The Reborn Otaku’s Code of Practice for the Apocalypse – CH193

Chapter 193 — A Dark Silhouette

Returning to the base required paying an entry fee of five crystals per vehicle. These crystals were nothing to Luo Xun and the team, and fortunately, the registration logs for entering and exiting the gate were still done by hand rather than tracked via computer databases; otherwise, the staff would certainly find it highly bizarre.

Opening the vehicle doors and seeing that their truck beds were completely empty, the staff shot a few eccentric glances at the four men. However, seeing that there were only four of them, their expressions shifted to realization mixed with pure disdain, and they stopped paying them any mind.

Not everyone who went out managed to bring back a harvest. Many ran into high-level zombies or mutated animals along the way, forcing them to bolt for their lives back to the base, sometimes even dragging a tail of threats behind them. People returning completely empty-handed like Luo Xun’s group were quite common. However, the reason these staff members disdained them was clear—possessing no real capability yet driving two massive trucks showed they were merely incompetent braggarts whose eyes were bigger than their stomachs. Furthermore, since there were only four of them, it was highly likely their companions had all perished outside.

Luo Xun and the guys had no time to waste worrying about what others thought of them. Their current objective was singular—get home! Haul the remaining gear!

The trucks that had driven away not long ago returned once more. Aside from a few residents who particularly loved hovering around the compound to watch spectacles and fish for gossip, no one noticed their movements.

Before leaving, Luo Xun and the team had already packed all the remaining items they wanted to move, concentrating them into a single apartment. Now, they just needed to pack these items into the metal boxes Yan Fei brought up and fabricated. Sealing the boxes and hauling them down was entirely Yan Fei’s job. They needed to process these metal boxes as collectively as possible, loading them into the trucks at maximum speed.

Because the camp outside required eyes to keep watch, only the four of them had returned this time. Even though they accelerated their pace—and Yan Fei could manipulate his superpower to move items that were already encased in metal structural casings—their speed still couldn’t be excessively fast.

By the time they finished processing every single item they could possibly carry and loaded them into the two large and small truck beds downstairs, the sky had once again grown dark.

Luo Xun looked at the remaining items in the room that simply couldn’t fit but weren’t susceptible to weather damage, letting out a long sigh of relief. “Let’s call it a day. If nothing unexpected happens, we’ll haul these remaining things out the next time we return.”

“Mm, I’m starting to seal the apartments now.” Yan Fei also took a turn around the space, manipulating the surrounding metal to thoroughly block off every single opening, merging it flush with the walls.

This was apartment 1604, where Luo Xun and Yan Fei had lived continuously. After discussing it, everyone had unanimously agreed that since they couldn’t guarantee all the apartments could be completely fortified, they might as well thoroughly seal a select portion of the rooms, leaving them as a secure fallback point whenever they returned to the base in the future.

They selected two such apartments in total: apartment 1601, where Li Tie and the guys lived, and apartment 1604, which featured the small second floor. For the other apartments, Yan Fei merely used metal to fashion a relatively thick layer of metal plating over the doors and windows. For these two select apartments, however, he poured almost all the remaining metal into reinforcing the four walls, leaving only the central living spaces intact.

This way, even if intruders managed to find tools capable of piercing through metal, let’s see how they handle a metal wall of this absolute thickness!

Before long, drawing energy from the metal-type and standard crystals they had harvested from the mutated plants earlier, Yan Fei completely sealed all the designated rooms. The two turned and headed downstairs. Outside the building, Zhang Su and Wang Duo were already waiting for them inside the vehicles.

“All sorted?”

“Mm, let’s go.” Luo Xun raised his head to take one final look at the walls of his home, where the metal frame was no longer visible, a trace of emotion rippling through his heart. This was the apartment he had dreamed of securing in his past life. Unfortunately, though he had obtained it in this life and lived here for so long, he was still unable to protect it fully. They had only been gone for about twenty days, yet two panes of glass had already been shattered upon their return. If they abandoned it again, who knew what state this place would be in the next time they came back? It was better to follow Yan Fei’s method and seal it completely; at least they would still have a place to lodge in the future.

Driving the vehicles out through the main gates once more, the entire entry plaza was empty save for their two trucks since it was evening. Because there hadn’t been any traces of zombies active outside the base recently, they didn’t need to wait for other teams to gather in sufficient numbers before being allowed to exit like in the past.

The sky grew darker by the minute. Just as only the light of the crescent moon and sparse stars remained in the sky, they finally returned to the coordinates where they met up with the other members.

“They’re back, they’re back!”

“That’s their trucks, right?”

“Exactly, look! Those are our two trucks!” Inside the metal dome, the group was in high spirits. Seeing Luo Xun and the others return, they quickly ladled hot dinner into the large bowls left out for them.

“Is everything sorted out?” Seeing the four men climb down from the trucks and walk inside, Li Tie and the guys greeted them with bright smiles.

“Mm, all sorted.” Luo Xun first washed his hands in a basin of water Song Lingling had prepared—packing that mountain of gear had been truly exhausting.

“Here, your son was whimpering and crying all afternoon. He just fell asleep; he probably missed you guys.” Xu Mei, standing to the side, stuffed the little baby straight into Luo Xun’s arms.

Having just washed his hands, Luo Xun could only cradle the child first, looking up at Yan Fei with a look of pure helplessness—this is clearly Yan Fei’s literal brother, alright? Calling him my son, isn’t that completely messing up the family tree?

Yan Fei, however, didn’t seem to notice the slip of the tongue at all. Washing his hands, he took his own dinner along with Luo Xun’s. Dinner consisted of a rich porridge simmered with their scavenged mutton, rice, and fresh green vegetables. It was incredibly fragrant, thick, and warming—perfect for a night like this.

Luo Xun looked down at the little baby in his arms. The child had already woken up when Xu Mei handed him over. Currently, he was staring with dazed, watery eyes, whimpering twice. Seeing that it was Luo Xun holding him, he didn’t cry or throw a tantrum; he merely nuzzled twice, closed his eyes, and drifted back to sleep.

“Did anything happen while you were out? Was everything quiet back at the apartments?” While the four ate their dinner, the remaining members fished curiously for details. They had been hustling from last night until now, and they were terrified that someone might have noticed their movements and come to cause trouble for Luo Xun’s group.

Luo Xun and the others were busy eating and didn’t rush to answer, leaving Wang Duo to wipe his mouth and explain, “We didn’t run into anyone and nothing happened. It’s just that when we were hauling gear up and down the stairs, a few residents in the building were stealthily poking their heads out to spy on us.”

Luo Xun swallowed the food in his mouth. “The apartments are all sealed up. Aside from the two agreed-upon rooms, the other places only had their doors and windows reinforced.”

The group finally set their minds at ease. Wu Xin burst into laughter. “That’s perfect. It’s not like they can break in by ripping open the roof.”

His comment was meant as a casual joke, but the moment the words left his mouth, he realized the entire room had fallen dead silent. His heart skipped a beat, and Wu Xin hurriedly waved his hands. “I was just kidding!”

Yan Fei’s expression remained unchanged. “If they truly possess the capability to rip open the concrete roof of the building, we’ll just have to accept the loss.” Otherwise, what else could they do? They had already exerted their absolute maximum capability to protect those rooms. If someone still managed to find a way inside, then whether they still lived in the base or not, they would have nothing left to say and could only accept it.

Early the next morning, the group rose at the break of dawn, driving the vehicles back toward the new base once more. Hitched behind the large truck and one small truck was a trailing metal container box mounted on an improvised chassis and wheels. The convoy rumbled majestically toward their new home.

Because they carried a massive amount of gear on this run, their return speed was inevitably much slower than when they had come. By the time the moon climbed right over their heads, they finally arrived back at the tunnel entrance, fighting off their drowsiness.

After scanning the surrounding area for any threats, they drove the vehicles slowly into the tunnel, leaving Yan Fei at the very rear to seal the main entrance. Only when they drove all the way to the basement entrance, stepped inside, and confirmed that everything was completely normal did everyone finally let out a massive sigh of relief.

Although they still had to process the crops that were rapidly approaching maturity, everyone was truly at their absolute limit today. Exchanging brief nods, they rubbed their bleary eyes and returned to their respective rooms to turn in for sleep.

Luo Xun crawled into the soft blankets of their floor bedding and let out a massive yawn, barely able to keep his eyes open. Yan Fei checked on the little baby’s condition, confirming he was sleeping soundly, before stripping off his outer layers to cradle his partner to sleep. The puppy had already curled up on the padding right beside the cradle, sleeping deeply.

Suddenly, from an unknown direction outside, a long, low Awoo— echoed through the night, causing everyone in the room to instantly snap their eyes wide open and look at each other.

The puppy pricked up its ears as well, its upper body tensing as it stared intently toward the window.

Luo Xun scrambled up to hold the puppy, patting its head. “Don’t bark!” That sound didn’t echo from too far away. If the creature heard a dog barking from this location, who knew if it would come charging over?

Although the perimeter of their base was surrounded by a massive expanse of mutated farmland, if a wild animal outside—whether a dog or a wolf—was driven into the mutated fields because of a dog bark… after all, the creature counted as half a kinsman to the puppy, and it hadn’t provoked them. Besides, they weren’t short on meat right now, so there was absolutely no need.

The puppy rarely barked under normal circumstances anyway. Ever since its close-quarters grapple with the zombie dogs, it understood the absolute difference between itself and those wild animals outside. Held in Luo Xun’s arms, it seemed to grasp its master’s intent, merely wagging its tail once and wisely remaining silent.

Yan Fei strode to the window, quietly parting a tiny corner of the heavy curtains to peer outside.

Another Awoo— echoed through the night, and the two humans and one dog in the room seemed to suppress their breathing even further. Yan Fei suddenly gestured to Luo Xun, and Luo Xun hurriedly scrambled over to join him.

“Look over there.”

Following the direction Yan Fei pointed, Luo Xun could faintly discern a dark silhouette moving in the distance. The dark shape wasn’t overly massive, making it hard to identify clearly. Before Luo Xun could study it further, another dark silhouette suddenly lunged out, and the two tumbled together into a ball. Before long, they separated again, one running while the other pursued—rather than a lethal combat, the way the two creatures interacted felt to Luo Xun like they were simply playing around.

“…Passing wild dogs? Or wild wolves?” Luo Xun watched for a moment, and seeing that the two dark silhouettes merely wrestled and played without leaping into the roadside fields, he let out a soft sigh of relief and asked.

“Possibly. It’s none of our business, let’s sleep.” The elongated howling outside didn’t echo again, replaced only by occasional low ark, ark sounds as the two animals frolicked—sounds that resembled a dog’s bark yet carried the tint of a wolf’s cry. Luo Xun couldn’t tell them apart, and he had no luxury of time to worry about it right now. In any case, as long as they didn’t provoke their side, it was fine.

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