126

The metal seemed alive in Yan Fei's hand and slowly formed a bridge skeleton. The work on the bridge was about 70% complete, the last parts could be done together. The beginning and end of the bridge were much more difficult than the middle. Who made the height so high, the sides of the overpass had a lot of bends which made the work more troublesome.

At the start of the bridge, which was completely built, some of the earth users had been mobilized to add 'meat' to the bridge. Now the metal users were set up and needed to add the 'skin' for the bridge.

Of course there were other steps that needed to be completed, but they did not have to worry about it.

After finishing today's work, everyone packed their things and prepared to return to the barracks.

A few jeeps with military personnel were in the temporary rest area near supply trucks. When the door opened, one person called out.

'Which one of you is Yan Fei?"

Captain Guo raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Yan Fei.

Yan Fei also saw the jeep, someone in the car saw him and rushed over.

Seeing the man in the car, Yan Fei's mood was not good while he frowned.

Captain Guo smiled and patted his shoulder, "You go first, we wait for you in the car."

He finished while the young man came forward, "Secretary Yan has important things to discuss with Yan Fei, it will take a while so your team can go back." He was about to reach out and pull Yan Fei to the jeep, resembling an arrest.

All of them froze and looked at the man in astonishment and unpleasantness. This person had no manners, dragging away one of their team members.

Yan Fei squinted at his hand, he sensed Luo Xun's worry. With a faint sneer, the metal on the truck suddenly flew up! It formed a huge metal wall in front of them. The man who was trying to take him away was startled and retreated but the wall kept following him.

It was not until he hit something that the wall stopped and returned to being a pile of metal on the truck.

Yan Fei glared at the surprised face of Yan Gexin inside the car.

"Let's go." Yan Fei said and returned to the truck.

Captain Guo was still frozen, then turned his head with a sneer. Although it was not clear what relationship that man had with Yan Fei, but it was clear the latter did not want any connection, and the former's behaviour was mindless.

Casually inquiring the army, who did not know about the legendary team? Even some of big guys on base put on a smiling attitude. What qualifications did this guy have to command and try and take away Yan Fei? Maybe they were too sensitive, after all people had bad attitudes without saying anything.

The crowd headed towards the truck, there was scuffling as a man walked out from the car, "Little Fei!"

The crowd focused on Yan Fei, who impatiently turned and crossed his arms. They realized that the middle aged man who called Yan Fei was a senior of the family.

Captain Guo looked at the approaching person and said to Yan Fei, "We'll get in the car and wait for you." He pulled Luo Xun along with him – he knew the man's surname was Yan. Plus one of the base leaders had been looking for young Yan, 26 or 27 years old. Yan Fei had hidden himself, but since the man had found him, it was probably Yan Fei's father.

Father and son had a bad relationship, better not bring up a daughter-in-law or something. Otherwise, that person would be subject to Yan Fei's anger...Murdering a base leader and bystanders would cause untold chaos.

Seeing the other people leaving, Yan Gexin's face was better but he was still angry. "Little Fei, what's with your temper? In the past there weren't any issues, what are we to do in such a dangerous world?"

Yan Fei mockingly raised his eyebrows, "I did not hear what you said to me, how is that my fault?"

Yan Gexin was stunned, before he had sternly told his subordinates that Yan Fei must be brought to the car, which was counterproductive. But he had something important to do, so he set the thought aside. He always got chest pains every time he dealt with his son.

"Come in the car with me, let's have dinner together. I have something important to tell you." Yan Gexin motioned towards the vehicle.

Yan Fei scoffed causing Yan Gexin to turn in surprise. "Secretary Yan, has no one told you to make an appointment in advance when treating someone to food? Although I am not busy as you, my time is still scarce." Yan Fei turned to the truck.

Yan Gexin remembered that Yan Fei was not a good mood, he stepped forward, "Little Fei, Dad has something important to say to you!"

Yan Fei pointed behind him, "I have a car of colleagues waiting for me, if you can tell me on the road then fine, but no dinner."

Even if the base still had some grains for base leaders, he would rather eat Luo Xun's dinner cooked with love.

Yan Gexin took a deep breath. "The military has a very important mission the day after tomorrow! I've secured a spot for you...I know you haven't moved into the new district. You can rest assured that if you complete the task, you will be able to live there for free with your ability and merits...Of course, if you're going to bring someone, I can help. There are a lot of prestigious teams and ability users participating. If you can network with them it will be to your benefit, I specially arranged the logistics division..."

Yan Gexin had clearly seen Yan Fei's ability with his own eyes.

Although he did not know how to distinguish power levels, the ability was powerful but the reaction and speed was still exceptional. Similar to the other first class ability users on base, although metal powers were more troublesome and needed to carry metal around, however combat effectiveness should be good. At the very least, if he acted he could play a small role in car and supply protection.

Yan Gexin, who treated Yan Fei like a logistics officer was looking forward to his son's expression of shock.

Yan Fei interrupted part way through, "I don't have any time, plus I do not want to live in new town."

Yan Gexin took a deep breath and suppressed his anger, "Little Fei, you are almost 30, do not throw a tantrum like a 10 year old child. Dad is doing his for your own good..."

Yan Fei did not have a smile as he faced his father, "You know what I need? Do you know what kind of life I am living right now? How do you know I am not satisfied with my present? Secretary Yan, your ideas, plans and ambitions are your own, you should struggle for your goals. I do not want those things and have no interest in your future plans." He looked slightly exhausted, "I was already tired before the apocalypse of following other people's hopes and demands."

After speaking, he turned again towards the truck that had his lover, and partner at work.

"Yan Fei! This is how you repay your father for nurturing so long at home?!" There was iron and disappointment in Yan Gexin's voice.

Yan Fei responded without turning his head, "You gave birth to me, but I am not prepared to live my life in accordance with your stringent arrangements."

He had enough of this "because we gave you life, we are qualified to arrange your future path until you die, and continue following this path for the next generation, you cannot resist at all" argument.

His duty and identity had ceased to exist after the apocalypse – without Luo Xun, he would not be alive right now.

If someone gave birth was tantamount to being able to arrange all a person's life choices until their death, how many people would be willing to live?

A child's life should be created out of selfless love, expecting them to live a happy life. A natural result of love, rather a certain purpose like having an obedient puppet with 24 hour filial piety.

Yan Fei's life was not worthless.

After climbing into the truck Yan Fei hugged Luo Xun and captured his lips into a warm French kiss.

The crowd was stunned at first, then erupted in wolf whistles.

They had known for a while that the two men were a couple, but no one had directly asked and the pair were well behaved. The kiss brought energy to the young men who were single. Whether it was a man or woman, it was good to have someone around they felt tired and vulnerable.

Yan Fei lifted his head after a while, Luo Xun hid in his arms. When he lifted his head, his lips were a bit red. He whispered to Yan Fei when they arrived at the barracks and split, "Everything all right?"

Yan Fei looked down and suddenly laughed, "I am fine, he had nothing to say."

He looked at the building, he neither loved nor hated his parents. It wa just that Yan Gexin's behaviour was challenging his bottom line and he was tired of facing this issue over and over again.

Luo Xun helplessly laughed and grabbed his keys as they headed towards their car.

Yan Fei suddenly said, "He said base has an important mission, what do you think?"

Luo Xun was stunned and shook his head, "I am not clear, is it going to be mission to support other bases?"

Yan Fei shook his head, "No, it is profitable since there will merit and other benefits." Otherwise Yan Gexin would have found him earlier – the task must be difficult, have benefits and improve prestige, all these factors."

"Then all kinds of rare supplies." Luo Xun shrugged. "The prices on base are soaring, I think even going to a glass factory for materials would be a big deal."

During the apocalypse, supplies were very important. Like toilet paper...*cough* Luo Xun had bought a lot before the apocalypse, but after nearly a year, a chunk of the stores had been consumed...What were they going to do when it was gone?

"Shall we go to some pre-apocalypse paper mills?" Luo Xun pulled on Yan Fei's arm.

"...Paper mills?" Yan Fei's brain temporarily could not keep up, he did not understand where Luo Xun's thought process had gone.

"Toilet paper! The stores at home are running out!" Luo Xun had a serious face. "The base produces toilet paper, but it's so rough we will certainly get hemorrhoids!" He had been forced to use the paper in his last life, it felt like self harm every time!

Yan Fei's expressions distorted, their stock of toilet paper was enough to last until next year with two people. In fact they had a lot of water since they could use the flushing function. Of course toilet paper was a problem, but they needed to discuss with everyone back at home.

The two drove back and the neighborhood was lively again – a bunch of shacks and cars appeared between buildings. Today a few earth users were helping people build a house, not sure if they were asked or paid by shack inhabitants.

The houses were not very tall, most of them were two-storey buildings – because none of them had abilities that could make metal.

The two men exchanged surprised looks and drove deeper to find that there were similar buildings being built in other areas as well.

Luo Xun did not remember such a thing in his last life, of course there were homes between the buildings, it was just difficult to find an earth user to help out.

The couple parked the car, Yan Fei reinforced the metal fence before climbing the stairs.

Xu Mei and Song Lingling looked below the balcony, they explained as the pair came inside, "We heard that someone paid an earth user to come and build a house, other people living outside set something up. The originally broken houses have been removed in the spaces between the buildings."

Luo Xun also looked down from the balcony, there were two families building earthen houses. "They pay people to build them?"

"It should be, the same for other areas, there are people building houses next to the seven storey buildings."

Sure enough, there were newly built homes on the nearby hills. Of course, those houses were not as high as the originals, but they closely resembled a two storey house.

"I remember the outside fortifications were temporarily repaired." Yan Fei turned to Luo Xun, "Although earth users are still needed for work, the number is not as much."

Luo Xun also laughed, "So they are temporarily out of work and been on base for so long, I am afraid few people like to go and fight zombies, be part of a squad."

So the earth users decided on another way – private work. They had been working on all types of construction, large and small on base. Plus many people did not have proper houses at this time. Especially since they had levelled up to two, some even were level three, so building a house was not difficult.

Looking outwards, all the houses looked the same, which meant the earth users probably had worked together, or maybe the same teacher, otherwise the similarities would not be so high.

"Luckily, we drove away that guy that day, or they would go looking for someone to build houses on the roof..." Xu Mei shook her head while speaking about the incident.

Luo Xun and company had control of their roof and no let other people stay, which was fortunate since earthen houses were not very sturdy...Though the earth users would not say anything, no one would believe it – since the strength was higher than digging out normal soil.

For example, Yan Fei needed to fuse metals in specific proportions to produce metal with a high hardness and toughness. Why else would he take so much effort to break down the raw materials and reintegrate them? It was not like just spreading the metal around on the outer wall.

Currently the roof and walls of the earthen houses were casually dug out from the roadside. Although the soil would maintain its shape, Luo Xun was afraid that there would be weather damage or loss of firmness. But the exact details were not clear since they were not professionals. Yan Fei speculated that long term prospects were not wonderful.

They brought Puppy back to the 16th floor, she was well-fed. She was fully grown with shiny fur and strong muscles. One only needed a glance to see why, everyday she carried Yu Xinran around and running around in the halls was exercise. Recently some rooms had been filled with mushroom wood and converted, which reduced some of her playing areas.

127

Luo Xun grabbed Puppy who was wagging her large tail. Although now she was no longer little, but her name...don't sweat the details.

The two people and a dog went back home. Luo Xun and Yan Fei changed clothes and went to take a bath. Puppy went straight to the sofa and draped herself over the clear, volley ball sized stone.

This was the core inside the duck's head from last month. For some reason, since bringing it back, the puppy had been extremely fond of walking around it and using it like a pillow.

Luo Xun thought, "Let her sleep, the stone has no use now, maybe she can develop an ability being in close contact?" He did not think any further, just thought of it as a toy.

In the evening, everyone gathered for a meeting. Around the table they started a discussion – to gather more cores? Or find a factory for toilet paper?....Well, the questions were a bit odd.

"The question is – will we be able to find finished toilet paper at a production factory before the end of the world?" Zhang Yi glanced at Luo Xun while kicking off his slippers. He was uncomfortable with what was available on base – but there was nothing better!

"Even if we get to the factory and we find a stock – can we bring it back?"

Every time he heard a comment, Luo Xun felt like he got shot in the knee.

Yan Fei coughed to shift attention. "I think we can prioritize changing the toilet – automatic flushing would use more electricity but save paper."

Consumables would be useful, but it was not a pressing issue. But for the sake of his lover, he felt the need to have a toilet that could flush water.

Luo Xun scrubbed his face, silently wondered why he did not think of changing the toilet. Otherwise he would not have to deal with this sort of thing. The only thing was that the price was higher, which meant there would have been less money to buy seeds and materials.

"But we don't know where such a thing is sold in the city?" Li TIe raised an important point.

Yan Fei got up, "Check the network, we should be able to find some places labelled on the map."

Luo Xun felt embarrassed, "That...it's just a though, we don't need to look for this thing..."

He Qiankun patted him on the shoulder. "In truth I felt...*cough* the toilet isn't large...it would be convenient to have one that can flush."

Xu Mei and Song Lingling covered their smiles. "Go and search, it would be best to change if possible." The two ladies problems were worse than the men's, especially the amount of paper that was spent during specific days each month – there were no hygiene pads during the apocalypse.

The crowd glanced around the map and finally found a place – they had been there during the start of the apocalypse. The bombing should not have affected the Golden Dragon Home Furnishing Mall.

This had been the first mission after the squad had been formed, the place where they fought and swept.

Although it was not certain that the toilet that they needed was here, it was more reliable than the other places, and it was not far.

Luo Xun originally thought they did not need to go, but the others unanimously decided to go near undamaged buildings. After all they had been going to destroyed places and there had been much more zombies in the south compared to the north. Plus they encountered a large mutant animal the last time. Perhaps this place would be less dangerous.

Like the previous times they went out, Yan Fei swept his hands and collected all the stray metal on the road as they explored north.

More importantly since they still had nuclei from last month, they did not have to hunt down as many zombies.

So the team pleasantly drove along.

The group was ready to go, their destination was different with another goal, so they had a higher sense of expectation and anxiety than usual.

Several hideous, misshapen cars were lined up at the base gate.

First they passed through the barracks 'castle' through the city walls and finally, the mighty outer wall.

"What was with the wall we just passed? Is there anything else going to be repaired?" He Qiankun asked as they approached the gate.

"You are talking about New Town aren't you?" Luo Xun turned to Yan Fei for confirmation.

Yan Fei nodded, "Should be New Town over there."

"New Town is going to build a big wall too?!" Wu Xin exclaimed.

New Town was filled with residences of power users. If they also built a tall, earthen and metal wall, it would unbalanced! They were ability users, ordinary people were the ones who needed protection!

"No, it seems the resident earth users repaired it." Yan Fei spread his hands. "The earth users don't have any new missions. They can only build fortifications outside base, or logistics for outgoing teams." The metal team did not have any new tasks either.

So it was assumed that the New Town walls were not made by the ones inside, but they paid someone. Like the others in the base were private contractors.

"Our neighborhood..." He Qiankun swallowed his words as soon as he opened his mouth.

Although he wanted a safer neighborhood, the vast majority of people had to pay rent each month. Even if they wanted to build a wall, there was no way to unite all the occupants. It could only be considered a dream.