Chapter 33

The mutated bees temporarily delayed their plan to clean up the community that day.

But Zhou Yun was very happy and spent several days excitedly wandering around the beehives, observing whether the bees were adapting and looking for the queen.

Guan Yuanfeng found it amusing to see Zhou Yun staring at the mutated bees every day. Zhou Yun even went so far as to transplant several flowering shrubs into the backyard just to help with beekeeping. The rooftop herb garden was put on hold for now, which made Guan Yuanfeng laugh at the sight.

During these days, Guan Yuanfeng mostly stayed active in the community downstairs. He even took Comet with him to gather gasoline from abandoned vehicles in the neighborhood. He started up a generator and powered up the villa’s electrical system, cooking meals for Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun commented on the meal Guan Yuanfeng had made, “It’s edible, and the portions are large, a one-pot dish.”

The one-pot dish was a braised pork meatball soup with cabbage, dried bamboo shoots, wood ear mushrooms, golden needle mushrooms, vermicelli, cured meat, and sausage slices. Though it didn’t look very appetizing, the taste wasn’t bad.

Zhou Yun put some sausages, fish balls, beef balls, and other semi-processed foods into the villa’s fridge. He also moved food from his community scavenging efforts to the villa for storage. With the vegetables from the backyard now available for harvest, the villa’s food supply was sufficient, though a bit mixed.

Guan Yuanfeng served Zhou Yun a leek and egg pancake, saying, “I’m really not good at cooking.”

Zhou Yun responded, “How many crystal cores did you collect today?”

Guan Yuanfeng replied, “Sixty-seven. They’re all over there. You can check later.”

He was indeed a terrifying crystal core harvester now, much more efficient than when he did it on his own, though the amount of crystal cores he needed for upgrades was also growing. Zhou Yun asked, “I’ll choose some for you to absorb. How many can you absorb each day now?”

Guan Yuanfeng answered, “Fifteen.” After a moment, he added, “I think it’s time to head into the city to hunt some zombies. The community is almost cleared.”

“And,” he furrowed his brows, “the zombies in the community are pretty weak.”

Zhou Yun said, “That’s true. The city zombies should be stronger, but there are fewer mutated cores there. Let’s go to the Qingyun Reservoir first. Otherwise, it will be too cold soon, and it’ll be harder to catch mutated fish in the water.”

“And in the mountains and forests near the reservoir, there are many wild animals. We might also find mutated plants and animals there.”

Guan Yuanfeng nodded. “Alright.”

Zhou Yun continued, “But first, let’s go to the city’s shopping mall to get some fishing rods, rubber boats, and other fishing and rescue equipment.” With Guan Yuanfeng’s powerful abilities, even the most zombie-infested, dangerous shopping mall seemed doable now.

Realizing that he felt a bit invincible with Guan Yuanfeng’s protection, Zhou Yun couldn’t help but laugh.

Guan Yuanfeng, noticing Zhou Yun’s sudden, inexplicable laughter, thought it was odd, but Zhou Yun seemed to be in a really good mood lately. He had been infected by Zhou Yun’s cheerful attitude. “We can also check if there are any extra photovoltaic equipment, power generation equipment, water pumps, filtration equipment, and automatic sprinklers. That way, we won’t have to rely on you to water the backyard all the time.”

Seeing Zhou Yun tirelessly planting things by himself, Guan Yuanfeng suspected that if this continued, Zhou Yun would plant everything in the nearby area.

Zhou Yun nodded.

—–

The next day, the two of them geared up early in the morning, with even Comet donning protective gear and reinforced armor. Zhou Yun personally placed two mutated alligator turtle scales in Comet’s abdominal armor for extra protection—fire and water resistant, impervious to knives and guns.

The three of them—Zhou Yun, Guan Yuanfeng, and Comet—got in the car and headed to the most bustling department store in Danlin City.

As expected, the department store was filled with zombies, but once Guan Yuanfeng’s lightning struck, many of them fled immediately.

Zhou Yun sighed again. The lightning ability was truly too useful.

They easily cleared the mall, picking up useful items such as rubber boats, fishing rods, and life vests from the sports section. They also grabbed some sturdy baseball bats and solid tonfa as backup weapons. At the luggage section, Zhou Yun added a few lightweight, durable leather suitcases to their cart. He then pulled Guan Yuanfeng to the men’s clothing section.

He picked out numerous clothes for Guan Yuanfeng, from thermal underwear and gloves, leather hats, down jackets, and coats to sportswear, suits, wool socks, cotton socks, silk stockings, leather boots, sneakers, and cloth shoes—two suitcases filled to the brim. He even picked up two sets of high-end goose feather quilts and silk quilts.

Having seen Guan Yuanfeng’s modest personal belongings, Zhou Yun figured he probably didn’t like using things that belonged to others, so he decided to help him prepare a full set of gear this time, choosing soft, thin, and compact items to save space.

Guan Yuanfeng was both amused and helpless. “If we run out, we can always come back. There are plenty of other clothing stores outside.”

Zhou Yun shook his head. “Once the superpowered individuals from various bases start developing, they’ll begin searching for supplies.” Just like now, with Guan Yuanfeng’s lightning ability as a companion, he could travel freely, dramatically expanding his radius of activity.

Once the various bases stabilize and superpowered individuals start to grow in number, and when they realize that crystal cores can level up their abilities, they will begin forming teams to hunt zombies and gather supplies. The bases will then exchange crystal cores and supplies for points.

Guan Yuanfeng said, “They probably won’t come here for a while. There’s a river, the Linhe River, blocking the way. I heard the bridge was full of zombies when the broadcast was still active, telling survivors to wait for rescue boats. This area is near the forest, and it’s not an industrial city. It’s too small. There’s no value in coming here.”

Zhou Yun nodded, knowing that Guan Yuanfeng was right. Moreover, there were no survivor bases in the provincial capital, and only one military survivor base in the nearby three provinces. The rest were small private bases without the strength to clear this area.

Guan Yuanfeng furrowed his brows again. “I wonder where the nearest base is. I heard they were calling survivors to head toward the provincial capital.”

Zhou Yun picked out a few high-quality leather belts and placed them in the suitcase, casually saying, “Beiming.”

Guan Yuanfeng raised his thick eyebrows. “Beiming City? Isn’t that a port city? Why do you think it’s there?”

Zhou Yun answered succinctly, “This province has always been a place with fierce local customs, valuing courage and martial prowess. Beiming City, a coastal city, is even known as ‘the first ruthless city.'”

“By now, the gray forces and families at the port will definitely organize the fishermen to protect their own families.”

Guan Yuanfeng understood. “Beiming City is surrounded by mountains and faces the sea. It is easy to defend but hard to attack. Once the zombies inside the city are cleared out, it will be well-defended.”

Zhou Yun nodded and said no more. He picked out a pair of sunglasses for Guan Yuanfeng to try on.

Guan Yuanfeng adjusted the glasses. “You should pick a few clothes as well.”

Zhou Yun had bought many clothes before the apocalypse, but under Guan Yuanfeng’s piercing gaze, he still picked out a down jacket. “This should be enough. I already have a lot at home, but there’s no space to store more.”

Guan Yuanfeng glanced at a nearby expensive shirt. Though he didn’t understand brands, he knew this was a luxury label. He picked out several leisure shirts made of silk and linen fabric and handed them to Zhou Yun. “I see you like wearing shirts, take these. They’re going to go bad if they stay here.”

The apocalypse had been going on for almost half a year, and the place had accumulated a thick layer of dust, with the stench of zombies everywhere. Before the apocalypse, these luxury brands were inaccessible to people like them, but now, they were gathering dust in the stores.

Zhou Yun suddenly remembered something else. “It’s getting cold. Let’s get some heating devices, and then head to the watch store to pick out a couple of waterproof, perpetual motion watches.”

Guan Yuanfeng had no objections. He asked Comet to follow Zhou Yun and protect him while he cleared the zombies with lightning strikes. They first went to the small home appliance section and grabbed some electric heaters, electric blankets, warmers, and hot water bottles. Then, they went to the watch and jewelry section downstairs.

Danlin City was still small, so there weren’t any super expensive watches, but the luxury watches in the glass cases were already out of their price range—watches they could never afford before the apocalypse.

Zhou Yun chose two solar-powered, waterproof watches with functions like perpetual calendars, star charts, and moon phases. He handed one to Guan Yuanfeng and placed the remaining valuable watches in the suitcase. These were valuable technological items that would still be useful in the apocalypse.

Guan Yuanfeng looked at the watch, noting the astonishing price on the box. He raised an eyebrow, then casually put it on. He looked over to see Zhou Yun carefully inspecting the jewelry section and asked, “In the apocalypse, will these still be useful?”

Zhou Yun replied, “After all, precious metals are non-renewable on Earth. Gold is still an important material for scientific research and medicine. But in this display case, there aren’t many valuable gold or silver pieces. It’s mostly gold-plated jewelry or low-purity items. I imagine the truly valuable stuff has been locked away in safes. We don’t need them right now, so there’s no point in bothering.”

Guan Yuanfeng nodded. “So, what else do you want?”

Zhou Yun glanced over at the cosmetics and perfume section. “Let’s get some perfume.”

“Perfume?” Guan Yuanfeng asked.

Zhou Yun explained, “It seems to help repel zombies. Spraying it around the house or on people might cover up the smell of blood and body odor, lowering the chances of being detected by zombies. We need to experiment further.”

Guan Yuanfeng nodded. The two of them pushed a cart to the perfume section and collected several bottles. After checking the time, Guan Yuanfeng asked, “The supermarket is on the lower floor. Should we go?”

Zhou Yun shook his head. “There’s nothing particularly needed right now. The lower floor leads to the parking garage, where there will definitely be more zombies. It’s a waste of time. Let’s go to the agricultural equipment store.”

“…”

Guan Yuanfeng said, “Okay.”

Zhou Yun explained with a smile, “I’m looking for a good fishing net and some winter farming tools, like thermal films, greenhouse frames, and automatic irrigation systems.”

Guan Yuanfeng found his serious explanation rather endearing.

After leaving the department store, a group of zombies had gathered outside. Guan Yuanfeng swiftly cleared them with a lightning strike. They loaded their collected items into the car and drove towards the outskirts of the city, where there was a forest farm, a nursery, and many agricultural equipment and seed shops.

The vehicle proved sturdy, with high wheels, and they sped through the streets, crashing through zombie groups without a second thought. Soon, they reached the outskirts, where the number of zombies suddenly dropped.

They stopped by a few agricultural equipment stores and gathered fishing nets, hand-held net bags, electric fishing nets, underwater fishing cages, and fish feed. They also picked up a few small agricultural tools, such as a small reel-style sprinkler, a greenhouse walking-type sprinkler, and several large rolls of greenhouse film, along with boxes of pesticides and bags of fertilizer.

Zhou Yun saw the sign for the forest farm in the distance and felt a little excited. “The forest farm… I wonder if they have any good fruit or flower trees—though we’ve already collected a lot today.”

Guan Yuanfeng replied, “Let’s go take a look. If you want anything, we can gather it and come back tomorrow to pick it up.”

Zhou Yun considered it. As long as there were no mutated tree saplings, he was fine, so he got into the car.

Guan Yuanfeng drove directly into the forest farm and parked in the nursery area.

There were very few zombies here, and the area was filled with rows of young trees, mostly common landscaping trees like banyan trees, crape myrtles, yellow bellwoods, phoenix trees, jacarandas, acacia trees, and sweet osmanthus.

Guan Yuanfeng drove slowly, lowering the window so Zhou Yun could take a look at the trees.

Zhou Yun focused on the trees outside and suddenly said, “That’s Aquilaria! Such a valuable species. I can’t believe they have it here.”

Guan Yuanfeng stopped the car. “Let’s get out and check. Want to take some saplings?”

Zhou Yun nodded. “Sure.”

Guan Yuanfeng watched as Zhou Yun got out of the car and walked into the nursery. The Aquilaria saplings must have been imported by the farm. There were only about 30-40 saplings planted in black nutrient bags. They looked similar, but Zhou Yun carefully examined each one and finally picked a sapling to place in the car.

Guan Yuanfeng was surprised: “Not picking a few more plants?” He glanced at the seedling, which seemed similar to the others, but its leaves appeared to have some silver veins.

Zhou Yun said, “We have a lot to take today, so just choose a few useful ones. This tree species is valuable, but it takes many years to grow. It’s mainly used for furniture, and in the apocalypse, its use is limited. Moreover, agarwood has some medicinal value, it can warm the stomach, stop vomiting, and promote blood circulation.”

Based on his experience in the future, rare and precious ancient tree species tend to mutate more easily, which is why he had searched carefully. Sure enough, he found one.

Once mutated, the tree species would grow much larger and be easier to cultivate. If enhanced with abilities, the seeds would likely produce mutated trees.

Huanghuali wood is valuable for furniture. Although the apocalypse has come, the pursuit of luxury goods by the powerful is endless… After all, it is a rare and valuable economic tree species, and being able to cultivate more is a good thing.

It would be even better if he could find a better mutated tree species.

Thinking this, he went to a nearby nursery and soon realized that this area seemed to be dedicated to rare tree species. He saw rare saplings of agarwood, golden nanmu, rosewood, monkey pine, odd nanmu, golden camellia, and red maple, but unfortunately, none of them were mutated.

Soon, he made a new discovery—he found a patch of yew saplings. Among them, he found one mutated sapling and, suppressing his excitement, carefully picked it out.

Yew roots, stems, leaves, and bark contain high levels of paclitaxel, an expensive cancer treatment drug, known as a “chemotherapy wonder drug.” Originally, this species grew slowly and was difficult to cultivate, but now it had mutated, meaning its growth speed would accelerate and its medicinal value would increase.

Once mutated tree species were cultivated… regardless, with these two rare mutated trees, his trip today wasn’t in vain.

He returned to the car and told Guan Yuanfeng to keep going. Soon, they discovered the medicinal plant section, which included saplings of ginseng, schisandra, eucommia, goji berries, licorice, cypress, forsythia, cinnamon, and other common herbs. He didn’t pick too many, just a few types he hadn’t planted yet, though there were still no mutated saplings.

Next, they reached the fruit tree section, where Zhou Yun picked a few rare fruit saplings like Longgong fruit trees, mango trees, pineapples, wax apples, and walnuts to load into the car.

However, with the approaching winter chill, these fruit trees, along with the rare saplings, would likely not survive without proper care.

Seeing the regret on Zhou Yun’s face, Guan Yuanfeng said, “If you want more saplings, pick them out. Tomorrow I’ll come back and get them for you.”

Zhou Yun shook his head, a bit melancholic: “It’s all about fate. Winter is coming soon, and we can only save so many. The nursery is huge, but there’s only the two of us. I still have plenty in the greenhouse.”

Guan Yuanfeng didn’t know how cold the coming winter would be, but Zhou Yun did. It would be unprecedentedly cold, with temperatures as low as minus thirty degrees. Luckily, they had stockpiled a lot of food and gasoline.

However, it was still important to gather more diesel and gasoline, just in case. The oil storage tanks on the rooftop could hold ten cubic meters, so they should fill them up soon.

He tried to comfort Guan Yuanfeng: “After we get through the winter, the saplings that survive may mutate and evolve.”

Guan Yuanfeng was surprised: “Plants can mutate too?”

Zhou Yun vaguely said, “It feels like it might. Some things are a bit different.”

Guan Yuanfeng thought it made sense—people and animals mutate, so why couldn’t plants?

He recalled Zhou Yun planting cacti in mutated fish intestines and transplanting the jasmine from the community to his villa’s front and back yards. Jasmine was a very common and unremarkable plant, and in Danlin city, nine out of ten communities had it in their flowerbeds. Yet, Zhou Yun planted it in his yard, and the flowers were blooming profusely, filling the air with fragrance, unlike any other jasmine.

Zhou Yun had already placed the saplings in the car and closed the door. “Let’s go, let’s check out the next area.” Initially, he was excited about the two mutated plants he had found, but since there were no more, he felt a bit down. Mutation in plants was less common and slower in the early days of the apocalypse, mostly seen in wild plants, but it had been increasing over time.

Thinking back, it seemed that mutated animals, zombies, and ability users died, returning to the earth, and their energy nourished the mutated plants.

Lost in thought, Guan Yuanfeng didn’t disturb him. He just started the car and drove around the area, reaching the edge of the forest. There, they saw chickens hopping all over the place, and a zombie caught in the barbed wire.

The zombie seemed to have been pierced by the fallen barbed wire, unable to escape due to its lack of intelligence, only mindlessly howling.

After stopping the car, Guan Yuanfeng grabbed a knife and easily decapitated the zombie.

Zhou Yun, with Comet, also got out of the car. Seeing the chicken coop surrounded by wire mesh and fishing nets, he understood: “These are free-range chickens from the forest farm.”

Guan Yuanfeng nodded, looking at the broken parts of the fence: “There must have been quite a few escapes.”

Zhou Yun looked at the local free-range chickens: “These are purebred local chickens. They’ve been raised for so long and are free-range… they must be delicious. Let’s catch them all.”

Boiled chicken, stewed mushrooms with local chicken, steamed chicken with crystal sauce, honey-roasted chicken, chicken soup hotpot… Winter would be long, and they, along with Comet, needed a lot of food. Since Guan Yuanfeng’s place was now cleared, they could raise these chickens there…

Now that there was no market, getting meat in winter would be difficult.

Guan Yuanfeng nodded, and as Zhou Yun prepared to go inside, he grabbed his arm: “You wait here.”

After saying that, he returned to the car, grabbed a fishing net, and spread some fish feed on the fence gap, tying it tightly to form a deep pocket-like net.

Zhou Yun thought that Guan Yuanfeng would ask Comet to go inside and chase the chickens, but unexpectedly, Guan Yuanfeng raised his hand, and suddenly, several small whirlwinds rose on the hillside, spinning to drive the chickens away. Although wind abilities weren’t as rare as lightning abilities, they were still relatively uncommon.

In Zhou Yun’s past life, he had seen wind abilities, but few could master tornado skills so early. Most of them could only summon gentle breezes or single wind blades.

It was the first time he had seen someone like Guan Yuanfeng, who could control over a dozen tornadoes at once, with lightning hidden inside the whirlwinds and wind blades carrying electricity.

Comet howled excitedly and rushed up the hill to chase the chickens.

These free-range chickens had been living like this for a long time, and since they hadn’t eaten much good food, most of them were lean, fast with long feathers and legs. They flapped their wings and ran swiftly. Some were attracted by the feed and came over to peck at it, while others, chased by Comet and the swirling whirlwinds, unknowingly ran into the nets.

Guan Yuanfeng skillfully tightened the net’s rope, and the bag full of free-range chickens was captured.

Zhou Yun, his eyes wide, said, “Impressive, a real chicken-catching expert.”

Guan Yuanfeng casually replied, “Not as good as you, frog killer.”

The two exchanged a smile.

However, Zhou Yun originally only planned to catch a few chickens to put in the trunk, but now the trunk was already full with an inflatable boat, agricultural equipment, and other supplies. The two back seats were packed with suitcases from the department store shopping spree, and the aisle was filled with saplings, so even Comet had to curl up and sit in the back.

Now, with Guan Yuanfeng’s high efficiency, catching dozens of lively chickens in one go, what to do? If there were a few warm piles of chicken droppings in the car… the smell would be unbearable, and the car couldn’t be used.

Zhou Yun was in a bit of a dilemma when he saw Guan Yuanfeng open the trunk. With a swift kick, he climbed to the car roof, first tearing open a prepared woven bag and spreading it on the roof. Then he reached out and said to Zhou Yun, “Hand me the fishing net bag.”

Soon, Guan Yuanfeng easily placed the entire bag of chickens on the car roof and tied it to the luggage rack.

The roof, originally designed for high-end off-road vehicles to install drones or solar panels, now had a bag of clucking chickens tied to it. The scene had turned from luxurious to a rural cargo-carrying small pickup.

Zhou Yun stood below, watching Guan Yuanfeng as he pulled the luggage straps and the climbing rope he had grabbed from the department store to secure the chicken bag on the roof, his movements quick and steady.

Zhou Yun couldn’t help but smile, thinking about how the mighty and powerful Guan Yuanfeng, with his lightning speed and wind abilities, was now using all his talents to handle a few clucking chickens. It was both impressive and amusing.

Guan Yuanfeng looked down from the roof and saw Zhou Yun smiling brightly, his eyes shining. He knew Zhou Yun must be in a good mood and thought to himself, “With such small things making him so happy, he’s so easy to satisfy.”