Chapter 209

After breakfast, the Otaku squad started the day's work. Every once in a while someone would go to the top floor with a telescope and scout the outside. Also from time to time they would check the satellite received messages and images.

The days in the basement were not dark due to the lights but it was easy to distinguish between day and night.

Yan Fei used the remaining metal to make shelves – some would use sand, water and fertilizer to make planting racks. Insects, worms and rotten vegetable remains produced organic fertilizer. Luo Xun and the rest took turns planting the seedlings.

The soil at home was dug out of the ground and dried into sand. Coupled with Song Lingling's water, it was pure natural soil after fertilizer was added.

Speaking of which, to avoid sewers where mutant animals and plants could appear, they made a septic tank the first day they arrived. Although the smell was not great, the effect was good enough.

Luo Xun and the two ladies were responsible for planting things. Even Yu Xinran helped with the flowers while Puppy was lying around and occasionally nosed the things inside the shelf.

The group of men quickly mixed the sand, water and fertilizer inside the shelf. Then they took the wood, sawdust and pre-cultivated mushroom spores and placed them in the bottom shelf.

Speaking of poisonous mushrooms being bred at home, because the yield was too high and they did not encounter enough zombies to warrant use. Luo Xun decided to do an experiment – watering the mutant farmland with mushroom juice and water.

They only selected a small piece as a testing site – the result? Unlike everything else that withered and rotted, the watered mutant plants grew better!

Looking for crystal cores in the plant field destroyed the soil moisture level and they had been worried about damaging the plants. Now a method to fertilize these plants had been found, so they would be watered roughly after treasure hunting.

Of course, instead of pouring mushroom juice without thought, Luo Xun chose a location and observed almost every day. He did some tests and determined that the watered mutant plants did not pose much of a threat to them. Otherwise, how would they live with cannibal flowers that could break through metal?

According to the current results, the watered mutant plants were nourished, although they were healthier, there was no secondary variation.

Luo Xun planted more, especially in the grain growing room. There was a total of two acres, half was wheat, the other was rice which could be harvested in a few months. But the rest of the room was filled with peanuts, corn and other vegetables. The vines climbing up the planting racks would cover the roof in the future.

Below the vine crops, they planted a variety of vegetables. Of course the leafy vegetables grew the fastest. Hot peppers and plants like tomatoes with longer growth cycles also needed supports. Everyone's hearts were filled with joy looking at the thriving green seedlings in the room.

However the amount of wood at home was still limited and there was not enough metal to make all the planting racks. They had to set some aside to protect against the coming zombie wave, so they could only temporarily focus on these rooms.

The first thing they did after getting up early was look around with the telescope. Before going to bed they would check the satellite feed for when the zombies would pass through their area before reaching the southwest base.

Before going to bed Yan Fei had completely sealed the vast majority of the base, only leaving a room on the third floor as a study room and to scout the situation. These days they also watched the radio waves.

"It hasn't moved yet, let's have dinner first." Luo Xun carefully observed the situation outside – the blue sky stretched for miles with only a few clouds floating in the sky. The sun had not completely risen, all looked quiet and beautiful.

With the confirmation of no problem at the moment, the group swallowed their unease and went to the first floor for a meal.

Due to fear of being outside when the zombies passed through, they closed the doors and sealed all the entrances to not even let light through. The first floor was in darkness, they had to turn on the lights in order to eat.

The solar panels were hidden, fortunately their team did not need too much electricity so their current batteries should suffice. With the good weather, even with their daily consumption of electricity, the rest of the battery was filled. The remaining energy was enough to last for a month or two.

Breakfast was millet porridge, pickles and some onions. The team ate and were ready to get to work in the basement – the planting racks were not completely done. Some of the vine seedlings had began to grow almost overnight and roped around everything.

People no longer used 'rope' in the traditional sense made of cotton, instead dried straw and other things. They did not have pigs or cattle to feed these stalks and could be used to make small baskets and other items. It would be good to teach Yu Xinran how to make sme handicrafts.

The crowd was finishing their breakfast when they heard a click sound, as if something had fallen on the metal wall.

The room became even quieter, everyone looked up at the same time before climbing the stairs to check outside. Even without a telescope, when they looked outside everyone sucked in a breath of cold air – the zombie tide had arrived.

In the sky wind zombies were flying, on the ground zombies were marching forward. There was a variety of appearances – tall, small and so on. The largest common characteristic – all the zombies looked less and less human.

The most obvious difference between the bodies at the start of the apocalypse was the skin color and some wounds, even some clothing. But now, all the hair had fallen off, nails had lengthened, even their teeth had sharpened and their bodies had turned red.

Many of them no longer walked upright instead crawling – often the two forelimbs had thickened and looked similar to hind legs.

Today's zombies could no longer be considered like a human, but more like an evolved ape. Apart from the fact that they did not breathe or other signs of life. When people saw these creatures again, they would doubt if they were the same thing as in the past.

The zombies near the mutant farmland that Luo Xun and team had fled from were not the same. Luo Xun had been chased all the way into the mutant farmland, if not for the small bun protecting them, the zombies would have rushed in.

This time because of the mutant farmland was in their way, the zombies rushed in from the beginning.

Some of the zombies were entangled in the plants – the ones behind them did not care and stepped forward until they were also entangled.

After the vanguard was entangled, the zombies in the rear began to turn around. Of course there were still a lot of zombies in conflict with the roadside plants.

After observing for a while, Luo Xun whispered, "Go to the basement and try not to make any sound."

The sound just now should have been a flying zombie accidentally dropping some stones while flowing overhead.

As long as their existence was not discovered, they would not target the building. All they had to do now was return to the basement as soon as possible and carefully hide themselves for the next few days.

The group walked with gentle steps towards the basement. They left a small surveillance camera – the small camera from the past. It was facing the window and the recording was broadcast live to the basement computer. They could monitor the outside as needed. They would not go back upstairs until it became relatively safe outside.