Chapter 3 – Operation Hamster!
With a bank card holding a balance of 325,700 yuan, a brand-new smartphone with internet access, and a recently purchased 9,000-yuan second-hand mini van, Luo Xun headed straight for the largest building materials market in the southwest district.
He bought a full set of hardware tools, assorted smaller tools, a complete solar charging system, and a sufficient supply of one-way glass film. Then, driving the minivan, he went to a nearby large agricultural market to buy seeds and water purification tablets.
What is most important in the apocalypse?
Luo Xun could answer seriously:
- Clean water.
- Food that provides enough calories.
- Weapons and clothing come only after that.
Soon after the apocalypse began, water sources were contaminated. Luo Xun, cautious by nature, had collected extra water purification tablets when he saw the M City base handing them out for free. Later, using the distillation techniques he’d learned in school, he built a homemade still. It was slower and consumed more wood, but at least it guaranteed safety. Even then, he would boil distilled water again for long periods before drinking it.
Most people found that troublesome—just boiling water seemed enough to them—until the M City base suddenly had an outbreak of zombies and collapsed.
In fact, many bases were destroyed not by outside zombies but from within, due to contaminated food and water, which caused a second zombie wave. In the early days, zombies moved slowly, and most plants and animals had not yet mutated, so human bases sprang up quickly.
After all, every province had stationed troops, and once the military reacted, they could rescue civilians and establish bases efficiently.
Even more astonishing, many soldiers gained powers in the first wave of mutations due to their physical constitution. With this added strength, they could protect survivors more effectively. This was one of the main reasons Luo Xun came early to the southwest district.
If water was the first problem, food was an even bigger one. The apocalypse struck in winter. Many survived the cold season by scavenging stored goods and grain from the city. By spring and summer, people still didn’t realize crops outside had mutated. When they finally discovered the truth, who knew if those plants were edible or what side effects they might cause?
The research institute didn’t release a list of safe, edible mutated plants until the following summer. Until then, famine was a serious threat.
In his previous life, Luo Xun had escaped calamity, endured two city collapses, and arrived at A City. He first joined a search team, but once zombies mutated and grew stronger, ordinary people like him could no longer cope. On top of that, he had never handled a gun before, let alone mastered shooting. He was dismissed from the search team, and the hunting squads had no use for someone like him.
Left with no choice, he worked in construction and crop cultivation at the base to earn a living. It was there he discovered his own survival niche.
He began growing crops at home—plants that could thrive without sunlight. When he sold the first batch, he immediately reinvested in seeds for other plants. Life finally started to improve. But without sunlight, he couldn’t grow high-yield crops, which was a lasting regret.
Lost in thought, he drove back to Hongjing Community, parked directly at his building entrance, and hauled everything into the stairwell and elevator.
His new home was on the sixteenth floor—quite high—but luckily, even during the apocalypse, the community supplied electricity at fixed times. From 7–9 a.m. and 5–7 p.m., the elevators worked. Having once bought electricity from rooftop residents, he remembered these hours well.
One by one, he carried the items into his apartment. Staring at the empty rooms, he pulled out his phone—time to shop online.
He had already bought quite a lot today, but there were still many more items he needed. With little time to spare, online shopping was the best solution.
The reason he bought a smartphone was twofold: first, to shop more conveniently before the apocalypse; second, because even after the world collapsed, phones could still be used. Once bases stabilized, research institutes would develop new SIM cards usable within bases, sending regular announcements to keep morale steady.
Of course, radios were also essential. They broadcasted 24/7: news of newly discovered crops, which mutated animals’ meat had been confirmed edible, which old crops were now poisonous, updates from other bases, cleanup progress outside, and so on.
Click by click, he placed order after order. Everything he could think of before leaving F City, he searched and bought online. Since he didn’t need installation services, just shipping, most orders were straightforward.
He spent the entire night ordering supplies. The next morning, Luo Xun rolled up his sleeves—time to work!
He cut sheets of glass film, sprayed the glass with water, propped up a folding ladder, and started applying them.
He first covered all the windows on the terrace, then the big balcony windows in the living room downstairs. The work was tedious but crucial.
Because in the apocalypse—if people saw your balcony and terrace filled with crops, who would believe you weren’t hiding food?
In a world where most people lived on instant noodles and raw flour, if you had fresh vegetables and could cook hot meals, of course others would target you!
Thus, the first step: protect privacy.
After covering nearly all the windows with one-way film, Luo Xun mounted two large solar panels outside the terrace windows, onto the metal frame he had just welded—charging power.
For now, he had only bought one set of solar equipment. It was expensive, and he still had many other things to purchase. If funds ran short, he planned to drive back to the building materials market after the apocalypse began… to loot supplies.
At the very start, zombies moved slowly, and few people dared venture out. That would be the perfect time to gather resources.
He bundled up the leftover glass film for later use. His second-hand mini van was already tinted. In the apocalypse, privacy on the road was just as important.
After nearly a whole day of work, Luo Xun finished tidying up his home. He headed out, went downstairs, got in his car, and began familiarizing himself with the roads.
In his previous life, he had lived in the Southwest District base for eight years, but that was already during the post-disaster reconstruction. Many of the original residential areas had either collapsed or been rebuilt, and the once public-use buildings no longer looked like they used to. Large supermarkets and grain-and-oil stores had long been destroyed at the very beginning of the apocalypse.
Right now, before his online orders arrived, he wanted to get to know the layout of the nearby large supermarkets and similar facilities.
Although the Southwest District lay beyond the outskirts, it was far more developed than the average small county town. Especially since City A’s subway passed through here, many white-collar workers who worked in the city center chose to live in this more distant but cheaper area.
As a result, all kinds of amenities here were very complete. Driving along the main roads of the Southwest District, Luo Xun was surprised to find that almost every one or two intersections had a large local City A supermarket. Not to mention, in the commercial hub of the district, there were at least three branches of national chain supermarkets, plus countless small convenience stores.
Holding a city map, Luo Xun drove road by road, marking important spots as he went. He planned to update the maps he had downloaded on his phone later that evening—better to have two sets of records.
After a long loop around, he finally parked in the underground garage of the biggest supermarket, grabbed the bank card, pushed a shopping cart, and strolled inside—both to familiarize himself with the product layout and to shop.
Just yesterday, Luo Xun had spent nearly thirty thousand yuan at the building materials market and the farm wholesale market. That night, the things he ordered online ate up most of the remaining two hundred thousand plus.
Now, he had only eighty or ninety thousand left, and judging by today’s supermarket run, he would probably drop nearly another thousand.
As he walked and took notes, he put oil, rice, and flour into his cart, plus several packs of instant noodles in different flavors. Passing by the household goods section, Luo Xun was startled to realize—he had forgotten to buy quilts and a change of clothes!
He compared the prices of clothing and bedding in-store, then quickly checked the online prices on his phone. Well then—better to stick to online shopping. Not only was it cheaper than the supermarket, but they also delivered straight to the door. And since it wasn’t the November 11th shopping festival, he didn’t have to worry about delivery delays. Much more convenient than carrying bulky items home himself.
After tossing in some pots, bowls, and plates, Luo Xun paid at the checkout, declined the offer of a membership card, and wheeled his cart back to the underground parking lot to load the car.
By the time he hauled everything back home, he collapsed to the ground with a long sigh: “My stamina is way too poor…”
In both lives, his physical strength had never gone beyond the average person’s. But in his past life, because living conditions were harsh, he had been much stronger than he was now, fresh out of school with this weak chicken body.
But who had time to train now? He would have plenty of hard physical labor ahead in the coming days. By then, strength would build naturally.
After silently thinking for a moment with his eyes closed, he picked up his phone and added a few more items to his online orders. Then he climbed upstairs, spread out the thick clothes he’d brought with him to make a nest, curled up inside—and went to sleep.
Translator’s Note:
Hey Panda Reader~
Just a quick heads-up! This series will be a super casual project—updates won’t follow a set schedule.
Also, FYI, this novel has already been translated and published on NU, so feel free to check out the original version there.
I’m re-translating it purely because it was one of my first reads, and I really love the story’s concept.
If you enjoy my translation, I’d really appreciate a little comment to let me know~
Anyway… happy Panda reading! <3
