Night of Despair

Chapter 207: Exploration

Inside the Black Wind Camp.

Yu Hong scavenged the remnants of two corpses but, after some time, found nothing of value; everything had been scorched by high temperatures, making it impossible to identify the original items.

He frowned and first approached the translation device being enhanced.

The translator on the wooden table was a palm-sized, black, square metal box with a large LCD screen embedded on top, complete with full-color touch display.

A camera and microphone were attached to the edges, enabling real-time translation of external speech.

At this moment, the countdown on the translator’s surface indicated that only a few minutes remained.

Yu Hong wiped his forehead, sweat dripping from his body after returning from a workout; he decided to remove his clothes and take a quick shower.

Sss.

He opened the cooling water pipe; the hot water flowing out seemed slightly less than before.

Yu Hong watched the water flow, recalling yesterday’s flow was as thick as a banana, whereas today, it was only the thickness of a pen.

“Is there a problem with the underground water?” he wondered, frowning. The underground water system relied solely on ordinary piped water covered with solar materials. Such protection was undoubtedly the camp’s weakest link.

He occasionally worried about potential issues, but the steady water supply had allowed him to overlook the problem temporarily. After all, the Black Mark kept him too busy.

But now…

“Forget it; let’s deal with the wooden bridge first.”

After a quick rinse, Yu Hong changed into clean clothes and returned to the table on the first floor. The translator on the table had completely transformed in appearance.

It had changed from a metal box into a single-sided earphone with a microphone attached.

The earphone was entirely black with a matte finish, with a row of vague gray-white characters resembling alphabetic text on the side.

Yu Hong picked it up and examined it but couldn’t find any buttons.

Soon, he noticed a very fine row of explanatory text in Chinese on the outside of the translator’s earpiece.

‘Translator: Also known as the Yuying Language Collector, it has the special ability to collect samples, analyze unknown languages, and ultimately provide translation content. Due to *** people being frustrated with prolonged contact with unknown civilizations, this high-cost-performance special translator was created in collaboration with ****.’

‘Collection method: Remove the earpiece and gently glide its back over the sample to complete the collection. Upon completion, a voice progress percentage will be provided, with 100% indicating the translation of the unknown language is complete.’

*Yu Hong could immediately tell that this was another one of those magical objects that the Black Mark somehow procured from somewhere.*

*It appeared to be a mass-production item.*

He clicked his tongue in admiration a few times and picked up the translator, inserting one earpiece into his ear. The microphone on the other side instantly attached to his cheek as if magnetically.

Looking at the translator’s LCD screen like a mirror, Yu Hong found that, from a distance, it appeared as if there was a black tattoo on his right cheek due to its thinness.

“Activating Yuying…” As soon as he wore it, a sweet female voice in Chinese sprung from the earpiece.

“This device requires no operation. Once worn correctly, it will automatically collect audio language, providing the required time and current progress during collection. If you require text translation, you may remove the device in a quiet place, scan the reverse, and then wear it again to receive audio-transmitted translation content.”

“Please select the post-translation language: 1 Chinese, 2 English, 3 Donghe Language, 4 Flica Language.”

*Not bad. It even had default built-in languages.* Yu Hong quickly selected 1. When he was enhancing it, he thought a bit, and the Black Mark thoughtfully added the corresponding content for him.

After testing the translator for a while and ensuring there were no problems and he could operate it skillfully, he turned to other matters.

*Next, he had to repair the Array. The defensive formation could be damaged by a rocket attack; it was clearly not sturdy enough… It needed to be strengthened!*

He walked out of the cave, placing one hand on the ground, silently invoking the Black Mark to repair.

The repair time was quick, just over three hours.

But Yu Hong was still thinking about further strengthening.

Watching the countdown begin, he walked around the camp with his hands behind his back, pondering how to solve the problem of long-range bombing with thermal weapons.

By this time, the Dragon Lizards had already burned away most of the shadows that had invaded the camp with their black flames.

The remaining ones were soon easily exterminated by the Array.

The interior of the Array was a mess. There was still a large crater on the outer courtyard from the previous rocket blast.

Next to the crater, a Dragon Lizard guarded the spoils they had scavenged earlier—a loaded, unfired, man-portable rocket launcher!

Yu Hong walked over, picked it up, weighed it, and, given his current strength, it felt light.

*The only solution to weapons’ long-range bombardment was to set up long-range reconnaissance methods—to discover threats early when they were far away, make judgments, and take targeted pre-emptive actions.* Yu Hong frowned.

*Ground, air, and underground—advance preparation was necessary.* He thought of the defense means in modern warfare—radar.

If there was a wide-range scanning radar, suspicious objects in the vicinity could be spotted early.

But keeping a large-area radar running continuously required a significant amount of energy.

With his current miniature nuclear power generator’s capacity, it might not be able to sustain it, nor was it necessary.

*No need for a large radar; small ones could be set up to scan a few dozen kilometers around, with watchtowers placed in surrounding areas, combined with the Dragon Lizards patrolling in all directions. It should establish a relatively complete defense circle.*

Having developed a plan, Yu Hong returned to the cave and drew it out on wooden boards, recording it for future revisions.

Then, he activated the communicator.

“Cough, cough, cough…” As soon as he powered on and entered the channel, he heard a burst of urgent coughing from the speaker—it was Zhang Kaijun.

“Old Zhang, are you alright?” Yu Hong was now quite familiar with him, and their terms of address had become much more casual.

“I’m okay. Recently, there’s been some problem with the underground water. I’ve sent someone to investigate and resolve it. The acidity in the drinking water suddenly spiked. I suspect there’s a Black Disaster meddling in the underground river,” Zhang Kaijun said calmly.

“There seems to be a bit of trouble on my side too, but it’s not urgent. What about people with closed eyes? Are they still around?” Yu Hong asked.

“They haven’t expanded their territory further anymore. Based on the formation principles of high-risk Black Disaster rifts, we are continually bombarding fixed areas with luminous stones, following specific Red Value adjustments…” Zhang Kaijun, true to his technical background, immediately delved into a theoretical discussion as soon as he started talking about it.

“Stick to the main points,” Yu Hong interrupted, not having the time to engage in idle talk.

“The main point is, we are endeavoring to artificially create Black Disaster rifts because, through exploration, the countermeasures against high-risk Black Disasters are regularized…” Zhang Kaijun said.

“Let me know when you succeed. I’ve got some trouble I need advice on,” Yu Hong lowered his voice.

“What trouble?”

“There are living people, not Black Disasters, but living people. They suddenly launched a single-manned RPG at my camp while I was out. They claimed to belong to a mysterious organization and bragged about being able to walk freely amidst the Black Disasters,” Yu Hong described briefly.

“A mysterious organization?” Zhang Kaijun clearly hesitated. “Any distinctive characteristics? There are quite a few mysterious organizations at this point.”

“None, just dressed in black and wearing protective goggles. At such times, the attire is quite normal, making it impractical as a distinctive mark for tracking,” Yu Hong admitted with frustration.

“Of course, there wasn’t a complete absence of marks. When I tried to search for clues, the two attackers suddenly self-destructed. I personally feel they didn’t want to self-destruct but were controlled. You know what I mean, right?”

“Understood. Being controlled to self-destruct already indicates the organization’s level of control,” Zhang Kaijun responded. “But this is something I can’t help with. Most of my time and energy are spent maintaining stability around Gray City. Regarding various external mysterious organizations, Minister Xin Zhilei is definitely more informed than I am. You might want to ask her.”

“No need, I’ve heard,” Xin Zhilei’s voice chimed in at the right moment. “An organization capable of controlling members to suddenly self-destruct is not commonly seen in my records.”

“Not commonly seen? Minister Xin knows something? Could you give me a hint?” Yu Hong quickly inquired.

This time, Yu Hong was consulting not only about the mysterious organization Ascension Tower he had no clue about but also regarding a situation Zhang Kaijun had previously mentioned.

Briskly explaining the moving wooden bridge situation, both Zhang Kaijun and Xin Zhilei fell silent.

After a moment, Xin Zhilei’s voice resumed.

“This is the Black Migration phenomenon. After the night occupies 99% of the time, we have discovered certain special high-Red Value images that appear inexplicably and move toward certain directions.”

“The Black Migration phenomenon generally doesn’t occur with singular Black Disasters; the trajectory of movement is unpredictable, seemingly lacking in regularity. In September last year, Aurora City had encountered a similar situation. A house, which appeared out of nowhere, suddenly emerged in an abandoned wetland park outside the city, only to disappear soon after.”

“So you’re saying that things involved in the Black Migration phenomenon suddenly disappear?” Yu Hong caught the crux.

“Yes. The Black Migration phenomenon observed so far does possess this characteristic. Now that the nighttime black phases have lengthened, the occurrence of Black Migration phenomena is reasonable. Just avoid their moving path, and you won’t be in danger,” Xin Zhilei explained.

“Got it.” Yu Hong thought of where the wooden bridge led, worrying about what would happen if he entered, and then the wooden bridge and Black Ship suddenly disappeared.

*It seemed a swift strategy was needed—to get in quickly and get out.*

After acquiring the intelligence he needed, Yu Hong sincerely thanked Minister Xin Zhilei and inquired about the status of Stammering Yiyi.