QT: LAC Chapter 121: Eighth World (4)

Chapter 121: Eighth World (4)
Translated by Zombie Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Sulo

From Bai Duan’s location to the west mountainous area, the direct path required them to pass through the urban area, so he chose to take a long detour. Although he would have to cover more distance, the probability of him running into a ‘big traffic jam’ would be smaller Even if one or two cars were abandoned on the road, it would not block the whole road. So he could use the solid off-road jeep to drive them there for the whole trip perhaps.

However, there were advantages and disadvantages in everything. Although the road trip would be more smooth, there would also be a shortage of supplies for the whole journey. After all, there were only a few houses and shops in the suburbs, and as survivors were more likely to search in places with low density of zombies, there would not be much left.

Bai Duan had to live frugally all the way. Fortunately, after the end of the world, the animals became stronger. Even if Bai Duan gave them something that would normally not be suitable for them to eat, there was no abnormal reaction. This made the situation more favorable—after all, Bai Duan really didn’t have any ready-made pet food on his hands, and there was no way that he could spare any of his food for them.

Thus, Bai Duan managed to get to the western mountainous area smoothly.

This western mountain area had been a tourist attraction before the end of the world. People in the city often came here for holidays on weekends to see the scenery, fish, play war games, and leisurely wash away their busy and tiresome week in the lake and mountains. And Bai Duan was a regular here.

He really liked the feeling of close contact with nature.

When they arrived in the western mountainous area, there were restaurants on both sides of the road and a farmhouse lay up ahead. As the farmhouse was located far away from the city and the base, there were not many survivors who came here. Finally, the situation of Bai Duan running out of supplies was solved.

Although it has been several months since the end of the world, and most of the food has gone bad after the power failure, there were still some processed meat and vegetables, plants, and fast food, such as instant noodles, chocolate candy, beverages, mineral water, and food that were in vacuum packaging or had gone through drying treatment. These could be eaten, and if well handled, made into a delicious meal.

As an orphan, with no money, and with the slow accumulation of talent from the previous worlds, Bai Duan had successfully lifted up his cooking skills in this world. Although he couldn’t reach the level of perfect color, fragrance and taste, he could at least make a cooked meal that could enter his mouth and fill his stomach.

After searching all the way, Bai Duan found a farmhouse that had a gas canister. Bai Duan lit the stove with a lighter, cooked several packs of instant noodles, put some dehydrated vegetables and mushrooms in, then heated up several vacuum packed chicken feet. After leaving the base for such a long time, he finally had his first hot meal.

The military dogs and golden snub-nosed monkey also had their heads in the bowls to eat. Although instant noodles were harmful for animals, they probably would not cause any harm to their intestines and stomach ever since after the end of the world. Or maybe it’s because Bai Duan’s companions swallowed a lot of Apocalypse Virus that they were not affected?

While eating the noodles, Bai Duan’s thoughts were taking a wild direction. When everyone was satisfied, they set foot on the journey to the mountains again. Up ahead was a long mountain road. The deeper they went, the road condition was worse and there were fewer houses on the side of the road. Fortunately, the environment in the mountain area did not seem to have changed because of the Apocalypse. It was possible that plants were like the animals, they were immune to the Apocalypse Virus. It may also be that they grew too slowly and thus, mutated slowly as well.

Driving carefully, Bai Duan felt like he went back before the Apocalypse. Everything was peaceful and comfortable.

After driving for nearly half an hour and finally seeing a small house again, Bai Duan stopped the car and entered the yard cautiously. After making sure that there was no danger around, he smashed the locked door open with violence.

There was no one living in the house, but there were all kinds of equipment and furniture. It might have belonged to people who built illegal houses for themselves, or perhaps this was a safehouse in the forest

Bai Duan walked around the house and felt satisfied. He was more surprised to find that there was still running water in the courtyard, and he didn’t know whether it was connected to the well water or some mountain stream. He had to say that this really solved a big problem for him.

The only thing that wasn’t good was that this little house had no defense. But in such a ‘deep forest’ place, zombies were even rarer than wild animals. In case of danger, Bai Duan’s own strength and the nearly 30 military dogs around him would be enough to defeat the enemy. In case of a zombie attack, and if it was a powerful mutation, the house would be useless no matter how strong it was.

He lifted the plastic bags and rags from the furniture, then took the basin of water, picked up the cleaning tools and started cleaning the house. Bai Duan saw the many cleaned rooms and his heart was full of achievement, then he moved the materials from the jeep all the way into the house.

Bai Duan was not very satisfied with the living environment. He changed his bedding into a new set, wiped his body down with cold water to wash away the grease, changed his clothes, and laid down on the bed.

The golden snub-nosed monkey disappeared in the surrounding woods as early as when Bai Duan decided to move in, and the dogs were also given instructions to know how to disperse, to rest in the house, to bask in the sun outside, and to patrol and explore the surrounding areas in groups.

Bai Duan did not restrain the actions of his companions. After all, he was only one person, who could not be responsible for the safety of all animals, and they should learn how to survive independently in this age.

After a short rest, Bai Duan sat cross legged on the bed and began to plan for his future life.

Although he had collected a lot of things from various farmhouses and crammed the jeep with them, he still couldn’t live long enough like this. The amount of gas left in the jeep, plus the gas he pumped from the gas station, was about enough for him to make two or three trips to the city. But going to search for supplies everytime could not be a long term solution to living

According to the research of the Research Institute of military base, the water source had not been polluted by Apocalypse Virus, and it could be drunk as long as it was boiled; most crops, vegetables and fruits did not mutate, so the base had also opened up several pieces of farmland inside to encourage people to plant. Unfortunately, the area of these farmlands were too small and the growth of crops was slow. Even if the ability of the wood espers could accelerate it, it was still difficult to feed all the survivors in the base. As for taking care of a larger area of farmland, they were presently not able to maintain it properly. However, although the base had made a lot of progress in planting crops, it was still a good choice for Bai Duan to leave.

He was a wood type esper himself. As long as he had a field, he could find seeds to plant in different seasons and be self-sufficient. There would be no big problem.

While thinking, Bai Duan made a long list for himself, most of which were for different kinds of seeds. The other part was for spices and daily necessities.

After planning his future life, Bai Duan finally breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing the sky getting dark, he was reluctant to light a candle and went to bed early.

That night, Bai Duan slept very comfortably. Occasionally, he Would hear a few low barks, but that didn’t dispel his sleepiness. Instead, it made him more comfortable — because Bai Duan knew that those loyal military dogs were guarding his safety.

Since leaving the base, Bai Duan had slept until dawn for the first time before opening his eyes, feeling full of energy.

Sitting up, he saw the golden snub-nosed monkey sitting on the windowsill in the morning light, with a very leisurely and relaxed posture.

Bai Duan couldn’t help but lean over and reach out with his hand and play with its long tail.

Feeling the touch on its tail, the golden snub-nosed monkey nimbly hooked his tail away, turned his head and looked at Bai Duan. Then he jumped on his shoulder and grabbed his neck.

Bai Duan rubbed the golden snub-nosed monkey’s shaggy fur, and just as he was about to say “Good morning”, he found several more small heads sticking out of the window, peeking in.

Bai Duan, who didn’t respond for a while, “………”

After getting out of bed and going to the window, Bai Duan looked down at the different kinds of monkeys squatting by the window, and was silent for a long time. Then he turned to his shoulder and asked, “Did you bring them back?”

The golden snub-nosed monkey responded cheerfully, grabbing the hair on the top of his head with his claws and slightly raising his chin.

Bai Duan held his forehead, pushed the door open and walked into the yard under the curious and cautious gaze of the monkeys. Then he found that there were several more dogs in the yard, lying next to the military dogs.

These dogs were ordinary local dogs, probably raised by the owners of the surrounding farmhouses. After the Apocalypse, the owners either escaped or died and became zombies, leaving the dogs to enter the mountain forest to survive on their own, and then the military dogs brought them here?

Bai Duan carefully interacted with these ‘new partners’ and soon dispelled their vigilance with his animal affinity. However, he did not expect that when these intelligent animals found out that Bai Duan did not hate the idea of new partners, the situation would get out of control.

Every morning, Bai Duan got up and found that there were several more members in his yard. Although these animals were not like the golden snub-nosed monkey, they appeared every few days, making his yard more and more… full of life.

One day, when Bai Duan got up and opened the door, he even found that he got a lion.

Standing at the door for a while, Bai Duan looked at the lion standing up and shaking his sideburns. He hesitated and called out, “Lazy Stuff?”

The lion’s ears trembled, and its lazy tail flicking was a response. Bai Duan made sure he wasn’t mistakened, but the lion was indeed once taken care of by him in the zoo. Because he was too lazy to move and stayed under the tree all day, he was nicknamed ‘Lazy Stuff’ by the staff.

Bai Duan raised his hand and tentatively touched the sideburns of the lion. It seems that the other side had not forgotten him, and when he accepted his intimacy, Bai Duan’s movements immediately got bolder.

Rubbing the lion’s head, Bai Duan chuckled, “You’re out of the zoo too? Where are your ladies? Not with you?”

Before he could complete his question, Bai Duan saw two lionesses walking into the yard with elegant cat steps. One of them had a dead goat in her mouth. Bai Duan did not know whether it was a wild one or one that escaped from the sheepfold.

“…Well, I don’t seem to have to worry about anything anymore,” Bai Duan took a swipe at the corner of his mouth and had to admit that animals were no worse than humans.

At the moment, the farmland that he worked hard to grow with his powers was just sprouting, and he still had to continue to eat the unhealthy food from other places. However, the golden snub-nosed monkey and military dogs had already learned how to be self-sufficient from the mountain forest. They ate more abundantly and were more satisfied than Bai Duan every day. They grew bulkier and healthier. Their strength had also become increasingly fierce and strong.

In this way, most of the animals wandering in the mountains, especially the beasts without any food chain relationship, gradually gathered near the residence of Bai Duan, and a large part of them were those who had escaped from the zoo. As a result, the security of the neighborhood was also growing tighter. Both humans and zombies would avoid any unnecessary conflicts with these wild animals that were dangerous to provoke.

With this group of guards, Bai Duan’s life became more and more carefree, and sometimes he even received gifts from them, such as mature wild fruits from the mountains or freshly killed rabbits.

Bai Duan was satisfied with such a life. He didn’t want to make any changes to it. He just wanted to farm alone until the end of time.

And yet, accidents happen all the time.

One night, Bai Duan was woken up by an unusual barking sound. Knowing that it was a warning sound from the dogs, he quickly got up and touched the hand gun bought from the military under the pillow.

He was careful and hid himself. Bai Duan looked out of the window and saw a moving shadow at the gate of his yard under the moonlight.

Judging by the movements, the intruder was not a zombie. It seemed that they were frightened by the dogs in the yard. The intruder dared not enter, but they didn’t intend to leave. Obviously, it shouldn’t be an ordinary passer-by.

Without hesitation, Bai Duan raised the gun, pulled the trigger, and the bullet whizzed past the intruder. Then he warned, “Don’t move! Hands up!”

The intruder paused, then slowly raised their hands to show that they had no weapons or intention to attack. Bai Duan held a gun in one hand, took out a flashlight in the other hand and pressed the switch.

The penetrating light directly shone on the intruder, making the intruder squint their eyes uncomfortably, but quickly look in the direction of the beam. Bai Duan knew that the person could not see him, but the person could not help shaking their head.

“Honey, why are you so rude? If you shake your hands a little, you will blow my head off!” The intruder bent their eyes in a smile and expressed their feelings of intimacy.

Bai Duan’s mouth was slightly drawn, which showed that he was not one to joke around. He was also polite and alienated, and never quarreled with others, but somehow, he subconsciously opened his mouth, “Who is your baby? Go away!”

Bai Duan was stunned at the end of the speech, because he realized that his response had a tone of familiarity and intimacy, as though he was greeting an old friend.

——It’s just. Weird!

The author has something to say:
I finally released GuanGuan! Wipes sweat.