The Reborn Otaku’s Code of Practice for the Apocalypse – CH181

Chapter 181 — A Choice

“Captain Guo.”

Seeing Captain Guo approach, the two of them couldn’t help feeling somewhat pleased.

After exchanging greetings, the three casually moved to an inconspicuous corner. Hardly anyone passed by there, and no one would overhear their conversation.

Only then did Captain Guo ask, “How have you two been lately? Doing alright?”

The two nodded.

“Just getting by. Things aren’t too bad.”

In the apocalypse, being able to eat your fill at every meal and avoid going hungry already put you among the fortunate few. In fact, perhaps simply seeing an acquaintance appear before you alive and unharmed was proof enough that they were doing fairly well.

“A couple of days ago, I saw you at the city gate…” Captain Guo said. “Did you go outside the base on a mission?”

He was genuinely curious. These days, most teams still going out on missions were usually those that had been squeezed out or marginalized within the base.

Luo Xun explained, “We received an official assignment… to clear a street outside the city.”

At the time, the mission hadn’t seemed too bad. At least it offered a reasonable degree of safety. But now that he was saying it out loud, Luo Xun suddenly realized how ridiculous it sounded.

Sure enough, Captain Guo’s expression twisted a few times. He looked as though he wanted to laugh but forcibly held it back. After nodding several times, he finally managed to suppress it.

“Not bad, not bad…”

He glanced around before lowering his voice.

“You started taking the mandatory missions as soon as they were first issued, didn’t you?”

Both men looked surprised. They exchanged glances before asking, “Yeah. How did you know?”

Captain Guo wore a helpless smile.

“How else would I know? Do you think those teams currently taking missions deep into the city just appeared out of nowhere? Most of them were groups that refused to cooperate or declined assignments in the beginning. Starting from the second month, participation became mandatory…”

He sighed and shook his head.

Yan Fei raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Then when I saw you entering the base that day, were you coming back from a mission too?”

Captain Guo nodded and sighed again.

“Have you gone into the city recently? You should have heard about it. Along the route leading into the urban area, there are plenty of zombies buried beneath the snow. There are a lot of them, and ordinary people can’t handle them.”

“The last time, I went out with a team to collect metal for the base. Most of the nearby factories that produced metal have already been emptied by the base. So whenever more metal is needed now, Metal-type ability users have to go out and find it themselves.”

He paused and looked at the two of them.

After thinking for a moment, he lowered his voice even further.

“Once the issue with the ability-user squads is settled, the higher-ups will probably launch another major recruitment drive. They’ll be pushing for more ability users to join. What are your plans?”

The two exchanged another glance.

With apologetic expressions, they looked back at Captain Guo.

He froze briefly before waving his hands with a laugh.

“I’m not here to recruit anyone!”

Then he paused and let out another sigh.

“Sun Shaoyang has returned to the unit.”

“He went back?” Luo Xun immediately sensed there was more to the story.

Captain Guo nodded and looked at them again.

“The squad he and his partner were in was forcibly disbanded.”

As he spoke, he turned toward the direction of New City. The sigh in his voice was unmistakable.

“A lot of the teams in New City were fully absorbed into the military around last month. The remaining ones either refused official assignments or didn’t want to hand over supplies, so they were forcibly dissolved as well.”

The atmosphere between the three instantly became heavy.

Luo Xun and Yan Fei exchanged another glance. In each other’s eyes, they saw worry…

And relief.

Yes, relief.

Relief that they had already found a place to retreat to.

If conditions inside the base deteriorated to the point where their current way of life could no longer be maintained, they still had another base that could serve as their final refuge.

Captain Guo straightened his expression.

“The reason I asked you out today was to tell you something. You may have already heard some rumors… the people at the top have been replaced.”

Seeing no surprise on their faces, he knew they had indeed heard something.

“Even though some people have been replaced,” he continued, “things are actually stricter now than before.”

He gave another helpless smile.

“The number that called you yesterday belonged to someone I knew before—a civilian official who’s already gone. I still use that phone occasionally. As for my military number…”

He looked at Yan Fei.

Yan Fei smiled knowingly.

“The same situation as when we spoke last time?”

Captain Guo nodded bitterly.

“If that number calls you, just handle it the same way you did before. Fortunately, they probably don’t have the time to focus on ability users right now. The issue with the ability-user squads still hasn’t been fully resolved.”

He sighed once more.

“I know neither of you wants to get involved in this mess. But if your team ever reaches the point where it can’t keep going and you need to come back, give me a call or send a message. It doesn’t matter which number you use.”

The three chatted for a while longer.

Captain Guo seemed to be under some kind of time restriction, and before long they said their goodbyes and headed off separately.

After Captain Guo had walked far enough away, Luo Xun finally lowered his voice and asked:

“What do you think about what he told us?”

Yan Fei’s gaze remained fixed on the corner where Captain Guo had disappeared.

“What he said is probably true.”

As he spoke, he lowered his head toward Luo Xun standing beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“But I think the reason he came today was to maintain contact with us and, if possible, recruit us in the future.”

Luo Xun had sensed the same thing. There was nothing wrong with it, though. If the two of them ever had to return to military service, Captain Guo’s actions would undoubtedly help them secure a better position when they rejoined.

After a brief silence, Luo Xun said, “You felt it too, didn’t you? The base will probably impose even more restrictions on independent teams in the future.”

Yan Fei nodded.

“Yeah. They’ll restrict the size of teams. Groups that cooperate and obey management might be fine. But teams that are too independent or refuse to follow orders…” He paused. “And then there are the ability users. The policies mentioned in those text messages will probably start being implemented gradually after they’ve dealt with the disobedient teams.”

Luo Xun took a deep breath. His chest felt heavy with a mixture of frustration and disappointment that he couldn’t quite put into words.

“Let’s go home. Once this mission is over, we’ll continue focusing on our own plans.”

Perhaps the base in his previous life had handled teams and ability users the same way. The difference was that back then, Luo Xun had been so far down the social ladder that he never came into contact with these matters.

Thinking carefully about it now…

Ordinary people had barely any chance to interact with ability users.

Of course, they could see them from time to time. But those ability-user squads never lived alongside regular survivors. At most, people might catch sight of them in markets or public areas that both groups frequented.

Normally, however, the ability users and their teammates lived separately, as though they belonged to an entirely different world.

Perhaps the base’s management methods back then weren’t much different from what they were now.

After spending a carefree day outside and gathering plenty of gossip, everyone returned home. The next morning, they resumed sorting through their belongings.

Some packed boxes.

Some carried things downstairs.

Others worked on increasing the storage capacity of the vehicles.

If they hadn’t been trying to avoid attracting attention and therefore had to move everything little by little from the fifteenth and sixteenth floors like ants carrying food, they probably could have filled all four vehicles long ago.

Even so, after just one more day, they managed to move everything intended for this trip downstairs.

They also used the waiting period before their next mission to pack up items that might be taken away during future trips, stacking them neatly in convenient corners for easy transport later.

Aside from the vegetables, crops, and metal shelving units growing throughout the various rooms, the remaining miscellaneous items alone would require at least two or three more vehicle loads before everything could be moved.

If they only left the base once a month and transported supplies along the way…

It was hard to say whether they could finish relocating everything within six months.

After returning home, Luo Xun shared his and Yan Fei’s analysis regarding the base’s likely future policies toward independent teams and ability users.

Once everyone learned about the situation, they all came to a depressing realization.

Even if they had originally planned to maintain residences and farms in both locations, that might no longer be possible.

“Brother Luo, if that’s the case,” Li Tie said on behalf of their group of five, “why don’t we take this opportunity to expand the planting area over there? Once we move all these shelves and crops over, the problem will be completely solved.”

Xu Mei also offered a suggestion.

“Once we’ve moved most of our belongings, if necessary, we can give up a few of our apartments. That way no one will have an excuse to come looking for trouble.”

“Then why don’t you all move upstairs?” Han Li proposed enthusiastically.

Xu Mei and Song Lingling both hesitated.

Moving upstairs wasn’t the issue.

The problem was that the only vacant apartment on the sixteenth floor belonged personally to Yan Fei. It wasn’t a rental unit leased from the base.

Naturally, Luo Xun and Yan Fei weren’t stingy about it.

“It’s fine,” Luo Xun said directly. “Once we’ve finished moving everything, you can move upstairs. If we really can’t keep the team intact, then at least the four apartments on the fifteenth floor will probably be reclaimed. If new residents move in there, your safety could become a serious concern. It’s better for everyone to stay together upstairs.”

When Xu Mei and the others still seemed reluctant, Yan Fei also stepped in.

“We may not spend as much time in the base as we do over there in the future. As long as these apartments remain livable, that’s enough.”

Only after Yan Fei voiced his opinion did the two women finally agree.

Of course, any move would have to wait until the current relocation efforts were finished.

The results of their mission application finally arrived on the third day.

Their monthly rent had been waived, and they were awarded a number of crystal cores and other materials as mission rewards.

The moment they received the notification, Luo Xun and the others hurried to the mission hall to collect their rewards.

After returning home, they performed one final inspection of everything they intended to bring.

Then, early the next morning, they drove out of the base in a hurry.

Heading toward the place that now represented their hope—

The place they had chosen once again after the apocalypse—

Their future home.

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