221

Lightning flashed across the sky along the faint sound of thunder was clear in the dark. Luo Xun reacted and were ready to form shelter from the rain while the group next to the fire were also busy.

The two other men were not fleeing the rain, or waking their companions but were rolling together...

At first, Luo Xun ignored what those were doing while preparing for the rain. While waiting for Yan Fei to get on the roof, the two noticed a pair of figures moving non-stop next to the fire.

Luo Xun squinted for a while only to determine that the figures were too far away so he could not tell if they were a man and a woman or two people of the same sex. If they encountered zombies wandering around, who knew if the pair would be frightened or triggered some other situation.

Another bolt of lightning struck while they were curiously observing the group in the distance, almost completely illuminating the area. It was not long before louder thunder roared over their heads. The noise woke up the team and looked at Luo Xun and Yan Fei.

"What's the matter..." Wang Duo rubbed his eyes to sit up, blankly looking at the right. The two women also sat up from sleep.

"It's thundering outside, I'm afraid it will rain." Luo Xun explained, "Go to sleep, we have handled the roof, there should not be a problem."

Song Lingling lightly noted, "I hear the sound of thunder outside?"

"Yes, it's thundering but it has not started yet."

"Since we have so much metal, won't we get hit by lightning?"

.... ...............

Luo Xun suddenly looked at Yan Fei, who silently made a lightning rod deep in the ground.

They had placed grounding rods in various locations when they were building their base since most of the material was metal. If they had bad luck during a thunderstorm, Luo Xun was afraid the whole base would be blown up. It was just that they were in the middle of buildings had forgotten. Once Yan Fei was done with the rod, another explosion of thunder sounded waking up the rest. No other way, who let the sound be so loud?

Luo Xun temporarily did not advise everyone to continue sleeping but instead look outside the window. Not far from the fire, the situation was not good. The previous thunder woke up the car teammates and lit up the area.

Unfortunately, those people had not finished before the rain started to fall.

The raindrops were so large that each one made a loud knock on the roof. Not long after the first drop, the sound became a torrent. Even more frightening was that thunder arrived from time to time and the wind picked up. It seemed that after each rumble, the rain became denser.

"Will we be flooded with rain?" Li Tie rubbed his eyes and asked uneasily.

At this time Luo Xun also took out his computer from his bag and checked the map. "I can see if we can find where the terrain is high and low..."

They were now in the city, the urban drainage facilities could not guaranteed after the apocalypse. Now this heavy rain poured down, if their area flooded it would be a large problem.

Even if Yan Fei could completely seal the cars with metal and not let if get submerged, after a while the roads would not be easy to traverse.

"I can't find out." After a while, Luo Xun helplessly sighed. Although the map was very detailed, it did not list the altitude of the city areas. But even Luo Xun knew – the drainage in the relatively old streets was not good, the newer ones might be better.

"Do you want to rush overnight?" He Qiankun saw the action outside and provided a proposal.

"...It's not very safe." Luo Xun touched his chin and looked at Yan Fei. He was very hesitant, since there was a long distance from their new base and even the southwest base.

"Or wait until dawn before we go, in case of what could happen at night on the road?" The group of people talked. Their fatigue was thrown away in an instant during the discussion.

The fire in the distance had been extinguished in the pouring rain. The men seemed to return to their cars to endure the night.

Luo Xun waited a while to persuade the others to rest while the two continued the vigil.

Yan Fei added a metal roof above their head to keep out the noise. He added some height from the metal extracted from the roadside, lest the rain flooded them.

That night, almost no one slept well with the noise and flashes of lightning, they stayed up until dawn.

Luo Xun woke up early in the morning to look around. The rain had not stopped and blocked part of the team's view. The ground had absorbed the water so the layer was no longer higher than the tires.

The team ate something, the group of people went back to the car and Yan Fei sealed the vehicle. Not a single drop of water entered. Finally Yan Fei recalled the metal back into the shape of the car and they headed down the road.

The wheels squealed in the water but the water displaced was relatively small. When they drove over to where the other team had camped last night, there were no signs of the car, likely they had rushed away at dawn.

As the heavy rain affected their line of sight, it was not easy to see the road. They were not able to move too fast throughout the day. In the evening while passing a fork in the road they saw a group of cars trying to move – the road was very deep. A few of the cars were flooded and unable to move.

Nearby water users were trying to deal with the rain and several water-soaked power users were pulling the car out.

Luo Xun took a long look from the southern road and forward – it would take at least two or three days to return home. Who knew if their drainage facilities would not work? If the base was properly sealed? If they went back to find the basement and underground rooms were flooded...they would not be able to survive.

In the past, after entering the city Luo Xun drove a full three days. Before that it took nearly two days to arrive at the city. This rainfall on their way back made them feel like the road was very long.

Fortunately, there was a water user in their team. When they were unable to tell if there were any holes in the road, Song Lingling was able to help. In the end, the two ladies' car was moved to the front with Zhang Yi on the rear. Song Lingling split the water to clear the road.

In this way, although a lot of trouble, their caution let them avoid a crisis in advance.

One should know, although many places in A-city looked repaired, with damage caused by zombies and other battles, the ground was more fragile.

If the damage was obvious, at most the road becomes hard to pass. But if the ground was hollowed out with a layer of asphalt on top, they were walking in blind!

Due to the heavy rain, many spots of the road had directly collapsed. Teams driving to this place were likely to get trapped.

Thus, the previously estimated three days of travel turned into five days. During the last three days the rain stopped but the water remained on the road as an obstacle.

At noon on the fifth day, the group once again saw familiar farmland, mutant plants which calmed everyone's hearts.

The terrain here was relatively high, at least the water on the highway had receded. Only a few even places had puddles. But the roadside farmland seemed to have turned into a field of water. The sun hitting the waves almost blinded their eyes.

"If someone falls in there, are they going to drown?" Han Li's voice came from a phone.

"Maybe you can swim in it, do you want to try?"

"You try, god knows if there will be any mutant animals in it."

"Was the farmland so deep before? How did it rain once and become a lake?"

The team was chatting only to hear sounds in the distance. They raised their heads and were surprised to find something had arrived at the water fields or swamp? Anyway there were water birds leisurely floating on top of the water before flapping their wings! And there were quite a few of them!

222

"...Did they really turn this into a pond? Why are they running around here?" After a while Luo Xun spat out.

"They're not big enough to float in these puddles and if these are the kinds of water birds we encountered before, the ponds won't be able to hold them." Yan Fei also spoke after a while.

The two wolves from before not only droe over mutant duck and geese but also waterfowl after the rain.

Just when the crowd marveled at the phenomenon, there was a huge roar in the distance and the wolves in the area frolicked jubilantly in the water. The nearest water bird fluttered its wings and tried to fly away as fast as possible.

Luo Xun and team silently watched the scene while driving to the entrance of their base.

There was no water near the entrance, but the iron plate was slightly conspicuous as the paint was washed away by the rain. Fortunately, this neighborhood was relatively remote, most of the surrounding houses had been demolished leaving only a few broken walls.

The degree of dilapidation would make a passerby ignore the place, thinking that there would be nothing of value. However those same buildings cleverly covered the entrance.

Opening the iron gate, the team slowly drove into the tunnel and carefully observed the road ahead. Their hearts had a few worries, would they suddenly see the area filled with water?

Fortunately they were lucky and the base was well made enough so there were no water in tunnel – except for what was on the wheels when they drove in.

They parked the car and the team rushed and examined each room carefully.

First of all, every underground room had no problems that they could see. Their arrangements for watering and lighting were operating normally.

Subsequently everything on the ground floor was safe along with the ground floor, greenhouse and the upper floors too.

In a room on the third floor, Luo Xun looked at the greenhouse glass roof and pointed. "The roof needs to adjusted over there, those areas a little waterlogged."

When designing the roof, Luo Xun deliberately considered the angle and position of the glass, metal and shelves to avoid any unexpected issues. It was just that some things were not considered thoroughly without any testing. So after any problems, they must learn from experience and improve.

The two discussed before pushing open the window and landing on the roof. The metal on the roof was very strong, people running on top would be no problem not to mention two people walking.

They checked the window glass after arriving at their target and Yan Fei adjusted the angle and position. The pair also found that the drains at the corners were blocked with leaves and branches so they quickly cleaned it up.

After all this was done, the two men returned to the basement to join the team was carrying their harvest from the outing.

"Ahhhh, I wanted to play this game before the apocalypse but there was no TV at school and there was no version on the computer. Now I can finally play!"

"Alas, there are a few games that will never get a sequel, it's really sad."

"Yu Xinran, here have this pink handheld, we'll put a bunch of games after we are done moving things."

From the ground floor, Luo Xun and Yan Fei heard Li Tie's voice. They did not expect to see that the ladies were also excited about the game consoles in addition to the five guys. It seemed that spiritual entertainment and relaxation was even more important after the end of the world.

The pair walked past to see this group actually did not carry out the computer parts but instead prioritized the pile of game consoles...

"Cough, first we move things down and have tomorrow off which you can use how you want." Luo Xun was helpless and could only say this to ensure everyone's entertainment time. The team erupted into cheering.

In the basement, the team of people were moving things with enthusiasm. Outside their base, the pond contained all kinds of mutated water birds. The two wolves chased these animals before finding a relatively dry space to lie down in the sun.

Most of the birds had mutated, changing their size and brain. Previously a large number of mutant animals had accidentally entered the mutant plant field. But the more experienced could see the danger and over time, the birds recognized the plants.

Luo Xun was lucky that they painted the metal with camouflage at the start of construction. Although their intention was to avoid being noticed by people passing by and satellite, they did not expect that this coloring was similar to the mutant plants so the birds also subconsciously avoided them.

Otherwise, when they came back, it would have been possible that their roof would be turned into a bird's nest.

On the other hand, due to the heavy rain the past few days, several sections of the main intersection leading to the southwest base had collapsed. The city was heavily flooded until recently, many teams who wanted to enter the city were blocked. It was not until several earth users were tasked with repairing the roads before things returned to normal.

The southwest base at the start of the month had sent troops to a mine. With few other large forces cooperating in base, other than sending some combat people, the most important members were the only two base affiliated metal users.

After the bases had exchanged information they were surprised to find, although there was a large proportion of people after the apocalypse with powers, the vast majority were common elements, such as water, fire, earth and wind. Other elements were rare!

The entire southwest base only had two metal users, when they spoke with other bases, the total number altogether was two!

Perhaps after the start of the apocalypse, the vast majority of survivors prioritized escaping to A-city which caused the current situation. With the number of ability users and personnel at the southwest base, they were the lead survivors which was also a show of strength.

With this recognition, the higher ups at base were serious for power, determined to control the whole area!

While the Otaku squad rushed back home and took advantage of the weather to play all kinds of games while the road was drying, A-city officially launched the new base rules.

It had not been long since A-city base had come under new leadership, but since the number was smaller than before, the control of base was concentrated in their hands. Once the leaders had reached a consensus, the momentum of implementing the new regulations was high. Only a short week after the heavy rain, the inner city worked in accordance with the plans made by the upper echelons and military. People who were willing to stay in the inner areas had to follow the new provisions regarding unified management.

The inner city also recruited ordinary people from the outer city, but only those with a certain strength or skill. Those who had consumed all their rations were not among the qualified.

What worried the city people even more was the inner earth wall was increased and thickened. Since the metal users were not in base, the outer metal wall remained the same. But level five earth users could make earth as hard as marble, which would take more than two people could break.

The inner base security was obviously more powerful and reliable. Who knows if there would be a day when the outer wall would get broken again?

Although now the internal base management was strict, the outer area had not been abandoned albeit under looser management. But if things continued, who knew when the outer base would be forced under management.

If surrendering in advance, although their time, materials and other things would be under management, it would be secure. Moreover if they surrendered later, perhaps during the forced merge, people would not only be under harsher management but may be excluded.

For a time, the outer area people were uncertain. In consideration of safety, some people wanted to sign up for the inner city. Other people had a wait-and-see approach and were silent onlookers towards the future decision making of base management.

223

Recently, Luo Xun had been speechless more often. Ever since the team had brought back various consoles, games, the whole team immediately became game addicts...When he went downstairs with a yawn to eat breakfast, he saw Yu Xinran with her head bowed playing the handheld. A sense of guilt and powerlessness immediately flourished.

What made him more guilty – last night he had played a fighting game on their new TV until Yan Fei turned off the electronics and dragged him to bed...

Yan Fei decided: Luo Xun was more serious and attentive playing games than when the pair slept together, he could not bear it.

"I have decided...tomorrow we go out looking for furniture. Then everyone can start designing and organizing their own rooms. Then we won't put all of our energy into playing games." Luo Xun touched his chin and made such a decision.

No way, who let most of the base tasks be done. Even if they wanted to plant things in the remaining space in the basement, they needed enough seeds to do so.

When they came back, the brought the things to the storeroom before dividing up the spoils. Each room had at least one of the new large televisions and each person had a notebook computer for the respective leisure.

These past two days they did not go out during the day. They woke up in the morning to take care of the crops and the rest of the time was almost all spent on playing games indoors. They were afraid of becoming shut-ins even with the apocalypse going on.

For the sake of the team's health, leader Luo Xun must take control and make a good plan for the future.

As soon as Luo Xun finished, the team responded with enthusiasm.

"Okay, good! It's best to bring back a few more beds. Sleeping on the ground is rough."

"And furniture, cabinets. The rooms are a mess and a lot of places are disorganized."

"I want a TV cabinet! A shelf for a game console, and a computer desk!"

"Comfortable sofa..."

Luo Xun did not expect such excitement from the team regarding his proposal, but also remembered that most of them were still sleeping on a makeshift metal bed. Although they are not that different from a regular one, but in reality it was very different. The board was so hard and very uncomfortable to sleep on.

However, Luou Xun also secretly suspected that when they would go out to find some furniture, it would be related to those things...He did not want to think about it.

After a break of nearly two days, the team got up early in the morning, packed up their things and drove away in their cars after breakfast.

It was still a pair of cars and trucks. After they went out, they sealed the tunnel entrance and saw that the number of birds in the distance had surged.

"...Do you want to eat foie gras?" Luo Xun touched his chin and elbowed Yan Fei.

Yan Fei glanced out the window and looked at the people around with a funny smile. "You want to eat? We'll find a way to catch one when we come back if we are hungry."

If the two wolves wanted to catch the prey, they would also have to find a way to fight which might be problematic even if they had abilities. But they were different, it would not be too difficult to capture this kind of bird in the water.