Rebirth of the Last Days: Double Pets

Tian Hai returned awkwardly with a set of clothes in his hands and stammered, “Brother Bai, isn’t this basically stealing?”

Bai Qi responded with a simple “Hmm” and glanced at him. “Then, put the clothes back and wear your original ones.”

Although Bai Qi’s face remained expressionless, Tian Hai could hear a faint trace of irritation in his tone. His face turned red as he silently headed to the changing room.

Tang Ruo, on the other hand, thought that the clothes here actually suited Bai Qi quite well. Taking advantage of the extra space in her storage, she started selecting items for him. Anything she thought suited him went straight into her storage space.

Fortunately, the store even had winter clothing in stock.

So, besides coats, she didn’t spare scarves, gloves, socks, or even underwear. Everything went into her storage.

Bai Qi noticed Tang Ruo’s actions. While it made him happy, he still reminded her, “Take fewer things.” He already had plenty of clothes. In addition to the ones from the mall last time, there were also those stored back at home. Even if he changed outfits daily, he wouldn’t repeat them for six months.

Tang Ruo put a men’s trench coat into her space and turned to smile. “Don’t worry. If it gets too full, I can always take something out and throw it away.”

Bai Qi let her be. After all, how could he possibly object to his fiancée picking clothes for him?

He was naturally delighted.

Afterward, he began inspecting every window, corner, and warehouse in the store.

By the time Tian Hai had finished changing, Tang Ruo and Bai Qi were already sitting at a table in the boutique’s lounge, eating.

Tang Ruo noticed Tian Hai and smiled. “Come over and have something to eat.”

Tian Hai knew their travel bags were well-stocked, but he hadn’t expected them to even have rice balls. He was quite surprised but didn’t ask. Shyly, he walked over, accepted the rice ball Tang Ruo handed him, thanked her, and started eating.

After they had eaten their fill and taken everything they needed, the three prepared to face the hordes of zombies outside once again.

As they were about to leave, Bai Qi handed his wallet to Tian Hai.

Tian Hai stared blankly at the wallet in his hand.

Bai Qi said, “Borrowing yours—go make the payment.”

Tian Hai’s face turned bright red.

He realized that he had said something stupid earlier. The streets were now full of zombies—who needed to pay for anything anymore?

Besides, he himself had a backpack full of clothes on his back.

Tang Ruo couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She hadn’t expected that this man, who always appeared calm and indifferent, could hold such petty grudges.

After leaving the men’s boutique, the three of them fought their way to a department store.

This was the largest store on the street, carrying regional specialties, premium gift boxes—and, of course, lots of zombies.

On the way, Tian Hai noticed how Bai Qi was subtly and intentionally shielding Tang Ruo. It dawned on him that he had been negligent. Tang Ruo seemed to lack any special abilities, and since the two of them had saved him, he felt he should repay their kindness. Bai Qi clearly didn’t need protection, so it only made sense for him to protect Tang Ruo.

As a result, their pace slowed down significantly. If it weren’t for Tang Ruo’s psychic shield, the three of them would likely have ended up injured.

Once inside the department store, they didn’t see as many zombies as they had expected.

Tang Ruo found this odd.

Bai Qi, however, wasn’t surprised. On the first day of the apocalypse, he had already taken Tang Ruo on a tour of the city and noticed that many areas were under military control. Once the military controlled a location, they often restricted access to it. This department store was likely one of the locations they had used to transfer supplies.

After clearing out the remaining zombies, they extracted their crystal cores and gathered the corpses into one spot. All this effort took quite a bit of time.

As they took a closer look at the department store, it became clear that Bai Qi’s observation was accurate: many items were already gone. The level of organization suggested either someone with a large spatial ability, like Tang Ruo, had swept the place clean, or large groups of people had meticulously moved everything out.

The three decided to spend the night here and take the opportunity to scavenge the “leftovers” that the military might have missed.

The second floor was small, mainly selling premium gift boxes. One advantage of these department stores was that they often had a small office on the second floor—and this one was no exception. Naturally, the office became Bai Qi and Tang Ruo’s sleeping area for the night.

Bai Qi arranged for Tian Hai to sleep at the large counter outside. The counter was spacious enough to flip over and use as a makeshift bed.

Although Tian Hai had awakened his abilities some time ago, he only discovered them today. Exhausted from a day of fighting zombies on the streets, he initially thought he’d stay awake worrying about his father. To his surprise, he fell asleep quickly.

Having worked up a sweat all day and now full from a good meal, Tang Ruo naturally wanted to take a proper bath. Without hesitation, she pulled out a bathtub and filled it with water in the office.

This time, Bai Qi didn’t stay outside watching his tablet. Instead, he grabbed a cart and went back out to sweep up the remaining food supplies. He returned with a cart brimming with items like ham, sausages, and even bird’s nest soup and shark fin.

Once both of them had cleaned up, they settled in to sleep.

Tang Ruo, already used to sharing a bed with Bai Qi, fell asleep quickly. Bai Qi, resting his head near her neck, nuzzled her gently before drifting off, feeling quite content.

The next morning, they resumed their routine: killing zombies, digging out crystal cores, collecting supplies, and reaching out to other people with abilities.

By 4 p.m., the trio would always find a shop to spend the night.

Bai Qi was particular about their sleeping arrangements, always choosing places with private rooms. This ensured Tang Ruo could take her bath in peace and sleep comfortably each night.

Despite their efforts, it took them several days to cover just 300 meters.

After looting all the shops along the pedestrian street, Bai Qi decided it was time to head to City A.

There were simply too many zombies, and there was no end in sight to clearing them all. Staying in one place for too long would only lead to isolation from outside information. If it were just him and Tang Ruo, it might have been manageable, but with Tian Hai now in their group, Bai Qi didn’t want to remain cut off from the rest of the world.

Thus, he made the decision to move toward City A.

Moreover, after several days of training, Bai Qi had noticed significant improvement in Tang Ruo’s use of her abilities.

That night, they stayed in a jade store. Jade, like other luxury items, was practically worthless in the early days of the apocalypse. During the military’s resource transfers, they hadn’t bothered with this place, leaving it untouched. As a result, the three of them looted everything from the store.

However, Tang Ruo was puzzled about hoarding such items. As they prepared to sleep, she asked, “Why are we taking so much gold and jade? What’s the point?”

Bai Qi gently ran his fingertips through her hair and replied, “They can be used to make weapons in the future. The scientists in the base will figure it out.”

Tang Ruo was a bit surprised by his straightforwardness. “Weapons will require gold and silver in the future?”

Bai Qi responded with a simple “Hmm.”

Tang Ruo muttered an “Oh” and didn’t ask further.

She sensed that Bai Qi didn’t like talking about his “past.” In truth, she wasn’t sure why she herself felt some resistance toward his past experiences. Perhaps it was because she hadn’t been a part of them?