A Night of Desperation

Chapter 32: Strengthening (2)

Yu Hong planned to take the opportunity to test this value.

Without hesitation, he pressed his hand on the rune array, a thought rising in his mind.

“Strengthen the rune array, direction: strengthen its effect until the limit.”

Immediately, black lines flowed from the black seal, merging into the rune array, and a clear countdown appeared.

“2 days, 13 hours, 09 minutes.”

So much!??

Yu Hong was startled. He recalled the countdown of just over an hour he had encountered earlier.

Comparing it to this more than two days, he immediately understood that the strength of the enhancement could indeed be adjusted, but it required active change.

“Do you wish to begin the enhancement?” The cold, mechanical voice of the black seal rang in his ears.

Yu Hong took a deep breath, ready to try it out.

“Yes!”

He confirmed the response in his mind.

Sizzle!

In that instant, as soon as he responded, the rune array on the door flashed with a jade-like light.

Immediately, Yu Hong’s physical strength and mental energy rapidly began flowing into the back of his right hand, into that mysterious, eerie black seal.

His whole body tensed, feeling as though the black seal had become a vortex, a bottomless black hole, crazily devouring everything in him.

Physical strength, mental energy, even his flesh seemed to be on the verge of being absorbed completely.

As the terrifying absorption continued, he tried to struggle, to stop it, but it was futile.

All his strength was being devoured by the black seal.

“Wait!! I can recover!!” Suddenly, Yu Hong realized, hastily calling upon the two cool air streams cultivated in his abdomen.

(TL Note :- changed Jogging to Cultivate … don’t ask why I just didn’t use cultivate in the first place, looks like the ghostly shadows are affecting me too )

These were his special trump cards, refined through advanced physical training methods.

With his thoughts controlling it, the first stream of cool air rapidly moved, circulating throughout his body, restoring the physical and mental energy that had nearly been exhausted.

But it still wasn’t enough. Yu Hong felt that his recovered physical and mental energy was being continuously devoured by the black seal.

Soon, the first stream of cool air was exhausted. He quickly called upon the second stream. Just as the second stream was about to be consumed, the black seal seemed to calculate his limit and stopped just in time.

Everything returned to calm.

Huff! Huff! Huff!!

Yu Hong collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

He felt as though he had almost been absorbed and turned into part of the black seal.

“Is this the upper limit of the black seal’s enhancement?”

He finally understood that, on a daily basis, the black seal likely consumed only a small amount of his physical and mental energy, so he didn’t feel much.

But this time, in order to enhance it to its maximum, it started to require a massive amount of energy.

Yu Hong looked at the rune array behind the door with lingering fear.

The countdown there finally began to move, indicating that the enhancement had officially begun.

“Now, I just need to wait and see what the enhanced rune array will look like.”

Although the experience had been perilous, after calming down, Yu Hong was even more eager to see the result of the rune array’s enhancement.

After all, it had just scared him quite a bit.

Two days passed. Since the black seal couldn’t be enhanced, Yu Hong spent the time practicing his training methods diligently.

The training method was basically a form of running. The more he practiced, the more he felt his legs becoming more flexible, and his muscles slowly growing stronger.

The next morning.

As dawn broke, Yu Hong set up a small pot, tossed in dried mushrooms, wild herbs, protein bars, added water, and began cooking a rich soup.

Above the fireplace, there was a metal lid, allowing him to place the pot directly to heat it without worrying about smoke leaking out.

Yu Hong stood by the fire, holding a spoon in one hand and adding firewood with the other, stirring the pot constantly.

The protein bar soon melted and broke down, turning the entire pot of soup into a milky white color.

A rich, sweet fragrance slowly mixed with the scent of mushrooms.

In the milky soup, grayish-white mushrooms and dark green wild vegetables floated in and out of the surface as Yu Hong stirred.

But his face remained unmoved, quietly stirring.

After a while, he covered the pot.

The soup smelled delicious, but the taste was hard to describe. And drinking this every day… after dozens of servings, even the best dish would make one feel like throwing up.

While the soup continued to simmer, Yu Hong sat down, leaned against the fireplace, and began fiddling with the newly arrived pistol.

He found that the gun was quite different from those he had seen on TV.

The safety was on the side, not at the back. It also had a simple sight attached: just a small circular lens with a red crosshair.

The side of the gun was engraved with a line of text: “Aurora Manufacturing.”

“Only one bullet, which likely means that the production of ammunition has been heavily restricted. The production line may be down, but it’s more likely that the mine is the problem. After all, if iodine can still be produced, bullets should be easier to make than such a relatively complex chemical product.”

Yu Hong attached the gun, along with its holster, to his lower back. He had already loaded two bullets into one of them.

“I’ve never used a gun, and I’m not sure about the recoil. The best way to use it is probably just for intimidation. If I can avoid using it, I will. If it’s unavoidable, I’ll use it up close to ensure accuracy.”

After finishing this, he began disassembling the solar power generator he bought from the mailman.

He intended to enhance it before using it, and for the direction of the enhancement…

“It’s best to enhance its durability. If this machine breaks, I won’t be able to repair it, and it’ll be useless. So, extending its lifespan as much as possible is the priority.”

Soon, the soup in the pot began to boil, emitting steam.

Yu Hong snapped back to his senses, stood up, and covered the fire to save firewood.

Then, he took the pot off, grabbed chopsticks made from branches, and prepared to eat.

Suddenly, a hurried set of footsteps approached from outside.

The sound of footsteps crushing branches and leaves grew louder as they quickly reached the entrance of the cave.

Thud, thud, thud!

“Yu Hong! Are you there? Something’s happened! Old Yu’s in trouble!!” It was Dr. Xu, her voice urgent.

Yu Hong quickly stood up, checked the Great Luminous Stone behind the door, confirming no energy had been consumed, and immediately knew that it was a human.

“What did I exchange with you last time?” For safety, he still needed to verify some information.

“Iodine! It was iodine!”

Click.

Yu Hong opened the door to see Dr. Xu, sweating and looking very panicked.

She hadn’t even put on her coat, just a tight-fitting gray sports outfit, and had rushed over in a hurry.

“What happened?” Yu Hong asked in a deep voice.

“Old Yu’s in trouble! His place is locked, and no matter how much we knock, there’s no response. We suspect he’s in trouble! I heard you bought a set of stone-carving tools from the post office.” Dr. Xu quickly replied.

“I understand. I’ll bring it right away and head over with you!” Yu Hong nodded quickly. “Wait here.”

He pulled Dr. Xu inside, closing the door to prevent any Ghostly Shadows from entering.

Then he hurriedly found the stone carving tools, grabbed his favorite Luminous Stone wolf fang club, stuffed a protein bar in his mouth, grabbed his water bag, put on his anti-stab gear, and donned a hood. He even stuffed thick newspapers inside.

Finally, he thought for a moment and decided to bring the recently prepared Luminous Stone ink.

As he rushed to prepare, Dr. Xu, who had just entered, stared in bewilderment at the strange safe house cave.

It was completely different from her own.

The ground was covered in mysterious rune-like lines that seemed to be carved into the stone. Some were incomplete, others were intact.

On the wall, there was a huge jade-colored rune array that caught her attention.

For some reason, this rune array gave her a soft sense of security, making her feel very comfortable.

But what shocked her the most was the fireplace.

The fireplace looked like it was made of crystal glass, seamlessly integrated with the mountain rock wall. The flames inside could be clearly seen, lighting up the cave.

Above the fireplace was a metal disk that allowed heat to be transferred for cooking.

The craftsmanship and design… Dr. Xu compared it to the simple firepit in her own cave and felt an indescribable pang in her heart.

Look at this place—there’s even a way to cook and drink hot water on rainy days.

Meanwhile, in her own cave, once the door was closed, she couldn’t dare to make a fire, or else she would suffocate from the smoke.

Looking at the warm and transparent fireplace, Dr. Xu’s eyes showed a hunger that was almost as if she hadn’t eaten for ten days, longing for something that could fill her stomach.

Yu Hong, noticing her expression, felt a chill in his bones.

“Did you make this fireplace yourself?” Dr. Xu couldn’t resist asking. Even though Old Yu was in trouble, her desire for the fireplace couldn’t be suppressed.

“Yeah, I’ve been gathering materials for a long time. It’s impossible to replicate. The main body isn’t something I could have made. I just put it into the wall,” Yu Hong quickly replied.

“It’s amazing.” Dr. Xu’s eyes were glued to the fireplace, not knowing how long it had been since she had peacefully slept beside a fire.

At night, once the door was closed, she had to put out the fire completely, or the smoke would suffocate her.

Now, the temperature had started to drop, and the cave at night was cold and damp, with a musty smell.

But here, there wasn’t a trace of mold, and it was warm as spring.

“Let’s go, didn’t you say Old Yu is in trouble? We should head over,” Yu Hong urged.

Dr. Xu reluctantly touched the fireplace one last time before turning to leave.

“Doesn’t this fireplace need to be put out?” she asked.

“No, once the firewood burns out, it automatically goes out. It also helps dry the house,” Yu Hong responded.

They locked the door behind them and hurried toward the post office gathering area.

About ten minutes later…

When they arrived at the post office, Jenny and her daughter were already standing at the stone house door, holding something and scanning around.

It was a red-screened device that flickered, showing changing numbers.

Seeing Yu Hong and Dr. Xu arriving, Jenny’s expression turned serious as she walked up to them.

“Something’s really happened. The red value inside is already above a hundred!”

“What does that mean?” Yu Hong asked.

“It means there’s something like a Ghostly Shadow in the underground shelter of the post office,” Jenny answered. “But strangely, I’ve checked. The basement door and vents haven’t been opened. Old Yu can’t have forgotten to put Luminous Stone bags behind the door.”

“So we need to break down the door and check! No matter what happened, there’s a lot of dried meat and mushroom jerky in there, enough for us to eat for a long time. We have to rescue it.” Jenny quickly said.

“We also need to think about how to handle food from now on. Old Yu probably has detailed breeding notes and tools.” Dr. Xu added.

“Are we really going to break open the door and go in?” Jenny’s daughter, Eve, interjected. “It’s definitely dangerous inside. I’m not going. Whoever wants to go, go. But I won’t!”

Her face changed slightly as she stepped back, giving a “not my problem” expression.

(End of Chapter)