Chapter 40 — Bath
The previous day, Yan Fei had been so busy scavenging and using his powers that it had felt like an endless marathon. But now, waiting idly in the base’s open holding area, time seemed to crawl unbearably slow.
New arrivals to the base were separated from those who had gone out on missions. Beyond the walls, construction crews were still fortifying the perimeter.
Luo Xun and the others wanted to ask around about that convoy they’d seen dragging a horde of zombies behind it — if those people made it to the base safely, the military would need to dispatch a cleanup team immediately.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t ask anyone. The base required everyone to stay within their marked squares, no mingling or wandering around.
Those waiting here were uninjured base members. Wounded returnees were held in another compound — a newly built, larger one for external arrivals. The military hadn’t returned with their own scavenging teams yet.
Though the army had set out a day earlier than Luo Xun’s group, their mission zones were much deeper and more dangerous. Luo Xun’s team had only skirted the outer edge of City A — relatively easy by comparison.
With nothing to do, the seven of them gathered to discuss home renovations. Since they’d collected everything together, they divided the materials into two shares to refurbish two rooms, then split the remaining supplies seven ways.
Of course, the metal sheets and parts all went to Yan Fei — no one else could use them anyway.
Li Tie and the others had tried to offer him more — after all, he was an ability user, and a rare metal-type at that! Without his power, none of them would’ve survived this trip.
But Yan Fei refused. He didn’t need charity. He already shared a home with Luo Xun, so his living costs weren’t as high as theirs. And as a strong ability user, he could always earn resources — helping the army build walls, or crafting weapons in secret at home to trade for supplies.
He wasn’t worried about survival at all.
The seven of them worked together very smoothly this time, and while they were at it, Li Tie and the others eagerly took the chance to ask Luo Xun for advice on home renovation. Their hands-on skills weren’t bad, and judging from how familiar Luo Xun had been back at the home improvement market — knowing all the materials and tools — it was obvious he knew what he was doing. Even if he wasn’t a professional, at least he’d know how to lay tiles, install flooring, or paint walls, right? Better to ask now so they could start work the moment they got home!
When the “otaku squad” finally retrieved their vehicles and started heading back, everyone was filled with an almost giddy excitement, doing their best to ignore their exhaustion. They couldn’t wait to go home, sleep in their own beds, and start renovating right away. But renovations weren’t something that could be done in a day or two! Ahhh, the struggle!
When they reached the foot of their apartment building, however, the group was struck by a horrifying realization — the elevators weren’t running at this hour, and they all lived on the 16th floor! Their trucks were packed with huge, heavy renovation materials. Were they really expected to haul all that upstairs after a full day of hard labor?!
“What time do the elevators run?” He Qiankun asked, horrified.
Pointing at the notice board posted in the stairwell, Wang Duo barely held back his laughter. “Once in the morning and once in the afternoon. It’s three thirty now, so… about an hour and a half till the next run.”
Thankfully, the base’s power supply was still relatively stable, so the elevator hours were longer than what Luo Xun remembered — six hours total per day instead of four.
“That’s not too bad. Let’s unload everything into the hallway first. When the elevator starts up, we’ll move it upstairs,” Luo Xun decided decisively after checking the schedule.
He wasn’t wrong — just unloading would already take a while.
Piece by piece, stack by stack, pile by pile.
At first, most of the nearby residents were out working, so no one paid much attention to what they were doing. But before long, a small crowd began to gather.
The tiles and floorboards didn’t interest anyone much, but when people noticed the rolls of fabric and bags of cotton, curiosity turned into greed.
A few came up to ask if the materials were for sale or trade. When they got a firm “no,” they quietly slipped away — only to return later, joined by several burly, rough-looking men with bad intentions.
Although the military maintained order in the base, it was far from truly peaceful. Recently, most soldiers had been dispatched for large-scale rescue and construction operations, leaving only a few behind. Often by the time the authorities arrived, the conflicts were already over — and bloody.
Worse, more and more people who’d been living in the city’s ruins under the law of the jungle had recently flooded into the base. These survivors weren’t exactly used to rules. Petty thefts, break-ins, and intimidation had become more common, especially when most people were out working or scavenging.
Noticing the growing crowd, Luo Xun immediately had Yan Fei stay by the four trucks to keep watch, while he himself swapped his large crossbow for a compact hand crossbow, keeping it loaded and ready.
When the first group of would-be robbers swaggered over, Yan Fei didn’t even look up. He simply waved a hand, and with a sharp shing-shing-shing, a ring of floating metal spikes rose up — fencing off all four vehicles and blocking the path into the stairwell.
The glinting, needle-sharp barrier hovering in the air was enough to make the tough guys instantly break into cold sweat and stumble backward in fright.
“If you need to go upstairs, please wait a bit,” Yan Fei said lazily, hands in pockets, sweeping the group with a cold, disdainful look. “We’ve still got a lot to move. If something goes missing by accident…” His eyes flashed dangerously, and the men retreated several more steps.
The one in front forced a dry laugh. “M-misunderstanding! Just passing by, that’s all!”
Yan Fei ignored them, leaning back casually against a truck. The steel spikes clattered to the ground — but didn’t disappear. Perfect intimidation.
Seeing that these newcomers weren’t easy prey, the onlookers finally backed off, though many still lingered nearby, whispering to each other — trying to find out which floor the group lived on.
Luo Xun and the others ignored them, simply speeding up their work. And honestly, they had plenty to move. It took nearly an hour before everything was finally unloaded.
They collapsed against the walls, panting, waiting for the elevator. Just as their strength began to return, the elevator powered on for the evening run.
They quickly monopolized one elevator for themselves, cramming it full, while leaving the other for residents. By the time night fell and cold wind began to whistle outside again, they barely managed to get the last batch upstairs — exhausted to the point of death.
Even the physically strongest among them, Yan Fei, was drenched in sweat.
“I just… want… a hot bath… I smell like death…” Wang Duo groaned, sprawled facedown over a pile of something unidentifiable.
Luo Xun, still a bit steadier, glanced at the one unoccupied apartment on their floor. “Nope, that’s it for tonight. Let’s seal off the elevator and stairwell. That way, no one can come up, and it’s fine to leave everything here in the hall.”
“Yeah, good idea!” everyone agreed at once.
As the only one capable of “renovating” metal, Yan Fei shot Luo Xun a long look, silently promising to make him pay interest for all this extra labor.
The elevator doors were simple — a layer of solid metal on the inside. When it opened, anyone inside would be greeted by a wall of steel.
The stairs? Even easier — Yan Fei reshaped the steps into a slide and sealed the 16th-floor landing with another sheet of metal. Since everyone on this floor was a friend, they could always just knock on his or Luo Xun’s door if they needed to go down.
Decision made. Operation “seal the floor” complete.
They’d hauled back four truckloads of stuff — far too much to fit in the hall. From the start, Luo Xun had already opened Yan Fei’s “spare” apartment and stashed some of the supplies inside.
Now, too tired to think about anything else, they checked the seals one last time before dragging themselves to their own rooms for some well-earned rest.
When Luo Xun unlocked his own door, he suddenly remembered — right, there was another layer of defense at home: a steel wall.
Clearing his throat awkwardly, he gestured toward the “door.” “Uh… that.” After all, only Yan Fei could open it. Honestly, if Yan Fei ever got mad at someone, he wouldn’t even need to argue — he could just seal their front door shut with metal.
Because he’d already burned through a lot of mental energy, Yan Fei only opened a small gap in the metal wall, just wide enough for them to crawl through. The rest could wait until tomorrow.
As soon as they ducked inside, Luo Xun heard the sound of claws scratching metal, followed by a few weak “woof woof”s.
“Huh? Little guy?” Luo Xun frowned. He hadn’t heard any barking when he opened the door — maybe the metal wall’s soundproofing was just too good? But now that they were in, something felt off.
Following the noise to the balcony, he froze. The small food box that used to sit next to the dog’s big food bowl was now by the balcony railing. Had the little one been playing and knocked it over?
He followed the trail — and there, behind the railing, on the balcony garden shelf, was a pair of big, watery, pitiful puppy eyes staring up at him. The poor thing wagged its tail weakly, clearly exhausted.
“…How did you even get out there?” Luo Xun groaned. Judging from the setup, the pup must’ve used the box as a step to climb over the barrier — but why would it do that?
He bent to scoop it up, with Yan Fei joining him at the balcony. The dog squirmed into Luo Xun’s arms for a moment, but as soon as he set it down, it bolted straight to its food bowl and started devouring the kibble like it hadn’t eaten in days.
“…Look at the plants,” Yan Fei suddenly pointed out. “Did it eat those?”
Luo Xun turned — and sure enough, the bottom two rows of vegetables on the PVC planter had been gnawed down to stubs.
He gaped at the ravaged greens, then at the ravenous dog. “You’re kidding me… it didn’t jump out there just to eat vegetables, did it?”
Sure, dogs were omnivores, but what kind of dog craved vegetables? He could only assume it had gotten stuck outside and eaten them out of desperation — since there was nothing else.
“Good thing I moved the mutated plants to the top shelves,” Luo Xun muttered with a shudder. “Otherwise…” Otherwise, they might’ve come home to a dead dog.
Meanwhile, the little mutt, still scarfing down its food, whimpered inwardly — Uuugh, I went out and couldn’t get back in, and now Master caught me… how embarrassing…
After changing clothes and washing up, Luo Xun headed to the kitchen to cook dinner. After days of living on rations, home-cooked food was a luxury.
Yan Fei unsealed the stairwell again, which drained the last of his mental strength — he was swaying slightly on his feet afterward. He considered going upstairs to change, but decided against it.
In the kitchen, Luo Xun rubbed his chin thoughtfully. They’d all been working hard the past two days, and they’d need even more strength for renovations tomorrow. They definitely needed meat — but after such an exhausting day, something easy to digest would be best…
He rummaged through the freezer and grinned. “Ah, pork belly.” It had been frozen for a while already — might as well use it up. “And there are still some eggs left…”
He nodded in satisfaction. Braised pork belly with eggs — hearty, high-energy, and exactly what they needed.
And then, from his home stores, Luo Xun took out some potatoes, along with the dried eggplant and dried string beans he had sun-dried on the balcony back before the apocalypse during the bright autumn and winter days. He soaked them all in a basin of water, set a pot of porridge to cook, and reheated some flatbread.
He actually wanted to eat braised pork with rice, but after all the energy he’d burned today, it was better to have something easy to digest before bed. As for the flatbread—well, cough, cough—it would probably go bad soon if he didn’t eat it, so he might as well finish it off tonight.
Braised meat took time, and rehydrating the dried vegetables wasn’t quick either. Once the meat was simmering and the porridge was boiling, Luo Xun chopped up the potatoes, stretched lazily, and was about to go take a shower when he heard the bathroom door open—Yan Fei was already done.
A hot bath followed by a hearty meal of braised meat—nothing could be more luxurious in the apocalypse!
As soon as Luo Xun stepped out of the kitchen to ask Yan Fei to keep an eye on the fire and help him time it, he nearly choked on his own saliva.
“Cough—cough, cough, cough!”
“What’s wrong? You choked?” Yan Fei, standing by the sofa, turned at once and came over. Luo Xun flailed his hands wildly, but the harder he tried to stop, the worse he coughed. He couldn’t even speak.
Concerned, Yan Fei reached out and patted his back. “Careful. How’d you get so careless?”
Luo Xun’s face flushed so red that even his ears were steaming. He finally gasped out a few words:
“Y-you—put on—some clothes—it’s cold…”
Let the record show: even when faced with the sight of a gorgeous, fresh-from-the-shower beauty, a man might not actually get a nosebleed—but that didn’t mean he wasn’t seconds away from bursting into flames.
It was the dead of winter, and Yan Fei’s hair was still damp, clinging to his face, making him look dangerously tempting. And the reason Luo Xun was coughing so hard and couldn’t meet his eyes was simple—Yan Fei was wearing nothing but a towel around his waist and a pair of slippers!
Didn’t the man feel cold at all?! Did he have to show off that perfect body like that?!
Alright, fine—“perfect” was an understatement. Contrary to his fair-skinned, elegant face, Yan Fei’s physique wasn’t delicate at all. Luo Xun remembered how solid he’d felt the first time he’d dragged him home—strong arms, toned legs, and abs that were definitely there, complete with the infamous, lethal mermaid lines that trailed down from his waist…
And his skin wasn’t pasty white either—it had a warm golden tint, healthy and sun-kissed—
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
