The Reborn Otaku’s Code of Practice for the Apocalypse – CH116

Chapter 116 — Fatherly Love

Yan Gexin looked at the phone in his hand with slight surprise after the call was hung up, not understanding why it had been cut off. If Yan Fei was avoiding his call, how did he know it was him calling? Wait… could it be that he was working right now?

Thinking this, Yan Gexin felt he had figured it out and slapped his forehead in realization.

Today, he had finally resolved one issue. While the momentum was there, he needed to deal with the other matter that had been weighing on his mind since the apocalypse. Otherwise, the mess with Liu Xiangyu alone would be enough for his colleagues to take advantage of, suppress him, and cause trouble—seriously affecting his future prospects.

Although Yan Fei had made it clear he didn’t want to repair their relationship, their last meeting had been too rushed. His own dissatisfaction at the time might have touched on some of Yan Fei’s bottom line. After thinking it over all night, he believed Yan Fei wouldn’t reject his proposal—so long as he didn’t immediately oppose his same-sex relationship or bring up the issue of having descendants. Those matters could be raised gradually after their father-son relationship improved. Even surrogacy could be considered.

After Yan Fei hung up the phone, it wasn’t until the car entered the camp, they got off, and the team dispersed that Luo Xun quietly asked, “Who was that just now?”

Yan Fei shrugged. “No idea.”

…You hung up without even knowing?

Luo Xun was speechless. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly recalled someone. “Could it be your parents?” Yan Fei had just met his father yesterday. If he had left his number… wait, if he gave it himself, how could he not recognize it? Or did his father pass his number to someone else?

Thinking of the few encounters he’d had before with Yan Fei’s mother… Luo Xun felt his temples start to throb. Those brief interactions had already told him—she was definitely not a “simple” person.

He wasn’t worried about supporting Yan Fei’s parents. After all, he lived quite comfortably now; supporting one or two extra idle people wasn’t a problem. What he disliked was instability—and trouble.

While Luo Xun was secretly calculating practical matters—if Yan Fei’s parents lost their ability to work, how they should rent a place for them, how much monthly support to give—Yan Fei suddenly ruffled his hair. “What are you thinking about? Get in the car.”

“Oh—oh, okay.” Luo Xun quickly got in, his mind still busy calculating how much food an elderly person would eat daily—grain, vegetables, meat, eggs, oil.

Like sleepwalking, he drove back to their apartment building. While locking the car, Luo Xun muttered, “If it’s just one person, we can probably afford it.”

But two would be a bit difficult. Their current income was shared with others. If they wanted to support extra people, it would have to come from their own share. That meant not only saving nothing from their daily work points, but possibly having to spend extra.

“Hm?? Support what??” Yan Fei looked confused. Didn’t they already have one freeloader dog at home? What was he talking about?

Luo Xun quickly shook his head and smiled. Since Yan Fei hadn’t brought it up yet, there was no need for him to state his position now. He could talk about it when the time came.

One confused, one lost in thought, they climbed to the fifteenth floor to pick up their dog—now practically a mount—and returned to their home on the sixteenth floor.

Around 7:30 in the evening, the two of them were sitting in the living room, enjoying fruit ice under the fan—ice made from clean water, crushed and mixed with chunks of freshly harvested watermelon.

This watermelon was their first fruit harvest of the year. It was quite large. Only after everyone agreed it was fully ripe did they pick it, and each household got a portion.

While the two men and one dog were happily eating, the ringtone from the phone on the table suddenly startled them. Luo Xun looked up—it was Yan Fei’s phone again—and glanced at him.

Yan Fei still seemed deep in thought. After a brief pause, he picked it up. Seeing it was the same number from earlier, he blinked, stood up, and answered.

“Xiao Fei?”

Hearing a man’s voice, Yan Fei raised an eyebrow slightly. Like Luo Xun, he had thought it might be his father passing his number to his mother after their fight.

After all, Yan Fei worked within the military. At first, Yan Gexin might not have known where to find him, but after yesterday, he surely knew Yan Fei was in the metal ability squad. A quick check would reveal his new name. Even if he didn’t know the address, getting the phone number wasn’t difficult. Even if the call didn’t go through, he could just wait at Yan Fei’s workplace.

“What is it.”

Hearing Yan Fei’s calm voice, Yan Gexin paused slightly, then steadied himself. “Xiao Fei, are you free tomorrow? Come by and see your father.”

Yan Fei let out a soft laugh, one corner of his lips lifting. “I think you should know my work is very busy.” The few rest days they got each month were only because their captain fought hard for them. Otherwise, they’d only get a break after completing large projects—which could take weeks or even months.

Yan Gexin paused, then patiently asked, “Then what time do you usually get off work? You should pass by the camp, right? Tomorrow after work—”

“I probably won’t have the time or energy—especially after a full day’s work. You should know that prolonged use of abilities consumes a lot of mental energy.” Yan Fei cut him off directly. “If there’s something, just say it.”

Discussing important matters over the phone wasn’t Yan Gexin’s usual style, nor had it been Yan Fei’s before the apocalypse. He knew clearly—his son didn’t want private contact with him anymore, especially after yesterday’s near fallout.

Taking a deep breath, Yan Gexin relied on what he believed was his trump card. Based on his understanding of Yan Fei before the apocalypse, he was confident his son would agree.

“Xiao Fei, you’re a metal-type ability user, right?”

“Mm.”

Hearing the confirmation, Yan Gexin relaxed slightly. “Last night I heard you left with that wind-type ability user from the hospital—the young man surnamed Zhang…”

Zhang Su was too well-known and too eye-catching. Even though they had left early and quietly, many people still noticed him.

Yan Fei narrowed his eyes slightly—so this was why he called? “So?”

Thinking of Yan Fei’s admission about liking men, and recalling Zhang Su’s striking appearance—even he had to admit the young man was exceptionally good-looking—Yan Gexin suppressed his distaste and spoke earnestly:

“That Xiao Zhang… he’s quite capable. I thought about what you said last night. You’re grown now, you know what you want. Although I don’t fully agree, I can understand you have your own lifestyle and expectations for a partner…”

Hearing this, Yan Fei actually showed a rare look of surprise. He pulled the phone away, stared at it like he’d seen a ghost, then put it back—had the old man lost his mind? He actually thought he was involved with Zhang Su?!

Aside from that face, what did that lunatic have going for him? Yes, his ability was strong—but what else could compare to Luo Xun?!

Completely unaware of his mistake, Yan Gexin continued in a “kind father” tone, laying out what he thought was the best path:

“You’re both ability users, and both made a name for yourselves in the recent battle. Xiao Fei, you’re smart. The apocalypse is dangerous, but it’s also an opportunity. With your abilities, have you considered forming your own ability-user team? With me inside the system, I can provide convenience—information, opportunities! With your reputation and strength, you can recruit others and build a powerful team. Together with my support, you’ll quickly secure a significant position in the base!”

“You may not know this yet, but many teams want to affiliate with the military. They gain access to information and better resource sharing. The future of this base belongs to young ability users like you! If you’re willing, I can arrange everything as soon as tomorrow—just affiliate under me…”

As the voice on the phone grew more and more excited, Yan Fei gradually stopped listening. He returned to the sofa, tossed the phone onto the coffee table, pulled the surprised Luo Xun into his arms, and used a toothpick to feed a slightly wilted watermelon cube to the little one.

The little one chewed happily.

Luo Xun looked conflicted. He couldn’t hear clearly, but he knew it was a man—likely Yan Fei’s father. Now Yan Fei had just left the phone aside while his father kept talking endlessly… was that really okay?

Seeing Luo Xun’s worried look, Yan Fei thought again of his father’s ridiculous assumption—that he was involved with Zhang Su. Did his taste look that warped?

He looked down at Luo Xun in his arms—clean features, gentle temperament, lively personality. Compared to that “magician,” how was there even a comparison?

His hand moved from Luo Xun’s hair down to his chin, lifting it, and he planted a loud kiss on his lips—watermelon-flavored, fresh and natural, far better than that guy.

Meanwhile, the phone kept going on and on. The two on the sofa grew more and more intimate. Just as things were about to go too far, Luo Xun suddenly heard the voice on the phone rise and quickly pulled his clothes back up, poking Yan Fei urgently and pointing at the table.

Yan Fei took a deep breath, grabbed the phone. From the other side came, “Xiao Fei? Xiao Fei? Are you listening?”

He put it to his ear, voice tinged with irritation. “If I wanted to form a team and dominate the base, I would’ve done it before you even arrived. Also, I have zero interest in Zhang Yaoren. If you like him, go find him yourself—assuming his partner doesn’t mind.”

With that, he hung up, scooped up Luo Xun—who was shaking with suppressed laughter—and carried him upstairs.

Yan Gexin stared dumbfounded at the phone in his hand. Even before the apocalypse, Yan Fei had never hung up on him so bluntly! Sure, back then if he was unhappy, he would throw out sarcasm—but sarcasm was still sarcasm. He had never rejected him this directly… well, except when it came to his mother. There was only one reason he would act like this—he had absolutely no interest, no patience, not even the slightest willingness to listen to his proposal.

“This… this unfilial son… he’s really going to anger me to death!” Slamming the phone shut, Yan Gexin began pacing around the room.

Who was he doing this for? Wasn’t it all for his son’s sake?! He in politics, his son in the military—working together to secure a position in the base, in this apocalypse, wasn’t that better? Could it be that Yan Fei was truly content to go out every day like some laborer from the old world, repairing walls, and spending his life guarding a man who couldn’t even bear children? How could there be any happiness in that?!

Yan Gexin remembered clearly—throughout Yan Fei’s school years, his final exam rankings had never fallen out of the top ten. During every major exam, he had never needed family connections like other children whose scores weren’t enough. After graduating from university, although the family had helped him at the beginning of his business, afterward he had never once relied on them.

With such a competitive personality, how could he possibly be content with an ordinary life? Even in the apocalypse, even with danger everywhere. Yan Gexin simply couldn’t understand why Yan Fei rejected him. Wasn’t he the same? Unwilling to remain a minor figure without real power, he wanted authority, influence—if he couldn’t intervene in the military, then he would build strength elsewhere, using strategy and force to climb step by step.

So even though today’s conversation had failed, he had no intention of completely cutting ties with Yan Fei or exposing his affairs to Liu Xiangyu just to make trouble for him. After all—Yan Fei was a rare metal-type ability user.

—

Yan Fei, however, neither knew nor cared about Yan Gexin’s frustrations. He understood that man perfectly. From the moment the call began, he already knew what his father wanted—nothing more than seeing that he might be able to connect with other powerful ability users and hoping to use him to build a force capable of balancing other factions.

Unfortunately, Yan Fei had no interest in any of that. He had no intention of wasting time and effort on such things—time that could be spent living a peaceful life with the person he loved.

Life was short, especially in the apocalypse.

For Yan Gexin, happiness might mean stepping over others, climbing higher and higher until standing above all. But for Yan Fei, happiness meant staying in their small home with Luo Xun—farming a little, raising a dog, living a sweet and quiet life together.

Luo Xun lay face-down on the bed, feeling every bone in his body aching. Yan Fei, now thoroughly satisfied, was in a good mood, gently massaging his waist and back.

“That was your dad just now?” Luo Xun hadn’t asked earlier—when Yan Fei had carried him upstairs, the mood had been too good to ruin. Now that someone had… ahem, eaten his fill, it was only fair to satisfy his curiosity.

Yan Fei didn’t avoid the question. He smiled and explained, “He doesn’t have real power right now. He wants me to build an ability-user team to use as his bargaining chip.”

Luo Xun raised his head in shock, staring at him for a long moment before saying, “I think it would be more practical for him to recruit people himself and have a trusted subordinate build the team.”

Others might not understand, but Luo Xun and Yan Fei had discussed this deeply before. They both shared the same view—they just wanted to live well in the base and avoid unnecessary entanglements.

Of course, they still needed to strengthen themselves. That was why Luo Xun secretly cultivated mushrooms on a large scale, equipped their team with weapons and gear, and led monthly outings to hunt zombie crystals to train coordination and combat awareness.

But as they had agreed before—they didn’t want to attach themselves to any faction.

Luo Xun knew that in the future, the base would become even more complex, with overlapping powers and interests. Precisely because of that complexity, it was better to stay relatively low-key, only showing strength when necessary to deter others.

In his previous life, though he had been an ordinary person, he understood one thing—teams caught up in faction struggles rarely kept their original intentions. Even those that survived and gained fame were no longer the same group of people they started with.

Yan Fei’s father’s ambitions were understandable. But neither of them—nor their entire team—had any interest in that path. More importantly—Yan Fei himself had no interest at all.

Hearing Luo Xun’s words, Yan Fei chuckled. “You’re right. But I suspect he currently has neither power nor people. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have called me today.” After all, his attitude yesterday had been clear. Yet instead of dealing with his mess with Liu Xiangyu, he rushed to contact him.

At this point, Yan Fei still didn’t know that Yan Gexin had completely fallen out with Liu Xiangyu, turning the entire military residential area into a spectacle.

Since they didn’t live in the camp and had no connections there, they wouldn’t hear about it unless they actively asked.

After that call, Yan Fei wasn’t bothered again for quite some time. The metal ability squad had irregular schedules, and the higher-ups in the camp were all busy lately anyway.

Busy with what? Naturally—with other bases.

After the southwest base experienced a zombie siege, news from other bases across the country grew increasingly grim. Smaller ones had mostly been wiped out. Survivors who were lucky managed to reach larger bases—but only the luckiest were accepted.

Every base had a population limit. With zombies pressing in, expanding territory by force was nearly impossible.

Those arriving empty-handed were usually turned away—unless they were ability users who could contribute to defense. Otherwise, they were left outside.

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