"Scavenging corpses. I was lucky, and I'm pretty good with my hands." Yu Hong answered simply.
"By the way, I want to ask you something." He looked around at the people nearby. "Do you know where the dried Lizard Meat and the like we eat come from? Could we raise them ourselves?"
"For that, you'll have to find Lao Yu. The mushrooms, cockroaches, and lizards we eat are all bought from him." Doctor Xu pointed toward a bald old man standing at the edge of the group in the distance.
The old man wore a brown short-sleeved shirt and was slightly stooped. His eyes were dull, and every now and then he lowered his head to cough twice, as if he were a little short of breath.
"We usually call him Yu Toad because he has a big belly and always likes to lower his head and gasp for breath. He looks pretty much like a toad. If you want to ask him, go over and talk to him yourself." Doctor Xu lowered her voice. "And I advise you to hurry. Several people have already asked him about this."
Yu Hong nodded, still wanting to ask more.
Suddenly, a burst of door-opening sounds came from the Stone House.
The heavy Wood Door was pushed open, and a middle-aged man with a crew cut stepped out. A large character meaning "mail" was printed across the chest of his camouflage uniform, its red strokes bright and clear.
"Anyone leaving with us, come over and register!" the man bellowed.
The crowd immediately surged forward.
Yu Hong took a step back and waited for everyone to register.
Several others did the same as him, but most of the people pushed forward.
At the Mountain Cave Safe House.
Two sturdy figures in camouflage uniforms, helmets, and face shields quickly appeared from among the woods. They approached and walked toward the cave.
"This is the place."
One of them walked to the bottom of the stone steps at the cave entrance and looked up at the Wood Door.
"It's pretty sturdy. You're up." He looked at the other man.
The other man took off his backpack, opened it, and pulled out several slender metal tools.
"I've picked plenty of locks. This is child's play." He smiled. "We'll move everything out first, then wait nearby and ambush anyone who comes."
"Good. Everything else is fine. The main thing is the Large Glowstone."
"Of all the trouble we've run into this time, only the Large Glowstone is useful. The higher-ups are practically frantic over it. So this time..."
"All right, enough chatter. Open the door first."
The two chatted as they warily scanned their surroundings and climbed up to the heavy Wood Door.
The man with the tools lowered his head and examined the keyhole.
"What a neatly made lock. I don't even know how long it's been since I last picked one." He sighed.
Ever since the Black Calamity erupted, people with skills like his—originally limited to petty theft—had practically all joined the United Army.
There was no choice. Without joining, there was no Glowstone. And without Glowstone, encountering a Ghost Shadow meant certain death.
"Cut the crap and hurry up." The other man urged him from behind.
"I know, I know. Stop rushing me." The lock picker took out his tools and carefully inserted one into the keyhole.
Amid the clicking sounds,
the lock picker listened closely to the noises, felt the feedback from the tool, and probed the lock's construction.
A minute passed.
Two minutes passed. Ten minutes passed. Sweat gathered faster and faster on the lock picker's forehead, while the tool in his hand trembled increasingly hard.
"This isn't right! This lock is different from every lock on the market!" His voice trembled.
Team Leader Zhao had hired him specifically to open doors and pick locks. If he couldn't even handle his old trade, then trying to enjoy special treatment in the team later would probably be—
"Are you actually capable of doing this or not!?" The other man had waited for ages and was already impatient.
"I... I..." The lock picker hesitated. This lock was completely different from every lock he had opened before. Its construction seemed to violate even the most basic principles. Unless he dismantled it and studied it, he could forget opening it anytime soon.
"This lock is different!" the lock picker said awkwardly. He took out his tools and tried to give it another shot.
"Forget it, forget it!" The man behind him grabbed him. "I took a look just now. There's no one inside. We'll hide nearby for a while and wait for that Yu Hong to return. Then we'll rush out and catch him in one go."
"Then are we still opening it?"
"Open my ass! Let's go find somewhere to hide!" the other man snapped.
In front of the Post Office Stone House.
Everyone who had registered returned to their own homes to pack their things, preparing to leave.
After chatting with Doctor Xu and Jenny for a while, Yu Hong saw that the Mailman was free and took the initiative to approach him.
He had come this time to buy food. And if he could trade something good from the Mailman, the trip would be worth it.
Especially the Solar Power Generator Jenny had mentioned last time. If he could get one and strengthen it himself, his heart burned with anticipation. Once they had electricity, many things would become far more convenient.
The Mailman had a cold expression as he looked at the roster he had just finished recording. A piece of unknown food, black and somewhat resembling chocolate, dangled from his mouth.
When Yu Hong approached, he raised his eyes and glanced at him.
"Registering? Name?"
"Not registering. I want to buy some food. Do you have any?" Yu Hong got straight to the point.
"Not registering?" The Mailman looked a little surprised, but quickly returned to his calm expression. These days, there were plenty of people who didn't want to relocate and thought they knew better. Before encountering danger, such people were all bursting with confidence. He had seen plenty of them.
So after hearing that Yu Hong wasn't there to register, he only paused briefly before calming down.
"We have food, but not much. Dried Lizard Meat, Dried Cockroach, Dried Mushroom. What do you want?"
"Take a look at what I have to trade first." Yu Hong took out the prepared trade goods.
The Water Filter Cup and Large Glowstone were packed together in one bag.
"You made the Water Filter Cup? And you have Large Glowstone?" The Mailman's expression immediately turned interested when he saw them.
The Water Filter Cup was fine. Its workmanship was merely more meticulous than usual, and he had high-quality ones issued from above himself. He wasn't short of them.
But the Large Glowstone was different. Especially with the recent appearance of Evil Shadow, people said that only newly discovered Large Glowstone was effective.
He had heard of Large Glowstone, but this was his first time seeing one in person. Its rune patterns were far more complex than those of ordinary Glowstone.
"Where did you get this Large Glowstone?" Unable to resist, he reached out to pick one up, but Yu Hong took a step back and avoided him.
"I made it myself," Yu Hong replied. "Can I trade it?"
"Let me inspect it first." The Mailman quickly pulled an egg-sized black box from the pouch at his lower back.
The middle of the box held a small gray LCD screen, with a round button beneath it. It was extremely crude.
"This is a Red Value Detector. It can test the quality of Glowstone. It can also detect the concentration of Blood Tide flowing through the surrounding environment." The Mailman gave a brief explanation.
"It can detect that too?" Yu Hong was surprised. Glowstone could actually be tested with an instrument? And the Blood Tide as well? He had never known how advanced the authorities' research into the Black Calamity was. Now it seemed their results weren't bad.
"It's a research product from Silver Tower. It works pretty well." The Mailman smiled and pressed the button.
The box immediately beeped twice, and the LCD screen lit up red.
He brought the machine close to the Large Glowstone and stopped when it was only a few centimeters away.
Beep!!
The instrument suddenly emitted a long, thin cry, and rapidly changing numbers flashed across the screen.
Yu Hong could make out a little of the reading too.
The number instantly changed from 0 to negative 78. Then, starting from -78, it rapidly shifted several times before finally stabilizing at -81.
"Tsk, tsk. -81! Impressive!" The Mailman clicked his tongue in admiration. "The previous Glowstone only reached around -20 at most. Your Large Glowstone is quite high quality!"
"Name your price." Yu Hong didn't waste words.
"Two jin of Dried Lizard Meat for one piece." The Mailman thought for a moment before replying. "I'll take all four of yours."
He wasn't short of food, but Large Glowstone could save a person's life at a critical moment. No one would ever think they had too much.
"I don't want to trade all of it for dried meat. I heard you have a Solar Power Generator that's almost scrapped?" Yu Hong asked in a low voice.
"That thing can still generate electricity. What do you mean, 'almost scrapped'?" The Mailman furrowed his brows and immediately retorted. "If you want that, two pieces of Large Glowstone."
"The solar storage battery is about to give out, right? Two is too expensive. One." Yu Hong haggled.
The two began going back and forth over the price.
After several minutes of discussion, the Mailman's time was limited, and he finally couldn't hold out any longer.
In the end, two pieces of Large Glowstone were exchanged for the Solar Power Generator and a damaged air-purifying box.
The remaining Large Glowstone was all exchanged for dried meat and a small Atomic Lamp.
Yu Hong had obtained the small Atomic Lamp through hard bargaining.
The thing was made from radioactive elements. It was a cold-light lamp that could illuminate continuously for more than ten years without any energy source.
Of course, its glow would also grow steadily weaker over time.
Still, it was quite suitable as an auxiliary light source in the cave.
The trade was soon completed. Yu Hong was in high spirits as he bundled everything together. The Solar Power Generator could actually be folded up and was only about the size of a medium hand-carry bag. Including the other items, the whole bundle weighed only a little over ten jin.
Yu Hong weighed it in his hand. After exercising for more than half a month, his strength was far greater than before, and he didn't find the ten-odd jin heavy.
After the exchange, the Mailman hid the Large Glowstone and studied Yu Hong with his eyes.
"Brother, let me give you a piece of advice. Hurry up and leave with everyone else. The bunker won't hold this time. Evil Shadow isn't Big Hide."
"What do you mean, Brother?" Yu Hong asked with a frown.
Perhaps because he had suddenly obtained so much Large Glowstone and was in a good mood, the Mailman chewed on his chocolate bar, glanced left and right, and only lowered his voice after confirming that no one was nearby.
"Evil Shadow is different from Ghost Shadow. Ghost Shadow usually stays active in a fixed area, mainly relying on disguise and ambushes. But Evil Shadow doesn't stay in one place. No one knows how it moves. One moment it's here, and the next it's there."
He paused.
"I heard some internal news. It doesn't really count as internal anymore, since almost everyone is leaving. Of course, just listen to it. Don't go spreading it around."
"Thank you for the advice, Brother! I definitely won't say anything." Yu Hong immediately nodded knowingly in a low voice.
"Let me tell you. This time, Evil Shadow killed enough people in town to fill an entire street. Ordinary people and the United Army together—not one person was left alive! Every last one died! There were so many dead that no one could even count them!" The Mailman's voice was grim, and even he trembled faintly without realizing it.
"Didn't the United Army in town call for reinforcements!?" Yu Hong's heart jolted, and he quickly asked.
"Silver Tower specializes in researching ways to deal with Ghost Shadow, but the response they gave was: isolate it and abandon the area." The Mailman sighed. "Brother, I heard Silver Tower's response was that every Evil Shadow is different, each possessing different abilities. That's why Silver Tower gave them separate code names. The Evil Shadow in our town is codenamed Withered Woman. Its specific abilities are unknown and still being investigated. So there's no way to deal with it. We can only evacuate."
"What about the survivors around here?" Yu Hong couldn't help asking.
"Live or die on your own." The Mailman's voice was low. "That's why I'm urging you to leave quickly. Once the town is empty, Evil Shadow will come out and surely seek out places with people nearby. We're a little too close to town."
Yu Hong fell silent.
His thoughts raced as he weighed the situation.
Soon, he asked another question.
"Even if we leave with everyone else, are you saying there won't be any Evil Shadow in other places?"
Before you continue