The Reborn Otaku’s Code of Practice for the Apocalypse – CH166

Chapter 166 — White and Milky

The brown shell split open, revealing inside a nearly solidified milky-white substance that looked somewhat like coconut flesh. Luo Xun carefully poked it with his finger, only to discover that the coconut-like flesh instantly behaved more like jelly, wobbling with a soft “diu diu” bounce. It was extremely elastic, yet at the same time slowly, very slowly, flowing downward toward the lower side…

So what exactly was this thing?

The two of them placed the opened fruit—shell and all—into a metal bowl casually made by Yan Fei. Then they aimed the knife at another fruit whose seeds had not yet turned gray.

Crack.

This time, a thick milky-white liquid slowly oozed out.

They quickly placed this one into a separate bowl as well and leaned closer to observe carefully.

The only obvious difference between the two fruits seemed to be the consistency of the white substance inside. The fruit with grayish-white seeds had nearly solidified completely, while the other remained fluid.

“Why does this thing look so much like… milk? Or maybe coconut?” Luo Xun looked uncertainly at Yan Fei.

Yan Fei pulled down his mask and leaned closer to sniff it. Then he suddenly said, “You smell it too.”

The two had removed their masks after confirming that cutting the fruit open hadn’t poisoned them. Luo Xun leaned in and took a sniff.

Then he froze.

“Not only does it look similar—it even smells similar!”

The thing actually gave off a faint milky fragrance.

Wait…

“I remember now! There really is supposed to be a special plant that produces something similar to milk! I’ve just never seen one myself!”

This was practically an urban legend by now.

After the apocalypse, ordinary households almost never grew fruit. Even strawberries, which were relatively easy to cultivate, were rare. Luo Xun himself had only heard vague rumors about such plants and had always assumed they were just another exaggerated apocalypse myth.

Yet who would’ve thought this thing was actually a mutated strawberry?!

Yan Fei carefully studied the substance, frowning slightly.

“We can’t test it right now…”

Exactly.

Without proper testing equipment, they couldn’t determine whether this was truly the milk-substitute fruit Luo Xun had heard about based solely on appearance and smell.

Which meant there was only one option left—

Testing it on living creatures.

The poor quails were once again selected as experimental subjects. Luo Xun separated three of them into a small cage. The thick liquid from both fruits was mixed together, diluted with water, boiled, and then used instead of ordinary drinking water for the quails.

Neither of them was entirely sure whether quails could even drink milk. But since the substance came from mutated strawberries and was technically still plant-based, it probably wouldn’t be too harmful… right?

Still uncertain, they could only wait for results.

After cleaning up the experimental table and putting everything away, the two returned to the living room and gathered beside the baby’s cradle.

The tiny bundle inside was still weak and fragile, unable to open his eyes. Most of the time he barely even moved his arms or twisted around. Right now he simply slept quietly, breathing faintly.

Luo Xun reached out and poked the baby’s cheek.

“If this thing really can replace milk, then you’ll finally have something proper to eat…”

If this really was the milk fruit he’d heard rumors about, then the baby had finally found suitable food.

After all, while they weren’t lacking rice soup, its nutritional value simply couldn’t compare to breast milk, cow’s milk, or goat’s milk.

Standing beside him, Yan Fei also looked down at the stroller.

Honestly, this child’s luck was astonishingly good.

Having parents like that was certainly unfortunate. Yet he had happened to meet Luo Xun and Yan Fei, and had even cried out just as the two arrived. And after coming here, those bizarre mutated strawberries that nobody had figured out before suddenly ripened, producing fruit filled with milk-like liquid.

If this really was the kind of fruit Luo Xun described—the kind that could replace milk for infants…

Then what child could possibly be luckier than him?

Thinking about it carefully though, Luo Xun himself was practically the savior of both Yan Fei and this child.

Yan Fei lifted a hand and rubbed Luo Xun’s hair, causing Luo Xun—who had been busy poking the baby’s face—to look up in confusion.

Why was he suddenly rubbing his hair?

Shouldn’t they be teasing the baby together right now?

Because he got distracted, Luo Xun’s finger accidentally pressed a little harder than intended. The baby’s tiny face wrinkled up slightly as he let out two weak grunts.

Luo Xun hurriedly withdrew his hand, only to see the child’s little face tilt slightly to the side before continuing to sleep.

“This kid is really easy to take care of…” Luo Xun sighed again.

He checked the diaper beneath the baby’s bottom, confirmed it wasn’t wet, and only then got up to continue handling household chores.

After an entire night, the three unfortunate quails being used as test subjects were still lively and energetic. In fact, they seemed to quite enjoy the strange “dairy product,” drinking a considerable amount overnight.

Only after confirming the birds were fine did Luo Xun and Yan Fei bring the baby upstairs to the fifteenth floor. They placed the child, the dog, and little Xinran together in one room.

This time Song Lingling stayed behind to watch them. After all, with both a baby and a dog in the house, it was best to leave behind a careful woman who knew how to change diapers.

Yan Fei also carried along the quail cage and two freshly picked “sesame ball fruits.”

Luo Xun explained the fruit’s situation and the quails’ mission to Song Lingling.

“If this stuff can really replace milk, then not only this little guy—even Xinran can finally get some proper nutrition.”

The fruit didn’t produce as abundantly as strawberries, but its growth cycle was similar. Once properly managed and staggered in batches, they could theoretically harvest it every month of the year.

This was exactly why having greenhouses and indoor planting setups was so wonderful. They could make things ripen whenever they wanted.

The only problem was—

They were running out of space to grow things.

“If it really can replace milk, that’d be amazing!” Xu Mei and Song Lingling both nodded enthusiastically.

Song Lingling patted her chest confidently.

“Leave these quails to me! For the next two days I won’t pay attention to anything else except them!”

The household arrangement remained the same—Song Lingling and Xinran stayed behind with the little dog to watch the baby.

Ah, and there was something worth mentioning.

Yan Fei’s half-brother still hadn’t been given a name.

The child’s health was simply too weak, and his fate since birth had been far too tragic. So after discussion, everyone unanimously decided to follow an old superstitious custom—

They wouldn’t name him yet.

They’d wait until he grew stronger first.

Early in the morning, the group braved the freezing air and headed toward the mission hall.

The situation there was much the same as before. The staff were still dressed in bizarre “formal” clothing. The moment they entered, a worker wearing an absurd mishmash of suit pieces and random fashion styles came forward to greet them.

“What business are you here for?”

The word “business” nearly made Luo Xun choke.

Then he answered, “We’re here to carry out a team mission.”

“Did you receive the text notification?”

“Yes.”

“This way please.”

After quickly accepting the mission, the group headed toward their assigned destination once again.

There still weren’t many people collecting missions at the hall. When they arrived, they only encountered one other team. But when leaving, they saw more people entering, making the place feel slightly livelier than before.

Inside the base, areas with snow and areas without snow felt like two entirely different worlds.

One looked like a frozen fairy tale blanketed in winter.

The other resembled a ruined industrial wasteland filled with shattered buildings.

After arriving at the mission site, Luo Xun’s group collected two garbage trucks along the way and parked them where they wouldn’t block traffic. Everyone put work jackets over their clothes and began shoveling snow together.

This mission took a full two days and proved even more troublesome than the last one.

Previously, the area they cleaned had been near their residential district. Since the nearby communities had reacted quickly, many neighborhoods had already organized cleanup efforts themselves, sending residents out to clear snow and roads. That made the work easier, even if there had been more trash along the roadside.

But the outer district was different.

Perhaps because people there had originally lived more scattered apart even before the apocalypse, nobody had organized collective cleanup efforts. By the time Luo Xun’s team arrived, the snow on the roads had already been trampled so solid that they practically had to chisel it apart.

Once again, everyone deeply appreciated having Yan Fei around.

He directly reshaped the shovel heads into hoe heads, giving everyone workable tools to swing.

Two exhausting days later, the group returned home sore and completely drained.

As team leader, poor Luo Xun still had to drag his boyfriend along to submit the mission. After returning, he shared some gossip he’d overheard at the mission hall.

Not because he intentionally wanted to listen, but because the mission hall had become lively again. People everywhere were chatting, and just walking past let him hear plenty of rumors.

“I heard quite a few teams were assigned missions to clear snow outside the base gates, and they’re protesting,” Luo Xun said while rubbing his aching arms.

“The physical labor these past two days was worse than our normal workouts…”

Everyone in the room was practically half-collapsed in their chairs.

“Different missions?” Li Tie and the others asked in surprise. “We thought everyone was just cleaning streets in different locations. Some people actually have to leave the base?”

Luo Xun shrugged.

“We’re not sure either. Apparently some teams heard that others only had indoor cleanup duties and felt things were unfair, so they started protesting.”

They had only overheard bits and pieces while passing by, so they didn’t know the details.

“Maybe harder missions give better rewards?” Xu Mei guessed.

“If missions really have rankings, then people should be choosing them at the mission hall themselves,” Zhang Su yawned lazily. “Easy ones would get snapped up first by early arrivals, while stronger teams would take high-difficulty, high-reward missions. It doesn’t make sense for assignments to be mandatory.”

He stood and headed toward the door.

“Why think so much about it? We already finished what we had to do. We rest tomorrow, and the day after that we leave the base…”

As he spoke, he disappeared out the door.

After gathering their child and dog, Yan Fei also picked up the quail cage.

Those three quails had already spent two whole days drinking the “fruit milk”—a name officially coined by Song Lingling—and they remained lively with no signs of weakness whatsoever.

If nothing happened by tomorrow, then it would finally be time for the adults themselves to taste it and see what it was really like before deciding whether to feed it to the children.

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