Chapter 202 — New Energy Vehicles
After hauling their respective belongings back to their rooms, the group spent the afternoon tending to the crops in the two underground rooms. Once dinner was over, everyone retreated to their rooms for a good rest, planning to head out early the next morning while they were energized and the weather outside was pleasant, exploring the surrounding area to scavenge and gather supplies.
When Luo Xun and Yan Fei returned to their room, they first brought out the massive, attribute-less crystal they had received. After some deliberation, they decided to give it to the puppy first—there was no telling how many years it would be before their little bundle of joy grew old enough to use a crystal like this.
Unfortunately, the puppy merely poked its nose close to the massive crystal, sniffing it over and over. After sniffing for a long while, it snorted a puff of breath and turned to walk away, wagging its tail at Luo Xun and Yan Fei, who were waiting on the side.
The two exchanged a helpless glance. “Alright, let’s save it for the baby until he’s old enough to understand. Otherwise, if Yan Fei ever needs it, we can prioritize him.” Since the dog didn’t appreciate the gesture, it could only be saved for the little baby, or given to Yan Fei if he ever faced an urgent need.
After properly organizing the items they had brought back, the two rolled onto the bed to engage in a favorite physical intimacy shared between lovers. Only after thoroughly venting the frustration of seeing the home they had built with their own hands back at the Southwest Base completely destroyed did Luo Xun lie flat on his back on the bed, one hand resting over his forehead as he stared blankly at the ceiling.
“What are you thinking about?” Yan Fei held him closer, letting Luo Xun rest on his arm. Seeing him dazed, he gently nudged his arm.
“Before we left, I originally wanted to have little Xinran sandify our two floors.”
“Mm.” Yan Fei harbored no objections to that. Luo Xun wasn’t the only one infuriated by the incident; every single member of the Otaku Team was furious, because they had poured an immense amount of effort into that place since the onset of the apocalypse.
“But on second thought, I decided against it,” Luo Xun spread his hands with a trace of helplessness. “The base has earth-users. Even if we sandified the place, the moment someone else wants to move in or the base reclaims it, they can just have an earth-user shape it right back into working condition.” Their apartments were corner units on the highest floor, meaning the natural lighting was exceptional. Given how the base currently utilized solar power across the board, that prime location would absolutely never lack tenants.
Yan Fei chuckled softly, tilting his head to plant a gentle kiss on Luo Xun’s forehead. “Before I left, I retracted half the metal reinforcement from inside the walls.”
“Huh?” Luo Xun froze for a split second, looking at him with a look of confusion.
Yan Fei leaned down to kiss him again. “Living in that apartment is fine, but whether it’s sturdy…” As for whether a structural failure might cause a hazard or if the people living inside would suffer any accidents… he wasn’t kind-hearted enough to worry about those parasites. Let’s not forget that those two apartments on that floor were still legally registered under Luo Xun and Yan Fei’s names. If the base management chose to reclaim and lease them out without the owners’ explicit consent, they shouldn’t blame anyone else for bringing disaster upon themselves.
After a solid night’s sleep, everyone rolled out of bed early the next morning to wash up and organize. Having eaten breakfast and packed the food and weapons necessary for today’s supply run, the group once again piled into their vehicles and drove into the underground tunnel.
Before descending into the basement to enter the tunnel, they had already taken a thorough scan of the surrounding wilderness. At least within their line of sight, there was no trace of the two wolves, indicating the outside world should be safe.
The convoy lined up in a long queue as they drove out of the secret tunnel. Before setting out, Luo Xun had explicitly mapped out a new route, and the group now advanced according to his layout.
The destination Luo Xun selected still led toward the elevated highway, except they would pass a relatively high concentration of building structures along the way. They had thoroughly inspected the newly received satellite photos yesterday evening, confirming that there were still no signs of large-scale zombie tides active in the vicinity before finalizing this path.
However, at the same time, they had also confirmed that a small-scale zombie tide was currently active near the coastal region toward the southeast. Although their current trajectory was moving along the coastline, it remained uncertain whether they would pivot and head back toward City A. If that possibility existed, they had to maximize their efforts to gather all necessary resources and retreat safely into their small base before the zombie tide arrived.
After driving for four hours, the convoy arrived near the elevated highway. However, they didn’t stop there, instead continuing along the highway straight toward the city center—He Qiankun and the guys had previously located a new energy vehicle dealership on the map in this vicinity.
Luo Xun held the map, cross-referencing the ruined structures around them while trying to discern the remaining shop signs hanging on the buildings. “That shop is a dry cleaner’s, let me check… Right, further ahead! It’s right next to a 24-hour convenience store!”
Driving up to the dealership, the group scanned the surroundings only to discover to their disappointment that no new energy vehicles were parked outside.
“Let’s step inside to check. If there’s nothing, we’ll head into the convenience store next door to see if there’s anything to salvage,” Luo Xun said to the group as he stood before the truck, not harboring much hope.
Before his words could finish, a few zombies suddenly rushed out from the shadows a short distance away. The level-two and level-three zombies hurled fireballs and water spheres from a distance, and one even unleashed a sharp shard of ice!
Yan Fei raised a hand to erect a solid metal wall. After blocking the incoming attacks, he flicked his wrist, instantly transforming the metal wall into a flurry of steel spears that shot toward the shuffling zombies!
Although there were no massive zombie tides active in their current location, loose zombies roaming the streets to scavenge for food were still quite common.
A portion of the team handled clearing out the oncoming zombies, while the others stepped quickly into the vehicle dealership. This shop occupied the ground-floor storefront of a commercial building constructed right alongside the highway. The storefront wasn’t particularly large, and it didn’t look like a place that would store vehicles inside. As for a back door… this shop didn’t have one.
The interior was somewhat ransacked, and the glass of the main entrance was shattered, indicating it had clearly been visited by previous scavengers. Unfortunately, there was truly nothing of value left to carry away; only the water jugs atop the dispenser were missing, and the office desk drawers had been pulled open and thoroughly rifled through.
After confirming that no zombies were hiding inside, the group conducted a meticulous search. Song Lingling discovered a ring of keys inside a drawer. “Could these be car keys?”
Luo Xun took them to inspect. “Possibly, they even have number tags attached. But… where are the cars?” Possessing keys but no vehicles—what exactly was going on here?
After a moment’s thought, they decided to bring the keys along anyway, lest they discover the vehicles later on and have to make a return trip just to retrieve the keys.
Confirming there was nothing left to salvage, the group hurriedly sprinted out and headed straight into the convenience store next door. Outside, Li Tie and the guys were holding their crossbows, keeping watch alongside Zhang Su. Loose zombies were currently shuffling out from various structures after catching the noise, eager to secure a choice cut of human flesh to satisfy their hunger.
The few members ran into the convenience store. After checking to ensure it was free of zombies, they hurriedly began gathering supplies. This storefront had long since been plundered; almost no intact packages of food remained, and some loose items strewn across the floor and corners had long since deteriorated past recognition.
Luo Xun and the team’s objective wasn’t the inventory resting on these display racks anyway. With the post-apocalyptic chaos and the sheer number of survivors entering the city center to scavenge supplies after the base was established, it was common sense that nothing would be left out in the open. Their true target was the small storage room behind the store.
After taking a turn around the storage room, the group walked out empty-handed with a trace of helplessness.
“It looks like we can only head to the wholesale markets, transit hubs, and warehouses we mapped out to check the situation,” Luo Xun remarked with a sigh. Although he had anticipated this outcome, seeing the store’s storage room stripped completely bare still left a hollow sense of disappointment.
“It’s fine, Brother Luo! We’ve mapped out every wholesale market and transit warehouse in the entire vicinity, and we’ve even marked the storage hubs of several logistics companies! We’re bound to find stuff we can use,” Li Tie and the guys hurriedly offered words of comfort upon seeing them return empty-handed.
A short distance away, several newly arrived zombies let out ecstatic growls as they barreled toward their position. Zhang Su unleashed a few wind blades, cleanly slicing through their necks. The headless corpses managed a few more running steps forward before collapsing onto the asphalt with a heavy thud.
Harvesting crystals and collecting scrap metal, they confirmed the surroundings were clear. Luo Xun and the team drove forward a bit further, but after confirming that the vehicles they were searching for weren’t in the vicinity, they had no choice but to turn around and head back along the other side of the elevated highway.
Driving up to an intersection they had passed on their way out, Wu Xin’s voice suddenly crackled through the walkie-talkie: “Brother Luo, take a look inside that large courtyard by the roadside. Are those vehicles covered under that tarp?”
Everyone slammed on their brakes, looking toward a large courtyard by the side of the road. It appeared to be the front yard of a restaurant building, but the glass doors of the restaurant still bore a half-torn relocation notice, and the establishment’s main sign had been mostly dismantled. It had likely shut down and been put up for lease even before the arrival of the apocalypse. However, tucked into a corner of the yard was a massive sheet of waterproof tarp, covering several structural mounds that closely resembled vehicles.
Stepping quickly out of the trucks, they kept a wary eye on their surroundings for safety as they approached the vehicles. Standing a short distance away, Zhang Su used his wind ability to hoist the heavy waterproof tarp up, revealing two neat rows of brand-new energy vehicles parked underneath!!
After checking between and beneath the vehicles to ensure there were no hidden threats, Luo Xun and the team walked over, their eyes shining with intense excitement. These were the exact vehicles advertised at the new energy dealership they had visited just a moment ago—small container-bed trucks. Although their cargo capacity couldn’t compete with a standard large truck, these vehicles were entirely electric!
Unlike specialized solar-powered vehicles, they didn’t possess the capability to charge actively while driving, but they were entirely driven by electric power. They could easily mount a few solar panels onto the roofs of the container beds, allowing the vehicles to charge while driving, or bring along a few extra batteries to swap out mid-journey!
“Boss, we hit the jackpot!”
“Electric vehicles! We finally don’t have to scramble all over the place looking for gasoline!”
Luo Xun and the team had practically developed an obsessive-compulsive trait recently; almost every single time they spotted a vehicle by the roadside, they had to go over to inspect if any fuel remained. Unfortunately, the fuel tanks of the abandoned cars littering the streets were almost entirely dry by now, and the gas stations were completely non-functional due to the lack of power and the fact that they required electronic cards to dispense fuel.
Of course, that wouldn’t have been an insurmountable issue for Luo Xun and his team; they could easily have little Xinran and Yan Fei team up to extract the fuel directly from the underground storage tanks. Unfortunately, they hadn’t been able to locate a single gas station that still held a substantial reserve of gasoline until now.
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