various Black Disasters was detailed in the pamphlet, and it also included a rough estimation of the Red Value strength range.

Ssss…

The group gasped occasionally as they read.

They were not only amazed by the pamphlet’s content but also grateful for their luck and fortune in encountering certain Black Disasters in the past….

*Looking back, it seemed that they had all been dancing on the edge of a knife, with mere moments separating life and death.*

“Yu Hong, said, in the future, could, go to, him, there… resupply, shelter, exchange…” Stammering Yiyi stuttered and added.

“What a boss….”

Slap.

Xue Ningning gave Ou Li a hard slap on the thigh.

“Why did you hit me!?” Ou Li cried out in pain, snapping out of her shock.

“I thought it was my leg,” Xue Ningning sighed.

Ou Li’s face twisted, not just in pain, but also in frustration. She dared to get angry with Stammering Yiyi, but not with the captain….

“It’s true, good people are rewarded, Yiyi, you’re actually the most successful among us.” Xue Ningning lightly patted Stammering Yiyi on the arm.

The force of the slap was much lighter than the previous one.

Ou Li: “….”

She wanted to get angry with Stammering Yiyi, but when she looked at the pile of things laid out on the ground….

Slap.

She turned and slapped Chen Qiaosheng.

“Hey, why did you hit me!?” Chen Qiaosheng cried out in pain.

“I thought it was my hand,” Ou Li said with a blank face.

“Alright, you two, time to get to work; let’s paint the car with this paint first!” Xue Ningning started giving orders.

“Stammering Yiyi and I will…” Ou Li habitually began to speak.

Slap.

Her forehead received a hard slap.

Looking up, she saw that it was Fang Shijun who hit her.

“What Stammering Yiyi? Call her Boss!” Fang Shijun said solemnly.

“No, call her Sister Yiyi!” Chen Xinji, standing beside Fang Shijun, laughed.

“From now on, call her Sister Yiyi!” Xue Ningning declared with a wave of her hand, setting it in stone.

Bringing back so many good things from a trip, she’s not just a sister; she’s a beam of light! The dawn of salvation!!

Everyone was laughing joyously, except for Stammering Yiyi, who felt a bit confused, unsure of what they were laughing at. But when she saw everyone laughing, she laughed too.

An’an, watching the scene from the side, sighed silently.

*

*

*

Three days later….

Boom!

A massive tremor, like an earthquake, came continuously from a distant place.

Yu Hong was startled awake inside the mountain cave.

Pff.

He suddenly opened his eyes, sat up, and looked around vigilantly.

He quickly realized that the entire cave was trembling, shaking slightly.

*What’s going on!?* He furrowed his brows, wriggled out of his sleeping bag, quickly put on his enhanced suit, and dashed out of the cave.

In the inner courtyard of the camp, Li Rushan, his daughter, Doctor Xu, and Ding Shao all came out of their rooms one after another. Ding Shao was about to knock on the door to remind him when he saw Yu Hong coming out.

“Did an earthquake occur?” Yu Hong asked in a deep voice.

They all shook their heads and looked up at the sky.

Yu Hong followed their gaze, looking in the same direction.

This look took him by surprise.

It was just past five in the morning, a time when it usually remained dark, yet at this moment, a white light lit up the distant horizon.

Most of the sky was still dark, with only the direction facing the camp showing a line of faint white light.

The white light illuminated the black clouds at the horizon, painting them the same pale white.

For a moment, the light forcibly transformed the sky into what it would look like at sunrise.

“What is that!?” Ding Shao murmured softly.

This question was not just hers but also asked by the others in the camp.

But no one knew—even the worldly and experienced Old Li couldn’t explain the scene.

The white light in the sky persisted for more than half a minute before slowly fading and disappearing.

The sky returned to its previous darkness.

Yu Hong felt the ground shake calming down, yet a sense of unease lingered in his heart.

He wasn’t sure why he felt this way, but…. he had a vague sense it might be related to the white light and the tremor just now.

“Everyone, go back to sleep. It’s not daylight yet,” he instructed in a deep voice.

“I remembered something…” Li Rushan suddenly spoke, catching everyone’s attention immediately.

“I remembered what that light and tremor might be….” he said with a grave expression.

The others focused their attention on him, waiting for his answer.

Yu Hong was also staring at him.

“Does it affect our camp?” he asked earnestly.

“It might, or it might not,” Li Rushan couldn’t give a definitive answer.

He paused.

“That’s Vleka’s Giant God Bomb…. I’ve seen that kind of light and tremor at the post office once before….”

“What’s a Giant God Bomb?” Yu Hong asked. He knew about Vleka, the world’s strongest nation alongside the East River. The initial outbreak of the Black Disaster first occurred in Vleka.

The first generation of Aurora City and the now-destroyed Silver Tower were also established within Vleka.

“It’s a hydrogen bomb. A super powerful hydrogen bomb….” Li Rushan replied.

Yu Hong fell silent.

He looked again in the direction of where the white light had appeared.

After a long silence, he slowly opened his mouth to speak.

“This suggests that there might still be many people alive in that direction. The United Forces might also still be around. But who knows what kind of Black Disaster requires a Giant God Bomb, the ultimate human weapon.”

Hydrogen bombs were known as man-made suns, wielding the power of the sun. He couldn’t fathom what kind of Black Disaster would necessitate such a weapon.

However, this explosion further heightened Yu Hong’s concerns about the camp’s safety.

Returning to the cave, he focused and continued practicing the Thunderbolt Leg Technique for a while.

Naturally, the seventh stream of Inner Qi quietly converged successfully.

These days, he had been diligently practicing Inner Qi. After optimizing with the Infinite Qi Condensing Technique, the cultivation speed of the Thunderbolt Leg Technique had increased significantly.

He was now unknowingly close to breaking through to the Third Layer.

Nonetheless, the progress in his own cultivation still lagged far behind the increasing danger outside.

It was only the arrays and mysterious symbols that could quickly form combat power that Yu Hong truly relied on.

After gathering the seventh stream of Inner Qi in the Second Layer, Yu Hong did not linger. He headed to the basement to check the almost-complete enhancement of the air purifier.

On the purifier’s white surface, the dark red countdown numbers showed only five minutes remaining.

He simply sat cross-legged nearby, patiently waiting.

*This time, I must enhance the Black Wind Protection Array as much as possible to ensure the basic safety of the camp…. It’s best to incorporate the newly acquired Concealing Symbol. Combine it with the inner courtyard wall, integrating the wall into the array….*

Watching the countdown, he pondered the details for the upcoming enhancement in his mind.

Not long after, five minutes had passed.

The air purifier flashed momentarily, blurring.

When it cleared up again, the object had transformed significantly.

The previously white body had deformed and shrunk into a cylindrical single-tub washing machine shape.

The LCD on the side of the machine was still there, displaying various indicators at the moment.

Yu Hong moved closer, carefully reading these indicators.

*Dust particle detection, toxic gas detection, radiation detection, oxygen level detection, humidity, temperature, pressure value, purification time, airflow….*

He picked up the power cord and plugged it into the outlet on the wall.

Ding dong.

A light sound indicated the new purifier began operating on its own, conducting tests, with the LCD screen lighting up in a glaring red light.

Both the dust particle and toxic gas detections displayed critical pollution warnings.

The machine began purifying automatically.

A whooshing airflow was expelled from the top of the machine, spreading around the room.

The air suddenly took on a fresh, forest-like scent.

“Not bad,” Yu Hong nodded slightly, no longer paying attention to it. As long as it resolved the air quality issue, it was fine.

The key next was the array.

Leaving the machine running, he headed up to the first floor, grabbed a large stack of Concealing Symbol plates, opened the door, and stepped outside, arriving in the empty inner courtyard.

No one was in the inner courtyard; everyone else continued resting, with only one external lamp hanging outside, casting faint white light to deter any possible Blood Tide Black Insects.

Yu Hong crouched down, gently pressing on the ground.

*Enhance the Black Wind Protection Array.*

In his mind, he regarded the surrounding wall and the newly crafted Concealing Symbol plates as a whole, simultaneously strengthening them.

*Direction: Increase damage against Black Disasters, enhance array’s energy storage capacity, expand array’s coverage area, extreme reinforcement.*

Power, quantity, and size determined how strong the array’s opponents could be, how many there were, and the buffer zone it created.

*Enhance the Black Wind Protection Array?* The inquiry from the Black Mark arrived.

Yu Hong took a deep breath, prepping himself.

*Yes!*

He firmly responded.

Hiss!!

Instantly, the Black Mark on his hand back swirled like a vortex, forcibly drawing all his energy and spirit.

A massive amount of effort flooded into the Black Mark, incessantly, at rapid speed.

Eventually, Yu Hong could barely hold on, releasing a stream of Inner Qi instantly rejuvenating himself, only to be absorbed once again.

Repeating this process continuously.

Until the last seventh stream of Inner Qi was completely exhausted.

With a thud, Yu Hong sat on the ground, panting, dizzy, and the Black Mark’s devouring ended.

A dark red countdown timer surfaced on the ground, only visible to him.

*17 days, 9 hours, and 17 minutes.*

Getting up, Yu Hong reached out to steady himself against the stone wall.

*Single array reinforcements will only become increasingly difficult, and consumption increasingly substantial. After this, I probably should consider strategies involving multiple overlapping arrays….*

*For instance, using the Black Wind Protection Array as the main offensive, supported by slowing arrays, weakening arrays, illusion arrays…. If only I could develop something akin to automatic defense towers…. myriad tower defense games I’d played in the past…*