Chapter Sixty-Six: Falling Once More

“Five hundred people is a little too few. We need to expand our numbers. We don’t have to be on par with Dawn City, but at least we should match the other two groups.”

They needed both fighters and support staff; five hundred was far from enough. Liu Rui had come across several promising candidates, but had to let them go due to the lack of spots.

Now, with plenty of supplies on hand, even if another five hundred people joined, Liu Rui was confident they could be completely self-sufficient.

“Start recruiting. We’ll aim for a group of a thousand. Fill all the spots before we leave the city.”

Fang Xia immediately agreed. Five hundred was indeed a drop in the ocean compared to the entire Dawn City, barely enough to make a ripple.

Silence fell again at the dinner table. Everyone appeared to be eating, but their thoughts were already drifting far and wide.

[The leader grants every wish Little Rui makes. My good days are even more secure now. In the old world, people relied on their parents; I rely on my best friend. I’m amazing.]

[It’s over. Now that Rui is the leader’s wife, my sister and I have nothing to do with it. All because my sister hesitated.]

[Um… why does my sister keep glancing at me? She should be looking at the leader.]

[Pervert!]

In the end, Dr. Jiang’s thoughts were the simplest—just two words.

Fang Xia nearly twitched at the corners of his mouth. What on earth were these people thinking?

Bang!

The door flew open. The little girl returned, and the moment she saw Liu Rui, she ran over.

“Rui, where were you this afternoon? When I woke up and didn’t see you, I thought you were off assigning tasks.”

“Good thing I just made a trip out, or our sisters would have starved, and then how would we fight tonight?”

“Next time, let me know ahead of time if you have something to do. Otherwise, we might be in trouble tonight.”

Liu Rui reached out and pinched the little girl’s cheek. After pinching Bai Xing’s earlier, she had grown fond of the sensation.

“You’ve worked hard. Sit and eat. I’ll handle the arrangements later.”

The little girl obediently took her seat, only then remembering the group leader was here. She had just been talking about Rui.

“Uh, leader, I didn’t notice just now, um… Rui…”

“Just eat. Ignore him.”

Liu Rui handed her a set of utensils and gently pressed her back into her seat.

Fang Xia remained calm, picking at his food. The queen of the harem was here—why look at me?

The little girl was even more confused. Something felt off after that trip outside. Why did it seem like Rui was now the real leader? And everyone else acted as if that was only natural.

She glanced left and right, but found no answers. Still puzzled, she could only eat in silence.

---

11 p.m., Dawn City.

It wasn’t just Fang Xia’s group; the other three major factions were also fully prepared.

Lamps shone over all of Dawn City, turning night into day.

Tens of thousands of survivors stood ready, waiting for the next wave of zombies to descend.

Aside from Fang Xia and the three factions, there were many independent survivors joining the fight, though most gathered with the larger groups. Hardly anyone joined Fang Xia.

“Rui, the sisters are all set. Everyone has reached the second level.”

The little girl had clearly become the logistics supervisor, while Liu Rui, as the leader’s wife, no longer needed to handle these matters personally—she only had to oversee everything.

As for Fang Xia, he was just a particularly strong enforcer.

Midnight.

A massive rift appeared in the sky right on schedule.

Though not the first time he’d seen it, Fang Xia always found himself wondering: Where did this rift come from? What was on the other side? Was it another world?

But there were no answers.

In the previous life, the Lord of Dawn City, Chen Gang, had reached level seven as a fighter, but even he stood no chance against the level eight zombie, let alone unraveling the mystery of the sky.

The zombie rain began to fall, and the war erupted once again.

With better preparation and stronger team members, tonight’s battle was far easier than the last.

Even when level two zombies appeared, the team could handle them without Fang Xia or Bai Xing stepping in.

Those who had paid to shelter in Fang Xia’s territory trembled with fear, hearts pounding, until they saw the zombies were indeed being drawn away by the team and finally settled down.

“Watch the time—rotate every twenty minutes,” Liu Rui reminded the group from time to time.

“Rui, stay back. It’s not safe up here.”

Seeing Liu Rui move forward, several of the young women quickly pulled her back.

This was no joke. If something happened to her, the whole group might be doomed.

In the past, Liu Rui would have fought herself, but since their numbers surpassed a hundred, she hardly ever took action. The more recent members had no idea she could even kill zombies.

Liu Rui didn’t bother to explain. If she could avoid fighting, she certainly would—what girl liked violence and bloodshed? Li Xiaochun was the exception.

Fang Xia, bored, had already made a fire in the courtyard and set up a large iron pot. From his storage space, he produced a stack of canned luncheon meat.

Besides the canned meat, there were eggs, frozen shrimp, sausages, and more.

“Liu Rui, hurry up—make more rice.”

---

The self-heating rice only took five minutes—quick and easy.

Liu Rui, in good spirits, brought out thirty boxes at once to cook.

Meanwhile, an ever-growing pile of condiments accumulated beside Fang Xia.

“Brother Fang, the rice is ready,” the twin sisters called out. For once, they weren’t upstairs, but out in the courtyard.

“Open them all up—let them cool.”

Though the southern winter wasn’t as harsh as the north, it was still bone-chillingly cold. With all the rice boxes opened, they cooled quickly.

Fang Xia started on the shrimp first.

He thawed the frozen shrimp, then handed them to the elder twin.

“Cut them into small pieces, all right?”

“Don’t worry, Brother Fang. I always helped Mom in the kitchen at home.”

She was confident—at last, she could be useful.

“Good. Chop up the sausage too, dice it.”

She looked blank.

“What does ‘dice’ mean?”

Fang Xia got it—she was a lost cause.

“I’ll do it.” The younger twin took the knife without a word and got to work.

With a few crisp chops, the entire sausage was diced into neat, even cubes.

“Not bad, not bad. You do it, little sis. Big sis, you help.”

Fang Xia was very satisfied—the younger sister was far more reliable.

At this moment, Dr. Jiang also came out, grabbed a set of kitchen tools from Liu Rui without a word, and from the look of her, she was an expert.

With the two of them working together, the shrimp and sausage were quickly prepped.

Fang Xia boiled water to blanch the shrimp, then put another pot on for oil.