Apocalypse King: Recruiting S-Tier Beauties With My Ruler System
Chapter 108: Another Group of Humans?

Chapter 108: Another Group of Humans?

[09:42 AM — 1 mile from Longwan University]

We moved from block to block. Every thirty minutes, I let them scavenge. Always in pairs. Never linger. No more than five minutes per stop.

They pulled out:

A roll of copper wire.

Canned food past expiry, but still intact.

A dented water filter system from an apartment supply shop.

Tools — screwdrivers, multi-tools, hammer heads.

A set of work gloves from a hardware bin.

A sealed canister of propane.

Liang Qiu found a wristwatch that still ticked. She wore it like a trophy.

Chen Xun found a working radio with a broken antenna, but Zhou could probably rewire it. The reason I gave him a pat on the back was that if there were any army support or government movements, we’d need something like this.

’Carrot and Stick!’

The weight started adding up.

But so did the morale.

They were smiling.

Not relaxed—no, not in this world—but alive. Moving with purpose. I could feel the grief of the university fading. At least for now, stopping them from collapsing and fearing for their lives and not even desiring to live.

That made all the difference.

[10:26 AM — Sector D9 Crossroad]

We were just crossing a narrow intersection with dead traffic lights when Zhou Xue raised a hand.

"Stop."

Everyone froze.

Ahead, six zombies stood near a burnt-out gas station. None were moving fast. Just idle — chewing on old rags, leaning against walls.

I looked at the archers.

Chen Xun already had an arrow ready.

"They’re close enough," he whispered. "We can drop them clean."

I gave the signal.

One shot.

Two.

Three.

Each one dropped in a soft moan and slump.

[ZKP Gained: 30]

[EXP Gained: 60]

They collected arrows again.

Some broken from constant impact, but they moved faster... the more we fought, the more their scout and soldier classes helped them adjust and improve.

By now, they were treating kills like chores. No celebration. Not as much fear, but they still waited for my guidance.

The orders went from me to Zhou Xue and then Liang Mei.

It was efficient and helped us keep moving.

[10:45 AM — Sector C4 — 2 miles from Home Base]

The sun was higher now.

The street shadows had shrunk, and the city felt too quiet.

That silence?

Heavy. Measured. Like something listening.

Zhou Xue kept looking over her shoulder. Liang Mei too.

That nervous energy was back. I felt it too — like eyes tracking our steps.

But nothing attacked.

Not yet.

I could feel the tension rising in the air again — the kind that meant we weren’t alone.

However... to ensure we could rest easy...

’System scan the area for zombies within a 10-mile radius.’

[TERRITORY SCAN: EXPANDED REGION]

Searching: Longwan City — City Centre (North)

Status: DANGER ZONE CONFIRMED

Last Updated: 10:45 AM, March 18

Estimated Survivors: 350-600

Military Presence: Moderate

Known Threats: Huge Stage 1 Clusters nearby, slow migration, Stage 2 Horde gathering.

Infrastructure Status: Small camps, Miniature camps.

[REMARK: Human activity detected. Evac operations failed. Survivors created small survivor camps. The military formed a small private group! Undead outnumber living 100:1!]

"There aren’t any dangers close, we can head back to the base at the current pace." I just wanted to help calm the others down.

They looked at me with slight worry in their eyes, but nodded gingerly.

—

March 18, 20xx — 11:10 AM

Sector C3 — South Industrial Ruins, 1.4 Miles from Base

—

We kept moving.

The road twisted through the edge of Longwan’s industrial district — low buildings choked with broken fencing, stacked cargo containers rusted to the bone, and old semis abandoned mid-turn. It should’ve been a clean walk. It wasn’t.

Crows scattered from a rooftop as we passed below. One dropped something from its beak — a strip of half-dried human skin. It slapped the pavement like wet leather.

Liang Qiu flinched. Chen Xun gagged but kept his bow up.

Yifei didn’t say anything. Just shifted closer to me.

Zhou Xue whispered under her breath, "This place is wrong..."

She was right.

It was quiet — too quiet — but not clean. Bits of noise rang out in strange rhythms: a can skittering against concrete. A wet flap. Something crunching in the far distance, too sharp to be a zombie’s footfall. Too quick.

"Eyes sharp," I said. "No talking. Stay tight."

We crossed a shattered scaffold lying across the road like a collapsed bridge. As we stepped over the rebar and twisted mesh, Deng Hua caught his leg and almost tripped. I grabbed him by the collar and yanked him up before he fell.

"Careful," I growled.

"Sorry, boss..."

His voice was quieter now.

Everyone was.

Their faces looked tighter. Their steps became lighter. The slow-building dread was taking hold — not the explosive panic of being surrounded — but the grinding kind. The kind that makes your spine itch and your thoughts turn on you.

Even Mu Qinglan had gone silent, walking with her SMG locked in hand, scanning windows, rooftops, alley mouths.

We hadn’t seen a single zombie in over half an hour.

Not one.

Which meant they were somewhere.

[11:36 AM — Sector C2 — Borderline Quarantine Zone]

A wrecked checkpoint came into view: chain link barriers twisted inward, as if something massive had pushed through. The guard post had collapsed into a ditch. One side of the road had been firebombed long ago — black scorch marks, melted asphalt, warped glass.

We passed through a single file as I watched everyone’s posture.

Zhou Xue — rigid.

Liang Mei — wide-eyed, hands clenched.

Deng Hua — jaw tight, glancing over his shoulder every ten seconds.

Liang Qiu — alert, but nervous.

Chen Xun — breathing too fast.

They were holding it together — but only just, I didn’t comment.

Sometimes, words only made cracks wider, so we moved through another four blocks and then heard something.

A soft pop. Not close. Not a zombie. Not natural.

Gunfire.

Qinglan was the first to speak. "That wasn’t an amateur shooting."

I nodded. "Human’s... skilled ones."

Yifei scanned the skyline. "It came from the Rooftop. Just south of us. Maybe four or five blocks out."

Deng Hua licked his lips. "You think they’re friendly?"

"No such thing," I said.

Zhou Xue took a step back toward me. "There’s smoke coming from the roof."

The smoke was constant and seemed to be something familiar. "It’s a cookfire, flames used to cook things in the wild."

Another shot rang out, sharper this time.

It became closer with each step, but the group became more focused, prepared.

Someone was clearing, or maybe they were hunting.

The group shifted, uncertain about the future.

Chen Xun whispered, "We gonna go around... or straight toward it?"

I looked at the buildings ahead — crumbling apartments, tight alleys, rooftops stitched together by makeshift bridges.

The previous path we took seemed to have been destroyed, when or how I didn’t understand, but the way forward was straight past the gunfire.

No alternate route.

And we were less than a mile from the base.

"We push forward," I said.

"Keep your weapons drawn, and focused. Don’t trust anyone but our group for now."

We started walking again, but much slower, as each step felt heavier.

And in the distance, above the cracked concrete of Longwan’s bones, the faintest shape of a rooftop flag fluttered in the wind.

Red. Black symbol. Homemade.

I didn’t recognise it.

But someone flew it like a warning.

We stuck to the side streets now, to avoid walking in the open.

Tighter alleys. Cracked balconies. Rows of dead apartments stacked four floors high. The kind of place where sound bounced and disappeared, where shadows held breath and light felt like a mistake.

The flag on the rooftop had vanished behind the buildings — no more than a glimpse, like something glimpsed during a fever. But the smell lingered. Cookfire. Oil. Gunpowder.

Things the undead didn’t use.

We advanced from building to building. I tapped twice on each frame before crossing — a rhythm. A pattern. Zhou Xue mimicked me without asking. So did Liang Mei.

They were learning.

Yifei ranged five paces ahead. Her spear was out, but low. Controlled.

Chen Xun turned to whisper. "Should we—?"

I cut him off with a sharp shake of the head.

He bit his tongue and adjusted his grip on the bow.

They needed this, not just the destination. The walk. The silence.

The discipline to not panic when you know something could be watching.

That was survival.

That was control.