A Night of Desperation-Chapter 96: Countermeasures (2)

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Under the illumination of the electric light, Yu Hong surveyed his surroundings.

A transparent fireplace, still radiating residual warmth, stood in the corner with various items piled next to it.

Against the wall, there was a set of wooden tables and stools, with a sleeping bag tucked underneath the table.

Not far from the sleeping bag, two sets of reinforced suits lay on the ground. To the right, a small wooden crate held several handguns.

Further right, a spiked club leaned against the wall, next to a partially unfolded solar panel that connected to a communicator, a light bulb, and a red-value detector.

Beyond that, barrels of water and plastic bags filled with protein bars, rune Arrays, large Luminous stones, and small Luminous stones were stacked neatly.

u Hong scanned the items one by one, and soon his gaze landed on the previously enhanced Luminous stone, which had fused with a vortex rune.

After days of study, he had repeatedly analyzed the object and could now skillfully draw the rune with ease, succeeding in a single attempt.

However, no matter how much he researched, observed, or compared, the rune’s fusion with the Luminous stone’s original patterns seemed to have no apparent effect.

Seeing it again, Yu Hong swiftly grabbed the enhanced red value detector, switched it on, and conducted an inspection.

Beep.

The LCD screen displayed a red value of -9.622.

“Still the same… Not much change in the data.” Yu Hong sighed with slight disappointment and recorded the new detection results on his notepad.

After jotting down the values, he set aside the charcoal pencil and began contemplating his next enhancement target.

After all, his initial goal was to develop an enhanced technique capable of countering Dark Shadows.

At that moment, a sudden thought flashed through his mind.

“Wait… Now that I have regained my Internal energy, what if I draw these rune patterns using my Internal energy? What effect would that have?”

He had considered this before, and now that he had restored his Internal energy, the idea became even more irresistible. Theoretically, since his Internal energy was derived from Internal force, it could be infused into external objects.

Without hesitation, Yu Hong picked up a wooden board, dipped a charcoal pencil into Great Luminous stone ink, and steadied himself.

Focusing his mind and regulating his breath, he took a dozen deep breaths before gently pressing the pencil onto the board.

A thin stream of inner energy flowed from his abdomen through his arm and fingers, into the charcoal pencil, and into the rune strokes he was drawing.

Yu Hong was extremely careful, wary of using too much inner energy and accidentally breaking the pencil.

Before long, he had expended a minuscule portion of his inner energy and completed a new enhancement rune.

“Hmm.” He lifted the wooden board and examined it, finding no visible anomalies.

Then, he grabbed the enhanced red value detector and switched it on to check.

Beep.

“-138.116.”

“Huh!? That’s significantly higher!” Yu Hong was taken aback. Typically, ordinary Rune Arrays recorded red values ranging from 120 to 130, with the upper limit being 130. It was rare to create a rune board that reached the upper limit. ȓаŊ𝙤𝔟ƐⱾ

Achieving such values required precise coordination between the ink, wooden board, and strokes.

Yet this time, he had drawn the rune casually, with rough and uneven lines, and still exceeded 130!

“Infusing inner energy really does work!” Yu Hong calculated his energy expenditure, which was at most one-thirtieth of his total. More importantly, inner energy replenished itself continuously, making the cost negligible.

“Let’s try again.”

One sample wasn’t enough. He proceeded to test more rune boards.

Before long, several new Rune Arrays were completed.

Checking the values, most exceeded 130, with one even soaring to 150!

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This was unprecedented.

Yu Hong was thrilled and immediately dipped his pencil in ink, grabbed a new wooden board, and began drawing the newly discovered vortex rune.

This time, he infused a greater amount of inner energy, focusing solely on drawing the vortex rune.

Half a minute later, a palm-sized vortex rune board was successfully completed.

After allowing it to dry slightly, Yu Hong picked it up for testing.

“-1.025.”

“…No effect at all?”

Yu Hong frowned. This red value was essentially the base number from the Great Luminous stone ink itself.

He retested with the detector.

Beep.

“-0.992.”

“…It’s decreasing!?” Yu Hong was puzzled.

Unwilling to accept it, he waited a moment and tested again, ensuring the same position, proximity, and equipment.

Beep.

“-0.904.”

“It really is decreasing!” Yu Hong became intrigued.

After all this time, he had tried countless methods to study the vortex rune, but none had shown any effect.

Now, after infusing inner energy into the rune, there was a noticeable change.

Immediately, he monitored the rune board, using the detector every five minutes to record red values.

Half an hour later, Yu Hong stared at a column of recorded data in astonishment.

“-0.889.”

“-0.861.”

“-0.793.”

“The red value is steadily decreasing, by nearly one-fifth from the initial reading.”

Yu Hong rubbed his chin in thought.

“Why is it decreasing? Red values don’t just vanish into thin air. Where is this missing radiation going? Where is it being transferred?”

He closely examined the vortex rune board from every angle.

Then, he noticed a subtle change.

The rune lines appeared slightly brighter than when first drawn.

“Is it just the lighting?” Yu Hong wondered and quickly compared it with other rune boards.

Ordinary Rune Arrays had grayish-white lines with a faint fluorescence.

The vortex rune board, however, had noticeably whiter lines with a stronger fluorescent reflection. Additionally, the lines contained tiny silver sand-like particles.

Moreover, at the vortex rune’s center, a triangular pattern had developed a film-like iridescent sheen.

He pondered for a moment, then brought the enhanced detector close to test it.

Beep.

The reading was zero!

“Could this rune be…” Yu Hong’s heart pounded as a bold hypothesis formed in his mind.

He grabbed the rune board and clenched it tightly.

Crack!

The rune board shattered into several pieces.

At the same moment, the detector blared an alarm as red values skyrocketed.

“-234.772.”

“-391.640.”

“-518.121.”

“-722.913.”

The red value instantly surged past 700, maintained for two seconds, then rapidly declined before reaching zero within seconds.

Yu Hong stared at the wild fluctuations in shock.

He suddenly snapped back to his senses, realizing that his guess was correct—the vortex Rune Array was very likely…

*

*

*

The post office stone house.

A courtyard with crumbling walls, scattered severed limbs, and bloodied remains.

The gray-white stone house with its doors and windows completely shattered, standing empty with not a single figure inside.

Click.

In the living room of the stone house, a concealed stone slab silently rose from the ground.

The slab was the same gray color as the floor, with seams crafted so meticulously that it was nearly impossible to detect.

As the slab was lifted, a tall, sturdy man wearing an advanced gray lizard suit emerged from below.

After stepping out, he moved aside as two more men in similar suits followed.

The three of them closed the slab, scanning their surroundings. What was once an intact post office was now in complete ruins, utterly devastated.

“The second and third teams outside… they’re probably done for,” said the first man who emerged, his deep voice carrying through the helmet—Li Runshan.

“That monster was too fast. The fact that we managed to survive is already fortunate,” the second man replied coolly. “This was their fate.”

“You take the lead next,” the third man said, looking at Li Runshan with a serious expression.

“Alright, stay close. That monster could still be lurking outside,” Li Runshan nodded.

“That thing had half its body blown apart. It won’t recover so quickly. We need to take this time to gather enough Rune Arrays, or the upcoming Ghostly Shadows and even Evil Shadows will be far deadlier,” the third man said swiftly.

“If it weren’t for that monster, our Luminous Stone chamber setup wouldn’t have been compromised,” the second man muttered in frustration.

“Let’s move.”

Li Runshan led the way out of the stone house, quickly determining the direction before heading toward Yu Hong’s safe house.

The other two followed closely behind.

Their pace was swift—nearly a full sprint. While maintaining as much silence as possible, they maximized their speed.

In less than ten minutes, they reached the outer walls of the mountain cave safe house.

Outside the walls, the grass was littered with scattered clothes, shoes, and pants from many people.

Large claw marks covered the ground, tearing up the black soil beneath.

Li Runshan stepped forward, nudging the clothing with his foot.

“It’s from Li Jingyuan’s group—the ones we expelled earlier.”

“They’re all gone?” the second man asked grimly.

“The number of clothes matches up. Most of them are here, which means they’re likely all dead.” The third man responded. He lifted his head and exchanged a silent glance with the second man.

Their internal assessment of the Rune Array trader’s danger level quietly increased once again.

Without speaking further, they moved to the wall and peered inside.

The sight made them freeze.

Within the courtyard, lush green grass swayed gently as Qiu Yanxi and her daughter diligently repaired the damaged ground.

Their clothes were unchanged, their bodies completely unharmed, and their expressions even carried a strange sense of reassurance.

“No attacks from the Many-Eyed Birds here?” the third man whispered.

“Do you think that’s possible?” the second man retorted.

The two exchanged glances again and fell silent.

From the traces on the ground and surroundings, this place had clearly been attacked. But strangely enough, that mother and daughter remained unscathed.

There had to be something here—something that repelled the Many-Eyed Birds!

The realization struck them at the same time.

There must be a method to ward off the Many-Eyed Birds!

With only three people and far inferior weapons and equipment, how could they have resisted the creatures?

There had to be a hidden secret.

And if they could obtain that secret, most of their first team’s safety concerns would be resolved!

After all, the most troublesome threat at the moment was the Rank 4 Many-Eyed Birds.

“Yu Hong! Are you here?”

Qiu Yanxi and her daughter noticed the three men and quickly retreated into their wooden house.

They weren’t about to interact with these people rashly. Their current relationship with Yu Hong was stable, and as long as nothing unexpected happened, they only needed to wait for the rescue team to arrive to ensure their safety.

Since these people weren’t looking for them, Qiu Yanxi tactfully stepped aside to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Li Runshan didn’t care about the two women.

Even among Li Jingyuan’s expelled group, there were people with backgrounds similar to theirs, and they had still been abandoned without hesitation.

In this situation, no one had any real control over their fate.

Seeing no response, he called out again—twice.

Finally, the door to the cave opened.

(End of Chapter)