Chapter 73 — The Theft Incident
Yan Fei patted Luo Xun’s back, and once the coughing stopped, he said to the others, “It’s normal for people to want to recruit him—his ability’s really strong.”
So strong, in fact, that Yan Fei thought it was a waste for Zhang Su to stay cooped up in a hospital. He should’ve been out fighting monsters, putting his ability to real use. But then again, Yan Fei himself was the type who couldn’t be bothered going out to hunt for supplies, so he couldn’t exactly blame Zhang Su for staying put.
At that, the group all broke into wide grins. He Qiankun proudly lifted his chin. “Brother Zhang said our squad’s name is great—he really likes it! He’s officially one of us now!!”
Yan Fei fell silent for a moment, turning the phrase our squad over in his mind. Then, from the dusty corners of memory, he recalled—right, Li Tie and the others had pulled him and Luo Xun into some kind of team before…
“Yeah! The Otaku Squad! Sounds cozy, right?”
Ah yes… the Otaku Squad.
Yan Fei thought quietly for a moment. Otaku actually suited them. Staying at the base, planting vegetables, building walls, and living a slow life—sure, it didn’t sound ambitious, but he’d already chased every ambition before the apocalypse. Living a peaceful, countryside-like life now wasn’t so bad. And if he ever got too bored, he could always apply to go out and bash some zombies at the gates to blow off steam and collect some crystal cores.
Han Li cut into Li Tie’s smugness, speaking urgently to Yan Fei. “But those people said they know how to enhance abilities. If they use that to tempt him…”
Not just Zhang Su—even Yan Fei might not be able to stay calm about something like that.
Right—that was why they’d come to tell him in the first place. The two of them were the only ability users in their squad; if both got recruited away, what would the rest of them do? The best thing was to find a way to get that enhancement info for their own squad, so others couldn’t poach them so easily!
Yan Fei raised an eyebrow. “Enhance abilities? I know about that.”
“Eh?!” All four of them stared in shock. Did he mean he knew how to enhance them—or that he just knew some groups had figured it out?
Yan Fei frowned slightly, rubbing his chin in thought. “I’ve been busy lately, so I forgot to mention it to him. I’ll tell him when I get a chance.”
At this point, Yan Fei had already figured out two of the most effective ways to enhance one’s ability:
1. Completely deplete one’s energy, then rest to recover.
2. On that basis, absorb crystal cores to strengthen it further.
He suspected that what that Chaos Squad leader called a “way to enhance abilities” probably referred to absorbing crystal cores. It wasn’t any kind of secret—the military had been using that method for who knows how long. Maybe he’d simply forgotten to mention it, or maybe Zhang Su had already heard about it elsewhere, which was why neither of them ever brought it up. After all, on this entire floor, only the two of them—he and Zhang Su—were ability users. When chatting with Li Tie and the others, this sort of topic simply never came up.
As for Zhang Su… when had that guy ever chatted normally with anyone? His thought process was far too strange. Yan Fei honestly couldn’t be bothered trying to match his brainwaves—or to make the effort to pull him into his own.
After returning to their room, Luo Xun and Yan Fei continued working. Once they got into the rhythm, painting walls was actually pretty quick. They’d started right after dinner, and by now only two bedrooms were left.
When they finally finished painting the last room, the two of them let out a long sigh of relief and exchanged smiles. After opening the doors and windows to ventilate, they went back to bed—it was time to let the rooms dry out.
Thanks to the custom-made metal bars Yan Fei had installed on the windows, even if a thief wanted to break in, it wouldn’t be easy. They could rest at home without worry.
“Zhang Su and the others will get the materials for the underfloor heating tomorrow. Are you planning to start with his place first?” Luo Xun asked as he leaned against Yan Fei’s shoulder, watching him “torture” the large metal sphere in the bedroom after washing up.
“Yeah, I’ll start with his. Didn’t you say last time that making some structural adjustments might improve the efficiency? I’ll test it on his place first,” Yan Fei said casually, without a hint of pressure. After all, they had two apartments to practice on—it would be a waste not to take advantage. Once they finished installing the heating in those two, Luo Xun and Yan Fei’s own home would get the most optimized version.
Luo Xun couldn’t help chuckling with a snort. After laughing for a while, he nodded seriously. “According to Li Tie and the others, their place heats up pretty slowly and consumes a lot of electricity. After I make some adjustments in Zhang Su’s apartment, we’ll see how it performs and determine the best configuration.” He was more than happy to accept and support his lover’s plan.
The next evening, Zhang Su came home earlier than usual—driving a small truck loaded with all kinds of metal materials.
When Luo Xun went downstairs to meet him, his eyelids twitched uncontrollably. “Excuse me… how on earth did you manage to get so much metal?” he asked sincerely. This was enough for a metal-type ability user like Yan Fei to build walls for an entire day!
Zhang Su’s peach blossom eyes curved in a dazzling smile that made the hair on Luo Xun’s neck stand up. He pointed toward the truck behind him. “A patient gave it to me.” Then he shot Luo Xun a knowing look and added meaningfully, “A female patient.”
“…Which female patient is blind enough to give you such a truckload of scarce resources?” Luo Xun’s mouth twitched. Just how blind was that girl? Did she have any idea she’d just given away a truck full of high-demand base materials… to a gay man? And not just any gay man—a delicate, beautiful bottom! Even if she threw herself at him, he probably couldn’t get it up for her!
Zhang Su spread his hands. “Her dad happens to be in charge of allocating recovered materials. She heard I was looking for metal for home renovation and said she’d send me a truck.” He let out a deep sigh. “Fujoshi really are the best girlfriends.”
“Wait—what? Fujoshi?!” Luo Xun couldn’t help blurting out. You couldn’t blame him for thinking he’d misheard. What kind of fujoshi would be so generous as to give a truckload of metal—one of the base’s rarest commodities—to a guy she barely knew?
Zhang Su raised an eyebrow, smiling with layered meaning. “You didn’t mishear. Don’t doubt yourself.” Then he turned toward the truck, lifting a hand to send several wind spheres flying—each one flinging away the nosy onlookers who’d been sneaking closer to see what was inside the truck, sending them rolling three meters away.
Luo Xun really wanted to run after him and ask exactly what kind of “conditions” he’d offered to get such a lavish gift. Maybe he could… cough, leverage his own orientation a bit too? But the thought of what horrifying situations that might lead to—the awkward confessions, the possible exposure of private details, or even being forced to sell his body—quickly made him decide to stay firmly on the righteous, honest path instead.
Meanwhile, Yan Fei was making trip after trip up to the sixteenth floor, his expression growing darker each time. He had no choice—he was the only one on the floor with a metal-type ability, and carrying these materials up piece by piece by hand would’ve taken forever.
By manipulating the metal to float through the air, he could “fly” the materials straight up to the sixteenth floor. If not for the sheer amount of metal Zhang Su’s “girlfriend” had gifted him—so much that controlling it all at once would’ve jammed the entire stairwell—Yan Fei could’ve done it in a single trip.
Unfortunately, Zhang Su’s “girlfriend” had been too generous, so there was no helping it. He had to take his time, going up and down multiple times.
While Luo Xun and Zhang Su stayed downstairs to watch over the truck and shoo away the crowd of onlookers, the poor Yan Fei was left directing the slow, floating parade of metal up the building.
“Are you going to return the truck later?” Luo Xun asked, pointing at the small truck that still held about half the materials.
Zhang Su shook his head. “Tomorrow morning.”
Luo Xun patted his chest in relief—he’d honestly thought that mysterious girl might’ve given him the truck too. “You’ve got way more materials than you’ll ever use,” he said, eyeing the remaining pile. He knew exactly how much metal they’d used to renovate Li Tie’s place before, and this load was way overkill.
Zhang Su waved it off easily. “Besides the underfloor heating, I still need to redo the floors. And didn’t your partner say he wanted to reinforce the walls? You two can take whatever’s left. It’s useless to me anyway. Just have him build me some tables and chairs later—like the ones in your place.”
There was currently no furniture in 1603; if they needed anything, it all depended on Yan Fei to make it using spare metal materials — that was what Zhang Su was referring to. Although the furniture was either black or shiny stainless steel silver, it was sturdy! The designs could be customized however they wanted, and if they got tired of the look, they could always ask Yan Fei to reshape it for them later. As for giving gifts to Yan Fei and Luo Xun, that was easy — just bring them some ordinary metal materials. No need to find any precious metals!
While they were talking, the poor Yan Fei came downstairs again, raising his hand to guide half of the remaining materials floating and swaying into the stairwell, which drew gasps and amazed “ohhh—” sounds from the onlookers.
Startled, Luo Xun quickly glanced around — good grief, when had so many people gathered?
At some point, the crowd had grown much larger. Unlike the earlier group of people who had been eyeing the truck’s cargo to snatch something, these were just idle onlookers who had nothing better to do than watch the spectacle.
“Why are there so many people? Didn’t a lot of residents move out these past couple of days?” Luo Xun asked, and with good reason. Ever since the incident two days ago, many people in the complex had moved out of the inner district and found housing in the outer base, where there were plenty of vacant rooms. At least there, they didn’t have to squeeze in with total strangers.
According to some, the houses in the outer base were huge — in some complexes, there was only one family per floor. If the military hadn’t reacted quickly enough to contain the outbreak, many people might have done what Luo Xun and Yan Fei once did: take over an entire house for themselves!
But even with so many vacant houses in the outer base, rent still had to be paid. The difference was, instead of sharing one room with five or six others and paying the same fee, now a family of three could live in a whole apartment for that same amount — clearly, the latter was the better deal.
The two chatted idly as they stood there, and before long, Yan Fei emerged from the stairwell again — but this time, a group of people came out behind him.
Luo Xun and Zhang Su both froze when they met the eyes of two people among them — the two female college students who had gone crying to the sixteenth floor after being assaulted, the ones whose attackers Yan Fei had nailed through the hand.
The girls didn’t look well. The one with the hand injury was especially pale, with a sheen of cold sweat on her forehead. It seemed they had run into Yan Fei on their way down and been frightened again when they saw him “floating” so much metal.
Each girl was being held by a man, clinging to his side. The man next to the uninjured one even had his hand boldly shoved inside her collar, groping her as he grinned smugly, proud to show off in front of the crowd.
When the two girls noticed Luo Xun and Zhang Su by the truck at the entrance, they flinched and quickly lowered their heads, not daring to meet their eyes. The men with them didn’t notice anything amiss, walking away with arrogant smiles and their arms around the girls.
Two of the men’s underlings followed behind — each carrying what looked like a window screen they’d just removed.
Luo Xun rubbed his chin. These weren’t the same people who’d shared housing with the two college girls before, nor were they the gang from last time.
Zhang Su’s lips curved into that half-smile again as he glanced at their retreating backs. “Looks like they found themselves some backing and moved out for good.”
After being robbed last time, the girls probably didn’t have anything left in their apartment — so if they moved, it was just the two of them and… those window screens?
Luo Xun nodded slightly, muttering to himself, “Window screens… right, how did I forget about those?” Why hadn’t he thought to collect some before the apocalypse? Must’ve been because his old basement apartment didn’t have windows.
Zhang Su raised a brow at him — what, was he thinking of stealing screens from other people’s windows? “You could just ask your hubby to make you metal screens — thinner and denser, works just like regular mesh. He’s got nothing better to do anyway.”
Luo Xun’s eyes lit up. “That’s right! It could work!” That way they wouldn’t even need to buy window screens!
The unsuspecting Yan Fei came downstairs again, only to find his lover staring at him with sparkling eyes full of excitement. Reflexively, he looked down at himself — his clothes were clean enough, wasn’t anything on his face, was there?
After floating the last batch of metal upstairs, Zhang Su parked the truck, locked it, and joined them for the climb to the sixteenth floor.
When they reached the top, Luo Xun saw that the corridor floor had been covered with a solid layer of “metal flooring,” and the door to Zhang Su’s apartment had been mostly melted open, except for the outer edge. Inside, more metal had been piled up.
Zhang Su rubbed his temples. “So my door lock was pointless after all?”
Yan Fei, busy guiding the metal ahead of them, had no time for banter, so Luo Xun chuckled from the middle of the line. “Want us to just move it to our place? We don’t mind.”
Zhang Su shrugged. “Doesn’t matter where you move it — my door lock might as well not exist when it comes to your husband.”
Luo Xun lifted his chin proudly. “That’s right!”
Yan Fei’s lips curved slightly at that. Pleased with how tactfully Zhang Su had called him “your husband,” he decided to make Zhang Su’s floor extra sturdy as a reward. Poor Luo Xun, meanwhile, had long forgotten his previous grudge about who was “on top,” fully accepting the undeniable fact — inside and out — that Yan Fei was indeed his husband.
After arranging all the metal, Yan Fei decided to throw Zhang Su a bone and said, once inside apartment 1602, “By the way, I forgot to mention this earlier — you’ve probably heard it too — crystal cores can be absorbed by ability users and seem to help strengthen or even evolve powers. From my experience, using your ability until you’re fully drained and then absorbing the core gives better results than absorbing it directly.”
Zhang Su raised an eyebrow. “I’ve heard about that — crystal cores can be absorbed and might enhance abilities. The military’s been using them, right? You guys used them when building the walls?”
Yan Fei nodded, then pulled from his pocket a small, unpolished, diamond-like shard and tossed it to him. “This is what I mean. Didn’t your hospital allow ability users to use these?”
Zhang Su shrugged. “We don’t even need abilities to heal people, right? Why would they give us any? Also, how do you absorb this thing?”
“Use your mental power to communicate with it, through your hand—” Before Yan Fei could finish speaking, he saw the crystal in Zhang Su’s hand begin to emit a faint light. The glow gradually turned pale blue and then slipped into Zhang Su’s body through his palm…
He actually used it?! He’d only handed it to him to look at, okay!
A rare trace of embarrassment appeared on Zhang Su’s face. He laughed awkwardly and waved his hand. “I’ll pay you back later, I promise.” He would have to pay him back—these things were rarely traded privately anymore. Even in the military, they were strictly controlled and distributed. He had no idea where to even buy one, and now he’d just used it up. Ugh… this was… well, kind of embarrassing. Maybe he could go out tomorrow and kill some zombies to make up for it!
Yan Fei gave him a faintly disdainful look. “Pay me back after you get some.” He wasn’t some petty miser—it wasn’t worth fussing over a single crystal core. “Anyway, if you don’t plan on leaving the base, you’d better figure out a way to get more of those cores.”
Zhang Su rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I’ll ask around when I return the vehicle tomorrow—maybe I can find a way. If not, I’ll head out of the base myself.” That fujoshi girl he knew had plenty of connections; maybe she could help. Worst case, he could exchange for one with points. And if that still didn’t work, he’d just quit his job and go hunting crystal cores outside!
For Zhang Su, what he feared most was being idle. Whether it was performing surgeries and acupuncture at the hospital or going outside to decapitate zombies with his abilities, both were great ways to blow off steam. Thinking about it, going out to hunt zombies actually seemed more rewarding. And if he happened to run into some idiots looking for trouble, he could just take them out along the way! Ah~ that would be the perfect combination of stress relief and fun!
Before coming to the base, Zhang Su had spent some time outside, but back then he had to pretend to be an ordinary person. He rarely used his powers when killing zombies, only occasionally using his wind ability to assist in attacks or to break out of danger. He’d never really gone all out with his powers before—so now, he was actually looking forward to it.
When Luo Xun noticed Zhang Su’s drifting gaze and that increasingly deranged smile creeping across his face, he knew Zhang Su’s brain had gone off on another wild tangent. He coughed lightly, and when both of them turned to look at him, he pointed at the pile of metal materials on the floor. “Can you finish this stuff today?”
Yan Fei shook his head. “I overexerted myself today. After dinner, I can probably lay out the pipes and flooring for one bedroom in his place. The rest will have to wait until we get back tomorrow.”
Zhang Su waved his hand casually. “No rush. After waiting this long, what’s another day or two? My door’s always open to you anyway—it’s not like it matters whether I’m here or not. If you’ve got the energy when you’re back tomorrow, just come in and finish it up whenever.”
Luo Xun helpfully reminded him, “You should at least put your valuables somewhere safe.” He didn’t want to be blamed if the neighbors accused them of stealing.
Zhang Su’s grin widened, and he shot Luo Xun a teasing look. “Aside from condoms, I don’t really own anything valuable. Whatever I have, you guys have too. Whatever I don’t have, you don’t need. No point hiding anything. As for the condoms—” he patted his pocket, “—I keep those on me~”
Why the hell would you carry those around? Planning to… uh… take advantage of a random opportunity whenever it appears? Cough cough. Wang Duo, buddy, your hat’s looking a little green—you aware of that?
Back in his own apartment, Luo Xun started preparing dinner. Yesterday’s stir-fried bacon and pickled vegetables had been a bit too salty, so there were still leftovers. Setting aside some quail eggs he’d been saving for cooking, he turned toward the balcony.
Looking at the lettuce leaves, he frowned—they seemed to have decreased again. Smacking his forehead, he went downstairs to grab his phone, opened the photo he’d taken last night, and compared them. “Yan Fei!! Come look at this!!”
Hearing the strange tone in Luo Xun’s voice, Yan Fei quickly put down the underfloor heating blueprints he’d been studying and went over.
“What’s wrong?”
“Look! This was taken last night, and this is how they look now!” Luo Xun enlarged the photo and pointed to the lowest row of lettuces on the rack.
“…There are fewer leaves.” It was obvious—even though each plant had only lost one or two, the missing outer leaves were plain as day.
“There are no bugs in the house, and even if there were, they wouldn’t eat full leaves like this. The floor and cracks are spotless too. The leaves weren’t yellowing or drying yesterday either…” Luo Xun frowned, looking tense.
Yan Fei’s brows knitted as well. He glanced toward the window. “We locked everything before we left, so it can’t be something flying in from outside…”
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
