010 Operation II (Thanks to Du Yi Xi Jiang Yue for the Alliance Leader)

010 Operation II (Thanks to Du Yi Xi Jiang Yue for the Alliance Leader)

After placing the Enhanced Glowstone, Yu Hong walked into the cave again and found corresponding recesses in the ceiling and along both sides of the floor.

He had prepared all of them as places to set future Enhanced Glowstones, with the goal of ensuring the Safe House's absolute security.

These past days, he had been relying on Little Stutterer to provide food, and he had accumulated as many as seven enhanced glowstones.

His supplies were fairly abundant now.

The Black Worm Blood Tide that came once every three to five days no longer worried him much, and the Ghost Shadows that occasionally appeared had stopped showing themselves as well.

According to Little Stutterer, they were currently in the Safety Period. A Safety Period generally lasted about a month, after which it would erupt violently and enter the High Tide Period.

At that time, both the Blood Tide and Ghost Shadows would increase enormously in intensity.

No wonder Doctor Xu dislikes me so much. Right now, I'm effectively dragging down Little Stutterer's progress in gathering supplies. It'll burden her, leave her short on resources, and put her in danger.

Yu Hong understood inwardly.

But he did not take it seriously.

Because Doctor Xu had no idea what he was truly capable of. Setting everything else aside, the effects of Enhanced Glowstone alone were enough to ensure Little Stutterer's safety against Ghost Shadows.

At the very least, it was far, far more effective than ordinary Glowstone.

Ordinary Glowstone could only be used once, while Enhanced Glowstone could be used multiple times.

He just did not know exactly how many times. He would have to find an opportunity to test it later.

With that thought, Yu Hong came back to himself, closed the Wooden Door, and stood alone inside the cave.

Once the door was shut, the cave immediately darkened. Only the striped ventilation openings cast bright golden beams inside.

Yu Hong stood behind the door and extended his hand.

He pressed it against the door panel.

Beneath his grimy cuff, his arm had grown much darker than before, but it still could not conceal the clear black mark on the back of his hand.

Very soon.

A huge black number appeared on the door: 12 days.

"Enhance Reinforced Wooden Door?"

A faint sound slipped into his ears.

Yu Hong's expression tightened as he took a deep breath.

Yes!

He answered fiercely in his mind.

At once, a thin black line flowed from the Black Mark on the back of his hand, burrowing into the Wooden Door and disappearing.

Immediately afterward, the number on the door began changing as well, shifting from 12 to 11 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes.

The digits flickered one by one, appearing and disappearing, mysterious beyond measure.

"Countdown!?" This was Yu Hong's first time discovering such a thing.

Whenever he had enhanced Glowstone before, he had always done so to avoid Little Stutterer and had not carefully observed the process.

Now it seemed that the Black Mark could actually count down. That was quite convenient.

All right. I just need to wait here now.

Yu Hong let out a breath. So far, the Black Mark's enhancements had brought him no negative sensations at all. At most, he felt mentally drained after using it, but a little rest fixed that.

Twelve days.

Then he would see just how effective the Reinforced Wooden Door was.

He was greatly looking forward to it.

After looking at the Wooden Door for a while, he casually picked up a piece of gravel in the cave and tried to activate the enhancement Black Mark again.

But there was no response at all.

He was not surprised.

During this time, he had already tried to see whether he could enhance two objects at once.

But now it seemed that either he simply could not do that, or he had yet to meet some special condition.

Yu Hong was in no hurry.

Once he had built the Safe House, he would have plenty of time to study the Black Mark.

Little Stutterer had gone out and would not return tonight. After resting in the cave for a while, Yu Hong put away the Enhanced Glowstone and headed back toward White Mound Village.

He soon returned to the house by the familiar route.

He shut the door and placed the Enhanced Glowstones in every corner.

Then he took a sip of filtered water to moisten his throat.

The filthy, foul-smelling filtered water had somehow not given him diarrhea. That, too, was nothing short of a miracle.

Having made his preparations, Yu Hong took out a piece of Dried Meat, sat by the bed, and slowly gnawed on it.

The Dried Meat was incredibly tough, unlike any meat he had eaten before. The strips were slender and long, black from end to end.

Little Stutterer had told him it was Lizard Meat.

Yu Hong did not care about that. At least compared to the other two kinds of Dried Meat, Lizard Meat was somewhat acceptable to him.

The other two were Dried Rat and Dried Cockroach. As dusk drew near, Yu Hong lit a candle and placed it beside himself on the bedside table, letting its glow cover the ventilation holes deliberately left around the doors and windows.

Then he closed his eyes and rested quietly.

Nothing happened that night.

Early the next morning, Yu Hong went to wait by the road at the village entrance.

His phone had run out of power long ago, so he could only use the sun's shadow on the ground to make a rough sundial and estimate the time.

After waiting for a little over an hour.

Two figures gradually appeared at the far end of the road, both carrying large bags.

As they came closer, their forms grew clearer. They were Little Stutterer and Doctor Xu, returning.

Yu Hong hurried over and helped support the large cloth sack Little Stutterer carried on her back.

"You've worked hard," he said softly to Little Stutterer.

"H-how, is the Safe House?" Little Stutterer asked expectantly.

Before leaving yesterday, she had checked the progress. It should have been nearly done.

"It's done. The door is completely finished!" Yu Hong nodded earnestly and smiled.

He was in a very good mood too.

"I, bought, waterproof, paint!" Little Stutterer gestured haltingly. "For you, to paint it."

Waterproof paint?

Yu Hong froze at once. Right, he had forgotten that it needed waterproofing. Otherwise, before long, the Wooden Door he had worked so hard to make would become moldy and rot from the tidewater.

After all, he was not a professional carpenter. He only knew a little handiwork and did not know about critical steps he was missing.

Fortunately, Little Stutterer had actually filled that gap for him.

"Right, I actually forgot it needed waterproofing!?" He slapped his hand in lingering fear. "Good thing you remembered, or the Wooden Door would have been for nothing!"

"For this one can of waterproof paint, Yi Yi gave up a third of her Dried Meat," Doctor Xu reminded him darkly from the side, looking at Yu Hong with clear displeasure.

"Now that you've finished it, when are you moving out?" she continued.

"Soon. I'll move out right away!" Yu Hong nodded. "Doctor Xu seems to have misunderstood me somewhat. Just wait. Before long, I'll be able to help Yi Yi live a better life."

Little Stutterer had helped him greatly, and he kept it in his heart. As for the Black Mark's secret, he had now basically confirmed that only he possessed it.

At least, neither Little Stutterer nor Doctor Xu had it. He had asked Little Stutterer, and among the other people she had met, she had never heard of anyone with such a special ability.

That gave him much more confidence.

There he goes again. Nothing but a braggart.

Only then did Doctor Xu cast him a disgusted look before turning away and leaving with her bag on her back.

It was not as if she had never seen people Yi Yi had saved before. Once those people regained their senses and learned a little once they were feeling better, they would leave.

None had stayed more than five days.

But this Yu Hong... He had been here so long already. Nearly twenty days, almost a month, and he still would not leave!

Fine, if he would not leave. But he did not even help with the work! It had forced Yi Yi to spend far more time every day digging wild vegetables and drawing Glowstones, while eating much less than before.

Food had already been scarce. Now that two people had to eat, they had no choice but to cut down their portions to make it last.

"I, believe, you!" Little Stutterer, Yi Yi, came closer and spoke earnestly to Yu Hong.

"Mm! Thank you!" Yu Hong nodded and watched Doctor Xu leave.

Only then did the two return and take stock of what they had brought back inside the house.

There was a large bag of Glowstone. After subtracting the paint, they had only traded it for half a jin of Dried Meat and one jin of Dried Mushroom.

Mixed with wild vegetables, it would have to last them at least three to five days.

Inside the house, the two sorted the Dried Meat together, dividing and packing it into small bags, adding charcoal to absorb moisture, then tying them shut.

This separate packaging was to avoid the food becoming damp from frequent opening.

"By the way, how strong are the Ghost Shadows and Blood Tide during the High Tide Period? Can you explain in detail?" Yu Hong asked as he portioned the supplies.

"Very, strong." Little Stutterer nodded. "Ghost Shadows, can, appear, anytime. The Blood Tide, comes, every day, along with, Ghost Shadows."

"Ten, Glowstones, to deal with, one, Ghost Shadow." Little Stutterer began carefully explaining the level of danger during the High Tide Period.

As she explained in halting fragments, Yu Hong gradually learned some of the dangers of the High Tide Period.

Ghost Shadows in particular could be dispersed more effectively by ordinary Glowstone once symbols had been drawn upon it.

The Glowstones Little Stutterer drew naturally had better effects than those of others, so they could always sell for a good price.

Yet during the High Tide Period, even ten of her Glowstones were needed to disperse one Ghost Shadow, let alone anyone else's.

Yu Hong also asked about candle consumption.

The answer made his heart sink.

During the High Tide Period, one Big Candle would be consumed in a single night, a tremendous expenditure. Of course, they could burn firewood too, but bright light had to be present at all times and in all places to ward off the Blood Tide.

After obtaining the concrete figures, Yu Hong calculated the time until the High Tide Period. Looking at the Old Calendar on the table, there were still fifteen days left.

The Wooden Door's twelve-day enhancement would end by then. If the enhancement was not very effective... things might become troublesome.

His heart grew slightly heavy.

"Then where can I buy candles?" he asked again.

"Uncle Wang." Little Stutterer took out a Simple Map and pointed at a distant spot on it.

"He, was, a former, villager."

"How long does the High Tide Period usually last?"

"Before, it was, one, day. Later, it slowly, became, five days," Little Stutterer answered.

"It can keep getting longer?" Yu Hong frowned.

"Mm!" Little Stutterer nodded firmly.

"I understand." Yu Hong knew he had to hurry.

Over the following days.

He began accelerating the construction of his Safe House. Although the door was finished, the various structures inside had not yet been arranged.

The flue was especially important. If he wanted to light a fire inside, he had to prepare ventilation and smoke exhaust in advance.

This was actually not difficult, because he had previously seen stoves with Chimney Pipes inside the village houses.

He only needed to move one out and dismantle it. After all, the most important parts were those metal-sheet Chimney Pipes.

But according to Little Stutterer, it was best not to venture too deeply into those houses.

Dismantling door panels outside was fine, but if he entered places where the light was too dim, he could very easily encounter Ghost Shadows.

Still, with Enhanced Glowstone, it should not be much of a problem.

One piece of Enhanced Glowstone could withstand several Ghost Shadows. It was far more effective than ordinary Glowstone.

Even so, whenever he thought of the troublesome, dangerous aura of those Ghost Shadows, Yu Hong's scalp prickled, and he had no desire whatsoever to approach them of his own accord.