Back to the Apocalypse Chapter 125

translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
“Basement third floor." Xiao Sa deliberated for a moment, then pointed to the cold storage area at the very bottom of the map.
Bai Jing did not hesitate at all. He nodded his head lightly and pulled Xiao Sa with him, the two of them disappearing instantly from the spot.
In the dark, enclosed space, they weren't able to see their hands in front of them. The stiff shuffling sounds of the zombies' footsteps rasped out as they moved back and forth in the empty basement, the sounds particularly loud.
After the two of them regained their footing, they quickly hid in a corner, pressing their bodies close to the wall as they tried to sense the situation around them.
There weren't very many zombies in the third floor of the basement. There were around thirty zombies around the entrance, and another twenty or so at the entrance to the cold storage on the right side. There were also several zombies that continuously walked along the corridor just like guards on patrol, and it was unknown if it was due to some remnants of their memories before they died.
Bai Jing drew a few strokes on Xiao Sa’s hand. The two men had cultivated a high degree of tacit understanding; Xiao Sa immediately understood his meaning and carefully hid himself. Bai Jing placed a space shield around him, and when Xiao Sa nodded, he turned to head towards the right.
Bai Jing used his powers and sent out a barrier from the door. This was an ability he had developed after he advanced to the fifth level, and it could effectively isolate their auras from everyone outside as long as they were a lower level than him.
The two men moved very quickly. The third floor basement was an important military area that ordinary workers weren't allowed to enter, so the few zombies there were not high-leveled. The most powerful ones were the two level two zombies that guarded the entrance; the rest were all ordinary zombies and level one zombies. It had been over a year since the apocalypse, and it was rare to see zombies that hadn't advanced. Bai Jing idly speculated that these zombies had never experienced anything before.
The two high level ability users didn't make a sound as they dealt with the twenty plus zombies. Bai Jing suddenly had a suspicion that Xiao Sa had planned all this long ago, which was why he chose the third level basement.
He didn't have time to think too much about it. Bai Jing understood that time was precious. The longer they could delay before alerting the zombies to their presence, the better it would be for him and Xiao Sa. He wasn't able to support the barrier that he had laid down before for too long. Although they didn't need to worry about low level zombies, they would inevitably attract the attention of the high level zombies if there were too many fights. Their behaviour this time was a bit like venturing deep into the tiger's cave to pluck out the tiger's whiskers.
With the password provided by He Yong and Xiao Sa’s metal powers, it was no problem for them to open the heavy, cold storage door. Bai Jing quickly emptied out the contents, then went on to the next cold storage area, continuing on until everything in the third floor of the basement storage had been cleaned out.
The success of this harvest made Bai Jing smile as he pulled Xiao Sa to the second level of the basement. They arrived in the corridor between the No. 13 warehouse and No. 12 warehouse.
There were several times more zombies on the second floor than on the third floor, and Bai Jing could clearly feel the aura of several level three zombies. In addition, there was also the pressure of level four zombies coming from the floor above.
They didn't rush into action. Instead, they flashed into Bai Jing's space where he took a deep breath. There was a sharp, stabbing pain in his brain, and his body felt slightly weak.
“What’s wrong?” Xiao Sa was concerned. He had naturally noticed Bai Jing's discomfort.
“It’s all right. I've just exhausted my powers. I'll be fine after some rest. I overdid it." Bai Jing's face was bitter, and he felt extremely depressed. He had felt that it was a little difficult when they teleported to the third level of the basement, but because it was within the scope of what he could bear, he hadn't paid any attention to it. Who could've known that the aftereffects of overusing his powers would show up after teleporting to the second floor? Fortunately, they still had the space. He felt tired just standing up, let alone trying to fight.
“Speak clearly.” Xiao Sa’s face was slightly severe. He would never allow anything to slide when it came to Little Jing's physical safety.
Bai Jing frowned and organized his words for a while. Some things could only be felt, and he really didn't know how to explain it. He thought for a moment, then said, "It's like this. Teleportation is a space ability. Generally speaking, teleportation is simply moving from one place to another, but in an enclosed space like the basement where we're surrounded by thick copper and iron walls, and the air doesn't circulate, I can't find a path to follow. If we want to teleport from one enclosed space to another, there is no moving air to use as a medium, so I can only tear space apart to form a space channel in order to teleport. With my current strength, it's a little hard to create two tears in space within a three hour period."
Although Xiao Sa didn't quite understand, he was relieved to know that Little Jing hadn't encountered any big problems. His expression was deep as he cuddled Bai Jing in the spring, making up his mind to take strict care of him in the future so as to avoid anything unexpected happening. This time, he had only become weakened, but what about next time?
Xiao Sa felt very helpless. Looking at his lover in the spring as he closed his eyes and meditated, he felt that his beauty was astonishing. Who told him to fall in love with this careless little devil?
If Bai Jing knew what he was thinking, he would cry out in grievance that he was just too unlucky. He had advanced in ranks continuously, and then they had travelled day and night immediately afterwards. He had basically had no time to practice his powers at all; otherwise, he wouldn't have made such a big mistake.
Unfortunately, it was very difficult to change Xiao Sa's mind once he'd made a decision. In the future, Bai Jing was left very depressed because of Xiao Sa's strictness.
After meditating for two cycles, Bai Jing was once again full of energy. Six hours had passed; the two of them casually ate something to fill their stomachs, covered themselves in a space shield, and emerged from the second floor of the basement.
Third level zombies had already begun to develop intelligence. Although they were quite ignorant, they were already different from the lower level zombies that only relied on scent and sound. The third level zombies could use sight and think simple thoughts.
The two of them were not so lucky this time. They fell into the sight of a level three zombie as soon as they appeared.
Bai Jing reflexively sent out a space barrier, the two ends covering the narrow corridor and forming a transparent barrier. The area in front of them was covered in an intense glow, and the corridor instantly brightened. The darkness outside the corridor and the brightness inside were like two extremes, and all of this happened within a mere two seconds.
Xiao Sa moved quickly to the rear exit, blocking the zombie's path.
A surprising scene emerged. The level three zombie didn't try to fight. Instead, it turned and ran at a very fast speed in the opposite direction but hit its head against the barrier. The zombie anxiously stretched out its neck, a grunting sound emerging from its throat. It was obvious that it was trying to call for help.
How could Xiao Sa let it succeed? He exerted the pressure of a level six ability user, taking advantage of the law of survival in the jungle. The weak had an absolute fear and obedience to the strong, and even if they were natural enemies, the level gap was too big. The level three zombie that had no way to escape was quickly eliminated.
After removing the nucleus, Xiao Sa arrived at the entrance to the No. 13 warehouse. Under the command of Xiao Sa’s power, the heavy metal gate became very obedient.
Looking at the weapons inside, Bai Jing choked and suddenly felt that he was truly inferior. What did the old arms deals he had made amount to? What good were the large amounts of weapons he had amassed in his space? In fact, the really good things were actually here.
Bai Jing was unable to wrench his eyes away as he looked at the neatly stacked laser cannons. A thought instantly appeared in his mind involuntarily - he didn't want to leave even a single hair for He Yong!
Xiao Sa patted his head and said, “Hurry up.”
Bai Jing hurried to put everything away and regretted that he hadn't had time to check what had been in the basement third level's cold storage because of how dark it had been. He had a feeling that this trip to the military factory would certainly earn them a lot of profit.
The two of them acted very carefully and didn't dare make any loud noises. When they encountered places where there were many zombies gathered together, they carefully avoided them and used teleportation to switch to a different location, not returning until the zombies had scattered. In this way, they went back and forth all over the science and technology building, and collected a large stash of the arms and weapons.
Three days passed by quickly, and the corpses grew more and more anxious. Bai Jing and Xiao Sa clearly felt that taking action was growing increasingly difficult. On one occasion, a level five zombie had been hiding at the door of a warehouse waiting to ambush them, but unfortunately, it had underestimated the troublesome human beings and had ended up instead contributing a fifth-grade nucleus to them.
Bai Jing and Xiao Sa became more and more careful. Based on the current situation, they didn't want to come into contact with any senior zombies until the very last minute if they could help it. Otherwise, the ones who would be able to take advantage would be the people who would soon be arriving at their destination: the team that was coming here on the mission.
After several days of investigation, Bai Jing and Xiao Sa also quickly understood the distribution of the zombies. Other than the fourth floor and the warehouse behind the training grounds, they had been almost everywhere else.
The zombies patrolling the science and technology buildings had increased their patrol frequency from the scattered patrols three days ago to one every five minutes. Bai Jing had to admit that they had perhaps met a disciplined and organized group of zombies, and the fourth floor and the warehouse behind the training grounds were where the senior zombies lived. Bai Jing very clearly felt that the senior level zombies knew of their existence, but because their strengths were about the same, and they hadn't offended them yet, the two of them were safe and had reached a delicate balance. If they went to the fourth floor, or there were any slight changes to the balance, they would soon come up against each other.
Xiao Sa didn't have many thoughts about this. So what if zombies now had intelligence? As long as there was no conflict of interest, who cared if they went and died? Other than Little Jing, he wouldn't take risks for anyone.
Bai Jing was somewhat confused. He had been seized too early in his previous life and had always operated in the south, so he was unclear on the situation in the north and how future development had been. He only knew that food had been scarce, and although the Capital was able to develop soilless cultivation, the quality and quantity were not as good as what could be grown in his space, which was why he had become a test subject.
But what about the zombies? How had the zombies developed? And the plants…
Bai Jing felt like his world outlook had been reversed in an instant. However, looking at the man beside him, he soon became calm again. In any case, they would be together forever in this lifetime, no matter what.
Despite his intellectual fear of the zombies, Bai Jing soon discovered the benefits. By this time, the mission team had also already arrived at the entrance to the military factory.
They had over 1800 people in their ranks when they set out, and at this point in time, there were still 1700 people left. Over a hundred people had been lost, but it was hard to say whether it was a tragedy or not. At least, most of them had arrived safely.