In a state of excitement, Yu Hong decided not to continue reinforcing the formation that night.
Usually, he would spend the evening enhancing the formation.
By accurately calculating the strengthening time and increasing the number of formations, he would end up with several decent ones by morning.
However, this time, he wanted to test the capabilities of the black imprint reinforcement chamber.
With one hand pressed against the stone wall, Yu Hong focused his thoughts.
"Reinforce the entire safe house. Direction: add a new room, the same size as this one, extending into the mountain. Keep the exterior unchanged, strengthen the door’s resilience, integrate it with the stone wall, and enhance its ability to withstand impact."
A black line flickered, and a countdown appeared: 6 days, 9 hours, and 42 minutes.
"Do you want to reinforce this chamber?" the black imprint inquired.
"Yes!" Yu Hong replied eagerly.
At once, the entire underground chamber flickered slightly before returning to its original state.
The countdown on the wall began.
After completing this, Yu Hong withdrew his hand, feeling satisfied. ‘In just a little over six days, although the black imprint can't be used for now, once the reinforcement succeeds, I can expand like this in the future!’
‘By the time the reinforcement is finished, I expect the rescue team will have arrived.
I’ll get the intel and then retrieve the nuclear power machine.
As long as the energy is secured, the water supply should be easily addressed as well.’
With the reinforcing capability of the black imprint, Yu Hong felt confident that he could seamlessly integrate the water supply system and the nuclear power machine into the entire safe house system.
This saved him an immense amount of planning and modification work.
Without the black imprint, he wouldn't have a clue how to install or integrate those systems into the safe house.
After confirming that the countdown had begun, Yu Hong returned to the upper level of the cave and lay down to rest.
In a peaceful mood, he slept until nearly noon the next day.
He could have slept longer, but the noise outside roused him from his dreams.
Outside the safe house, in the stone-walled courtyard, Wei Shanshan and Qiu Yanxi stood close together beside their small wooden house, facing off against a dozen people outside.
Approaching noon, the daylight was at its brightest.
This group of about ten people included both men and women, each holding weapons such as machetes, wooden sticks, daggers, and handguns.
Some of them wore the same academy uniforms as Wei Shanshan, while others donned camouflage outfits, and some women wore extremely inappropriate short dresses that revealed their pale thighs.
Regardless of their attire, the expressions on their faces were filled with extreme fear and terror.
A few were even trembling.
"Formation! Big luminous stones! We need enough big luminous stones and formations!"
"Hand them over! Give us the formations!" The girl at the front, probably in her twenties, was shorter than Qiu Yanxi but taller than Wei Shanshan.
Her face was unattractive and marred with a rash from anxiety.
She brandished a micro submachine gun, aiming it at the two women inside the courtyard.
"So many people died last night! Damn it, you clearly have many formations and luminous stones, why won’t you give them to us?! Why?!"
Her eyes were wide with terror, and her hand holding the gun shook slightly, clearly afraid and overwhelmed, her voice escalating into a scream.
"Li Jingyuan!" Qiu Yanxi said, struggling to suppress her fear of the gun.
Her body trembled, but she spoke loudly.
"Weren’t you sheltering at the post office? What happened? Why are you here? Calm down! It’s noon now, the danger is at its lowest! Don’t be afraid!"
After all, she was a teacher, and the remnant authority of her position had some effect when facing a group that mostly consisted of students.
"Too many phantoms! We can’t hold them off! The post office won’t let us stay any longer! They are short on formations and luminous stones! We lost eight people in one night!" the girl shouted hoarsely.
"There are too many phantoms outside! We can’t defend against them! Without luminous stones and formations, we’re all going to die! We’ll die tonight!"
Her eyes were bloodshot with panic.
"I don’t want to die! I want big luminous stones! Give me big luminous stones!"
"There’s a luminous stone mine nearby; you can go dig for your lives," Qiu Yanxi suggested, but was suddenly interrupted by two gunshots.
The bullets struck the ground beside her, sending dirt flying and splattering some mud on her feet, leaving behind red smudges.
"Who’s going to the mine?! Am I an idiot?! What’s the difference between going there and dying?! Ordinary luminous stones are useless! I want big luminous stones, give me big luminous stones!" Li Jingyuan screamed.
"I can help you call Mr. Yu out. We can trade fairly."
Qiu Yanxi tried again, but was cut off once more.
"Fair? What the hell! There are so many of us and a gun; why should it be fair against just him?! Everything should be shared!"
"Shared!"
"Yes! Shared!"
"If it’s not shared, we’ll kill him!"
"We’re all going to die anyway! Let’s go for it!"
The tension in the group was clearly reaching its peak, and they were beginning to lose control.
"There's a big luminous stone over there! I saw it!" one shouted, pointing to a large piece of luminous stone in the corner of the courtyard.
"Damn! Let’s grab it!" With a wave, Li Jingyuan signaled a group of boys, and they rushed toward the luminous stone.
"There are formations! There’s food! Get that guy Yu to come out! We want this place!" A tall boy shouted, charging towards the wooden door of the safe house.
They had been expelled from the post office, their identities and capabilities deemed inferior to those of others there.
Due to the insufficient formations and luminous stones, so many people had died despite their shelter in the underground facility.
Such a harsh reality quickly shattered their hopes.
They attempted to charge at the group formed by the families and guards of the joint forces, but after leaving behind a few corpses, they had no choice but to flee.
Desperate, they thought of Yu Hong and dashed toward him for what they saw as their last chance for salvation.
"Charge! Break in! Those two are fine; there must be enough big luminous stones here!" someone shouted as they rushed into the courtyard.
"Why should we listen to a few of them with so many of us?"
"We're all going to die anyway! Just do it!"
Li Jingyuan followed the others into the courtyard, completely ignoring Qiu Yanxi and her daughter standing at the wooden door nearby.
More than a dozen people rushed into the courtyard, trampling through the grassy area filled with luminous stones, charging toward the wooden door.
The leading boy raised his gun, ready to fire at the lock on the wooden door.
Suddenly, the door swung open, revealing a dark figure that struck the boy square in the chest.
Boom!
The armed boy flew back, his ribs cracking under the impact, blood spurting from his mouth as he fell heavily against the stone wall, rolling to the ground and bleeding profusely.
This sudden turn of events left all the rushing individuals momentarily stunned, their movements halted as they focused on the open door.
Inside the door, Yu Hong appeared, standing nearly two meters tall, clad in a complete reinforced white bear armor suit, like a heavy tank.
He held a massive wooden shield in one hand and a wolf-toothed club in the other.
Weighing over three hundred pounds, he stepped forward, lightly landing on the grassy courtyard.
Thud.
His boots sank deeply into the ground, and his descent caused a slight gust of wind that rippled through the courtyard.
The airflow stirred the luminous grass, causing it to bend away from him as the center.
A tangible white mist emitted from his breathing valve, blowing out in two streams along the sides of his helmet.
"I will give you fairness," he declared, lifting his gaze to the crowd.
"This is your repayment to me?"
His voice was deep, awakening a few of the closer individuals.
"To hell with fairness! You have so many big luminous stones and formations while just watching us die! Is this fairness?!"
"Kill him!"
"Death! Use your guns!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!
Li Jingyuan was the first to lift her submachine gun and opened fire on Yu Hong.
The gunfire rang out continuously, bullets hitting the surface of his heavy armor, sparking as they struck.
Not only that, but two other guns also shot at him in rapid succession.
The three guns fired at him, bullets ricocheting off the armor and shield, wooden splinters flying everywhere.
"Foolish!" Yu Hong raised his wooden shield, crouched down, and charged!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
With three swift steps, he charged like a rampaging rhino, plowing into the three people ahead.
They didn’t have time to evade, struck forcefully by the wooden shield and sent sprawling like bowling pins.
Yu Hong did not pause, rushing to the wall, he raised the wooden shield and brought it crashing down.
Smash!
The massive shield slammed into Li Jingyuan, who went flying sideways without making a sound, splattering blood midair as she fell outside the courtyard, motionless.
Turning around, Yu Hong swung his wolf-toothed club, striking two more individuals away as if they were sticks.
Then, he tossed aside the shield, grabbed one of them by the collar, and swung him against the nearby individuals.
Bang!!
The sound of bones fracturing echoed.
The struck individual collided with two others nearby, sending blood spraying.
Finally, Yu Hong hurled the wolf-toothed club to the side; it whirled through the air and struck down two others trying to escape.
Their upper bodies snapped at the impact, and they collapsed to the ground, never to rise again.
He picked up the fallen club, standing tall before the scene of carnage.
"A bunch of weak fools."
He sighed, observing the courtyard filled with blood and bodies, shaking his head slightly before walking toward a young man trying to crawl, his lower body crushed beyond recognition by the shield.
"You!" the man struggled, his bloodshot eyes glaring at Yu Hong, trying to say something.
With a swift motion, Yu Hong struck down with the wolf-toothed club, crushing his neck.
Life extinguished.
He stood there, lamenting the necessity of his actions.
He was not a bloodthirsty man, but sometimes, one had to do what was required.
Completing this, he raised his head to look at Qiu Yanxi and her daughter, who were frozen in place.
Both stood at the entrance of their wooden house, splattered with blood and in a daze, as if stunned.
"Go back and rest," Yu Hong sighed.
"Killing is perpetual. I don’t wish to do this; it’s all their fault."
Qiu Yanxi blinked, suddenly filled with a sense of absurdity.
Watching Yu Hong shake his head and sigh, it felt like he pitied them as he returned to the cave, leaving behind a courtyard stained with bloodied corpses.
Embracing her daughter’s head, she recalled the deranged murderer encountered along the way.
‘It’s not my fault.
They forced me to eat them! They forced me!’ The man’s voice echoed in her mind, strikingly similar to Yu Hong before her.
(End of Chapter)