Chapter Seventy: Returning Home

The dagger in her hand struck with precision, piercing the zombie’s throat and ending its existence in a single blow.

One-on-one, a third-tier zombie was no match for them. Fang Xia was not to be outdone; his battle blade swept in broad strokes, felling first, second, and third-tier zombies alike. With the enhancement of the upgrade serum tripling his abilities, Fang Xia’s strength and speed surpassed even third-tier zombies.

“Xiaochun, come back!” The ten minutes were fleeting. If Li Xiaochun did not return in time, she would inevitably be infected by the zombies in an instant.

Li Xiaochun was running back with all her might. Though she had only managed to cover a dozen meters, the swarm of zombies around her was overwhelming, and she had already exhausted much of her strength—now she found herself struggling.

“Fight your way out! Save Sister Xiaochun!” The dozens of girls who had been resting at the rear immediately leapt to their feet, gripping their blades as they charged outward.

Clutching her dagger, Li Xiaochun managed to cut down a few more zombies with difficulty and finally reached the spot where she had dropped her blade. As her hand closed around the weapon, her invincible aura seemed to return.

Indeed, the bold, sweeping style suited her best; wielding a dagger and fighting coyly was never her way.

With support both from inside and out, Li Xiaochun quickly joined the sisters who had come to rescue her. Together, they turned and charged forward.

Li Xiaochun still led from the front. Though her skill boost would only last another minute, she pressed on with the ferocity of a war god. Her tattered clothes could not conceal her indomitable presence.

“War god! War god!” No one knew who started it, but soon all the girls were shouting, vying to be heard.

Who says women are inferior to men? Just look at our Sister Xiaochun.

Seeing their safe return, Fang Xia let out a breath of relief. Five third-tier zombies attacking at once—it had clearly been a planned assault.

Fortunately, the crisis had passed without disaster.

Li Xiaochun was truly formidable, worthy of being the first war god of the all-female army in her past life. In this new life, she was unchanged.

“Clean up the battlefield. Let's go home.”

By four in the afternoon, their stronghold had advanced several kilometers. Every zombie along the way had been cleared, including those near the supply drops. Since the appearance of those five third-tier zombies, no more had shown up. Whether they were frightened or there were simply none left nearby remained unknown.

“If we open them, all the alcohol will have evaporated in five days; we can only keep the full packs.” On the bridge, Fang Xia was pondering what to do. Next time, he couldn't be expected to hang up there, freezing in the wind only to be roasted by fire again.

“Gather more dry wood, and find some other flammables.” Since the alcohol couldn’t be poured out, they would have to rely on the alcohol blocks.

They laid a layer directly on the bridge, covered it with dry wood, and tucked in plenty of waste paper to help ignite the fire.

“Ugh… I’ll have to tell Liu Rui when we get back—no more alcohol blocks left. We won’t even be able to enjoy hotpot.” Bai Xing was exasperated. Alcohol blocks? Really? Out there, no one would even take them if you handed them out for free. If you shouted, “Upgrade crystal in exchange for alcohol blocks,” you’d have a pile delivered to you. Maybe not a whole crate for one crystal, but for two or three crystals, people would fight to bring you a box.

“Hello, Brother Fang.” The four bodyguard girls stationed at the entrance on the first floor greeted him dutifully. They were not required to participate in daytime missions, but come nightfall, they would also take up arms.

“And where are you off to, little one?” Fang Xia, coming downstairs, couldn’t help but blurt out the nickname he’d been holding back for ages when he caught sight of Yun Yun.

“Big… brother…!” Yun Yun stammered.

“Well… Yun Yun, I’ll head up first. You do your thing.” Bai Xing snickered from the side. Yun Yun was sensitive about her height; being called ‘little one’ by Fang Xia would certainly infuriate her.

“Hmph.” Watching Fang Xia make a hasty retreat, the little one didn’t chase after him; she had plenty of things to do.

In the living room, Liu Rui reclined on the sofa while the twin sisters massaged her from behind. Their technique had improved considerably. But this couldn’t go on—there were only two sisters, not nearly enough. It seemed she’d have to find a few more.

“We recruited over two hundred today.”

“So many? All first-tier fighters? And all alone?” Fang Xia sat down, only to stand up again, surprised. He’d thought his standards were high; he hadn’t expected over two hundred to show up in a single day.

“They’re from a women’s college in the neighboring city. The school is in the suburbs, dozens of kilometers from the city center, but less than a hundred kilometers from Baicheng, so they chose to come to the provincial capital. However, I heard that when they set out, there were more than three thousand. Now, less than two hundred remain.”

Fang Xia fell silent. These girls truly had courage. In times like these, traversing a hundred kilometers in the wild—many of them must have been ordinary people.

“If it hadn’t been for the new wave of zombie rain, more of them might have survived.” Bai Xing sighed. Compared to them, she felt fortunate to have met Fang Xia directly.

“However,” Liu Rui added, “all of these hundred-plus survivors are second-tier fighters.”

Everyone’s attention turned at once. But it made sense—without being second-tier, facing this new zombie rain, which produced many second-tier and even third-tier zombies, survival was a matter of luck.

“I’ve already mixed them into all the teams,” Liu Rui continued.

Fang Xia nodded. This was necessary. Their group had less than five hundred members in total; to have a team of two hundred join all at once—if they had their own agenda, it would be hard to manage.

“By the way, you know Li Qianwan, right? Remember to get her a bathtub.” Fang Xia recalled his promise to Li Qianwan earlier and mentioned it casually.

“Hm?” Liu Rui looked over. The twin sisters glanced over as well, and even Dr. Jiang, who had been absorbed in her comic, turned her head.

“So, with so many upstairs, you still went to find one outside?” the twins accused indignantly. All their hard work massaging his back—for nothing.

[He’s actually thinking of other women outside? Are we sisters not tempting enough?]
[We’ve already been pushed down to third place—if you count the outsiders, are we going to be sixth and seventh?]
[Pervert!] Dr. Jiang was always direct.

“Bai Xing, you explain.” Under the women’s gazes, Fang Xia pushed Bai Xing forward. If he explained, they’d never believe him.

Once Bai Xing recounted the day’s events, the twins looked at Li Xiaochun with admiration. Only Liu Rui grasped the key point.

“So, starting tomorrow, we can’t go outside the city anymore?” she asked.

Fang Xia nodded. The area outside the city had been their greatest source of supply drops. He was certain other factions would try as well, but for now, everyone would focus on the city itself.

“Starting tomorrow, we’ll focus on seizing supply drops within Shuguang City. If we can’t compete here, we’ll move to another district—Baicheng isn’t just Shuguang City. There are still countless untouched supply drops out there.”