181

In the quiet wilderness, ruins of buildings lined both sides of the road. Luo Xun's team did not follow the path they had used several times to visit the experimental fields but went through a relatively large number of roads.

Changing the roads meant that their new base would not be found and Yan Fei was allowed to collect metal along the way. Metal was very much needed in order to build a brand new, fully featured home.

Thinking about how much effort they spent renovating the two floors and the amount of metal they brought back to base showed how many resources they needed this time.

They had a whole three-storey building to remodel, along with several other rooms in the vicinity and the basement...

If it was not necessary to leave some stuff as a precaution, and their limited metal supply, Luo Xun's group would not need to scrape the ground for scraps. Two huge metal balls rolled along behind the team, it made a scary site.

After leaving for nearly seven or eight days, it looked a lot different from when they left. Of course, since the weather had warmed up recently, the snow and ice covering the fields had all begun to melt, revealing the terrifying plants hidden underneath.

The team parked further away from the farmland and shuddered in their hearts – this was the terror zone they had strayed into, where they had nearly lost their lives. If not for the baby for had some sort of ability they would have all crossed the yellow river.

Luo Xun's train of thought was obviously somewhat different, he tilted his head and suddenly said. "We'll enter to sort everything out and rest, then we will increase the area of these devil vines."

"Ah?"

"What?!"

"Expand the range of the devil vines?!"

The group of people looked at him gobsmacked. However only the five former students were surprised while the others clicked with their leader.

Song Lingling clapped. "Yes! If these things can be cultivated, having them in the surroundings would be good!"

Zhang Yi also added. "These things are quite tall, before the snow pressed them down but they are growing well."

"...Why do you want to cultivate them? Aren't they dangerous?" Wang Duo looked at his lover in a dazed manner, asking for an explanation.

Zhang Yi looked at him disdainfully. "Are you stupid? There are so many of these things around us, except for us who know the secret way, who would come? The plants could help us stop trouble."

Li Tie's jaw dropped before he exclaimed, "Ah, good idea!"

Yan Fei also explained, "We have to expand the area under the basement, if someone found out, an earth or metal user could find us. Expanding the plants could also help cover up this problem."

He pointed at the secret tunnel, "Once a metal power level is increased, they can sense metal. A secret path might not be found easily but what about a large metal basement room?"

"Ah! I see!"

"Yes, yes, but is it possible?"

Luo Xun smiled and nodded. "It should not be difficult, as long as we find a room to grow some rice/wheat and keep the mushroom wood inside, it should be easy to cultivate the contaminated soil."

The excavation would be left to Yu Xinran since she did not need to be near the plants in order to change the soil into sand. Plus they only needed a bit of dirt for their needs.

Opening the secret path they had made before, the line of men carried their luggage while the metal went to the building to begin a new round of tasks.

They came back around February 8 and could stay until the end of the month. Twenty days would be enough for them to sort out and pack things.

Everyone was allocated a nice place. Yan Fei and Luo Xun naturally shared a room but also with their little ones. Xu Mei, Song Lingling and Yu Xinran shared a room. Zhang Yi obviously roomed together with his Wang Duo. The remaining four people split into pairs, two to a room.

Li Tie and Han Li, He Qiankun with Wu Xin. It was not because of any drama but the idea that it would be more comfortable to spread out with more rooms.

Altogether there were five groups so they simply divided the rooms on the top floor, which actually had seven rooms. Each group selected a room, the largest meeting room and smaller tea room were to be changed into planting areas or storage.

The space was divided but still needed modifications. However they temporarily had their own place with their own things and had a rest.

After a night's sleep, there were no zombies knocking at the door and no harassing flyers.

Luo Xun got up bright and early to feed the baby some milk – this time they brought a pile of milk fruit, enough for a month.

Fortunately, the fruit was very small and even after a month there was no sign of rotting, so there was a lot of fruit at home.

The child was fed and his diaper changed, the other people and the dog had eaten a nice breakfast before work started.

"Today we will revamp the exterior walls of the building and hang up all the solar panels that we brought back last time." Many things could only be started after the panels were hung and power was restored.

The group nodded and Luo Xun pointed to his feet. "Those two bodies in the basement...let's remove and bury them." That was something that needed to be addressed, they should not leave bodies in areas they would frequent.

"Okay, no problem."

Burying corpses was not comfortable but there was no psychological damage. In particular, Yan Fei directly placed the bodies into metal boxes. After burying the boxes in a relatively distant place, everyone returned and began to vigorously renovate.

They had not found appropriate paint so Yan Fei covered as much of the building with gray metal as possible. In fact it was easy to churn out since Yan Fei's purified metal (tougher and stronger) was basically this color.

The metal went around the wall covered with solar panels absorbing sunlight. Luo Xun and others handed Yan Fei panels while the two ladies dealt with the house. Zhang Yi was responsible for helping – using his wind ability to clean up dust and leave the room clean.

He Qiankun sat in front of the computer, responsible for locating paint and a lot of metal. They got a lot of data before they left base and downloaded it to the computer they brought along.

Yu Xinran with Puppy looked at the baby...anyways these three were not helping with the current job.

The first day everyone managed to take care of the solar panels. The box of panels almost covered the entire roof and the walls after the sunrise. The next morning, the team deliberated and decided to overhaul the basement before planting the first crops.

Built a nursery room, Luo Xun checked the two basements again. He decided that the two rooms needed some repairs and alterations before planting anything. As the team was busy, He Qiankun found the information that needed – a place with paint and metal materials.

"This warehouse is near the solar panel factory we were going to last time. There are some small workshops, there is definitely metal around." The place was marked with a few dots representing what they needed right now.

Luo Xun thought for a moment and then looked at Yan Fei. "We can first expand the underground channel and then visit these places. We could then directly pull things from the ground." Otherwise the things were too heavy, it would take a long time for them to bring the stuff back.

Yu Xinran happily ran over hearing that she would be useful. "Dig tunnels! Dig a tunnel!"

"No problem." Yan Fei also nodded. "I can also do some work on the floor, adding grit otherwise the car might slip." The basement floor was a little too smooth, people sometimes skidded across the floor.

182

A car's worth of dirt was transported by the team members from the underground channel and sent above to dry. Everyone felt relief – after smoothly hanging up the solar panels, the new base energy problems would all be resolved. Now they finally had an elevator!

Now when transporting items, there was an elevator to help and the building lights were working properly. Almost all the rooms were covered with heavy curtains for safety reasons. When someone had to do something, one would not have to worry about being seen by passersby and zombies. They also did not have to worry about the satellite overhead taking pictures.

Yan Fei and Yu Xinran worked together, one first removed the metal, the other began to turn the ground into sound. The others moved the sand and it was transported away before Yan Fei sealed and reinforced the walls with metal, the new walls were expanded in this loop.

With the pair's cooperation, the soil outside almost filled the whole square while the passage had been widened by a lot. It was more than 3 meters, enough to let most trucks through!

The dried soil was transported to the ground floor for the planting areas. Since all sorts of strange crops had been planted on the shelves, Luo Xun was not sure if there had been any mutation before, it was best to be careful.

When these things were done, the Otaku team was ready with a list of needed items – in addition to paint, metal and solar panels, they needed a huge amount of wood.

Yes, wood, boards, trees, anything was good so long as they could be used to grow mushrooms to absorb the toxic substances in the air.

These things were badly needed but it would be impossible for them to gather everything in one go. For the metal, they would need to go out a few times to slowly gather the resources.

Fortunately they did not have enough seeds to fill both underground rooms, these also needed to be gradually increased.

The team discussed and decided to split into groups. There would be more manpower to carry out different tasks. Although the base seemed safer, if something happened...it was not prudent for everyone to act together.

Once again armed, a group of people slowly drove through the tunnel exit. If the car was left outside, it could be seen by outsiders.

After opening the tunnel, Yan Fei sealed the door, Yu Xinran covered it with sand, Song Lingling splashed water and Zhang Yi used the wind to create clay camouflage. This teamwork had quickly become a habit, the effect becoming more and more realistic. It would be even better with some scattered rocks, but for now it was great.

The car rumbled along the deserted road, the nearby area had become mottled, pieces of black and grey peeked out from the snow.

Yan Fei still collected metal along the way, carefully controlling the ball to roll parallel. In case of any danger, these would be lifesavers.

The group drove past the place where they had been attacked by zombies but it was night. THe next morning they saw where the military vehicle had been found. The were here to grab the two metal boxes, but if they were taken, where else would they go to find materials?

Yan Fei detected and confirmed that the two boxes were still intact underground. The team then continued forward to the solar panel factory from last time.

It was at the intersection between A City and several other provinces, a transport hub for several areas. Because it was close to several larger cities, there were many factories, laboratories and workshops of all sizes. Yan Fei collected a lot of metal from both sides of the road. There was a lot of other metal, but they could not bring more, so it would stay for a while.

When they went further south, they saw their destination from afar – the solar panel production facility.

After carefully scouting around, Luo Xun found traces of fighting and disturbed snow.

"Look, a gun."

"There are armored vehicle tracks."

"Just don't know if there are any zombies in this area right now."

Used to buildings packed with zombies, Luo Xun and the others were unaccustomed to the empty city.

After a careful look and confirming that there were indeed no zombies, they drove close to the factory.

The people sent by the military seemed to have suffered a bitter battle. It was easy to see the huge hole blown into the wall. It was likely that the vehicle had been under heavy fire.

After a simple check, everyone grabbed their weapons and waited at the gate. Yan Fei moved the gate out of the way to reveal the dilapidated factory. Slowly, everyone began to check this long out of use factory.

In the barren factory, the workrooms were filled with dust. Some equipment and productions lines and broken down. The team checked and sadly found that:

"The solar panels are gone, only found a few batteries in the warehouse."

"Production line is broken, there is no way to repair it..."

"We found three barrels of diesel! It should still be usable."

Looking around, they found useful things but nothing to write home about. However there was a large number of metal pieces left. Luo Xun instructed Zhang Yi and Yu Xinran to find a secluded place to dig pits. Yan Fei pumped the metals from the factory.

Everyone helped dig holes to hide the metal. After all, other people would also come looking for things, maybe even from other bases. Metal in such a high concentration was hard to find and they needed to build a new base and make preparations.

Soon the pit was ready and Yan Fei poured the metal into Yu Xinran's pit. Song Lingling added water and Zhang Yi blew it dry...with their proficiency the results were clear to everyone.

Yan Fei did not take all the metal, only a bit more than half. People who came later would naturally get the remainder.

After leaving the factory they headed in a more remote direction. The paint factory produced more pollutants so it was more remote with a river nearby.

In the distance, Luo Xun and the others heard dogs barking the barren wilderness! The team exchanged looks while Puppy perked her ears and looked out the window, tail up.

"Dog?"

"Or a zombie dog?" Luo Xun picked up the walkie-talkie. "Note we hear dogs barking in front, be vigilant..."

Before Luo Xun finished, Puppy barked from the back seat and unexpectedly slammed into the half-open window.

"Puppy!" The car was still moving!

The dog did not seem to hear Luo Xun as she leapt out the window and ran towards the mass of buildings in front of them.

*Bark, bark* There was more barking and as Luo Xun expected, wounded and bereaved dogs rushed out! Puppy faced them head on.

"Damn it..." This dead dog, against four or five, does she think she is invincible?! Luo Xun cursed as he pulled out his crossbow while Yan Fei pulled out metal and aimed it at the dogs.

Not waiting for the couple to take action, Puppy rushed forward and barked. The enemies were surprised and then were crushed to the ground. Such a good chance was not to be missed, she ran forward and attacked.

Perhaps the other side also had powers available but could their experience compare to Puppy? She turned the situation and pressured the enemies instead.

Luo Xun whipped out a crossbow and shot one while Yan Fei wrapped up several in metal and crushed them to death. Puppy was...rolling around the dead dog, one moment you held me down I pushed back and suddenly you aren't playing anymore...

The pair helplessly exchanged glances, although they hoped that Puppy would get stronger with combat experience but she was their child, how could they watch her get bullied?

Driving forward, Yan Fei cut off another enemy's head before it could bite their dog.

Puppy returned from the battle with drooping ears and tail. She slowly approached the car and looked up with an incredibly wronged expression. Luo Xun lamented, was it his fault that a chow-chow turned into a chihuahua?

Just then a few cars stopped next to them. Song Lingling quickly washed Puppy's bite. It might have the virus so it needed thorough cleaning. Luo Xun took out medicine and bandaged the wound.

"Why did you rush out? Stay in the car okay? Your ability is more support, don't rush to the front lines!"

Puppy while not able to understand Luo Xun's word could understand the feeling. She wagged her tail in agreement while being hugged.

183

Just as everyone got out of the car to help check the dog, bandage the wound and dig out nuclei, there was movement in the village. Some zombies, dressed in rags and almost naked, ran out while waving their arms.

"Ah! Zombies!" The team, who had not seen zombies for a long time, could not tell if they felt excitement or horror. They brandished the weapons and rushed the zombies that entered their range.

Puppy had heard noise and turned her head over, when she saw the zombies, she immediately jumped into the car...Was this a case of bitten by a snake, afraid of rope for ten years?

Luo Xun did not know if the zombies lived together or if the army did not deal with the zombies beforehand. The monsters were only level one or two, within ten meters of the team, they were put down and the core was dug out.

There were not many zombies in the small village. The runners and rabid dogs totaled only around thirty and were easily dealt with.

They climbed into the car and slowly approached their next goal – the paint factory. The factory was closed and no new zombies appeared. They needed large quantities of certain colors, as for others; they could also pick and choose some.

Collected metal and then searched the other courtyard for a bit. They found some farm tools and other items mostly intact, although some had some problems. Luo Xun found some hardware and an intact freezer. Yan Fei scraped all the metal he could before returning to the road.

There were a lot of trees near the village, many of which had died after the end of the world. Luo Xun's team needed a lot of wood to grow mushrooms. Thus they unceremoniously cut trees one-by-one and placed them in the car.

The team felt lucky that they also found a few trucks near the village. Although many places were rusted due to rain, as long as nothing was wrong with the wheels, Yan Fei could repair the vehicle for use.

They split up into pairs for transport. The trucks were filled with excavated roots, branches and any remaining space was filled with metal devices. The loaded team returned to their new base.

Luo Xun had achieved his main purpose coming out. The entire trunks of several cars were filled with paint cans. Along with the large amount of wood and metal they had collected. The first batch of raw materials for renovation was ready.

With a few cars full of supplies, their speed was evidently not as fast as when they arrived. The team drove until evening and found an empty space. Yan Fei created a temporary metal hut and connected the cars surrounding them.

Everyone sat around the fire. Luo Xun fed the baby and changed his diaper while the others were busy preparing for dinner.

Zhang Yi suddenly turned and asked, "What are we going to do about the crystal cores?"

"The cores?" Luo Xun wrinkled his brow in surprise as he stared at the baby in his arms. "...There is no way now, we could try and find some outside of base, but that would be limited."