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One hour and fifty-one minutes, or essentially two hours, wasn't long for Yu Hong.
He added more wood to the fire while waiting.
Unnoticed, the number of black insects outside the door had decreased, and light faintly shone through the air holes.
Dawn broke.
He slowly walked to the back of the door and opened the peephole.
The mountain forest outside was shrouded in a hazy gray mist, indistinct. The sunlight illuminated the mist, turning everything gray and white.
Suddenly, Yu Hong smelled a pungent odor in his nose, causing him to step back and frown slightly.
He turned to look at the fortified medicine, noting there were a few minutes left.
He wasn't in a hurry and calmly sat down to wait.
Soon, the numbers on the black soil surface reset to zero.
Its entire body twisted and blurred in less than a second, and then swiftly returned to clarity.
After clearing, the original soil had transformed into six sleek black capsules.
The text on the back of the capsules read: Anti-diarrhea medicine, Instructions: One capsule once a day. Side effects: abdominal pain, constipation, gastrointestinal discomfort.
Yu Hong's face brightened, he quickly ran over, picked up the medicine, took one capsule and put it into his mouth, then picked up the previously filtered boiled cool water and swallowed it down mouthful by mouthful.
Having taken the medicine, he felt much more at ease.
The enhancement capability of the Black Mark had never failed; if it was marked as anti-diarrhea medicine, then it surely was correct.
With the medicine not yet having taken effect, Yu Hong, having nothing better to do, began to pick up tools to craft a new water filter cup from spare wood blocks.
As long as it was simply made, the enhancement would perfect it.
Meanwhile, he also stuffed a protein bar into his mouth.
Claiming to suffice for a day, he decided to give it a try.
While handcrafting with a saw, he casually turned on the radio.
The station was preset and untouched.
Immediately upon being turned on, voices emerged, featuring a two-person interview.
"....The major disaster in Youyun City in the past two years isn't isolated. According to our national correspondents, since the Black Disaster emerged, special disasters nationwide have been on the rise. Yet casualties caused by shadow and Blood Tide Monsters are not severe. They mainly caused damage in the early stages of the Black Disaster. In the subsequent stabilized environment, those which caused a real surge in casualties are more dangerous than shadow, the Evil Shadow."
"Evil Shadow is not afraid of ordinary luminous stones and moves extremely fast with a strong contagious nature. Although it appears very infrequently, just occasional sightings, once it appears, the harm it causes far exceeds the previous two.
This disaster in Youyun has caused over six hundred casualties, comparing it to the initial incident in Char Town...."
"Yes, so does Professor Han have any advice for us?" the radio host asked.
"Advice... there's only one, try to move to a larger Hope City stronghold, where there are more advanced weapons and stronger protections. One person cannot find a way to combat Evil Shadow alone. Thank you."
"Okay, by the way, you mentioned earlier that the Silver Tower United Research Institute is soon to release a Blood Tide shadow protection survival manual, is that true or false?" the host asked.
"Well, I've heard this news, I'm not sure about its authenticity. But now, as the environment outside the city worsens, Blood Tide and shadow, Evil Shadow incidents increase, and the duration of night is also extending, making the demand for illumination increasingly significant. I personally believe that it is Silver Tower's duty and responsibility to issue such a manual."
"One last question. A listener asked: In places with large gatherings of people, encountering danger results in more casualties, and the likelihood of being affected is higher. Just like the Poker incident a year ago, the Music Box event five months ago, both caused massive casualties. Apart from that, many more incidents have occurred in various places without receiving news, what are your thoughts on this skepticism?"
"I must warn about these events which investigations now suggest are caused by Evil Shadow. Its high contagious nature can spread rapidly through any contact with its carriers. This is also why it causes a large number of casualties.
And for Evil Shadow, currently other than isolating and dispersing locations where its carriers appear, we have no effective means of dispelling them."
"What about high-density luminous stone bombs?"
"No, Evil Shadow is more dangerous than shadow in that they can recover very quickly without any damage after being dispersed. So if encountered, one must leave quickly. With the increasing number of Evil Shadow incidents outside, major Hope City strongholds will become stricter about admitting people, so I advise survivors outside to enter the city bunkers as soon as possible, otherwise it might be too late, and they could face not being able to enter and lack of supplies...."
Following this were closing remarks and thanks, and the professor left the broadcast room amid the host's gratitude. The show concluded, transitioning to soft music.
Yu Hong sat on the stool, engrossed in what he had heard.
He had not expected that the seemingly safe strongholds of Hope City were also facing such great danger.
'Right, where there are more people, naturally more danger is attracted...If I were a shadow monster, I'd also target places with more people for food.'
Regaining his senses, he sighed softly.
Standing up, he placed a roughly made wooden cup on the ground, and as usual, covered the top with cloth packed with charcoal.
Then he pressed down to start the enhancement.
A countdown timer appeared: 3 hours 02 minutes.
"Huh? Why has the time increased?" Yu Hong remembered that the last enhancement had only taken two and a half hours.
Could it be...
He examined his newly made cup, which was crudely crafted, merely hacked from a block of wood with an ax, and the interior was a messily gouged hole.
It was far inferior to the carefully made wood cup from the first time...
'Could it be that the craftsmanship has caused the time to increase?' he speculated silently.
He made a mental note of this.
After taking a rest and feeling somewhat better, he started enhancing the water filter cup, got up to clean up, dumped out the trash and waste, changed into new clothes he had obtained, went out to gather wood, and searched for puddles to collect water.
After completing this series of tasks,
```
Time had quickly passed three hours.
The cup was also enhanced, looking no different from the previous one.
He tested it, and indeed, the effect was good.
That day, he didn't wander around anymore, but stayed near the cave, collecting firewood for the entire day.
The firewood was wet from the rain, but it was good for crafting small items.
Another three hours swiftly passed, and Yu Hong had enhanced another water filter cup.
Including the previous one, he now had two.
He paused, not planning to continue, but picked up the tool kit he had been using.
The kit was assembled by Stutter himself, containing saws, axes, chisels, shovels, screwdrivers, and more—quite comprehensive.
Yu Hong planned to properly enhance it to facilitate future use, as it would be troublesome if it broke and he had to repair it.
Inside the cave, he placed all the tools together, wrapped them with a rag, and then placed his hand on the rag.
"Enhance tool kit, aim: strengthen durability."
Hiss, a black line flashed. A countdown appeared on the rag: 1 hour 12 minutes.
A short time.
Yu Hong withdrew his hand, thoughtful.
"It seems that the enhancement is greatly influenced by my demands. The more difficult the request, the larger the scope, the longer the time. And it also requires a certain degree of completeness, though I don't know how low the completeness must be."
He estimated in his mind and found a place to sit down and rest.
The antidiarrheal medicine was very effective; in six hours, he hadn't needed to go once, and he felt nothing amiss with his body.
The remaining medicine could be preserved for later use, and could also be traded in crucial moments.
Feeling somewhat better, in the afternoon, Yu Hong finally went out, took a walk around to familiarize himself with the surroundings, then returned to the safe house to sleep early and rest.
He could not sleep at night, planning to exercise according to the Advanced Physical Training Method.
And before sleeping, he didn't want to waste the enhancement period of the Black Mark, nor let it sit idle.
So, he first went to check on the tool kit.
Walking to the corner, Yu Hong was stunned.
In the corner, what had been a pile of worn tools, were all now secured in a black metal rack.
The tools, no longer worn or damaged, were all brand new.
Moreover, it seemed all tools had a layer of dark gray unknown material attached to their surfaces, the thickness had increased, making them look much more robust.
"Ts-ts... impressive... such an effect, in just an hour..." Yu Hong marveled, reaching out to take a saw.
The saw's teeth had been broken in places before, but now on closer inspection, all the fractures had disappeared, and the sharpness of the teeth was incomparably better than before.
He admired it again in his mind and began to look for the next enhancement target.
Now in the cave, food, water, and tools were all secured.
The only thing left was the resting place... it needed to be strengthened.
His gaze fell on the thick, smelly cotton quilt.
"This enhancement comes with cleaning, let's try enhancing the quilt. It would be even better if it becomes mold-resistant, lightweight, and easy to wash..."
Thinking this, he walked over to the gray-white quilt that Stutter had given him, squatted down, and reached out his hand.
"Enhance bedding, aim: mold resistance, pest repellent, lighter and easier to wash."
His mind flashed with requests.
A black line shot out from the Black Mark on the back of his hand and entered the quilt.
A countdown number emerged: 10 hours 14 minutes.
"So long?!—" Yu Hong was startled. But on second thought, he had made multiple demands, and the larger volume of the bedding might be the reasons for this.
Ten hours, from now until dawn, he could wait!
His mind made up, he quickly confirmed the Black Mark's inquiry.
Immediately, the black countdown on the quilt started moving.
Flames surged, and in the center of the cave, Yu Hong jogged in place, beginning his exercise.
He was also continuously mindful of his breathing and musculature coordination.
Coordinating all three was challenging.
He kept trying and repeating, occasionally stopping to add more wood, as time incessantly flowed.
Gradually, in the latter half of the night, he began to get the hang of coordinating all three.
While jogging, he gradually began to hear a faint sound of water.
The sound was initially very soft.
As time passed, the sound gradually grew louder and louder.
Even the influx of black insects from outside the door could not drown out this noise.