LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 57 – Hope (3)
Chapter 57 – Hope (3)
Luminous Stone Mine
Not far from the post office stone house, in a canyon, several natural stone cave openings are quietly embedded in the grayish-white mountain wall, surrounded by vines, green grass, and withered leaves.
A few scattered birds perch on the withered vines above the caves, emitting sharp cries.
The sky is nearing dusk. From one of the caves, a tall figure slowly walks out.
The figure is wearing a full black bulletproof suit. The thick bulletproof suit makes him, whose height is barely 1.7 meters, appear to be nearly 1.8 meters tall.
Under the helmet are plain gray goggles and a pitch-black metallic filtration mask. The sound of heavy breathing constantly emerges from the filters on both sides of the mask.
“Rare to see birds,” the figure looks up, observing the small birds outside the cave.
The three small birds standing on the withered vines jump a few times, also looking down at him.
All three birds have grayish-brown feathers, dirty and even tangled. The pale yellow beaks still have dried blood stains.
“This environment, even the birds aren’t normal?” The figure sighs and looks down at the red value changing on his collar. The data fluctuates between 20 and 40.
This is right at the entrance of the mine. It wasn’t like this a moment ago. But now…
Holding the luminous stone bag, Yu Hong realizes that these rare small birds are likely problematic.
The optimism he felt upon seeing the birds slowly fades.
“What’s still normal in this world?”
With the luminous stone in hand, he doesn’t look up anymore and strides in the direction of his return.
There is nothing at the luminous stone mine, perfectly normal—no strange shadows, no black insects, no plants, just pure and clean.
But the only problem is radiation.
He doesn’t dare stay too long because, according to the experimental records from Jenny’s side, the radiation from the luminous stone really can make people become dull-witted.
Carrying a full bag of luminous stone, Yu Hong swiftly navigates through the forest path.
After about 20 minutes, the sky is nearly completely dark.
The outline of the cave ahead is faintly visible.
Yu Hong quickens his pace. In this dangerous environment, seeing a safe, warm shelter where he can avoid the wind and rain fills him with an urge to hurry back and rest.
‘It’s getting colder. The temperature difference between day and night is increasing, and the humidity in the cave is getting worse. If there’s enough solar power, it’d be nice to get some electric lights, make it more comfortable.’
He thinks to himself. He could go to Li Runshan’s side to pre-order light bulbs and wires. These are cheap, and when he last exchanged supplies, he asked about them. The real problem is the generators needed to power the lights.
Solar-powered generators are truly hard to get. It is said that the main factories producing them were hit hard by several large-scale terror incidents, many workers died, and the machinery was damaged. Production, which had been good, came to a halt, and now the authorities are urgently searching for new sites to rebuild. Combined with shortages in raw materials, it will take time to recover production.
So good solar panels are in short supply.
Thinking this, Yu Hong feels even more fortunate that he has the Black Ink enhancement; otherwise…
He reaches the cave entrance, steps over the earthen mound in the courtyard, and enters the yard filled with luminous stone grass.
Once inside, his collar’s LCD display quickly shows negative red values.
Feeling as if surrounded by safety, Yu Hong relaxes even more. He walks toward the wooden door, takes out his key, and aims it at the keyhole.
Click.
With a sharp sound, a great force strikes the key from the side.
The key flies out, landing on the grass.
Yu Hong freezes for a moment, not understanding what just happened.
He only feels a tremor in his hand before the key is forcefully yanked away.
‘What was that?’
‘What hit the key?’
In one second, he snaps out of his stunned state, his body tensing. He drops the luminous stone bag and grabs his mace.
But at this moment, there’s already a new development.
Thud, thud, thud.
While the key is sent flying, urgent footsteps approach from behind.
The sound is fast!
So fast that it only takes two seconds from hearing the noise to feeling it close in on him.
In those two seconds, Yu Hong has just enough time to turn around, tighten his grip on the mace, and assess the situation.
His lack of professional training shows in that moment.
When he turns around, before he can make sense of what’s happening…
A figure, as large as a black bear, rapidly closes the distance. The elbow locks around his neck, the immense strength combined with force knocks him hard into the wooden door.
Bang!!
The door shakes. Yu Hong feels something crushing his neck. If not for the tough alloy plating in his suit, he might not even be able to breathe right now.
Even so, immense pressure starts to build on the sides of his neck. The attacker is attempting to quickly subdue him and knock him unconscious.
This is a very dangerous area of the body. Once trapped in the right position, a few seconds is enough to knock someone out.
This isn’t a blood circulation issue, but the body’s nervous mechanism being forcibly triggered. It’s also one of the most commonly used lethal moves in ground combat systems.
The assailant’s strength is overwhelming. He drags Yu Hong leftwards, down the stone steps.
They crash into the grass, crushing the luminous stone grass in the yard.
Thud, thud, thud!
Yu Hong desperately tries to hit the arm trapping him, but it’s no use. His strength is far too weak compared to the attacker’s.
Luckily, the enhanced suit provides solid protection for his neck, the alloy plates blocking the grip. Besides being immobile, there’s no immediate danger.
Suddenly, Yu Hong’s expression changes dramatically. Through the goggles, he sees a metal tool with a hooked end, held in a thick, powerful hand, rapidly thrusting toward the filtration device of his mask.
The mask is also made of alloy and bulletproof, but the only weakness is the filters on the sides used for ventilation.
Clearly, that’s the target now.
This part has only ordinary material protection, with a steel wire mesh on the outer layer. Its strength is far lower than the other parts. If pierced by the metal tool, the entire protective system of the mask will be compromised.
Thud!
But Yu Hong doesn’t have the strength to break free.
With a muffled thud, one of the filters gets punctured. The cold air outside rushes into the mask, causing his pores to contract.
‘I can’t let this continue!’
A strong sense of danger surges up in his heart.
Yu Hong immediately activates his internal energy, all his strength surging out in a single explosive burst.
Ah!!!
He shouts out, and the surge of power allows him to swing the mace behind him.
This swing targets the head of the attacker sneaking up behind him.
The mace is swung with all his might, even disregarding the risk of collateral damage.
Yu Hong bets that his helmet is far tougher than the attacker’s!
Bang!
A muffled sound.
The mace strikes the edge of his own helmet, missing entirely.
This means the attacker loosens his grip.
Yu Hong immediately feels the immense pressure on his neck vanish, his body relaxing.
He quickly scrambles to his feet, takes two steps forward, and turns to look behind him.
Bang!!
Before he can stabilize himself, another heavy impact slams into his chest.
The outer fabric of the bulletproof suit is torn open by something.
The tremendous force sends him stumbling backward, his head spinning, unable to focus his vision.
Unfortunately, the attacker doesn’t wait for him to recover but instead seizes the opportunity, charging forward with a punch to his head.
Bang!
Yu Hong is knocked into the air, nearly leaving the ground. He falls heavily to the ground.
In the luminous stone grass yard.
At this moment, two similarly tall figures, both wearing bulletproof suits, one in camouflage, land heavy punches.
The punch lands on the chin of the black-suited figure, sending him flying backward.
“Strong defense, but unfortunately… it’s on a useless body.” Guo Xudong (White Python) flexes his right fist and quickly rushes toward the still-trying-to-get-up Yu Hong.
Bang!
A powerful kick lands in Yu Hong’s abdomen.
The massive impact sends him flying, crashing into the earthen mound behind him.
“That’s enough.” Guo Xudong looks at the incapacitated Yu Hong, pulls out a roll of high-strength rope from his waist pouch, and slowly walks toward him.
For him, the difficulty of this mission lies in the unknown dangers around them. The rest seems easy.
He closed in quickly, suddenly lifting his knee and delivering a knee strike to Yu Hong’s head.
Bang!
The knee strike landed perfectly, but unexpectedly, it didn’t hit the chin. Instead, it struck the chest.
Moreover, the solid alloy plate on the opponent’s chest absorbed the impact, making his knee hurt.
Clearly, he also wore a bulletproof suit, and knee pads were equipped to protect his joints!
‘This guy still has energy!?’ After he had been trapped earlier, both sides had struggled with their strength for a long time. This direct confrontation should have drained both their stamina significantly. Yet now, this guy still seems full of energy.
Surprised by the opponent’s physical condition, Guo Xudong made a wrong hit, quickly sidestepped, and created some distance. This also just happened to avoid a powerful swinging punch from the opponent.
He circled behind, right hand drawing a sharp short knife, and delivered a slash to the back.
Slash!
The blade was blocked.
Guo Xudong wasn’t surprised. He was merely looking for weak spots in the opponent’s suit.
In an instant, he swiftly moved around Yu Hong, light on his feet, delivering punches, kicks, and knife strikes one after another, like heavy artillery, constantly battering Yu Hong’s body.
The difference in their fighting awareness was too great. Guo Xudong practically treated Yu Hong as a target, relentlessly beating him.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
In the yard, two figures moved like two billiard balls—one aggressive, continuously rolling and crashing, while the other was passive, being knocked around helplessly.
Soon, a flash of light appeared in Guo Xudong’s eyes beneath his helmet.
He seemed to have found a weak spot in the opponent’s suit!
The thick alloy plates and ceramic sheets did indeed provide strong protection, but the entire set of alloy plates also restricted the opponent’s movement and coordination.
Any movement that required more space would be hindered by the alloy plates, slowing down both speed and power.
So…
The opponent’s weakness is flexibility!
Use joint techniques!
Guo Xudong quickly devised a strategy. No matter how tough the bulletproof suit was, it couldn’t restrict the movement of the joints; otherwise, the wearer would become a zombie.
As long as the joints could still move and had space to move in, he could directly disable the opponent’s ability to move using joint locks.
He discarded the short knife in his hand, circled around, and launched a sprint, performing a powerful kick.
Bang!
The kick landed squarely on the opponent’s side, sending him flying several meters and crashing to the ground.
“It’s over.” Guo Xudong made two quick steps, leaped into the air, and elbowed down hard onto the opponent’s back.
Weighing over 260 pounds, his weight combined with the acceleration of his descent made the elbow strike devastating. He landed with his elbow as the focal point, instantly knocking the wind out of Yu Hong.
Even though the bulletproof suit mitigated the impact, this blunt force was far more overwhelming than a bullet or a knife stab.
Bang!
Yu Hong collapsed onto the ground. His right wrist was grabbed, twisted behind him, and pulled forcefully.
His forearm was pinned to his back by the knee of someone behind him, rendering him immobile.
Fortunately, the enhanced suit had some high-strength ceramic inserts to limit reverse joint locks.
His forearm was compressed, his left hand forced to the ground, unable to turn over. He was in a prone position, completely immobilized.
(End of Chapter)