Choice One

Huff, huff, huff!

In the woods, Yu Hong gasped for air as he looked at the two bodies in camouflage lying before him.

The clothing on these two reminded him of stutterer.

"Could these clothes belong to the coalition forces?" he involuntarily recalled the last visitor, Zhao Zhenghong.

That guy claimed he was extending an invitation, but in reality, he had sent people to hide by the door, aiming to ambush Yu Hong as he stepped out.

Such deceit was typical, especially after the Evil Shadow's appearance had drastically increased the importance of Large Pyroxene Stones, it was normal for them to try to capture him again.

Yu Hong crouched down and carefully searched the two bodies.

He quickly found various items.

Two military green daggers, two bags of old luminous stones, two leather water pouches—but these were nothing special.

One item, however, slightly surprised Yu Hong.

It was found on the person who had drawn his gun.

It was a silver coin with a grayish-white hue.

On the front, the coin depicted a beautifully tall and sharp tower, while on the back, there was a rune frequently seen on luminous stones.

"Could this be the common currency used in town?" Yu Hong pondered, holding the silver coin.

Regardless, he decided to keep it first. After scavenging the items, seeing that the two were still unconscious, he did not bother with them and took all their possessions before heading back the way he came.

Whether the two men survived depended on their luck—if they woke up before dark, perhaps they might live, but if not...

Yu Hong quickly retrieved the items he had dropped earlier and collected the scattered firewood, carrying it all back to the cave.

If it hadn't been for the effects of the Advanced Physical Training Method allowing him two chances to recover his physical strength with the cool air, he might have been captured and coerced into servitude.

Click, he used the key to open the door, quickly entered, and shut it behind him.

Listening to the heavy door slam shut and lock,

a strong sense of security surged in his heart.

He set down his things temporarily, near the fireplace to prevent them from getting damp and moldy.

Then he sat on a stool to ponder the issues he encountered today.

The scavenged items included two handguns, a silver coin, two daggers, two bags of old luminous stones, and other miscellaneous items.

He played with the handguns in his hands, exploring them curiously as he had never handled guns before, spending a while figuring out how to remove the magazine.

"....." Looking at the magazine in his hand, Yu Hong felt somewhat speechless.

The magazine had only one bullet... one bullet per gun...

"Has the official situation become so poor?" Yu Hong felt at a loss for words.

He didn't know what would become of the handguns if they were enhanced, but for now, other preparations were more urgent.

With the appearance of Evil Shadows in the town, he must prepare in advance, not relying on luck.

'Evil Shadows, Withered Woman? Ordinary luminous stones are useless... even Large Pyroxene Stones can only be used for escape...'

He looked at the Large Pyroxene Stones placed in his cave.

Doors and ground surrounding, all three had them, but such density was likely only sufficient against shadows.

He took out the last Large Pyroxene Stone he had kept in reserve.

He initially thought it was enough, but now...

"Come to think of it, why can luminous stones scatter shadows? According to stutterer, even without the rune, luminous stones can scatter shadows, just less effectively. So... the question is,"

he reached out and traced the rune on the Large Pyroxene Stone.

"Where did this design originally come from? How did the Black Disaster first occur?"

He had a feeling that the rune on the luminous stone was somehow related to the emergence of the Black Disaster.

'Given that the enhancement from the Black Mark is rejected due to incomplete functionality, perhaps I could use this to test if the rune alone could counter the shadows...'

With this in mind, Yu Hong took out a newspaper and a black charcoal pencil.

This charcoal pencil had been enhanced to the size of a regular ballpoint pen, but the writing it produced was much more delicate and clear than that of the previous charcoal.

Clearly, the material of the charcoal had also been enhanced into some unknown form.

Yu Hong didn't care about these details as long as it was useful.

He laid the newspaper flat on another wooden stool and carefully placed the silver coin underneath.

Then, using the charcoal pencil, he gently rubbed over the rune design on the coin.

Soon, a black rune design appeared before him.

The base color of the drawing was gray-black, and the pattern was a deeper shade, making it clearly visible.

Having completed the drawing, Yu Hong stretched out his hand and pressed it on the design.

'Enhance the shadow-scattering rune, aiming for increased effect!'

He chanted inwardly.

Quickly, the Black Mark discharged black lines, but then immediately retracted them.

'Insufficient completeness.'

It failed...

Yu Hong furrowed his brow and released his hand.

From the Black Mark's reaction, it seemed that the rune alone did not have the capability to scatter shadows, or at least, not on its own.

"It seems that I won't be able to unravel this mystery anytime soon, so..."

He picked up another ordinary luminous stone.

He had gained quite a few of these both from the two men and from stutterer's leftovers.

He gathered them all, placing them on the ground, amounting to four small bags.

Each bag contained ten stones, pre-allocated.

'Is it because ten stones can completely scatter shadows?' Yu Hong speculated.

He put down the ordinary luminous stone, then picked up another stone which had yet to be marked with a rune.

Tools for marking luminous stones, as used by stutterer, were also available.

He compared the luminous stones drawn by stutterer and those he had just confiscated; the surface runes of the two stones were different colors, evidently drawn with different pigments.

'It seems that the pigment has little effect on the rune. Then... I'll give it a try.'

Picking up the reinforced charcoal pencil, Yu Hong began to carefully trace on the surface of a plain luminous stone.

He replicated the original rune, not the enhanced version.

The original rune was simple—an encircled ring with four letter-like strange symbols inside, a small circle in the center, and a flame-like symbol added to it.

After several tries, Yu Hong quickly drew a total of five luminous stones.

He placed these luminous stones on the ground from left to right.

The order of placement wasn't random, but according to the neatness of the runes.

From left to right, the runes became increasingly more neat, and the lines were rounder and more clearly drawn.

Having done this,

Yu Hong exhaled, reached out again, and pressed his hand onto the first luminous stone on the left.

"Enhance into Large Pyroxene Stone, direction: strengthen effect." He pondered in his mind.

Quickly, a black line shot out, and feedback chimed.

"Would you like to enhance it into a Large Pyroxene Stone?"

However, what Yu Hong was interested in was not that, but the time digits that appeared on the surface of the luminous stone.

"3 days 2 hours 18 minutes."

He withdrew his hand and quickly jotted down the time.

Then he extended his hand again, pressing on the second luminous stone—the same procedure.

In an instant, digits also appeared on the second luminous stone.

"3 days 1 hours 2 minutes."

Then the third stone.

"3 days 51 minutes."

The fourth stone.

"3 days 42 minutes."

The fifth stone.

"3 days 21 minutes."

Withdrawing his hand, Yu Hong looked at the row of recorded numbers, his face finally revealing a look of realization.

"Indeed... the length of the enhancement time is influenced by the perfection of the item being enhanced. The smaller the gap before and after the item is enhanced, the less countdown time is needed."

"Looking at it this way, if I start with an enhanced Large Pyroxene Stone rune drawn on the luminous stone, then the enhancement time will definitely be greatly reduced!"

Yu Hong guessed.

"Because I've saved some of the enhancement time on the rune side!"

"Let's try it!"

Immediately, he picked up a raw luminous stone and began to mimic the complex rune from the Large Pyroxene Stone.

This complex pattern was much harder than the usual luminous stone.

If the complexity of a regular luminous stone rune is at 1, then the advanced rune on the Large Pyroxene Stone would be at 4.

Not to mention, the advanced rune required writing over ten strange symbols.

At a glance, it somewhat resembled certain magic circles Yu Hong had seen in some games' memories.

Time continued to pass, and he immersed himself in drawing advanced runes, completely forgetting the time of day.

Unknowingly, the sky outside was growing dark.

Yu Hong lit the fireplace and continued drawing.

The dry wood he had collected from this trip was enough to last through the night, and from the information he had obtained, it was indeed possible that the Evil Shadow threat could reach here.

If they didn't encounter it, it would be fine, but if they did... just relying on those large Luminous Stones... definitely wouldn't be enough!

So, he needed to think of countermeasures.

Finding a way to fight the Evil Shadow was naturally the first priority.

But for now, in the absence of a solution, shortening the Large Pyroxene Stone's enhancement time was more important.

After all, even if he didn't use the Large Pyroxene Stone himself, he could still trade it with others—it was a genuine hard currency.

Time sped by as Yu Hong devoted himself to his practice.

Fortunately, there was no Blood Tide tonight, and no disruption from beetles. Yu Hong continued drawing until late into the night, and feeling tired, he enhanced some jerky, which took about three hours to complete. After setting the countdown time, he promptly fell asleep.

He woke up at dawn.

After eating and taking care of his bodily needs in the morning, he began to practice the Advanced Physical Training Method.

In the afternoon, he went out to collect wood, cut wild vegetables, and refill water.

Afternoon returned to continue practicing drawing advanced runes, resting only to enhance jerky, not wasting any Black Mark time.

So it went, day after day.

Finally, on the afternoon of the fifth day, the drawing of the advanced rune was successful!

In the cave, Yu Hong breathed a long sigh of relief, his face breaking into a relaxed smile as he held a luminous stone with newly drawn advanced runes.

"Not bad... not worse than the little stammerer's!"

He was a bit too eager as he placed it down and pressed his hand onto it.

"Enhance into Large Pyroxene Stone, direction: strengthen effect."

With a thought in his mind, feedback from the Black Mark occurred instantly.

A black line flew from the back of his hand and disappeared into the luminous stone.

Then, a mechanical voice sounded in his ear.

"Would you like to enhance it into a Large Pyroxene Stone?"

Yu Hong didn't respond but withdrew his hand, his eyes fixed on the advanced rune luminous stone.

The countdown was already displayed.

"2 days 19 minutes."

Bang!

Yu Hong slammed his hand hard on the ground.

"It worked!!"

He couldn't help but laugh with joy.

"Indeed, indeed my guess was right!! Reducing the discrepancy before and after the enhancement shortens the enhancement time!"

Two days for one Large Pyroxene Stone, a full one-third shorter than the previous three days!

This meant that he could enhance more Large Pyroxene Stones faster, ensuring his safety and trading for more resources!

After the excitement, Yu Hong soon had a new thought.

"The Large Pyroxene Stone time has been shortened, but concerning the Evil Shadow... how strong this thing is, I have no idea... What if the danger posed by the Evil Shadow is greater than I imagined..."