Chapter 18: Glass Dome Restaurant

Chapter 18: Glass Dome Restaurant

The next morning, Guan Yuanfeng saw a dish of fresh and plump blueberries and red strawberries on the breakfast table.

He was quite surprised: "How did these ripen so quickly?" When he watered them, these berries were still dark green.

Zhou Yun said: "The weather is scorching hot, so they ripen quickly. By normal standards, I shouldn't have discovered my psychic abilities so soon, so I planned to gradually find a chance to tell Guan Yuanfeng about my awakened psychic abilities."

Guan Yuanfeng plucked a blueberry and popped it into his mouth: "It's quite sweet, the variety you're growing is really good."

Zhou Yun smiled and brought over two bowls of pork knuckle noodles. Guan Yuanfeng watched as Comet also ate the pork knuckle noodles heartily: "Don't spoil it too much, refugees outside probably can't eat this well. We should still conserve supplies, who knows how the situation will develop."

Zhou Yun said: "What's there to fear? I'm still raising a few piglets upstairs."

Guan Yuanfeng: "..."

He pulled out the radio and switched it on, listening to the broadcast which still detailed various characteristics and weaknesses of the zombies.

But today, there was an additional news item: After the red mist catastrophe, some feverish people started to discover psychic abilities. The public was advised not to abandon or distance themselves from their feverish relatives immediately. They should be restrained and observed to see if they regain consciousness. If their mental state returns to normal, it's possible they have awakened psychic abilities. Those with psychic abilities should report to the rescue base for registration as soon as possible.

Guan Yuanfeng and Zhou Yun exchanged glances. Guan Yuanfeng asked Zhou Yun: "Psychic abilities? Have you noticed anything?"

Zhou Yun thought for a moment: "I do feel more refreshed and agile, but there haven't been any obvious manifestations yet. It would be good if the news provided more details about the symptoms of psychic abilities."

Guan Yuanfeng pondered deeply, while Zhou Yun served him another bowl of noodles: "After we finish eating, we'll use the drone to check out the glass dome restaurant next door. We need to expand our planting area. Looks like this dry spell will drag on."

Guan Yuanfeng’s gaze flicked over Zhou Yun’s lowered lashes, but he didn’t press further about the psychic abilities, simply taking the bowl of noodles and eating them heartily.

After breakfast, they restarted the drone and flew it from the rooftop garden over the wall to the glass dome restaurant. The light blue glass dome glistened under the scorching sun, and through it, they could clearly see the dining tables and chairs inside the restaurant.

The drone flew in through the window on the dome, slowly surveying the interior. The restaurant's pristine marble floors gleamed, and there were several potted plants placed around. The central island had a disinfection cabinet for utensils, a self-service seasoning area, a self-service ordering machine, and a cart for meal trays.

Zhou Yun praised: "These seasonings are great. If stored properly, they can still be used."

Flying further, a large aquarium wall came into view on the screen. It was filled with live fish for customers to choose from, including several saltwater tanks with many crabs and saltwater fish.

Zhou Yun was delighted: "So many fish!"

Back then, neither he nor Guan Yuanfeng ever made it here before they left. Now, it was like discovering a massive treasure trove.

Saltwater fish are more prone to mutation compared to freshwater fish. Just like how most mutated plants only produced wood-type cores, aquatic animals' mutations often yielded water-type psychic ability cores.

He had dual water and wood psychic abilities, and right now, he needed water-type cores.

That meant the fish in this wall, if he could obtain a few water-type cores, would make it much easier for him to enhance his psychic abilities early on!

He had only been eyeing the koi and fish in the artificial lake in the residential area, but this was truly an unexpected surprise.

Guan Yuanfeng was quite surprised to see him so happy: "Do you like eating fish?"

Zhou Yun smiled: "Yes, and these fish are quite valuable. If we take good care of them, they might even breed more fish."

Guan Yuanfeng: "..." He didn’t want to rain on his parade, but saltwater fish aren’t exactly easy to keep.

"Look! King crab! Over there, turbot! Big lobsters, these are delicious steamed with garlic. Salt-baked clams, fried mantis shrimp, or even steamed ones are all delicious..."

"Here are groupers, flower crabs, and blue crabs. It's the season for crabs... I have special red vinegar here... salted egg yolk stir-fry has a unique flavor..."

Guan Yuanfeng couldn't help but smile as he saw Zhou Yun, his dark eyes gleaming, meticulously counting the menu.

The fish wall display had two sides, but when they turned to the other side, their smiles faded.

On this side, below was a fish pond near the entrance, which housed many ornamental koi.

However, the fish tank on the opposite wall had a broken panel, and the water had drained into the fish pond below, leaving only a few tiny fish fry inside.

A zombie stood by the fish pond, holding a large, struggling fish in its hands, gnawing at it voraciously. Its nails were sharp like knives, and it was still dressed in a security uniform, its face grayish-blue, eyes bulging, and fangs sharp.

Zhou Yun looked at the Golden Arowana being torn apart by the zombie, its large, plump body glittering with golden scales. It was one of the restaurant's prized ornamental fish, and his heart twisted, "Such a large Golden Arowana, what a waste."

If they let this zombie continue rampaging, how many more fish could it destroy?

Guan Yuanfeng placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him, "Let's check if there are any more zombies."

The drone silently flew past the glass door without disturbing the feasting zombie. They saw that the rolling shutter outside the glass door was locked, and the entrance was eerily quiet.

Guan Yuanfeng said, "Good. If we eliminate this zombie, the entire rooftop level will be under our control."

Zhou Yun remarked, "I think this zombie doesn't seem to like going into the water."

Zombies detest water, and since their bodies are made of bones and rotting flesh, they can't float on water and therefore can't swim.

At the early stage of the apocalypse, people hadn't fully summarized their characteristics yet.

He had focused more on developing water-based abilities because of this, only to later find that wood-based abilities had slow upgrades, weak attack power, and low damage, but actually became more significant at higher levels.

Guan Yuanfeng was startled, "How so?"

Zhou Yun explained, "Look, the fish pond is shallow, filled with plump koi that are easy to catch, but the zombie hasn't gone into the water to grab them. Instead, it broke the nearby glass fish tank, which was quite laborious. Why go for something far and difficult instead of something near and easy?"

"You can see its hands are rotten, indicating it spent some effort to break the tank and get the Golden Arowana, but only its hands and the hem of its clothes are wet, while the rest of its body is dry. It clearly avoided the water."

Guan Yuanfeng took a closer look, "Indeed, that makes sense." He fell into deep thought but soon maneuvered the drone back, saying, "It's still dangerous; we can observe a bit more."

Zhou Yun glanced at him, "Are you planning to wait until I'm asleep to take Comet to deal with it?"

Guan Yuanfeng's expression stiffened, and he awkwardly explained, "There's only one zombie... Using Comet to distract it and then shooting it in the head... Having one more person means more risk."

Zhou Yun nodded, "But if the zombie injures Comet, it wouldn't be worth it. I feel the zombie virus is somewhat similar to the rabies virus; both humans and dogs are likely susceptible."

Guan Yuanfeng shook his head, "I was thinking of having Comet lure it into running, then I'd hide in a high spot to shoot it." He pointed to the dome in the video, "There are some thick beams near the hanging lights on the ceiling."

Despite his leg disability, he could still climb through high windows using an electric grappling hook and shoot from above, which was feasible. If he had a sniper rifle, it would be even easier.

Zhou Yun said, "You mean we need something to slow the zombie down...? Although Comet is fast, it might not be faster than the zombie. We need something to slow it down, and if the arrow misses a vital spot, it might not stop it."

Unlike human cores located in the lower abdomen, zombie cores are in the forehead. To preserve a useful core, the best method is to decapitate the zombie.

Zhou Yun reminded him, "You need to penetrate the zombie's forehead." Even if it destroys the core, Guan Yuanfeng currently had no psychic abilities, and safety was the priority.

Guan Yuanfeng didn't fully understand but grasped the meaning and felt a bit regretful, "If it were outdoors, we could pre-dig pits or lay landmines."

Zhou Yun, however, said, "It hates water..."

He pointed to the smooth marble floor, "If we flood this area, it will become slippery and hard to walk, and it might look like water is everywhere, which should affect its movement."

Guan Yuanfeng quickly recalled the terrain they had seen earlier, "The glass door has a higher threshold, and there's also a wall of glass fish tanks blocking. It's possible that water could accumulate in the restaurant."

If it were in the past, we’d have to worry about water leaking through to the apartment below, but now we don’t need to worry too much about that.

He pointed to the kitchen at the back of the restaurant: “There’s a water pipe here. While the water supply hasn’t been cut off yet, we should be able to hook up the hose and quickly flood the area.”

Zhou Yun knew Guan Yuanfeng was always good at coming up with plans: “I can go and attach the hose.”

Guan Yuanfeng frowned: “No, you can’t take the risk. Zombies have a keen sense of smell; it’s too close.”

Zhou Yun already knew he would object: “Then we can connect the water pipe from here and run the hose through the window. There’s also rainwater stored in the rainwater tank.”

Guan Yuanfeng hesitated: “We don’t know how long this dry spell will last. Our neighborhood is at a high elevation, and the water supply already relies on secondary pressurization. Once the power is cut, the water will probably stop. We need to save this water for ourselves and for watering the vegetable garden.”

Zhou Yun knew Guan Yuanfeng would have these concerns. For any risky action, Guan Yuanfeng, despite being disabled, would rather take the risk himself than let someone else do it. Yet, when planning actions, he always undervalued himself, sometimes even more than the resources they had.

If Zhou Yun didn’t point out the risks, Guan Yuanfeng would likely opt for a more dangerous approach.

Though he had just awakened his psychic abilities, using water attacks was still difficult for him, and he couldn’t generate enough water to flood the place. Still, producing clean drinking water to ensure their survival wasn’t hard.

Once he got the psychic cores from the fish and the core from this zombie… On balance, the benefits of this plan outweighed the risks. He also supported taking action.

But he needed to ensure Guan Yuanfeng went with the safest, most reliable option.

He said: “I see the weather is going to rain again in the next few days. Don’t worry. Besides, once we take control of this area, there’s also a lot of water in the fish tank and fish pool.” He looked at Guan Yuanfeng: “Safety first.”

Guan Yuanfeng hesitated, then nodded when he saw the sincerity in Zhou Yun’s eyes. “Alright.”