Calamity, Part One (Thank Cyanobacteria God Descends to Earth Alliance Master)

Chapter 25 025 Calamity, Part One (Thank Cyanobacteria God Descends to Earth Alliance Master)

An hour and fifty-one minutes—in other words, two hours—wasn't long for Yu Hong.

He added firewood while waiting.

Before he knew it, the number of black worms outside had dwindled, and a faint light began shining through the ventilation holes.

Day had broken.

He slowly walked behind the door and opened the viewing window.

The mountain forest outside was shrouded in a hazy gray mist, everything blurred beyond recognition. Sunlight illuminated the mist, turning everything gray and white.

Suddenly, a pungent smell reached Yu Hong's nose. He couldn't help retreating two steps, his brows drawing together.

He glanced back at the medicine he was enhancing. There were still a few minutes left.

There was no need to rush, so he quietly sat down and waited.

Before long, the numbers on the surface of the Black Soil reached zero.

Its entire body twisted and blurred in an instant, then rapidly became clear again in less than a second.

Once it had cleared, the soil had become six black capsules arranged in a sheet.

Words were printed on the backs of the capsules: Antidiarrheal Medicine. Directions: One capsule per dose, once a day. Side effects: Abdominal pain, constipation, gastrointestinal discomfort.

Joy flashed across Yu Hong's face. He quickly ran over, picked up the medicine, popped out a capsule, and stuffed it into his mouth. Then he lifted the cool boiled water he had filtered earlier and swallowed the capsule down in gulps.

Only after taking the medicine did he feel somewhat more at ease.

The Black Mark's enhancement ability had never gone wrong. Since it had identified this as Antidiarrheal Medicine, there could be no problem.

The medicine had yet to take effect. With nothing else to do, Yu Hong picked up his tools and used some spare wood to make a new Water Filter Cup.

As long as he made a simple version, the enhancement would perfect it.

While he was at it, he also stuffed a protein bar into his mouth.

The thing claimed that one bar could sustain a person for an entire day, so he decided to give it a try.

Holding the saw and working with his hands, he casually switched on the Radio.

The station was already tuned and hadn't been touched.

As soon as he turned it on, voices came through. It was an interview between two people.

"The major disaster in Youyun City over the past two years isn't an isolated case. According to statistics compiled by the central station's reporters, ever since the Black Calamity appeared, special disasters have been increasing across the country. The casualties caused by Ghost Shadows and Blood Tide Monsters, by contrast, haven't been particularly severe. They caused more damage only during the early stages of the Black Calamity. But in the stable environment that followed, the true cause of the soaring death toll was the Evil Shadow, which is even more dangerous than the Ghost Shadow."

"Evil Shadows aren't afraid of ordinary Glowstone, and they move extremely fast. They are also highly contagious. Although they appear extremely rarely and only emerge from time to time, whenever one shows up, the harm it causes far exceeds that of the previous two.

"This disaster in Youyun has caused more than six hundred casualties, making it comparable to Frica's first case, Charlestown."

"Yes. Professor Han, do you have any advice for us?" the radio host asked.

"Advice? There is only one thing: go to a larger Hope City stronghold if possible. They have more advanced weapons and stronger defenses. An individual cannot find a way to fight an Evil Shadow. Thank you."

"All right. You also mentioned earlier that the Silver Tower Joint Research Institute will soon be releasing the Blood Tide Eerie Shadow Protection Survival Handbook. Do you know whether that's true or not?" the host asked.

"Hmm, I've heard that news, but I don't know whether it's true. However, the environment outside the cities is worsening. Blood Tides, Ghost Shadows, and Evil Shadows are all becoming more numerous, while the nights are growing longer and longer, increasing the demand for lighting. Personally, I believe Silver Tower has the duty and responsibility to publish such a handbook."

"One final question. A listener asks: when a dangerous incident occurs in a densely populated settlement, more people die, and the chances of being caught in it are higher. Just like the Bokefu Incident a year ago and the Music Box Incident five months ago, both of which caused massive casualties. Besides those, even more incidents that never reached the public have occurred in corners all over the country. What do you think of this concern?"

"What I want to warn everyone about is precisely these incidents. Investigations have shown that they were all caused by Evil Shadows. Their high contagiousness allows them to spread rapidly through anyone who comes into contact with their medium. That is the key to the massive casualties they cause.

"As for Evil Shadows, apart from isolating them and dispersing the areas where their mediums appear, we currently have no effective means of dispersing them."

"What about high-concentration Glowstone Bombs?"

"No. The more dangerous aspect of Evil Shadows compared with Ghost Shadows is that after being dispersed, they can recover extremely quickly without suffering any damage. Therefore, if you encounter one, leave immediately. The increasing number of Evil Shadow incidents outside will also cause the major Hope Cities to tighten their inspections of people seeking entry. So I urge all survivors outside to enter the city's bunkers as soon as possible. Otherwise, if you wait too long, you may be unable to get in and find yourself short of supplies."

After that came the closing remarks and thanks. The professor left the broadcast room amid the host's gratitude, and the program ended, replaced by gentle music.

Yu Hong sat on the stool, absorbed in what he had heard.

He hadn't expected the seemingly safe Hope City strongholds outside to be facing such enormous dangers as well.

Of course. More people naturally attract more danger. If I were a Ghost Shadow monster, I'd go to places with more people to find food, too.

Coming back to himself, he sighed softly.

He stood, placed a crude wooden cup on the ground, and, as before, wrapped charcoal in cloth and stuffed it into the cup's mouth.

Finally, he pressed his hand down and activated the enhancement.

A countdown appeared: 3 hours 02 minutes.

"Hm? Why is it taking longer?" Yu Hong remembered that the previous enhancement had taken only two and a half hours.

He looked over his newly made cup. Its workmanship was extremely crude. It was merely a square wooden bowl hacked out with an axe, with a sloppy hole gouged into the middle with a chisel.

It was much worse than the wooden cup he had carefully made the first time. Could it be that the workmanship is why the time is longer? he wondered vaguely.

He silently noted this point down.

After resting for a while and feeling somewhat better, he began enhancing the Water Filter Cup. He also got up to clean, poured out the garbage and excrement, changed into the new clothes he had obtained, went outside to gather firewood, and fetched water from a puddle.

After finishing all those tasks,

three hours passed in the blink of an eye.

The cup had finished enhancing. It was no different from the previous one.

He tried it out and found that it worked quite well.

That day, he didn't run around anymore. Instead, he stayed near the cave and gathered firewood for the entire day.

The dry wood had been soaked by the rain, but it was still suitable for making small things.

Another three hours passed in the blink of an eye, and Yu Hong enhanced another Water Filter Cup.

Including the previous one, he now had two.

He stopped and decided not to continue. Instead, he picked up the tool set he had been using all along.

Little Stutterer had put the set together herself. It contained a saw, axe, chisel, shovel, screwdriver, and more. It was quite complete.

Yu Hong planned to enhance it properly for future use. Otherwise, if it broke before he enhanced it, things would become troublesome. It might turn into a repair instead.

Inside the cave, he gathered all the tools together, wrapped them in a piece of rag, and pressed his hand onto the cloth.

Enhance tool set. Direction: increased durability.

Hiss—the black line flashed. A countdown immediately appeared on the rag: 1 hour 12 minutes.

A very short time.

Yu Hong withdrew his hand, thoughtful.

This enhancement seems to have a lot to do with my requirements. The harder the requirements and the greater the leap, the longer it takes. It also requires a certain degree of completeness, but I don't know how low that completeness can be.

He estimated it mentally, then found a spot to sit down and rest.

The Antidiarrheal Medicine worked very well. In six hours, he hadn't had to go once, and his body didn't feel abnormal in the slightest.

He could preserve the remaining medicine and save it for later use. Of course, he could also take it out for exchange at a critical moment.

After feeling somewhat better, Yu Hong went outside one last time in the afternoon and walked around the surroundings to familiarize himself with the area. Then he returned to the Safe House and went to sleep early.

He couldn't sleep at night. He planned to train his body according to the Advanced Physical Training Method.

Before sleeping, however, he couldn't waste the Black Mark's enhancement time or let it sit idle.

Thus, he first went to inspect the tool set.

When he reached the corner, Yu Hong froze.

The tools that had originally been a heap of broken junk were now all secured in a black metal rack.

Every tool on it had completely lost its former decrepitude and damage. They were all brand-new.

Moreover, the surfaces of the tools seemed to have been coated with a layer of unknown gray-black material. They were thicker as well and looked much sturdier.

"Tsk, tsk. Impressive. This effect after only an hour?" Yu Hong exclaimed in admiration as he reached out and took down a saw.

Some of the saw's teeth had been broken before. Looking closely now, he found that every break had vanished, and the teeth were countless times sharper than before.

After marveling again, Yu Hong began searching for his next enhancement target.

At present, the cave had food, drinking water, and tools temporarily secured.

The only thing left that needed improvement was his sleeping area.

His gaze landed on the thick Stinky Cotton Quilt.

This enhancement even comes with cleaning. I'll try enhancing the quilt once. If it can become moldproof, lightweight, and easy to wash, that would be even better.

With that thought, he walked over to the gray-white quilt Little Stutterer had given him, crouched down, and extended his hand.

Enhance bedding. Direction: moldproof, insect-repellent, lighter, and easier to wash.

The requirements flashed through his mind.

A black line shot out from the Black Mark on the back of his hand and burrowed into the quilt in the blink of an eye.

A countdown appeared: 10 hours 14 minutes.

That long?! Yu Hong was startled. But after thinking it over, he realized that he had made quite a few demands. On top of that, the bedding was larger, and perhaps those were the reasons for the duration.

Ten hours—from now until dawn. He could afford to wait!

His heart settling, he quickly confirmed the Black Mark's prompt.

At once, the black countdown on the quilt began to move.

Flames surged upward. In the open space in the middle of the cave, Yu Hong began jogging in place and exercising.

At the same time, he constantly focused on his breathing and visualized with his mind, coordinating them with the exertion of his muscles.

Coordinating all three was still very difficult.

He kept trying and repeating, occasionally stopping to add firewood as time continued to pass.

Slowly, during the latter half of the night, he gradually found the feeling of coordinating the three.

As he jogged, he gradually began hearing a faint trickling sound beside his ear.

At first, the sound was very soft.

As time passed, it slowly grew louder—and louder still.

It was so loud that even the black worms surging in from outside could no longer drown it out.