Chapter 157: Attack is Coming 155
Several kilometers away from Black Wind Camp.
Luminous stone mining area.
Each mine shaft under the dim sky resembled unblinking eyes on the mountainside, pitch-black and deep.
In the mountain forest at the entrance of the mining area, the figure of a man with a stiff body was quietly walking out.
The man wore a tattered gray windbreaker, a white round hat, and a similarly gray-white mask that covered most of his face, with black sunglasses shielding his eyes.
He was about one meter eighty tall, and the brown leather boots on his feet were full of holes and white mold spots.
...
Click.
Click.
The man stopped in front of a mine shaft, and after pausing for a while, he stiffly pulled something out of his coat pocket, grasped it in his palm,
slowly, he stepped forward, and walked into one of the mine shafts, disappearing from sight.
Before long, the man walked out of the mine shaft again, his figure merging with the fog and quickly vanishing.
Behind him, the murky gray mist in the air swiftly surged into the mine shaft, while the luminous stone ore originally exposed on the surface turned rapidly from white to black.
Not only that, at this moment, all the negative radiation within the entire mining area began to diminish rapidly.
As if flowers were on the verge of wilting.
*
*
*
Buzz.
The car slowly drove into the outer courtyard, and Old Zhou quickly stepped forward to close the gate and fasten it.
Click.
The car door opened, and Yu Hong stepped out, patting the wrinkled leather suit.
“Be careful these next few days, pay attention to any movement outside, and don’t go out. We have water and electricity in the camp, and we’re not short on food for now. As long as we don’t run into any issues, staying in the camp for a few months will be fine.”
His voice rose, reminding everyone.
“Got it.” Old Li was the first to raise his hand. “Boss, I won’t be able to sleep unless we sort things out. Can I start with the items from the car?”
“Alright, how’s your injury? Nothing serious, right?” Yu Hong waved his hand, indicating that he could do as he wished.
“Not too bad, not too bad. It’s gotten a lot better with the medication. I’m just a bit tired.” Li Rushan chuckled twice.
He quickly walked to the car, skillfully opened the door, and swiftly pulled out a pile of things.
Various sized boxes, a microwave, a small fridge, and the like were placed one by one under the lights.
“Yo, it’s a Laurel brand. That’s good stuff.” Old Zhou patted the microwave. “My family used to have this brand, it lasted for decades without breaking.”
“That’s right. I took a long time picking these out, and here are your shoes too.” Old Li smiled, feeling as if he had returned to spring from the cold winter snow upon arriving back at camp.
Safe, comfortable, with the boss’s walls and protective technology, the safety level was through the roof.
“Boss, this is the rune you wanted.”
He quickly found a small box hidden at the very bottom.
The box was made of purple metal, an unknown material. On the surface, with engraved, or rather indented, script, it read: Obtained from the ninth shaft, April 2001—Zhen Zhiran.
Yu Hong ignored this name, tried to slide it open, and swiftly opened the box, revealing a gray-white stone wrapped in yellow silk.
Unfolding the yellow silk, the stone inside was only the size of a chicken egg, but its surface was engraved with a distorted, serpent-like irregular symbol.
This wasn’t a compound rune, but a simple symbol. At most, it had only a few strokes making up the bizarre, archaic symbol.
Yu Hong picked up the stone and observed it carefully.
“I’ll place the electrical wires outside, as usual, using the ventilation holes to extend them for everyone’s use. As for the arrangement, we can put everything in the breeding cave to avoid rain damage and allow everyone to share. I’ll go back first to study this thing.”
“Wait, boss, where are we going to sleep? There aren’t enough huts.” Old Li hurriedly said.
Three wooden huts, two large and one small—there were Dr. Xu, Li Rushan, Zhou Xueguang, Aisena—four people needing accommodation. They could just about manage to distribute.
“One hut for Dr. Xu, Old Li and Nana share one, and the remaining one for Old Zhou alone. No problem,” Yu Hong said with some surprise.
“That’s barely enough, but if more people arrive later, it might not be sufficient. Many items need to be kept damp-proof.” Li Rushan nodded.
“Tomorrow we’ll start excavating new caves. Compared to wooden huts, stone caves are safer,” Yu Hong considered for a moment. Wooden huts were built quickly for temporary accommodation, but in terms of safety, stone caves were better.
“Great!”
Immediately, everyone busied themselves, some moving items, cooking food, adjusting household appliances, trying on shoes. The camp was bustling with activity, and even the mentally ill Dr. Xu had a constant smile on his face.
Ding Shao was arranged to stay with Yao Feiling. Yu Hong built a temporary triangular wooden canopy for them with his bare hands to provide shelter from wind and rain, and threw in a couple of luminous stone blankets for them, considering it sufficient accommodation. Ding Shao was far from being considered part of the camp, unless she made amends for her previous actions.
The outer courtyard was constantly patrolled by black lizards, which also served as surveillance.
Yu Hong didn’t pay attention to what Ding Shao and Yao Feiling’s reunion might be like; full of anticipation, he took the new symbol and returned to his cave.
Boom.
Closing the door, he pulled out a chair to sit down and placed the rune stone in his hand on the table before picking up the ink made from Large Pyroxene Stone powder. Dipping a wooden stick pen into the ink, he gently touched it and began to simulate new symbols and practice drawing them.
Soon, a new symbol that appeared quite proper emerged on a piece of white paper.
“I must have drawn countless runes by now, but at least it honed my skill in simulating power,” Yu Hong mused with some satisfaction as he looked at the symbol on the paper.
He picked up a detector and checked it.
No reaction, the readings remained the same as always.
“It seems it’s not the type of Pyroxene Symbol. Let’s try writing with Inner Qi next,” he thought.
He dipped the pen into the ink again, started channeling his Inner Qi, and infused it into the wooden pen, waiting for the state to stabilize.
Then, with another stroke of the pen, a new, mysterious symbol quickly appeared on the paper.
This time, the instant the symbol was completed, the entire sheet of paper underwent a strange transformation.
“Eh… what is this!?” Yu Hong’s eyes widened in astonishment as he looked at the sheet.
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He picked up the paper, turning it over carefully to inspect it.
But no matter how he looked at it, the paper… gave him a peculiar feeling.
It was as if… he wasn’t holding anything at all.
Despite clearly holding and pinching the paper right in front of him, strangely, every few seconds, he would naturally overlook the sensation of the paper in his hand, his attention diverted from the sheet to something else.
“Interesting… it seems this symbol likely has an effect of concealing and reducing presence,” Yu Hong summarized, “If it also works against the Black Disaster, it could totally enhance the Pyroxene Secret Room’s effectiveness, making the encampment even more inconspicuous, even safer!”
As the Black Disaster grew stronger and the world more desperate, he increasingly felt that hiding was more convenient and safer than direct confrontation in dealing with the disaster.
The appearance of this new symbol gave him the chance to fortify the Pyroxene Secret Room.
Although he had previously been able to enhance the luminous stone mats, they were sufficient as they were, and other aspects needed the Black Mark more urgently, thus he had not considered this direction. But now, with this new symbol, he was entirely able to bolster the hiding aspect.
“The most convenient part is that this enhancement does not require the involvement of the Black Mark; I can do it just using my Inner Qi,” Yu Hong’s mood instantly improved. The bad mood affected by Guan Cao’s incident also found some relief.
“Then, let’s name it. Since it has a concealing effect, let’s call it the Concealing Symbol.”
Pyroxene Symbol, Vortex Symbol, Concealing Symbol—these three were the runes he now possessed that could have a significant effect against the Black Disaster.
Among them, the structure of the Concealing Symbol was the simplest.
Right away, Yu Hong began using his Inner Qi, stepping out of the wooden door with the ink and wooden pen, and started drawing this new symbol on the exteriors of the wooden huts around the encampment.
After inquiring about the symbol’s effect, Old Li and the others showed even more relieved expressions.
“I just knew our boss was no ordinary person! Symbols that even the Silver Tower couldn’t figure out, in his hands, won’t last ten minutes!” Zhou Xueguang had started to transform into a dedicated fan of Yu Hong.
Especially as an elite non-commissioned officer who had seen the research forces at the front lines, he had an even deeper appreciation of Hong’s research abilities.
That’s what comparisons do.
“The specific effects are still unclear, but at least they will make you more secure inside your houses,” Yu Hong quickly said, and he didn’t forget to draw it on Ding Shao and the other two’s wooden shed as well.
He still had some expectations for Ding Shao—unlike Yao, Ding Shao had been quite normal from the start. Upon subsequent encounters, she was also very rational and clear-headed. If she could be fully rehabilitated, it would indeed be a great help to the encampment, which was short on hands.
He already had some ideas about her arrangement.
After quickly finishing drawing on all the wooden huts and cave exteriors, Yu Hong looked out at the completely darkened sky outside, although it was only just past four in the afternoon.
He headed toward Ding Shao and the other person, followed by the rest of the encampment still happily trying out new electronics.
The bustling noise was in stark contrast to the quiet inside this wooden shed.
Inside the shed, Ding Shao held a cup of hot water, leaning against the inner wall of the shed, quietly sipping it.
The wounds on her body were obviously treated by Doctor Xu.
Seeing Yu Hong coming, a shade of embarrassment crossed her face.
“I didn’t expect that my wounds would be handled by the mad doctor we initially looked down upon. Mr. Yu, if you have time, I hope you can apologize to Doctor Xu on my behalf.”
“She’s always around the encampment and will come over soon. Apologize to her in person,” Yu Hong said. “I came here to talk to you about your situation.”
He noticed that Yao Feiling a few meters away was pretending to be asleep, in fact eavesdropping.
At his level, following a qualitative change in his body, his five senses could perceive many things around him much more clearly.
Moreover, the frequency of breathing and heartbeat when one is asleep is entirely different from when they are awake, making it easy to distinguish.
So Yao Feiling couldn’t hide from him, but he didn’t mind.
He was willing to give Ding Shao a chance because she was relatively normal, but Yao was not.
“I know it’s not easy to join the encampment, but what do you need me to do?” Ding Shao had matured a lot in her thinking, and being a steady person by nature, she caught on to Yu Hong’s intentions.
“I have a friend,” Yu Hong said. “She is currently missing out there. I will supply you with provisions, equipment, weapons, and so on. Once your injuries heal, I’ll hire you to go to a place for me, to look for her. Bring her back here, to the encampment.”
He paused for a moment.
“If you succeed in finding her, all past issues will be erased, and I will be more than happy to welcome you to join Black Wind Camp.”
His words slightly moved Ding Shao.
“Okay, but with the collapse of the frontline, many dangerous Black Disasters have come in. It’s too dangerous to go out now… The logistical materials you provide, to what extent can you supply? I must understand clearly; otherwise, this is a mission of certain death.”