CHAPTER 258: THE LAST DAY

24 Hours Until the Horde Arrives.

After the trio entered the room, I spent the next few hours preparing for the incoming horde. Then spent most of my zombie killer points buying skills, upgrading everyone to the highest possible level.

"Do you think this will be enough?"

"It has to be, or we’re in trouble..."

Tang Wei sat on a swivel chair after swallowing a dozen stage two and three cores. The changes in each woman made me feel more secure, as our group advanced to Stage Four or the peak of Stage Three.

"Wei Wei... do you really think we’ll lose?" Li Ya huffed, sat with crossed legs on the soft, using a nail file. "Thanks to lover boy, we’re all much stronger now."

"Don’t tease him, you looked so happy to gain what he had to give!" Tang Wei slapped the back of Li Ya’s red head before winking at me.

The two women became part of my group and accepted my leadership.

Unlike the others, I asked them up front and told them what kind of role they could take, and to my surprise, both of them took a combat role that would help immensely.

Tang Wei, on the other hand, wanted to take the "Wife" role at first.

However, she seemed to be teasing me and eventually chose a more fitting role, which made me chuckle. To think that she and Mu Qinglan would be the only women who reached Stage Five was a surprise.

[Status]

Name: Tang Wei

Role: Gunner

Secondary Role: ——

Cultivation: Seismic Core Body (Rare)

Tier: S

Stage: 5 - Early

Affection: [500/500]

Evolution: N/A

Attributes:

• Strength: 13

• Physique: 15

• Agility: 8

• Spirit: 20

Skills: Spear Mastery Lv6, Martial Arts Lv8, Jump Lv2, Dash Lv4, Endurance Lv8, Gun Mastery Lv9, Sniper Lv5...

[Status]

Name: Li Ya

Role: Berserker

Secondary Role: ——

Cultivation: Blooming Flame Fire Body (Rare)

Tier: S

Stage: 4 - Mid

Affection: [450/500]

Evolution: N/A

Attributes:

• Strength: 8

• Physique: 5

• Agility: 6

• Spirit: 11

Skills: Axe Mastery Lv6, Martial Arts Lv5, Jump Lv3, Dash Lv3, Endurance Lv5, Shooting Lv8...

***

Tang Wei’s Seismic Core Body wasn’t a flashy technique.

Although it would boost her cultivation and stage when engaging in combat, sex and training.

The main benefits were quite simple:

- Boosts Damage Resistance

- Increases accuracy when standing still

- Reduces stamina drain from Dash, Jump and Martial Arts by 15%

- Resistance to disease and knockback

- Can imbue bullets with Earth Qi to empower armour-piercing

- Enhanced passive HP regen, improved survivability

Li Ya’s benefit from her cultivation technique was a bit more flashy, due to the nature of fire-type cultivators.

The focus of her technique was different:

- Boosts Melee combat speed by 10%

- Attacks with a halberd deal minor burn damage (stacks three times)

- Jump distance increased by 15% and allows for a wide burst of flames when landing.

- After a killing blow, her weapon will erupt with flames, which explode on the next attack.

- Each attack increases Strength by 10% (Stacks to 50% and lasts until combat ends)

- Berserk Form: When in danger of death, Li Ya’s Strength Doubles, but her Endurance and Agility are reduced by 2.

***

With these boosts, their combat power finally matched Jiang Roulan and the others who had sided with me since the beginning. Shen Yifei and Roulan reached the Peak of Stage Four, but there was nothing I could do to advance them further.

"Qinglan, how are the guards?"

"Mm? Well, nothing special but most of the soldiers and guards are Stage Three now."

Thanks to Jiang Roulan helping Lan’er out with the ZKP I gave her, all the recruited guards who would grant me points and experience managed to reach Stage Three. But those who were just members of the Jiang complex reached Stage Two - Peak at best.

As for Jiang Siwan and her Father, I haven’t checked yet.

"Good, that’s enough to survive, did you buy improved rifles and weapons for everyone?"

"Mm~ we bought a decent enough weapon."

Shen Yifei stepped forward with a hop, her hair bouncing with each step as she interrupted Lan’er with a wry smile. "She bought the cheapest possible assault rifles that would damaged and harm Stage Three zombies!"

"I see..."

She then tilted her head while staring at me as if wanting some kind of reward.

Shen Yifei tilted her head, expectant. "You’re not going to praise me? I did save you points."

"Points I gave you to keep people alive," I said flatly, but a smirk tugged at my lips. "Don’t worry. I’ll reward you—after the horde."

"Promise?" she asked, stepping dangerously close.

I nodded once, eyes flicking to her lips before turning away.

"Good." Her voice lowered to a whisper as she leaned in. "Then I’ll survive just for that." She leaned closer, and the cherry scent of the boiled sweet in her mouth lingered in my nose as she kissed my cheek. Mwah! "I knew you were the best."

Li Ya snorted from the couch. "She’s really got it bad."

"Speak for yourself," Tang Wei muttered as she loaded a magazine, her fingers moving with mechanical grace. "You practically climaxed when he gave you a cultivation technique... and fed you cores."

"Wei We, I you little bitchThat. That’s because it felt good." Li Ya grinned, rising to stretch with a crack of her neck. "That burning fire in my bones... and sudden feeling of heat in my crotch, damn? Mmm. Addicting."

I waved them both down and stood, pulling up the map projected on the wall.

"Enough enough, look here. It’s time to start planning. We won’t be following the Jiang battle plans, I am sure you understand, right?"

The wall layout flickered, and the System created a digital schematic of our current compound overlaid with the horde’s expected approach routes.

"Fuck is this real?"

"There are too many red arrows..."

The map showed the predicted horde attack.

It overwhelmed each side of the complex with hundreds of different waves..

"We don’t have enough turrets and dual gattling cannons on the north and south walls. So we’ll have to use chokepoints. Stairwells, hallways, outer corridors. We’ll funnel them through and thin their numbers with gunfire and barriers."

"What about explosives?" asked Qinglan, who sat beside me, her hand resting on my lap.

"We have a small amount set and ready, if the front line breaks... we blow the whole wall."

Shen Yifei raised a hand. "What about the roof team? Who will be in that dangerous spot..." She pointed to the tower, which, in her estimation, got overrun and surrounded after two hours.

"Me, Tang Wei, Li Ya and Jiang Roulan will hold the tower with Deng Hua, Zhou Xue, Chen Xun and twenty of the recruits."

The moment I announced the plan... Qinglan and Yifei both looked stunned, as if I had just announced my death or something. In contrast, both males who looked exhausted after their romp with Liang Qiu seemed excited.

Li Ya cracked her knuckles, eyes flaring faintly. "Understood."

Although she used a halberd primarily, that’s part of why I took her.

"Tang Wei and Zhou’s group will focus on shooting, while I will fight the horde climbing the stairwell with Li Ya. Understood?"

Tang Wei usually used a shotgun, but after switching to her sawed-off, I also bought her a scoped rifle as a secondary weapon.

"What about me, Yifei and Liang Mei, and the Jiang family?" Qinglan asked softly.

Honestly, I didn’t expect much from them; that’s why I chose to defend the tower without wasting their lives. "I will speak to Siwan, but most of them will remain on the outer wall and behind the inner gate. Unless shit hits the fan..."

I didn’t expand on what could go wrong because they knew I planned to fight the Stage Five Mutant Lao.

"Yifei."

"What’s wrong John?" The moment I called her, she looked delighted, her hips swayed, and she moved closer as if expecting something good. "You and Liang Mei will be on recon, supporting the three walls using your speed."

"Eh... is that it?"

She looked disappointed.

"Yifei... it’s a job only you two can complete."

I noticed the glimmer in her eye—this was how I managed to encourage her. But it wasn’t a lie. "Without you both supporting the walls we will fail."

Thanks to her Rabbit Evolution and Shen Yifei’s natural agility and polearm mastery, she could vault and cover huge distances better than anyone else.

"If there are attacks that might overwhelm a wall, I can only trust you and Liang Mei to reach it in time, can you do it?"

I tried to keep my voice soft and as affectionate as possible so that Shen Yifei would understand. It might seem cruel and manipulative, but this would keep her safe and also avoid the speed types overwhelming the walls.

When I turned toward the window, the sun was already dipping. The sky looked like a bleeding orange, and in 24 hours, that horizon would become a hellscape of rotting flesh and uncontrolled hatred.

The time ticked down as I gripped the edge of the table.

"I made you all stronger for a reason. Not to save others, not to become heroes.

Although we hold this line...

Remember this.

None of you will die tomorrow."