226

The newly formed pond near the Otaku squad's home was not large and looked like a symmetrical water field. It was also not too deep so the birds moving around was not too big.

But even if the volume was small, these were mutant animals with stronger bodies. One by one they hit the metal shield, even if Yan Fei made them stronger, it was inevitable that there would be shaking.

The scraping made a lot of noise, it was fortunate that Yan Fei erected a wall. Otherwise, the team would have been sent flying and nowhere to go.

Thinking of this, the team could not help but turn their heads to stare at the two mutant wolves. The two animals had run behind the team and were looking at the metal plate, their ears quivering with each impact. They seemed to be wondering if the birds would catch up.

"Let's deal with the birds first, or even chase them away." Although they wanted a change of taste, but they would not be able to finish this many birds even if they were all hunted!

There was so much pork at home that even if they ate meat every day, it was enough to last until the New Year. The team immediately rolled up their sleeves and began to bombard the birds, starting with the ones that first hit the wall. Even if they did not have a lot of oil the meat would still be good with vegetables.

This group of water birds also had abilities similar to Luo Xun's team which were not easy to deal with. After a while, the birds returned towards the pond.

Before Luo Xun could breathe a sigh of relief, he felt the ground vibrate. The two fleeing wolves who had fled to their group each held a water bird in their mouth. They casually gnawed on the prey and turned their mouths blood red.

Looking at these two uncourteous wolves blocking the way while eating, Luo Xun and the others stared. When one bird was finished, the wolves grabbed the other and leisurely walked away from the bird's lake.

"....Even left us two, should we say thank you to them?" Luo Xun looked at the two remaining prey and asked for advice from the team.

Zhang Yi looked at the offering. "You did not notice that they left us the smallest ones?"

They picked out all the big ones? Their team only got the leftovers?

The team turned to look at the pair of wolves lying under a tree. Childlike eyes stared back with no traces of worry or nervousness.

"Brother Luo, shall we drive them away? Otherwise, every time we come back from a trip we'll have to clean up their mess." Han Li advised.

"Although they are very wasteful..." Luo Xun resisted a smile, "but they are still able to deter some people and animals."

Although these two were gone whenever there was a lot of danger, two large wolves living near the area could still act as a deterrent.

Especially now that the area has a pond with the birds as temporary residents. Survivors out hunting mutant creatures will think twice before daring to come. This was also a question of security to Luo Xun.

They picked up the two water birds. Although the two were the smallest, since they were mutated, each body was one and a half meters. Including the neck and feet, one would stand at a height of around two meters. Luckily they were on the way back so they could use the livers to taste foie gras.

The team drove home, everything at home had not changed much. Some vegetables had grown and other crops had matured and needed to be picked. There were more eggs in the house and some baby quails had hatched.

This time when they returned, the group did not jump in gaming but started work instead. There were still a lot of rooms in the house to be furnished as well as rooms in the basement missing planting racks and other equipment.

Luo Xun also wanted to work on another thing – the monitoring equipment they brought back last time had not even been opened!

They were all mature adults, occasionally relaxing for two days was fine but now was the time to work seriously on their livelihood.

Now that they were settled at home without the need for a hurry since the foundational work was finished, they could set reasonable working hours. No one would care about what people did during the evening hours back in their rooms.

This way, even when Yu Xinran was in the study while everyone else was working her pink handheld would sit beside the other game machine. She would prefer to accompany Puppy or the little bun if he was awake.

Luo Xun sat at the large dining table in the kitchen area which was covered in a pile of paper, a computer, a laptop, and other things. He also had a pen and notepad along with several boxes at his feet containing cameras, instructions, and accessories.

It took two days for Luo Xun to count the number of cameras at home and separate based on waterproofness, shutter type and size. After counting, he designed a monitoring system for the entire base. After he finished with the main areas, he moved his attention to the surrounding area.

Although their home area was small and there were enough mutant plants to assist in protection, people could not be watching every day. This was the problem with a small base, so Luo Xun would naturally make good use of the convenient equipment they picked up.

The cameras on base were good with Yan Fei's ability, wiring and installation could not be more simple. But the question was how to deal with the outer cameras.

Luo Xun wanted to install equipment on a highway outside of the home, but the location could not be too low lest it get covered in snow or rain.

But how would they get the line all the way out there? And how would he choose where to install the camera? The sides of the highway were covered in wanton plant growth, but they were relatively short. Luo Xun thought it would be ideal to have the cameras set up higher.

Most importantly, once these things are installed, they had to do as much as possible to ensure that the cameras would not be found by others, otherwise, it would be better to not install any at all.

Luo Xun wrote and drew for two days to make the road map. He considered that setting up a monitor on the highway also depended on Yan Fei and Yu Xinran's help. If they could use their abilities to do so, then they could directly place the wire towards the destination. Now he could only wait until after discussion to make a decision.

The two ladies were in the kitchen making lunch while Luo Xun was working at the table. Yan Fei was helping people make metal furniture according to specifications – since they could not get ready-made furniture, they would have to make some. Anyways before they sifted through their data to find information, Yan Fei had already made shelves and other items.

Luo Xun gave everyone a simple tutorial so they knew how to sew cushions and add padding to the metal sofa frame. Usually, the two women and Luo Xun would do this kind of meticulous work. Unfortunately, it was close to noon so the ladies were cooking while Luo Xun was working on the design so the rest could only do their best.

Before long, the smell from the kitchen grew stronger and stronger. There was the sound of footsteps outside the door. The people who had been working for half a day and discussed the room layout came into the room.

Yan Fei sat beside Luo Xun, the latter did not lift his head and said, "Once you are finished with those things, take some time and see if you can take the metal pipes so that wire can pass through."

After carefully identifying the contents of the drawings showing an area outside of base, Yan Fei could not help but say, "You want to have cameras on the road to monitor outside? It's not hard to deal with metal pipes, but you have to think about how to ensure those outside devices are not noticed."

"Yeah, I am worried, those things give off light when on, noticeable especially at night but they can't be removed..." Luo Xun would have broken that part but it would useless at night without infrared.

227

"What is the purpose of installing a camera?" Yan Fei put down the plans and suddenly asked.

"Monitor the nearby sections of road." Luo Xun looked at him in confisuion and wondered what he was hinting at.

"Then if something passed by at night and came towards our side but everyone is sleeping, what use are the cameras?" Yan Fei continued to say.

Luo Xun was surprised and did not answer.

"If those things just pass on the road and don't come to our base, would they be of any use?" Luo Xun rubbed his head, "You mean that since night vision is not very useful, for our safety it is better to not install..." He sighed and smiled, "Indeed, if people pass by they would not rush in the darkness. After all, road conditions are more dangerous. There is not much use monitoring even mutant animals or zombies wandering around since we don't go out at nigh."

"Brother Luo, we'll check and see if the function can be modified and used later, otherwise demolishing it would not be too much trouble." Li Tie elbowed Luo Xun.

"Yes, don't go talking about senseless destruction, we'll use it if we can."

Luo Xun slapped a hand on the table, "First eat then we can study how to set up the cameras in a way that will not attract the attention of passerby!"

Everyone had roasted meat from the two waterbirds left behind by the wolves. The day before they had processed one and today they roasted the second.

The remaining bones were thrown into a pot by the two women and booked until now. The milk white bone soup's aroma filled the whole room, everyone's stomachs started to grumble.

Each person had a bowl of soup sprinkled with green onion with the rest on the table. The rich taste filled their stomachs.

There were two pots with stewed leeks, these were true vegetable dishes. In addition to meat, there were potatoes, beans, dried eggplant, cabbage, noodles and mushrooms...Almost all the vegetables grown at home were put inside.

In addition, there were a variety of sauces on a small plate.

The dishes may be simple but the nutrition was taken care of. Once they got busy, they would not let the two ladies cook labor intensive stir-fry. Anyway, there was a lot of pork at home, they stewed a large pot of pork belly. Any leftovers would be frozen to be heated as needed. With the variety of vegetables at home, delicious food was easy to get, why not eat their fill?

After they had enough, the team continued with the day's work. They needed to make a lot of furniture and produce a variety of daily necessities. Also needed to install cameras and make metal shelves for the empty rooms in the basement...As a result Yan Fei was the busiest person at home.

After finishing with his design, Luo Xun dropped this pile of paper and quickly led the group of inefficient men to lay out the room.

For example, using sponges as mattresses and cushions on the metal chairs, even using dried straw to make mats and small baskets was definitely not in line with their previous work.

Xu Mei and Song Lingling were responsible for cleaning up the feathers which they could use to make down jackets and duvets. The two water birds from yesterday were small and had more softer feathers that Luo Xun collected.

Before dealing with the two water birds, Luo Xun had the team remove all the soft down from the head, neck, belly and wings. The team not only had these two bird's feathers but they also kept quails at home! Although they rarely ate their quails, when they did there would also be useable feathers. At the present, the accumulated amount was quite a lot.

Now the two ladies were responsible for cleaning and drying these things.

Finally, Yu Xinran was not busy and ate lunch and accompanied the small bun in napping with Puppy lying near the bed as a guard. After a good nap, she sat at the table and did her homework. When she was done she took out some of the most beautiful leftover feathers to play with – the feathers were more attractive than game consoles right now in the eyes of the smallest family members.

Creating home furniture could not be easy. In order to save his lover's physical and mental strength he led the others in doing embroidery as well as woodworking: cutting, grinding and treatment.

After all, if the room was only a metallic color, would it not be depressing after a while? In addition, wood products are comfortable to use and would also make good decorations. Finally, his lover was busy, why should the others be idle?

But Luo Xun miscalculated since the other members were not really suitable for this kind of work, their progress was akin to a turtle. Half a day was not enough for even a seat cushion. On the other hand, Yan Fei designed and completed most of the required furniture after two or three days of effort!

"These sofas, chairs and shelves are very simple and easy to set up." Yan Fei poked his lover's forehead when Luo Xun had a surprised look. "Did you forget? My ability rose to level five."

"That's right!" Luo Xun remembered and then asked, "Have you developed any new abilities these two days? Can the metal fence get more reinforced?"

Yan Fei held his chin and thought for a moment, "The metal can be refined as usual but my sensing is not as obvious as before. After a few days of making furniture, I noticed some differences." He pointed at his feet, "I now seem to feel the metal content from the soil, stones and even plants...

"...Plants?" Luo Xun looked at him blankly, soil and stone he could understand but... a plant? "Well... what about animals?" If Yan Fei could feel the metal inside animals then what about the human body...

Yan Fei shook his head and said comfortingly, "Even if I concentrate, I can't sense the metal inside of animals and humans but in the future...I'm not sure either. As for plants, isn't there iron in vegetables like spinach at home. I tried to see if I could absorb but how much is inside that? It likely does not compare to Song Lingling's juice recipes."

As he spoke, he picked up a piece of metal from somewhere and handed it to Luo Xun. "On my signal, throw it at me." Yan Fei took two steps back and waved.

Luo Xun was puzzled as he raised his hand and threw the metal at Yan Fei. An inch from his body, the metal suddenly reversed direction and flew in the opposite direction!

"...Did you do that?" Yan Fei could control metal and use it to attack. Luo Xun naturally knew this, so what was he testing?

Since Luo Xun did not understand, Yan Fei explained, "This is not active control, I seem to unconsciously form a magnetic field that only excludes metal." He wondered, "What can I use this magnetic force for?"

Luo Xun was suddenly excited and patted Yan Fei on the shoulder. "Maybe it's an area attack? You go back and rest, maybe there are other unexpected effects!"

Sure enough, rising to level five seemed to be very different. Luo Xun was curious about what the other classes of ability would show when at level five? It was a pity that in the team only Yan Fei and Song Lingling had successfully risen to level five.

Zhang Yi had a level five wind core from the bat but had not used it yet since his ability had not reached the peak. Song Lingling's level five water ability did not seem to have any anti-flying field so they could only temporarily wait and see.

After Yan Fei made the furniture in each room, Luo Xun grabbed hom to handle installing the camera inside and to check the wires. Xu Mei and Song Lingling had handled the feathers at home and took over the sewing. The other people could breathe a sigh of relief to speak and decided to help complete the playroom for Yu Xinran.

Before they left the castle and all kinds of toys in the corner of the second floor classroom, there were some things left that had not been removed. A few people in high spirits quickly moved these things to an empty room on the first floor and blew up the little girl's bouncy castle.

Although there was a machine at the kindergarten, it had been out in the open, soaked in who knows how much rain. Fortunately Luo Xun had cleared out a hardware shop for cases similar to this.

This bouncy castle included a trampoline, there would be no problems for even grown-ups going inside, let alone a young girl.

After blowing up the castle, a group of people took off their shoes and checked around. Although they dared not make too much noise there was a sense of childhood nostalgia.

228

Luo Xun and Yan Fei were the last to enter the game room and found that the structure of the room had changed. The location of the bouncy castle was blown up and at the back of the room instead of closer to the door.

Yu Xinran was happily jumping on top with a flushed face. Xu Mei and Song Lingling had also taken off their shoes and were jumping in their socks. But the adults had to control themselves in case a careless jump would result in a collision with the wall.

Luo Xun silently looked at the three women inside and asked while looking around, “Where’s Puppy?” His dog liked to play with Yu Xinran, why was she not with her?

Li Tie, who was resting on a bench near the door, pointed towards the playground. “There, with your son.”

The two had barely walked a few steps to see Puppy had actually crawled into the ball pit and was prancing around. The small bun was in the stroller, staring with grape-like eyes and reaching for some small things hanging from above.

Next to the pram were four animal-shaped rocking chairs. At this time, Wang Duo and Zhang Yi were giving out dog food. Fortunately, the two were light and would not break anything.

In addition to the inflatable pool filled with balls that could also be turned into a mini-pool for the children, there were rocking animals, a small swing and a playground made of doors, pipes, and slides for children to explore. The end of the slide connected with the ball pool.

In addition, there was an area with a circle of tables and chairs where the children could play some other types of games or work on their homework.

“If we have the chance, we’ll bring these kinds of things back and fill the room later.” Luo Xun looked at the group and crouched over the pram with a smile. Seeing Luo Xun appear in front of him, the baby left the toys and stretched his hands towards Luo Xun while babbling.

Their child would grow up one day. Having this children’s room built would let him enjoy childhood even though it was the apocalypse.

Wang Duo and Zhang Yi could not resist watching Luo Xun by the pram exuding a maternal light. The two stood up and Zhang Yi said, “You could think about giving him a few more siblings.”

Luo Xun squinted at him, “A family is good with one child, why don’t you consider having one?” Some people did not know how to keep their mouths shut.

Not much later, Yu Xinran left the bouncy castle and sat on the swing. The couple smiled while feeding the hungry baby the washed cream fruit.

How long had it been since the apocalypse started that she had not felt this carefree? Being able to play, not worry about hunger or encountering terrifying zombies, this was simply heavenly.

Her age was young but with their cautious life at the previous base and the busy work after moving out, she actually had very little carefree playtime.

Li Tie and the others excitedly found a useless plank lying around and wrote three characters “The Game Room”, two of the words had some mistakes so the overall effect was extremely ugly.