Chapter 75 – A Woman’s Charm
Apart from soundproofing, the second reason for choosing metal flooring was its excellent heat conduction — far superior to wood. Even slightly warm water beneath the floor could quickly spread heat throughout the entire room, maximizing energy efficiency. This was an advantage none of them had considered before. When Li Tie and the others found out, they deeply regretted rushing to install wooden floors.
The third reason was that metal was incredibly easy to manipulate. With Yan Fei’s metal ability, if any heating pipe beneath the floor broke or needed modification, he could simply open that section for repair. If something went wrong in Li Tie’s home, though, they’d have to tear up the floorboards completely.
Of course, metal flooring wasn’t without its flaws. Heated areas tended to get hotter than others; if the temperature wasn’t adjusted properly, the floor could become uncomfortably hot to step on. Also, the metals they’d scavenged came in limited colors — either pitch black or glaringly shiny — making rooms look either blindingly bright or eerily dark, both hard to manage aesthetically.
But since Luo Xun planned to turn the neighboring unit into a combined greenhouse and warmhouse, such appearance issues were trivial. As for uneven heat? Luo Xun solved that too. He redesigned the system so that only pre-heated water flowed into the pipes beneath the floors, and added a smart temperature control unit — problem solved.
That said, Apartment 1603’s renovations weren’t completely finished. Although Zhang Su had given them all his leftover metal as payment, it still wasn’t enough to cover every floor after completing the underfloor heating. Two bedrooms remained bare for now. They planned to collect more metal during their next trip outside.
Meanwhile, Luo Xun had already started germinating seeds for the spring crops in the greenhouse.
Sprouted plants couldn’t be transplanted immediately — to ensure healthy growth and prevent mutation, they needed a period of secondary cultivation and observation.
Once all these domestic tasks were handled, it was finally time for them to head out.
To align with Li Tie’s group’s schedule, Yan Fei and Luo Xun rested at home on the 27th. Then, early morning on the 28th, the eight residents of the 16th floor — Yan Fei, Luo Xun, Zhang Su, Wang Duo, Li Tie, Han Li, He Qiankun, and Wu Xin — all got up and gathered in the corridor.
They checked their weapons — each person carried a medium-sized crossbow crafted by Yan Fei, with matching bolts strapped around their waists or packed in their backpacks. For someone like Yan Fei, who made intricate underfloor piping and practiced control daily using ultra-fine metal mesh, producing a batch of crossbow bolts was child’s play — the kind of task he could finish while yawning.
In addition, Li Tie’s group each carried a metal rod at their waist for close combat — although, once outside the base, Yan Fei planned to reshape some of them into machetes, depending on preference.
Luo Xun carried his family’s trusty modified spiked club, while Yan Fei had his usual metal staff — though what it would turn into during battle would depend entirely on how he felt like using it.
Only Zhang Su, disliking bulky weapons, carried a long military dagger. He’d originally wanted to stick with one of the surgical knives he’d swiped from the hospital, but it was too short and too weak, and everyone protested until he switched. As a wind-type ability user, he preferred agility and lightness over cumbersome gear anyway.
“All right, everyone ready? Let’s move.”
After checking everyone’s gear and condition, Luo Xun took the lead, putting on his helmet. Li Tie’s group followed, donning the motorcycle helmets they’d recently scavenged from the base. Even Yan Fei — still wearing his old mask — and a reluctant Zhang Su put theirs on.
Helmets secured and doors locked, the group made their way downstairs.
As they passed the 15th floor, they ran into Xu Mei waiting there. The sight of this helmeted, leather-clad group — each with a long iron weapon at the waist, crossbow in hand, and a backpack strapped on — startled her.
The girl standing behind Xu Mei was so frightened her knees gave out, and she collapsed weakly against the door behind her.
“You… you’re all ready?”
Actually, there were quite a few people who dressed like this when going out on missions beyond the base, but to be geared up inside the base — and for everyone to be dressed in such a uniform way — the sight was downright shocking.
Leading the group, Luo Xun nodded at her, then glanced at the young woman standing behind her — she looked a bit familiar. “And this is…?”
“She’s Song Lingling. We met while I was out on a mission,” Xu Mei said briefly, without going into detail about Song Lingling’s background. She simply pointed toward the heavy iron door behind her. “She’s moved in with me now.”
Song Lingling… The name didn’t ring much of a bell, but Luo Xun studied her appearance — innocent and cute, with the sweetness of someone who still looked like a student. However, just like Xu Mei, there was a faint shadow in her expression — the weariness and gloom that came from long-term stress and survival pressure. This woman was probably a future member of the Rose Mercenary Corps, and likely of a fairly high rank. Otherwise, Luo Xun probably wouldn’t remember her at all.
He nodded. Yan Fei and the others didn’t object either — Xu Mei wasn’t stupid enough to find unreliable teammates right after being betrayed and assaulted by a man. The topic of forming a team had come up just a few days ago, when Luo Xun and the others went to check Xu Mei’s soundproofing and help fix her door.
Xu Mei had yet to find a good team — she always had to wait for a long time by the base gate, often getting ogled by groups of men without ever finding reliable partners to go out with. So when she heard that they were planning to go beyond the base but still needed the minimum number of members required, she immediately volunteered — and even said she could bring along a dependable partner who wouldn’t cause trouble or drag them down.
Everyone agreed, and they set the time to gather this morning.
Xu Mei and Song Lingling had their own car. Li Tie’s group split into two teams, each taking one vehicle.
Luo Xun and Yan Fei had already discussed things last night, so this morning they went straight for the small container truck, abandoning their usual van — what could they do, the van’s shell was too thin, and it didn’t have as much space as the container truck anyway.
The four vehicles drove toward the base gate. Luo Xun and Yan Fei’s vehicle went first for registration. Their team name was still that rather awkward “Otaku Squad.”
After receiving their mandatory mission slip and seeing the listed requirements — “Zombie Cores: 100 units” — Luo Xun pressed down on the gas and grumbled to Yan Fei, “If we’d gone out half a month earlier, we wouldn’t have had to hand over so many damn cores.”
Yan Fei just chuckled and didn’t reply — half a month ago, they had been far too busy with work to leave the base. Even if they’d wanted to, their captain wouldn’t have approved. Getting time off back then had already been pushing it.
Driving into the designated passage, tall walls loomed on either side. Their car turned into a sunken tunnel-like area. Once all four of their vehicles were in position, the outer gate began to open.
As the gate behind them closed, a soldier on the wall above shouted through a loudspeaker,
“All vehicles, attention! Gate opening countdown — ten seconds! Ten… nine… eight… three… two… one… OPEN!”
With his final word, the massive iron gate in front of them began to rise slowly. Beneath it, another retractable iron grating slid into the ground.
Beyond that barrier, zombies who had caught the scent of human flesh were already waving their arms and howling with hoarse, guttural cries.
“They sound like they haven’t eaten in ages,” Luo Xun murmured with a grin. Excitement flashed in his eyes, and his heartbeat quickened. Unlike killing zombies from atop the wall, this time — he was going out there.
Every man had an adventurous streak. Even someone like him — a homebody who preferred to stay safe inside — sometimes wanted to go out and spill some zombie blood. This time, he was far more prepared than in his previous life: well-equipped, with capable teammates who all had powers, and most importantly, reliable people who wouldn’t stab each other in the back.
The engines of the vehicles roared one after another. As the iron gate opened completely, they all surged forward.
The modified vehicles at the front smashed into the cluster of zombies crowding the entrance, sending them flying. Luo Xun’s vehicle was at the rear — he didn’t rush, waiting until the way was clear before following tightly behind.
Sure enough, one of the cars ahead, moving too fast, skidded right off the main road and onto the sidewalk before swerving back again.
Li Tie’s car followed right behind Yan Fei’s, heading toward the outskirts of the city.
At this point, zombies were actually more densely concentrated near the base. Larger hordes still dominated the downtown core, while the outer edges had sparser populations. That was exactly where Luo Xun wanted to go.
Their group might have ranged weapons, but they couldn’t take out multiple targets at once — their clearing efficiency was low. If they got surrounded, they would have to rely on Xu Mei’s fire ability and Zhang Su’s wind ability for crowd control. Unfortunately, Xu Mei’s power level was weaker than both Yan Fei’s and Zhang Su’s — a large-scale fire attack could easily drain half her energy.
Yan Fei could also do area attacks, but if he tried to control too many metal bolts at once, his aim would suffer.
So, after discussing it, they decided to stick with their original plan — find an area with a manageable number of zombies, where they could pick them off one by one, and in case of a larger swarm, lure them together to let Luo Xun and Zhang Su use their abilities to clear the field.
The base might encourage survivors to go out and kill zombies, but the weapons exchange system was pitiful — few options, low damage, and ridiculous prices. Handguns and shotguns were expensive and barely effective; their crossbows worked better.
So Luo Xun’s group didn’t bother redeeming any — only Yan Fei exchanged a few bullets for his old handgun from before the apocalypse, mainly as spare parts for experimenting with his own builds. Even a solid metal slug would be fine, as long as it worked against zombies.
The convoy rumbled toward their target area. Luo Xun scanned the surroundings as he drove, then pointed ahead.
“How about there? Two-story bank at the corner — good rest spot, and not too many zombies around.”
Yan Fei nodded slightly. There would likely be usable metal inside, too.
Luo Xun flicked on his turn signal. Li Tie’s car followed, and the two cars behind fell in line.
They pulled up to the shattered glass doors of the bank, hesitating for a moment — could such doors really keep zombies out? Should they park somewhere else?
Before anyone could decide, Luo Xun suddenly slammed the gas — and drove straight up the steps, right into the bank’s main hall!
“Damn! You can drive up stairs?!” Li Tie, Han Li, and He Qian in the next car all cursed. They remembered Luo Xun joking about driving up stairs back at the home improvement center — but apparently, he hadn’t been joking!
As they hesitated, wondering whether to pile debris on the stairs to make it easier to drive up — the car that had been behind them, the little sedan with Xu Mei and Song Lingling inside, suddenly pulled up alongside them.
With one sharp rev of the engine— It also went straight up the stairs!
Even a girl could drive a car up the stairs — what was there for them to be afraid of?
The men’s pride was instantly ignited. Fired up, Li Tie and the other guys — along with another car from the fellow otaku team behind them — slammed down on the accelerator and sped forward.
Thud, thud! After a few bumps, both vehicles successfully climbed the stairs and parked in the bank’s main lobby alongside Luo Xun and Xu Mei’s cars.
“Damn, that was thrilling,” said He Qiankun from the car behind as he patted his plump chest in relief.
Han Li smacked him lightly on the head. “Stop sighing and go down to kill some zombies.”
Several zombies were wandering aimlessly around the lobby. Luo Xun and Xu Mei’s pairs, who had rushed in first, had already gotten out of their cars and were cleaning up the area. Li Tie’s group quickly followed, swinging their iron rods. In no time, every zombie in the hall had been taken down.
“Collect the crystal cores from their heads. Be careful — make sure they’re completely dead before you start, just in case they’re faking it,” Luo Xun instructed as he crouched beside a zombie to dig out its core himself.
Right now, zombies didn’t have much intelligence — dead was dead. But that might not be the case in the future; some that regained fragments of intelligence might pretend to be dead, waiting for someone to approach and try to harvest their crystal cores before suddenly attacking.
Luo Xun’s words startled Xu Mei and Song Lingling — the two women who had been frequently going out on missions lately. They’d been lucky so far and hadn’t encountered zombies that weren’t fully dead. Spooked, they immediately drew their machetes, approached the corpses, and — slash! — chopped off the heads before digging out the cores.
Li Tie and the others, finding it utterly revolting to rummage through zombie brains for crystal cores, exchanged pale-faced glances. But they couldn’t let themselves be outdone by women, could they? It was just digging out cores. Just some brain matter. They gritted their teeth — dig!
Yan Fei looked on with satisfaction as Li Tie and his group crouched down, faces ashen, to dig cores. He exchanged a knowing look with Zhang Su, who stood nearby with a half-smile. Having two capable, level-headed women in the team wasn’t bad at all — especially since they were smart and reasonably skilled. With them setting an example, they didn’t even need to worry about Li Tie’s five “good boys” getting spoiled.
After digging through the zombies’ heads, Li Tie and the others quietly ran to a corner of the bank and collectively threw up for a full five minutes before forcing themselves to straighten up and act as if nothing had happened. They rejoined Luo Xun’s group, who were standing by a second-floor office window.
“The noise earlier has already drawn in some nearby zombies. Since we’ve been in the first-floor lobby, I also threw down a sweat-soaked towel on purpose. In a bit, we’ll block the stairway door and pick off the zombies as they come up,” Luo Xun explained, outlining the next phase of their plan.
It was an instinctive response — after spending time with Li Tie’s group and seeing that most of those present hadn’t been outside the base much, Luo Xun naturally brought out his experience and habits from his previous life.
Luckily, since he was already known for being meticulous and organized, no one objected. As for Xu Mei and Song Lingling, since they weren’t familiar enough with the group yet — and because Luo Xun’s team had always struck them as strong and reliable — they didn’t question his leadership.
Once the roles were assigned, Luo Xun led everyone to set up a defensive line at the stairwell, beginning to clear out the zombies struggling to climb — falling, rolling, and getting back up again.
“Brother Luo was right! Zombies really can’t climb stairs!” Li Tie shouted excitedly, raising his crossbow and firing down at the zombies below.
Luo Xun and the others didn’t even join in; instead, they stood back with proud, almost parental smiles — like parents watching their children’s first victory.
Zhang Su and Yan Fei stayed in the rear to guard against any zombies that might take an unexpected route and break in through the windows.
Meanwhile, Xu Mei and Song Lingling stood in the middle of the formation, ready to step in and assist if Li Tie’s group at the front couldn’t hold the line.
After a while, once the nearby zombies that had been drawn over by the noise of their vehicles were all gathered and shot down by Li Tie and the others, the group regrouped and returned to the first-floor lobby.
They planned to use the bank as their base of operations — to lure zombies in slowly and eliminate them wave by wave.
From the start, Luo Xun had no intention of going deeper into the city. Once everyone returned to the lobby, they piled all the zombie corpses in one corner. Then, under Luo Xun’s direction, Li Tie and the others dragged together some of the bank’s furniture — desks, cabinets, chairs — to form a makeshift barricade by the main entrance. Yan Fei manipulated the metal components embedded in those objects, driving them into the ground and linking them together to strengthen the barrier.
As for the metal crossbow bolts Li Tie’s group had used earlier, Yan Fei simply waved his hand — and swish, swish, swish! — the bolts shot up into the air, forming a floating cluster before separating again and reforming into a neat pile of standard crossbow bolts.
Yan Fei could extract only the metal parts this way, filtering out any zombie fluids, blood, or other contaminants clinging to the surface.
No one knew exactly how his ability worked, but since he could control metal itself, it was only natural that he could separate out anything non-metallic — no matter how much was stuck to it.
Once the fortifications were complete, Luo Xun pulled a tightly wrapped bundle from his backpack. He carefully unwrapped several layers of cloth, revealing a blood-red packet sealed in a transparent plastic bag — a bag of blood.
Zhang Su had taken it from the hospital using his position there. Luo Xun had instructed him to do so the day before their departure — that way, they wouldn’t need to draw blood from anyone during the mission. After all, while injuries not caused by zombies usually wouldn’t lead to infection, if someone accidentally got dirt or infected fluid into a wound and didn’t notice in time, they could still turn — and then it would be over for everyone.
Luo Xun opened the blood bag slightly, squeezed out a small amount of blood into a groove on a metal rod that Yan Fei had shaped for him, and then tossed it about a meter outside the barricade. He resealed the blood bag, wiped the opening clean, threw away the bloodstained paper, and rewrapped the bag tightly layer after layer.
At the same time, Yan Fei sealed the blood within the inner surface of the metal rod until it landed on the ground, at which point he released it — letting the fresh blood spill out.
“B-Brother Luo, is that little bit of blood enough?” Wang Duo asked nervously, watching Luo Xun’s careful movements.
Luo Xun tied the blood bag up, smiled, and pointed in a direction. “Listen.”
Everyone held their breath — and faintly, they heard it.
Howls.
Zombies.
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
