“Brother Liu, there are only five of them. Do you think we should—”
A thin, sharp-faced man spoke in a low voice, his eyes fixed greedily on the direction where the hovering motorcycles had disappeared.
The man called Brother Liu was tall and heavily built, like a giant bullfrog. His face was utterly unremarkable—just a very average face.
Liu Erhui raised a hand to stop him. “No rush. There’s only one town around here, and only one route they can take. All the other roads are destroyed.”
Sooner or later, they’d swallow this small team whole.
The blond-haired man immediately flattered him. “Big Brother really thinks things through! I like those two girls—when the time comes, boss, you—”
Liu Erhui glanced at him sideways and gave a lewd grin. “Fine. You get to play first. Then the rest of the brothers can have them.”
It wasn’t even dark yet.
These two were already dreaming.
At the same time, the moment the hovering motorcycles left the town, the mobile castle extended its claws and approached.
A ramp was lowered.
The motorcycles returned to dock, and Xiao San and Xiao Si were waiting at the entrance.
As soon as they returned, the two household robots immediately began assisting. Xiao San and Xiao Si took the bikes and carried them inside for charging.
“Welcome home!”“Today’s mission must’ve gone well—you all look so happy!”
Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu also ran down the stairs barking, trying to help carry supplies, but there was nothing to carry today.
Wu Zhe laughed. “Xiao San, Xiao Si, you two are amazing. We didn’t even bring anything back—how do you know we had a big harvest today?”
Xiao Si giggled. 【Because your expressions already told me!】
Xiao San chimed in. 【Exactly!】
When Huo Ling walked past them, he casually patted both their heads.
The two robots became even more excited.
【What?! What?! Captain Huo just patted my head?! Oh my god!】【Ahhh I’m recording this tactile data! This is amazing!】
For some reason, both robots were extremely fond of Huo Ling. In their words, they liked strong humans like him—he made them feel safe.
Safe from being casually discarded.
Luo Na couldn’t stand watching them. She was soothing the mechanical dogs, letting them nibble her hand affectionately.
“Alright, alright, next time I’ll let you help. Is my hand dirty? It’s covered in fluff—stop biting!”
Gao Lei dumped his combat suit into the dirty laundry bin and slipped into the kitchen to pre-order tonight’s menu from Xiao Yi and Xiao Er.
Wu Zhe immediately chased after him. “Damn it, you’re sneaky! You silent types are the worst—full of tricks! I want braised chicken rice tonight. Those chickens are about to lose their chicken flavor if we don’t eat them!”
The castle instantly became lively.
Because they had brought back a large haul of supplies, Zhang Dapeng and Zhao Pingsheng also came down from their rooms, shouting halfway down the stairs, “Where are the supplies?!”
Lin Shuangshuang stood at the entrance, quietly watching everything. She felt a warm feeling in her chest.
Huo Ling removed his combat suit at the door and went to pour himself a glass of water. When he came back and saw her still standing there in a daze, he said flatly, “What are you standing there for? As a decoration? Come in, close the door. It gets windy at night.”
He took a sip of warm water.
Luo Na walked by and rolled her eyes. “If you care about her, just say it properly. Do I need to teach you? ‘Aww, it’s windy at night, be careful not to catch a cold, baby Shuangshuang~’”
Huo Ling almost spat out his water. His face darkened. “Luo Na!”
No one would mistake her for being mute if she kept talking.
Luo Na laughed and ran upstairs, clearly enjoying herself.
Lin Shuangshuang also couldn’t help but laugh. When she noticed Huo Ling looking at her, she quickly stopped.
She was actually grateful to Luo Na—it helped thaw the awkwardness between them.
Huo Ling seemed a bit more alive now too, no longer as cold.
He was slightly embarrassed.
Zhao Pingsheng didn’t care about any of this, and Zhang Dapeng cared even less. In their eyes, only research and engineering mattered. They immediately focused on the supplies.
“Fish line, pliers, alcohol, disinfectant—take all of it,” Zhao Pingsheng instructed.
Zhang Dapeng personally sorted through the items. His apron and goggles were already filthy, but he didn’t care. “So many lead sinkers? Perfect—I’ll be set for a while.”
There were also plenty of screws.
It was all a pleasant surprise.
After sorting, most of the materials were distributed between Zhao Pingsheng and Zhang Dapeng. The remaining small portion was stored in the second-floor warehouse, while food items were sent to the three large storage rooms downstairs.
Wu Zhe and Gao Lei came out of the kitchen and couldn’t help worrying.
“Food is really scarce. This town barely has anything edible.”
“Should we keep searching here, or move on to the next town? If we go further away from the earthquake zone, other towns might have more supplies.”
Huo Ling had exhausted his mental energy. Leaning on the sofa, he rubbed his temples.
“Tomorrow I’ll scout it out, then give you an answer.”
He could use his psychic ability to scan for food, but at his level it was draining and inconvenient.
Wu Zhe and Gao Lei both agreed.
Luo Na came downstairs after showering, smelling faintly of shampoo.
“Shuangshuang, if you don’t mind, I have some pretty good clothes. Almost new.”
She invited her to pick from her room.
Lin Shuangshuang was currently wearing Huo Ling’s clothes, which were obviously oversized—but still in good condition. In this era, even clothes were scarce resources due to pollution.
She didn’t mind at all. In fact, she liked wearing his clothes.
Besides, in the apocalypse, having clothes at all was already good enough.
Luo Na only realized in the morning that Lin Shuangshuang didn’t have any personal clothes underneath her combat suit. So she had picked out some shorter outfits that might fit better.
But Lin Shuangshuang wasn’t good at handling social situations. She panicked slightly, trying to think of how to refuse.
Before she could speak, Huo Ling glanced at her and answered for her.
“Thanks, but no need. Her clothes are already being made.”
He had already given some of his own clothes to Xiao San and Xiao Si to alter. They would likely be ready tonight.
Luo Na covered her mouth, eyes sparkling with excitement—clearly thrilled by what she was seeing.
Lin Shuangshuang, realizing Luo Na also didn’t have much spare clothing yet still wanted to give hers away, immediately shook her head.
“Mm-mm. Clean clothes are too scarce right now. I can’t take yours. Thank you… really, thank you.”
The little monster spoke sincerely.