End of World Businessman

Author: He Feng Yang

Translator: HeXie  

Editor: Larkspur

Chapter 44.1:  Temporary Stay at Qingmin (First) [1]

The Craniotomy Robot dashed forward like a gust of wind. With a leap, its robotic arms caught the yellow crystal in midair and deftly hid it into a mid-level segregation box. Upon landing, it curled its legs up, its conveyor belt quickly churning as it quickly hid behind a ruined SUV nearby, then cunningly turning off its engine and pretending to be dead.

To the zombies, it was thus that a nice, proper yellow crystal had disappeared into thin air just like that! They could smell neither the scent of the yellow crystal nor that of the crystal thief. These low-level zombies had neither memory nor the ability to discern things other than food: they were completely incapable of telling the difference between the lifeless Craniotomy Robot and the abandoned pile of junk by the road.

The sudden loss of their target, however, enraged them. The entire city was filled with their terrifying howls; it was possible to feel the vibrations even on the rooftop.

After Wu Ye had taken out the titan zombie in one shot, Yang Li Na and Co. immediately sealed the windows. At the higher levels, when the winds blew, the scent of the living quickly dissipated into the air – the zombies hadn’t the time to discover where this lot was hiding at.

Some unsatisfied third-level zombies still milled around the titan zombie’s corpse, trying to find the yellow crystal that had only appeared for a moment, like the ripples on the surface of the waters. The result was destined to disappoint them.

In contrast to the zombies’ disappointment, the hunters hiding upstairs finally exhaled harshly in relief. The shock and pressure brought to them by the titan zombie was simply too much. Even though it was now dead, it had left a lingering fear in them.

The zombies were evolving at a rate much faster than they had anticipated. After seeing how terrifying the titan zombie was, an invisible worry surfaced in everyone’s mind – if someday a hoard of titan zombies appeared, would the walls of Lan Cheng Base still be able to hold up? If these titan zombies continued to evolve, what more terrifying sight was awaiting them?

Does humanity still have a future?

The skies gradually darkened. Ji Yun retrieved two solar torches from his big canvas bag that’s basically a treasure chest and set them up in the living room. Everyone brought out their dried goods, put them together, then sat down to share their dinner. From early that morning when they had left to up until now, they had had nothing but some water – everyone was starving.

The coarse bread really didn’t taste good. Especially after it had cooled and hardened: it tasted like sawdust rendering it impossible to swallow without water. The oil pancake [1] though tasted better. The flour was mixed with oil before it was fried, and everyone had their own way of making it; the one Ji Yun and Qian Xin brought was the one their Professor Li had made especially for them. Not only was egg added, but it also had generous amounts of scallion meat filling. It tasted great.

However, the only fire ability user in their team, Su Jianbang, though, was the one most in need of a beating. Everyone dearly wished they could beat him as he had brought out four packets of braised beef instant noodles, and cooked it with his special abilities. He filled the room with the scent of beef and made everyone salivated.

Wu Ye offered up the two boxes of luncheon meat he had bought from the black market. It was mixed with the instant noodles and made one little pot –and there was enough soup for everyone to get a bowl, but the portion was so little it was gone before anyone could get a taste of it. Wu Ye had also brought ten packets of the compressed biscuits that didn’t sell well in the shop and split it with everyone.

Peng Zijun found some unopened bottles of good alcohol in one of the households on the top floor. After getting Wu Ye’s nod, he opened a bottle of Mao Tai [2] and split it with everyone. After having narrowly escaped death, even a simple dinner was enough to satisfy people.

Wu Ye recalled the lingering taste of the alcohol in his mouth. He’s not sure if it’s his senses that were off, but the Mao Tai in this world seemed to be richer – a random bottle here tasted like one of those special procurements [3].

After the meal, Wu Ye shared his plans for a base of their own with the others. Actually in the afternoon, when he and Qin Wuhua had closed the door and were discussing in the room, those with special abilities outside had already gotten bits and pieces of it.

The hunters that were hired were here for the riches, and they were the sort of people with a lot of courage and adventure spirit – they understood the idea of seeking riches in danger. Whether it was the idea of a secret base that Wu Ye was proposing or the amount he planned to pay them, it was a huge temptation. So, almost no one was objecting with the decision.

[1] most famously the Cong You Bing, or the scallion oil pancake / scallion pancake

[2] really good alcohol, think of the really expensive brandy or gin or wine or something and then you probably have some western equivalent of Mao Tai

[3] so in china there’s this practice where they sell most of the stuff, and keep the best as ‘special procurements/offerings’ – I hope you get what I mean – that is offered to the officials, authorities, or other ‘higher level’ people, quite often as bribes or just as a way to maintain a good relationship