The Reborn Otaku’s Code of Practice for the Apocalypse – CH180

Chapter 180

The line entering the base gradually shortened, and before long it was Luo Xun’s team’s turn.

None of them deliberately looked toward Captain Guo’s vehicle again.

After completing registration, they drove into the base.

Fortunately, certain people’s jinxes hadn’t come true today. After entering the base, they also heard no reports of zombies appearing outside.

Although the Otaku Team had already completed their assigned mission for the month, they had no intention of reporting it immediately.

Instead, they leisurely stayed home sorting through the belongings they planned to move out.

The workload for this mission was obviously larger than previous ones, so they felt it was more reasonable to wait a bit longer before turning it in.

After all, the base only sent inspectors to verify mission results after a team reported completion.

Normally, even if officials happened to pass through the mission area, they might not know a task had ever been assigned there—especially for missions located outside the base.

Back at home, they continued organizing supplies.

Since they had more preparation time this trip, everyone discussed a new plan.

They decided to have Yan Fei secretly modify their vehicles during the early mornings and evenings when visibility was poor, increasing their height and cargo capacity so they could transport more goods.

Whenever someone went downstairs, they would conveniently carry another load and store it in the vehicles.

Unless someone managed to steal the entire reinforced vehicle overnight, the supplies were just as safe inside the cars as they were inside the apartment.

The easiest things to pack were the supplies they had already organized and boxed long ago.

The truly troublesome items were all the miscellaneous odds and ends accumulated over the years.

Clothes were packed away.

The frozen meat and food stored outside the shaded windows were brought inside.

Then all the bottles, jars, containers, and various household supplies were sorted, packed, and gradually loaded into the vehicles.

After spending the entire day working, everyone was preparing to discuss checking the cleaned roadway the next day before returning to officially submit the mission.

Just then, Yan Fei’s phone rang.

The number was unfamiliar.

The first thought that flashed through Luo Xun’s mind was the baby’s biological father.

Ever since that incident, the man had never contacted them again.

Could he have discovered that the baby was still alive and come looking for him?

Luo Xun knew he was probably overthinking things, but once the idea appeared, he couldn’t help staring at Yan Fei nervously.

Yan Fei answered the phone and walked toward the window.

After exchanging only a few sentences with the caller, he beckoned to Luo Xun.

Luo Xun immediately hurried over.

“Tomorrow? Eleven o’clock… Alright, we’ll come tomorrow.”

After only a brief conversation, Yan Fei hung up.

Then he turned toward Luo Xun.

“It was Captain Guo.”

“Captain Guo?”

Remembering their brief encounter at the city gate the previous day, Luo Xun finally relaxed.

Then he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“I wonder how things are going for them now.”

“We’ll find out tomorrow.”

Captain Guo hadn’t explained anything over the phone.

He had simply said that it had been a long time since they’d met and invited them to get together the following day.

“Sounds good.”

Luo Xun quickly reviewed their schedule.

“We’ll head outside the base in the morning to inspect the road. If everything looks fine, we should be back by around eleven.”

He was genuinely curious about Captain Guo’s current situation.

From the brief glance they exchanged at the gate, they couldn’t determine whether any members of the Metal-Type Ability Team were still with him—or whether Captain Guo had already left that team entirely.

After discussing it briefly, everyone agreed that the real answers would have to wait until tomorrow’s meeting.

The group gathered again and finalized another moving list.

At this point, their greatest regret was not having acquired a pair of cargo trucks.

With trucks, they could probably move everything in just two or three trips.

Unfortunately, trucks attracted too much attention.

Whether inside or outside the base, driving one around would make them highly conspicuous.

So even if they could obtain trucks, they had no choice but to abandon the idea.

The next morning, the group first left the base to inspect the road section they had been assigned.

After confirming that no new snow, ice, or debris had accumulated during the past few days, they casually returned to the base and submitted their mission at the task hall.

Now they simply had to wait for the inspectors.

If things moved quickly, the results would be confirmed within two or three days.

If not, it could take up to a week.

After verification, the corresponding rewards and compensation would be distributed.

Since it was still early, Luo Xun and the others didn’t leave immediately after submitting the mission.

Instead, they wandered around the task hall area for a while.

Recently, the base had once again tightened its supervision of teams.

Team missions had once again become the primary means by which people earned a living.

As a result, the task hall had regained much of its former bustling atmosphere.

Some people were even holding signs and privately recruiting workers.

Most of these were teams on the verge of losing their official status—or groups that technically still existed but had effectively fallen apart.

Starting the previous month, the base had begun strictly enforcing team management policies.

Any team that failed to complete its mandatory assignment on time—and couldn’t provide substitute resources instead—had already had its registration suspended.

At the same time, however, the requirements for ordinary survivors leaving the base had been relaxed again.

Originally, a minimum of ten people had been required.

Later, that number was reduced to five.

Now, as long as three people registered together, they could receive permission to leave.

According to rumors, quite a few people had recently begun heading outside the base again.

Especially small groups trying to survive on their own.

Unfortunately, the emergence of zombies that hid beneath the snow and ambushed passersby had made such expeditions dangerous once more.

So even more people spent their days hanging around the mission hall or the nearby shops, exchanging information and collecting gossip.

Rumor had it that one of the storefronts next to the mission hall had reopened for business.

It wasn’t a bar or restaurant like before the apocalypse, however.

Instead, it was something resembling a bar whose main product was water.

There was no helping it.

After the apocalypse, most people barely had enough food to survive. Who could afford alcohol?

Water-type ability users, on the other hand, were relatively common.

The shop was reportedly run by one of them.

Customers could buy a cup of water, sit inside, exchange information, and chat. The shop also sold some relatively expensive food items for those who could afford them.

Luo Xun’s group had been short on crystal cores recently, so they certainly didn’t have the spare money to spend lounging around a water bar.

Still, after wandering around the area for a while, they picked up plenty of rumors and gossip.

Actual gossip.

Apparently, a young and promising military officer had recently suffered domestic chaos when several wives and concubines started fighting each other.

There were also stories about a young officer who had been lured into the bed of a powerful figure.

And rumors that a beautiful young female captain of an ability-user team was currently being pursued by the leaders of several other teams.

Listening to all the messy gossip involving men and women, men and men, and every possible combination in between, Luo Xun felt extremely grateful.

Fortunately, whenever they came out, Yan Fei and Zhang Su habitually covered themselves with hats, sunglasses, and masks.

The weather was still cold enough that such attire looked completely normal.

Otherwise, Luo Xun was fairly certain that before long someone would start inventing scandalous rumors about the two visual centerpieces of their team.

Glancing down at the time, Luo Xun quietly said to Yan Fei,

“It’s already ten-thirty. Should we head over now?”

The meeting place they had arranged with Captain Guo was nearby.

It was less than a ten-minute walk away, which was why they had been idling around the area in the first place.

Yan Fei nodded.

“Let’s let the others know.”

The two of them walked toward Zhang Su, Wang Duo, and the others.

Those few were currently listening with great interest to a sturdy middle-aged man in his forties or fifties who was enthusiastically spreading rumors of dubious origin.

“…I’ve heard that the base will pass a same-sex marriage law as early as this month, or at the latest next month!”

Wang Duo immediately jumped in with excitement.

“Seriously? If that’s true, how many people would be lining up to register?”

The moment he finished speaking, laughter erupted all around them.

Some people whistled.

Others joined in the teasing.

“Not gonna lie, little brother, you’re pretty good-looking. You’d definitely be getting a marriage certificate!”

Just as Wang Duo was about to say something in response, his knees suddenly buckled.

Zhang Su had kicked him squarely behind the knee from behind.

Luo Xun and Yan Fei arrived just in time to witness the scene.

Shaking his head with a laugh, Luo Xun said,

“Nice dream, but don’t count on it.”

Even if nearly half the men in the base openly preferred men, the authorities would never publicly support same-sex marriage under the current circumstances.

The population had plummeted after the apocalypse.

The base desperately needed women to have more children.

Many men were living with other men simply because they couldn’t afford wives.

But if the government officially endorsed same-sex marriage, what if even those who could afford wives stopped wanting them?

Marriage expectations among women had become extremely demanding after the apocalypse.

If men stopped worrying about producing descendants, the base’s population would continue shrinking until it eventually disappeared altogether.

At least in Luo Xun’s previous life, no such law had been passed even ten years after the apocalypse.

By that point, ordinary people barely saw women at all.

Families with daughters usually tried to marry them off to influential households as early as possible.

Even becoming the nth concubine of some powerful man was considered preferable to marrying an ordinary survivor who could barely support himself.

After speaking briefly with Zhang Su, Yan Fei explained that he and Luo Xun needed to take care of something.

If everyone else wanted to return home, Zhang Su would be responsible for leading the group back.

After that, the two of them left the noisy crowd behind.

Passing through what had become the busiest street in the base, they eventually arrived at a building that looked like a bank from before the apocalypse.

After confirming that this was indeed the meeting place they had agreed upon with Captain Guo the previous day, they waited nearby.

The same street had also been one of the busiest places in Luo Xun’s previous life.

Although many things had changed compared to his former memories, some things remained strangely familiar.

That sense of déjà vu filled him with complicated emotions.

After all, he was someone who had lived through two lives.

“Xiao Yan! Xiao Luo! You’re already here!”

Hearing the familiar voice, both men turned toward it.

Sure enough, Captain Guo—whom they hadn’t seen in quite some time—was jogging toward them with a smile.

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