Night of Despair
Chapter 139 - 139: Development First

"So, what do you want to exchange?" Zhang Kaijun was the first to speak after a moment of contemplation.

He didn't think Yu Hong would joke about such information with them.

"I want to exchange detailed information about other types of Black Disaster that may appear around my location. Since I'm offering information on two types, I expect the same in return," Yu Hong said. "Also, I can't transmit information directly without a computer, so I'll have to provide it verbally."

"You're in the Baiqiu Village ruins mining area, where the main Blood Tide creatures wandering around are Big Skin, elephant worms, and ordinary black bugs. The shadow creatures include Withered Woman, talking man, and the back person among the Disruptors, Speed Man. In about four weeks, a Level Eight Evil Shadow of unknown specific type will approach. I can only tell from the satellite radiation scan that it's highly concentrated, matching Level Eight standards," Zhang Kaijun's cold voice quickly detailed the situation around Yu Hong's area.

"Four weeks later?" Yu Hong's heart skipped a beat. The types mentioned matched exactly with what he encountered in the surrounding area. It seemed the high-risk Evil Shadow might indeed appear as mentioned.

"If the movement of that radiation mass remains unchanged, it should be around that time," Zhang Kaijun answered. "I can provide a more specific encounter time in exchange for the detailed information you provide. Does this seem fair to you?"

"Down to the day?" Yu Hong understood the implication, which was to trade intelligence based on the Evil Shadow forecast.

"Yes. Additionally, if the intelligence you provide is of high enough quality, I will offer compensation based on its merit. As a bonus, I can share information about the Smoke Horn Whale, a Level Nine Blood Tide creature that appeared at the Baihe City port nearby a few days ago. This creature has completely blocked port shipping, severing Baihe City's transport links to the outside world. How about that?" Zhang Kaijun continued.

Yu Hong was startled by this.

"Are you saying there's a Level Nine creature in Baihe City? What's happening over there now?"

He hadn't expected that in his attempt to trade information kindly, he would receive such crucial news from the other side.

Stammering Yiyi was still stationed there as a soldier.

"It has already collapsed," Wei Song interjected with a sigh, "Baihe City's external communications are completely cut off. It's clear that it isn't just the interference from Blood Tide creatures, but also attacks from certain Evil Shadows that can affect signals. According to intelligence from a few survivors who escaped the city limits, the city has been fully occupied by Black Disaster, and fewer than one in ten people survived."

"....." The expression on Yu Hong's face turned grim.

*He had worried that Stammering Yiyi might encounter danger, but he never expected this day to come so soon.*

"Do you have someone important there?" Wei Song, evidently sensing something from the silence, asked.

"A friend," Yu Hong took a breath and replied steadily, "Can you find a way to contact the joint military camp in the city?"

"There's no way," Zhang Kaijun said icily. "The official forces sent three Blood Attraction squads there, all returned with no success. The intensity of the Black Disaster there now is significant. Although it hasn't reached War Level, the vast number of Level Nine and below Black Disasters have seized control of the entire port territory."

Yu Hong was speechless.

*He wanted to see if he could go there personally, but if he left, the luminous stone grass here would disappear, and Aisena and Zhou Xueguang in the courtyard would die.*

*Without the luminous stone grass, even the cave safe house wouldn't hold out for long. Without Black Mark repairs, even a single major assault from a Multi-eyed Bird would quickly break through.*

"You'd better worry about yourself. Another wave of Black Disaster from the frontlines is approaching. If you can't avoid it..." Zhang Kaijun's words carried an unmistakable cold warning.

Yu Hong thought for a moment.

*If he could leave alone now, the luminous stone grass would be able to survive independently. If he had enough Inner Qi, sufficient Radiation Hand Grenades, and more intelligence in hand, he might have been able to undertake a rescue operation for Stammering Yiyi himself.*

*Ultimately, he wasn't strong enough, and neither was the base, so he couldn't manage on both fronts.*

*'If I had more capable people, perhaps I could equip them well, dispatch them as scouts to investigate Baihe City.' A thought suddenly flashed through Yu Hong's mind.*

If he had many capable subordinates like Old Li, he wouldn't have to take action himself in this matter.

Pondering this, he mused for a moment.

"What about survivors? Can you help me hire some strong augmented individuals?"

"There are twelve contactable areas around Baihe City, all with teams that include augmented individuals. But I don't believe they would be willing to go back into the city to investigate or find someone," Zhang Kaijun replied. "In fact, they're facing the pursuit of Black Disaster themselves."

"...." At this moment, Yu Hong felt the shortage of manpower even more acutely.

If he could recruit a few more capable individuals....

"Have you decided? Information exchange?"

The inquiry came again through the communicator.

Yu Hong paused.

"Alright."

Regardless, he also needed to deal with high-risk Black Disaster. He had to grasp the intelligence in advance.

With Zhang Kaijun's reminder, he could detect the approach of Black Disaster more precisely and prepare accordingly.

A moment later, the communication device was disconnected.

Yu Hong held a piece of paper for recording, looking at the specific intelligence written on it.

*'Potential high-risk Black Disasters include Speed Man, tick beetle ball, and Insect man.'*

*'Speed Man: A Disruptor of Level Eight threat level, characteristic: once faced with second glances triggering mental terror, an instantaneous strike will happen.*

*Defense method: When encountering an individual resembling a Speed Man with suspiciously thin limbs, one must remain calm and show no fear. This method can only be sustained twice, and after each ordeal, an individual's mind suffers possible permanent damage, resulting in severe state decline, endocrine disorders, abdominal pain, dizziness, nosebleeds, and other abnormalities.'*

*'Tick beetle ball: Level Seven threat, a vast sphere formed by blood ticks, possessing some degree of low-level hunting intelligence, undeterred by radiation levels below ten thousand in negative value damage. Immune to physical attack damage, regenerates from any injury in three seconds.*

*Reported from Blood Attraction Force, the tick beetle ball lacks a true core, having been ignited by super-caliber radiation blasts, only to regenerate rapidly from remnants and fully recover.*

*Defense method: Direct attacks can't destroy the tick beetle ball, but can force it to reroute. Prepare path adjustments ahead of time to guide it to leave in another direction.'*

*'Insect man: A unique humanoid Black Disaster evolved from blood ticks, Level Eight threat. Possessing some intelligence, extremely fast, capable of rapidly increasing strength by consuming blood. After hunting over a thousand people, it can evolve into a second form, with a running speed of up to 230 kilometers per hour. Its impact force exceeds 3 tons.*

*Can perform short-range flashes, passing through obstacles to attack from within. The maximum flash distance is unknown.'*

"....." Yu Hong silently reviewed the intelligence he had just exchanged.

*Despite the lack of specific countermeasures, the value may not match the two pieces he provided, but these three pieces of intelligence detailed the high-level threats he might encounter...*

*Each of these Black Disasters is certainly worthy of their Level Seven and Eight classifications.*

*Especially the last Insect man.... What kind of concept was flashing inside obstacles?!?*

*This meant that any external protection was virtually useless against it. Such terrifying capability in a Black Disaster was only considered Level Eight!?*

*Additionally, the Insect man's speed was notably fast as well, 230 km per hour... converting to 63 meters per second... just crashing directly with this speed alone would be terrifying impact force.*

Yu Hong didn't believe his protective suit could withstand it. No matter how reinforced, it couldn't withstand the Insect man's flashing.

*'Following the principle of Black Disaster exclusivity, only one Black Disaster typically appears in the same area at the same time unless it's a rare enslaving-type Black Disaster. But these three aren't, meaning at most, I'd face only one of them alone.'*

*He feared the Insect man most, although he had chased cars and ran quickly as well, that was in the forest, and the car itself couldn't go fast. At most, it was seventy or eighty miles per hour.*

*It was a completely different level from the Insect man's 230 km per hour.*

*'Four weeks left... must try everything to prepare.'*

He stood up and paced the room with the paper in hand.

*'Right, I can try using the black lizard for long-range reconnaissance to see how far I can detect danger ahead of time. If it's far enough, I can attempt to use traps to guide it away.'* Yu Hong thought of the Blood Attraction Force's idea, and suddenly a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes.

If the black lizard was effective, it might replace people and act as a blood guide to divert the Black Disaster. After all, a few days had passed, and he now had three black lizards; the incubation speed was quite reasonable.

He immediately walked to the door and looked out at the sky through a ventilation hole.

It was still morning, about eleven o'clock. In the courtyard, Zhou Xueguang and Aisena were learning how to maintain the breeding box.

Clearly, old Zhou wasn't teaching entirely with peaceful times in mind.

Aisena wore a serious expression, hands on hips, occasionally asking a few questions. She appeared extraordinarily mature for her age.

Yu Hong exhaled, gazing at the distant misty forest.

With the paper in hand, he roughly confirmed the direction, then closed his eyes to focus and gather his spirit on the second-mark black lizard.

Immediately, a map of the cave safe house surrounded by darkness appeared in his mind.

The cave safe house extended a straight path on the left side, like a thin gray line leading to a white stone house.

This was the path he had previously patrolled with Black Lizard No. 1.

The slightly larger area around the courtyard was the map expanded by Black Lizard No. 2's patrol.

However, Black Lizard No. 2's expansion was far from smooth.

For days, it encountered large numbers of roaming shadows, constantly experiencing damage, recovery, then getting injured again in a vicious cycle. Yu Hong realized a single black lizard couldn't clear the surrounding shadows.

The shadows also reappeared after recovery, and the appearance speed, due to their quantity, already exceeded Black Lizard No. 2's clearing speed.

*'Then try first to see how far the maximum distance is.'* Yu Hong hadn't tested how far the black lizard could go before.

Remembering this, he immediately directed Black Lizard No. 2 to crawl towards the direction of the highway.

And in that direction was where the new Black Disaster from the frontline was expected to surge.

In the forest shrouded in gray mist,

a stick-like black lizard silently crawled rapidly forward.

The ground had no bugs, only fallen leaves. It seemed as if the entire forest had only the black lizard as a living creature.

Deadly silent and desperate.

Swish.

A light breeze blew, scattering dry yellow leaves, and the tree branches rustled as they swayed.

The black lizard soon moved 200 meters away from Yu Hong.

It traversed one hill after another, quickly extending to 500 meters away.

The sensory feedback remained clear here.

The black lizard continued forward, rapidly sprinting towards the one-kilometer range.