Chapter 156 — A Sudden Change in Atmosphere
Although Luo Xun and Yan Fei had guessed Captain Guo might contact them, they never expected it would happen this quickly.
After all, something major seemed to have happened at the military camp just last night, yet he was already calling them by the following afternoon. The speed of it all was a bit alarming.
Of course, it was also possible that Captain Guo himself had something to do with what happened.
Yan Fei set down what he was working on and answered the call as he walked toward the window. Luo Xun followed beside him.
Meanwhile, the others in the room continued crowding around the completed “chainmail armor,” testing its durability while discussing ways to apply it to even more equipment.
Captain Guo’s voice came through the phone.
“Xiao Yan, how’ve you been resting? By the way, have you thought about what I mentioned before? Interested in coming back? Or are you planning to stay with your current ability-user team?”
Yan Fei raised an eyebrow.
His thoughts spun rapidly, but his tone remained casual.
“So it’s Captain Guo. Rest’s been alright, though the workload lately’s been pretty intense…”
After a few polite exchanges, he continued:
“My relationship with our team leader is really close. I’d honestly like to help you too, but I really can’t split myself in two… Sorry about that.”
Captain Guo knew perfectly well that Yan Fei and Luo Xun always acted together.
There was no way he would only use the word “you” if he were genuinely asking only Yan Fei’s opinion.
If Yan Fei couldn’t hear the hidden meaning in those words, he might as well jump off the sixteenth floor immediately.
Sure enough, Captain Guo responded:
“Really can’t? You don’t want to reconsider the conditions we’re offering?”
Then he added:
“Well, if it’s really impossible, then forget it. But if the base needs your help in the future, you can’t refuse when the time comes.”
Yan Fei immediately understood.
“Don’t worry. If the base is in danger, none of us can avoid it anyway. If something happens, just give me a call and I’ll definitely come.”
After a few more perfunctory exchanges, Yan Fei hung up and looked toward Luo Xun.
Luo Xun lowered his voice.
“There was someone beside Captain Guo?”
He hadn’t heard Guo’s side of the conversation, but from Yan Fei’s responses alone he could tell something was off.
When had they ever spoken to each other so formally?
Yan Fei pocketed the phone and quietly replied:
“I didn’t hear anyone else, but the way he spoke and the things he asked were strange. Either the call was being monitored, or he had it on speaker.”
He then briefly repeated Captain Guo’s words.
After listening, Luo Xun nodded thoughtfully.
“I’m guessing the new leadership inside the base wants to reorganize the ability users. Or maybe recruit independent ability users who aren’t under military control.”
“At the very least, they clearly want to rebuild the metal ability-user squad. Maybe it’s for repairing the outer walls again, or maybe for something else.”
He sighed softly and lightly punched Yan Fei in the chest.
“If your abilities are too weak, powerful teams bully you.”
“If your abilities are too strong, powerful factions try to recruit you—or fear you.”
“This really isn’t a world where people can live peacefully anymore.”
Yan Fei smiled faintly, took his hand, and the two returned to working on the protective clothing.
They didn’t explain much to the others.
After all, even they themselves still hadn’t figured out exactly what was happening.
All they could do was remind everyone to stay alert, keep a low profile lately, and whenever possible move together instead of causing trouble.
With the entire group enthusiastically contributing suggestions, ideas, and chaos, Yan Fei ultimately stuck with his original plan.
First, he finished a full-body inner layer of metal clothing.
Then he modified everyone’s gloves and shoes, adding a thin metal layer inside them.
Once again, everyone deeply appreciated the fact that Yan Fei constantly trained his metal ability every day.
Now that he had reached level four, he could refine metal into threads as fine as silk—yet durable enough that even Zhang Su’s wind blades needed several strikes to cut through them.
Otherwise, there was no way he could have created soft metal fine enough to wear inside shoes like socks.
Only after Yan Fei completed all the metal clothing and evening fell did the couple leisurely return to their own apartment and discuss Captain Guo’s phone call again.
“…Should we contact Sun Shaoyang?” Luo Xun hesitated.
“But judging from how he acted before, it seems like he really wants to go back.”
Although Sun Shaoyang had already left the military and joined an ability-user team, he clearly hadn’t adapted very well to that lifestyle.
From earlier conversations, it was obvious that although he hated the new squad leader, if Captain Guo returned, both he and his partner still wanted to rejoin the old team.
Yan Fei shook his head slightly.
“Whether he wants to return isn’t important. Since Captain Guo was the one who called today, there’s a good chance Sun Shaoyang’s already gone back.”
“And if he’s under surveillance too, calling him now would be a terrible idea.”
If Yan Fei contacted Sun Shaoyang immediately after Captain Guo’s call, others might assume he was interested in rejoining as well and simply fishing for better conditions.
That would only create more trouble.
After discussing it for a long time, the two reached the same conclusion:
The base was too chaotic right now.
Nobody even knew how the military power structure had shifted after last night’s events.
Better to stay completely still than get dragged into muddy waters.
After all, they could survive perfectly well without relying on anyone.
Luo Xun sighed once more.
In his previous life, he had remained an insignificant nobody until death.
He’d never known whether anything major happened among the base leadership, nor whether power had changed hands.
Of course, even if he knew now, it might not matter much.
After all, the zombies outside the base had clearly evolved collectively, possibly even developing intelligence or gaining a commander.
For all they knew, the people fighting for power inside the base might someday get their brains eaten by those same zombies after the walls finally fell.
After another night of rest, everyone gathered in the corridor early the next morning, proudly wearing the chainmail beneath their clothes and feeling significantly safer.
During the previous defensive battle, the nerd squad had killed several water-type zombie birds, including level-four ones.
Thanks to those crystal cores, every ability user in the team—except Xinran, whose special crystal type was difficult to find—had successfully advanced to level four.
Although everyone would be going out together, they still worried the base situation remained unstable.
So after discussing it, they left little Xinran and the puppy home to guard the apartment.
In addition, He Qiankun stayed behind to watch the child.
If anything happened, he was to contact everyone immediately.
The rest bundled themselves in layers upon layers of clothing before finally opening the iron doors and heading out.
They walked all the way to the mission hall.
The main roads inside the base had already been cleared after the recent zombie assault.
Sure enough, once enough pressure appeared, things suddenly got done very quickly.
But after arriving at the mission hall, Luo Xun’s group immediately noticed something strange.
“Why are there so few people?”
Normally, even idle wanderers liked hanging around the mission hall.
People looking for teammates often wandered around there as well.
When they saw how empty the streets and neighborhoods were earlier, they assumed everyone was simply exhausted from defending the walls and didn’t want to take missions.
But now even the mission hall itself felt deserted.
It was unsettling.
The group exchanged uneasy glances.
Before they could decide whether to enter, several unusually enthusiastic staff members walked toward them.
Ever since the apocalypse began, they had never seen government employees greet people with warm smiles like pre-apocalypse bank lobby managers.
This scene was seriously damaging their sense of reality.
Especially after the apocalypse.
Where were all those arrogant bureaucrats who acted superior just because they worked for the government?
As they wondered this, a man wearing a plaid shirt, green tie, suit jacket, jeans, and old-fashioned shoes—someone who truly looked like a lobby manager—smiled warmly at them.
“Are you here to accept a team mission? Please come this way.”
Looking at his enthusiastic smile, then at the nearly empty hall, Luo Xun’s group silently concluded:
There really must not be enough people accepting missions anymore.
After reaching the registration counter, they confirmed their suspicion.
Almost nobody had accepted the newly released missions from yesterday.
They were even allowed to freely point at locations on the base map and choose whichever areas they wanted to clean.
For safety reasons, Luo Xun’s group selected the streets around their own residential complex.
Their main job would be clearing snow from roadsides, rooftops, and hidden corners to prevent zombie rats from hiding there and ambushing people.
Of course, if they found and killed zombie rats, they’d receive bonus points—as long as they handed over the corpses.
Honestly, even without bonus points, it was still worthwhile.
Zombie rats carried crystal cores too.
After leaving the hall, Li Tie lowered his voice worriedly.
“Boss… do you think after we finish the mission, they might suddenly say it doesn’t count and make us work for nothing?”
Luo Xun sighed helplessly.
“I honestly don’t know.”
“But even if that happens, clearing the snow around our neighborhood and removing hiding places for zombie rats and zombies still improves our own safety, doesn’t it?”
The previous day, they had already thoroughly reinforced every possible rat entry point in their homes.
Yan Fei had strengthened drains and pipes with metal mesh.
Even their toilets had been temporarily sealed with plungers when not in use.
Only after securing their homes did they feel comfortable coming out for missions.
After all, there were children at home.
How could they possibly leave without worry otherwise?
And now…since they’d already accepted the mission—what else could they do besides continue?
