Chapter 55 — Women After the Apocalypse
After listening, Luo Xun nodded. “Plenty of zombies have been gathering outside the base. We don’t know the exact situation with the wall repairs, but in our sector, they’ve been attacking nonstop all morning.”
So it was understandable that people preferred not to work outside—after barely escaping the undead, who would volunteer to face them again?
Zhang Su washed and returned their lunch boxes. “Thanks. No need to bring mine the day after tomorrow—meals are provided.” His job clearly came with better benefits than anyone else’s. Li Tie’s team only got two meals plus some points; Luo Xun and Yan Fei together earned about seven points and a lunch per day each.
But Zhang Su—three meals and pay. Judging by Yan Fei’s earnings, his points were likely even higher.
Li Tie turned to Yan Fei. “We checked on the metal situation—since they’re using most of it to repair the outer walls, even the army’s short on supply. But Wang Duo heard the base is planning another big scavenging mission soon to collect metals. We might be able to get or trade for some then.”
Yan Fei nodded lightly. “No rush. We have enough metal for now. But if you find any and want furniture made, bring it to me—I can process it.”
He didn’t mind using his ability as much as possible. The more practice, the better the control—and this was the perfect way to train.
The nightly routine meeting ended, and everyone went their separate ways.
When Luo Xun returned home to prepare things for the next day, he suddenly realized—he still hadn’t taken out the copper wire he brought back earlier!
The whole bundle of copper wire was tangled together, heavy and impossible to estimate its weight for now. Since they had no immediate use for it, he carried it up to the second-floor storage room.
Yan Fei followed him upstairs with two crystal cores in hand. Seeing this, Luo Xun asked curiously, “You’re going to use them?”
Yan Fei nodded. “I want to test how it works when I use it after completely draining my power. I used one earlier on the stairs today, but I want to see if it makes a difference under different conditions.”
Luo Xun was very supportive of Yan Fei experimenting with his ability. After all, even in his past life, he had only heard of how crystal cores were used—how to maximize their efficiency, or how exactly they helped ability users level up, he had no idea.
Earlier that day, Yan Fei had paid close attention to how the crystal core’s energy flowed into his body while using his power. Now, while that sensation was still fresh in his memory, he wanted to explore it more thoroughly.
He “floated” a large mass of metal in the bedroom, constantly changing its shape. Over the past few days, Yan Fei had discovered the most effective way to deplete his power—turning that lump of metal into a thin, fabric-like mesh. The thinner and finer the strands, the denser the weave, the more mental energy it consumed.
When the fine metallic web spread across the ceiling of the entire room, his forehead was already covered in sweat.
With a soft whoosh, using the last of his power, Yan Fei condensed the web back into a metallic ball on the floor. Gasping for breath, he picked up a crystal core and began to absorb it.
Luo Xun quickly grabbed a towel and gently wiped the sweat from his face. Not long after, Yan Fei finished absorbing the core and opened his eyes again.
“How was it?”
Yan Fei’s eyes sparkled with a strange light. “It works. It feels different from usual.”
When he used the core after completely exhausting his energy, he could clearly sense that his body’s capacity for mental power had expanded slightly—more than it did after a night’s rest. Although one crystal core wasn’t enough to fully replenish what he had consumed, the upper limit of his energy had increased. After sleeping, it would naturally rise even more.
Taking a deep breath, he squeezed the other crystal core in his palm. “Let’s try another way.”
This time, Yan Fei began absorbing the crystal core while draining his power, continuing to deplete and replenish his energy at the same time, carefully observing any differences.
After comparing the results of both cores, and the one he had used earlier in the day, Yan Fei quietly explained to Luo Xun, “When I used the core in the stairwell at noon, my ability wasn’t completely drained yet. My mental capacity did increase a bit, but the effect was faint. Just now, when I used it after fully exhausting my power, the increase was the clearest. Using it mid-consumption also worked, but the result was less ideal since the energy was immediately spent again.”
Luo Xun’s eyes lit up. “So the best time is after completely using up your power, then absorbing a core and resting for a bit?”
Looking at Luo Xun’s bright, excited expression, Yan Fei suddenly had the urge to push him down and “punish” him right there. But after twitching his sore, limp fingers twice, he regretfully decided he’d better take care of business first tomorrow before playing with his powers again—otherwise, even if he tried to act now, his lover might take advantage of his weakened state and reverse their positions. He had to protect his dignity as the “top” of the house!
Being the considerate partner he was—and completely forgetting that he could’ve taken advantage of the situation himself—Luo Xun carefully wiped Yan Fei’s sweat, helped him drink some water, and obediently turned off the lights to cuddle up for sleep.
After closing his eyes, Luo Xun suddenly remembered the group he had encountered on the stairs earlier that day. It wasn’t that he had stared at a pretty girl like some lovestruck fool—he already had Yan Fei, his gorgeous, demonic boyfriend, whom he could hug and sleep with every night, and with whom he had a very promising romantic future. Why would a gay man like him gawk at some random woman?
No—the reason he froze in place when he saw that girl was pure shock. Because he knew her.
The Rose Mercenary Corps—a terrifying all-female mercenary group in the apocalypse. Their danger didn’t come from the fact that most of them were strong ability users, but from their attitude toward men.
It was said the group was formed by women who had been abandoned, raped, or betrayed by men, and they harbored deep hatred toward them. Any man who dared provoke them… well, let’s just say it never ended well.
After the apocalypse, many strong men would seize beautiful women as their personal property. The Rose Corps flipped that dynamic entirely. If they caught a man who offended them, handsome ones would be drugged and forced into endless sexual “sessions” until they literally died of exhaustion; the ugly or sleazy ones had their genitals cut off and were left to bleed to death.
They didn’t keep long-term male companions—men were scum, untrustworthy, and only useful when needed. Some men had managed to escape after being captured, but those survivors were all emaciated, trembling wrecks—no one envied their “luck.” Any male ability user caught by the Roses? Forget it. None ever came back alive. The stronger the man, the crueler his fate.
Luo Xun vaguely remembered that before he reached this base in his past life, the Rose Mercenary Corps had already appeared—but not in this building. He didn’t know what happened later, only that their bloody reputation spread throughout the base, and by the fourth or fifth year of the apocalypse, they had faded away.
But Luo Xun had seen that woman once before from afar—the same heavy makeup, the same striking red lips. So when he saw her again today, he recognized her immediately. After all, he hadn’t seen many women in the apocalypse.
Still, given what he’d just witnessed between those two groups, he definitely wasn’t going to get involved or warn her about the man beside her. He didn’t even know exactly why the Rose Corps was founded or what that woman had been through—what if her tragic story hadn’t even happened yet? The post-apocalyptic gossipmongers were unreliable; half the time, their rumors were nonsense. Some said the Roses were all women betrayed by men, others claimed they were just a band of lustful prostitutes capturing men for fun. Luo Xun found the latter theory even less believable.
Adapting to work in the base turned out to be easy. Compared to the pre-apocalypse world, relationships were simpler and more direct, and the tasks were far less mentally exhausting.
Yan Fei and Luo Xun adjusted quickly. With steady income, free meals, and even crystal cores as bonuses, life was more than enough for two people with no grand ambitions—just a desire for peace and stability.
On the morning of the 23rd, Zhang Su also had to go out for work, meaning everyone on the sixteenth floor would be gone. To keep their homes safe while they were away, the group came up with a plan.
All three iron gates would be sealed each morning. Since Luo Xun and Yan Fei usually only worked half-days and came back at noon, they would reopen the stairwell gate when they returned.
So far, Yan Fei was the only metal ability user among them—unless someone impossibly lucky happened to have the same power and decided to break in, those doors weren’t going anywhere.
Even if someone broke the outer chain lock, the door itself was welded shut with solid metal. It couldn’t be pushed open without superhuman strength.
Troublesome, yes—but for now, it was the safest plan. Everyone’s lives and belongings depended on those “little nests” of theirs.
That afternoon, Luo Xun inspected the walls of Room 1603. By his estimate, they would dry completely before the Spring Festival—then they could start painting the second coat. He just didn’t know whether they’d get any days off by then. Even though their shifts only lasted half a day, it’d still be nice to have a proper holiday for Chinese New Year.
Unfortunately, not just him—none of them, not even Li Tie and his crew, had heard anything about time off. There were no rest days either. Everyone was racing against time; the sooner they finished their work, the sooner they could live in peace.
On the morning of the 25th, Luo Xun and Yan Fei arrived at the meeting point to find their teammates already gathered, excitement written across everyone’s faces.
“You’re here? Get in the truck first—we’ll talk on the way,” the captain said, waving them aboard.
Once everyone was seated, he cleared his throat and looked meaningfully at the three metal ability users. “After several discussions, the base has finally approved the use of crystal cores during the wall construction project.”
Some soldiers had already heard rumors, but now they couldn’t help grinning widely.
The existence of crystal cores wasn’t a secret, especially among those who went on outside missions. Even those assigned to wall-building had seen plenty. Word had already spread that crystal cores could replenish ability energy—but until now, the base had banned private use for safety reasons while they conducted research.
Apparently, the results were finally in—or at least safe enough for limited use. With the defense wall project now urgent, the base had no choice but to allow it to speed up progress.
After all, the endless zombie waves outside weren’t going to wait.
The captain continued, sweeping his gaze across the group. “Starting today, each of you will receive a set number of crystal cores every day. Try to use them up within the designated time to accelerate wall construction. Today’s just the first day—get familiar with it.”
He took out three bags and handed them to the three ability users. When Yan Fei opened his, he counted ten crystal cores inside. With his current mental power, those would be enough to fully replenish his abilities about twice.
With the crystal cores to restore their strength, everyone could work without holding back—though rest was still necessary.
This time, instead of taking turns building the wall like before, they each estimated the section they could handle and worked simultaneously. With the help of the crystal cores, the speed of construction and the amount of metal used far exceeded normal levels. Since the other two weren’t yet familiar with using the cores, they built the wall while simultaneously absorbing energy, taking short breaks at intervals.
Yan Fei’s method differed slightly. He always exhausted his own power completely before stepping aside to rest and absorb a core. Ever since Luo Xun had begun collecting a few crystal cores every day, Yan Fei had used the extras to train himself at night, accelerating his improvement.
After so many days, he had already mastered the rhythm and method that suited him best. Now, with official access to the cores, he used them in the most efficient way possible.
While the three ability users were focused on their work, Luo Xun and the others weren’t idle either. The squad leader gathered the defensive team for a quick, quiet meeting.
“The higher-ups have decided that each day, around thirty crystal cores will be distributed among our three metal-type ability users,” he said. “But aside from that, any extra cores we obtain during the mission will be ours to distribute as we see fit.”
As he spoke, he shot Luo Xun a glance—this guy’s aim with the crossbow was freakishly accurate. No matter how sudden or awkward the angle, two bolts at most and the target would drop. Even the squad’s sharpshooter admitted defeat.
“Our schedule’s tight and the workload heavy,” the leader continued. “The base wants the outer wall finished before the Spring Festival. So I propose we give all the extra crystal cores we find to our three metal ability users. Any objections?”
Other than the soldiers trained to obey orders, there was Luo Xun—sensible as ever. It was basically their private stash going to Yan Fei anyway, and as long as his partner could restore energy, he didn’t mind.
Seeing no objections, the captain relaxed and smiled. “Those assigned to protect the ability users, stay close. The rest of you—use your judgment. Don’t take unnecessary risks. More cores are great, but safety comes first.”
The base didn’t have an endless supply of cores—they also needed to allocate some to the earth-type users. With the wall-building zones now reorganized, efficiency comparisons would be obvious, and higher-ups would surely reward the best teams. No one wanted to lose face.
Knowing they could now kill zombies for cores, speed up construction, and maybe even level up, the entire defense squad was in high spirits. The ability users, too, worked faster than ever.
Yan Fei quietly observed the other two while absorbing a core in his hand, doing mental calculations. His power was clearly stronger. Was it a mutation? Or did abilities have levels? Either way, his energy lasted longer, and he could manipulate far more metal at once. He even held metal suspended in midair—something the other two clearly couldn’t do.
Before long, the others had burned through all ten cores each, while Yan Fei had only finished two full cycles and still had five left.
When the captain checked the time, it was only 10:30 a.m. Meaning to maintain peak efficiency, each ability user would probably need at least twenty cores per morning!
“Distribute these twelve next,” the captain ordered, pulling out the morning’s loot. “Let them rest for a bit, then continue. We can’t kill zombies fast enough to keep up.”
Each of the three received four more cores—just enough to refill Yan Fei’s energy. He didn’t mention that he still had five unused, quietly pocketing them and absorbing the new four.
Thanks to reinforcements guarding the perimeter, the zombies charging toward the base had increased slightly, but the number that actually broke through remained limited.
By the end of the morning, their squad had collected twenty-two crystal cores. After handing out seven per person, one was left in the captain’s keeping for tomorrow.
“Use them sparingly,” the captain reminded. “Don’t burn through them all at once. We’ll wrap up soon and rest when we get back—save what’s left for tomorrow in case there are fewer zombies.”
Before the lunch break, the three ability users pushed themselves for one final burst—the other two drained five more cores and saved the rest for tomorrow.
Yan Fei, however, only used four of his new ones, storing the extra three along with his previous stash.
A whole day’s work, and he’d managed to save eight extra crystal cores. Not bad at all. Still, he’d have to use two tomorrow to keep pace with the others and avoid suspicion.
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
