The Reborn Otaku’s Code of Practice for the Apocalypse – CH213

Chapter 213 — Return

With two interconnected container beds towed behind the large truck and four electric vehicles packed to the absolute brim, Luo Xun and his team had reaped a highly lucrative harvest on this run.

The varieties of remaining goods inside this warehouse district were truly substantial. However, almost every single food-related warehouse was now completely empty. They had only managed to locate some table salt, along with some pickles and fermented bean curd inside a warehouse specifically dedicated to processed side-dish condiments.

The glass jars containing the pickles and bean curd were in decent shape and perfectly edible. However, the plastic-packaged side dishes and condiments had, without exception, bloated into tight balloons, releasing a foul, rotten stench the moment they were pried open.

Fortunately, Luo Xun and the team cultivated their own vegetables and raised mutated quails, leaving them with zero shortage of resources at home. As long as they hauled this batch of salt back, they wouldn’t face a scarcity of salt for decades. Any extra salt they scavenged or traded from elsewhere later on would be more than enough to sustain their lifestyle at the new base.

As for the pickles and items like that… would these expired commercial products taste anywhere near as delicious as the ones Luo Xun prepared? The entire Otaku Team harbored no doubts on that front. Although they still crammed these jars into the gaps between the vehicle cargo out of convenience, their goal in bringing them back was to trade them with other squads at the base, or simply keep the glass bottles and crocks to store their own homemade preserves.

After completing their sweep, Luo Xun and the team still hadn’t finished visiting all the surrounding warehouses and target locations. However, the space inside the vehicles was entirely full. For safety’s sake, it was better to head back first before mapping out alternative plans. After all, they had secured the resources they needed most on this run. When they returned next time, they could haul back the backup appliances and take a turn around the warehouses of the other logistics center.

They spent the night in an open clearing near the warehouse district, and the group embarked on their return journey first thing the next morning. They weren’t as blessed with good luck on the return trip as they had been on the way out—they finally ran into a straggler zombie that was wandering aimlessly after falling behind the ranks.

As mentioned previously, the physical appearance of current zombies differed increasingly from humanity. The creature Luo Xun and the team encountered along the road belonged to the heavily mutated class. Its bulk had ballooned to at least several times the size of an ordinary human, and its height would easily reach roughly three meters if it stood straight. Its forearms had grown thick and massive, looking even longer than its hind legs. At a glance, the entire zombie looked exactly like a mutated gorilla.

However, its facial features remained closer to a human being, and its jaw didn’t protrude as sharply as a gorilla’s. Combined with the total lack of fur on its body and a few sparse strands of hair remaining on its scalp, Luo Xun and the team could confirm that this entity had likely been an ordinary human before mutating into a zombie.

“…What kind of elemental class is this zombie’s superpower?” Xu Mei’s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie. Before Luo Xun could formulate a reply to her question, the zombie beat its chest twice and charged headlong toward Luo Xun’s vehicles, ramming forward like a runaway train.

Yan Fei rapidly erected a solid steel plate to block the zombie’s trajectory. A thunderous crash echoed upon impact, and the zombie, refusing to back down, wrapped its arms around one side of the metal barrier, flexing its immense muscles to twist the steel plating. It clearly intended to crumple the barrier into a scrap metal ball and hurl it straight back at their trucks.

“Blindingly obvious—it’s a strength-type.” Yan Fei didn’t display a shred of irritation at having his steel plate crumpled like scrap paper. After answering the question casually, he flicked his finger. A sharp steel spike abruptly shot out from the twisted, deformed metal plating beneath the giant strength-type zombie’s manipulation, stabbing forcefully straight into its lower jaw!!

This mutated zombie not only possessed freakish strength but was also blessed with an astonishingly thick, resilient hide. Yan Fei’s sudden strike actually failed to pierce directly through its skull! Let out a strained roar, the zombie thrashed its legs on the spot while forcefully yanking at the metal plating in its grasp. With a brutal wrench, it tore a chunk right off the barrier and hurled it straight at Luo Xun’s car!

Fortunately, Yan Fei was a metal-user, catching the scrap chunk under his control a split second before it slammed into the vehicle. On the other side, Xu Mei unleashed a fireball from her window, blasting it straight toward the steel spike and the zombie’s face.

Flying alongside the massive fireball were Zhang Su’s wind blades. A dense flurry of wind blades struck the tail end of the steel spike in rapid succession like a continuous hammer, driving the metal rod deeper and deeper into the zombie’s brain with every strike!

Yan Fei seized the momentum to fling the captured steel plate back, slamming it forcefully against the rear of the spike. The zombie, which had been attempting to wrench the metal barrier apart once more, was driven back half a step at a time by the multi-layered barrage of attacks. With this final impact, its skull was thoroughly pierced, shattering its crystal and sending it crashing to the asphalt, dead on the spot.

Seeing the zombie finally drop motionless to the ground, everyone instinctively let out a collective sigh of relief, exchanging wide-eyed glances with their companions, their eyes tinged with a trace of lingering dread.

Could a zombie like this be killed? Yes, absolutely; hadn’t they just dispatched one? But was a zombie like this easy to handle? Most definitely not.

Although Luo Xun and the team could destroy it, that was merely because the creature was entirely alone. If they ran into a whole squad of them, even utilizing their classic pit-trapping methods would demand a massive amount of effort. And if the horde they encountered included a smart-type zombie capable of coordinating their ranks…

Taking a deep breath, the group harvested the crystal from the zombie’s head and resumed their journey.

Unsurprisingly, the entity was merely a level-four strength-type zombie, except it had undergone a secondary physical transformation within its tier.

This class of mutated zombie was far more troublesome, being thick-hided and exceptionally resilient. If a pack of them arrived at once, how could ordinary survivors even live?

However, provided their defensive structures were sufficiently solid and thick, these creatures could at most dent the metal walls. If they couldn’t locate an exposed edge to grasp, they wouldn’t be able to destroy the structures easily. It was precisely because the metal wall Yan Fei had fabricated on the fly just now was small in surface area that the exposed edges provided it with leverage to counterattack; otherwise, the situation wouldn’t have been so severe.

However, thinking about this class of zombie and considering their own base, Luo Xun turned to Yan Fei with a solemn face. “Before we construct our above-ground buildings, we must build a ring of metal walls around the entire perimeter first, and then construct the walls for the rooms inside. That way, we can defend against the mutated plants while keeping these mutated zombies at bay.”

Yan Fei recognized the severity of the issue. “We’ll haul more metal back over our next few runs. Once we finish the remaining underground structures, we’ll kick off the above-ground perimeter wall.” They had to secure the perimeter wall first before they could comfortably build the planting spaces inside; otherwise, if those mutated vines lashed inside out of nowhere, it would leave everyone completely defenseless.

As for how to design that perimeter wall to minimize damage from thrashing vines and rampaging zombies? That required waiting until they hauled a sufficient stockpile of metal back to conduct various experiments before it could be finalized.

The journey out had consumed a day and a half, and the return trip took another day and a half. Combined with the time spent gathering supplies at the destination, they finally returned to their base after a full four days of travel.

Out in the wild fields, Luo Xun and the team spotted a foolish goose accidentally wander into a cluster of mutated vegetation, only to be torn apart and devoured by the plants in no time. The remaining loose ducks and geese stayed far away from the mutated farmland, loitering across the lush green grass. A short distance away from them, the two wolves were curled up together, catching a nap and soaking up the sun after eating their fill.

Catching the noise along the highway, the two wolves blinked their eyes open to glance over. Spotting the familiar combination of the red caterpillar trucks and white electric cars, they seemingly recognized Luo Xun’s convoy. After a casual glance, they merely split their jaws to let out a massive yawn and went back to sleep.

Regarding the wolves’ complete indifference toward their convoy, Luo Xun and the team had no time to spare on them right now. They focused entirely on driving home quickly to unload every single item from the vehicles.

Naturally, on their return journey this time, Yan Fei had still brought two monstrously huge metal spheres rolling along beside them as usual. Previously, to avoid drawing attention, he had reshaped his salvaged metal into vehicle contours. However, operating it that way consumed far more mental energy compared to casually controlling rolling spheres. Therefore, with the Southwest Base currently under siege and zero survivor activity in the perimeter, utilizing the rolling metal spheres was vastly more convenient.

Hauling the items down from the trucks, the things meant for the storage rooms were moved downstairs, while the items for the upper levels were carried upstairs. Li Tie and the guys announced with intense excitement that they wanted to install the air conditioners in everyone’s bedrooms first. With Yan Fei’s assistance, these tasks became exceptionally simple. Besides, the building was originally fitted with air conditioners, right? Right now, they were merely swapping out the units, meaning they didn’t even need to drill holes into the concrete walls.

The group bustled about up a storm, though they didn’t forget to meticulously inspect their home’s perimeter, verifying whether the exterior walls or the subterranean metal barriers bore any signs of structural damage.

Yan Fei conducted a thorough sweep, confirming that everything at home was in perfect condition. On the other side, He Qiankun and the guys resumed reviewing the satellite photos received over the past few days, monitoring the status of the zombie siege at the Southwest Base.

Pointing at a brand-new satellite photo captured yesterday, Li Tie turned to Luo Xun. “It looks like the siege will drag on for a while longer. However, the walls seem perfectly fine, and there are no signs of breaches along the ramparts.”

Luo Xun studied the image carefully, then cross-referenced a few other photos before shaking his head. “This angle is completely vertical. We can’t tell if the ramparts are structurally compromised, or if any burrowing zombies have managed to breach the perimeter from underground.” Crucially, during previous zombie sieges, hadn’t the zombies always retreated suddenly and without a shred of warning? Therefore, no one could say for certain what the exact situation along the Southwest Base’s outer perimeter looked like right now.

However, at the very least, judging by these photos, the zombies hadn’t displayed any signs of breaching the ramparts at the moment the images were captured.

It was for the best that the Southwest Base stayed secure. That place served as the lone platform for Luo Xun and his team to interact with “normal society.” If anything catastrophic happened over there, or if those major bases were destroyed and humanity’s numbers suffered another massive decline, their small base wouldn’t necessarily be able to hold out either. This was especially true given how zombies were growing increasingly formidable and freakish by the day.

Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉