Some forty kilometers away from Baiqiu Village.
Night had fallen.
In the embrace of a tree thick enough for two to clasp their arms around, the white python Guo Xudong was quietly resting in a branch.
He was wrapped in a stone blanket that blocked malicious shadows, making use of its breathable holes to take in fresh air.
As time passed, the night grew deeper.
Soon, a faint rustling sound of insects began to emerge from the ground below.
Guo Xudong suddenly opened his eyes and ripped off the blanket to peer down.
In the soft moonlight, large groups of black insects were surging from the dark earth below, like a fountain erupting.
The black insects, resembling ants, climbed upward in a frenzy, coating the grass around them in a swift matter of seconds.
Waves of black flowed through the forest, searching for any living creature to devour.
Before long, some of the black insects seemed to sense a target and began to crawl up the tree where Guo Xudong was resting.
His expression remained calm as he quickly took out a small bottle, opened it, and poured out some viscous liquid to smear on his body.
Not long after, a foul odor began to emanate from his skin.
This smell quickly sent the black insects, who attempted to approach, scurrying away in panic.
Putting the bottle away, Guo Xudong was about to resume his rest when suddenly a heavy thud echoed nearby.
His face slightly changed, and he stood up to look in that direction.
In the woods, a huge shadow more than a person’s height resembled an enlarged bug, its head sporting a mouth made of many pincers, and it was charging toward him at high speed.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Da Pi? This place can attract Da Pi too? Or has the intensity of the blood tide increased?” Guo Xudong's expression darkened as he muttered to himself.
Seeing the monster drawing near, he swiftly pulled out a specially made rope and flung it toward another tree.
The rope wrapped around the tree as he swung himself away.
As he soared through the air, Guo Xudong quickly dug into his pack and took out an item, pulling off the lid and tossing it back.
The object landed right in the gaping maw of the large monster.
One second.
Two seconds.
Boom!!!
In an instant, flames erupted, tearing apart the two-meter-long body of Da Pi, scattering it into countless black shards that rained down.
Under the illumination of the fire, many surrounding black insects began to evaporate, dissipating into clouds of black smoke.
Guo Xudong showed no signs of lingering, accelerating further away.
He didn’t think that his homemade earth bomb could completely solve the crisis.
The monsters of the blood tide and the malicious shadows were two entirely different breeds, their most significant characteristic being they were infinitely numerous.
*
*
*
The following morning.
The sound of knocking jolted Yu Hong awake, still groggy.
He slowly rose and squinted toward the door.
Yesterday, he had trained late into the night and dug up many stones to expand his new chamber.
Coupled with the reinforcement it took quite a toll on his mental and physical strength.
Thus, he was not in the best condition at the moment.
“Who is it?” he called out.
Thanks to the effects of the stone blanket room, the malicious shadows rarely knocked anymore, so if there was a knock, it was most likely a living person.
“It’s me, Xiao Yu,” came the voice of Doctor Xu, Xu Ruoying, from outside.
“Do you have any food? I’m running low over here. Something came up.”
Furrowing his brows, Yu Hong crawled out of his sleeping bag and put on his pants.
He remembered Xu Ruoying had exchanged enough food from Li Runshan recently, so how could it suddenly be insufficient just days later?
“What happened?” He walked to the door and peeked through the cracks.
Outside, Xu Ruoying's eyes were as red as a rabbit's, looking haggard and clearly in need of rest.
Confirming there were no other people around and that the protective symbols behind the door were quiet, Yu Hong opened the door, swiftly letting her in.
“Alas,” she sighed deeply as she entered. “Last evening, a group of refugees passed through nearby. One family of three sought shelter in an empty cave. I couldn’t help but lend them some food.”
“Refugees passing through nearby?” Yu Hong frowned. “Which direction were they coming from?”
“They said there was a terrifying malicious shadow outbreak in Yuezhe City, Hope City, causing many deaths. They didn’t even have time to migrate. Officials tried to intervene but ended up failing. The citizens are fleeing everywhere, and they were among the quicker ones,” Xu Ruoying lamented.
Yu Hong was left speechless as he handed her a bag of protein bars.
The protein bars had a new packaging, so he wasn't too worried about being discovered.
Previously, Li Runshan had exchanged quite a bit of food with the supply team, and using protective symbols and anti-diarrhea medicine, he had turned some into protein bars.
He had about fifty or sixty of them piled up in the cave, enough to last a long while.
With plenty of food available, he did not mind pulling some out to support Xu Ruoying.
“Should we go take a look?” she asked in a low voice, accepting the food bag.
“Not going. There’s no use in going,” Yu Hong replied after a moment of silence without agreeing.
Though he bore the dark mark on him, he could only barely ensure his own basic needs for living and safety.
As for anything else, he felt powerless.
“Thanks,” Xu Ruoying said, turning to leave with the protein bars.
Yu Hong remained seated on a round stool, pulling out a radio and turning it on.
After a hissing sound, soon subtle voices from the radio began broadcasting again.
It sounded like two men were having a question-and-answer discussion.
"Hopefully we can manage this situation. Regarding the recent widespread black disaster, the relevant departments have found the source. There are a total of seven high-risk malicious shadows identified, causing vulnerabilities in the defenses of Hope City, ultimately leading to the black disaster's breach.”
“These seven malicious shadows have been cataloged and graded by the Silver Tower. According to the public information from the Silver Tower, we learn that the current black disaster is mainly categorized into levels one to nine. The danger level does not represent intensity, only its threat to the surrounding environment and society. These seven types of malicious shadows happen to belong to levels between two and five.”
“Isn’t the lowest level of black disaster easier to handle?”
“The lowest level signifies that we have a thorough understanding of it and can precisely formulate countermeasures to avoid most of its dangers; thus, its risk is very minimal. For example, common black insects, scientifically known as blood ticks, are classified as a level-one threat. However, based on all black disaster statistics from Silver Tower, we find that levels one through nine are just conventional danger levels. There are three higher categories: war-level, nightmare-level, and hopeless-level.”
“I know, the black disaster that Aurora City is currently facing is at the war level,” responded the host.
“Of course, we cannot solely judge the strength of a black disaster based on its classification. If you lack intelligence and knowledge of its vulnerabilities, even a level-one threat can become a hopeless-level challenge for you, inescapable, and certain death,” the other man replied.
“I understand that. But for the higher levels, what aspects does this danger primarily manifest?” the host inquired.
“It manifests in the range of erosion and the desire to erode. Everyone knows that many districts outside Hope City’s core zone are facing new challenges. Hence, my suggestion is to move back into the core zone as quickly as possible to stay behind the Aurora defense line, which will maximize safety,” the man explained.
Afterward, the host indulged in the usual inane chatter, thanking the guests, which Yu Hong had stopped listening to.
The way the radio host and experts spoke about the casualties and defense line collapse in Hope City was void of emotional fluctuation, as if discussing trivial matters unrelated to themselves.
“Have they grown accustomed to it? Or is there another reason?” Yu Hong stood up, pondering. “That level-five black disaster shadow, the Withered Woman, is she one of them?”
He had no way of knowing.
If she was, then with so many levels and types of black disasters, humanity's losses had become nothing more than cold numbers, cheap and frequent.
With that thought, he suddenly felt an indescribable sense of heaviness.
Pouring himself a cup of water, he gulped it down and then began to practice his heavy leg technique.
A warm current flowed up his legs, spreading throughout his body.
This nurturing sensation made him feel much better.
After calming down for a while, he approached the gray lizard suit he was reinforcing.
The countdown was about to end.
He watched the number decrease and glanced over at the stone reserve in the corner; the ordinary stone he had saved was almost depleted.
He would need to head to the mine for more supplies.
Minutes passed, and finally, the countdown for the gray lizard suit ended.
A fuzzy distortion enveloped the entire suit; a moment later, the distortion vanished.
A brand new thick, black, bulletproof suit appeared before Yu Hong.
It looked like the gray lizard suit, but without the camouflage, it was overall thicker and heavier.
The helmet had a windproof visor and a filtering mask; the alloy plating on it was also thicker than before, and the seams were more tightly stitched.
The bulletproof ceramic plates covered nearly the entirety of his torso.
Even the gaps around his neck were reinforced by a high-strength alloy plate.
Feeling pleased, Yu Hong quickly put on the new suit.
This gray lizard suit felt heavier than the previous one, weighing around sixteen or seventeen pounds, but moving was quite comfortable and did not feel much different from wearing ordinary clothing.
Flexibility was minimally affected.
Fully armed, he discovered that a red value detector had been integrated into the collar, with a small LCD screen inside displaying the specific red value of the outside environment.
Moving around in his suit, Yu Hong commenced practicing the heavy leg technique once again.
With the added weight, the heat produced from the technique was surprisingly greater than before.
As waves of warmth spread through him, he pushed the door open and stepped out of the safe house, moving to the open area outside.
Equipped with the red value detector, he could promptly sense any approaching malicious shadows.
After some activity, he recalled Xu Ruoying’s mention of the refugee group.
Perhaps he could barter with them for some new items to enhance his gear.
Plus, with Xu Ruoying alone, she might encounter dangers.
Sensing the remaining four cold currents, Yu Hong turned back to grab a bag of protein bars and hurried toward Doctor Xu's residence.
With spiked boots, the reinforced gray lizard suit, coupled with the heavy leg technique and four cold currents, Yu Hong felt a bit safer.
He intended to check in on her, then return to reinforce the solar power generator, charging up both the radio and red value detector.
Otherwise, they would be of no use once they ran out of power.
Following a familiar route, the suit felt almost weightless on Yu Hong, who had built strength through carpentry and stonework.
However, he found it strange that since practicing the heavy leg technique, the pain in his legs—skin and bone—had diminished, and his sense of touch felt somewhat numbed.
***End of Chapter***