Chapter 54 — “A Femme Fatale? Pfft!”
The group once again rode out of the base. Near the gate, they saw several trucks heading out, loaded with workers and materials for building the defensive wall. There were noticeably more people joining today — clearly, yesterday’s mobilization worked.
Some logistics vehicles were also leaving, carrying big pots, stoves, and food supplies — apparently to cook on-site near the wall.
They resumed their work where they’d left off yesterday. By midday, the number of wandering zombies nearby had already increased, and now and then, vehicles — even some people on foot — appeared on the distant roads.
Most of those walking in were ragged and dirty, but when they saw the wall construction and the armed soldiers, their eyes lit up with fierce determination to live. Who knew how long they’d been hiding in the city, or what they’d gone through? Just reaching the base meant hope.
The squad leader noticed that although Luo Xun’s aim with the crossbow was excellent, he didn’t recklessly charge ahead to grab zombie kills or collect crystal cores. He only stepped in when one crossed the defense line and threatened the group — and even then, he only went to retrieve the core and bolt once it was completely safe. The leader couldn’t help but raise his opinion of him again.
In the apocalypse, strength alone kept people alive — but those who also had discipline and followed command were rare.
Most ability users or skilled survivors outside the army prioritized their own safety first, even resisting military orders or openly rebelling against coordination. But only through cooperation could people increase their odds of survival. Those selfish few often caused serious crises for their teams.
That was why the military was cautious about recruiting random ability users. But people like Luo Xun and Yan Fei — who knew their roles and limits — were exactly the kind the army welcomed.
Strong and obedient — every team valued people like that. The leader was pleased; his decision to grant them points and supplies yesterday had clearly been right.
Luo Xun, unaware that his calm behavior had raised his standing with the squad leader, was just following the basic survival rules of the apocalypse. Yan Fei, too, was simply trying to avoid trouble and get more chances to train his abilities — the fact that it earned military favor was an unexpected bonus.
By noon, even without rushing for kills, Luo Xun had still collected six crystal cores from cover while protecting his partner. The army’s haul was much larger, though tragically, one young soldier was bitten during defense and had to be put down immediately.
No matter how many times one saw it, that scene was always gut-wrenching.
With those six cores plus yesterday’s two, they now had eight in total. Yan Fei quietly decided that once they were home, he’d test one or two to see if they really could enhance his ability. He hadn’t been able to observe carefully last time due to the chaos outside — now he could experiment.
Aside from the cores, Luo Xun also received four points — not much, but far better than nothing. They even got a small bundle of high-purity copper wire.
After just two or three days, both had settled into the rhythm of outdoor missions. After lunch, they drove home as usual.
Since the elevators still weren’t working, they climbed the stairs each time they returned at noon. Halfway up, they ran into Lieutenant Ding and another soldier coming down with some documents.
“Oh, you’re back,” Lieutenant Ding greeted them cheerfully. “We just came from your floor.”
“Is there a notice?” Luo Xun asked.
Lieutenant Ding smiled. “We were actually looking for Zhang Su. The base is short on medical staff, so we wanted to see how he’s recovering. If his injuries aren’t too bad, we’d like to ask him to return to duty…” He lowered his voice. “By the way, nothing… happened these past few days, right?”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Luo Xun blinked in confusion.
Yan Fei, however, caught on and chuckled. “Nothing serious — he just blew up a few thieves a couple of days ago. No casualties, though.”
Luo Xun turned to glare at him — so that’s who he meant, Zhang Su.
Lieutenant Ding exhaled in relief, then patted Luo Xun’s shoulder with a pained look. “You two have worked hard.”
Luo Xun tilted his head. “Was it that bad before? You all look terrified when you mention it.”
The young soldier behind Lieutenant Ding grimaced. “Not exactly huge… but also not small. It looked pretty scary.”
Lieutenant Ding gestured toward him. “He was at the hospital that day — saw some of it firsthand.”
The soldier nodded. “I don’t know what started it, but when I arrived, the floor was covered in blood.”
Luo Xun frowned, thinking. “Someone tried to harass him, didn’t they?”
The two blinked. “Harass?”
Luo Xun nodded. They exchanged a look before Ding asked, utterly sincere, “But… he’s a man.”
Men could get harassed too — but clearly, that hadn’t crossed their minds.
Yan Fei gave a quiet laugh, his eyes gleaming with mockery. “That’s why people got angry. Some guys think it’s funny to tease someone who looks too pretty — even more so when it’s a man. Zhang Su’s got that soft, delicate look. If anyone touched him, especially after what he went through before coming here, of course he’d blow up.”
The two soldiers instantly understood and nodded solemnly. “Right, right. We’ll make sure to assign some decent, open-minded people to work with him… maybe a female doctor, even. I’d better report this right away!” They hurried off down the stairs, barely managing a goodbye.
Luo Xun stared after them. “No one realized that before?”
Yan Fei patted his shoulder as they climbed. “You think everyone notices that kind of thing? Not everyone’s got a… sensitive eye for that sort of trouble.”
Fair point. Luo Xun was subconsciously using his later-apocalypse mindset — in a few years, people might actually get Zhang Su’s problem and sympathize with him.
After all, he was cursed with a dangerously beautiful face.
As they reached the thirteenth floor, the stairwell door opened. A few neighbors from that level were heading down, passing by them.
The first was a tall, stunning woman — easily a nine out of ten. She was even wearing makeup, something almost unheard of these days. When Luo Xun looked up and saw her bright red lips, he froze — after seeing so much zombie blood, bright red had become synonymous with gore, not lipstick. It startled him before he realized she was just… a living, beautiful woman.
Unfortunately for her, Luo Xun was gay, so the admiration part just didn’t follow.
But once he got a clear look at her face, his legs — already tense from surprise — trembled harder, and he froze in place, unable to move.
The man beside the woman shot Luo Xun a vicious glare — how dare this pretty boy ogle his woman?! He deliberately shoulder-checked Luo Xun as he passed.
Yan Fei didn’t see Luo Xun’s expression but definitely noticed the man’s deliberate shove. His eyes narrowed, and as the couple strutted past, he flexed his arm just slightly — enough to bump the man back hard, sending him crashing into his companions behind him.
“Oh, sorry, didn’t see you coming down,” Yan Fei said slowly, his voice polite but his smile sharp as a knife.
The man’s face twisted with humiliation. In front of his girlfriend, no less! He rolled up his sleeves, ready to start a fight — but his woman reacted faster.
Seeing her man provoked, flames suddenly flared up from her palm, lighting her pale face with an ominous red glow. Their companions behind them all tensed, radiating hostility.
Yan Fei raised an eyebrow slightly, gave a cold laugh, and with one hand in his pocket gripped a crystal core to absorb it quickly. His other hand lifted slightly—and with a clang clang clang, every metal support under the stair railings around them shot up into the air! In an instant, they formed an iron barrier between the two groups, with the sharp ends pointing directly at the opposing side.
Countless steel rods floated in midair, their gleaming tips reflecting a menacing light that made the faces of the people opposite change color at once.
Though they had many people, only the woman among them was an ability user. Their so-called leader was that man only because he and the woman had been a couple before the apocalypse, and afterward escaped to the base together.
Even the woman instantly realized that although her fire ability was powerful, she was no match for the masked man standing before her.
Luo Xun straightened up, his face darkening as he realized that all this tension had started simply because he’d zoned out for a moment—how did that turn into a full-blown standoff? What was this? A beauty’s curse? No—pretty boy’s curse? No, even worse—a standoff caused by one moment of daze?!
“Well, well. I was wondering why it was taking you so long to come up. So you’re fighting, huh? Perfect timing—count me in, I was getting bored.”
The lazy, drawling voice made everyone instinctively look up. There was Zhang Su, bonelessly leaning against the wall, right hand raised with one finger extended. At his fingertip spun a small ten-centimeter whirlwind, his eyes glittering with bloodthirsty excitement.
“Enough, don’t make it worse,” Luo Xun groaned, rubbing his temples. Great—one person sulks and both sides nearly start a bloodbath, and now another one just has to stir the pot.
“What’s the problem with a little chaos?” Zhang Su narrowed his eyes, the smile on his dazzlingly beautiful face growing wider. “It’s been days since I’ve seen blood. Should’ve just tossed those last few idiots out the window—would’ve made a nice sound~.”
As he spoke, the whirlwind on his fingertip suddenly expanded until it stood as tall as a man!
The fire-ability woman and her group turned pale. The strange man who could control metal was already terrifying enough—now another one who could summon a tornado in seconds? Judging from the aura of his ability, he was clearly even stronger than she was!
Her flames wavered, unstable. Seeing she couldn’t hold out much longer, the man who’d bumped into Luo Xun earlier suddenly forced a smile and said, “Misunderstanding! Total misunderstanding—we were just going downstairs, that’s all!”
Yan Fei gave a soft chuckle. His usually clear voice sank low, laced with shards of ice that sent chills down spines. “I accidentally bumped into you earlier and already apologized. But my person got bumped—should we just let that go?”
Zhang Su didn’t know what had happened before, but seeing Yan Fei finally lose his cool, he was immediately delighted, eager to add fuel to the fire. The whirlwind compressed into the shape of a giant wind blade, radiating a deadly, eerie chill. “Little Xun got bumped? Which part of him did that guy hit? I’ll slice off that piece of flesh to make it even.”
“Shut up!” Luo Xun snapped, unable to stand it anymore.
The man opposite went green in the face, quickly bowing at a full ninety degrees before the demon-like man upstairs could say anything. “Sorry! I’ll be more careful next time!!”
Good lord—just one bump, and he’d angered two lunatic ability-users who wanted revenge for him?! And what about when his girlfriend had been the one staring first—no one said a thing about that!
Luo Xun waved weakly, turning to glance at Yan Fei. Yan Fei smiled faintly, flicked his hand, and all the steel rods instantly returned to their places—this was already the second time he’d torn up the building’s fittings. Luo Xun seriously suspected that if this kept up, the whole place would start falling apart.
The group stumbled and fled downstairs, tripping over each other in their haste. Only when they’d burst out of the building did they finally stop to catch their breath.
The man who’d started it all looked up at the stairwell, still pale with fear. “Where the hell did those two freaks come from? How come I’ve never heard of them before?”
One of his underlings murmured, “Boss, they’re probably from the sixteenth floor…”
“The sixteenth floor… no wonder.” They’d never run into Luo Xun’s group before, but everyone had heard rumors—especially about that big iron plate sealing the stairway, now infamous throughout the complex.
And there were also whispers about someone in this community who could control metal—someone who had once scared off a gang of scavengers trying to loot supplies. Putting two and two together, they instantly knew who they’d just provoked.
Meanwhile, Luo Xun tugged Yan Fei’s hand as they continued upstairs. He turned to Zhang Su, who stood yawning with disappointment. “You were going downstairs?”
“What for?” Zhang Su rolled his eyes. “That guy surnamed Ding ran into you on his way down, right? I heard voices in the stairwell and came to open the main door. Then I saw all the rail supports flying up and figured I’d watch the show.”
“You call that watching? Who ‘watches’ a fight by joining in?” Luo Xun thought bitterly. The man was just bored and itching to fight!
Zhang Su spread his hands helplessly. “Can’t help it. I feel uncomfortable if I don’t use my powers or slice something up at least once a day. Don’t you think frequent use improves your ability?”
Luo Xun paused mid-step. Yan Fei’s eyebrow twitched. Using one’s power more often did strengthen it—but whether Zhang Su actually felt that or just needed to vent his psychotic energy was anyone’s guess.
“If you need an outlet, I can help,” Yan Fei said as they reached the sixteenth floor.
“Oh? You’d lend me your little Xun for a few nights?” Zhang Su teased, leaning toward Luo Xun, who jumped aside in horror—sparring with this gorgeous lunatic at night? He’d be drained dry, literally and figuratively!
“If you have a death wish,” Yan Fei said coldly, locking their own door behind him.
“So what’s your idea then?” Zhang Su asked.
Yan Fei didn’t even glance his way. He walked to Zhang Su’s apartment, thought for a moment, then reached out to draw a mass of spare metal from the hallway and carried it inside.
Zhang Su hurried after him, afraid he’d do something insane like seal his toilet shut. Luo Xun, curious, followed quietly.
Yan Fei stood in the middle of Zhang Su’s empty living room, looking around. The lighting was good—though of course it was “clean” mainly because there wasn’t a single piece of furniture.
Then, raising his hand, the lump of metal fused together, merging with the ceiling’s steel reinforcement bars until it formed a massive metal punching bag hanging in midair.
“When you’ve got nothing to do, use your wind power to slice this,” Yan Fei said, tilting his chin toward Zhang Su, who now looked utterly dumbfounded. “You’re right—draining your ability completely before resting does help strengthen it.” He turned toward the door, pulling along his still-amused partner. “If you break it, come find me. And if you need more metal to make furniture, I’ll process it for free. After all—abilities need a proper outlet.”
Throwing Zhang Su’s own words back at him, Yan Fei sauntered off with Luo Xun in tow.
Once back in their apartment, Luo Xun barely stepped inside before being pounced on by their dog. Hugging the little creature, he burst out laughing—the look on Zhang Su’s face before they left was priceless! The more he thought about it, the funnier it got.
Five minutes later, he finally stopped laughing—just in time to hear faint metallic clangs from the wall next door.
“He’s not actually hacking away at that thing, is he?” Luo Xun pointed at the right-hand wall.
Yan Fei shrugged. “Maybe. I’m curious how much damage a wind user can do to metal. Zhang Su’s ability is one of the stronger wind-types—higher-level than most. I wonder how long that metal bag will last under full-power attacks.”
So he’d helped Zhang Su “find a way to vent,” but in truth he was also running a secret experiment—to test the limits of the other man’s power against his own metal control?
Luo Xun glanced at him in admiration. Coming up with such a two-birds-one-stone idea on the spot—now that was something only Yan Fei could do.
Yan Fei smiled, standing up. “Let’s get back to work. Want to move the boxes next door?”
“No need yet. The wall’s still damp, and it needs another coat of paint. Let’s finish the spare shelves first… I’ll check on the quails.” Luo Xun jumped up and headed for the small quail pen.
That night, despite his efforts, the beautiful Zhang Su didn’t manage to destroy the massive metal punching bag. When Li Tie and the others came back and saw the warped, dented chunk of iron hanging in his place, their expressions were… complicated.
Zhang Su finally mentioned the news he hadn’t managed to share earlier due to all the bickering: “The day after tomorrow, I’m starting work too.”
The group exchanged looks before sincerely congratulating him.
“These days it’s hard to find jobs outside,” Li Tie said. “A lot of people are done with wall repairs—no points left in that kind of work. The better pay’s inside the base. People are even pulling strings to get into the construction teams for new buildings or underground works.”
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
