Apocalypse Survival Guide for a Beta [GB] - Chapter 75

When Lin Bai arrived at the dining hall, she immediately noticed Lou Tiannan’s face didn’t look good. Was he angry?

She was delighted!

Anger was good. When he was angry, she felt energized.

Most people couldn’t stand the oppressive atmosphere around Lou Tiannan, so they kept a certain distance from him. As a result, several seats around him were left empty, which worked perfectly for Lin Bai. She picked a seat close to Lou Tiannan. The high-heat particles radiating from him didn’t affect Elena, who had ice-based abilities, so she naturally sat right next to Lin Bai.

The moment Lou Tiannan saw Lin Bai sitting close to him, all the gloom in his eyes dissipated. But when his gaze shifted and landed on Elena sitting right next to Lin Bai, half of that gloom instantly came back.

“Oh my, sorry for disturbing you two earlier!” Qiao Dai teased from across the table.

“It’s fine, no big deal,” Lin Bai said casually. She and Elena hadn’t done anything.

Elena didn’t mind either; she smiled and said, “I have a very good relationship with Lin Bai. You’ll get used to it.”

Lou Tiannan’s eyes grew colder, although he said nothing.

They were in a dining hall, but to avoid unnecessary trouble, they were only eating compressed cold rations, mainly using the time to exchange information.

In just two days, through sharing intel, everyone had gained a basic understanding of Aurora, and they had memorized the layout of the Aurora Church. As they ate, they continued verifying some details about Aurora.

“After receiving the mission from the general, I kept watch near the Aurora side hall for three months. Their zombie transport operations were extremely covert. I only saw them transport zombies twice. But from what I’ve gathered from other Federal patrol unit captains, it’s likely happened far more than twice. Aurora publicly claims it’s purifying zombies, so it hasn’t drawn much attention,” a scout reported.

“Hmm, I tried using my ability to infiltrate before, but the moment I got near the entrance, I couldn’t push through. It felt like something was blocking me,” said another ability user, Zhuang Qian, scratching her head. She had plant-based abilities, which allowed her to use plants she grew as sensory organs to detect her surroundings.

“Blocking? As in some kind of ability shield?” Elena asked.

Zhuang Qian replied, “I’m not too sure, but my vines always wither the moment they reach the entrance of the Aurora side hall. I can’t sense anything.”

“My ability too. Normally, my metal detection rods can probe up to five meters underground, but near the Aurora side hall, they can’t detect anything beneath the ground at all. I can only sense that it’s hollow underground,” another metal-based ability user said.

Lou Tiannan asked, “Can you sense how big the underground space is?”

The metal ability user shook his head. “It’s very vague, not specific. But I can tell it’s big, probably larger than this dining hall we’re in.”

“It’s that big?” Many people were surprised. The dining hall they were in was not small, about 400 square meters. What was Aurora planning to do with such a large underground space?

Song Yan began sketching out the information they had gathered on a spatial screen. A rough outline of Aurora’s side hall appeared before everyone, and in the underground section, she marked a question mark.

Lou Tiannan looked at the diagram on the screen and said, “Everyone, stay alert in the coming days. Keep an eye on Aurora. The next time we see them transporting zombies, we’ll find a way to intercept them. No matter what Aurora is planning, we absolutely cannot let them bring in more zombies!”

“No problem!”

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time!”

“Me too. But before, the General was worried that it might provoke Aurora’s followers, so we never found the right opportunity to act.”

“Ugh, in the safe zone, seven or eight out of every ten ordinary people are Aurora followers!” someone lamented. Aurora’s influence was simply too strong.

Lou Tiannan said solemnly, “That’s why, for every mission from now on, we cannot reveal that we are from the Federation Army. Until the truth comes to light, can you all do that?”

Their operations had to be distinct from the Federation to prevent public outrage against the Federation in case of failure.

“We can!”

Lou Tiannan and Elena had already sacrificed their reputations for the Federation. What reason did the others have to hesitate?

The ability users had all been handpicked by the General, and most of them had already lost their families in the apocalypse, leaving them with no one. The Federation was their home. As long as it remained safe, that was enough.

Lou Tiannan quickly assigned tasks based on their abilities; some for guarding, some for surveillance, some in the action team, and others in reconnaissance… Once the arrangements were set, everyone dispersed. Those with missions went to complete them, while those without found partners to train and improve their physical and ability user abilities. No one was idle.

As for Lin Bai, she naturally stuck with the brooding Lou Tiannan.

Such a great opportunity to recharge shouldn’t be let go to waste. Plus, she now had a legitimate reason to stay by Lou Tiannan’s side without making him suspicious.

Lou Tiannan noticed that even after the meeting, Lin Bai was still following him. The corners of his lips lifted slightly but quickly pressed flat again. He silently checked through the ability user records, assigned personnel and resources, and handled various complex and tedious matters. With so much going on, he didn’t have time to pay attention to Lin Bai.

By the time he finished, he looked up and saw Lin Bai just a few steps away. She was sitting cross-legged on the ground, quietly assembling some kind of device with small components. Her movements were meticulous and the sound was barely audible.

Lou Tiannan raised an eyebrow and glanced around. Seeing no one else nearby, he set down his completed reports and walked over to Lin Bai, feigning casualness. “Why are you still here?”

Deep down, he was still a little irritated, annoyed that Lin Bai had barely agreed to try dating him, only to immediately run off with another Alpha without looking back. Worse, the two of them had even been ‘getting cozy’ in a room together. When people in the dining hall teased her about it, she hadn’t even bothered to explain!

“Keeping you company,” Lin Bai replied offhandedly, although what she was really thinking was that the high heat energy particles around Lou Tiannan were abundant, and with no one else nearby, it was the perfect chance to recharge while quietly assembling the device she needed.

It was an answer Lou Tiannan hadn’t expected. No matter how frustrated he had been earlier, Lin Bai’s words instantly dissolved all of it. His chest was filled with an indescribable emotion, something he had never felt in his twenty-six years. He couldn’t quite put it into words, but he was a little happy.

Maybe Lin Bai had noticed his bad mood and was trying to cheer him up.

If that was the case, it meant she cared about him. Otherwise, given her personality, she wouldn’t have agreed to try dating him, nor would she have silently stayed by his side for three hours.

The more he thought about it, the happier he felt. But he didn’t want to show it too much. He didn’t want Lin Bai to think he was too easy to please. So, he kept his expression stiff and replied coolly, “Mm, thanks for your effort.”

Lin Bai looked up at him in confusion. Why did it suddenly feel colder? Lou Tiannan’s face was unreadable. Had he finally gotten over his anger?

No, that wouldn’t do. She needed to provoke him a little more.

Lin Bai stuffed the components into her pocket, stood up, and asked, “Captain Lou, what do you hate the most?”

What did he hate the most?

Lou Tiannan immediately assumed Lin Bai was asking so she could avoid upsetting him in the future.

Since she was offering him an easy way out, he didn’t want to come off as too harsh. After all, they were only at the first stage of their relationship. Restraining himself, he replied, “Nothing much. You’re fine the way you are.”

“Huh?” Lin Bai didn’t understand. What did he mean by she’s fine the way she is?

She wanted to press for details, but Lou Tiannan had no intention of saying more. He believed that, while he liked Lin Bai and had already confessed his feelings, he couldn’t spoil her too much. A couple of sweet words were enough. Everything should be in moderation. Too much is as bad as too little.

Besides, he was still in his susceptible period. He couldn’t let Lin Bai think he was only saying these things because his pheromones were clouding his judgment.

So while Lou Tiannan was trying his best to remain calm and composed, Lin Bai was left utterly confused by his response.

However, it didn’t bother her for long. She recalled the things Lou Tiannan had disapproved of when they first met: her makeup, her entanglements with others, her strictness with Xi Ya, and the time she pointed a gun at him…

That night, Lin Bai deliberately applied a strikingly bold makeup look and, in the underground training grounds, gave Xi Ya extra drills right in front of Lou Tiannan.

For the past couple of days, Xi Ya had been training with others and Lin Bai had barely supervised her. Now, with Lin Bai personally overseeing her training, Xi Ya was so moved she was on the verge of tears. Hugging her doll tightly, she was determined to make Lin Bai proud.

Lin Bai was genuinely surprised by Xi Ya’s progress. “Your physical fitness has improved a lot.”

Xi Ya was both happy and a little excited after receiving Lin Bai’s praise. “Xi Ya has been following the training plan that Uncle Captain gave me.”

“Oh.” Lin Bai was about to say more when she felt Lou Tiannan’s gaze on her. Instead, she turned back to Xi Ya and said, “Keep your arms straight, head up. Do two more sets.”

Xi Ya responded cheerfully, “Okay!”

Lin Bai stroked her chin in thought. Seeing her being this strict with Xi Ya should definitely make Lou Tiannan mad, right?

As an S+ ranked ability user, Lou Tiannan naturally noticed Lin Bai glancing his way. He hadn’t expected that she would even put on makeup just to come see him. Although she hadn’t spoken to him since arriving at the underground training ground, her gaze didn’t lie. The corners of Lou Tiannan’s lips threatened to curve upward.

She really did care about him.

Meanwhile, the other ability users in the underground training ground watched Xi Ya, a mere seven-year-old, training so diligently. Not wanting to be outdone by a child, they all started pushing themselves harder.

The next morning, after administering his suppressant, Wen Xiaxia examined Lou Tiannan while wearing a mask. Her tone was slightly worried. “Captain Lou, is your pheromone activity too high? Did you not get enough rest?”

She had come to check on him early in the morning, only to find that he had already been training for two hours. The pheromone levels detected in his system were also significantly higher than usual.

“You took the suppressant, but your pheromone levels are still elevated. If you don’t rest properly, it will put a strain on your body.”

Hearing this, Lou Tiannan coughed lightly. “I’ll pay more attention.”

Last night, whether his eyes were open or closed, all he could see was Lin Bai. His mind was filled with her face, and he hadn’t been able to sleep at all. He ended up getting up before dawn to train.

He was fully aware that part of this was due to his susceptible period. But another part… was because he was emotionally stirred by Lin Bai’s attention toward him. He had even wanted to go find her the moment he got out of bed but of course, that wasn’t an option. He was long past the age for reckless impulses and now wasn’t the right time.

Lin Bai hadn’t officially agreed to be with him yet. He couldn’t come on too strong.