Chapter Sixty: Seizure

Because they realized that hiding in their rooms was no longer entirely safe—if they didn't break out with the main group, it was as good as waiting for death.

The defense of Dawn City raged on throughout the night.

No one knew how many had died in total; tens of thousands of people at the western end of the city drew the majority of the zombies away from Dawn City. "Breaking out" had become merely a slogan—holding the western sector became their true goal.

Guo Yu was among them.

Other survivors who had been lucky enough to hold out elsewhere were also fleeing toward the west. By the latter half of the night, the west side had gathered hundreds of thousands of human survivors.

This was likely humanity's first large-scale battle against the zombies.

Meanwhile, in the north of the city, Fang Xia was resting his head on Bai Xing's slender thighs, lost in thought.

No one on the second floor returned to their rooms to sleep; everyone gathered in the living room. In the tents, most of the young women lay awake as well—death, it seemed, was still so close.

Since joining Fang Xia’s group, having enough to eat and proper clothes had made them forget that this was the apocalypse, a world where countless people died every day.

Any woman able to survive alone in this world had surely been through her share of bloodshed. It had simply been too long since it happened so close to them, and they had started to forget.

As dawn approached, the little girl returned to the second floor.

"Brother Fang, I'm sorry."

Fang Xia ignored her.

To question him in such circumstances was to risk mutiny—and if it truly came to that, Fang Xia would not have hesitated to kill her first.

Although the worst outcome hadn’t come to pass, plenty of problems remained.

He heard the young woman’s inner turmoil clearly.

Seeing that Fang Xia paid her no heed, the little girl’s eyes grew red with tears. She bowed deeply to him three times, then left the second floor.

Liu Rui shot Fang Xia a glare and hurried after her. That girl’s pride was as fierce as her figure. In that moment, her reaction had been instinctive, but now, looking back, she knew she was wrong.

She hadn’t come back all night; she must have been comforting the women in the tents, trying to make amends. Now, with Fang Xia refusing to forgive her, she couldn’t bear to stay.

Fang Xia didn’t stop Liu Rui, and the other women simply watched in silence.

Compared to the little girl, they naturally trusted Fang Xia more.

“Everyone, try to rest for a bit. There’s still much to do tomorrow.”

At nine in the morning, the supply drops would arrive as usual. They needed to seize the first opportunity while others were still in chaos.

This supply drop would last a week, and after that, Fang Xia would prepare to leave the city and establish a camp outside.

Everything was happening ahead of schedule—even the earthquake, if nothing went wrong, would come sooner than expected.

And the zombie siege as well.

Last time, they had already encountered third-tier zombies—this time, there would certainly be more, and not a few.

But in his past life, the zombie siege happened only after the earthquake and the reestablishment of Dawn City. Otherwise, there’d be no city to besiege.

At six in the morning, after a night of fierce fighting, Dawn City finally quieted.

Though scattered skirmishes broke out here and there, the large-scale battle had ended with the human survivors victorious.

The streets were littered with countless zombie corpses, including many from the second tier.

People were already beginning to act—these were far more valuable than any supplies.

You could only carry so much out of a supermarket, but upgrade crystals were no bigger than coins—hundreds could be carried with ease.

“Anyone who touches them dies.”

Chen Gang stepped forward, backed by over ten thousand Dawn City defenders.

Someone, doubting his resolve, tried to search a corpse anyway.

A second later, he became a corpse himself.

“Dawn City is recruiting.”

Similar scenes played out elsewhere.

In the east, the Lone Wolf Gang.

Lone Wolf stood on several corpses, grinning wickedly.

“If you want to die, come forward.”

Ten thousand people shrank back as one, terrified they’d be next.

Lone Wolf’s laughter grew even more brazen, his men joining in with arrogant jeers.

“Any real men are welcome to join us. As for the rest of you, you’re just a bunch of useless cowards.”

In the south, the Blood-clad Gang.

A man drenched in blood stood calmly, his gaze steady.

Before him, more than ten thousand people watched in silence, none daring to take a step forward.

Not a drop of that blood belonged to him...

And then there was Fang Xia’s own harem.

But he had nowhere near the numbers of Dawn City; at most, he had just over four hundred women.

Now, several thousand survivors had surrounded them, ready to scavenge upgrade crystals from the zombie corpses.

Last night, during the battle, these people had cowered in terror, surviving only because Fang Xia’s team had drawn away most of the zombies.

Now, with dawn barely breaking, they were eager to reap the rewards.

Fang Xia, upon hearing what was happening, stepped out, over a hundred women behind him, each radiating murderous intent—these were their spoils, bought with the lives of dozens of their sisters.

“Move again, and you die.”

Fang Xia’s voice was cold, drawing the eyes of the crowd.

One hundred women all raised their blades. At Fang Xia’s word, they would charge.

“Who are you trying to scare with those knives? Like we don’t have any.”

There were thousands facing them, and now many pulled out their own knives, stepping to the front.

“Leopard, they’ve got maybe three or four hundred at most. We could crush them with sheer numbers. Take out the man, and the women and supplies are ours.”

These men had once worked for Fang Xia’s domain, and when chaos broke out last night, Leopard had remembered the presence of this group and led his men here.

Sure enough, most of the zombies in the area had been lured away by Fang Xia’s team.

Now, they had the numbers. The other side was outnumbered and exhausted, and all female.

Leopard’s eyes flashed with cruelty.

They might fear fighting zombies, but when it came to women, there was nothing to fear.

Yet Leopard hesitated; though there were thousands, only about a hundred truly followed his command.

“Leopard, if we take the lead, with enough benefit, the others will follow.”

A subordinate egged him on.

“To hell with it, let’s get them! Kill the man, and the women and supplies are ours!”

Leopard was swayed, and, with dozens of his men, he began to yell and charge.

Behind him, thousands more grew restless—who wouldn’t want women and supplies?

A sudden, chilling sound—a blade piercing flesh.

Bai Xing’s figure appeared, a dagger thrust into his throat, disbelief still etched across Leopard’s face.

“Kill them.”

At Fang Xia’s command, the women—pent up through a night of tension—finally unleashed their fury.