Chapter 102 — The Overpass
Hearing Yan Fei’s words—so much like a confession—Luo Xun’s face flushed again, his gaze drifting. “I just thought… who would’ve guessed you’d even imagine something so baseless!” Even in his previous life, he had only ever held that person’s hand—like pulling him into a vehicle while escaping. And now, he didn’t even know that person’s name, okay?
But speaking of which…
Luo Xun suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked Yan Fei up and down. “Come to think of it, between the two of us, you probably have a much more colorful past!” How dare he interrogate him!
Yan Fei’s expression remained calm, his usual gentle smile in place. One hand slipped behind Luo Xun’s neck while the other reached beneath his knees. “How is that the same? What I’m concerned about is your ‘future other half’ in that dream—not some outdated pre-apocalypse dating history.”
Luo Xun choked. “Who knows if some ex-girlfriend might suddenly show up one day, demand that I step aside, and insist on having your babies! If you dared to abandon your… husband…” His thoughts became so jumbled that he didn’t even know how to finish the sentence.
Yan Fei’s smile deepened, his eyes dark and intent enough that Luo Xun couldn’t help but look away, all his earlier bravado instantly deflated. Yan Fei stood, carrying him straight toward the bathroom. “No ex-girlfriend. And even if someone tried to force their way in, I wouldn’t accept it. But to make up for the emotional damage I suffered from jealousy just now—and to reassure you about the future—I think we should have a thorough and in-depth exchange right now…”
Luo Xun stared in shock as he was carried into the bathroom. On the sofa, the little dog rolled half a turn when both its human “pillows” disappeared, then sat up just in time to see, one by one, clothes flying out of the bathroom…
An abandoned child is a pitiful child. First abandoned for two whole days, and now both masters had run into the bathroom to play their “mm-mm-ah-ah” game without it. Its little heart wounded, the dog jumped down, grabbed one of Yan Fei’s slippers left outside the bathroom door, and trotted back to its nest.
The next day, Luo Xun failed to show his face in front of anyone from morning till night. Fortunately, every member of the homebody squad had already learned how to tend crops—planting, caring, harvesting. Upon discovering that their captain was clearly bedridden from “serious injury,” Xu Mei and the other woman considerately took over all the work, while Li Tie and the others joined in after sleeping in, tending to the crops on both floors.
After the bath the night before, Yan Fei discovered yet another slipper had been utterly destroyed. Barefoot, he went to the sofa and slipped on Luo Xun’s pair instead—thankfully, the dog had enough conscience never to chew Luo Xun’s shoes. Luckily, slippers didn’t require precise sizing. That allowed him to carry his utterly exhausted lover upstairs to the bedroom—for another round. As for the specifics of the battle—because it was far too intense, thrilling, and deeply engaging—it shall not be detailed here.
In short, Luo Xun didn’t manage to climb out of bed and walk around until noon on the 30th. The day before, he’d only had enough strength left to pound the bed in frustration.
When they returned to work on the first, even Captain Guo couldn’t help but let his gaze drift repeatedly to the visible stretch of Luo Xun’s neck—covered in unmistakable hickeys—making Luo Xun wish he could dash home and change into a high-collared shirt immediately.
Suspicious and teasing glances swept over the pair, but neither Captain Guo nor the sharp-eyed team members said anything. They simply headed toward the day’s work site.
They had long suspected that these two weren’t as innocent as they pretended. Cousins? Please. Just look at the way they rested and ate together—like an old married couple. Only a fool would believe it. And really, with Yan Fei’s striking appearance, even in the apocalypse, how could he possibly be the type who couldn’t find a wife?
Yet everyone in the team knew these two “cousins” lived together and had no rumored girlfriends. Add in the occasional hand-holding or arm over shoulder—though never overtly intimate—and over time even the most oblivious roughneck had pieced it together. Especially now, when ambiguous male-male relationships in the base were becoming more common.
So seeing the cluster of marks on someone’s neck today wasn’t shocking. If anything, they were inwardly puzzled—judging by appearances alone, Yan Fei’s face seemed more suited to the bottom role! Yet from daily interactions—and today’s evidence—it was clear that someone’s delicate status was unshakable. Truly, one cannot judge by looks.
Their work site had shifted again. After advancing to Level Two, metal-type ability users had significantly improved efficiency. By mid-last month, they had completed construction of the inner wall and returned to the military camp to produce designated items. Now, what they were building was—
An overpass.
An overpass that would span from the military camp in the inner base across the middle and outer walls—wide and strong enough for military vehicles, even tanks and armored carriers, to pass!
This route wouldn’t only lead directly to the gate facing the city center but also extend in the other three directions. In addition, several parallel routes would allow rapid troop movement. In the future, it might even undergo expansion to achieve true all-direction connectivity.
Since tanks were meant to drive across it, the required load-bearing capacity was terrifying. Thankfully, Yan Fei and the others had reached Level Two. Even the three metal users besides Yan Fei had gained the ability to purify metal, barely enabling them to meet the specifications.
Because of this, during the last two days of vacation, Yan Fei had refined and reinforced every defensive metal structure in their home—then, following Luo Xun’s suggestion, layered it beneath the exterior walls. Of course, he hadn’t forgotten to strengthen the building’s internal walls as well. Otherwise, if reinforcement outside caused imbalance and the building collapsed one day… well, the results would be spectacular.
Now, they divided the labor. Three ability users processed raw metal—removing impurities, refining, fusing—creating the hardest base materials. Yan Fei was responsible for shaping the bridge’s metal framework according to the blueprints.
The spans between piers were long. Aside from him, no one else in the team could handle such precise control over that distance. This wasn’t like building walls—minor unevenness didn’t matter. If something went wrong in the bridge framework, the entire structure could collapse. Failing to build it was one thing—but if it crushed buildings or pedestrians below, the consequences would be dire.
Thus, this technical task fell to Yan Fei. After all, he was both skilled and deft… ahem.
Under his hands, the metal twisted and coiled like a living dragon, rising into the air, extending piece by piece along predetermined paths and shapes.
It was a stirring sight, as though he commanded not lifeless metal but a living creature.
A full day’s work couldn’t complete even a full section—at most, they could finish several reinforcing bars between piers. At this pace, completing the elevated bridges within the base by the end of the year would already be considered efficient.
For Yan Fei and the metal team, however, this was good news—a secure iron rice bowl. If their work ended too soon, they’d have to leave the base like other teams and face zombies directly.
It wasn’t that they didn’t want to fight zombies. But once outside, military rules differed from ability-user teams. With ability-user teams, if danger arose, one could retreat. But under military orders, if commanded to hold the line, then it truly meant “hold it even in death.”
They knew it was their duty. They knew that at critical moments, they had to stand firm. Yet with the overwhelming zombie presence outside the base, it was understandable that everyone preferred staying within. Sacrificing themselves to protect their home was one thing—but what if they died, and the home still fell, while those giving orders abandoned both base and civilians to escape?
After a long day, they returned to camp. Luo Xun and Yan Fei then drove to the supply exchange window—to trade crystal cores.
They had brought nearly half of their unused Level Two crystal cores, intending to exchange them for Level One cores.
Though private trades might fetch better rates, what force in the current market could produce such a massive quantity?
After all, they weren’t trading dozens or hundreds—but thousands of Level Two cores. The emerging markets outside simply couldn’t supply that scale. So the only option was the military.
What the two of them felt fortunate about was that, because their Metal Squad had been promoted one level last month for its meritorious service in defending the city, certain benefits had followed. For example, when exchanging crystal cores, no one would probe too deeply into the source or the means by which they had obtained them.
Of course, they didn’t take out all the surplus Level 2 crystal cores at once. They only brought part of them for now, planning to exchange the rest gradually over the next few days, or directly trade them for the supplies they needed.
Out of the more than two thousand Level 2 crystal cores they had brought, a portion was exchanged for same-level cores of other elements. The remainder was converted into Level 1 crystal cores and points. The two of them turned and left, carrying bags heavier than before.
The military’s exchange rate was 1:9, rather than the 1:10—or even 1:11 or 1:12—commonly seen in the market. But given the large quantity they were trading, how could the market possibly swallow that much at once?
After putting away the exchanged crystal cores, they went to another window and used the points earned from this mission—along with the points they had deliberately converted while exchanging cores—to purchase several solar panels and storage batteries. They then stopped by the seed exchange counter to check the varieties currently available. Confirming that they already had all of them at home and didn’t need more, they finally left the exchange hall, got in the car, and headed home.
The little guy carried Xiao Xinran on his back, bouncing all the way to the gate to welcome them.
The little girl had already changed into a dress. Although the floor heating wasn’t on at home, the recent weather had been warm. As long as it didn’t rain, the temperature was quite pleasant.
Luo Xun smiled, bent down to pat Xiao Xinran’s head, then patted the little guy’s head as well, earning blissful expressions from both girl and dog as they tilted their faces up.
Xu Mei took the bag Luo Xun handed over, weighed it in her hand, and smiled. “All exchanged?”
“Mm, all exchanged. The rate was a bit better than we expected—one to nine—so we traded everything.” Sand-type abilities like Xiao Xinran’s were extremely rare. After going out to kill zombies so many times—especially this time, when there had been such a high proportion of Level 2 zombies—they had only found two sand-type crystal cores, even fewer than Yan Fei’s metal-type ones.
Originally, Luo Xun had planned that if the rate reached around 1:8, they would exchange them. If it were lower, they would rather go through the trouble of finding people in the market to trade with each day. Since the rate exceeded expectations, of course they exchanged them all.
“No wonder—there’s so many!” Song Lingling beamed as she let them in.
“When we drove back, it looked like someone was building something in the open space in the neighborhood?” Luo Xun suddenly asked. When they drove in earlier, he had seen piles of materials for makeshift shelters stacked in certain spots.
There were still vacant houses in the base; it wasn’t completely full yet. But in every place, there were always domineering people. After being assigned to share a house, some would drive out the other residents. The base did have personnel responsible for maintaining order, but if you didn’t have connections or enough points to rent a place on your own, the base only handled the initial housing assignment. If you were later kicked out, at most they would send someone to mediate. If mediation failed… you’d have to figure it out yourself.
“Yeah. In that seven-story prefab building next door, people are even building huts on the rooftop today!” Xu Mei pointed in that direction after putting the crystal cores away.
“When we went out to buy things at noon, we even saw someone being thrown out of their house—everything they owned was tossed out the window,” Song Lingling said helplessly. This world was now a classic case of the strong preying on the weak. Without some capability, you couldn’t even live properly inside the base.
Outside the base, you’d be chased everywhere by zombies. Inside, you might be abandoned and bullied by your own kind. That was the reality everyone had to face. For an ordinary person without abilities, if you couldn’t find a powerful backer to cling to, the best way to live passably—like Luo Xun in his previous life—was to hide in an inconspicuous basement, quietly farm, and live low-key and honestly.
“And I heard even the basements in our neighborhood were assigned today!”
At the mention of “basement,” a trace of… anticipation flashed in Luo Xun’s eyes.
That’s right—he was very curious who was living in the basement room he once occupied. Though it was the same neighborhood, he had no excuse to go knock on the door. He could only pay attention when passing by.
After leading the little guy home, the two began preparing dinner.
There was good news at Luo Xun’s home these past few days. The chili peppers they had planted last year—before the apocalypse even arrived—were finally ready to harvest today!
Although they had planted only a small amount at first, worried that mutations might make them inedible, the sight of those green, modest-sized peppers and small bird’s eye chilies still filled Luo Xun with contentment.
They still had plenty of dried chilies and pickled peppers bought before the apocalypse, but that couldn’t dampen his love for fresh chili peppers.
Luo Xun actually loved spicy food. In his previous life during the apocalypse, he often ate spicy dishes because vegetables were scarce and chili-based condiments made rice easier to swallow. But whether before or after the apocalypse, his taste had always been on the heavier side. Now that fresh chilies were finally available, he had no reason to restrain himself.
“Let’s stir-fry something with green peppers today!” Luo Xun said, rolling up his sleeves and heading straight for the fridge. He remembered saving a strip of meat he hadn’t had the heart to eat—perfect to stir-fry with green peppers today.
Seeing him rush to the freezer, Yan Fei smiled, took off his backpack, and pulled out the bags of crystal cores.
The green peppers at home weren’t fully mature yet, and they weren’t very big. Peppers at this stage—whether green peppers, bird’s eye chilies, or bell peppers—weren’t particularly spicy. Though it was a pity they lacked that sharp, pungent heat, being able to eat fresh green peppers was still exciting. To celebrate the day, Luo Xun grabbed a handful of dried bird’s eye chilies from a nearby jar, snapped them in half, and tossed them into the wok to boost the heat.
Sitting at the table, looking at the large plate filled with red and green, and then at Luo Xun’s sparkling eyes, Yan Fei tactfully said nothing. He knew Luo Xun liked adding chilies and pickled peppers to enhance flavor, but today’s combination of green peppers, sharp chilies, dried chilies, and meat felt somewhat… challenging.
Fortunately, Yan Fei himself wasn’t afraid of spicy food. This dish was mild compared to the hotpot base Luo Xun once made with chili paste, pickled peppers, dried chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, and other fiery ingredients.
Still…
His gaze drifted downward toward Luo Xun’s waist. Eating too much chili makes things uncomfortable later, you know. Are you sure you want something this heavy?
Luo Xun didn’t catch Yan Fei’s unspoken thoughts. He picked up several slices of green pepper with his chopsticks and put them into his mouth, savoring them as he sighed, “How long has it been since we’ve had fresh green peppers? It’s a pity they’re not spicy enough yet. And it’s a pity the Hangzhou peppers at home haven’t matured. And it’s a pity we can’t buy beef right now…”
Smiling, Yan Fei added more food to his bowl and said while eating, “We didn’t get many metal-type crystal cores today. I’m planning to walk around the streets tomorrow after work.”
Metal-type cores were scarce to begin with. The military had some, but they were usually prioritized for Yan Fei’s squad. The exchange window had a limited supply.
The metal-type ability users in Yan Fei’s team could tell from absorbing Level 2 cores that they weren’t simply ten times stronger than Level 1 cores. There seemed to be a qualitative difference beyond mere energy quantity. So if possible, Yan Fei preferred to exchange for more metal-type cores to absorb.
“Sure. We can see what’s being sold on the streets too.” Luo Xun nodded while eating. It had been a long time since he’d gone out for a stroll. Ever since they started working daily, they rarely had time to wander. Of course, wandering the streets after the apocalypse came with greater risks—pickpockets were even more rampant than before. If caught, either the victim might beat the thief to death if strong enough, or the thief’s accomplices might overwhelm the victim instead.
Though fatalities weren’t particularly common, especially in public places—usually a beating would suffice—if one ran and the other chased into some deserted corner… who knew what might happen.
Fortunately, both Luo Xun and Yan Fei were quite capable. As long as they stayed cautious, they weren’t afraid of danger.
Having settled the plan, the two buried their heads in eating. Despite having plenty of leafy greens at home, they hadn’t had such “normal, common” home-cooked dishes in a long time. Even Yan Fei was thoroughly satisfied, eating an extra bowl of rice compared to usual.
As for Luo Xun… since Yan Fei was the one who went to the kitchen to wash the dishes after dinner anyway, Luo Xun leaned sideways against the sofa, rubbing his overstuffed stomach.
The little guy ate the slice of green pepper Luo Xun had casually given it earlier—rinsed clean of salt and spiciness. The taste was a bit strange, but it had to be said that green peppers without much heat suited this dog’s newly developed vegetable-loving habits quite well. Having tasted something fresh, the little guy immediately jumped onto the sofa and climbed onto Luo Xun’s stomach, insisting on lying there face-to-face with its owner as usual to “bond.”
Unfortunately, Luo Xun had eaten too much today, and the little guy had already grown into a big dog. That weight… Luo Xun nearly threw up when it stepped on him. He quickly pushed the shameless dog away. After being shoved off, the little guy rolled around on the sofa with all four paws in the air, almost tumbling off in its exuberance.
There were sounds in the corridor—faint voices and movement. Luo Xun felt too stuffed and too lazy to move, so he didn’t go open the door. Seeing that Luo Xun and Yan Fei didn’t come out, Li Tie and the others didn’t disturb them and went back to their own place for dinner, only coming over to knock around seven or eight in the evening.
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
