Apocalypse King: Recruiting S-Tier Beauties With My Ruler System
Chapter 188: Southern District - Old Train Depot

Chapter 188: Southern District - Old Train Depot

I planned for Zhou Xue to lead the future scouts and rangers I recruited, maybe having Chen Xun and Deng Hua lead the male scouts. Meanwhile, Tang Wei would be the ideal leader for those given the Soldier role.

Mu Qinglan and Shen Yifei would probably be good with Militia and those who fight in close combat, but those girls were too unstable to work with others.

I think that Jiang Roulan might be the best leader for a Police force, or something along those lines, but so far nobody suited that role.

’Something to keep my eye out for I guess...’

The streets turned quieter the farther west we drove.

Trees lined the cracked pavement in patches, their blossoms faded into wilted husks. Trash rustled in the gutters. Street signs hung crooked. Everything felt frozen in time—abandoned lives and forgotten routines lingering like ghosts.

Mu Qinglan handled the Jeep well, even when we hit uneven terrain. Her posture never changed—focused, spine straight, a slight tension in her jaw. She was calm, deadly, and beautiful, blood dried on her sleeves, her grip on the wheel still stained.

I liked that about her.

Behind me, I could hear Yifei shuffling. Her face rested on the cool glass, fogging it with her breath. But when I glanced back, she turned away and pretended to be looking elsewhere.

But her twitching twintails gave her away.

Cute as hell.

Liang Mei and Liang Qiu whispered about bullet trajectories and what they’d done wrong in the last shootout. They were trying, and I respected that. Zhou Xue was in the other Jeep, I assumed, probably watching the road like a hawk. Tang Wei would’ve told her to.

I tapped my ear and contacted Roulan.

"Roulan," I said. "Status?"

Her voice crackled back. "Still clear. We’re taking the left fork in two minutes. That’ll cut through an old train depot and bypass the collapsed bridge."

"Copy that. Make sure no one lags behind."

"Already on it," she replied smoothly, before the line clicked off.

I exhaled and checked the mini-map again. A few red blips flickered at the far edge—zombies, maybe a roaming group. Nothing nearby. My gaze shifted to the inventory list. Still had plenty of rounds, at least four decent rifles in the back trunk, and a few blunt weapons I hadn’t assigned yet.

My people here, close to thirty, were armed enough.

All thanks to the guns and other weapons used by those Gu clan thugs.

But we weren’t strong yet.

I wasn’t strong enough yet.

My thoughts drifted to Gu Tianhao, his broken jaw, and the blood staining my fists. That kind of rage... I wasn’t sure if it was the Primordial Tyrant Body Scripture or because I wanted to protect everyone that I became that enraged.

Maybe it’s because he tried to shoot Yifei...

I wanted to protect Yifei, but I also wanted to destroy anything that threatened what I’d built.

’Was that wrong?’

Mu Qinglan’s voice broke the silence. "You’re doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"That thing where you stare off like you’re about to kill someone."

I blinked. "I wasn’t—"

"You were," she said flatly, then glanced at me. "You’re cute when you look like that, though."

I smirked, but said nothing.

The sky was turning orange ahead. We still had a long way to go before reaching Roulan’s family estate.

And when we got there?

I’d need answers.

What resources did they have?

What allies remained?

Whether their home was secure enough to serve as a rally point... or if I’d need to use [Base Relocation] sooner than expected.

Either way, the convoy kept moving.

And I kept planning.

Somehow, this didn’t feel real.

Maybe something was hiding and just waiting for me to let down my guard.

However, I didn’t plan to do that.

The ride was quiet for a while.

But not silent.

Mu Qinglan liked to hum under her breath when she drove, and Liang Mei kept whispering something to her in the backseat, but there was a strange feeling in the air. The kind that came after bloodshed and before something worse.

I leaned back in the passenger seat, arm braced against the door, and let my eyes wander. Broken windows, burnt cars, collapsed storefronts. It appeared to be a shopping district. Now it looked like something had chewed it up and spat it out.

"I remember this place," Liang Qiu murmured behind me. "My school used to be just up that hill..."

No one answered her. Not out of cruelty. Just... what do you even say to that?

Mu Qinglan tapped the steering wheel with her thumb, slowing the Jeep to crawl over an overturned delivery truck. "South District looks like shit," she said casually, lips curled into a smirk. "Almost makes me miss the slums."

"There’s less blood in the slums," Shen Yifei muttered, curled up against the window with her arms crossed. "Fewer bite marks too."

"Fewer assholes," I added, shifting in my seat.

We drove on.

Ahead of us, Jiang Roulan’s Jeep dipped around the rusted remains of a barricade, her brake lights flickering as she turned down the ramp that led toward the old highway.

I opened my system window with a thought.

[SYSTEM STATUS]

• Followers: 78/150

• Supplies: 23 days (based on 2 meals per person/day)

• Weapons: 51 (Ranged: 35, Melee: 16)

• Medical Stock: Medium

• Vehicle Fuel: 4 days (w/o refuel)

• Shelter Capacity: 150• Base Rank: 6

• Special Feature (Unlocked at Stage 6): [Base Relocation]

My eyes lingered on that last part.

’Relocate the base, huh...’

Once we reached the right milestone, I could move everything. Not just relocate a tent or storage, but drag the entire base, with all its upgrades.

Somewhere we could dig farmland, build defences. Somewhere safer than the old commercial strip where our current base sat, surrounded by half-eaten corpses and goddamn sewage lines.

We kept moving.

The South District had gone eerily quiet since Gu Tianhao’s people ran wild here. Streets were cracked and pitted, and most of the buildings were burned or hollowed out. But there weren’t many zombies.

Not anymore.

Guess when you dump that much blood in one area, even the undead stop showing up.

Ahead, Roulan’s Jeep slowed down, signalling a turn. I sat up straighter, watching her roll toward a split in the road—one led to the river highway, the other toward a ridge overlooking the ruins of the old stadium.

Mu Qinglan turned toward me. "Which way?"

I pointed. "Highway. If we stay above the floodplain, we’ll avoid the bridge that collapsed last month."

"Got it." She shifted gears and followed Roulan’s path.

I leaned back again. My fingers tapped against my thigh.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the ten new people. No actual combat experience, barely any gear, just the kind of fear you can smell from a mile away. But they chose to leave the comfort of numbers. They gave up the security of walls, weak as they were.

All because I asked.

Or maybe because they saw me fight.

’Whatever the reason, I have to make it worth it.’

I opened the digital map again, checking the marked routes and fuel estimate. We had maybe three days of driving, max, before we had to siphon more fuel or stop and forage. The shortcut to Roulan’s family estate passed through industrial zones. If we were lucky, we’d find an old supply truck or diesel tank still intact.

’Of course I could use ZKP to buy fuel, but I wanted to stop wasting it when we could use the cities resources first.’

I flagged two potential supply points on the route.

Shen Yifei’s voice broke my focus. "Are we really going to her family’s place?"

Her tone wasn’t annoyed—just cautious.

"Yeah, I promised her."

"Hmph... I see." She flicked her head away, clearly upset.

"Can we trust her family?"

Mu Qinglan’s eyes looked a little scary as she flicked the indicator, and the other jeeps followed suit.

"Yeah! Do you trust them?" Yifei asked, quieter this time.

That made me pause.

Mu Qinglan looked over, just once, her expression unreadable.

To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect, but what would happen in the future? Would she choose to stay with her family and leave us?

Thoughts like this made me feel a little weird.

"...No," I said at last. "But I trust Roulan. That’s enough."

Nobody spoke after that.

The silence was... heavy. But not uncomfortable.

Just a reminder.

This road wasn’t leading us toward safety.

Only toward the next battlefield.

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