A Night of Desperation

Chapter 70: Convoy (2)

Over an hour later.

A tall, dark figure slowly emerged from the dense forest near a winding gray road.

Dressed in heavy black body armor and wearing a helmet with dark brown goggles, the figure scanned the surroundings to confirm no living creatures were nearby before sliding down the slope by the road.

With a rustling sound, he slid down like a child on a slide, bringing with him a trail of black mud and dead leaves.

After landing on the road, he stood up and patted the mud and leaves off his body.

The figure raised his head and quickly spotted three dark green jeeps parked by the roadside.

“Finally found them!” he sighed with a note of joy.

After circling the area for more than an hour, he had finally located the vehicles Zhao Zhenghong’s group had left behind.

He quickly walked to the first jeep and examined its rugged, practical design.

The vehicle looked like a collection of building blocks—two connected rectangular shapes, one large and one small.

The large rectangle was the cabin, while the smaller one was the front of the car.

Two steel mesh-covered round headlights stood out like frog eyes.

Yu Hong walked over to the driver’s side and tried the door, but it wouldn’t open.

He reached into his outer pocket and pulled out three shield-shaped, military-green keys with silver star emblems.

Grasping one key, he pulled off its cover, revealing a long, silver interior key.

“Manual, just like a door key. No automatic sensors,” Yu Hong muttered as he found the keyhole on the door and inserted the key.

Click.

The door opened.

“Lucky. Got it on the first try,” he said.

He glanced at the red value display on his collar’s LCD screen to confirm everything was normal, then leaned into the car to search.

The interior was extremely simple: a dashboard, seats, and an embedded radio. There was no air conditioning.

Rustle.

Yu Hong pulled back the roof, revealing it to be a collapsible top covered with long solar panels.

“A solar-powered car!” He was delighted to discover the panels were connected to wires leading inside.

After a little more searching, he found the solar battery display screen—a small, round, black-and-white LCD hanging to the left of the driver’s seat, hidden behind the steering wheel.

Grabbing the screen, he checked the battery status.

“It’s fully charged! This battery is much better than the one I had before!”

Feeling pleased, Yu Hong quickly sat in the driver’s seat and tested the car. It started, moved forward and backward, and turned smoothly. The car was in perfect condition.

He got out, placed his hand on the door, and thought:

“Enhance solar car: expand space, fully upgrade protection, and improve durability.”

He didn’t enhance too much at once, knowing from past experiments that larger objects required more time for enhancement.

Soon, a black line flashed and entered the vehicle.

A mechanical voice sounded:

“Do you wish to enhance the solar car?”

Yu Hong ignored the voice and stepped back to check the countdown timer that appeared on the car: 11 days, 4 hours, and 5 minutes.

“So long…” he muttered. “The larger the size, the longer the time.”

Not being able to use the black mark for eleven days was a problem for him.

“Still, having a solar car with basic protection and a Luminous Stone mat means I can explore other areas instead of staying put.”

Yu Hong hesitated.

“Wait!” His eyes lit up. “What materials do I need to collect?”

Since food and water had to be self-sustained, staying in one place or moving didn’t make much difference.

The only reason to go far was the Luminous Stone mine. But since it was within walking distance, driving would be slower.

After thinking it through, he realized the car was only useful for transporting water.

With that decision, Yu Hong opened the trunk and found a toolbox.

In no time, he removed the solar motor from the car. Fortunately, the solar system was crudely installed, prioritizing functionality over aesthetics.

This made disassembly easy.

Yu Hong quickly stripped all three jeeps of their solar motors, stacking them and hauling them back to his safe house.

It took over two hours and multiple trips to finish moving everything. He also removed three lightbulbs and the necessary wiring from the cars. Now, he no longer needed to wait for Li Runshan to bring supplies to have electric lights.

Back in the safe house, Yu Hong felt satisfied as he looked at the pile of materials.

“Now I can install the motor when I need the car. And when I don’t need it, no one else can drive the jeeps.”

He found a corner in the cave, installed the car’s lighting system, connected the wires, and hooked it to a solar motor.

Click.

The switch flipped, and the dark cave lit up for the first time.

Soft, white light filled every corner of the safe house, illuminating Yu Hong’s pale, rough face.

He stared at the light, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion.

After standing still for a while, he finally sat down in a good mood.

After resting briefly, he moved the remaining clutter to the corner and resumed digging the second stone chamber.

The light seemed to boost his energy. He worked non-stop until noon, ate, and practiced his heavy leg exercises to calm down.

Outside, the sunlight dimmed as clouds gathered and thunder rumbled.

Yu Hong had just begun training when he heard hurried footsteps outside.

“There it is! I see the door!” someone shouted excitedly.

“This is it. Right here! I see the door!” someone shouted excitedly.

Footsteps quickly approached.

“Come on, I’ll pull you up,” a young woman’s voice sounded.

Two people climbed the stone steps and stood outside the door.

Knock knock knock.

“Is anyone there? We’re part of a passing convoy and want to buy some Luminous stone!”

Yu Hong frowned slightly as he glanced at the silver rune formation behind the door. There was no response, confirming they weren’t Shadow Wraiths or malevolent spirits.

He remembered what Li Runshan had mentioned earlier—there would be refugee convoys passing through, and he should stay alert.

He immediately stepped closer.

Swish.

Pulling open the peephole cover, he saw two young girls standing outside, looking quite similar.

They both wore white, long-sleeved T-shirts, their long hair tied into ponytails. Their skin was fair and glowing, and they had delicate features. Their large, almond-shaped eyes were made up with care.

The girl in front had a higher nose bridge, smaller and pinker lips, and a more prominent, full chest.

“Hello, hello,” the girl said with a quick smile as soon as the peephole opened. “We’d like to exchange some goods for Luminous stone for the road. What’s your price? What goods do you accept?”

“Luminous stone? I only sell Great Luminous stone. I don’t sell regular ones,” Yu Hong said casually. Regular Luminous stone were too time-consuming and labor-intensive to mine, yielding thin profits compared to keeping them for crafting materials.

“As for goods—food, dry rations,” he said after some thought.

He had no shortages of anything else but could stock up on rations.

“Uh, we barely have enough food for ourselves. What about clothes, blankets, or small furniture and tableware?” the girl asked.

“Those are worthless. Do you have any silver coin?” Yu Hong frowned.

“Silver… silver coin?” The girl’s face looked a bit embarrassed. “How about this—we can work for you. If you have any heavy labor to do, we have many people and can finish quickly.”

Yu Hong finally understood—these were just a bunch of paupers.

“Please, help us! We thought there was a small village here, but when we arrived, we found everyone gone, just three households left. We’re out of Luminous stones and can’t protect ourselves at night. Without Luminous stone pouches for defense, many people will die in the convoy!”

The girl clasped her hands together, pleading with Yu Hong.

“How many of you are there? How many vehicles?” Yu Hong asked.

“Five large buses, over a hundred people,” the girl said helplessly.

“Where are you coming from? Why are you fleeing?” Yu Hong continued asking.

“From Yuhe. The city was in chaos when we left. So many people died. The United Forces sent reinforcements twice, but it was useless. We saw no hope and could only escape,” the girl said softly, her eyes bloodshot up close.

“Was it Ghostly Shadow attacking you? Was it Withered Maidens?” Yu Hong’s heart tightened, and he quickly asked.

The trouble they encountered was something even the United Forces couldn’t handle, and it was a city-level Hope Stronghold—completely different from a town.

A city-level Hope Stronghold was far more powerful than a town. They had everything he did here and more.

If the city couldn’t hold, that meant he wouldn’t be able to either.

“It wasn’t Withered Maidens. It was the Whisperers.” At the mention of the name, the girl’s entire body trembled as if in fear.

Whisperers.

Yu Hong recalled the dangerous entities mentioned on the radio. The Whisperers were part of the Ghostly Shadow class, a far more terrifying and dangerous super-threat than Withered Maidens.

“Tell me everything you know about the Whisperers—all the details and intel. I’ll pay you two large luminous stones,” Yu Hong said quickly.

The two girls’ eyes lit up, and they nodded immediately.

“Yes!”

*

*

* *

In the deep green forest, a gray road snaked its way into the distance, vanishing at the horizon.

On the left side of the road sat five large gray buses.

The buses were wrapped in thick white iron sheets, and the windows had been boarded up from the inside with thick wooden planks.

“Is this the convoy?” A young man crouched behind a patch of brown grass not far from the vehicles, his camouflage blending perfectly with his surroundings. He wore a crown of dried grass on his head.

“Yeah. I heard there were abandoned jeeps over here, but we found a big fish instead,” another man crouching nearby said with a sly smile.

“If we report this to the boss, we’ll get a lot of good loot. I just saw twin sisters get off the bus. There must be more inside,” the young man said with a lecherous grin.

“The clubhouse just lost a few young ones. If we bring replacements, the boss will reward us nicely, heh heh,” the other man chuckled.

They observed for a while longer before one of them spoke again.

“Alright. I’ll go contact Sister Yu and have her send someone to meet us here.”

“Got it.”

One of them stood up and quietly slipped away.

The remaining man stayed crouched, keeping an eye on the convoy.

However, something felt strange. Despite watching for over ten minutes, no one else had gotten off the buses since the first group of about ten people.

The five buses sat still and silent, like five giant coffins—motionless and eerily peaceful.

“What’s going on?” The man frowned and took out a luminous stone blanket from behind him, draping it over himself.

The blanket instantly made him feel much safer.

Still, looking at the five buses, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong.

(End of Chapter)