Chapter Forty-Four: Expansion

Liu Rui let out a faint sigh, her expression complicated as she gazed at Fang Xia.

Is this man the legendary protagonist? Did he transmigrate, or is he reborn?

Fang Xia felt utterly exasperated, cursing inwardly. He never imagined that, in this day and age, women would still enjoy reading apocalypse novels.

Could this be the reason she rose to power during the apocalypse?

Was his own miserable failure in his previous life because he hadn't read such novels?

But it didn't matter; so what if he hadn't read them? Now he had been reborn, which surely made him the protagonist.

In apocalypse novels, the male lead usually builds a harem. Could Brother Fang be thinking the same? Why else would he form an all-female squad?

But would I have to play second fiddle? Even Bai Xing used to listen to me. Surely I should be the leader.

Fang Xia was speechless. Was it his idea to form a "female army"? He’d told her to recruit people; she’d insisted on recruiting only women, and now she blamed him.

And what’s all this about being the first or second in command? He hadn’t treated her in any special way.

“It’s getting late. You should rest. Tomorrow you still have to go out and recruit,” Fang Xia announced, effectively sending them away. If he let this girl think any further, who knows what wild ideas she’d conjure up.

Liu Rui returned to her tent, burdened with thoughts, while Fang Xia and Bai Xing went back to their room.

...

“Brother Fang, we’re heading out,” Bai Xing said early the next morning as she and Liu Rui left the hotel together.

Last night, Liu Rui had found a large wooden board and written the requirements for joining the female squad. Today, she intended to have someone carry it wherever they went.

Privately, Liu Rui made another decision: besides those requirements, only attractive women would be considered.

After all, the protagonist’s harem in the novels was always full of beauties. That’s how the story went.

Fortunately, Fang Xia didn’t hear this thought, otherwise he would have adored her for it—such awareness! She must be the leader...

Clearly, Liu Rui’s female squad was morphing into Fang Xia’s harem, though the protagonist himself was oblivious.

By the time Fang Xia left his room, it was already a quarter past nine. By now, all the survivors in the city would have realized there were no more supply drops.

No one knew if there would ever be more, but for now, the supply boxes in the city were the last. Each opened box meant one less in existence.

Suddenly, the whole city was in an uproar. Countless people emerged from hiding, searching for the remaining supply boxes.

Supermarkets and malls were flooded with people.

Just days ago, few dared to venture into the shopping centers—not everyone was like Fang Xia, able to dispatch hordes of zombies with ease.

Also, they lacked spatial equipment; even if they got inside, how much could they carry out?

With supply boxes, finding one could feed a person for a month.

But now, with the drops gone, food would soon become exceedingly scarce.

In these circumstances, it became much harder for Liu Rui and her team to find supply boxes and materials, but recruitment proceeded smoothly. On the first day, they filled their ranks with a hundred new members.

Fang Xia’s team of female college students officially expanded to a hundred, becoming one of the largest squads in Baicheng.

And every member was a beauty.

“We now have 300 members in total, including you, Brother Fang, for a total of 301. Among them, 282 are First-Tier Fighters, and 19 are Second-Tier Fighters.

“In terms of supplies: four tents—two are 200 square meters, two are 1,000 square meters—ample space for everyone.

“Fifty-six lunch boxes, seventy-seven water bottles, thirteen combat knives, six daggers, three sets of combat uniforms, and 3,742 First-Tier evolution crystals, plus eighty-two Second-Tier evolution crystals.

“Besides the sets for you and Bai Xing, we found another, which I gave to Liu Rui.

“During these frantic days, we’ve gathered a large number of evolution crystals. Thirty percent are allocated for use by the members, distributed by Liu Rui according to their performance. That’s why we now have nineteen Second-Tier Fighters.

“Three toilets, two bathtubs, two bath pools, eleven lamps.

“We have eleven spatial equipment items: two bracelets, two jade pendants, seven rings, with a total storage capacity of 15,500 kilograms.

“In addition to items from supply boxes, we have 3,000 kilograms of bottled water, 1,000 kilograms of various drinks, 2,000 kilograms of salt, 2,000 kilograms of canned food, 2,000 kilograms of instant rice, 1,000 kilograms of instant hotpot, and 500 kilograms of snacks like potato chips and spicy sticks. Also, 500 high-powered flashlights.”

“Moreover, two days ago, we found a large hospital. I took a lot of glucose, some common cold medicine, anti-inflammatories, and fever reducers. We can’t use evolution crystals for every minor illness.”

Since the zombies and supply boxes had stopped appearing, the people in Baicheng had gone completely mad, snatching up everything. Even without spatial equipment, sheer numbers made up for it.

Liu Rui had managed to gather an impressive haul; their storage was nearly full.

Aside from these, the remaining space was reserved for bedding, tissues, sanitary pads, and other essentials for the ladies.

“It’s not enough. Equip every team member with a luggage bag, filled with supplies. Keep recruiting until we reach five hundred members.”

Five days had passed since the supply drops ended. In another two days, with most boxes claimed, Fang Xia planned to visit the survivor organization rumored to be developing rapidly—they’d even cleared a safe zone in one district, and their numbers had surpassed ten thousand.

His main purpose there was to trade for equipment, intending to arm all five hundred of his girls.

All residents on the twenty-first floor of the hotel had been cleared out by Fang Xia, though he compensated them with some food—he wasn’t entirely unscrupulous.

As for those who tried to extort him, they had become zombies downstairs.

After these frenzied days, even the female squad had suffered attacks from fellow humans, and two young women had died as a result.

Afterward, the female squad changed completely. They understood now: if they didn’t kill others, others would devour them, leaving not even a scrap behind.

Forget about solidarity among humans in the apocalypse; survival comes first, then talk about unity.

“Sister Rui, there are more people outside wanting to join us, including a pair of twins—they’re especially beautiful.”

Thanks to Liu Rui’s recent publicity, the female squad had gained some fame in Baicheng, and people were regularly seeking to join.

Regular team members understood the requirements well: female, attractive, young, educated—female college students.

All three were indispensable.

Many privately discussed among themselves that this must be the leader’s criteria.

The leader, of course, was Fang Xia.