A Night of Desperation-Chapter 98: Power (2)

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At once, Yu Hong placed the spiked club on the ground and rummaged through a pile of weapons he had previously looted from his kills.

The majority of the weapons consisted of steel pipes, machetes, and daggers, along with a few small alloy shields.

He piled all the metal items together with the spiked club, then picked up a confiscated submachine gun. After thinking for a moment, he put it back down. In close combat, this thing was far less effective than a club.

Placing a hand on the pile of metal, he silently muttered:

“Enhance weapon. Direction.”

In his mind, he envisioned the form of the weapon he desired.

Soon, black threads began to flow, merging into the spiked club.

“Enhance?”

“Yes!”

A countdown appeared: 3 hours and 9 minutes.

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*

Post Office

Two multi-eyed birds staggered as they flew away from the stone house, retreating into the distance.

Their bodies were covered in burns from explosions. One of them had even lost its head, but the flesh at its neck was rapidly wriggling and regenerating, forming a new head.

Inside the stone house—

A team of five, including Ge Shenghao, was left bloodied and exhausted. Two had lost an arm each, another had his shoulder crushed and was barely breathing, while one more lay on the ground, screaming in agony with both legs broken.

Ge Shenghao pushed himself off the ground. Blood seeped from his back, but it was a minor wound—an impact injury from being slammed into a rock by the bird’s immense force.

“We’re out of grenades. If that thing comes back, we’re dead!”

“Send A-Dong off.” The bearded man with a severed arm spoke in a low voice.

A-Dong was the one whose legs had been crushed. In this environment, a man without arms could still run, but one without legs…

Thud.

Someone stepped forward and knocked A-Dong unconscious—not to kill him, but to leave his wounds untreated. They gently laid him flat.

“How long until the support team arrives?” Ge Shenghao asked grimly while tending to the wounded.

“They said today,” the bearded man replied, biting a cigarette and lighting it with a lighter. He closed his eyes, unwilling to look at their doomed comrade. Ṛ𝘢ℕοВËṡ

“We can’t hold out. We have nothing left that can threaten the multi-eyed birds.” Ge Shenghao continued wrapping his arm.

“Running is pointless. We’d be killed before we made it far.” The bearded man’s tone was indifferent.

“There’s one more way!”

Ge Shenghao hesitated, then described what he had seen on Yu Hong’s side.

“There were no explosion sounds over there, and that man protected those two women alone. He must have a secret. He must have a way to drive off the multi-eyed birds!”

Hope flickered in the others’ eyes as they listened.

“What do you want to do?” The bearded man looked at Ge Shenghao. He was no stranger to life and death, but surviving was always preferable.

“We fight for our lives!” Ge Shenghao turned his head toward Li Runshan, who had just crawled out of the basement unscathed, holding some medicine and clean water.

This man wore a guilty expression—clearly, during the battle, he had slipped away and hidden in the basement.

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Evening fell, and darkness was setting in.

In the courtyard, Qiu Yanxi and her daughter were chiseling the Luminous Stone into small pieces.

However, neither of them noticed the two large, hazy gray-white figures lurking in the thick fog beyond the courtyard wall, silently observing them and the cave safe house.

Inside the basement of the safe house, Yu Hong held a vortex rune plate, which he had just discovered some secrets about.

“The vortex rune must be inscribed with internal energy for it to take effect. Once successful, the negative Red Value will no longer radiate outward but will instead concentrate and condense within the rune, especially at its very center—where the Red Value is most concentrated.”

Yu Hong concluded.

“The moment the vortex rune is crushed, the accumulated negative Red Value will erupt instantly, creating a temporary high-concentration radiation effect in a small area. This could potentially be used as a negative Red Value grenade.”

“Looking at it this way, the primary function of the vortex rune should be to store radiation energy.”

Storage.

At this thought, Yu Hong suddenly realized something—if the vortex rune was merely storing energy, then why did the eruption result in such a massive increase in Red Value?

“Could it be that the Great Luminous Stone powder itself already contains such a high level of negative Red Value radiation?”

Yu Hong shook his head.

That was a possibility. After all, Luminous Stone continuously emitted radiation, and if all the radiation was concentrated into a single point and released at once, it would naturally result in a powerful effect.

“But going from just over a hundred negative Red Value to seven or eight hundred—that’s way too exaggerated.”

He clearly remembered that a piece of Great Luminous Stone would completely deplete after being used by a Wraith three times, turning into powder.

This meant that the radiation energy of a Great Luminous Stone couldn’t possibly reach seven or eight hundred negative Red Value.

“Then why…”

His brows furrowed as a major suspicion slowly surfaced in his mind.

“The only possibility is that this vortex rune… isn’t just storing radiation energy.”

He picked up the rune plate, carefully tracing the fine patterns on its surface.

“It’s more likely absorbing external radiation energy and storing it!”

“If it truly absorbs energy, then by varying the time the vortex rune is left alone, I should be able to test the differences in negative Red Value when it erupts.”

After creating the rune, the longer it was left untouched, the greater the negative Red Value eruption would likely be upon being crushed.

At this thought, Yu Hong propped the freshly made rune plate against the wall and left it alone for the time being.

Then, he moved to the center of the basement and resumed training.

Over the past few days, as he progressed through the second layer of Heavy Leg Technique, his physical strength had stopped increasing. Instead, his skin’s keratin layer had thickened, and his body felt increasingly light.

Clearly, the second layer primarily enhanced defense and agility.

Through his persistent daily training, Yu Hong could faintly sense that his second internal energy stream was on the verge of forming.

Standing in the middle of the basement, he steadied his mind and began practicing Heavy Leg Technique over and over while visualizing the corresponding patterns.

Time passed bit by bit.

Suddenly, a sharp scream echoed from outside the safe house.

Shua!

Yu Hong, who had been deep in visualization, abruptly opened his eyes. He quickly donned his White Bear suit and rushed upstairs.

As he passed by the spiked mace, he noticed it had finished its reinforcement process. He grabbed it without hesitation and strode toward the door.

Pulling open the barrier, he looked through the reinforced glass window. The sky was now completely dark.

The moonlight was bright, like a misty veil blending into the thin fog, making it difficult to distinguish the two.

Two enormous multi-eyed birds, identical to the one from before, were circling above the forest outside the cave, emitting eerie croaking sounds similar to toads.

Flapping their wings, they swooped in wide arcs, their two rows of small red eyes glowing faintly in the night, resembling laser sights from sniper rifles.

Yu Hong observed closely and noticed that one of the multi-eyed birds had a large scar on one side of its body—a wound from being struck by the spiked mace.

“That one from earlier today…”

He took a deep breath.

One of these creatures had already pushed him to the brink of injury earlier. Now, there were two at once.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

To make matters worse, his giant wooden shield had been destroyed and was still unrepaired.

“Troublesome…”

Sweeping his gaze across the courtyard, he noticed that Qiu Yanxi and her daughter had already disappeared, likely hiding in either the wooden house or the newly dug stone cave.

Ang!!

At that moment, the two multi-eyed birds spotted Yu Hong. With a synchronized movement, they spiraled downward in a dive attack, like arrows streaking toward the cave entrance.

Their ghostly screeches pierced the night, sharp and grating.

Sensing danger, Yu Hong quickly retreated, gripping his firearm in one hand and the mace in the other, widening the distance.

He didn’t charge forward immediately; instead, he wanted to see how well the reinforced door would hold up.

One second.

Boom!!! Boom!!!

Two consecutive loud crashes echoed.

The entire cave safe house trembled violently. The thick wooden door at the entrance now had two massive dents—but that was all.

“It held!”

Yu Hong’s spirits lifted. The door, which previously couldn’t withstand a single attack from a multi-eyed bird, had now endured consecutive strikes from both of them.

This test was enough.

Relying solely on the door for defense was unrealistic—unless it could repair itself. Otherwise, he would have to go outside and deal with the enemies sooner or later.

Now that he confirmed the door’s improved durability, Yu Hong felt slightly relieved. He remained in place, not stepping forward to open it. Instead, he raised his spiked mace with one hand and waited quietly.

Boom!!

Boom!!!

Boom!!!

Crash!!

The door finally shattered, and a white-feathered bird head thrust through the opening, lunging toward Yu Hong with its built-up momentum.

“Die!!!”

In an instant, Yu Hong stepped forward with a roar. His body blurred like an afterimage as he stomped the ground, swinging his mace with full force.

The spiked mace tore through the air with a sharp whistle, carrying all of Yu Hong’s stored-up power, smashing directly into the bird’s head.

Boom!!

Caught off guard, the multi-eyed bird’s skull and most of its neck exploded instantly, turning into a rain of gray-white blood.

Even its body, unable to resist the massive impact, was sent flying diagonally out of the cave, crashing into the distant forest.

Ang!!

Seizing the opportunity, the second multi-eyed bird raised its beak like a war hammer and slammed it downward.

Its talons gripped the door frame tightly, wings flapping wildly for leverage. The razor-sharp beak, screeching through the air, stabbed fiercely toward Yu Hong—right at the moment he was off balance from his last swing.

The multi-eyed bird was already extremely fast, and now it struck at the perfect moment, making it impossible to dodge.

Puff!!

The beak crashed into Yu Hong’s raised arm, bending the alloy plate inward.

Yu Hong’s face twisted from the impact.

However, despite the heavy strike, his thickened transparent keratin layer absorbed the damage, preventing any real injury—only causing pain.

That sudden pain, instead of hindering him, triggered an uncontrollable rage.

His blood surged violently, flooding his entire body.

As soon as he was struck, he stepped back two paces and raised his gun—no need to aim.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Five consecutive shots rang out, blasting five bloody holes into the second multi-eyed bird, nearly shattering its entire upper body.

Seizing the moment, Yu Hong let out a furious roar, lifted his spiked mace, and swung it down with all his might.

The reinforced Wolf Fang Club was now significantly heavier than before. The club alone weighed over a hundred pounds, and its surface was covered with numerous barbed spikes. Once embedded in flesh, it would be extremely difficult to pull out.

At this moment, Yu Hong lifted it and smashed it down with full force. The tip of the Wolf Fang Club barely struck the neck of the second Multi-Eyed Bird, hooking onto it in an instant. With a fierce tug, he pulled it back.

Yu Hong’s immense strength clashed against the Multi-Eyed Bird’s powerful resistance—one pulling back, the other struggling to break free.

With a sickening tear, a large portion of the Multi-Eyed Bird’s neck was ripped apart, its mangled flesh hanging onto the Wolf Fang Club, unable to be shaken off.

(End of Chapter)