Apocalypse Survival Guide for a Beta [GB] - Chapter 12

The washing area wasn’t far. Zhou Yu called through the door, “Lin Bai, Xiaxia was worried you wouldn’t have enough water, so I brought you two more buckets. Are you okay? Do you have any serious injuries? Do you need us to help bandage you?”

He waited a few seconds but didn’t hear a response. Worried, he stepped closer. “Lin Bai?”

“I’m fine, I just haven’t finished washing off all the blood. Leave the water by the door,” Lin Bai’s voice came from inside, faint and hazy.

Hearing her response, Zhou Yu let out a breath of relief. “Alright, call me if you need anything.”

His footsteps faded into the distance.

If Zhou Yu had opened the door at that moment, he would have seen Lin Bai removing something that should never have existed inside a human body.

An energy storage battery.

Only low-grade bionic humans had them. Advanced bionic models could sustain themselves through food, but unfortunately, Lin Bai wasn’t one of them.

Expressionless, she replaced the battery’s heat absorption panel with a diamond crystal she had taken from Peter. The special material of the diamond crystal had multiple facets and after her careful grinding, it could absorb heat and light from different angles, shortening her energy absorption time.

If only her factory settings hadn’t been configured for solar-thermal energy storage.

But there was no ‘if’ in this world. If there were, maybe the apocalypse could have been avoided too.

At the start of the apocalypse, there had been a period of endless daylight. The global surface temperatures became so extreme that ordinary people could barely survive. But within just half a year, the weather turned unpredictable with storms, lightning, snow, and rain shifting in the blink of an eye.

With the decreasing frequency of scorching sunny days, Lin Bai’s energy reserves were constantly running low.

Then she met Lou Tiannan. She discovered that not only could she absorb Lou Tiannan’s abilities, but also the energy particles he released. She could convert them into the energy she needed to function, which was an exciting revelation.

Until she perfected her energy storage battery, Lou Tiannan would do just fine as a temporary power source.

Lin Bai reinstalled the energy battery into her arm. Feeling the nearly empty reserves inside, she changed clothes without hesitation and headed straight for the isolation room that Zhou Yu and Lu Jia had set up for Lou Tiannan.

***

Inside the isolation room…

Lou Tiannan sat in the chamber wearing only shorts and a tank top, one leg propped up. His hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes were drenched in sweat, which streamed down his face and body like small rivulets, forming puddles on the floor beneath his chair. The wooden plank under him was almost entirely soaked.

He was acutely aware that he had overused his abilities over the past two days, especially today. He could feel the restless energy surging inside him.

For lower-tier ability users, overuse might result in their powers failing to activate or symptoms like extreme hunger and fatigue appearing.

But Lou Tiannan was different. His energy particles spread throughout his body, turning him into a walking fireball. His body could withstand it, but that didn’t mean it was pleasant.

He had to suppress the raging energy inside him. If he lost control…

The overwhelming heat made him clench his jaw. To distract himself, he forced his mind onto other matters, like his mission from the Federation, their next route, the safety of the survivors…

And a fleeting image of Lin Bai, covered in blood. His fingers twitched on the armrest as he recalled her body temperature. It had felt unusually cold…

Strangely, the moment he thought of Lin Bai, he felt his body temperature drop slightly.

That woman…

His eyelashes trembled. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, sharp and focused on the door. “Who’s there?!”

“It’s me.”

It was Lin Bai.

Lou Tiannan paused for a second before asking, “What are you doing here?”

“They’re serving food outside. Isn’t that torture for someone like me who doesn’t get to eat?” Lin Bai sat lazily on a rock outside the isolation room, chatting casually.

She wasn’t lying. Dinner was indeed being served at the camp. But per Lou Tiannan’s orders from last night, the three of them weren’t allowed any food today.

She had caught a glimpse from afar. Xi Ya was helping Peter out, while Li Meng had no one helping. After the chaos earlier in the afternoon, Li Meng was now sprawled in a corner like a dying dog.

Good. Lin Bai was pleased. Too bad the Blood Bone people were useless and hadn’t put a bullet in his head.

Even with the door between them, she could feel the surge of energy particles radiating from inside. Lin Bai couldn’t help but sigh in pleasure as the heat energy streamed into her body through her receptors. So comfortable…

“Go eat. I spoke to Zhu Liang.” Lou Tiannan’s voice came from inside.

“Absolutely not!” Of course not, she hadn’t finished recharging her energy yet. She put on a serious expression. “You’re the captain. If you keep changing your orders, the others won’t respect your leadership.”

“They wouldn’t dare.”

“Tsk…” Lin Bai shook her head in disdain. “Captain Lou, do you lead your team purely through intimidation?”

“You have a better idea?” For some reason, Lou Tiannan always found himself more emotional when dealing with Lin Bai.

“Nope.” Lin Bai shifted her posture slightly, moving her left arm closer to the isolation room, and then casually changed the subject. “Who is that Lisa from earlier? Her ability seems different from the others. Wind-type?”

“Yeah. Like the Tyke you killed today, she’s a squad leader from Blood Bone. Aside from the original five-element ability users who awakened at the start of the apocalypse, statistics show that other elemental ability users have been gradually increasing. Lisa awakened as a wind-type ability user half a year ago.”

“Gradually increasing…” Lin Bai silently repeated those words and then chuckled. “If she awakened six months ago and is already this powerful, wouldn’t she be invincible in a few years?”

“Unlikely.” The Federation had issued secret reports stating that after awakening their abilities, ability users could vaguely sense the existence of a threshold in their consciousness. Breaking through the tier would level up their abilities and significantly expand their mental sea. However, before the next breakthrough, they would experience prolonged backlash from their powers.

From all studied cases, the higher an ability user’s level, the more severe the backlash. The effects varied depending on their level.

Breaking through the tier was far from easy. Lou Tiannan had awakened his ability a year and a half ago, yet despite every instance of backlash bringing him closer to that threshold, actually crossing it remained an immense challenge.

Wen Xiaxia had broken through once, advancing from D-rank to C-rank. A week before her advancement, she felt extreme fatigue and then slept for three full days. When she woke up, her ability had leveled up.

There was, of course, a faster method by absorbing zombie crystal cores. However, data showed that using zombie cores for advancement was unsafe.

Lou Tiannan had tried absorbing the core of a third-tier zombie once, but the next time he overused his power, the backlash was even more severe.

Lisa’s ability was already above A-rank. If she wanted to level up, it wouldn’t be easy.

“Captain Lou, you’re quite confident!” Lin Bai had only asked out of curiosity and didn’t particularly care about the answer. She quickly switched to flattery. “Well, of course, you’re so strong. It’s not like ordinary people can compare to you.”

As Lin Bai spoke, the restless energy inside Lou Tiannan gradually calmed and his body temperature returned to normal. He glanced at his palm. His ability had strengthened again…

Every time he suppressed his surging energy, his ability seemed to grow. But this time… and last time… the suppression period was noticeably shorter.

While Lin Bai was still making half-hearted compliments outside, the isolation room door suddenly opened, revealing Lou Tiannan.

He stepped out, but before he could speak, Lin Bai sniffed the air and frowned. “Captain Lou, do you smell that? It’s… oranges? In this barren place, are there citrus trees around?”

Lou Tiannan paused, his expression unreadable. “I don’t smell anything. Go back to camp. I’ll be there soon.”

Lin Bai watched his back as he walked toward the washing area. She sniffed again. The citrus scent seemed to have been an illusion. Was there something wrong with her olfactory sensors?

***

Lou Tiannan went to shower. Although Lin Bai knew her energy absorption was only halfway done, she didn’t bother following him. When she returned to camp, she overheard Zhou Yu, Lu Jia, and Song Yan discussing bionic humans.

Seeing Lin Bai’s approach, Zhou Yu asked, “Lin Bai, Lin Bai! You got a close look at that boy Caesar today. Brother Liang told us he’s a bionic human. Do you think he gave you that handkerchief because of a command, or was it his own decision?”

“His own decision, probably.” Lin Bai joined their conversation. “Even household robots can sense when their owners need help and offer considerate services!”

Before the apocalypse, intelligent robots had been constantly improving and humanoid bionic models were available from various companies. They closely resembled humans and, thanks to their complex factory-set algorithms, could understand emotions to some extent and respond accordingly, making them very popular.

But after the apocalypse, humans were too busy surviving to care about robots. With power grids failing and wireless networks down, intelligent robots had become rare outside of safe zones.

“That makes sense. They always said those robots were lifelike, but I could always tell the difference. That Caesar kid is the first one who fooled me,” Zhou Yu mused, rubbing his chin.

“I was wondering the same thing,” Lu Jia added. “How is there such a good-looking young human still around in the apocalypse?”

Lin Bai didn’t comment on their discussion. Instead, she scanned the group and asked, “Where’s Xi Ya?”

At this, Zhou Yu shot her a look. “Oh, so now you remember you have a daughter? You’ve been here for so long and you’re only asking about her now. You really aren’t afraid something might happen to her.”

Lin Bai was indifferent. “Overprotection will just get her killed in the apocalypse.”

The group fell silent. They knew she was right.

“She took some food from Brother Liang and went to bring a meal to Captain Lou. Now that I think about it, you and your daughter both seem pretty concerned about others.”

Lin Bai held up a finger and shook it, disagreeing. “I don’t care about others. I only care about myself.”

Knowing that Xi Ya had gone to deliver food to Lou Tiannan, Lin Bai didn’t bother following up. She found a bed and lay down.

But barely two minutes later, Zhou Yu scooted over, his eyes shining. “Lin Bai, you seem pretty knowledgeable about abilities. Can you give me some pointers?”

If it weren’t for Lin Bai’s technique earlier today, he wouldn’t have gained the upper hand in the fight. Now, he was eager to learn more.

Lin Bai turned her head away. “Tired. Ask me after I sleep.”

“Ah, fine!” Zhou Yu relented, knowing Lin Bai had done a lot today. He decided to ask again tomorrow.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Xi Ya stood with her doll, looking up at Lou Tiannan.

Lou Tiannan had just finished his shower and changed into a black T-shirt and combat pants. Without a belt, the loose shirt made him look less intimidating than usual. His short hair was still damp and the thin fabric did little to hide his muscular frame. Compared to him, Xi Ya looked like a little bundle.

“You need something?” Lou Tiannan asked.