Chapter 168 — Setting Out
Luo Xun and the others carefully poured the prepared fruit milk into a baby bottle and brought it to the little baby’s mouth.
The child had used a bottle once before for rice soup. Although his body was weak and he didn’t have much sucking strength, drinking from a nipple was still a basic human instinct. The moment the bottle touched his lips, he immediately started eating.
The baby was much smaller than an ordinary infant, and he still hadn’t grown much these past few days, so his appetite was correspondingly tiny. They only filled less than half a bottle based on his usual rice soup intake, and even then he was already nearly full, leaving over half the bottle untouched.
As for whether drinking this thing would cause any negative reactions…
Nobody could say for sure.
All they could do was observe him slowly and carefully.
Once the baby had fallen asleep again after feeding, everyone gathered together to discuss their upcoming trip outside the base.
“When we leave the base… what about the baby?” someone asked.
Little Xinran was older and had already gone outside the base with Luo Xun’s group multiple times, so there was no issue there. The little dog had also awakened abilities now, so bringing it along would even help train its combat instincts.
After all, compared to everyone else in the entire base, that dog had lived ridiculously comfortably. Since the apocalypse began, it had never once left the base—
No, it had barely even left home.
But now the problem was the infant.
Should they leave someone behind to stay home and watch both the house and the baby? Or bring him along?
Taking him outside was risky. He was far too young. If anything happened, adults could still endure it, and Xinran’s constitution was fairly good too, but this child definitely couldn’t.
But if someone stayed behind…
Who would stay?
And how?
Every ability user on the team possessed unique powers. Losing even one person would drastically reduce their combat effectiveness. Yet if only ordinary people stayed home, then if something happened while the others were away, what could they possibly do?
Besides, among them, only the two women and Luo Xun’s couple actually knew how to care for a baby.
Truly, they couldn’t afford to lose anyone.
Luo Xun looked at the peacefully sleeping child on the bed, then at everyone gathered in the room.
Finally, he made the decision.
“We’ll stay one more day. The day after tomorrow, everyone leaves together. The baby comes with us.”
Once they left the base this time, they’d probably remain outside for at least a week, possibly longer.
Whether someone stayed home or not, neither side would feel at ease.
Their shut-in squad simply had too few members. So few that it was best for everyone to stick together during missions and remain where they could watch over one another.
As for the child…
“Dear~ I’ll need you to make something for me again,” Luo Xun said after returning home with Yan Fei, his voice suddenly full of suspicious sweetness.
The moment Yan Fei heard that tone, he inexplicably felt a chill down his spine.
Well… no matter what Luo Xun asked him to make, he’d do it anyway.
But since Luo Xun was suddenly acting this flattering…
Wouldn’t it be a waste not to take advantage of such a perfect opportunity for some benefits?
Although Luo Xun gave everyone an extra day to rest, nobody was truly idle.
Of course they still needed rest, but they also began preparing supplies and organizing everything needed for the journey while arranging the house as well.
While clearing streets over the past two days, they had noticed people secretly selling solar panels near roadsides and hidden corners of residential districts.
Most of those panels came from abandoned homes left empty after the zombie bird attack. After locals divided up the spoils, they kept what they needed and traded the extras for crystal nuclei or other useful goods.
Even now, Luo Xun’s group still couldn’t exchange goods directly through the military supply depot because the military camp wasn’t open to civilians. Even the cafeteria operated through arranged pickup locations.
Meanwhile, the exchange points inside the base also weren’t handling solar panel trades.
So Luo Xun’s group simply bought what they needed from roadside traders instead.
By now, the solar panels on the outer walls of their home had mostly been restored.
And since everyone was leaving, they needed additional security measures.
For example, they set up traps near the rooftop windows. If heavy objects stepped onto them, hidden steel spikes would spring out while prerecorded noises played from inside the house to scare intruders away.
These things might not truly stop anyone, but at least they were better than nothing.
The devices combined Yan Fei’s metal manipulation, Li Tie’s programming skills, and Luo Xun’s design ideas, all painstakingly assembled by the entire shut-in squad together.
Meanwhile, Xu Mei and Song Lingling focused on preparing food, clothing, and travel necessities.
After an entire day and a half of work, everything was finally ready.
So on the morning of February 10th, the shut-in squad—who had hidden indoors all winter—finally departed once again.
Three vehicles successfully drove out of the base.
This time, the small courtyard parking area was barely half emptied before they opened the gates and left.
Recently, even teams assigned to clear snow outside the base perimeter had begun venturing out. In truth, the snow near the base had already been trampled into chaos during the previous zombie tide, nearly exposing bare ground beneath.
Even so, very few teams were willing to leave the base.
Luo Xun’s group first drove halfway around the outer wall, heading toward a secluded area west of the base.
This was the public cemetery.
Not long ago, the base had transported several truckloads of unclaimed corpses and cremated remains here, burying them together in hastily dug pits.
Now the place was desolate and empty.
Aside from muddy little mounds half-covered in snow that vaguely resembled graves, there was nothing else.
The group got out of the vehicles and quickly found an empty patch nearby.
Xinran used her ability to turn the upper soil layer into sand. Zhang Su blew the sand aside with wind. After Yan Fei placed the urn into the ground, the sand closed back over it again. Then additional sand was gathered around to form a small mound while Song Lingling added water to bind the soil together.
This was a new method they’d recently developed.
They had already managed to obtain a level-four crystal nucleus for Xinran through private traders in the base. After her power advanced, the materials she transformed into sand retained more of their original properties instead of becoming completely dry loose grains.
As long as water was added, the sand could still function like workable soil.
Even more ridiculously, Xinran could now turn almost any type of stone into sand—marble, granite, anything at all.
Once the burial was finished, Yan Fei half-buried a stone before the grave and used a sharp metal blade to carve three words onto it:
Liu Xiangyu.
He didn’t add any further epitaph.
Actually, making a metal gravestone would’ve been much easier for him.
But in an apocalypse where every useful item could be scavenged, leaving a perfectly intact metal slab in the wilderness…
Forget bad luck or taboos about graveyards. Grave robbers had existed since ancient times.
If they really left metal here, someone might dig up the grave just to search for valuables. At that point, even the metal urn itself probably wouldn’t remain safe.
After finishing the grave, the group didn’t linger.
They drove toward the direction Luo Xun had chosen until the vehicles could no longer proceed. Then everyone worked together to hide the cars beneath snow before unloading the newly modified sleds.
This was the little dog’s first time leaving the base with everyone.
Previously it had stayed inside the vehicle, excitedly sticking its tongue out at the windows. But now, once released, it immediately went wild, throwing itself into the snow and racing around everyone in endless circles.
Xinran chased after it excitedly while the two women tried unsuccessfully to stop them.
Meanwhile, Luo Xun and the others hurriedly assembled the sled components.
Once the sleds were ready, both the little girl and the dog were finally exhausted enough to obediently return—one carried, one led back.
Only then did Luo Xun open the storage compartment and carefully retrieve a tiny bundle wrapped tightly in layers before placing it into a specially designed compartment inside their sled.
This compartment was exactly what Luo Xun had asked Yan Fei to create.
The metal walls were hollow, lined with copper wiring and heated water connected to the sled’s power source. Ventilation, insulation, and wind protection were all built in.
The inside walls were layered with sponge padding and cotton cloth.
Best of all, it was located directly between the two seats, allowing them to constantly monitor the baby.
And that wasn’t the only modification.
Beside their seats was also enough extra space for the dog to curl up comfortably.
Once the child was secured and the dog climbed aboard, everyone finally got onto their sleds and began the next stage of their journey.
Zhang Su spread his wind ability ahead to scout the road conditions.
Yan Fei continued collecting metal along the way, allowing his ever-growing metal sphere to roll alongside the convoy.
Four sleds advanced steadily across the snow.
Since they weren’t heading toward the city center, there were relatively few buildings along the route. Only when passing scattered structures could Yan Fei gather additional metal to absorb into the giant rolling sphere.
Every sled carried walkie-talkies in case of danger.
Suddenly—
The snow around them trembled.
Then zombies began emerging from beneath the snow one after another!
“Don’t stop! Follow us and keep moving! The rear sleds stay close!” Luo Xun immediately shouted into the radio.
Their sleds seemed to trigger a chain reaction.
As they advanced, more and more zombies clawed their way out from under the snow. Some staggered after the sleds with arms raised, while others—unable to catch up—simply stood in place and hurled colorful ability attacks from a distance.
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