Apocalypse Survival Guide for a Beta [GB] - Chapter 29

In a daze, Lou Tiannan felt someone patting his face. A familiar woman’s voice sounded close to his ear, “Captain Lou, drink some water before you pass out.”

He barely managed to recognize Lin Bai’s voice. A straw was pressed against his lips and water was squeezed into his mouth. The cool liquid flowed into his parched throat, finally offering some relief.

Lin Bai glanced at her half-empty water pouch, thinking to herself that it was a good thing she didn’t need food or drink.

After making sure Lou Tiannan had enough water and wasn’t in immediate danger, she looked outside. The rain was getting heavier. Whether it was due to the weather or their distance, her internal signal connection was barely detectable.

Rather than waste her energy trying to connect, she simply lay down beside Lou Tiannan, absorbing energy and conserving strength. She would figure things out when the rain stopped.

In the dark corner, the two of them lay side by side. The space was small, just enough for Lin Bai to stretch out, while Lou Tiannan, nearly 1.9 meters tall, had to keep his legs partially bent.

Lou Tiannan was uncomfortable both physically and spatially. It felt like there was a raging fire inside him, burning through his organs and veins inch by inch. The scorching pain spread relentlessly until it reached his gland, like countless sharp needles piercing it over and over again.

Amidst the intense pain, the feverish heat of the Alpha’s susceptibility period mixed in.

His teeth ached with an unbearable itch. It made him want to bite through flesh and skin, to mark, to be soothed by pheromones…

But there was nothing. The powerlessness and frustration only made his suffering worse and his body felt like it was on the verge of exploding.

In his unconscious state, Lou Tiannan restlessly moved. His arm brushed against a cool surface. Under the dual torment of his ability’s energy and his raging pheromones, his usual strong self-control crumbled. It was like a dying man in the desert stumbling upon an oasis, he couldn’t resist the temptation. He instinctively leaned into that coolness, even greedily pulling it into his embrace, rubbing against it in search of relief.

Lin Bai was startled awake by his movements. Even in the darkness, she clearly saw Lou Tiannan about to open his mouth to bite her.

Without a second of hesitation, she grabbed a piece of gauze, balled it up, and stuffed it into his mouth. Though his wrists were bound by the steel rings, his strength was unnervingly strong. Lin Bai found herself pinned beneath him. Her fingers fumbled inside her combat suit, retrieving a syringe, and she stabbed a dose of tranquilizer into his muscle.

A few seconds later, Lou Tiannan’s strength drained away and he slipped into a deep unconsciousness.

Lin Bai pushed him off her and grumbled to herself, ‘Alphas in their susceptibility periods are such a hassle.’

She turned over, using the heat radiating from Lou Tiannan’s body to gradually probe for a signal source…

***

For two days and nights, Lou Tiannan burned with fever. That night, he briefly regained consciousness. His body was still scorching hot.

Outside, the sound of pouring rain filled the air. Amidst the unbearable heat, he felt a patch of coolness on his chest and abdomen, the only place where his feverish agony found relief. With great effort, he lowered his gaze, trying to see what it was.

When he saw Lin Bai resting half of her body against him, he froze. That soothing coolness was coming from her.

“You—”

“Wait a moment before you speak.”

Lin Bai was leaning against Lou Tiannan’s chest, focusing on detecting Xi Ya’s signal source. It was weak, but she could sense it. She carefully adjusted her body’s magnetic field, trying to establish a connection with Xi Ya’s signal.

At that point, she could only hope that Lou Tiannan’s subordinates were at least somewhat competent.

Through an extremely weak signal, Lin Bai finally managed to link up with Xi Ya’s communication.

Once the connection was stable, she shifted, moving her back away from Lou Tiannan’s chest. Casually, she greeted him, “Captain Lou, you’re awake.”

The cool touch disappeared and the scorching heat returned instantly. Lou Tiannan frowned but quickly suppressed the strange sensation. He propped himself up against the wall, masking his previous loss of composure.

Lin Bai, however, paid him no mind. She pulled out some food and water, handing them to him while saying meaningfully, “Captain Lou, after all this, you should find yourself a partner. If there’s no suitable match in the military, can’t you look for one yourself?”

During the two days he was unconscious, that part of his body had been noticeably… prominent. It hadn’t gone down once. Tsk. Wasn’t he worried about hurting himself?

Lou Tiannan’s chest rose and fell twice, but instead of responding to Lin Bai’s remark, he asked, “Did you and your partner meet on your own?”

“Hmm… more or less. We grew up together,” Lin Bai answered casually.

Childhood sweethearts.

The sound of a compressed biscuit wrapper being torn open filled the air. Lou Tiannan’s hoarse voice followed, “What kind of person is your partner?”

***

On the other side, Zhou Yu, Song Yan, and the others had just made it to shore when they realized that Zhu Liang and Lu Jia were injured. Wen Xiaxia gave them some basic treatment before they continued along the shoreline, searching for any trace of Lou Tiannan and Lin Bai.

Wen Xiaxia and Zhou Yu dove underwater every day to look, while the others carefully searched along the shore. After three days, they still found nothing.

The rain soaked every one of their faces, but no one considered giving up. They had to find their captain!

Xi Ya was also now able to keep up with the team without slowing them down, as she had to find her mother.

Even though the older brothers and sisters took good care of her, she still missed Lin Bai. Thinking about Lin Bai made her want to cry, but she sniffled, wiped the raindrops from her face, and clenched her teeth as she trudged through the mud. She was sure she could find her mother.

Plop.

As she stepped over a muddy pit, a part of her doll fell from her waist. It was the doll’s leg, the one that her mother had repaired into a hidden knife. She bent down to pick it up, but just as her small fingers touched it, she froze.

Because the little knife was moving.

Her round eyes stared at it, uncertain. Was it really moving?

The blade wobbled left and right, like a compass needle, before stopping in a certain direction.

“Xi Ya? What’s wrong?” Wen Xiaxia noticed Xi Ya had fallen behind. “Are you tired?”

“Sister Xiaxia, the knife is moving,” Xi Ya told her about the discovery.

“Moving? Probably just the rainwater shifting it.” Wen Xiaxia didn’t think much of it at first. It was normal for things to sway in muddy water when it rained.

Hearing this, Xi Ya thought that might be true. But just as she was about to pick up the knife, a thought crossed her mind. She deliberately turned the knife’s blade to face another direction.

The knife lay quietly in the muddy water, motionless.

Xi Ya blinked, feeling an inexplicable sense of disappointment.

But in the very next second, the blade began to wobble again until it pointed in the same direction as before.

This time, Wen Xiaxia saw it too. For a moment, she wasn’t sure if it was just a coincidence.

The two of them stood still, causing the others to walk over.

“What’s going on?” Song Yan asked.

Wen Xiaxia explained the situation with the knife.

Zhou Yu, quick with his hands, picked up the knife and changed its direction twice. Each time, the blade returned to pointing in the two o’clock direction.

Zhu Liang said, “Let’s follow the knife’s direction. This is probably not a coincidence.”

No one objected. Even though it seemed unbelievable, the fact that the item was something Lin Bai had made gave them a strange sense of trust.

If it was from Lin Bai, maybe it could be trusted.

Now that they had a direction, the six of them immediately set off toward the direction the knife pointed. Hope shone brightly in every one of their eyes.

But things did not go as planned. Just as the group was about to move forward—

Bang!

Mud splattered in front of them. The six of them looked up and saw the newcomers, their faces turning grim.

It was Chang Qi and Chang Ping, the brothers who had stopped them from crossing the bridge three days ago. Now, they stood in front of them with a group of people, looking smug and arrogant.

“Well, well, looks like we finally found you!”

***

In a ruined corner…

“My partner?” Lin Bai didn’t even need to think before answering, “Of course, she is an amazing person! She’s skilled, good-looking, and knows how to do everything. She can make all sorts of things, practice martial arts, and even study interesting robots…” |1|

In the dim light, Lou Tiannan struggled to lift his head. He saw Lin Bai with her head slightly tilted back, her mouth opening and closing as she spoke, and her expression soft and proud, something he had never seen on her face before.

The tightly packed, dry, and hard compressed biscuits did little more than fill the stomach. They tasted awful, like chewing wax. As he swallowed the rough biscuit, Lou Tiannan felt his throat tightening.

Lin Bai continued listing her partner’s strengths like being able to drive, meticulous, knowledgeable, intelligent, sharp-minded, and so on.

“You two must have a great relationship,” Lou Tiannan stated, lowering his gaze.

“Of course!” Lin Bai replied confidently.

Lou Tiannan struggled to swallow the food in his mouth before rasping, “I hope you find your partner soon.”

“Then I’ll take that as good luck from you, Captain Lou,” said Lin Bai while thinking to herself, ‘You’d better use that luck to get through your damn susceptibility period.’

They had only exchanged a few sentences before Lou Tiannan lost the energy to keep talking.

Lin Bai busied herself sorting through the items in her combat uniform. Suddenly, she let out a quiet “Ah.”

“What is it?” Lou Tiannan sat up slightly.

“My powder compact got wet.” Lin Bai’s tone was full of regret. “It’s completely soaked…”

Lou Tiannan: “…”

“I don’t even know if it’ll still be usable after drying it.” Lin Bai looked at the drenched powder compact with some disappointment. This shade was really nice and in the apocalypse, finding a good powder compact was no easy task.

Sizzle.

A small cluster of black flames flickered to life on the ground.

“Dry it,” Lou Tiannan said, his voice so hoarse that the words were almost just air.

Lin Bai raised an eyebrow. Why was Captain Lou so easygoing during his susceptibility period?

Since there was fire, she didn’t hesitate to take full advantage of it. She pulled out her powder compacts, blush, and everything else that needed drying, placing them around the flames in a circle.

Black flames burned hotter than regular fire and her items dried quickly.

After testing the powder compact on her hand, she nodded in satisfaction. It still had the same coverage.

Once her things were dry, she turned to look at Lou Tiannan.

His sharp brows were slightly furrowed and his jawline tensed. A faint light seeped through the cracks outside, casting shadows on his face, and making his features even more defined.

His hair had grown a bit since they first met, the once short stubble now covering his scalp. Sweat rolled down his high-bridged nose. His eyes were half-closed, his hand resting on his bent knee, looking completely drained.

Lin Bai studied his appearance and then casually leaned against him.

Lou Tiannan’s eyelids lifted slightly as he looked down at her. “What are you doing?”

Lin Bai rested her head on his shoulder, her back lightly pressed against his arm. She fiddled with a spring, some wires, and a magnetic stone in her hands as she answered matter-of-factly, “Making you feel better. Once you recover, you can pay me back with a third-tier crystal core.”

The coolness of her body seeped through his combat uniform, soothing the unbearable heat within him. He asked, “Why is your body temperature so low?”

“I have a cold constitution,” Lin Bai replied lazily.

After that, neither of them spoke again. In the quiet corner, only the faint sounds of Lin Bai tinkering with her parts could be heard.

Lou Tiannan closed his eyes, hiding the unknown emotions flickering in them.