The new research method required a significant amount of time to enhance the black seal.
Fortunately, after Yu Hong combined the vortex rune with the radiant stone, he only needed to wait a few minutes for the countdown to finish.
After a short wait, he obtained a small radiant stone inscribed with entirely new runes.
Picking it up, he examined the surface of the stone. “The new runes have merged the enhancement runes with the vortex runes; it’s not a simple combination. The positioning and sequence of the internal symbols have all changed. However, the material of the stone remains unchanged; it is still an ordinary radiant stone.”
He took out a strength tester and placed it next to the radiant stone, pressing the button.
Beep.
The liquid crystal display on the tester showed a value: -7.221. “It’s no different from before the test,” Yu Hong frowned slightly.
He had checked the data before taking out this stone, and it had only fluctuated around that value.
The red value of ordinary radiant stones was generally quite low, mostly determined by size.
Furthermore, ordinary radiant stones, after being mined, tended to break down into smaller pieces over time. “Perhaps the vortex rune itself doesn’t have an immediate effect; maybe it needs time to ferment.” Yu Hong took out some paper and a pen, jotting down his observations.
His notes had already captured a multitude of previous attempts, using the black seal to eliminate many possible directions. “What if I draw out the vortex rune separately?” Yu Hong pondered.
He quickly grabbed a small radiant stone, picked up a charcoal pencil, and drew a vortex rune on it.
Then he tested it again with the red value detector, recording the data.
However, the results were still ineffective; there were no changes.
Not discouraged, Yu Hong switched to another material to serve as the carrier for the vortex rune.
He continued to test patiently, little by little, working through different ideas.
As night began to fall, he remarked, “Huh? Why is it getting dark so quickly?” Yu Hong shifted his focus from his experiments to the door’s peephole.
He retrieved the enhanced communicator, which had become a square plastic box with four speakers surrounding it.
At the top, there were buttons and knobs, each labeled with its function and number.
Yu Hong studied it briefly and found the switch on the lower side.
He pressed it, and with a click, it powered on.
Buzz.
A clear static noise emitted from the speakers, but it soon faded, replaced by faint voices.
“…four days, we only have four days left.”
“…there are too many people, and we still have plenty of supplies. We need to reduce the number.”
“I disagree; we all endured together through the hardest times. Now that the moment has come…”
A few voices seemed to be quarreling on the communicator, and among them was Old Li’s voice.
He appeared calm, sharing the maximum time their current supplies could support, but the rest was unclear.
Yu Hong tapped on the communicator, producing a loud crackle of noise.
This immediately caught the attention of those on the other end. “Old Li? Can you hear me?” he asked in a low voice.
“Yeah, loud and clear. Is your signal that good?” Li Runshan sounded surprised.
Clearly, he wasn’t aware of the black seal’s quality.
“It's okay, but let’s get straight to the point. I need to consult something with you.” Yu Hong spoke quickly.
Although they had agreed to check the communication at a fixed time each day, the energy used for communications shouldn’t be wasted.
If there was no important information, he would choose to turn it off to save energy and wait for the next day.
That functionality was quite inconvenient and felt outdated.
Yu Hong wanted to complain about why it couldn’t work like a phone, with a ringing tone or vibration to remind him, instead of requiring both to be powered on to communicate.
“What is it?” Li Runshan sounded satisfied with the quality of the call.
“I went to the ruins cave and found another rune similar to the radiant stone rune, but this one seems to have no use. Do you have any research on it?” Yu Hong directly asked his doubts.
He didn’t believe that others exploring the ruins wouldn’t research the vortex rune, so if he could gather some clues through the post office’s channels, it would save him a lot of time and effort.
“Ah, we have studied that rune. To be precise, there are not just these two runes within the ruins, but several you haven’t seen before and have never appeared on the market. However, only one of them has proven beneficial—it's the enhancement rune of the radiant stone we are using,” Old Li quickly replied.
“Since it’s useless, why is it drawn on the walls of the ruins?” Yu Hong furrowed his brow.
“I don’t know. Perhaps the scholars studying the ruins might know something, but when I contacted the higher-ups earlier, I found that our previous anti-jamming communication is now experiencing severe interference. The signal is quite unstable, and I suspect that changes in the external environment have greatly affected the communications,” Li Runshan expressed his concerns.
“Regardless, let’s prepare for a protracted battle.” Yu Hong stated.
“Alright, let’s not linger. It’s getting dark, and I hope there won’t be a tide of blood tonight,” Li Runshan concluded.
Yu Hong acknowledged with a word, and they disconnected the call.
Phew.
He let out a long breath. “Has the communication with the post office been affected too? What if we lose contact with them?”
A hint of worry flashed in his eyes.
Losing contact would likely mean that the supply teams wouldn’t come regularly.
With the current intensity of dangers in the wild, it was very possible that the supply teams wouldn’t return.
“If the radiant grass outside can’t dispel the tide of blood, I must rely on the door of the cave to hold back. But right now, the strength of the door might not be enough to face the tide.”
Quickly assessing the potential dangers, Yu Hong decided he needed to reinforce the door.
The mother and daughter outside would leave sooner or later; that was not a concern.
However, if the supply teams couldn’t reach them, they would have to depend on themselves, becoming entirely self-sufficient. “Reinforcing the door means I need to increase the volume of the safe house, allowing room for storage and breeding. Additionally, washing and sanitation should ideally be separated to prevent moisture and mildew. I also need a training space and a testing laboratory. It’s best to allocate as many compartments as possible now to prepare for future expansions.”
Having confirmed his future plans, Yu Hong quickly sketched a rough design of the underground compartments, initially determining to develop five compartments.
One of them should be larger for indoor training and experiments.
After settling the positions of each compartment, he glanced outside.
The sky had completely darkened, but tonight, there was no tide of blood—just a quiet darkness.
The sky bore no moonlight, as clouds obscured the moon, leaving only occasional flickers of starlight as the sole source of illumination.
Outside the cave, the radiant grasses swayed gently in the wind, casting a soft, bright white glow.
Having taken a nap during the day, Yu Hong now felt energetic.
He decided to cook some protein soup and, after a meal, began his training.
He focused intensely for three hours, exhausting his physical energy as much as possible.
Just as he was about to finish his training and prepare to rest, a faint sound emerged from within his abdomen at the moment he halted.
Sss.
A subtle noise resonated from deep within him.
A great number of unknown peculiar particles were just then infiltrating through his pale skin, penetrating the red muscle layers, and continuously entering the location of Yu Hong’s dantian.
These particles were far more delicate than dust particles; they appeared tangible yet could easily pass through physical matter, like something illusory.
This strange state continued for about ten seconds before slowly dissipating.
“What… is this?!” Yu Hong gently touched his abdomen, feeling a slight chill, as if he had just come into contact with ice, extremely cold.
Inside, he could distinctly sense a new, icy inner energy gradually forming within. “The first inner energy of the second layer has finally been cultivated!” he compared it with what he had learned from the heavy leg technique and finally let out a sigh of relief.
Without inner energy, although his physique had been greatly enhanced, it still felt inadequate.
Now that he had gathered inner energy, he felt a tremendous sense of security.
“I have inner energy now; tomorrow I will start expanding the basement!” His heart felt steady once again.
Inner energy was not only a formidable trump card for endurance but also accelerated the recovery of radiant grasses and provided more energy for reinforcing the black seal.
Its effects were remarkably broad.
With his plan for tomorrow firmly in mind, Yu Hong prepared to rest.
Just then, a spark of inspiration flashed in his mind, halting him in place.
“Wait! Since the walls can be reinforced as a whole and the array can be strengthened as a whole, why can’t the safe house be strengthened as well?!”
Standing in the green light, the glimmer in Yu Hong’s eyes became increasingly bright.
He remained still for a moment before suddenly crouching down, placing one hand on the ground. “Reinforce the entire safe house, direction: increase the number of compartments by 5. Enhance the wall hardness and damp-proof capabilities.”
After quietly reciting his requirements in his mind, Yu Hong waited with eager anticipation for the feedback from the black seal.
Sss.
A black line separated from the black seal, merging into the ground.
Then he waited.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Five seconds.
Finally, a cold mechanical voice sounded in his ears. “Would you like to reinforce the entire safe house?”
Simultaneously, a large black countdown appeared on the ground beneath Yu Hong’s feet.
“24 days, 11 hours, 7 minutes.”
“It really can be done!!” Yu Hong’s eyes widened, and he felt a surge of energy.
He understood what this meant.
It implied that in the future, for the expansion and modification of the safe house, he wouldn’t need to learn techniques or seek others’ help.
He could simply rely on the ongoing synthesis and reinforcement of the black seal!
“Since it's feasible to reinforce the entire safe house, then I can also definitely reinforce each individual compartment separately!”
Energized by this realization, Yu Hong felt as if a door had opened in his mind.
He quickly stood up, walked to the wall, and gently pressed his hand against it. “Reinforce this compartment, direction: increase interconnecting compartments, number 1.”
This time he chose to add only one compartment instead of five all at once, seeking to determine how long it would take for the reinforcement.
Soon, the black line flowed out, and the countdown appeared on the wall.
“4 days, 11 hours, 2 minutes.”
“Just a little over four days! That’s much faster than if I were to dig it myself!” Yu Hong was taken aback, a joyful expression spreading across his face.
Even though his strength and physique had greatly improved, digging through stone was much harder than digging through dirt.
So even with his current strength, it would take much longer than four days to carve out a decent compartment.
“The key is that, after the reinforcement by the black seal, everything could potentially be perfectly arranged for me—the flatness of the walls, the integrity of the entire compartment, and its aesthetics would all be far better than if I had done it myself.”