The Reborn Otaku's Code of Practice for the Apocalypse-Chapter 197
For a group of eaters, nothing was more pleasing than a device that increased food diversity. The only thing better was naturally a bountiful harvest or a mutant animal with a lot of meat.
Luo Xun and the others were busy for two days as they processed the grains at home. The straw could be used as fuel for fire, fertilizer and other uses. At the moment it was stacked in the granary with some set aside for the kitchen. After all, they currently did not lack vines and leaves to make fertilizer.
After the food related tasks were completed, Luo Xun and company helplessly looked at the time – the month was reaching an end. They could stay at home for a few days but it was best to return soon and see the situation at the southwest base. If the team tasks were more and more difficult, they could only pause their preparations for the sake of keeping their other base.
"These days we will set up the geothermal pipes on the first floor, the rest will wait until next time. He Qiankun and Wu Xin found some places where we can grab materials." Luo Xun advised the group.
They had quite a few things to finish. He Qiankun and Wu Xin had searched the surroundings to find many possible places for materials, this combined with occasional information from satellite helped them determine the best places for resources.
Some of the locations were already marked on the map which helped determine what supplies could potentially be there, but they were not sure what with the apocalypse or if other people had already passed through. But the satellite photos could give a general idea – at least to see if the building was damaged.
Otherwise if they took a trip to those places, there may be a large number of zombies. Now that satellite footage was available, they could assess if the number of zombies in the area would pose a threat. At the very least, a zombie wave would be seen in advance.
Now that a plan had been set, all they had to do was follow. Luo Xun went with some others to move all things and clear the room so that Yan Fei could lay down the pipes according to the design. He had done it before and was familiar with the process. It took the last few days of April to finish the flooring on the first floor.
Finishing on time, they had a day to prepare some metal and rations. Luo Xun also brought some of the recently harvested leafy vegetables into the car. They did not drive their remodeled truck instead drove a few cars towards base.
"Salt and gasoline…let's go back and aim for these things."
Gasoline was something they could find outside but it would not be long before the military took control of diesel and gasoline sources. Cars outside used to have some gasoline, now they were mostly gone.
If Luo Xun wanted to get some gasoline to use, they could only exchange from the military for the time being.
"I don't know if there are any restrictions if we want to buy these things now." Yan Fei's brow wrinkled.
While they had not been searching specifically for gasoline, whenever they did find some it was too little to use. After all, they had to go out several times to collect supplies. Supplying five cars at a time with gasoline, they did not have much stock at home.
Luo Xun tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and asked, "Didn't Wang Duo find a few places that sold solar cars before the apocalypse? Let's go over when we can. We'll buy as much petrol as possible."
They could only do this, at least until they could find an alternative.
Since they were not in a hurry to go back and grab things, Luo Xun's team did not leave the new base until the 30th. After a night outside, they reached the gate at noon for registration.
There was not much in their bags and the car only had some scattered metal shelves, wooden boards and other things of little value. The people who checked the material had contemptuous expressions before letting them through.
Although they saw it from the side mirror, it was just an entrance, not a net. After driving back into base, they parked on the side of the road. Yan Fei exited the car and and lifted the flooring to reveal fresh, tender and colorful vegetables. The roof also had a layer of metal hiding most of their dry food and various crystal cores to be exchanged at base.
Luo Xun had Yan Fei ready the hiding spots before hand. No other way, if they came back to base with so many fresh vegetables, first time others might think that there were gardens in the wild. But afterwards it would be suspicious, no to mention the cores, meat and noodles they carried.
"Let's go home first and I'll call the teams who want to buy food later." The last time he contacted them, those who were interested would buy during the first few days of May.
These two days happened to be when the base released mandatory missions. Generally barring special circumstances, the vast majority of teams would be on base.
"Yeah, there were a lot of cars and people on the road today."
The weather had warmed up so the number of roadside vendors had increased. Many people were doing business – they would find a broken car, or place a tarp on the ground and display their products.
The group of people only drove three cars this time and returned to their neighborhood. Luo Xun turned the corner but before reaching the parking spot, slammed on the brakes.
*Yip* Puppy hit the back of the car seat with the sudden stop and turned to look at Luo Xun and Yan Fei with an aggrieved expression.
"What's going on?" Yan Fei asked after pausing a moment.
Luo Xun only stared and pointed a trembling finger upwards. Yan Fei looked and his pupils shrank – half of the house walls had collapsed! Exposing the silver grey metal inside…
The two men were fixed in place and looked at the house – the glass terrace and almost all of the rest were gone…It had collapsed and fell to one side of the building, leaving a pile of debris.
"Luo Xun, what's going on?" Li Tie and Wang Duo came to inquire from the back car. They had not noticed the situation above, but had green faces when they followed Luo Xun's finger.
"Oh no! How could this have happened!"
"…Even the walls on the 15th floor were broken! Who could have done this!"
"Go up and see." Luo Xun's face darkened, his hands quivered.
This was his home, a nest set up before the apocalypse. He originally thought that he would live here for a lifetime, even if they had found a new base and was ready to unofficially disband the team, he was not ready to give up the house. He could pay the rent to the base and would only return for a few days each month.
But now? His house was half torn down! If there had not been metal supports, who knew if only the floor would have remained.
Stopping the car, Yan Fei used his ability to seal the whole car in metal, see who dared attack their property!
After climbing to the 15th floor even without going further Luo Xun found that several rooms had been broken into – there was actually a big hole in the living room of 1502!
The same was true of two floors in the 16th level. Except for Li Tie's and Luo Xun's home which were okay because the metal flooring had not been removed.
Taking a deep breath, Luo Xun stood in front of his home with a dark expression. "This has gone too far! They have crossed the line!"
All the people present were indignant, there was no damage to the roof but their floor was broken into! It was enough for a fight even if nothing had been stolen!
Suddenly, Luo Xun grabbed and loaded his crossbow. The others followed and checked their own weapons.
"There are traces of people in several rooms on the 15th and 16th floors." Luo Xun had not finished when there were sounds of movement.
They looked down and saw some climbing up a ladder from the 14th floor. When the man came face to face with Luo Xun, his face colored with anger. Luo Xun sneered, "So you created this hole."
The man's expression changed again and shouted, "There are people upstairs…" At the same time he lifted a hand holding a gun!
But before he could do anything, there was a buzzing sound and the metal arrow pierced his forehead and sent the body flying.
"Tongtong."
"Ah!"
"Guys do you copy!"
"Dead, dead!"
"Not good, the people from upstairs came back…"
There was a cacophony downstairs. Luo Xun had a cold expression and did not put down his crossbow. Then he suddenly remembered that he had not shed killed another human since he had been reborn.
