Chapter 85: Rebellion

Ten seconds, twenty seconds passed. Since Fang Xia remained silent, the women didn’t dare to leave either. The young woman unfamiliar to Fang Xia wrung her fingers together tightly, her anxiety laid bare for all to see.

[What’s wrong with the leader? Did he overhear what I just said?]

[That can’t be. If he did, his reaction wouldn’t be like this.]

[But I wasn’t wrong—Sister Rui is so strong, always looking out for us. She should be the leader. What does Fang Xia even do every day?]

How amusing. Fang Xia smiled.

“When did you join the group?”

His sudden question startled her. He had to repeat himself before she understood.

“I joined after Dawn City was established,” she replied honestly, not sure what he was getting at.

Fang Xia nodded, asked nothing further, and simply left, leaving the two women puzzled.

He had already figured out what was going on.

The night before last, when Liu Rui revealed her strength, the women, who had thought of her as just a housekeeper, glimpsed another side of her. Capable, both in word and action—a true team leader.

So, some people in the group began to reconsider their allegiances. Where before they relied on their own strength, now they thought Liu Rui and Bai Xing were enough. Maybe add Li Xiaochun too?

Since they’d already found one of the original thirty, it wouldn’t be long before they found Liu Rui as well. Or perhaps some action would be taken soon.

Fang Xia was curious to see who these people were.

If Liu Rui was unaware, that was one thing. But if she was in on it...

A cold glint flickered in Fang Xia’s eyes. So, they wanted to turn traitor? That depended on whether they had the skill.

“Sister Rui, someone’s here to see you.”

A young woman, acting as a bodyguard, came up to the second floor.

Liu Rui was eating her breakfast, a piece of bread. She glanced at the time—just seven-thirty. Still early.

She calmly swallowed her last bite, opened a bottle of milk with poise, and went downstairs, where another woman had been waiting.

Liu Rui recognized her immediately—they were high school classmates, best friends before the apocalypse. When it began, she and Li Xiaochun had gone to visit her, and after the heavy rain, they’d all hidden together in the dormitory.

“What’s wrong, Li Jie?”

The team usually didn’t gather until eight-thirty; why come looking for her so early?

“I have something to discuss with you. Want to go for a walk?”

Liu Rui hesitated, but agreed—after all, this was her closest friend from before the end.

...

“Brother Fang, they’ve been waiting for you since early morning.”

Guo Yu brewed a pot of hot tea, then took out a pack of Supreme Harmony cigarettes, offering one to Fang Xia and getting a lighter ready.

“Kids shouldn’t smoke.”

Even so, Fang Xia didn’t stop him. Who in this post-apocalyptic world wasn’t under pressure? With alcohol risky, why not smoke?

Dawn City’s “entertainment” industry had sprung up overnight for a reason—everyone needed an outlet.

Guo Yu grinned mischievously, like a rebellious child, and only lit up after confirming his mother’s room was quiet.

“Here are a thousand packs of low-grade cigarettes.”

Fang Xia removed a spatial ring.

“They made some money yesterday and want more today. The payment’s with me.”

Fang Xia only had a little over two thousand low-grade cigarettes left—he certainly wouldn’t give out much more.

“There aren’t any more low-grade ones. I do have some premium.”

“They said premium is fine too.”

Fang Xia glanced at Guo Yu, then took out three hundred packs of premium cigarettes from his space.

“Premiums are fifty advancement crystals per pack. They can sell for whatever they want, but not lower than the price at the three main sales points.”

He actually had more premium than low-grade—after all, when they raided the supermarkets, they grabbed the priciest stuff first, since space was limited.

“Don’t worry, I’ll let them know.”

Guo Yu nodded and left with the ring. About ten minutes later, he returned, handing the now-empty ring back to Fang Xia. The cigarettes were gone, replaced by advancement crystals.

“Brother Fang, I heard the Lone Wolf Group is on its last legs.”

Ever since learning about Fang Xia’s grudge with them, Guo Yu kept tabs on their situation. The night before last, several of their third-tiers had died; yesterday was worse, leaving only about ten third-tier fighters.

Though they still made a lot of advancement crystals daily, most of the second-tier crystals had to be saved to train fourth-tiers, and the profit from first-tier crystals didn’t make up for their losses.

Who would’ve thought that one of the four great powers of Dawn City in the previous life, the Lone Wolf Group, would last only a month this time?

For Fang Xia, that was certainly good news.

After sitting a while longer, Guo Yu went to join the morning assembly, and Fang Xia left as well.

The streets were bustling again—everyone preparing for the supply drop.

It felt like ages since he’d been involved in this.

Fang Xia sighed—having subordinates was wonderful, but if they didn’t obey, you might as well have a dog.

On the other side, Liu Rui was already leading her team into battle mode.

Just because there were no more zombies didn’t mean the supply drop was easy to get—luck played a part.

But fighting was inevitable.

The city was packed; if you didn’t fight, you’d be lucky to get a few boxes all day. Snatching from others was much faster.

“Sister Rui, you’re here in person for this one? That guy’s already tried twice, but when he saw us coming the third time, he ran.”

A high-grade supply crate—Liu Rui was intrigued.

“A camp bed, soft and comfortable—makes you feel at home.”

Well... not good or bad. She put it away for now.

“High-grade Advancement Serum.”

When those words floated through Liu Rui’s mind, she was stunned.

Then she read the description.

This thing could practically make someone a god overnight.

She knew Bai Xing had taken an advancement serum once—a regular one, which doubled his physical stats.

How much would this advanced one boost? Threefold?

She’d finally found a top-tier supply crate.

“Rui, what’s that?” Li Jie, standing beside her, asked as soon as she saw Liu Rui freeze with something in her hand.

Liu Rui gazed at the serum in her palm, feeling as if she were dreaming.

Seeing Liu Rui ignore her, Li Jie assumed she was still upset about the morning, so she reached out to touch the serum herself.

The moment she did, Liu Rui snapped back to herself and quickly put it away.

But the description had already flashed in Li Jie’s mind the instant she touched it.

“Rui, you should take it. Just take it—you’ll be stronger than Fang Xia himself.”

Li Jie’s excitement was impossible to contain.

With a boost like that, Liu Rui would soar. Who would need Fang Xia anymore?

Let those useless men see—who says women in the apocalypse are only commodities? They can conquer too.

...