[BL] NEET life in the Apocalypse

Chapter 91—Making a friend

by Bocchan13

New Era Calender—April 19th 22 years after the Fall

The handshake was what drew Song Yu in. Embarrassment from the situation aside, the handsome stranger rough callused hands that trembled upon touching felt extremely comforting. They shook for only a little bit before ending it.

Song Yu coughed lightly as the bright blush retreated from his face.

“You…why are you here? You shouldn’t be here.” Lan Zhou was still touching the palm Song Yu had touched with a small warm smile escaping his lips. He politely bowed slightly to Song Yu with a small feeling of guilt.

“We’re sorry for intruding upon your home. We had a meeting with the Paradise Base leaders, but things went…awry and we were forced to flee. We saw the entrance to this place…so please don’t report us to the Paradise Base. We will leave soon anyways.”

Song Yu felt baffled.

They came here…for something? Was it related to him?

“Perchance…you guys needed the Pure ability user?”

Lan Zhou and Xiao Zi both looked at Song Yu with trepidation. Xiao Zi turned to Lan Zhou, his eyes a bit too obvious.

Don’t tell him anything.

But Lan Zhou continued to feel that butterfly feeling whenever he looked at Song Yu. He felt…like he could trust him. Over 20 years in the apocalypse was enough to be a good judge of character. Especially one that looked at him with such purity.

“Our mission was to have the pure ability user use his powers to purify Xiao Zi’s formula. If he did that then we might have been able to make the zombie virus vaccine. We came all the way from the Military base in the north…we lost a lot of people coming here. We had only been in the Paradise Base for less than an hour before we were forced out…”

The more Song Yu heard, the more confused he was.

Why did Ye Zhou kick them out?

More importantly…why didn’t Ye Zhou tell him anything at all?

Song Yu had no semblance of time. He was always either working or sleeping. The day-to-day responsibilities as a base leader were up to Ye Zhou, but Song Yu was the cornerstone of this place.

But that couldn’t be right.

Ye Zhou would have definitely let them in as guests, treat them like royalty and had done everything he can to ensure the survival of mankind. Why would Ye Zhou do that? No reason at all! Assured, Song Yu deeply thought.

Did they actually go to the right place? There were several small bases around the Paradise base that traded with them occasionally; maybe they had something to do with that?

“Was… was the person who threw out. His name was Ye Zhou?”

“I’m not too sure. He didn’t introduce himself. But he said he was the pure ability user. He was interested at our arrival at first, but when we told him why we needed him, he yelled at us to get out. That man…is not a good person.”

Alarm bells sounded in Song Yu’s head. Ye Zhou was impersonating him?

“Wait. Hold on…the man you met was the pure ability user? The one with reddish pupils, soft spoken and delicately dressed?”

“Well…no. The person we met was extremely standoff-ish, arrogant, and just a downright dick. Isn’t he the base leader? We heard that the base leader was the pure ability user, so when we arrived, we just went to straight to the point and asked the closest person who the leader was.”

Arrow after arrow of incomprehensibility followed Song Yu. Brows wrinkled; face paling, and the mouth slowly opening in silent protest. That didn’t sound like Ye Zhou at all! They might have approached the smaller base! A stupid head was impersonating him! Such idiocy!

“You guys…got scammed!”

Scammed?

Lan Zhou and Xiao Zi internally screamed.

“Wait, what?”

Nodded profusely, Song Yu gently held Lan Zhou’s buff biceps, stroking it. “Ah-huh. You guys got royally scammed. Extremely scammed!”

“But…but…”

Song Yu interjected,

“The Paradise bases pure ability user is a benevolent man who does whatever he can to ensure the bases survival! If he knew that there was a cure for the zombie vaccine, he would no doubt help! The person you met has been impersonating me!!!”

Lan Zhou’s and Xiao Zi’s mouth opened in disbelief. This scrawny old man with deep sunken eyes, white pallor and scrappy clothes…was the pure ability user????

“Huh!” Xiao Zi pointed at Song Yu, “You’re…the pure ability user?”

“That’s right! Me! You guys have been looking for me!”

Disbelief marked every surface of Xiao Zi’s face. He sneered, “If you’re the base leader, what the fuck are you doing in this dingy prison, huh? You think we would believe you? Dream on!”

“No, really! I’m the pure ability user, the base leader! Here, look!”

Song Yu unfurled his fingers, taking a few things from his space. A shriveled up corn he had gotten last time came out. Followed by that was a bright blue essence that surrounded the corn, creating a beautiful halo around it. Changing right in front of their eyes, the ugly corn with its brown leaves immediately turned green, the pale yellow turning into gold as the corn ripened to almost 12 inches.

In Song Yu’s other hand was a lumpy metal part of something. Red with rust, it looked incapable of anything, yet under the blue fluorescent light, the rust disintegrated into dust the metal shining through. Even more than that, the metals separated from each other. Three balls side by side were arched here and there until it solidified. Aluminum, steel, and iron.

“This used to be part of a car…so…” Song Yu dropped the three balls into Xiao Zi’s outstretched hands. Xiao Zi gazed at them in shock, clutching them as if they were a lifeline. He was silent as he felt the different textures of the materials. Each had  their own individual colors, but rounded and smoothened to create the balls.

“This…this…”

“My ability can transform something into its purest form, or re-integrate to its best. The corn is what it used to be in its prime, and the car part is in its purest shape.” Song Yu gave the corn to Lan Zhou, who dumbly stared at it. Song Yu could feel their awe, and laughed silently to himself.

He never felt like this before. He felt giddy and excited. Watching the both of them, he clapped his hands and bowed deeply.

“I’m the pure ability user, Song Yu. Leader of Paradise Base.” Smiling with mirth, he cocked his head to the side. Long bangs slid to the side showing his beautiful pure eyes towards them, crescent with laughter.

“I’ll help you purify your zombie formula. Free of charge!”