A Night of Desperation

Chapter 54: Relaxation (4)

“It’s fine.” Li Runshan still wore a smile on his face. “These people are potential threats. Even if you don’t deal with them, I would still have them driven away.”

His gaze swept over the three people on the ground before returning to the suit on Yu Hong.

“Good to know.” Yu Hong exhaled, turned, and slowly picked up his things, heading back to his dwelling.

At times like these, it was inconvenient to chat with Li Runshan. The other man had clearly grown wary of him.

Yu Hong’s figure moved at a moderate pace, gradually disappearing deeper into the forest.

Only after he was completely out of sight did the smile on Li Runshan’s face slowly fade.

“That gear… Its strength is very high!” he muttered under his breath.

“Dad, Uncle Yu Hong was so scary just now.” Aisina spoke softly from behind.

“It’s okay, Daddy will protect you.” Li Runshan smiled again, “Although his equipment is impressive, Daddy is stronger.”

He reached out to pat his daughter’s small head. Though he said this, recalling Yu Hong’s two swift leg sweeps earlier, he felt an unsettling sense of déjà vu.

Those leg sweeps… weren’t they the basic techniques of the leg strike I sold to him?

Though his movements were somewhat unrefined, the power behind them was unmistakably similar.

But why was the speed of those sweeps so fast?

Thinking back to the earlier strikes, a trace of seriousness flashed in Li Runshan’s eyes.

He had seen the defensive capabilities of that black suit firsthand—comprehensive and formidable, far superior to the Grey Lizard suit. Coupled with Yu Hong’s explosive speed beyond the ordinary, it seemed only joint locks could control him.

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Back at the cave’s safehouse, Yu Hong stood in an open area, stretching his body in the suit.

He didn’t take it off but instead began to practice weighted leg exercises.

Having just killed three people, he appeared calm on the surface but felt a strange unease deep inside.

Though he had dealt with others before, this time was different. He had personally taken the lives of three individuals, creating three corpses.

The sensation of knocking someone out with a single blow felt unreal.

To calm his mind, he threw himself into his training, practicing repeatedly, over and over again.

Before he knew it, the sky outside had grown darker, and time flew by. It was already evening.

When Yu Hong emerged from his trance, the night had fallen.

There were no black insects tonight, just a calm silence.

Covered in sweat, he stood motionless in the cave, waiting for his breathing to settle before slowly removing his gear.

His body felt flushed, and under the intense training, his fifth internal energy had quietly condensed in his abdomen.

At the same time, a plastic-like sensation began to form on the outer skin of his legs, as if his sense of touch had become dulled.

He took off his pants and looked down.

On his white legs, a layer of transparent callus had appeared, he didn’t know when.

He touched it—it felt stiff, as though it wasn’t his own skin, with minimal tactile sensation.

“Is this the result of the heavy leg training?”

After putting his pants back on, Yu Hong sighed.

Unknowingly, he had become completely different from the person he once was.

He picked up his helmet, which integrated a red-value detector. Once worn, it would light up in corresponding directions based on the user’s location. The collar displayed specific readings.

This feature was quite practical. It could pinpoint the direction of a lurking shadow or malicious presence far better than the simple red-value detector.

As the feeling of having killed subsided, he recalled the black imprint function—synthesis.

“Since I can combine two items to make something new, then…” His eyes glimmered as he turned to the pile of firewood in the corner of the room.

Among the dry branches were several green wild grass stems, clearly still alive.

Yu Hong walked over, picked up a piece of grass about the size of a palm, and held it in his hand. Then, he grabbed a piece of Luminous Stone, placing them together.

He then placed his hand on top.

Yes, he intended to test whether combining these two items would produce something new. He just picked two random items to try.

“Enhance the wild grass, with the Luminous stone effect.”

Yu Hong silently recited in his mind.

Soon, black lines flowed from the black mark on his hand, instantly merging with the wild grass and Luminous stone.

A cold, mechanical voice echoed in his ear.

“Do you wish to enhance the wild grass?”

He hesitated, then responded with a “yes” in his mind.

Immediately, changes began to occur.

The familiar feedback sound should have brought Yu Hong joy, but just then, a powerful pulling force surged from the black mark on his hand.

In an instant, he clearly felt his physical and mental energy being rapidly drained by the black imprint.

This had happened before, and he suppressed the discomfort, forcing himself to draw internal energy.

Before long, the first internal energy replenished his strength, but after a few seconds, the replenished energy was swiftly consumed again.

Yu Hong continued to activate his second internal energy, but this time, the black imprint’s absorption was far more exaggerated. The second internal energy wasn’t enough, followed by the third, fourth, and fifth!

Even the freshly condensed fifth internal energy was swiftly drained.

His physical and mental energy continued to dwindle, and fatigue began to weigh heavily on him.

Finally, the absorption ceased.

“This always happens… it’s as if the system perfectly calculates all my stored energy…”

Yu Hong stared at the glowing imprint in silence, gasping for air, waiting for his body to recover.

His eyes were full of white spots, his breath quick and labored, and his muscles felt weak. It was as if he was on the verge of total exhaustion.

After resting for several minutes, he finally gathered enough strength to examine the cause of his current condition: the wild grass and Luminous stone.

Both the wild grass and the Luminous stone now had a new countdown timer: 2 days, 8 hours, 47 minutes.

“Really?” Yu Hong couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t expected the random items he picked would actually combine.

Looking at the mismatched objects, he was filled with curiosity, wondering what the enhancement would yield.

However, now that the black imprint had claimed the enhancement time, he could only wait for two days. At least it was only two days.

During this time, the black imprint had asked about the enhancement before showing the countdown, leaving Yu Hong feeling cheated.

If he canceled the enhancement now, it would likely be wasted.

“Wait… I think I don’t know how to cancel the enhancement?”

Yu Hong suddenly realized, after using the black imprint for so long, that he didn’t know how to cancel an enhancement.

Lighting the fireplace, he took deep breaths and drank the sweet soup he had made earlier. The taste had become intolerable, but there was little choice.

After eating, he leaned against the fireplace and immediately fell asleep.

He slept straight through until the next afternoon. By the time he woke up, it was almost evening again.

After taking care of personal matters, he set up the solar-powered generator he had bought earlier, placing it in the area behind the door where sunlight would shine, testing if it could work tomorrow.

He also kept an eye on the countdown of the enhanced wild grass.

He was genuinely curious about what it would turn into.

That night, he continued his training, eating, resting, and repeating the cycle until the next afternoon, when the countdown finally neared its end.

Yu Hong stopped his leg training near the end of the day, quietly waiting.

Ten minutes.

Five minutes.

Two minutes.

One minute.

Yu Hong sat at the table, staring at the wild grass without blinking.

Whoosh!

In an instant, a distorted blur enveloped the wild grass and the Luminous stone.

When the blur dissipated, the Luminous stone had disappeared, but the wild grass remained, now with white spots and a thicker stalk.

Apart from the color and size, the wild grass seemed to have changed little.

Just as Yu Hong frowned, confused, the black imprint’s feedback voice suddenly rang in his ears again.

“Enhancement successful, default name: Luminous stone Grass. Current enhancement: Living. Do you wish to mark it?”

“Current mark count: 1.”

Yu Hong stood up in shock.

“Mark? What is that?” He had used the black imprint for so long, and this was the first time he had encountered such a thing.

The black imprint remained silent—it seemed to be a rigid system, only providing prompts when specific conditions were met.

Yu Hong stood still, scrutinizing the green grass with spots, deep in thought.

He pondered what this mark might be.

After a long pause, he gritted his teeth. The grass he had enhanced couldn’t just be worthless. He decided to test it.

“Once the mark is set, can it be replaced or canceled?” he asked in his mind.

There was no response.

Yu Hong thought for a moment, then placed his hand on the black imprint and asked again.

This time, a reply came quickly.

“Yes, if replaced, the non-marked object will lose most of its effects.”

“Then… mark it!” Yu Hong answered in his mind.

He wanted to see what the new feature of the black imprint would do.

As soon as he gave his response, a faint white glow surrounded the enhanced wild grass on the table.

At the same time, Yu Hong felt a sharp sensation, as if something had pierced his mind.

“Mark complete. Current controlled mark: Luminous stone Grass.”

“Luminous stone Grass!?”

Just then, Yu Hong inexplicably felt a connection between himself and the wild grass in front of him.

It was as if he could control it, commanding it to make various changes.

This feeling was like holding a remote control, able to manipulate the moving model in front of him.

However, this “remote control” had been embedded deep within his mind, controlled by his will and thoughts.

Accompanying the control was a brief stream of information flooding his mind.

“Luminous stone Grass: A special plant that can reduce red value in the air. When its numbers reach a certain threshold, it will produce a collective effect. It is highly resilient and requires only a small amount of water, sunlight, and ordinary soil to grow.”

“Growth cycle: Four days.”

“The mark controller can use internal energy to shorten the growth cycle.”

Yu Hong stood frozen, his expression stunned as he stared at the plant. For a moment, he almost questioned whether he was hallucinating.

This enhancement… can it really do this?!

(End of Chapter)