A Night of Desperation

Chapter 55 – Hope (1)

Luminous Grass. A strange plant synthesized from luminous stones and wild grass, the most critical thing is, it seems to be controllable?!

(TL Note :- will just call this grass “luminous grass” , “luminous stones grass” is too long and weird sounding )

Yu Hong held the reinforced grass stalk in his hand, pondered for a moment, then looked up at the sky outside.

The golden red light of the setting sun streamed through the gap in the door, dyeing a small area near the door red.

He exhaled, stood up, held the Luminous Grass, opened the door, and stepped outside into the yard.

After several days of adjustment and placement, the stone yard outside had started to take shape.

At first, it was just a large circular ring made of stones. Later, he mixed the stones with black mud, tamped it down, and created mixed pillars.

At this point, a circle of gray pillars, about ten centimeters high, outlined a roughly 200-square-meter area.

This area was filled with black mud soil covered in green grass, with occasional large stones sticking out from the surface. A large tree of unknown species grew in one corner, lush and shady, casting an oblique shadow with a diameter of five to six meters.

Yu Hong glanced at the setting sun, squatted down, casually picked up a branch, and stuck it in the ground to estimate the time.

Then he stood up, wandered around the simple yard, and thought about where to plant the Luminous Grass.

After walking around for a while, his gaze fell on a small sloped depression in front of the cave entrance.

On one side was a white stone wall, and on the other side was the black mud yard, with sparse wild grass.

“This will do!” He went over, pulled out all the few wild grasses, and used a chisel to dig up the roots.

Finally, he dug a small hole, placed the Luminous Grass roots inside, covered it with soil, and watered it.

Once everything was done, he stood up, satisfied, and returned to the cave, waiting for the planting results.

Soon, the sky outside darkened.

On the solar panel placed at the door, the LCD screen displayed that two bars of power had accumulated.

The solar generator consists of two parts: one is a solar panel that can be folded out, and the other is the control unit linked to a display and main control console, which is a small plastic box the size of a book, with operation buttons and a square LCD screen showing the remaining power.

In addition, the solar generator has a set of dedicated charging ports for powering other devices.

A row of over ten sockets on its side can be used to charge various devices.

Yu Hong took out the radio, searched for it, and pulled out a half-meter-long power cable from a hidden compartment at the bottom of the radio, plugging it into the solar generator.

“Finally, I can charge it.” He breathed a sigh of relief. Because he had been worried about running out of power, he hadn’t dared to turn on the radio too often. Now, at least the solar generator could still be useful.

After confirming the charging was fine, Yu Hong calculated the charging time. The radio, which still had half its battery, was fully charged in just a few minutes.

Meanwhile, the solar generator displayed one bar of remaining power.

By now, the sunset had already set, and the sky had fallen into a dim twilight.

“It seems it’s still better to reinforce it. But which direction should I reinforce?” Yu Hong pondered.

“Previously, I only enhanced its durability, but that was not enough. Since I can add functions and enhance synthesis, I need to think carefully about how to strengthen it.”

He pulled down the door panel, lit the fireplace, sat down, and turned on the radio.

Soft, gentle music drifted from the radio.

It seemed to be some kind of string instrument, long, delicate, and mellow, like a woman softly crying. At times, a piano-like accompaniment played, crisp and melodious.

He focused his gaze on the solar generator, and a series of thoughts kept running through his mind.

“First, durability is a must. Second, increasing the total battery capacity is necessary, to avoid issues with consecutive cloudy weather preventing charging.”

“Third, the conversion efficiency also needs improvement, otherwise, it will be too slow, and if the days get shorter, it may not be enough.”

“Fourth, sturdiness must be reinforced; otherwise, if it’s damaged, I won’t know where to fix it.”

After coming up with these four points, Yu Hong extended his hand, placed it on the solar generator, and began to reinforce it.

He silently recited his enhancement goals, and soon, the black mark responded with feedback, and the countdown officially began.

“2 days, 7 hours, 15 minutes.”

“That’s fine, not too long.” Yu Hong nodded in satisfaction, stood up, drank some water, and continued with his daily training.

In this boring environment, listening to music on the radio while training was far better than before. It made Yu Hong feel like there was a bit more life around him, no longer just himself living in a desolate mountain forest with no one around for miles.

As the music repeated, Yu Hong gradually immersed himself in his training.

Time passed quietly in the repeating routine.

Soon, the solar generator was fully reinforced, looking brand new and sturdier. Yu Hong placed it outside the cave, where it absorbed sunlight during the day and was stored at night.

He continued his routine: cleaning and exercising every morning, collecting firewood and water, digging for vegetables, and exchanging supplies at noon. In the afternoons, he worked on the runes for the Great Luminous Stones and practiced. At night, he listened to the radio, exercised, and reinforced the rune formations.

This continued day after day.

Before he knew it, three weeks had passed.

In the early morning, the stone yard outside the cave had sprouted some green grass with spots on it.

These small grasses were sparse, scattered across the muddy ground, and when exposed to sunlight, the spots on them reflected a faint glow.

Crack.

The wooden door of the cave opened, and Yu Hong walked out, fully armed in his reinforced gray lizard suit, holding his freshly cleaned Luminous Stone club and with a multi-purpose knife sheathed on his back.

He descended the stone steps, walked over to the Luminous Grass, and crouched down to examine it.

As he got closer, the LCD screen on his collar began to quickly display the red value data of the nearby environment.

After a few jumps, the value stabilized at “-24”.

Yu Hong exhaled, a slight relaxed expression appeared on his face behind the helmet.

He took out a thin wooden board, pulled out a charcoal pencil from his pocket, and recorded the date and data, including the number of Luminous Grass.

The board already had many dense records.

From top to bottom, one could see that the Luminous Grass had spread from just one stalk, continuously dispersing its seeds and growing into a patch of its kind.

In just twenty days or so, it had multiplied from one to more than ten plants.

And the effect it had on the surrounding environment, initially a single-digit number, was now over twenty.

Yu Hong stood up, backed away, and continued testing the red value detector on his collar.

One meter, two meters, three meters.

As the distance increased, the red value decreased.

Finally, he stopped at the boundary of the stone yard, where the LCD on his collar showed a fixed data: -2.

“This is it. Seems like this is the limit,” Yu Hong murmured, walking around to confirm the range and limit of the Luminous Grass’ red value influence.

Back at the entrance to the cave, he looked at the small patches of Luminous Grass in the soil, extended his hand, and placed it on the black mark, silently focusing on controlling the Luminous Grass.

Soon, a strange sensation of connection emerged in his mind.

It was as if a glowing point floated deep in his chest, representing the mark of the Luminous Grass.

“Do you wish to catalyze and accelerate using inner energy?” The cold mechanical voice of the black mark sounded in his ear the moment his consciousness touched the glowing point.

Yu Hong’s expression stiffened. This was exactly the feature he intended to test. He had previously allowed it to grow naturally, just to record the comparison. After all, without knowing the normal growth speed, he couldn’t determine how much inner energy would enhance the growth.

He calmed himself and silently recited.

“Yes.”

In an instant, one of the inner energy threads in his body began to stir, as if wanting to rise and move toward the glowing point representing the Luminous Grass.

Yu Hong thought for a moment, coordinated with the inner energy, and guided it upward.

Before long, the inner energy collided with the glowing point of the Luminous Grass.

Hiss.

A faint sound echoed in his ears.

The inner energy disappeared in the blink of an eye, as if being completely consumed by the glowing point of the Luminous Grass.

At the same time, the glowing point representing the Luminous Grass brightened dramatically, its brightness at least doubled.

It seemed to stay in this state, glowing as if burning, consuming the inner energy it absorbed.

Yu Hong observed for over ten minutes, confirming there were no other issues, and then turned his attention back to the small patch of Luminous Grass on the ground.

But no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t see any noticeable changes.

After fruitless observation, he reluctantly set it aside and continued with his fixed daily routine.

The day passed quietly, and the night gradually fell, covering the sky with darkness.

Inside the cave.

Yu Hong quietly adjusted the firewood in the fireplace, using a stick to push aside excess ash from the fire pit to ensure enough oxygen for combustion.

The firelight illuminated his face, revealing beads of sweat and oil stains on his forehead.

Long hours of physical labor and exercise had made his muscles more defined, and his body was becoming more toned with each workout.

The rustling of insects could be heard from outside the door.

Soon, black swarms of insects began pouring in through the cracks in the door and ventilation holes, flowing like water.

Before the black bugs could touch the ground, they quickly evaporated into black smoke under the firelight.

Yu Hong stood up and quietly watched this scene.

Before, he had been scared of the black bugs from the blood tide, but now, he had long since gotten used to it.

Time passed little by little, and after about half an hour, the black bugs stopped coming in in such a steady stream, no longer rushing in rapidly as before.

Yu Hong’s expression changed slightly, and he rummaged through a corner, pulling out a spare candle, lighting it, and slowly walked toward the door.

Swish.

He used a stick to open the glass window on one side of the door.

Through the high-strength glass, the candlelight illuminated the outside.

Instantly, a small circle of black insects near the yard evaporated into black smoke, clearing the area of insects.

At the same time, the candle flame shrank considerably, as if it were being suppressed, burning much faster than usual.

Yu Hong ignored these usual changes and instead focused on the outside through the candlelight.

What he saw made him look surprised.

Outside the cave, in the stone yard, the dim night was illuminated by the soft white glow coming from the Luminous Grass.

The Luminous Grass was glowing?!

Yu Hong blinked and looked again.

He confirmed he wasn’t mistaken. The Luminous Grass was indeed glowing, and the white light exactly matched the red value effect range he had tested earlier, covering the entire small stone yard.

Through the candlelight, he could clearly see the bugs, which seemed to be drawn toward the cave by the faint white light of the Luminous Grass. However, only a small portion of them moved toward it, while more seemed to dislike the white light and scattered toward the distant darkness, like water being diverted by rocks.

(End of chapter)