Chapter 66 – The Rope
Their squad leader, Guo Yong, drove back in a military jeep from the distance. Seeing everyone at their posts, he quickly climbed up the wall and shouted, “We just got word! The earth-ability users have completed the second phase of raising the outer wall. They’ll rest a few days before starting phase three to thicken and reinforce it. Our progress needs to speed up too—otherwise, the overall schedule won’t match!”
At present, the wall stood six meters high, with the earthen base about one meter thick. The outer metal layer was only ten centimeters thick, and about half of it still hadn’t reached the full six-meter height.
“Captain, will the metal layer need to be thickened too?” asked one of the metal-ability users who was also resting and replenishing his power with crystal cores.
“Yes, but not yet,” the captain sighed. “Eventually, the metal layer should reach about one meter thick as well. But for now, the base doesn’t have enough metal resources. We’ll have to wait for more supplies to come in.” He looked toward the inner zone. “Not just the outer wall—the inner wall also needs reinforcing and thickening.”
Each wall meant another layer of protection. Although they kept the zombies out, they also effectively imprisoned the humans inside towering barriers. Still, only behind solid walls could people live in peace.
A young soldier chuckled. “If we keep building these walls higher, we’ll have ourselves a European-style fortress soon.”
Another soldier pointed toward the distant watchtower, barely visible through the haze. “Aren’t we already there? They just finished building those stone bridges connecting to the towers yesterday. I heard they’re going to add more later too.”
To prevent the watchtowers—used for surveillance and defense—from becoming isolated again like before when zombies cut off the ground routes, the base had started building elevated brick-and-stone bridges connecting each tower to the wall. The narrow bridges were only wide enough for a single person to walk across, making the whole structure look like ancient castle battlements stretching toward sentry towers.
From below, the bridges looked like half-arched walkways—creations jointly designed by earth-ability users and experienced architects from the base, with help from metal-ability users during construction.
The base planned to build even more such towers later and was even considering adding similar “corridors” between the inner and outer walls. These would allow for faster information transfer and emergency troop deployment. Luo Xun secretly suspected that the base was preparing for a worst-case scenario—if the outer wall were ever breached, these “bridges” could help them reclaim the lost perimeter.
From his past-life memories, Luo Xun knew that, in time, the base would indeed construct a real fortress—a militarized stronghold centered on the army camp, surrounded by towering ramparts. Unfortunately, in his previous life, he never had the chance to see what it looked like inside. But this time… maybe he and Yan Fei would be part of that project. Even if Luo Xun himself didn’t join, they’d definitely need Yan Fei’s help with the construction.
—
After the captain finished delivering orders, it wasn’t long before Yan Fei and the others had nearly exhausted the crystal energy they’d absorbed earlier. The morning’s work came to an end.
As usual, the two of them rode back with the team’s truck to the military camp, grabbed food at the mess hall, then drove their own car back to the residential district.
After the Spring Festival, there were far fewer idle people hanging around. Most survivors were busy searching for work or ways to exchange labor for food. The cautious ones looked for jobs within the base, while the bolder types formed teams and ventured outside to scavenge supplies.
Some even began recruiting—trying to build real, organized survivor squads. The number of small street vendors had decreased, but in their place were tables and stands with banners, calling for new members to join their exploration teams.
As Luo Xun drove past, a few people handing out flyers spotted the two young men in the car and eagerly stuffed leaflets through the window.
Curious, Luo Xun asked while driving, “What do they say?”
He might have preferred the quiet life—farming, fixing walls, and staying safe inside the base—but he couldn’t resist his gossip-loving curiosity. With no other form of entertainment around, seeing how these new teams recruited people—and maybe spotting some future “big names” still running around as nobodies—was at least something to pass the time.
Yan Fei unfolded one of the flyers, and after glancing at what was written on it, the corner of his mouth twitched twice.
“What’s wrong?” Luo Xun asked, carefully maneuvering the car. The streets inside the base were always full of pedestrians—he couldn’t drive fast, and people often darted out of nowhere. Accidents weren’t uncommon if one wasn’t paying attention.
“It’s handwritten. And not even on normal paper,” Yan Fei replied, frowning as he examined it more closely. “Looks like they wrote over some kind of pre-apocalypse office documents using an oil-based pen.”
“Oh, well, paper’s scarce now,” Luo Xun said, finding it perfectly normal. “They’re already lucky to have anything to write on. Give it another year, and everyone will be using rough brown paper again.”
“…There are typos too,” Yan Fei said dryly, staring at a large blotch where someone had scribbled over a character in thick black ink.
“That’s normal. Everyone used to type on phones or computers. It’s natural to make mistakes writing by hand.” Luo Xun nodded earnestly. Inwardly, he recalled that ever since the apocalypse in his previous life, he’d hardly written by hand at all. Aside from the occasional note, he hadn’t even used a pen. Even after being reborn, whenever he had to write something, he’d often have to check his phone first to remember a forgotten character. Just being able to write legibly at all felt like an accomplishment these days.
Yan Fei sighed. “I’m pretty sure they asked some old-style doctor to write these flyers—the handwriting’s so messy it’s impossible to tell what it says.”
His literacy and calligraphy level was fairly high; as a child, his grandfather had made him practice calligraphy from proper model books. He could recognize even wild cursive and semi-cursive styles. But this… this crude scrawl of simplified characters defeated him. He could only guess the meaning from context.
“…So, what else do they say?” Luo Xun asked, barely holding back his laughter.
Yan Fei chose a few that he could actually read and began to skim aloud. Luo Xun listened, then commented, “None of these sound reliable. They’re not really recruiting—they just want people to team up for scavenging trips.”
“How reliable could they be?” Yan Fei gave a faint smile, folding the papers neatly and tucking them into the car’s storage compartment. Paper was valuable now—no point wasting something that might come in handy later. “All the flyers claim they’re recruiting ability users, giving them priority, but none of them have the means to actually attract one. It’s just empty talk—not even persuasive.”
“Exactly. Instead of wasting time handing these out, they’d be better off going to the city gates to team up with people heading out. After working together once, they might find suitable members to recruit.” The two gossiped idly as the car rolled up to the gate of the Hongjing community—where, to their surprise, more people crowded around, trying to shove flyers through the windows.
Suddenly, a woman cried out in shock: “Yan—Yan—!”
The voice startled Luo Xun. He turned toward Yan Fei’s side of the car and saw a woman in her early twenties staring at Yan Fei in horror. She looked vaguely familiar… but who was she? And Yan Fei was still wearing a mask—how could she recognize him like that? An acquaintance?
Feeling a bit annoyed, Luo Xun gave Yan Fei a sidelong glance and stepped on the accelerator, driving straight through the community gate.
Yan Fei merely gave the woman a calm glance, then looked away, folding up the stack of flyers and stowing them with the rest.
After parking, the two grabbed their backpacks and supplies and got out. Luo Xun glanced back toward the gate—and sure enough, the same woman had secretly followed them in, watching them from a distance. When she realized he’d noticed her, she jumped in fright and bolted toward the entrance.
“Who was that?” Luo Xun asked. So maybe not a friend after all. His earlier irritation eased somewhat.
“She’s probably one of the first group I met after the world ended,” Yan Fei said evenly. Seeing Luo Xun’s confusion, he added with a faint smile, “The group that broke my ribs. She was one of them, I think.” He remembered the men who’d beaten him much more vividly, but among the group there had also been a mature woman and a college girl with a pure, innocent look. Those two had been especially clingy around him, so their faces were clearer in his memory. The woman just now, if he recalled correctly, had been friends with that college girl. She’d been so plain-looking that he hadn’t even remembered her name—he hadn’t remembered the other two’s names either.
“Oh, them!” Luo Xun said in realization. He’d met that group once before, but his attention had been on their so-called leader. The others had only left a vague impression. Thinking of that, he turned toward the gate again, his eyes flashing coldly. “Let’s find out where they’re living.”
Yan Fei smiled faintly. “No rush.” He hadn’t forgotten—it wasn’t in his nature to. Luo Xun might not have noticed, but they’d actually seen that group a few times from afar when leaving the compound in the mornings. He hadn’t said anything, but he already knew roughly which building and floor they lived on.
Lately, though, he hadn’t seen the mature woman or the college girl among them. Maybe they were staying home—or maybe they’d split from the group.
Luo Xun nodded slightly and followed him upstairs. Those people couldn’t be allowed to remain. Even though Yan Fei’s injuries had long healed, Luo Xun didn’t believe they’d let the matter go if they learned Yan Fei was still alive. If they ever ran into trouble later, those people might easily stab them in the back. He would never allow such a hidden threat to linger.
There was no need to discuss it yet—once the right opportunity came, removing them wouldn’t be difficult. But his crossbow was as distinctive as Zhang Su’s wind ability. The ordinary residents might not notice, but the soldiers who’d worked with them certainly would.
Then a large, warm hand landed on his head. Luo Xun looked up to meet Yan Fei’s calm, smiling eyes.
“Don’t worry,” Yan Fei said softly. “I’ll take care of it.”
He wouldn’t leave evidence—and he wouldn’t wait too long.
After all, those men—Xu Bin and the others who’d broken his ribs—were still living together. He was merely waiting for the right chance to make his move.
After the Spring Festival, the weather grew warmer day by day. Around two o’clock in the afternoon, the sun shone warmly on the earth, making the soldiers on defense feel slightly drowsy, and those working on the afternoon shift to build the walls also felt a bit sleepy under the heat.
Three soldiers suspended in midair were busy attaching metal plates to the wall, grumbling as they worked. “With weather this nice, we still have to hang up here fixing the wall. Every time the rope sways, it feels like lying on a hammock—it’s making me sleepy.”
“Hang in there. Didn’t the captain say the two earth-ability users want to expand the wall again? I heard next time they’ll build it up to ten meters!”
“Isn’t six meters tall enough? Zombies can’t jump that high anyway…”
“Orders from above—we just follow. The taller, the safer, right?”
The men chatted idly, occasionally tugging on their ropes to adjust their positions. Suddenly, the sharp sounds of gunfire—“bang, bang!”—rang out. The three ability users turned slightly to look back and saw a few zombies running toward them from afar. It wasn’t the first time this had happened. At first, they would have the people above pull them up early, but since the zombies had never managed to breach the armored vehicles’ defense, they’d grown used to it and just kept working.
“Quick! Pull them up!” someone on the wall shouted moments later. The three ability users startled and looked back—several zombies had actually climbed onto an armored vehicle! Two of them even used the vehicle’s height to leap straight toward the three men!
“Ah—!!”
“Pull us up!!”
“Bang! Bang!”
“Zombies got in again!!”
“Pull harder! Hurry!!”
The soldiers behind the wall, responsible for managing the ropes, hurriedly pulled with all their strength—when suddenly, two of them were yanked off their feet and fell to the ground! The rope they’d been pulling was whipped violently and flung inside the wall, while the men at the other end… were gone!
The zombie ambush killed five soldiers on the armored vehicle. One metal-type ability user, who had been hanging from a rope, was dragged down by the zombies—both his arms and one leg were torn off, and he fell to his death. Luckily, he did not turn into a zombie afterward. Another ability user, however, was bitten twice on the thigh and soon transformed into one.
Just like that, Team Two lost two of their three metal-type ability users…
—
“Ahhh! I can’t wait to see it once the floor heating’s hooked up to water and power!” Li Tie and the others stood obediently at their doorway, eyes shining as they watched Yan Fei, who was standing in the living room.
A pile of metal materials in one corner of the room was now floating in the air, twisting, bending, and fusing together under Yan Fei’s control. Layer by layer, the metal tubing spread across the floor, extending from one room to another—soon, three bedrooms, a living room, and the hallway leading to the door were all covered in metal pipes.
After connecting the inlet and outlet valves and linking everything to the water heating system according to Luo Xun’s blueprint, Yan Fei clapped his hands and stepped outside.
“Alright, turn on the water and electricity—let’s test it.”
“Okay!” the group cheered, tiptoeing across the narrow gaps between the pipes to connect the power and water supply.
This underfloor heating system was something Luo Xun had modified from an electric water heater design. The heating coil was installed at the water inlet, and the pipes in the floor only allowed heated water to circulate through. It would take some time to warm the entire space, but the water could circulate internally, and the system had a temperature control device—once the water at the outlet reached a set temperature, heating would pause automatically. There would surely be various small issues to fix later, but overall, it was ready for use.
Luo Xun watched the others bustling about with a proud smile. Not long after, the pipes nearest the heating unit began to warm up, earning a round of cheers. He felt quite pleased with himself—look at that! He’d actually designed something like this!
Yan Fei smiled as he watched the unhidden pride on Luo Xun’s face, and a sudden, impulsive thought flashed through his mind: throw him over my shoulder, onto the bed, and happily get to “exercise.” Just as he was wondering whether to act on that fantasy, Wang Duo, completely lacking in awareness, ran up to them with an ingratiating grin.
“Brother Yan, Brother Yan! We’re working on materials too—might have to trouble you in a couple days!”
Yan Fei shot him a withering look. “Have you decided which room you’re installing it in? And don’t forget the heating coil—we can’t make those right now.”
The heating coil used in Li Tie’s setup had been bartered for outside. Luo Xun still had a few spares at home—he’d stocked up before the apocalypse in case his own water heater’s coil ever broke, and later picked up a few more from the building materials market. Still, that didn’t mean they could just hand them out to everyone.
Wang Duo quickly thumped his chest. “Don’t worry! I’ll get it done!”
Zhang Su, who had been leaning casually against the doorframe watching the scene, gave a cool, mocking laugh. “If everything depends on you, I guess I’ll just have to live on air, huh?”
Wang Duo’s pale face flushed red in an instant. He turned and tugged at Zhang Su’s sleeve coquettishly—playing cute, as usual. After all, it wasn’t his fault he’d only realized he didn’t have enough points to buy metal materials after they’d gone shopping, and it was Zhang Su who’d found out, sneered, and then pulled out his secret stash of points—so large that it nearly blinded Wang Duo.
Luo Xun raised a hand to cover his titanium-enhanced eye, unable to watch any longer. Seriously, between those two… who was the “top” and who was the “bottom”? Neither of them looked remotely masculine at the moment.
After the floor heating system in Room 1601 completed its first test cycle and proved fully functional, Li Tie and the others, still buzzing with excitement, soon realized something tragic—they had to work overtime that night to at least finish laying the floor in one bedroom. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even have a place to sleep. A truly sorrowful story.
Watching their neighbors forced to stay up late laying flooring, Luo Xun and Yan Fei chuckled for a while before heading home to rest. Wang Duo, however, was forcibly recruited by Li Tie’s group to stay and help, on the condition that they’d help him lay his own floor later in exchange.
Zhang Su didn’t stop them, but as he turned back into his own room, he began to wonder whether he’d chosen the wrong partner. Was dating someone this dim really a good idea? He and Yan Fei had already agreed that his place would also get a metal floor later—it wasn’t like they needed Li Tie’s help anyway. And besides, the leftover materials were only enough for one bedroom at most.
Was it still too late to dump him? And to make things worse—they both had the same surname, Zhang…
Thinking about all that, Zhang Su began to reflect on his life choices. Maybe this was just the emotional void after breaking up with his ex, and Wang Duo had slipped in during his moment of weakness. Maybe he should just lock the door tonight and let that idiot sleep in the hallway.
Meanwhile, Luo Xun had barely finished locking the front door when someone suddenly hoisted him up.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Luo Xun yelped. Seeing they were heading upstairs, he didn’t dare struggle for fear of falling, and just let himself be carried.
Yan Fei raised a hand and gave a firm smack on that perfectly firm backside he’d been eyeing all evening. Did he need to explain himself now? Some things were better done than said.
Their little pet, seeing this, thought its two masters were playing some fun new game. It wagged its tail excitedly and followed them up the stairs—until bang! The bedroom door closed in its face.
It scratched the door a few times, ears pricked. Inside, faint sounds—cries, maybe—filtered through the wood. Alarmed, it barked several times at the door, but neither of its masters came to open it. Defeated, it drooped its tail, turned, and padded downstairs back to its soft little bed. Hmph, no one wants to play with me again!
——— A dividing line of excessive indulgence ———
The next morning, Luo Xun sat in the passenger seat, covering a yawn so wide it nearly cracked his jaw. In the back, aside from Zhang Su, the other five were all yawning one after another. No wonder—they’d worked until past one in the morning finishing a single bedroom, and still had more rooms to do tonight. At least they’d learned a new skill—floor installation! Who knew, maybe one day that could become a real trade.
Then again, how many people in the apocalypse were still “renovating their homes”?
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
