Chapter 144

Chapter 144

"Hnn..."

In the bathroom, Liao Yu was pressed against the wall by Zhao Lei, their ragged, panting breaths echoing in the narrow, silent space of the late night.

Their clothes had long been discarded in their frenzy. The usually composed and restrained man now seemed aching to consume his boyfriend completely.

Liao Yu tilted his head back, lightly biting his lower lip, his slender neck arching gracefully. Zhao Lei held him firmly, his mouth lingering possessively, leaving uneven marks in his wake.

Kisses fell in relentless waves, the pent-up desire of these days surging forth like a tide, threatening to drown them both.

They were lovers, teammates—their tacit understanding already perfected. There was no need for pretense; a single glance or movement was enough to convey what the other desired.

"..."

"Young Master... are you alright?"

On the bedroom bed, Zhao Lei looked down at the man in his arms, whose eyes were reddened and trembling slightly. His chest swelled with deep, satisfied affection.

Even now, he still felt somewhat dazed, worried that his Young Master might just be amusing himself capriciously, that one day he’d grow bored.

Only when he brought him to tears did it feel real.

Liao Yu nestled obediently in his arms, catching his breath, his face still flushed. His voice was slightly hoarse:

"If this Young Master can’t get out of bed tomorrow, I’ll strangle you!"

He didn’t struggle or resist, but every time, this man came at him with a hint of fierce compulsion. What kind of messed-up preference is that!

Zhao Lei chuckled and tightened his embrace:

"Murdering your own husband isn't a good idea. Sleep now, and rest well tomorrow and the day after. It’ll take a lot out of you to store water and drain your energy later."

"Mhm."

Liao Yu yawned, nuzzled against his chest, and closed his eyes.

...

The next day, they slept until noon, and the entire team missed their scheduled medical check-up.

Yang Kai had no choice but to reschedule it for after the holiday—meaning they’d all go for a group check-up once they returned to work the day after tomorrow. Just going through the motions anyway.

As their trust in him grew, he had already learned that Jiang Nian’s ability was Purification.

With Jiang Nian around, the teammates didn’t have to worry about bringing back any viruses. In a way, they were practically sterile.

After a quick meal, Jiang Nian headed to the shop to restock the shelves.

Meanwhile, Cheng Jing called Zhao Lei and Huang Qian to tally up the energy cores and meds they’d gathered during their trip. What was left could be traded in for points, while the rest could go do their own thing.

Aside from cores and medicine, there were also some specialty items they’d scavenged earlier that could now be traded.

Some medicines were useless to them most of the time, so trading them in to the base to stock up the hospital’s supplies was the better option.

As for the special supplies, they were high-value loot from after the collapse but had no use for themselves—

Such as core components of certain large machinery, engineering blueprints, industrial product R&D materials, design drafts, data drives, and so on.

After the collapse, these items were most easily overlooked by average survivors. They only collected them because Jiang Nian pointed it out.

As a result, they had stockpiled a decent amount from Qingyun City to now.

Initially, such materials were worthless—small and private bases wouldn’t even bother with them. Their value only went up once the big bases got established, rising with the development of the bases.

This was also why they hadn’t exchanged them earlier.

Now, they no longer needed to cautiously trade in small batches as before. They could simply complete the exchange at a single point in the command center.

After rounding, the command center’s exchange desk credited them with a clean 60,000 points.

Additionally, Cheng Jing’s report on the situation in Xihe City, which got Zhou Li to send an exploration team, also earned them a reward.

Based on the exploration team’s scouting report, the base cut them a 100,000-point bonus. Moreover, their team would receive a 50% discount when exchanging points for supplies in the future.

After final calculations, they obtained a total of 160,000 points—a fortune to regular folks.

As for the Medium Crystal Cores, Cheng Jing planned to discuss them with Department Head Wang the next day, taking a proposal with Jiang Nian. That would be handled separately.

Jiang Nian’s plan was to promptly explain the situation regarding the Medium Crystal Cores to Department Head Wang and the base, while also providing some suggested solutions.

By presenting their eyewitness accounts along with reasonable conjectures, they could offer guidance to the research experts. Such findings could be verified through experiments, and they’d probably have answers soon.

Besides the Medium Crystal Cores, the collected wolf carcass samples also needed to be submitted for research, including Xiao Qi’s help too.

If they could uncover why these animals remained immune to the zombie virus, it would be a significant breakthrough.

After handling these important matters, they could start working on the farm plans and dealing with miscellaneous tasks.

"..."

After cashing in the points, Huang Qian and Zhao Lei each returned to their dormitories.

Cheng Jing went to find Jiang Nian, transferring all the items from their vehicle to a small warehouse and rearranging their ring space stash.

To ensure their team had sufficient supplies, the good stuff they personally collected before the apocalypse was prioritized in the ring space.

They packed both ring spaces to near capacity, leaving only a little room for daily storage.

From now on, they would lay off the supplies in the ring space unless absolutely necessary.

For other consumables, they would retrieve them from the external underground warehouse, distributing them to teammates and friends on a regular basis. They’d grab extras for trips if necessary.

In truth, after entering the Southern City Base, their team’s consumption of stored supplies had dropped big time, as everyone could eat at the base cafeteria during normal work hours.

Their current stockpile was enough to stuff four rings, with food taking up the majority.

Including seeds, as long as they didn’t go wild wasting supplies, they could comfortably survive the apocalypse.

By the time Cheng Jing and Jiang Nian left the warehouse, the day was pretty much done.

With over 100,000 points earned, the team naturally had to gather. Even though the points were defaulted to Jiang Nian’s management, keeping the books open still mattered.

During dinner, Jiang Nian updated everyone on the current balance in his account:

"Previously, we had 280,000 points. Adding the remaining profits from the shop’s operations and today’s earnings, our total point assets now stand at 493,026—a result of everyone’s hard work."

It sounded like a lot, but averaged across the team, it was just over 50,000 per person—still decent. Moreover, the costs for renovating the farm hadn’t been settled yet.

"Are we ready to buy a house now?"

Liao Yu's eyes lit up. As someone who craved stability, he really wanted to live under the same roof as his teammates.

Jiang Nian smiled and nodded:

"We can make a down payment, but I don’t think we need to rush. The community villa complex isn’t finished yet, and with prices being that steep, not many people will be able to afford it even after completion. There’s no need to worry about missing out. Paying now would just mean sitting on our investment without being able to live there. It’s better to wait until after the extreme heat passes."

"Makes sense."

Liao Yu nodded:

"We'll follow godfather's advice; we'll talk about it after the extreme heat."

The others also nodded in agreement. Indeed, paying now would be pointless since we can't move in—better to keep the points for now.

With everything being so unpredictable, who knows what might change after the extreme heat?

As they discussed buying a house to live together, Tang Yi remembered something else and said:

"Oh, right. Back during training, Bro Kai pulled me aside saying he wanted to join our team. Did he mention it to any of you?"

"Yes."

Apart from Jiang Nian and Cheng Jing, everyone answered in unison, then turned to look at the two senior members.