Reborn in the Apocalypse: A Commoner's Survival Log

The members of the Hidden Dragon Squad were unaware of the commotion within the military.

After the peas returned to their normal size, the group went to the service center, sold most of their supplies, and then went straight home.

When I got home, the rice and braised chicken were already cooked.

Zhou Yang quickly and efficiently stir-fried several hot dishes, plus a mushroom soup.

Then I made a pot of bibimbap for the little ones at home.

Because everyone was hungry, no one at the table was talking; the only sounds were the occasional clinking of chopsticks against the dishes.

After dinner, everyone sat together in Zhou Yang's living room to count the crystal cores of the day.

During the day, I was busy fighting zombies and collecting supplies, so I just threw everything into the bag.

Only when I have some free time do I feel like taking stock.

The group each took a bunch, counted them, and then put them all together. In the end, there were more than 4500 crystal cores!

Among them, there is 1 fire-type, 2 water-type, 1 metal-type, 2 earth-type, 4 power evolution, 2 speed evolution, and the rest are ordinary crystal cores.

"Is there really that many people living in this old neighborhood?"

Zhou Yang stared at the more than 4500 crystal cores and fell into deep thought.

"Oh, we not only cleaned up an old neighborhood today, but also a nightclub on the next street. There were several hundred people in that nightclub, and there were four superpowered zombies inside."

"That's it."

Next, the crystal cores were distributed. Everyone took the crystal cores they could use, as well as enough ordinary crystal cores for upgrades.

The fire-type crystal core was given to Xu Zhiyi, while Pea received 500 ordinary crystal cores.

After obtaining the crystal core, everyone started upgrading without prior arrangement.

A dozen minutes later, the entire Hidden Dragon Squad finally reached level 2.

Zhou Yang's space was also "upgraded" and he announced to others that the space had reached about 100 square meters.

After the upgrade, aside from the unused Earth-type and Speed ​​Evolution Crystal Cores, there were still more than 1000 ordinary Crystal Cores left.

Although it sounds like a lot, it's not enough for one person to level up, so Zhou Yang was asked to put it away for the time being.

"Currently, it seems that our team is at the highest level in the entire base. The military, due to its large number of personnel, is generally still at level one."

"We were lucky to be at the forefront; the other teams just didn't notice it. Once the snow melts and the base announces it, they'll catch up desperately, so we can't let our guard down."

Shen Zechuan and Yan Fei's conversation served as a reminder to Zhou Yang.

A team with too evenly distributed strength isn't necessarily a good thing. Without an exceptionally outstanding superhuman, it's difficult to gain influence among numerous superhuman teams, and they'll be at a disadvantage when encountering high-level zombies. Therefore, the suggestion was made:

"Actually, we've been using our Level 2 abilities for a while now. Should we shift our focus to upgrading Yan Fei and Ze Chuan first?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhiyi raised his hand in agreement and seconded, "I think it's a good idea. Your abilities are the strongest among us, so improving them first will only benefit the whole team. Besides, we also need the strongest fighters so that we won't be passively attacked if we encounter high-level zombies with special abilities in the wild."

With a half-eaten snack dangling from his mouth, Lu Xingye mumbled, "The superpowered zombies outside aren't very strong. Are high-level zombies really that easy to find?"

Xu Zhiyi looked at him and smiled: "Just because it's not there now doesn't mean it won't be in the future. What if we encounter it? Besides, since we can use zombie crystal cores to upgrade, do you think we can do the same with superpowered zombies?"

Chai Jin stared wide-eyed and exclaimed in astonishment, "Superpowered zombies can upgrade?!"

Xu Zhiyi glanced at Chai Jin: "Don't underestimate these superpowered zombies. They're already different from ordinary zombies. They're weak now just because they haven't discovered the crystal cores that can devour other zombies to upgrade. Once they do, their upgrade speed will definitely be faster than the evolution speed of humans. Don't those novels say that high-level zombies can control low-level zombies? If they want to get a crystal core, it'll be a piece of cake, right?"

"Hiss..." Everyone couldn't help but gasp.

After a long silence, Yan Fei added, "It's not just zombies; other superhumans will also be desperately trying to level up. If we want to remain invincible, we must stay ahead of everyone else and keep improving. Besides, we don't know what the situation is like in other bases in the country. If a conflict breaks out someday, only the side with overwhelming strength will have the power to control the narrative."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xingye slumped onto the sofa and said, "Ah, this is so complicated. Anyway, I'll just focus on improving my strength."

Upon hearing this, Yan Fei smiled and patted Lu Xingye's head: "Well, just focus on leveling up, Aye. We'll take care of the rest."

In the following days, the team continued to go out to fight zombies and mine crystal cores as usual, and finally managed to get Shen Zechuan and Yan Fei's abilities to level 3.

Next, they will level up to level 4. These low-level crystals will no longer be of much use to them, so they will be left for the rest of the team to level up.

Most of the superhumans in the army have now reached level 2, but there's no word yet on level 3.

However, Gu Tianqi also listened to Yan Fei and the others' opinions and prioritized upgrading those in the army who had outstanding supernatural abilities.

Another half month passed, and the snow still hadn't melted, but the first New Year after the apocalypse arrived.

To celebrate the occasion and to help the survivors in the base relax, the base had some people decorate the base with festive decorations. Then, on New Year's Eve, they gave all the survivors a New Year's gift: two bottles of water, two packs of instant noodles, two sausages, a roasted potato or sweet potato, plus 5 points.

Starting in the afternoon of New Year's Eve, the Qianlong Squad gathered at Zhou Yang's house to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner together.

The food was very simple: a hot pot and a pot of dumplings.

The side dishes for the hot pot were prepared by Shen Zechuan and the others together; Zhou Yang didn't get to touch them.

However, Zhou Yang still had to make the dumplings herself.

Who told only Zhou Yang to know how to do this?

The others are still in the apprenticeship stage in terms of cooking skills; kneading dough and rolling out wrappers are a bit difficult for them.

They can also help chop the filling, and then we can wrap some oddly shaped dumplings together.

Zhou Yang was quite disgusted, but the others were so enthusiastic that they insisted on sharing the meal, so Zhou Yang just went along with them.

Anyway, he made it clear from the beginning that whoever made the wrapping would eat it.

That evening, the group invited Gu Tianqi to join them for New Year's Eve dinner.

While the group set up the hot pot on the table and prepared to start cooking, Zhou Yang took out several bottles of drinks and wine, as well as some snacks and treats from his spatial storage.

But how can the Lunar New Year be complete without fish?

So Zhou Yang asked Ah Hu in his spatial dimension to catch a fish from the pond for him.

When they took it out, good heavens! They had just speared the fish with a rattan cane, leaving a huge hole in its belly.

Well, it wouldn't look good to cook it whole, so Zhou Yang simply cut it into pieces and braised it.

After placing a large plate of braised fish on the table, Gu Tianqi also came over, carrying large and small bags. As soon as he entered, he familiarly placed them in a corner of the living room.

"Your New Year's Eve dinner looks amazing, with hot pot and fish. It makes my mouth water."

"Uncle Gu, we also made dumplings! But Yangyang said we should wait until we've eaten enough before cooking them, otherwise they won't taste good when they're cold."

"Oh, there are dumplings too! I'll have to save room for a few more. I love dumplings the most."

At this moment, Gu Yaoyao also came over and threw herself into Gu Tianqi's arms, saying, "Daddy, I also made a lot of dumplings, I'll give them to you later!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Tianqi immediately beamed with joy: "Great! Dad will try Yao Yao's dumplings in a bit; they're sure to be delicious!"

"Whee!"

Because it was Chinese New Year, Gu Tianqi unusually had a few younger relatives drink with him today, while Zhou Yang, citing that he didn't drink alcohol, drank soft drinks with Gu Yaoyao instead.

After a few rounds of drinks, Zhou Yang got up to cook the dumplings, and even cooked them three times in separate batches.

Gu Yaoyao prepared one plate, Zhou Yang prepared one plate, and the others prepared another plate in odd shapes.

Incidentally, he also made a limited-edition New Year's dog meal and a rat meal for each of the peas and yellow dogs.

When Zhou Yang returned to the dining table and served the dumplings, unsurprisingly, the large plate of ugly dumplings was met with ridicule from Gu Tianqi.

Shen Zechuan and the others: ...

This is perhaps the most atypical scene of social death...

In the end, Yan Fei and the others quietly finished off the dumplings they had made, while Gu Tianqi ate the whole plate of dumplings that Gu Yaoyao had made.

As for Zhou Yang and Gu Yaoyao, they naturally ate the plate that Zhou Yang wrapped was the prettiest.