The Reborn Otaku’s Code of Practice for the Apocalypse – CH114

Chapter 114 — Meal Tickets

While Luo Xun stood up in a daze, Zhang Su had already seized the chance to sit in Luo Xun’s seat. Everyone at the table stared in disbelief—this great beauty, who had just been the center of gossip (and secretly fantasized about by some), had actually come over to their table to snatch food??

So when he picked up his chopsticks for the tenth time, the quick-reacting ones finally snapped out of it and immediately joined the food-grabbing battle. At the same time, the gossip-loving men still spared an ear to listen in on Luo Xun and the woman who had come looking for a man.

Zhu Hong froze for a moment before realizing she had misunderstood something. She quickly waved her hands and laughed awkwardly. Then, noticing Yan Fei’s face—which was in no way inferior to Zhang Su’s—she smacked her lips, eyes shining, circling the two of them who stood close together. Her eyes gleamed with excitement as she pointed at Yan Fei: “You’re the top!” Without waiting for a reply, she turned her even brighter gaze to Luo Xun. “And you’re the bottom!!”

Luo Xun subconsciously stepped back half a step, only to be pulled tighter into Yan Fei’s embrace. At that moment, the two of them finally realized who this woman was—Zhang Su’s legendary, extremely capable bestie, the one who had given him plenty of metal materials for free, and supposedly the daughter of a powerful second-generation family in the base… a fujoshi.

Creatures like fujoshi—hearing about them was one thing, but seeing one in person… the impact was on a completely different level.

Compared to Luo Xun, Yan Fei clearly had more experience dealing with such overly enthusiastic women. He quickly adjusted his expression and asked Zhu Hong, “Miss Zhu… are you looking for someone to pretend to be your boyfriend?”

Only then did Zhu Hong remember the purpose of coming here with Zhang Su. Her eyes immediately lit up as she nodded repeatedly.

Yan Fei spread his hands, wearing a perfectly measured look of regret. “I’m really sorry. The two of us truly can’t. As you know, it’s already not easy for us to be together openly. If there were any rumors…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but the blank space he left was more than enough to spark endless imagination—especially for someone like Zhu Hong.

She immediately nodded again and again, completely understanding their difficulties. “Don’t worry! I would never do something so tasteless! I just want to borrow someone who’s single, has good character, and won’t bring any trouble afterward…”

Borrow a man and still require a three-guarantee policy?

But… she was a girl! A real one! Young! With looks at least an eight out of ten and a figure at nine!!

All the men at the table, who had been fighting Zhang Su for meat and dishes, instantly stopped. They straightened their backs, hoping to be chosen at a glance—who knows, maybe feelings would grow over time… ahem.

Luo Xun and Yan Fei exchanged a surprised look. As long as this kind of trouble didn’t fall on them, it was fine!

Turning back to look—good grief, every man at the table practically wanted to stick a “for sale” tag on himself.

“We… also… can’t really say…” Luo Xun hesitated, glancing around the table. Some of the people here were from the metal ability squad, but the rest were strangers. Even for those they knew, they couldn’t make decisions on their behalf.

Thinking of this, his gaze unconsciously drifted toward Captain Guo.

Captain Guo suddenly laughed and pointed his thumb toward Zhu Hong. “What are you all dreaming about? Do you even know who she is? The daughter of Commander Zhu from the Third Legion. Pretending to be someone and going along might not be a big deal—but if her father finds out afterward… how many lives do you have to pay for it?”

Yan Fei’s brows lifted slightly as he glanced at Zhu Hong—what a coincidence.

Some things really were that coincidental. The girl asking for help right now was exactly the one Yan Fei’s father had just mentioned—the one whose family was looking for a son-in-law. Who would have thought she was actually the same fujoshi Zhang Su knew?

Hearing Captain Guo’s words, Zhu Hong immediately placed her hands on her hips, furious. “Do you think I’m stupid?! If I ask someone for help, would I harm them?!”

Captain Guo waved his hand with a smile, as if not wanting to argue with a child. “Kids don’t know the height of the sky or the depth of the earth. You can’t even handle your own father, otherwise why would you come looking for outside help?”

Zhu Hong laughed angrily, lifting her chin. “Self-righteous straight men always think others are as useless as they are!”

…

Every man at the table had their expressions twisted. Even Luo Xun and Yan Fei were no exception. After all, before truly entering the apocalypse—and before meeting each other—they had both been part of the “straight men” camp. Well, for Luo Xun, that had to be considered from his previous life.

Zhang Su alone had wiped out two tables’ worth of meat and dishes and was now full. He set down his chopsticks and lazily propped his chin with a boneless posture, striking a flirtatious pose that once again drew everyone’s attention. Several weak-willed soldiers, on the verge of defecting from the “straight man” category, blushed.

“I say, did you pick anyone from this table? If not, I can’t help either. The single ones in our team didn’t come today.”

With Captain Guo’s warning earlier, no one dared to actually follow Zhu Hong now. If they angered a big shot… would they even survive?

The earlier excitement vanished. Everyone lowered their heads, avoiding eye contact with Zhu Hong.

Zhu Hong swept her gaze across the table, stomping her foot in anger, pointing at Captain Guo. “If he hadn’t been talking nonsense, how could I not find someone to help?!”

Zhang Su spread his hands. “Then take him with you. He ruined your plan—let him take responsibility.”

After saying that, he ignored Zhu Hong’s angry complaints about Captain Guo being “old, ugly, and a seasoned slick soldier,” and turned to Luo Xun and Yan Fei. “I’m full. What about you? I’m heading back—there’s nothing for us after this anyway.”

Luo Xun froze, then turned to glare at him. “You’re full? We haven’t even—” Before he could finish, he saw the disaster zone on the table. Zhang Su immediately spread his hands innocently. “Wasn’t me.”

Everyone at the table stared at him in silence. With a face like that, how could he act so shamelessly?

Yan Fei patted Luo Xun, whose face was full of grief and speechless anger. Luckily, he had gotten some extra meal vouchers from Cafeteria No.1 today—otherwise, Luo Xun might really go home and cook Zhang Su.

He looked at Captain Guo, who was still glaring at Zhu Hong. “If there’s nothing else later, we’ll head back first.”

There wasn’t much happening at the banquet anyway. People nearby were already walking around, toasting each other. Aside from some teams, most tables had no strict rules. So Captain Guo simply waved them off and continued his staring contest with Zhu Hong, not even noticing he had driven away the very person who caused the trouble.

“Ah, I’m stuffed today.” Zhang Su looked melancholic, one slender hand supporting his lower back.

Hungry Luo Xun ground his teeth beside him. “When we slaughter quails this autumn, don’t even think about getting a share!” Why hadn’t their otaku squad eaten together regularly like other teams? Because of certain shameless individuals!

Zhang Su didn’t care at all, smiling lazily. “It’s fine. As long as Wang Duo has a share.” Anyway, even if he didn’t eat, he wouldn’t let himself go without.

Luo Xun continued grinding his teeth. “You haven’t had meat in so long—eat this much and you’ll get diarrhea tonight!”

Zhang Su cast him a teasing glance with his peach blossom eyes. “That’s even more convenient. Saves me the trouble of cleaning up before some nighttime exercise.”

…

To be shameless to this extent was practically a miracle.

The three of them walked silently toward the gate. Passing by a table full of people in white coats, an older man who had clearly had a bit too much to drink accidentally bumped into Yan Fei as he stood up. Holding his wine glass, he staggered and said to those behind him, “S-sorry about that.”

Yan Fei said nothing, only shook his head. Luo Xun lowered the brim of his hat and quickly walked past the table. Only after leaving the square did Zhang Su ask, “You two know that old man just now.”

It was a statement, not a question—their reactions had been too obvious.

Luo Xun sighed helplessly. “Didn’t you notice during the awards? He was the first one from the research institute to go on stage.”

Zhang Su shook his head. “Didn’t look.” And besides, why would he pay attention to some old man? At that time, he was busy observing how the meat was distributed on the plates.

Luo Xun glanced back at the now distant square and sighed. “His surname is Xu. His research result is ‘special weapons’—‘this kind of weapon played a decisive role in defending against zombies, even capable of turning the tide of battle.’”

Zhang Su raised an eyebrow. “You mean—”

Luo Xun nodded. “The ‘water gun’ Li Tie and the others saw while defending the city.”

During the zombie siege, the main gate faced the largest number of zombies, so most of the powerful ability users were stationed there.

But the other directions also had plenty of zombies, so they relied heavily on firearms to reinforce defense. Li Tie and the others were stationed at those points. According to them, the soldiers used a weapon like a “water gun”—and its effect was exactly the same as the mushroom extract Luo Xun had been cultivating at home.

Zhang Su raised his brows and let out a mocking laugh. “Oh, so he’s that ‘expert’ who told you mushrooms couldn’t be grown, and then disappeared without a trace, huh~” Taking someone else’s discovery, making them destroy such a highly lethal “weapon,” then claiming the results and reporting it for credit and awards—tsk tsk.

Luo Xun didn’t look angry at all. Wasn’t this kind of thing normal? “The lethality of that stuff is pretty high.” He spread his hands. “The fact that he didn’t come back to silence us is already quite generous.”

Zhang Su snorted and deliberately clicked his tongue twice. “How many meal tickets would that be worth~~”

“…Don’t think saying that will get you any quail this autumn!”

By the time they left the military camp, the sky had already grown dark. Yan Fei was driving, Zhang Su sat in the back, and Luo Xun in the passenger seat was checking the rewards they got tonight.

To be fair, the base was quite generous. Zhang Su indeed received some level-three crystal cores. The crystals Luo Xun and Yan Fei got weren’t as many (since they had already received some before), but they got a full ten meal vouchers for Cafeteria No.1—each!!

“Meal vouchers!!” Luo Xun raised them excitedly, only for Zhang Su to pour cold water on him from the back. “Don’t get too excited. They must have handed out a lot this time. I bet the quality at Cafeteria No.1 will drop for at least a month.”

Luo Xun fell silent, then glared fiercely backward at the shameless guy who had robbed him of meat earlier.

Yan Fei smoothed things over while driving. “I’ve already reached level three. Now Zhang Su has level-three crystals too. I suggest we find a way to exchange for some level-three crystals for Xu Mei and the others—they should be able to level up as well.”

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