Chapter 32 — The Use of Steel
Yan Fei’s face looked calm, but his mind was still spinning from what he’d seen on Li Tie’s phone — all those saved posts. Li Tie was quick-witted; before the apocalypse hit and before the moderators could delete them, he’d saved screenshots of every post by “Useless Otaku.” Luckily he had — now that the internet was down, there was no way to find that information again. Who even knew which city those servers had been in, or if they’d survived at all? Not to mention the meddling, half-brained admins who loved to delete everything.
Even after just a quick read, Yan Fei was shocked. The posts described how to make homemade distillers, how to grow vegetables and grains, how to fortify a home, and how to handle zombie encounters — all incredibly familiar topics…
Following Luo Xun into the room, his gaze landed on the strings of air-dried chicken, duck, bacon, and sausages hanging from the ceiling — and something clicked in his mind.
Useless Otaku. Otaku… Could it be him?
The thought came suddenly. Sure, it wasn’t strange if Luo Xun had seen those posts back before or just after the apocalypse. He was resourceful and practical — it wouldn’t be surprising if he’d tried some of those methods himself. But still… the coincidence felt uncanny. And this apartment was just too well stocked.
At the balcony, Luo Xun carefully checked the cage of quails, feeding them mealworms and grain, topping up their water, then moved on to inspect the vegetables. “No idea how many days we’ll be gone this time,” he muttered. “Only the little guy’ll be home…”
Hearing its name, the “little guy” — their puppy — came running in circles around his feet, only to lose balance and bump into the glass door, landing on its rump.
“As long as there’s enough food and water, it should be fine,” Yan Fei said, though he looked a bit worried. The dog was cute, but if they were gone too long, it might be a problem.
After a moment’s thought, Luo Xun decided, “We’ll block off the balcony and the stairs, let it roam the house freely.” Even if it chewed up the couch or made a mess, so be it. The cage wasn’t big enough to hold much food or water — if it knocked something over and they came back late, they might return to a dead dog.
Yan Fei gave him a sidelong glance, dismissing the earlier wild thought. If Luo Xun really were “Useless Otaku” — someone who’d foreseen the apocalypse or even been reborn from it — would he really burden himself with such “trouble”? Then again… that “trouble” did have a useful barking deterrent effect.
“Something on your mind?” Luo Xun asked, noticing him zoning out by the door.
Snapping out of it, Yan Fei smiled. “Just thinking what we should look for tomorrow — and where.”
That smile made Luo Xun’s eyes flicker away awkwardly. He coughed. “Let’s make a list later — and find a nearby map while we’re at it.”
Once they finished tending to the household chores, they sat down at the table with a notebook and a map.
“Flooring, wallpaper, clothes… maybe some PVC pipes or plastic baskets if we can find them. We can use the other balcony too. If not, no big deal — we’ve got backups. No need for appliances; we’ve already got plenty.” Luo Xun muttered as he scribbled.
Yan Fei offered suggestions with a grin. “Don’t forget underwear, tableware, toiletries…”
“You want me to get beauty products too, young master?” Luo Xun rolled his eyes.
“Do I look like I need those?” Yan Fei snorted. During his rebellious years, he’d even briefly thought about ruining his face altogether — luckily, sanity had stopped him. His features were delicate enough already; using facial cleansers and lotions would make him look like he was sprinting down the road to becoming a drag queen. No way.
Still, even without any skincare, his complexion remained flawless — infuriatingly so.
Seeing Yan Fei’s expression shift, Luo Xun wisely backtracked. “Ahem, of course, we’ll need underwear, toothpaste, toothbrushes — and condiments too, better get extra.” He was used to planning ahead, especially now that there were two of them in the house.
Watching Luo Xun earnestly make his list, Yan Fei crossed his arms and smirked. “Not bad — you’ve got the makings of a perfect housewife.”
It took Luo Xun a second to process that. Then, realizing he was being teased, he glared and reached out to pinch Yan Fei. “Housewife? You’ve got the face for that role more than I do!”
Yan Fei couldn’t possibly get angry at someone who was so flustered and bristling like that. Smiling with curved eyes, he caught Luo Xun’s raised fist and pressed him down onto the sofa. “Judging by behavior, you’re the one who fits that description better.”
The two were quite close—barely ten centimeters apart—so close that the tips of their noses almost touched. Luo Xun’s heartbeat immediately went into overdrive like a motor revving up, and his face began to heat up. Before he could explode again, Yan Fei released him as if nothing had happened. “Let’s not worry about furniture for now. But we can bring back some metal and steel plates. I can forge them into useful items—if we make them into furniture now, they can be repurposed into something else later.”
Driven half-crazy by Yan Fei’s teasing distance, Luo Xun took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Pushing aside the frustrating fact that this man with such a pretty face was actually stronger than him, he nodded after thinking it through. “Right, bringing those things back makes more sense.”
Yan Fei had a metal-type ability—he could reshape objects at will, turning anything made of metal into a multipurpose tool. If their home was filled with metal items, then even if someone broke in suddenly, he could turn everything in the room into a weapon in an instant.
That gave Luo Xun another idea. “Yeah! We should fill this place with more metal things. You can modify them later—if we’re not home, you could use the metal to completely seal the place off! Like the front door, for example!”
Yan Fei gave him a sidelong look, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. He had already been planning exactly that. Having only one dog in the house wasn’t nearly secure enough. He wanted to reinforce every door and window before they left. Honestly, if not for all the plants and animals inside, sealing the place up completely with metal would’ve been even better.
“In that case,” Luo Xun went on, “why don’t we just connect this place with the next apartment when we get back? Seal this door up, use the one next door for entry—it’s fine if it’s a little rough over there.” That way, even if the landlord returned and wanted this apartment back, Yan Fei could just seal up the passage with metal. Though frankly, even if they did come back, Luo Xun had no intention of giving up this house.
Yan Fei reached out naturally, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and patting him. “Let’s list out everything we’ll need tomorrow. I’ll seal the door before we go.”
Having spent the last few days with He Qiankun and the others, Luo Xun had gotten used to that kind of casual male camaraderie—arms slung around shoulders and all that—so he didn’t think much of it. He was too caught up in excitement anyway and quickly bent over the table to jot down everything he could think of that they might need to get.
That night, after discussing how to handle different situations outside—regular zombies, advanced zombies, mutant animals—Luo Xun slept deeply. When the alarm clock woke him the next morning, he was still half-asleep when he realized he’d somehow rolled to the center of the bed—so close that if he lifted his head, he could practically bump into Yan Fei’s face.
When Yan Fei stirred awake and opened his eyes, there was a loud thud.
“Fell off the bed again?” Yan Fei yawned, his eyes still drowsy as he looked at Luo Xun, who was sitting on the floor, rubbing his sore lower back with a dark expression.
Luo Xun gave an awkward laugh and darted into the bathroom. Behind him, Yan Fei’s sleepy look faded, replaced by a sly grin.
Downstairs, the little mutt—hearing movement—became hyperexcited again, barking and bouncing around its cage.
Luo Xun stood frozen at the front door, staring in shock at the massive black steel plating covering every inch of the entryway.
Yan Fei looked around with obvious satisfaction before glancing at him. “Well? What do you think?”
“Satisfied—definitely satisfied.” Luo Xun nodded quickly, his eyes shining with admiration. God, this was the power of a metal-type ability user—being able to build steel fortresses out of thin air as long as materials were available!
The entryway of Luo Xun’s apartment was a small vestibule leading into the living room. Now, thanks to Yan Fei, even if someone smashed through the outer door, all they’d see would be a solid “steel wall.” Worse for them, the entire vestibule had been sealed off—encased completely. Unless another metal-type ability user came along, there was basically no way to break through in a short time.
Yan Fei also reinforced the balcony window frames and parts of the walls. Luckily, the glass there was already tempered, which gave Luo Xun some peace of mind that the plants would still get sunlight while they were away.
On the balcony and terrace, several solar panels connected to small water pumps would continue supplying oxygen to the plants. Luo Xun also moved in the panels that had been outside, just in case someone tried to steal them.
The quails had been relocated from their tiny tank to a large fiberglass aquarium—the kind used for fish stores. The thick float glass was sturdy enough for them to move around freely.
Luo Xun laid down a thick layer of soil at the bottom, sprinkled in pebbles and stones, even transplanted some vegetables for the quails to peck at. He tossed in mealworms, half-buried a few water dishes, and built a small nesting area—turning the whole thing into a miniature garden.
Half the enclosure sat inside the apartment, half on the sunny balcony.
As for the house’s other important resident—the dog—Luo Xun packed away anything fragile or dangerous, had Yan Fei build waist-high steel barriers around the area, and poured a huge bag of dog food into a wide plastic container. With its appetite, that was easily a month or two’s worth.
He filled another container with water, connected it to a smaller dish using a siphon setup so the dog could drink steadily without flooding the place. He even glued the setup together to make sure it stayed put—no one wanted to come home to a waterlogged floor.
Once everything was reasonably arranged, the two of them carried several steel plates downstairs and loaded them into the car. They decided to bring both finished weapons and raw materials, in case of emergencies on the road. Yan Fei could use metal of any form, but it was better to have some ready at hand than to risk dismantling their car for weapons.
After loading up, they went upstairs to knock on 1601’s door. When it opened, Luo Xun took one look and stumbled back half a step. “What the hell—did you guys come from Arabia or something?”
He Qiankun puffed out his stomach—probably meaning to puff out his chest. “For safety’s sake! We’re planning to find helmets today too, just like you.”
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