A Night of Desperation

Chapter 183:

"Everyone must take responsibility for their choices, whether they are right or wrong.”

Inside the communicator, Zhang Kaijun’s voice was cold and cruel.

"As leaders, our responsibility is to keep the flame alive and ensure the survival of the majority. The fate of individuals is irrelevant,” he continued.

Upon learning of Yu Hong’s handling of some people in the camp earlier, he immediately gave a negative evaluation.

"What about yourself?” Yu Hong asked. “The leader is also a person, an individual.”

"The same applies. If I no longer serve the survival of the group, then I can also be discarded. Of course, I won’t let myself end up in that situation,” Zhang Kaijun said calmly.

"You are a cold person,” Yu Hong paused for a moment, then replied.

"Many people say that,” Zhang Kaijun said indifferently, showing no anger.

Inside the communicator, for a moment, there was only the sound of their light breathing.

Currently, in the communication channel, only the two of them were online for long periods. Wei Song had logged on a few days ago, saying he was moving and needed to conserve energy, so he couldn’t come online temporarily. Since then, there had been no activity.

After a pause.

"The trading team is about to arrive. I’m using a contracting system, where outsiders bid monthly to form a trade caravan. I only want fixed returns;profits and losses don’t concern me. So, there’s no need to cut me any deals on the trading prices,” Zhang Kaijun explained.

"I didn’t plan to cut you any deals,” Yu Hong replied. From the beginning until now, his relationship with the other party was only a normal exchange relationship.

"But you manage so strictly;are there still people in the city daring to form caravans?” he suddenly asked, puzzled.

"They’re all outsourced individuals. The elites in the city won’t, and don’t have the time to do such risky things. They’re formed entirely by leftover outposts outside, and I only take the materials,” Zhang Kaijun said. “The small outposts outside here basically survive on the remnants of the previous Hope City. Too many people died in a short time, leading to vast amounts of supplies left untouched, with some cities having enough stored food for thousands of people to eat for years. But those places harbor various dangers. I won’t sacrifice my elites in vain to

After finishing these tasks, Yu Hong returned to the cave and piled up predefined amounts of jerky, wild vegetables, and dried insects to strengthen.

These quantities had been pre-calculated, allowing the Black Mark to continuously produce fortified nutrient paste while he slept.

The strengthening process would finish just at the end of his sleep, with a margin of error not exceeding ten minutes.

Finally, he relied on the Black Lizard to check the surroundings of the camp.

"The Black Lizard is incredibly useful…. Without leaving the house, I can monitor the surrounding environment while ensuring a certain level of safety. Once I resolve my Inner Qi issues, I can consider further enhancing the Black Lizard.”

Lying on the wooden bed, Yu Hong’s mind began planning how to reinforce it.

*Now, the individual strength of a Black Lizard is essentially sufficient. To make it capable of countering high-risk Black Disasters would be immensely challenging, and it would probably require a great deal of time…. But if I simply increase the number…. it might save a lot.*

Yu Hong pondered.

‘The number of Black Lizards is determined by the mark. Since I can enhance the strength of the Black Lizards, perhaps I can also increase their numbers.’

He closed his eyes and began to sense the Black Lizard mark.

The mark was still the same as before, like two extra arms growing inside his mind, which he could control to float around at any time.

As his Inner Qi grew, and his physique strengthened, Yu Hong found himself increasingly able to see them clearly.

They were two black spheres, with white dots of light enclosed inside. If his consciousness focused on the light dots, he could quickly see the faint images emerging within.

Looking closely, he could further magnify them.

‘How can I increase the number of creatures controlled by the mark?’ Yu Hong’s mind once again entertained this thought.

Suddenly, he noticed something.

The two marked black spheres seemed slightly larger than when he had first discovered their functions.

‘I remember, initially, the marks appeared to be much smaller…. the light points inside occupied more space within the spheres at that time.’

He observed carefully.

He found that in the two black spheres, the array contained only one light point, while the Black Lizard had nine light points within it.

‘The array has only one, while the Black Lizard has nine, which matches. Now, the Black Lizard’s light points don’t occupy much of the black sphere’s space, and there seems to be more room. Does this imply that I can try to increase the number of Black Lizards?’

Yu Hong’s mind flashed with this thought.

‘Previously, I only nurtured up to the ninth Black Lizard and stopped increasing. The initial attempt’s outcome seemed to limit my thinking. This inertia led me to stop trying to increase numbers…. But maybe…’

He decided without hesitation, immediately injecting a strand of Inner Qi into one of the Black Lizard light points.

The reproduction of Black Lizards required Inner Qi.

And now he had nearly twenty strands of Inner Qi, so using one temporarily was no problem;it would quickly replenish.