The Reborn Otaku’s Code of Practice for the Apocalypse – CH117

Chapter 117 — Drying Eggplants

It was said that some bases now only allowed ability users inside. Others had to provide supplies or crystals to enter. Even family members of ability users needed to pay—otherwise, they could only live in makeshift shelters outside.

And if a siege happened, those outside had almost no chance of survival. Not every base had defenses like the southwest base.

To maintain its position as the leading base, the southwest base now had to constantly respond to crises elsewhere.

Worse still—the moat outside had developed… zombie fish.

Not just the moat. Nearby rivers also had them. Even the base’s drinking water had been affected, increasing the concentration of the virus.

Now all drinking water had to be supplied by water-type ability users. Water prices soared, and water-type users became highly sought after.

Luo Xun and the others grew busier—not just because of base work, but because it was September, and their crops were ready for harvest.

Leafy vegetables were routine, but long-term crops now needed to be harvested, processed, and dried.

These days, everyone rushed home after work. They couldn’t leave everything to the two women and a child—this was heavy labor.

Fruit harvest was minimal this year. Aside from watermelons, most trees wouldn’t bear fruit yet. Luo Xun focused on pruning them, keeping them strong rather than tall—after all, the roof had its limits.

Even so, their vegetables were enough to provide all necessary nutrition.

That day, Luo Xun pulled Yan Fei to join Xu Mei and Song Lingling in harvesting and drying eggplants.

They had already started drying some earlier. Space was limited, so they had to process things in batches. Some were also sold in the mornings.

Dried eggplants would be a valuable winter food. If only they had meat—stewing it together would be incredibly fragrant.

“No trouble today, right?” Autumn was harvest season—but also prime time for thieves.

“None,” Song Lingling smiled. “Our shutters are dense—people can’t see what’s inside.”

Yan Fei’s shutters only allowed visibility from certain angles. With many things to dry, they had removed some solar panels to make space.

Fortunately, aside from a few rainy days, the sun had been strong.

Xu Mei added, “I heard a family on the first floor got robbed again. Their window crops were almost stolen before, and now even their garlic got taken.”

Life in the base was getting harder. Even farmland was being raided at night—let alone private homes.

Luo Xun shook his head slightly and sighed. “Usually it’s just the two of you at home—be careful. You never know when someone desperate might set their eyes on us.” Winter was approaching again. Not everyone had prepared ahead like their team, nor had they grown so much food. Although their place had gained a bit of a “fierce” reputation after catching a thief before, there was no guarantee that someone starving wouldn’t take a desperate risk. “Next month our rice will be ready for harvest. By then, someone might start watching us.”

They could only use traditional methods to harvest and thresh the rice. Before storage, it also had to be thoroughly dried to prevent mold and rot. They had planted quite a lot this year—if someone targeted them, things would definitely get troublesome.

“Don’t worry. We’re home during the day—we won’t let even a single grain go missing!” Xu Mei said seriously. She knew how important this was. Most of their current food came from military exchanges, and Luo Xun had also been taking from his own reserves to support everyone. This batch of rice would likely be their rations for the next half year—if anything went wrong, everyone would go hungry.

Some stood, some sat around the big table. Song Lingling and little Xinran washed vegetables, Luo Xun sliced eggplants into large pieces, while Xu Mei and Yan Fei threaded them with string.

In this weather, a full day under the sun could evaporate most of the moisture. Once dried, they would store them in nonwoven bags—breathable and cool, preventing dirt and mold.

Some of these storage bags had been collected by Luo Xun before the apocalypse, while others were gradually purchased using the team’s points. Like the solar panels outside and the batteries at home, they were all shared team property.

Li Tie and the others returned around six in the evening. They had already eaten at the cafeteria. Seeing only four of them come in, Luo Xun casually asked, “Zhang Su working overtime again?”

“Not sure. He sent a message saying he had something tonight and would be back late. Wang Duo stayed to wait for him—we came back first to help.”

The eggplant slicing was almost done. Luo Xun clapped his hands and handed the rest to them, then went to the window to check the vegetables drying outside.

After squeezing them and checking the dryness, he nodded in satisfaction. “We can bring these in later. Then hang up the new batch.”

“Brother Luo, when can we start making pickles?” He Qiankun suddenly asked, licking his lips. The base didn’t lack pickled vegetables—but the key was whether they tasted good.

In the military cafeteria, many dishes had been replaced with pickles. Pickled radish counted as a dish, pickled cucumber too—but aside from being salty, they had no redeeming qualities. Limp texture, terrible taste, often made from mutated vegetables… practically inedible.

Luo Xun laughed. “Wait until we harvest more ingredients. No rush.” He knew several pickling methods—salted, soy-based, sour cabbage, kimchi-style. Most were simple and based on methods from his previous life. The most troublesome was soy-based pickles, requiring enough sauce for repeated curing—and soy sauce was now extremely scarce.

Li Tie quickly raised his hand. “Should we stock up on more salt?”

“Sure. Can’t have too much of that—it doesn’t go bad.” Luo Xun nodded. Salt prices could fluctuate, so having reserves was always good.

With Li Tie and the others back, Luo Xun and Xu Mei went to have dinner. After eating, Luo Xun and Yan Fei returned to help collect the dried vegetables and hang up the new eggplants.

“The yardlong beans and green beans are almost ready too.” Luo Xun walked around the planting rooms, checking their growth. Pointing at one rack, he said, “Mark these—we’ll keep them for seeds.”

Without even raising his hand, Yan Fei marked each side of the racks with an “X.”

Li Tie and the others stared eagerly at the beans. They had tasted pickled long beans before—delicious.

Luo Xun pointed to the cucumber vines nearby. “The chili peppers are almost ready too. We can make spiral-cut cucumbers soon.”

“Yes! Have you tried the mutated cucumbers in the base?” He Qiankun grimaced. “They’re big and juicy, but the texture… like chewing sawdust.” He sighed, tugging at his clothes. “I’ve lost so much weight since the apocalypse…”

Everyone looked at him. He had indeed slimmed down—but even now, he was still much broader than the others.

Wu Xin patted his belly, then his own waist. “What are you complaining about? My waist’s almost A4 size now! But why am I still breaking out?”

Everyone laughed and chatted while working. Sitting by the door, Xu Mei heard metal clanking outside and quickly went to open it. Soon Zhang Su and Wang Duo came in with her.

“Why so late? Another big surgery?” Luo Xun asked casually.

Zhang Su tossed his bag to Wang Duo and snorted. “Someone wanted to treat me to dinner.”

“That’s a good thing. How much meat did you eat this time?” Luo Xun glanced at him, still remembering the last time.

Zhang Su pouted. “Didn’t get to eat.”

Wang Duo covered his mouth, laughing. “Several groups showed up at once to invite him. They ran into each other at the hospital entrance and started fighting… We figured it’d take a while, so we went to the cafeteria instead.”

Zhang Su had become quite famous in the hospital. Admirers constantly tried to get close to him, hoping to “win him over.” But with too many competitors, they often blocked each other’s chances.

Even if they succeeded, Zhang Su wasn’t easy to deal with. With his queen-like personality, no one could take advantage of him.

So people tried different tactics—usually starting with meals. In the apocalypse, food was a powerful way to build connections. Zhang Su didn’t mind free meals—and Wang Duo always followed, just in case.

Wang Duo vividly described the chaotic scene outside the hospital, how people fought and got carried into the hospital. Everyone listened like it was a story for entertainment.

After a while, Luo Xun turned to Xu Mei. “In a few days, we’ll head out of the base again. Besides harvesting, we should process the mushrooms into extract.”

“Got it. We’ll handle it in the mornings,” Xu Mei nodded.

Besides that, they also needed to prepare vegetables to sell at the military camp. Although fresh vegetables sold for slightly higher prices, the military’s purchase price wasn’t much better than mutated crops.

So they decided to reduce fast-growing greens and focus on longer-term crops. Only excess produce would be sold.

Although they could make better profits selling at the market, it wasn’t safe for Xu Mei and Song Lingling to go alone. For now, it wasn’t worth the risk.

The next morning, they brought vegetables to the cafeteria again. Seeing the purple eggplants, Captain Li’s eyes lit up. He cut one open, sniffed it, and nodded firmly. “Good—normal eggplant!”

“Has the base developed mutated eggplants already?” Luo Xun asked.

“They just arrived yesterday. The taste…” Captain Li shook his head. “Bland, just big. Worst part? They’re blue! Who would dare eat that?” He smiled. “If you have more, bring them. A lot of people miss this taste.”

Luo Xun smiled. “We only got a small batch of seeds. Just a few plants—we still need to save seeds.”

Why keep selling to the military despite low prices? Because maintaining the connection mattered—when prices rose in the future, they’d still have a channel.

By doing things like this—although the quantity was small, the trade relationship was maintained intermittently—when the time came, certain matters would be easier to negotiate.

Captain Li naturally wanted to purchase more of these original, non-mutated vegetables, but since Luo Xun said their yield was limited, he couldn’t force them to hand everything over. Besides, it wasn’t as if the base had none of these vegetables. Most were reserved as special supplies for certain leaders, prepared by skilled chefs. People like Captain Li, who were directly involved, could always get a small share for themselves.

After selling their vegetables and exchanging for quality crystal cores, the two went to the assembly point to wait for transport to the outer wall. When Luo Xun and Yan Fei arrived, their teammates were already gathered, chatting excitedly.

“They say nearly half a company was wiped out! The rest are all injured and hospitalized!”

Hearing this, Luo Xun and Yan Fei asked curiously, “What happened?”

Seeing them arrive, the others eagerly explained. “A team came back early this morning. They went out with over a hundred people—only half made it back alive! And all of them were injured!”

“What did they encounter? Level-three zombies?” Luo Xun asked. They had encountered such zombies before, but the chaos of battle had made it hard to distinguish their specific traits.

Another person quickly added, “Not zombies! They ran into some kind of monster! No idea what kind—huge, and it happened in the middle of the night. They almost got wiped out!”

Luo Xun and Yan Fei exchanged a glance. “What kind of monster? Where did they encounter it?”

No one could give clear details. They only knew it was tall and massive, encountered on the way to a salt transfer center northeast of the city.

Once they boarded the vehicle heading toward the outer wall, Yan Fei quietly asked, “What do you think it was?”

Luo Xun frowned slightly. “Some high-level zombies and zombie animals can grow large. But after next spring, mutated animals will start appearing—they’re all big and have abilities. Without seeing it, I can’t say.”

Special zombies… mutated animals…

Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉