136

"This crossbow is so strong!"

"Right?! It punched straight through the zombie's head!"

"God! This recoil is almost as much as a large caliber gun!"

Several people looked out while Li Tie and the other were trying out their newly improved weapons, it looked really good.

At Luo Xun's suggestion, Yan Fei increased the caliber size, crossbow length, increasing the strength. The arrows had been modified to be more destructive but because of the weather, most of the arrows did not have mushroom juice.

After several experiments, the improved arrows were enough to deal with regular zombies even without mushroom juice.

Luo Xun heard heavy footsteps coming and looked out the window. Seeing a few zombie corpses on the ground he laughed, "See? This kind of zombie is not hard to fight, isn't it?"

He Qiankun nodded with excitement, "Un! This thing just looks scary!"

That was because it was not a siege and with the freezing temperatures it made people feel good about fighting. If it was summer, these zombies would stand far away from the battle and throw large stones, bricks, other zombies etc with the other long-distance zombies. Even without ranged attacks, if they sped over and crashed into the wall, it would be enough to frighten people.

Luo Xun said nothing but the large ones began to fight back after vaguely realising that the metal 'egg' was not easy to deal with. They stiffly bent down and picked up nearby objects to throw.

Most of the time they threw various pieces of snow, sometimes it would included stuff in the snow such as bricks, rotten wood. Also likely to grab the nearest zombie, it did not seem to differentiate.

From the beginning Luo Xun got everyone to retreat. Yan Fei erected a metal guard in front of the window. Listening to the pinging sounds, everyone was secretly thankful that the outer wall was smooth, hard and needed no repairs. Even if zombies were thrown, they would slide off into the traps and get corroded by the mushroom juice.

"Do you have a way to kill them?" Xu Mei was a little worried listening to the banging.

Luo Xun smiled, "No worries, just let them let loose." Seeing the other's expressions of amazement, Luo Xun helplessly spread his hands, "What happens after we let them throw all the garbage around them towards us?"

The team looked at him confused. Suddenly Yan fei laughed and turned to the blocked window. "Gather more and more zombies."

"Ah?" The rest of them did not understand their meaning.

Zhang Yi rolled his eyes and slapped Wang Duo on the back of the head. "Throw zombies from a distance."

Although the zombies did not have much intelligence, when they levelled up they knew their strengths and abilities well. For example, if they did not have an ability, it would find a way to catch up with the target or destroy obstacles to catch the 'food'.

But a zombie above level two with an ability, they would use their powers to attack. Physical zombies would definitely find a way to use their powers to achieve their goals. Ranged attacks will stand far away and fire. Some zombies also learned how to glide like a kite – their targets were humans.

Everytime the team went out to fight zombies, the annoying ones were never the ones who went straight into traps and fire, but the ones who stood away and shot. Especially once the traps were lit of on fire to burn the zombies, they had to cross the flames and discern where they are...

With a cry, another zombie hit the dome and slid into the trap while spewing flames from its mouth. Well done! Now to throw all the enemies inside there!

Yan Fei reinforced and repaired the metal roof after a while. Song Lingling manipulated the mushroom juice so it continued to drip into the traps, creating bursts of smoke as the zombies were eroding.

The huge zombies tirelessly tossed stuff towards the team. Luo Xun was worried that the traps would get filled with rubbish. Xu Mei remotely sent her flames to melt all the snow around the three meter tall zombies. Yu Xinran turned the chunks of rubbish into sand.

After increasing to level three, their range increased and it wa easier to operate their abilities.

When all the rubbish around the giants were gone, all they could grab were their companions...

After the night, the burning of zombies began again. A red tongue of fire danced around the makeshift base. Zhang Yi provided oxygen to the area to circulate air and keep the fire burning outside.

Hearing the occasional noises coming from outside from the zombies throws at the wall. Luo Xun and team were talking and laughing while taking out ingredients to prepare for lunch.

"According to today's situation, if the base does not limit the number of people, we should be able to occasionally come out to fight monsters, as long as it isn't too long." Luo Xun said to Zhang Yi and Xu Mei.

Li Tie and the others usually needed to go to work and could only come out once a month, unlike the others.

With today's case – the slight decrease in zombies led to a reduction in the number of people coming out. If they wanted to provide a sufficient number of nuclei for the team's use, it would be necessary for everyone to come out a few more times.

"I have no problems." Zhang Yi raised an eyebrow, he would not object to more trips.

Xu Mei and Song Lingling shared nods, "No problem, but...we will need a few days off each month..."

The two women's faces were flushed and slightly uncomfortable. Luo Xun did not react while Zhang Yi waved a hand. "Don't need to come out every day, you can stay at home and grow vegetables."

Luo Xun snapped back to attention and laughed, "No problem, in addition to the usual trip at the end of the month, we would usually only come out one or two more times, not that many."

Ladies had monthly problems which they had to pay attention to. Not to mention that it made them attractive targets to the zombies. Do not underestimate the nose of a zombie, if a woman was outside during menstruation, there would a mob of tireless zombies.

The crackling of fire as it burned continued until morning. The three meter tall, ranged zombies on the edges had scattered the regular sized zombies.

The metal shield in the vast expanse of ice and snow looked particularly striking after the night of dealing with zombies.

The team began to collect the nuclei while Luo Xun stood at the gate and watched something in the distance.

Yan Fei walked over after dealing with the walls and traps. "What happened?"

"I'm trying to figure out how to deal with this..." Luo Xun pondered while looking back and forth at the snow on the ground.

"Let Zhang Yi come over and blow the snow away?" Yan Fei told his idea.

"Ah...the result...That's right!" Luo Xun called over to Song Lingling. "How small can you make water droplets?"

"Small?" Song Lingling had a question mark above her head as she raised a finger to make a normal sized droplet.

"Smaller, preferably the size of a snowflake!"

Song Lingling had practiced improving the speed of water arrows, but had not tried making small droplets.

After experimentation Song Lingling could make small droplets but they froze into fine grains not snowflakes. There were also fine cracks and irregular shapes but it was a far cry from a snowflake. It was not a deal breaker, they had Zhang Yi blow over some snow.

Once they had tidied the place up, everyone packed their things into the sled on the snowbank. Song Lingling made some ice grains and with Zhang Yi's help covered their settling place. He also blew some extra snow and sprinkled it evenly.

"Huh, although you can see the difference up close, from afar it looks like real snow." Xu Mei bent over and looked between the ice grains and snow. Because the things were so small, they looked real.

Song Lingling clenched her fist. "I will work hard! Make snowflakes that look no different from the real thing!"

The problem was that even if she could do that, it would not use other than making cover during winter. Wait, other times she could make it seem like it was raining but...what would be the use?

They crawled back into their homemade sled car and crossed the frozen landscape.

By the time they had returned to the place where they had hidden their cars, it was completely dark.

Cleaned up the snow on top and then Yan Fei reverted the cars back into their original condition. Everyone shoved the sled back into the car. At 10 o'clock in the evening, they reached the base gate.

They handed over 200 level one nuclei and drove the car with some difficulty over the ice and snow. It was past eleven when everyone reached the 15th floor.

"Come and take your portion, the rest will be placed in the team's stores." Luo Xun grabbed his portion last and slowly climbed to the 16th floor while hanging onto Yan Fei.

"It was really cold today..."

The temperature outside was slowly warming up. It was not much but it was bone chilling. But when they were coming back today it had gotten colder. During their return the cold went through their hats and masks. If it had not been for the heating in their modified sled, they would have surely frozen to death on the way back!

"Go home and take a hot bath first." Yan Fei supported Luo Xun as they went upstairs.

"Ah, the next time we go out, we'll remodel the car for electricity and save water."

The temperature in the hallway was like being in heaven. Luo Xun's head was filled with expectations of a warm, comfortable bath at home.

After Yan Fei opened the door, Luo Xun rushed through towards the bathroom to heat the water...but was thrown straight into a 'monster' with glowing eyes...

"Ow, Puppy clear the door!" As he was being licked, Luo Xun lamented, how could he forget that there was a dog in the house?!

*Snap* Yan Fei reached out and pulled the excited Puppy off of Luo Xun.

After dragging the dog inside and shoving it aside, Luo Xun had to chance to rush to the bathroom.

Everything at home was still normal, some baby quails hatched while they were out. Yan Fei gave a quick glance before returning to the living room to check their crystal cores.

"There weren't many nuclei this time." Luo Xun had taken off his coat and was changing into his pajamas.

After they finished counting, everyone only got around 1000 this time. Of course, there were more level two or three nuclei. More than the last few times they went out combined.

"Yeah, but we could contact Captain Wang to exchange for more metal crystal cores." Yan Fei counted and confirmed that number of dead metal zombies was still too small.

"Of course, but let's wait until the day after tomorrow." Luo Xun rubbed his fingers, he had worn leather gloves and cotton ones, but his fingers were still frozen.

Yan Fei sat down beside him and helped rub their hands together. Puppy ran up to the sofa and forced her head into Luo Xun's arms for pats.

"I have wronged you." Luo Xun was in a good mood after rubbing the dog's head. The two had come back late today and Puppy was waiting at home for them.

After the water at home was warmed up, Yan Fei had a lovely bath with Luo Xun. By the end, there was not a dry spot on the floor. *Cough* The hard working couple went back upstairs and slept in the bed.

Early next morning, there was no doubt that everyone woke up late. Li Tie and the others even had some stuffy noses so Xu Mei decided to make a pot of hot duck soup. Batches of cabbage had been recently grown but their grains were running out...Of course there were some noodles at home, but they had not bought anything from base after the change in grains. Maybe they could make some noodles themselves to eat.

"It's all right, just cold not an illness." Zhang Yi was a surgeon but he could still diagnose this sort of thing.

Li Tie decided to wear a mask, although it was not supposedly not contagious, what if it actually was? It was better to be careful, especially with a child in the house.

The warm soup pot stewed for an hour while Xu Mei and Song Lingling made some other dishes, such as fried quail eggs and tomatoes and grilled eggplant.

Generally speaking, the Otaku squad would gather every once in awhile, today was such an event.

Everyone chatted while they were eating. Luo Xun suggested to Zhang Yi, "If you want to go out, it's best to wait a little bit, though it depends on whether the base will change their regulations in the near future."

"Just wait, after all there's need to force ourselves." Yan Fei advised.

It would be best to go out before another snowfall, but the situation was difficult.

A very small number of teams occasionally went out but the base was not willing unless it was people searching for their loved ones or not ready to return in the short term. Those who forcibly asked to leave would be asked for an 'admission fee' before re-entering the base. Although the base did not specifically call it that, everyone knew what an entrance fee looked like.

Other bases supposedly had a similar system but others were more demanding. When they went out all their supplies had to be checked and verified. After a certain amount people had to pay more to get in. If there was not a certain quantity of goods, they would not be able to enter at all.

The topic was straying, Luo Xun shook his head. "Pay attention to the radio and rumors. Anyway sooner or later it will happen."

Zhang Yi finished a piece of duck in his bowl. "Wait a minute and I will call and ask, maybe there's some news."

"Internal sources?" Luo Xun rummaged around and got two pieces of tofu...that was a difference between people, no one was like Zhang Yi when robbing food.

"Yeah." Zhang Yi did not offer further explanation. But he certainly knew more people than anyone else. With his female friends on base, what could not be found out?

After lunch, Zhang Yi called a female friend and everyone was curious about the results. After two days, the base should issue a formal notice. So the news was right.

Now Luo Xun prayed – God it must snow anymore!

Of course, another trip was a certainty since they had harvested enough nuclei the last time. But going out multiple times made things at home super busy.

The next morning Luo Xun got up earlier than before and packed up their vegetables for the barracks canteen. There was still some emotion as they went over even after quitting. However the delivery location was far away from the metal team so there was no chance to meet.

After handing over the crops and having a few words with Captain Li the two men drove to the exchange office and found Captain Wang.

Captain Wang was surprised to learn that the two men were going to exchange nuclei again. After all they exchanged a few days ago. Would they come again in a few days?

137

Do not blame Captain Wang not expecting Luo Xun to exchange more nuclei. These days even the power teams from New Town rarely went out of base, how could Luo Xun get so many crystals? To Captain Wang, this was stock from home not brought last time or nuclei recently exchanged from other goods.

The couple would certainly not reveal their source of nuclei. After the exchange they went downstairs to exchange for other things – Yu Xinran needed sand nuclei as well batteries – it was best to be prepared, along with some gasoline.

After buying these things, Luo Xun once again thought of the seeds he had wanted before. He thought about the incident the last time they were at the exchange window.

"Non mutated barley, oats or anything?" The staff were in a quandary and whispered, "Not that we don't want to sell...we aren't allowed to sell non-mutant seeds, we don't have any here."

Captain Wang had explained to the staff member and they had relations so they were open to Luo Xun.

The two people shared a surprised look, "Normal seeds are not allowed to be sold outside?"

The staff nodded and whispered, "If you really need some, it's best to buy from the staff at the planting building, those people are responsible for growing and distributing seeds. Of course, the price will be high and the rest will up to you."

Yan Fei heard the implication and asked in a low voice. "Do you know anyone. Don't worry we do not want that many seeds, it will be fine as long as there no issues and it will grow into normal crops, we'll discuss a good price."

He handed over some points. He was afraid that these things would never be bought if they did not get their hands on some now, even if they were willing to spend more.

Sure enough, after getting the bribe, the man came to find them a quarter of an hour later. The couple was lead around the corner to some sellers.

The other side only had barley and oat seeds. A packet of 20 seeds required two level two nuclei or a total of 50 level one nuclei.

Luo Xun and Yan Fei shared a silent look. He carefully examined the two seeds packets, confirmed there were no problems before bringing out two unneeded level two nuclei. These had been originally prepared for exchange for sand nuclei. Luckily they brought more out or they would have completely out of funds after getting metal nuclei.

The planters at home were not full yet, so the first thing they did after returning home was placing the forty seeds in the nursery room. The sooner the better since the harvest would be sooner. After all, they could not guarantee that these things in the future would not mutate.

They had a good rest at home, packed up their things, tidied up and dealt with the harvest of various fruits and veggies. On the morning of December 1st at eight o'clock in the morning, Luo Xun found his phone flashing. After opening a few pieces of information jumped out.

"What's the matter?" Yan Fei with his arms propped up.

"Base restructuring...and the supplies we're going to pay this month..." The corner of Luo Xun's mouth pulled into a grim line. "You look, I'll go to the bathroom first."

Yan Fei looked at it carefully and understood Luo Xun's expression, he now had a similar feeling.

Since they had never done anything to improve their team's ranking, they did not have to pay more nuclei. Since with higher level came more difficult missions, they were reluctant to advance their team evaluation.

This morning, everyone received this message about the monthly fees for teams. Information about mission quotas to improve team ranking were only sent to team captains. Originally teams leaving base needed a mission but now teams of more than five people did not need to take a task. However all people needed to pay five nuclei in order to return into base. If a person had a mission, they would report to the new mission hall, the city gate no longer dealt with this matter.

In addition there were some new products sold on base.

Luo Xun washed his face in the bathroom and came out more serious. "You read it?"

Yan Fei smiled and nodded. "Yes, fortunately we are not in a hurry to raise our team ranking."

"Our team is still the lowest F-class, now we have to hand over three quilts, seven pounds of cotton, or 100 pounds of rice noodles..." Yan Fei laughed and shook his head. "If the base is really charging this sort of fee, I think few teams can sustain this."