Night of Despair
Chapter 116 - 116: Prevention

"Speaking of which, Yu Hong, I heard from Old Zhou that you ran into Du Chengtao when you came back?" Li Rushan had heard Zhou Xueguang's account of his rescue but still felt skeptical.

After all, he knew better than anyone what Yu Hong was capable of; even his basic leg technique was bought from him.

He could understand handling an average expert with firearms and equipment, but taking down Du Chengtao directly sounded a bit exaggerated.

He was well aware of how troublesome Du Chengtao could be.

Yu Hong could handle numerous people before thanks to his weapons and equipment, but Du Chengtao was different.

This guy was a fully enhanced human, and with any random gear, regular bulletproof vests were useless against him, unless they were high-end custom suits available on the market, like the Blue Whale suit—maybe then one could fight him for a bit and escape with their life.

But even that was just for escaping.

Against a monster that could smash through walls with a punch and lift a couple of tons bare-handed, he doubted Yu Hong's gear could withstand it.

"I was just lucky," Yu Hong sighed, "Du Chengtao underestimated me because I didn't seem as strong as him and got caught by my special weapon unexpectedly. Plus, when I encountered him, he wasn't wearing any gear or carrying any weapons, completely unarmed..."

Li Rushan immediately understood.

"No wonder..."

Without equipment, even a fully enhanced human was still flesh and blood—albeit stronger than ordinary people—but that didn't mean they could withstand bullets or explosions without injury.

Only when they had matching advanced gear and weapons did they become war machines, killing machines.

No matter how strong an enhanced human was, without armor, one bullet could still bring them down.

"Let's not dwell on this. Old Zhou's information came just in time this time; we must quickly work together and prepare," Li Rushan said.

The three quickly reached a consensus.

The imminent danger forced them to promptly prepare for future refuge, leaving them no time to think about anything else.

After making arrangements, Zhou Xueguang decided to stay temporarily in the post office's underground shelter to heal and write down protective measures.

Yu Hong quickly returned to his safe house.

Upon his return, outside the mountain cave, new lush luminous stone grass had already grown in the courtyard within the walls.

Seeing the newly grown luminous stone grass, a faint sense of security washed over him again.

Once inside the house, Yu Hong quickly grabbed the solar panel, headed to the car to place it there, and then returned to the safe house to start digging the third basement vigorously.

He planned to dig another basement in a month's time to serve as a dedicated backup room for the nuclear generator and water system.

Time slowly passed amidst stone chiseling and practicing, and soon, two days had gone by.

Li Rushan had already set off for Yuanfeng City, which was even farther than Baihe City, about three hundred kilometers from here. If it weren't for the solar-powered car provided by Yu Hong, it would take Li Rushan at least half a month to get there and back.

But with the car, it would take at most two days on the road.

Of course, that's assuming nothing unexpected happened.

Bang, bang, bang.

In the wooden house in the courtyard, pieces of Large Pyroxene Stone were being smashed by Yu Hong and crushed into powder in a metal barrel, ready to be used as ink material for future enhancement.

He sat inside the house and occasionally heard strange calls from a Multi-eyed Bird in the distance.

Fortunately, these strange birds had become infrequent, and their calls drifted farther and farther away.

In the past, he would have been pleased, as at least it meant the surroundings were safer, but now... after learning some patterns of the Black Disaster from Zhou Xueguang, he understood that this indicated that the high-risk Black Disaster, more dangerous than the large Multi-eyed Bird, was being avoided by those birds.

Bigger trouble was coming....

*Luckily, today's food was almost fortified.* After grinding some more luminous stone powder and estimating the time, he stopped his work, picked up the bag of powder, quickly crossed the lawn, and returned to the cave entrance.

Using the key, he opened the door, set down the bag, closed the door, and eagerly headed to the basement.

In the basement, the previous pile of canned goods and the like had disappeared, replaced by three neat white cartons.

Black text was printed on the cartons' exterior: Emergency Nutrition Paste.

Yu Hong, a bit curious, approached one box and used his fingernail to slice through the transparent tape sealing the box. He lifted the lid.

Inside were green plastic strips each filled with a paste-like substance.

Each strip was about the length of a palm and as thick as two fingers side by side, with fine print instructions on the green surface.

'Standard Balanced Nutrition Paste: One strip daily for adults over eighteen can supplement all essential trace elements needed by the human body, providing the basic calories required for daily activities.'

'Warning: Consume within the shelf life. The nutrition paste cannot replace fresh food. Long-term consumption may lead to anorexia.'

'Shelf life: 1,095 days. Storage conditions: Cool and dry, avoid light.'

"Wow... A hundred strips per box, three boxes equal three hundred strips, awesome!" Yu Hong carefully read the instructions, noting the quantity label with great satisfaction.

Three hundred strips equaled three hundred days' worth, which meant ten months' supply if used by him alone.

'Considering my current increased appetite and that I need extra meals for training, even if I consumed the equivalent of two servings a day, it would last five months! And the critical thing is that it provides all necessary nutrients, so even without mushrooms or wild vegetables, I should be fine.'

Yu Hong quickly opened the other two boxes to check; they contained the same. The nutrition paste even included a small amount of water, and the packaging was airtight and very thorough.

After thoroughly inspecting the food security, Yu Hong carefully moved the boxes to a corner and then relocated the nuclear generator to the newly dug third small basement over the past few days.

This third basement was directly behind the second and first basements, parallel to them, with passages connecting all three.

Only because Yu Hong had grown considerably stronger and more enduring was he able within just two days to excavate a small 3x3x3 cubic space.

This small space would precisely serve to store the nuclear generator and water supply system.

After successfully moving everything in, Yu Hong exhaled, standing in front of the third basement's door, stretching his hand to press against the wall.

'Strengthen the safe house, direction: Integrate the nuclear generator, water supply system, complete the pipeline circuit, increase the wall thickness of the safe house.'

He quickly specified what he wanted to achieve.

This was essentially about utilizing the Black Mark to install the nuclear generator and water supply system into the safe house. Just like with the previous fireplace.

Soon, the Black Mark lashed out a black line, and feedback emerged immediately.

'Do you want to strengthen the safe house?'

A countdown appeared on the wall in front of Yu Hong: 26 days 15 hours 07 minutes.

'26 days, huh....' Yu Hong breathed a sigh of relief, worried the process might take too long, leading to being unprepared when more dangerous Black Disasters hit. That would have been tragic.

Now that there was enough time, then...

'Yes!' He confirmed in his mind.

The countdown briefly flickered, then began ticking away.

Yu Hong stood up, looking forward to what was ahead.

After this, he would have at least twenty years of steady energy and a stable water supply system.

By then, he could start his own indoor farming in another basement. No matter how dangerous it might get outside, he'd be self-sufficient and safe from all those mixed-up threats.

The Pyroxene Secret Room ensured he wouldn't come into the sights of most Black Disasters, completely hiding away.

*

*

*

Baihe City.

The third underground tunnel in the suburbs.

In the dark, wide passage, a team of fully armed, gun and board-wielding United Army soldiers slowly advanced into the depths with glaring high-power lighting equipment in hand.

"Linzi, where are we now?" The man in front asked quietly.

"Two hundred and twenty meters to today's patrol target point," someone in the back quickly responded.

"Good, almost done. After today's patrol, I'll take everyone to Mouse Bar for a drink." The leading man sighed in relief, a trace of a smile appearing on his face within his helmet.

"Thanks, Captain!"

"Long live the Captain."

The group of six immediately grew lively. In these times, alcohol wasn't cheap, and their salaries couldn't justify a drink.

However, while everyone was in good spirits, the rearmost teammate had no reaction. Beneath his helmet, his chubby face was drenched in sweat, and clumps of hair stuck to his forehead.

"Old An, why so quiet? It's rare for the Captain to treat us to drinks. If it wasn't for him about to be promoted with a raise, we wouldn't get an opportunity like this." The female teammate with a red ponytail said in a low voice.

"Um... I... I...." The chubby man chuckled, lifting his head, a blank expression crossing his face within the helmet.

"Old An? What's up?" The red-haired female team member asked with some concern.

"What did you say just now?" Fatty Old An suddenly replied irrelevantly.

"I said, what's wrong with you?" The female teammate repeated.

"I...." Old An lowered his head, "I.... just… want... freedom!!"

Beep beep beep.

Suddenly, a clear electronic sound emanated from him.

The teammates around him immediately sensed something, their countenances changing as they tried to scatter.

But it was too late.

Boom!!!

In an instant, Old An's entire body was shredded and engulfed by massive orange-yellow flames.

The flames rapidly expanded, unleashing a tremendous shockwave that filled every nook and cranny of the passage.

Just like that, the United Army exploration team was completely engulfed and vanished.

"What? Another incident with someone suddenly hearing a sound, becoming bewitched, then self-destructing!?"

In the Baihe City Joint Army Command, located in the underground defense facing the city center's exterior.

A white-haired man, his brow wet with sweat, held a phone, breathing rapidly.

He wore a purple-black army officer uniform, dual military insignias embroidered atop—a ribbon formed of tiny shimmering stars encircling a simple silver sunbird drawing.

Such an insignia belonged within the United Army's ranks to a Major General, the highest military leader governing the entire Earth Level City of Hope City.

The man anxiously listening to the phone call within the underground office was none other than Baihe City's current highest commander of the United Army—Chen Xingzhao.

"In just two days, three patrol teams have been bewitched and killed or injured. Have all bodies at the death sites been isolated? Has distant absolute silence been maintained? Once the nature of the Evil Shadow known as 'Language Person' is understood, it is easy to guard against. How did this escalate like this on your watch?"

Chen Xingzhao was extremely angry.

As long as one was not infected, isolating swiftly could mitigate the Language Person's threat, which was why despite its deadly toll, it only rated as a Fourth Level threat.

"Commander, now is not the time to investigate how the Language Person infiltrated. Immediate action is necessary to prevent its spread!" A determined middle-aged woman's voice came over the phone.

"Broadcast repeat announcements immediately, dispatch the Silence Action Group to start screening; the Lock Light Model trackers sent from Aurora City should barely detect the Language Person's subtle fluctuations at close range," Chen Xingzhao said decisively through clenched teeth.

"Understood! But how should we handle the sites where attacks have already occurred?" the middle-aged woman asked.

"Deploy enhancement squads, approach quickly, and deploy sound-absorbing foam. Completely seal off the corresponding area," Chen Xingzhao ordered.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.