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“That’s actually a good idea.” Yu Hong nodded in agreent.
“By the way, have you received any intelligence updates recently?” he suddenly asked, thinking of the long-silent Whisperer. Two weeks had passed, and in just a few more days, his self-recovery Rune Array would be fully strengthened. If Whisperer returned during this ti, it would be dangerous.
“As we predicted, that ghostly thing has moved elsewhere. One of the smaller strongholds was affected, and hundreds of people died.” Li Runshan sighed. “Now the higher-ups have started planning stronghold rgers because they’ve realized that as the nights grow longer and the days shorter, the scale and danger of the Black Disaster are also steadily increasing.”
“I’ve noticed that too. The days are getting shorter—I thought it was just a seasonal change.” Yu Hong frowned.
“Of course not. The change is far more drastic than normal seasonal variations.” Li Runshan sighed again. “By the way, have you given any thought to my previous suggestion? About establishing a ring of strongholds centered around you?”
“At this rate, let’s just focus on keeping ourselves alive first. Why bring that up now?” Yu Hong was surprised.
“I went out yesterday and ran into a few solo scavengers digging for Luminous Stones. They were all quite capable. You know, anyone still roaming outside alone at this point isn’t an ordinary person. I also encountered a strong survivor leading a group of refugees. They were running out of food, so I suggested they take shelter in Baiqiu Village.” Li Runshan explained.
“So?” Yu Hong asked.
“I was wondering if you’d be interested in taking them in. I’ve stockpiled plenty of food from the supply team. Honestly, if it weren’t for Whisperer, we’d have no problem handling regular threats.” Li Runshan said.
Yu Hong nodded. That was true. If it weren’t for Whisperer’s absurd strength, he wouldn’t have been so desperate to strengthen his Rune Arrays.
“Think about it. After this wave of disasters, a lot of people have started living in isolation with their own small groups. Larger settlents tend to attract more attention and risk dangerous attacks.” Li Runshan continued. “Also, I can’t keep up with making dried at and mushrooms by myself—the production is too low. We need more hands. If the nights keep getting longer, it might lead to a lack of sunlight. At that point, solar power will be useless, and we’ll have to rely on bioenergy. We also need to continue making candles.”
“If there’s no sunlight, the trees won’t survive either. What are you going to use for candle-making?” Yu Hong was skeptical.
“Good point… Maybe I should set up so human-powered generators or find a way to use biogas for ergency lighting.” Li Runshan sighed. “Anyway, figure sothing out. We can’t keep relying on the supply team. Their trips are getting harder, and the intervals between deliveries are getting longer. If we run out of food before they arrive, we’re in big trouble.”
“That is a serious problem.” Yu Hong nodded.
“That’s it for today. Your water system should arrive in a few days—I’ll let you know when it does. Also, I managed to get so beehive-style synchronous communicators, so we won’t have to run around just to talk. I spent all my savings on this, but I’m determined to fortify our ho! I even got sothing from the Sunlight series… never mind, I’m out of here.”
“Didn’t you say you couldn’t afford the Sunlight series?” Yu Hong imdiately questioned.
“You misheard , definitely misheard.” Li Runshan deflected. “Alright, we’re done for today. Nana, say goodbye to Uncle.”
“Goodbye, Uncle.”
Bang.
Old Li dragged his daughter into the stone house and shut the door, making a quick escape.
Yu Hong was left standing outside, speechless.
“This guy…” He muttered, tapping his staff against the ssy grass before heading out of the courtyard.
Clearly, Li Runshan had managed to get only a limited amount of Sunlight-series gear, probably due to purchasing restrictions. No matter how much money he had, he couldn’t buy it freely. That’s why he was being so secretive about it. ṞΆ₦Ｏ𝐁Εş
After leaving the post station, Yu Hong returned to his cave.
As usual, he checked the countdown on his Rune Array to ensure everything was on track before continuing to dig out his stone chamber.
His underground shelter was actually part of a small mountain, with the cave entrance slightly above ground level. Digging additional chambers wouldn’t be an issue, as they would only extend slightly below the surface, avoiding the Black Insect Layer beneath.
Yes, Yu Hong had nad the area between the surface and the Black Insect Layer the Surface Layer for easier reference. Anything deeper than that was the Black Insect Layer.
Thud.
A large basket of crushed stone was carried out and dumped in a corner of the courtyard.
After checking the sky, Yu Hong turned back to dig again.
Before long, another full basket of stone was brought out.
Covered in sweat, he stretched his arms before using the stones to reinforce the courtyard walls.
By now, the walls were already half a ter high, built entirely from the stones he had excavated over the past few days.
With this much stone removed, the chamber was also nearly complete.
After organizing the stones, Yu Hong re-entered the cave and descended through a stairway into the depths.
He soon reached a roughly rectangular underground chamber.
The stone room was dark and cold, lit only by a dim atomic cold-light lamp in the corner, casting a faint green glow.
Yu Hong clapped the dust from his hands and paced around the chamber, estimating its size by counting his steps.
“It feels much bigger than the upper cave—at least twice as large. This should be good enough for a storage or activity room. I’ll dig separate rooms later.”
He then started carving Rune Arrays into the walls to prevent any ghostly shadows from entering.
Since this chamber was deep inside the mountain with no other exits, it was unlikely that the wraiths had discovered it.
However, ventilation was still necessary, so he needed to create a connection to the outside.
‘Once the water system arrives, I can set it up here. But without electricity, none of the utilities will function. That’s a serious issue. If the nights keep growing longer, we’ll face an even greater energy shortage…` Yu Hong thought grimly.
The ergence of new Devourers during the Blood Tide had already been a headache. Now, the issue of solar energy failing was adding to his worries. This wasn’t just his problem—all of the Hope Cities would face the sa issue.
So Hope Cities could rely on hydropower, geothermal energy, nuclear power, wind power, or fossil fuels. But he was just one person, with no foundational knowledge of these fields, no facilities, and a severe lack of engineering materials. The surrounding environnt wasn’t suitable for utilizing these energy sources either.
If only I could get my hands on a nuclear reactor… He had talked to Old Li about it before and heard that so Hope Cities used micro nuclear generators, about the size of a pressure cooker, capable of sustaining a small city block’s power needs.
Sighing, Yu Hong continued carving Rune Arrays into the walls. Soon, the entire surface was covered with densely packed glowing white symbols.
Clang, clang.
The wooden bucket holding his ink powder was completely empty.
Yu Hong stomped on the bucket, then scraped it with a spoon and tapped it a few tis, managing to extract barely half a scoop—nowhere near enough to complete another Rune Array.
Ti to head to the mines again… All the Great Luminous Stones are gone, and even the small ones have run out. I need to gather more so that once the outer array is strengthened, I can work on refining larger stones.
He had stopped directly refining Great Luminous Stones—it took too much ti. Instead, he had discovered a more efficient thod: grinding small Luminous Stones into powder before refining them. This process was both faster and simpler.
Since Great Luminous Stones would be ground into powder anyway, there was no need to engrave runes on their surface. As long as their material composition was enhanced, they would serve their purpose.
If I have to grind them down anyway, I might as well do it manually first. That way, I can cut down on the refinent ti.
After multiple tests, Yu Hong confird that this thod worked. He successfully reduced the ti required to refine Luminous Stone ink powder from three days to just over two.
Exhaling, he climbed the stone steps back to the cave, lit a fire, and cooked a pot of thick soup, savoring every sip.
Outside, the sky had turned completely dark.
Lying down on his soft sleeping bag, he quickly drifted into slumber, exhaustion overpowering even the bright white light in the room.
In the haze of sleep, he seed to hear voices echoing around him—familiar ones, like Chen Huiru and Li Runshan, as well as others, both known and unknown, happy and sorrowful.
The voices grew louder, more chaotic, until—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Yu Hong’s eyes snapped open at the loud pounding on the door.
He turned his gaze toward the entrance. Through the narrow viewing slit, a bright white ray of daylight stread in—it had been morning for a while.
“Mr. Yu, are you in there?” A deep, muffled voice bood from outside.
Yu Hong exhaled, slowly sitting up and stretching his limbs.
Inside the cave, the fireplace had long since burned out. The lights were still on, but the temperature had dropped, making it uncomfortably cold.
The temperature is getting lower… I need to figure out a way to stay warm. If I catch a cold or fever now, it’ll be a serious problem.
He rubbed his hands together, warming them slightly, before heading to the door.
Swish.
The viewing slit slid open, revealing the broad, bald head of Butcher Xu Fan.
The grease paint on his face had been washed off, exposing two round, slightly brownish eyes that resembled a tiger’s. His nose was slightly flattened, likely from an old injury, and a stitched scar ran across the corner of his mouth—altogether giving him the perfect look of a horror movie butcher.
No wonder they call him Butcher.
Yu Hong was speechless for a mont, waiting five seconds before speaking.
“You’re finally here. I’ve been waiting a long ti. You’re way past the agreed ti.”
“Ran into so trouble… Long story.” Xu Fan looked a bit helpless.
“You step back first and wait for outside the courtyard. Rember not to stay inside for too long—it’s dangerous.” Yu Hong strictly followed the five-second response rule and gave a warning.
Xu Fan acknowledged the warning and hopped down the stone steps, retreating beyond the courtyard.
Only after confirming that Xu Fan had moved a safe distance away did Yu Hong put on his reinforced White Bear armor, pick up his repaired Blue Whale suit, and step outside.
He had considered simply staying inside to avoid potential danger. That worked against Ghostly Shadows and the Blood Tide, but against humans—especially a battle-hardened Butcher—hiding in the cave was a death sentence.
It would be far too easy for the enemy to trap him inside.
A single gas grenade could put him in trouble. His armor had a gas mask, but all his stored food—at, mushrooms, and wild vegetables—would undoubtedly be contaminated.
Against human opponents, it was actually safer to face them in open space. A wider battlefield gave him more room to maneuver.
Of course, stepping outside didn’t an letting his guard down—he carried his reinforced handgun and kept pen and paper handy for quick notes.
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