Night of Despair

Chapter 52: Enhanced Four
 

At that moment, upon hearing Yu Hong’s self-introduction, the bearded man also nodded.

“I’m Zhou Kaiming, just call me Old Zhou. I know a bit of everything. If you need anything, you can ask me. We can negotiate the price.”

“Okay,” Yu Hong nodded, and after keeping his distance from the man, his gaze fell on Li Rushan.

“Bro Li, where’s the supply team?”

“They left. They’ve been gone for over half an hour,” Li Rushan said with a smile. “They can travel all night. They arrived just at dawn.”

Seeing the somewhat disappointed Yu Hong, his smile flickered with a hint of slyness.

“Don’t worry, I remember you mentioned last time you needed a bulletproof armor suit. I kept an eye out for you, and just got in a gray lizard suit complete with helmets, gloves, and boots. Interested?”

“Really?” Yu Hong asked in surprise.

“Of course it’s true, I have no reason to lie to you,” replied Li Rushan, nodding. “It’ll cost you twenty silver yuan, but if you don’t have silver yuan, I’m willing to accept other hard currency, like those Large Pyroxene Stones you have; they’re quite useful. I went mining a few days ago, and with all those shadows outside, it was your Large Pyroxene Stone that helped me break out. The only drawback is it depletes quickly.”

“That’s for sure, but isn’t it much lighter compared to carrying a bag of ordinary luminous stones each time?” Yu Hong laughed. He didn’t care what the other was doing in the mines, as long as there was a demand, there was room for exchange.

“That’s true, but you have to protect your technology well. Making Large Pyroxene Stones from ordinary luminous stones is quite profitable. If word gets out, many would want to get their hands on it. If you ever think of selling this technology, consider me first; I’ll offer you a top price!” Li Rushan smiled.

“Indeed, such technology is like a gold mine in a small place, but in Hope City, there’s also similar synthetic refining technology that produces highly pure luminous stones,” interjected Old Zhou, unable to resist adding his comment. “A friend I used to drink with showed me once; he used to be a patrol captain in Aurora City, commanding dozens under him, and the district he managed had such a refinery.”

“Is that the same? Yu can do it all by himself,” Li Rushan shook his head. He then looked at Yu Hong again, “Enough about that, want to see the goods?” he said as he turned and walked toward the house.

“Sure,” Yu Hong nodded. He kept his distance, like Old Zhou, and stood at the edge of the stone building’s fence.

“Speaking of bulletproof vests, I have a spare set; it’s a bit old and worn, but still in good condition, also a gray lizard suit. Interested?” Old Zhou suddenly lowered his voice and asked.

“???” Yu Hong looked confused, not getting a chance to reply before he saw Li Rushan rushing out of the stone house in a few strides.

“What are you trying to do, Old Zhou? Stealing my deal?” The smile slowly disappeared from his face, his hands holding a set of thick camouflage suit, which was different from the one they were wearing.

Their outfit was primarily dark green and black. The suit in his hand was mainly yellow and gray-black. It also included a pair of boots, a helmet, and a face mask.

“This full set of armor is brand new, complete with a filtration mask, much better than your old one,” Li Rushan approached, holding up the suit for Yu Hong to see from front to back.

“In terms of bulletproof levels, the gray lizard suit is level four, considered mid-quality. It offers excellent protection against shrapnel and can protect against most common handgun bullets on the market; it also includes high-strength ceramic pieces and alloy plates in its design. It can even be used as a stab-proof vest.”

He quickly explained.

“Of course, if you’re shot at close range, the concern shouldn’t be whether it can stop the bullet, but whether the bullet’s tremendous impact could break your bones or cause internal injuries.”

“What’s the price?” Yu Hong immediately asked. This suit was indeed impressive. If he could get it and enhance it… it would be much stronger than the stab-proof vest he was wearing!

He was actually quite tempted.

“If you trade it for Large Pyroxene Stones, it’ll cost you fifty,” Li Rushan extended his hand, showing five fingers.

“Fifty!?” Yu Hong’s expression shifted slightly. Although he expected it to be expensive, he didn’t expect it to be that costly; unless he dedicated all his time to making Large Pyroxene Stones, how long would it take to produce fifty?

“I’ve designed a wooden board with a Pyroxene Powder Formation that works even better than the Large Pyroxene Stone. Can I trade with that?” Yu Hong quickly said.

“If it really works better than the Large Pyroxene Stone, of course,” Li Rushan’s eyes lit up. He always loved dealing with research-type talents, who could always create unexpected surprises.

In his view, the Yu Hong in front of him was exactly this type of person. And given he could produce refined items like protein bars before, his background likely involved an organization or power, possibly here under a hidden identity as a research personnel.

Yu Hong quickly took out a normal talisman array wooden board and handed it over.

“This is a sample I carry with me; you can test it. The trade can be done tomorrow as well.”

“No problem,” Li Rushan took the talisman array board with a smile, obviously in a good mood.

Following this, Yu Hong had no other business, so he bought some fresh mushrooms and returned to the safe house cave to train.

Train, dig, rest. By noon, the enhanced boots were finally complete.

Inside the cave.

A pair of new black leather men’s knee-high boots lay quietly in front of Yu Hong, resting on a wooden table.

He reached out, picking up the boots to squeeze and tap them, suddenly a crisp sound.

Whoosh!

A black spike suddenly shot out from the bottom of the boots, pointing forward at the toe.

The spike was triangular with a blood groove in the middle, its tip razor sharp, gleaming with a faint cold light.

Yu Hong nodded in satisfaction, pressed a switch, and the spike retracted.

He placed the boots on the ground, took off his previous boots, and stepped into the new ones.

Then he stood up and moved around.

‘Fits well and has breathable pores on the surface, not suitable for rainy weather, but no problem, just add a layer of cover.’

Suddenly, he pushed his toes forward and pressed.

Whoosh!

Two spikes shot out simultaneously.

Then, pressing his toes down on the ground, the spikes slowly retracted.

Watching this, Yu Hong smiled in satisfaction.

‘Next up, the gray lizard suit. If I get it, I can be fully protected, and even handguns won’t be too worrisome.’

Wearing the new boots, he left the cave and kicked the nearest large tree.

Whoosh!

The surface of the large tree was easily pierced, creating a hole.

“So sharp!”

Yu Hong became interested and began to casually test the power of the spikes.

He kicked the ground, and a hole appeared.

He kicked a stone, and a hole appeared.

He kicked tree branches and leaves, which were easily cut and severed.

“The sharpness and piercing force are both quite good. Now, let’s try using cold air, which is Inner Qi, to see how much it can be amplified.”

Thinking this, he returned to the cave to rest quietly. After two hours, when he had recovered two streams of cold air, he stood up again and went outside wearing the spike boots.

Standing in front of a large tree, Yu Hong concentrated his energy and rooted his legs to the ground, standing quietly.

He circulated his energy.

He focused his power.

He kicked!

Suddenly, Yu Hong’s right leg shot out like a spring, hitting the trunk directly.

Bang!

The rough, black bark of the tree exploded, sending large pieces of bark and wood flying.

This was completely different from the previous kicks to the tree, which had only pierced a hole. Now, the spikes not only pierced but also caused a small explosion.

“Is this the power of cold air?” Yu Hong withdrew his leg and carefully inspected the spikes.

He was relieved to see that the edges of the spikes were not bent or damaged.

“The power is great. With a surprise attack, it could easily determine the outcome.”

Standing in the clearing, he resumed practicing his kicking technique.

This time, without using cold air, he slowly began to feel a warm current gathering from his legs, flowing upward and spreading throughout his body.

During visualization training, this warm current was even more pronounced, seemingly nourishing his entire body.

After practicing his leg technique for a while, he began digging a hole.

At nightfall, after eating dinner, Yu Hong leisurely sat by the fireplace to rest.

He picked up a bag of dried mushrooms, preparing to open it and munch on it as a way to replenish trace elements.

“Wait!”

Suddenly, he remembered he had never maximized the enhancement of dried mushrooms.

Not just dried mushrooms, but perhaps dry herbs and grass could also be tried.

“It’s worth a try… to see what can be maximized.”

The success with his leg technique filled Yu Hong with anticipation for the future.

He was about to use the Black Mark to enhance his gray lizard suit, which he estimated would take a long time. Therefore, he planned to find something that required less enhancement time.

He picked up a bag of dried mushrooms and upon opening it, saw it was full of thick-legged mushrooms with black caps and yellow stems. The rich aroma of oil exuded a comforting feeling.

Yu Hong placed his hand on the bag of dried mushrooms.

“Enhance the dried mushrooms to the limit. The direction is…” Various images of Ganoderma and medicinal herbs flashed in Yu Hong’s mind.

“‘Enhance the dried mushrooms?’ The Black Mark, quite considerately, did not cut off the process immediately.

However, Yu Hong glanced at the countdown that appeared.

“’12 days, 16 hours, 32 minutes.'”

His heart immediately cooled, and he quickly let go, switching to pressing his hand on dried herbs.

“Enhance the dried herbs to the limit, the direction is… multivitamin replenishment.”

This time, the feedback from the Black Mark was still normal, and the countdown quickly appeared.

“‘3 hours, 51 minutes.'”

“I can wait for this duration, hoping it turns out to be useful.”

He put down the bag of dried herbs, took off his boots, and immediately a smell of foot odor filled the cave, making him cover his nose.

“It would be great if the socks could be enhanced for sweat absorption, odor prevention, and antibacterial properties… to avoid diseases like fungal foot infections.”

Three hours passed in a flash.

Yu Hong returned to the dried herbs bag, and what appeared before his eyes was a square paper box as big as a palm.

On the surface of the box was written: Multivitamin Tablets (200 pills).

He picked up the box, and immediately there was a rustling sound, as if many pills were inside.

Opening the box, he found a wooden round bottle inside.

He took out the bottle, unscrewed the lid, and poured out a pill.

The pill was dark green with specks of white and black, emitting a faint scent of grass.

Yu Hong picked up the bottle and read the back, which stated: Multivitamin Grass Tablets supplement the human body with needed cellulose and various trace elements, maintain the balance of body pH, facilitate bowel movement, help prevent various vitamin deficiencies, and are particularly effective for osteoporosis in middle-aged and elderly individuals. Note: Take one pill each time, once a day, to meet the normal needs of an adult male.

“Is this really working??” Yu Hong was speechless; this meant he had yet another product to sell, and these two hundred grass pills would be enough for one person for over half a year!