Chapter 92 — A New Force
After hearing Song Lingling’s words, Luo Xun smiled and nodded at her. “Then I’ll be counting on you. And using your ability more will also help you consume crystal cores faster and raise your ability level sooner.” After saying this, he continued, “Soil isn’t too hard to deal with—it’s just a bit troublesome. For now, we can look for some clean soil inside the base. The really important things are solar panels, storage batteries, and lighting fixtures… Oh, and we’ll also need thick curtains, so that when we turn on the lights to grow crops, it won’t be visible from outside…” In the apocalypse, safety came first. Even being overly cautious was better than having no precautions at all—otherwise, once someone pried open their doors and windows, there’d be nowhere left to cry.
Li Tie took out pen and paper, carefully writing down everything Luo Xun mentioned and asking about specific quantities. “Some of these things we can buy directly in the base. Others we can get next time we go out… Brother Luo, no rush. Even if we can’t get everything right away, it’s fine. We’re not in a hurry.”
That was right—they weren’t in a hurry. They could treat the first year of the apocalypse as a preparation period. It would be next year that the things grown in these rooms would truly begin to show their worth.
Xu Mei smiled and added, “Digging up soil inside the base is actually pretty convenient now. The base is promoting crop cultivation, after all. There are people everywhere digging up soil to take home—if we go looking for it too, no one will bother us.” Indeed, if this large-scale planting effort failed and someone then started digging soil and collecting planting-related supplies on a large scale, that would be far more conspicuous.
Luo Xun nodded and went on to explain other matters. “Everyone should already know about the mushrooms. This counts as internal information. The base is growing them too, but they don’t want the news to spread—everyone knows how powerful mushrooms can be. So we can only do this quietly. Of course, Yan Fei and I already have a solution. Later, we’ll make all the planting racks like the ones in Room 1603. If outsiders come, we can temporarily conceal the situation. We’ll just collect everything together at designated times and process them into canned goods.”
He paused, and only after everyone nodded to show they understood did he turn to Xu Mei and the others to address the remaining issues. “But if we do this, it would be best if you two could take care of the crops at home. After each harvest, we’ll set aside a separate share for you, and we’ll also guarantee your daily food and living needs…”
Xu Mei smiled and asked on behalf of the three of them, “What about when we go out at the end of the month to hunt crystal cores?”
“We’ll go out together, just like the last two times,” Luo Xun confirmed with a nod.
Xu Mei smiled again. “Then there’s no problem.” She paused, then explained somewhat helplessly, “We’ve teamed up with quite a few squads to leave the base before, but honestly, no team is as efficient as ours.” She added teasingly toward Luo Xun, “And we’ve never met a team leader who could stay so calm, grasp the situation so well, and command and arrange things so properly. Going out once with your team yields more than a whole month of repeatedly going out with other small teams.”
Song Lingling nodded repeatedly at the side. No matter how strong Xu Mei’s combat ability was, or how well she handled logistics, as long as they weren’t official members of someone else’s team—or trusted by that team’s leader—they could only ever get the smallest share.
Hearing this, Luo Xun finally relaxed a little. “I’ll slowly teach you what you need when taking care of the plants at home. Once the initial busy period is over, it won’t take much effort until harvest time…”
Zhang Su suddenly cut in. “There are also some jobs in the base that can be taken home for processing. If you have time and want to earn more points, I can help ask about it tomorrow.” He was usually too lazy to meddle in other people’s affairs. Before fully accepting these two women as part of the group, he wouldn’t even have asked about such things. That he spoke up now showed that their recent cooperation had left a good impression, and that with everyone’s roles now clarified, he was willing to say more.
Xu Mei and Song Lingling’s eyes lit up, and they nodded eagerly. “Having more work is good!” Although farming under Luo Xun’s guidance would surely bring decent returns, for them, their current life was essentially living off past savings. Another source of income was naturally better.
People like Luo Xun and Li Tie all had official jobs in the base, while also using spare space and free time at home to farm and hunt crystal cores. They didn’t expect Zhang Su’s mentioned work to pay much—but anything extra was welcome. After all, they still had little Xinran to raise.
After explaining what everyone needed to prepare, and what he and Yan Fei would mainly be responsible for, Luo Xun clapped his hands. “That’s the situation for now. We’ll need to wait until Zhang Su confirms that the three downstairs apartments can be registered under our names, and until Yan Fei installs the underfloor heating for them, before moving on to the next step. Even if we can plant rice or wheat this year, we’ll probably only get one harvest, so don’t get your hopes up too high. Vegetables, though, should be able to bring us back quite a few crystal cores. That’s it for today. Starting tomorrow, I’ll first plan out the concrete steps, then assign specific tasks!”
“Alright!!” everyone cheered in unison, their eyes shining with anticipation and excitement for the future.
Back in his own room, Luo Xun felt as though all his earlier exhaustion had been swept away. With the space from the three downstairs apartments, he could make many more plans and preparations… Wait—now they could fully utilize the hallway space too! If both floors belonged to them, then the corridors naturally did as well!
Yan Fei laughed and forcibly pulled him down to sit, calming his racing thoughts. “You can plan tomorrow’s work today, but don’t let tomorrow’s matters affect today’s rest. Or do you want Captain Guo to chew you out again when you go to the wall tomorrow?”
Only then did Luo Xun laugh and sit down, before thinking of another issue. “That captain thing… what’s going on? How does it seem like everyone just accepted it by default? How did I not know?”
Yan Fei asked back, “If you weren’t the captain, who do you think would be suitable?”
“You!” Luo Xun blurted out. He had always thought that in the apocalypse, the team leader was the one with the highest combat power and prestige—and in fact, most teams really were like that.
Yan Fei shook his head with a laugh. “Setting other things aside, just talking about abilities—although mine reached level two first, Zhang Su’s ability isn’t weak either. If it were between the two of us, even if you thought I was more suitable, Wang Duo and the others might not agree.” In truth, if the two of them ran against each other, probably no one would choose Zhang Su anyway—his way of thinking was… rather peculiar.
Luo Xun frowned. “Then I’m not suitable either. I’m just an ordinary person.” Having no ability was the biggest disadvantage in the apocalypse. It might not be obvious at first, but once ability users grew stronger and stronger—strong enough that even the military, the state apparatus itself, could only turn a blind eye—ordinary people’s status in the base would instantly drop to that of third-class citizens.
Yan Fei smiled and shook his head. “First, you know how to farm and how to modify all kinds of things. Even though Li Tie and the others have tried making things themselves after looking up materials, most of what they succeeded at was done under your guidance. You don’t disagree with that, right?” Seeing Luo Xun shake his head, he continued. “Second—and this is very important—maybe you haven’t noticed, but every time we go out, all the battles, big and small, have been commanded and arranged by you. Maybe Zhang Su and I are strong in abilities and combat power, and maybe we had more experience than you in certain areas before the apocalypse—but when it comes to fighting zombies, no one has your judgment and command ability. And in the apocalypse, that’s far more important than powerful abilities themselves.”
Having an ability didn’t mean having the skill to command a group of ability users in coordinated combat against zombies. Yet although Luo Xun was an ordinary person, his understanding, coordination, and command of abilities were the most appropriate among them all. This was unquestionable, and it had earned the recognition and trust of everyone in the team.
Luo Xun opened his mouth. Perhaps because in his previous life he had never been valued, and had never seen large-scale team battles against zombies, he had never had a chance to shine—nor had he realized he possessed such talent. Only after his rebirth, after meeting Yan Fei, and after becoming neighbors with Li Tie and the others, had this ability unexpectedly and fully emerged.
Thinking of this, he lowered his eyes slightly and said softly, “But ability users will only grow stronger in the apocalypse. Maybe right now I can still rely on this strength to command, but in the future…” He worried that this small group might one day face the same problems as other teams—being targeted and destabilized simply because he was an ordinary person.
Yan Fei laughed, pinching his cheek. “What’s there to worry about? Don’t forget—the strongest combat power in the team is your husband.” Yes, even if that possibility arose in the future, no one would overlook the fact that he stood behind him.
Yan Fei had management experience even before the apocalypse, and by rights, he might have been more suitable to manage the team. But after the apocalypse began, wanting to take it easy, he had subconsciously put himself in an observer’s role, rarely speaking up even when hunting crystal cores. Unexpectedly, this had allowed him to uncover a major strength in his beloved.
Yan Fei knew that while he could manage a profit-driven enterprise before the apocalypse, he might not be able to command battles against zombies afterward. Luo Xun, however, was different—he seemed to possess this talent innately, displaying it naturally and, as a result, naturally earning everyone’s approval.
The next day’s wall repair work went smoothly. After returning home, the two of them transported another batch of metal materials “floating” back to the sixteenth floor—ah, no. This time, Luo Xun and the others temporarily piled the metal materials on the fifteenth floor instead.
Here is the English translation:
When Xu Mei and the other two heard the commotion, they hurried out to greet them, accompanying Luo Xun as they made a round of the three empty rooms and finalized the layout plans.
The three rooms were identical in size and orientation to the corresponding rooms upstairs, which made the design process very straightforward.
Since these rooms would be used solely for growing crops, the two of them had no intention of decorating them. Instead, considering waterproofing, moisture resistance, uneven walls, and the risk of crops rotting against the walls, they decided to “plate” the rooms with a layer of metal.
Metal might rust, but for Yan Fei, replacing or removing it would be extremely easy and convenient. Still, this meant that—“The metal we brought back this time still isn’t enough…” Luo Xun sighed gloomily after pacing around the empty room once.
Thinking of the huge metal sphere that had rolled over from the other end of the street that day, both Xu Mei and Song Lingling twitched at the corners of their mouths and tactfully kept quiet.
In the end, only a bit more than half of one of those two massive metal balls had been melted into the vehicle and brought back; the rest was left behind at the bank. At the time, they had thought what they brought back would be more than enough—who would’ve known…
Of course, that was because they later decided to bring back trees and freezers, which forced them to clear out a lot of cargo space. Still, thinking back now, it felt like they should’ve just hauled everything back together.
Xu Mei quickly changed the subject. “We went out to look for soil this morning. We didn’t get much, and most of it is locked in the truck downstairs. Once the elevator is usable later, we’ll bring it up.”
Song Lingling added with a smile, “Besides soil, we also dug up a huge tree root today! You can take a look later—do you think it could be used to grow mushrooms?”
“Alright, we’ll go down together at five,” Luo Xun said with a smile and a nod. The more of these things they had, the better; he didn’t mind making a few extra trips.
They had to thank the base’s current push to encourage farming. When Xu Mei and the others went out to dig soil today, they ran into quite a few people. Not everyone could rent open land within residential compounds to grow vegetables. People like Xu Mei, who dug up soil to take home and try planting things, were even more common, so they attracted no attention at all—especially since most of those digging soil were elderly people, women, and children.
After inspecting the rooms and returning home to check on their crops, Luo Xun and Yan Fei finally leaned back on the sofa to plan what came next. The little one squeezed itself between them—these past few days, they were either not home, or if they were, they rarely came back to keep it company. The little fellow was feeling lonely.
Rubbing the dog’s head—which was now hardly any different from that of an adult dog—Luo Xun spoke helplessly. “Those three rooms, the floor heating in them… Oh, I forgot to count Xu Mei’s place—that needs to be done too. And the metal racks on the outer walls…” In this way, one of the grudges from his previous life was finally half fulfilled: living on the top floor with the best lighting and covering the entire exterior wall with solar panels. Now the panels would definitely cover the walls—but the problem was, once they were all up, the electricity would basically all go toward their farming operation. There was no way he could sell electricity to others, okay?
Well, of course, there would still be plenty of surplus electricity—and on top of that, extra harvests of vegetables and grain.
Yan Fei smiled and offered a solution. “Some of these things we can gradually collect while going out. As for the rest—like solar panels—we can talk to everyone and have everyone contribute part of their points. We’ll exchange them uniformly for panels. Since this energy will be shared by everyone, they won’t have any objections.”
“That’s true. Now we’re just waiting on Zhang Su to see whether he can settle the three rooms downstairs…” Luo Xun said a bit uncertainly. In fact, even if Zhang Su couldn’t manage it, they could forcibly occupy those three unassigned rooms. After the apocalypse, plenty of families and teams had done exactly that. In bases with stricter enforcement, such places could be reclaimed, but in others, they never could—it all depended on whose fist was bigger.
Just like how Luo Xun had always worried that the landlord of their apartment might someday come back to reclaim it—back when he was just an ordinary person. Now, with Yan Fei by his side and a small but relatively united group behind him, he no longer had to worry about that.
If the landlord’s family really did come back one day, Luo Xun, if feeling generous, could rent them another place and settle things with fewer points, without worrying about anything else. But if he were still just an ordinary, single person, and the other party went to coordinate with the military, trouble would be inevitable.
From certain perspectives, Zhang Su was actually a very reliable teammate. Especially because he wouldn’t casually speak up about things he wasn’t confident in—but once he did, he could basically guarantee success.
So when he returned that day, he brought everyone good news. “All the apartments have been registered under the Otaku Squad’s name.” As he said this, he shot a look of clear disdain at Li Tie, who had come up with the name in the first place, judging his lack of taste.
Wu Xin, who was drinking porridge, choked. Li Tie, eyes full of little stars, stared at Zhang Su with deep admiration, completely ignoring the disdainful look. “Brother Zhang, you’re amazing! How did you get them registered under our team’s name?!”
Zhang Su calmly brushed away the grains of rice Wu Xin had sprayed onto the corner of his clothes. “Some properties can be registered under a team name. I didn’t feel like having them check exactly who was registered to which unit, so I just put them under the team’s name.” Then he looked at Luo Xun. “But points have to be paid every month—the same amount as our own apartment. That part will be handled by the captain.”
Luo Xun nodded. “Don’t worry, that’s not a problem.” The points for rent weren’t insignificant, but they weren’t that much either. Even if they used only his and Yan Fei’s points for now, it would be more than enough. Once the crops in those rooms started producing, even a small fraction of the profits would cover the rent.
Once the team structure was established, certain things had to be adjusted. For example, every time the team acted together and earned crystal cores and points, a portion needed to be set aside as shared team assets, to pay for expenses like fees on team-owned properties.
This was similar to the points and crystal cores they earned from turning in tasks yesterday. But since everything from the day before yesterday had already been distributed, and the system hadn’t been clearly defined at the time, Luo Xun hadn’t felt it appropriate to bring it up.
Fortunately, he had a husband who could play the “bad cop.” Yan Fei took the opportunity to bring up the matter of points and future crystal core earnings, and after establishing a fairly clear distribution of benefits, not a single person present objected. Everyone accepted it gladly, which made Luo Xun secretly breathe a sigh of relief. He wasn’t afraid of managing things—what he feared was people under him opposing him or causing trouble, especially since everyone present had previously been friends. Fortunately, the people he had encountered were all fairly decent and reasonable, so for now, everyone was free of worries.
Now that the three empty rooms downstairs had officially been assigned to their team, it was time to seriously plan and prepare for implementation. Luo Xun spent an entire night drawing up design plans for every room on the 15th floor—including the rooms occupied by Xu Mei and the other two women. Aside from Xu Mei’s own unit, 1502, all other rooms were fully utilized. Xu Mei’s apartment, like those of Li Tie and Zhang Su upstairs, retained part of the space for living while the rest was maximally designed and planned.
Logically speaking, the most reasonable solution would have been for Xu Mei and the other two to move upstairs and live together with Zhang Su’s couple in 1602. That way, the three rooms downstairs could be freely renovated without worrying about these issues. But everyone was an adult and needed their own private space. Luo Xun wasn’t that inhumane—or that domineering. After all, they were three women. And given Zhang Su’s temperament… even Luo Xun and Yan Fei didn’t want to live with them!
To fully utilize the space on both the 15th and 16th floors, they would inevitably need more metal materials and soil, as well as mushrooms to be added to help absorb toxic substances in the air and ensure healthy plant growth.
But there was simply no way to solve all these problems at once, so they could only take it slowly and put in more effort over time.
Over the next few days, the first thing Luo Xun and Yan Fei did every day after returning home was hang all the solar panels owned by the residents of the 16th floor onto the exterior walls. With Yan Fei’s metal-type ability assisting, the task was so simple it was like counting a string of “ones,” with no technical difficulty whatsoever.
In addition, they installed standardized metal planting racks in the unused spaces in Li Tie’s and Zhang Su’s apartments. Aside from their main bedrooms, neither household locked up any other areas, leaving everything to Xu Mei and the others, as well as Luo Xun and Yan Fei when they got home early, to handle and arrange.
Of course, Yan Fei wasn’t that inhumane. He at least left Zhang Su enough open space to use his ability daily to shave down metal sandbags, and he also made sure Li Tie’s group had sufficient space for normal daily living.
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