Chapter 142

Luo Xun suddenly stood up when thinking that Puppy might have mutated. "We'll test by turning off the lights this evening!"

It was currently morning, far from being completely dark best to wait until night. Anyway, who knew how long that crystal core had been 'eaten' or 'lost', checking later would not be a big problem.

In fact, other than this method, there was a way to prove if the dog had mutated, let it use a first level nuclei. If it could be absorbed, it proved that it had transformed, if not then the duck's nuclei could be somewhere, just the couple had not found it yet.

But who knew if eating a crystal core could turn an animal into a zombie? Luo Xun dared not bet – the dog was not human, if it swallowed the thing and caused problems, there would be no place to cry.

The duck nuclei was unaccounted for and the suspect needed to stay until evening for investigation. The sheep's core had been 'eaten' by Zhang Yi leaving the huge sheepskin to be dealt with.

Luo Xun sent Puppy outside to accompany Yu Xinran. Li Tie and the others had embarked on a difficult journey to work, Luo Xun had no solutions. If the road was better they could still drive but currently they could work hard to reach the barracks and test the road conditions.

"Process that sheepskin? All right!" The two women lit up and nodded.

The heating at home was really warm but there were times when cold winds blew. Sheepskin was very warm, it would perfect for coats, shoes, gloves to keep out the cold.

Song Lingling thought of Li Tie's group who went to work in this weather. "Li Tie and the others have to go to work every day, let's quickly make some clothes for them against the cold!"

So they started work, they brought in the frozen skin and warmed it up, washed off the meat with water, sterilized it with salt and then…

"The weather is so cold, the skin is so big, how do we hang it?" The two ladies looked to Luo Xun for help.

Luo Xun also frowned out the window, trying to make leather on such a cold day, it would get frozen in no time. If it was just leather, then fine, but since this also had wool, would it not get completely frozen?

Zhang Yi ambled in. "What's going on?"

Luo Xun's eyes brightened, "Come, come, come! Beauty it's time for work!"

Zhang Yi had not entered and only heard a bit of Luo Xun's words when he waved his hand and a wind blade rushed towards Luo Xun. Halfway it was blocked by a metal plate with a *Whoosh*.

Yu Xinran had covered her ears while looking at Zhang Yi who had a dark expression and then to Yan Fei who had blocked the wind blade with metal.

Half an hour later, Zhang Yi stood in the relatively empty room with a bitter expression while manipulating the wind to dry the folded sheepskin…Luo Xun thought of him as a hairdryer! This uncle could not bear this!

Zhang Yi worked more than half a day to dry the sheepskin. Although there were still a lot of steps left, but considering it was winter, Luo Xun decided to at least cut a few chunks to make cloaks against the wind, even quilts would be good.

They struggled to cut and laboriously put the lining together, the group felt like their hands were poked with needles. The skin was too hard – too little strength meant it did not pierce, too much meant they poked themselves.

Night fell, the wind picked up again and Li Tie's group had not returned. Zhang Yi was hungry, his expression became darker as he finally dialed Wang Duo's phone. Fortunately their phones were charged and on hand.

After connecting, Wang Duo said they left 40 minutes ago but were struggling on the snow-covered road…about halfway to home.

"40 minutes for halfway?!" Zhang Yi hung up and looked at the snow covered landscape…it was possible.

Zhang Yi angrily turned towards the gate.

"Where are you going?" Luo Xun asked while helping brush Puppy with Yu Xinran.

"Pick up those idiots and come back." Zhang Yi left after saying the sentence.

"Wait, they've already gone halfway, you can't do much if you go out right?" Luo Xun got up to stop him. He and Yan Fei knew how difficult it was to traverse the roads, why did Zhang Yi suddenly do this?

Zhang Yi looked at him. "I am a wind ability user." He added disdainfully. "I can buff my teammates."

So the last time he deliberately did not go with him and Yan Fei to deliver food? It must have been, no doubt!

Yan Fei took a few dark sheepskin cloaks from a side shelf and threw them. "If you are going, bring these, it's at least warmer then what they are wearing now."

At present, the most suitable person to pick the group up was only Zhang Yi. They assumed that anyone else would get frozen to death instead of helping.

Sure enough, half an hour later, Zhang Yi came back with people wrapped in sheepskin.

Before entering Li Tie complained, "Luckily Zhang Yi found us, we were almost robbed halfway!"

"Robbed? Robbed of what?" Xu Mei asked the men in astonishment.

"Our sheepskin hats and coats!" He Qiankun and Wu Xin angrily clenched their fists.

Luo Xun had a confused expression before looking at Zhang Yi. "Those people came before or after you sent the sheepskin?"

Zhang Yi raised an eyebrow and smiled. "After."

So, the robbers were actually drawn due to the sheepskin they had, right?

Song Lingling asked, "You aren't hurt? What happened to those people?"

Li Tie and the others shook their heads, no injuries. Zhang Yi was the one to stop the robbery. "They hit the road."…Cornerstone of the highway?

Everyone pushed the thought away to avoid nightmares and waited for Li Tie and the others to come back to ask for more details about work.

Wang Duo calmly complained, "We arrived today and there were new people, technical staff to help when busy, but several of them always followed us around."

He Qiankun nodded. "I asked them, they have a base, but no mastery."

"Usually the work we do is not complicated, doable with some professional knowledge. Many things are completed once the inputs are entered, unless there is an error and the system crashes…but with those problems, there are experts…" Han Li poured cold water on everyone.

The team glanced at each other and sighed.

Luo Xun and Yan Fei exchanged glances and asked, "They want to hire replacements?"

Li Tie shrugged. "Our boss said they had new people and if we did receive that phone call today, we would have stayed at home…"

They could not be blamed, the boss was dissatisfied with the few people who did not live near the barracks which made it inconvenient to get to work. It was not only this time, the weather had caused problems, allowing them a break but their superiors had complained many times.

Their colleagues even said they could help them find a place near the barracks. If this had been in the early days of the apocalypse, they would have been happy – even if they could not live in the barracks, at least they were nearby. But now? They were loyally part of the Otaku squad. Plus all their supplies and property were here, how much effort had they expended? How would they be willing to give it up?

Zhang Yi left his frosted coat in the corner and sneered. "Stay or not stay? Quit the job and go home early, save your time."

The five looked at each with hesitant and unwilling eyes.

Zhang Yi continued to pour cold water. "Now you are not willing to resign but sooner or later you will be kicked out. Unless you have capital, but even then they might leave you outside."

Zhang Yi words were the truth, but it fell heavily on their hearts.

Li Tie was in thought. "…Shall we do it again? If they really don't want us to leave, they will stop…" They had not officially taken part in formal work before the apocalypse. Plus the students were honest and felt that resigning would be unkind, not to mention that the military had taken care of them when they first arrived on base…

Therefore, even if sooner of later they would get fired, the feeling of guilt in their heart would be different if they took the initiative to resign.

Zhang Yi rolled his eyes but was too lazy to continue scolding them. If this was the case, even before the end, no matter how hard they worked they would get pushed down by peer pressure. Even after the apocalypse, if they did have the fortune of getting a good job from the start and joining the Otaku squad, eventually the group would be treated as cannon fodder by 'teammates'.

However it was precisely because of their character that they maintained their relationship and were willing to continue working together as a team to survive.

"Right, we're going to work tomorrow!" He Qiankun stood with fire in his eyes. "How many resources can we access at work? Even if we are going sooner or later, we need to bring more things back!" He pointed to the side. "We have earned more copies of movies and TV!"

"That's right! Crosstalk shows! I saw the data before it snowed and we went back!"

Once again the group got excited, films and shows from before the apocalypse as well as all kinds of variety shows…In short they had access to useful information, the more they brought back, the more they would benefit.

Zhang Yi rolled his eyes again and walked away. "That's the spirit."

Li Tie and the others went home to change clothes and warm up. The main couple went back home with their dog. After closing the door, Luo Xun remembered something important and rushed to the lights. "Almost forgot, dog eyes, dog eyes!"

Yan Fei understood but he already knew about the matter…the average person would not understand.

The two people turned off the lights, the curtains were pulled and the whole room was dark. The pair carefully observed the dog's eyes – how did it glow before?

The silhouette of the eyes could easily be seen because the quail cage had lights. Did they pitch darkness?

The pair climbed upstairs with the dog.

The bedroom was completely dark and they went straight in only to find that the dog's eyes did not shine as much as expected.

The two men exchanged glances in the dark. Luo Xun scratched his head in confusion. "What's going on?"

"Maybe it was caused by something else?"

"Could it be…" Luo Xun perked up. "Maybe if we leave her in the dark for a while then come back?"

The two men locked the dog inside while Puppy stood foolishly behind the door and stared. As soon as the two men opened the door, they saw the dog happily wagging her tail – she thought the two were playing a game with her…

"She has keen ears, it's no use just standing outside the door." Yan Fei patted Luo Xun's shoulder so they decided to close the door and head downstairs. They waited for 10 minutes in the 15th floor hallway – Xu Mei found them and they chatted for a while. Then they went back home to the room.

Luo Xun took a deep breath and then turned the door handle. He saw a pair of golden eyes jump towards him from the bed. She pounced directly into Luo Xun's arms.

"Did you see it?! Did you see that?! Her eyes shone bright!" In order to avoid uncertainty even the first floor lights were off. The two could clearly see that Puppy's eyes were glowing!

Wait…there was something wrong? "Ah! She went onto the bed!"

"What ability do you have? Or only having bright eyes?" Luo Xun crouched and helplessly pet Puppy who was licking him.

The fact that the dog's eyes were shining made them decide to test in the bedroom. Although they proved that something was different, it seemed nothing else than eyes glowing in the dark!

Was it simply 'night vision'? What use is that ability? In other words, did she really mutate?

The two people and the dog had no way to communicate with each other at all! Nothing made people feel as frustrated as when something did not make sense. Especially if the dog had an ability that needed to be confirmed, but now they were in no state to get answers…

Differing species caused all sorts of issues, so it was not clear whether they could bring Puppy with them next time they went out.

Thinking for a while, the group went back to the first floor and Luo Xun held a level one crystal nuclei in front of the dog. His heart was tangled, if she swallowed it…would she turn into a zombie?

The idea was doomed to be not verified because Puppy smelled Luo Xun's hand before turning around and running back to her kennel…she went to bed.

The two men silently looked at each other. Yan Fei persuaded. "Let's wait anyway we do not have to leave base for a while. We'll notice if something is off while we are at home." However it would be a good thing if Puppy mutated without changing shape.

Days passed and their dog showed no signs of an ability. Li Tie and the others went to the barracks with difficulty each day moving various data. Of course they now carried weapons to avoid potential instances of robbery. Although there are more newcomers to their department, who were following them to steal experience, they had the opportunity to bring back hard disks. The five brave men had a great deal of resentment, it would be a miracle if they managed to steal anything undetected.

By late December, the last heavy snow had not been completely cleared up when even more snow fell. It was about equal to last time, the north wind howled for two days. The air whistled through the windows, there were thoughts that the buildings would be blown away.

Fortunately the high rise buildings in the southwest base were built a few years ago and were quite solid. Otherwise with such a terrible wind, a building would have definitely collapsed.

The cold wind coupled with the falling snow covered the roads in a layer of white. The base was once again buffeted by a snowstorm. The homes were being tested once again, who knew what would happen this time…

Luo Xun sat in his chair and watching the falling snowflakes while leisurely drinking a mouthful of bitter gourd tea – dried during autumn and just right for winter.

Puppy lay at his feet with dropped eyelids but her nose twitched from time to time. Yan Fei was leisurely sitting next to him while also looking at the window.

"It's nice to have a fully enclosed terrace to watch snow in winter and rain in summer." Luo Xun swung his ankles. Where was such leisure in his last life? It was good to enjoy a warm fire in the winter.

The two were in front of a barbecue with charcoal, the grill was in the shape of a large pot with metal mesh. Duck, mutton, eggplant, beans, leeks and other things were cooking. The couple took advantage of the wind to enjoy barbecue.

Eating barbecue on the terrace was something Luo Xun had wanted to do even before the apocalypse. Unfortunately since realizing that the smell of meat would reach outside, the Otaku squad had to be careful when cooking. They usually did not make too many meat dishes or tried cooking methods that did not create smells.

The couple had waited for days for such a storm so they could freely eat meat, what a comfortable day!

Yan Fei moved the roasted ingredients onto a plate and helped his lover add seasoning and sauce. Usually Luo Xun cooked but today he could help out, why have his lover do all the work?

"Good, the mushrooms will have to wait a while." Yan Fei passed the plate of eggplant and leeks while looking at the other ingredients.

"Let's eat together." Luo Xun held up some leek – this was an aphrodisiac…*cough cough* Hard work at night needed replenishment during the day.