Night of Despair

"I scavenge. Lucky finds, plus I've got decent craft and technical skills," Yu Hong responded simply.

"Right, I have a question," he surveyed the people around him. "Do you know where our dried lizard meat and stuff come from? Can we breed them ourselves?"

"For that, you need to find Old Yu. The mushrooms, cockroaches, and lizards we eat, we buy them all from him," Doctor Xu pointed to a balding old man standing at the edge of the crowd.

The old man wore brown short sleeves, slightly hunched, with a lifeless look in his eyes. He occasionally coughed and seemed to be a bit short of breath.

"We usually call him Yu Toad, because he has a big belly, always likes to stoop and gasp for breath, looking pretty much like a toad. You'll have to go up and talk to him yourself," Doctor Xu whispered. "And I suggest you hurry up; several people have already been asking him about this."

Yu Hong nodded, still wanting to ask more.

Suddenly, the sound of a door opening came from the stone house.

The heavy wooden door was pushed open, and a crew-cut middle-aged man in a camouflage uniform with a large red "POST" printed on the chest walked out.

"Anyone leaving together, come over here to register!" the man shouted loudly.

The crowd immediately started moving forward.

Yu Hong took a step back, waiting for everyone to register.

There were a few others who acted like him, but most of them pressed ahead.

At the safe house in the cave.

Two robust figures clad in camouflage suits with helmets and visors moved quickly through the woods towards the cave entrance.

"This is it."

One of them stepped down to the stone steps at the entrance and looked up at the wooden door.

"Pretty solid. It's on you," he said to the other.

The other man took off his backpack, opened it, and took out a few slender metal tools.

"I've picked too many locks—this is nothing," he said with a smile. "Let's first empty the place of goods, then lie in wait a bit to ambush people."

"Alright, everything's good, mainly after the Large Pyroxene Stone."

"The problem we ran into this time; only the Large Pyroxene Stone is of any use. Everyone up top is desperate now. So this time..."

"Cut the chatter; just open the door."

They chatted idly while keeping a wary eye on their surroundings, approaching the heavy wooden door.

The one with the tools bent down to inspect the lock.

"Such a well-made lock? I hardly remember the last time I picked one like this," he sighed.

Since the Black Disaster erupted, his kind, once petty thieves, had almost all joined the Combined Army.

No choice—without joining, there were no luminous stones. And without luminous stones, an encounter with the shadow meant certain death.

"Quit yapping and hurry up," urged the other, growing impatient.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," the lock picker took out his tools and carefully inserted them into the keyhole.

In the midst of a clicking sound.

The lock picker listened carefully to the noises and felt the feedback from his tools, probing the lock mechanism.

One minute passed.

Two minutes passed...

Ten minutes later...

Sweat beaded on the lock picker's forehead, his hands gripping the tools began to tremble.

"This isn't right! This lock is unlike any I've seen on the market!" his voice shook.

Teamed with Captain Zhao for his lock-picking, if he couldn't even manage his main skill, thinking about enjoying any special treatment in the team in the future... was probably...

"Can you do it or not?!" the other man, having waited ages, was losing his patience.

"I... I..." the lock picker hesitated. This lock was different from any he had picked before; its structure seemed to defy even the most basic principles...

Without taking one apart for examination, he had no hope of getting through in a short time.

"This lock, it's different!" the lock picker said nervously. He took out his tools, intending to try again.

"Forget it!" the other man grabbed him abruptly, "I just checked; there's nobody inside. Let's hide nearby for now, and when Yu Hong passes by on his way back, we'll jump him and nab him."

"So... we're not picking it?"

"Screw picking! Let's go hide!" the other man said irritably.

In front of the post office's stone house.

All who registered went back to their homes to pack, ready to leave.

Yu Hong chatted with Doctor Xu and Jenny for a while, and seeing the postman was free, he took the initiative to approach.

He came on this trip to buy food, and if he could exchange for some good stuff from the postman, it would be worth it.

Especially the solar generator Jenny mentioned last time; getting hold of that, then boosting it himself...

A surge of excitement went through Yu Hong's mind. Having electricity would make many things much easier.

The postman, a man with a cold expression, looked at the newly recorded name list in his hands, a dark stick that looked somewhat like chocolate in his mouth.

Upon seeing Yu Hong approaching, he lifted his eyes to glance at him.

"Registration? Name?"

"Not registration, I'm looking to buy something. Got any food?"

Yu Hong cut to the chase.

"Not registration?" The courier was somewhat surprised but quickly regained his composure. These days, there were plenty of self-important people who didn't want to budge and hadn't seen danger before, oozing confidence. He'd seen many of them.

So upon hearing it wasn't about registration, he only slightly paused before calming down.

"There's food, but not much. Dried lizard, dried cockroach, dried mushroom—what do you want?"

"Take a look at what I have to exchange first." Yu Hong took out the items he had prepared for trade.

A water filter cup, a Large Pyroxene Stone, all in a bag together.

"Did you make this water filter cup? And the Large Pyroxene Stone?" The courier's expression showed interest upon seeing them.

The water filter cup was fine, just a bit more finely made. He had good quality ones issued to him, didn't need it.

But the Large Pyroxene Stone was different, especially with the Evil Shadow appearing recently, it was said that only newly discovered Large Pyroxene Stones were effective.

He had heard of the Large Pyroxene Stone, but this was the first time he'd seen one. The runes on it were more complex than on ordinary luminous stones.

"Where did you get this Large Pyroxene Stone?" he couldn't help but reach for one to take a closer look, but Yu Hong stepped back to avoid his hand.

"I made it myself," Yu Hong replied. "Can we make a trade?"

"Let me check it out first," the courier said, quickly pulling a black box the size of an egg from his belt bag.

The box had a gray LCD screen in the middle, with a round button below. It looked quite rudimentary.

"This is a Red Value detector, a tool that can test the quality of luminous stones. It can also detect the concentration of the Blood Tide in the surrounding environment," explained the courier.

"This can detect that too?" Yu Hong was surprised to hear that luminous stones could be tested with a device, and the Blood Tide...

Until now, he wasn't sure about the official research on the Black Disaster, but it seemed decent.

"Silver Tower's research product, pretty good to use," the courier smiled and pressed the button.

Immediately, there were two beeps, and the LCD screen lit up with a red light.

He brought the device close to the Large Pyroxene Stone, stopping just a few centimeters away.

Beep!!

Instantly, the device let out a sharp beep, with numbers fluctuating quickly on the screen.

Yu Hong could catch a glimpse of some of the values.

The number jumped from 0 to negative 78, then zigzagged a few times and finally stabilized at -81.

"Wow... -81! Impressive!" the courier exclaimed, "The previous luminous stones were at most around -20. This Large Pyroxene Stone of yours has good quality!"

"Name your price," Yu Hong said, getting straight to the point.

"Two pounds of dried lizard per piece," the courier thought for a moment and replied. "I'll take all four of these."

He wasn't short on food, but the Large Pyroxene Stone was something that could save your life at a crucial moment. No one would think it was too much.

"I don't want to trade them all for dried meat. I heard you have a solar generator that's about to be scrapped?" Yu Hong asked quietly.

"That thing can still generate power. What are you talking about when you say it's about to be scrapped?" The courier frowned and immediately retorted. "If you want that, it's two Large Pyroxene Stones."

"The solar battery storage is nearly done, right? Two stones are too expensive. One stone," Yu Hong bargained.

The two started haggling over the price.

After discussing for several minutes, with the courier running short on time, he finally gave in.

In the end, two Large Pyroxene Stones were traded for the solar generator, plus a set of broken air purifiers.

The rest of the Large Pyroxene Stones were traded for dried meat, plus a small atomic lamp.

The small atomic lamp was something Yu Hong got after hard bargaining.

This device was made with radioactive elements as a type of cold light lamp, able to provide continuous lighting for over ten years without any power source.

Of course, its brightness would gradually weaken over time.

But as an auxiliary light source in the cave, it was pretty good.

Soon, the deal was done. Yu Hong was in a great mood and bundled all the items together. The solar generator was actually foldable, only the size of a medium carry-on bag, and together with the other items, the whole package only weighed about ten pounds.

Yu Hong weighed it in his hands, feeling that the month of physical training had made him much stronger, and the ten pounds didn't feel heavy.

After the exchange, the courier hid the Large Pyroxene Stones and sized up Yu Hong.

"Buddy, I advise you to evacuate with us sooner. The bunker won't hold this time. The Evil Shadow is not like the Big Skin."

"What do you mean, brother?" Yu Hong frowned and asked.

It seemed that having obtained so many Large Pyroxene Stones, the courier was in a good mood. Chewing on a chocolate bar, he looked left and right to make sure no one was around, then whispered confidentially.

"The Evil Shadow is different from the shadow; the shadow typically stays in a set area, mainly relying on camouflage for ambushes. But the Evil Shadow... can appear anywhere, no one knows how it moves. One moment it's here, the next it's there."

He paused.

"I've heard internal news, it's not much of a secret anymore, most are leaving already. Of course, just listen, don't broadcast it..."

"Thanks for the tip, brother! I'll definitely keep quiet," Yu Hong immediately responded in a low voice.

"I tell you... the number of people the Evil Shadow killed in this town... an entire street... common folks and the coalition troops alike, not a single survivor! All dead! Uncountable! Too many..." the courier spoke with a grim voice, himself trembling slightly, though hardly noticeable.

"The coalition troops in town, didn't they ask for reinforcements?" Yu Hong's heart skipped, and he quickly asked.

"Silver Tower specializes in research against shadows but replied with isolation, to give up," the courier sighed. "Bro, I hear Silver Tower's response is that each Evil Shadow is different, each with its own abilities, so Silver Tower has given them different codenames. The Evil Shadow in our town is codenamed Withered Woman. Specific abilities unknown; still under investigation. That's why there's no dealing with it, we can only evacuate."

"What about the rest of us, the survivors around here..." Yu Hong couldn't help but ask.

"Fend for yourselves," the courier said somberly, "so I'm telling you to get out fast. Once the town is empty, if the Evil Shadow gets out, it will definitely look for places with people nearby. Our place here, it's a bit close to town..."

Yu Hong fell silent.

He rapidly weighed his options in his mind.

Soon, he asked another question.

"Even if we evacuate with everyone, does that mean there won't be Evil Shadows in other places?"