Harem Legion: Queens of the Apocalypse-Chapter 177 Trapped in a Game of Hands

Over the next few days, the women around Magnus started acting strangely. At first, he was too tired to notice - after traveling nonstop, he’d spent two whole days just eating, drinking, and resting. But by the third day, he started catching on.

Sarah was still polite during the day, but at night? No matter how hard Magnus tried to keep her around - not even retelling her favorite tale about the big bad wolf chasing the little white rabbit could stop her - she’d just laugh, then insist on returning to her own sleeping spot.

That was already odd enough. But Lucy and Molly, whom Magnus thought would be more... accommodating, also kept their distance. They’d accept a bit of extra food or small perks, but when it came to real closeness, they stood their ground, not giving him an inch.

The Doyle sisters, Abigail and Emma, were even moodier - acting like jilted lovers locked away in an empty wing of a palace, cold and withdrawn, like they’d sworn off the world.

It was obvious something was going on. And it wasn’t good.

At the morning meeting held in the lounge of Magnus’s RV, the vibe was all business. Emily and the others didn’t stay longer than they had to. They asked what needed asking, said what needed saying, then filed out quick and quiet.

Same pattern, every day.

Magnus sat silently on the couch, cigarette in one hand, listening while they talked among themselves. Charlotte glanced at him a few times, her big eyes curious. When he didn’t respond, she turned to Liana, who adjusted her collar and avoided eye contact.

A few of them had clearly gotten together behind his back. They’d decided to teach him a lesson - put some chains on him, slow him down from doing whatever he pleased. Especially considering what Lucy and Molly had been saying.

They sure weren’t going to admit it was them who’d come onto him. Instead, they painted Magnus as a full-blown predator, forced themselves on him with tears in their eyes, whispering "no, no," and "how could you do this to Sophia..."

They even claimed he had designs on Ashton, using her looks to back their story.

Magnus didn’t have a clue what really happened. He just sat there, quiet as a monk. Fine. If they wanted to keep their distance - good. Peace and quiet at last.

Once the discussion started winding down, Charlotte gave him another look and asked, "Magnus, anything you want to add?"

Magnus sat up straight, cleared his throat. "Liana, show me that flyer about the meteor soil-for-food exchange."

Liana nodded, handed him a small notebook. He opened it and frowned.

The current rate was ten pounds of meteor soil for one pound of grain. Not bad. The day after they’d set up the underground storage, he’d told them about the soil’s burnable properties. Liana had quickly organized people to start buying.

"How many have come to trade so far?" Magnus asked.

"Plenty," Liana replied, serious. "But more are trying to cheat - mixing normal dirt with meteor soil."

Magnus thought a bit. "Then add this: anyone caught cheating gets banned from trading permanently."

"Got it. I’ll update the list right away," Liana said with a nod.

Silence settled again.

Magnus broke it. "What about vegetables? How’s our stock?"

"Fresh ones? All gone."

Mentioning it, Liana sighed, "I already sent people up the mountain yesterday to look for leaves. Hope it helps."

"Don’t we still have a bunch of canned fruit?" Magnus asked with a frown.

"Yeah, and we’re supposed to ration it. If we finish it all now, what are we gonna eat later?" Liana rolled her eyes at him, clearly thinking his question was dumb.

Magnus took a drag from his cigarette, thought for a moment, and said, "Then trade for vitamin pills instead. Set the price high, just get the supply."

Sophia’s tone turned sarcastic, "Captain Magnus, wasn’t that exactly what we discussed in yesterday’s meeting? What were you even listening to?"

"We talked about that yesterday?" Magnus scratched his head, picked up a coffee cup on the table and took a sip, "Fine then. Starting now, everybody gets one tablet every two days."

"Hmph."

Sophia snorted, stood up, "If that’s all, meeting’s over." Without even looking at Magnus, she walked off the vehicle first. The other women followed. Only Charlotte cast Magnus a glance, gave a slight shake of her head, and stepped off too.

Watching them all leave like that, Magnus sat on the couch frustrated, smoking in silence. After a while, he got up, went over to the bar, pulled a bottle of liquor from the shelf, popped the cap, poured a shot into a glass and downed it in one go.

He paced the vehicle like an uneasy beast...

Recently, Ridgebreak Battalion and the Springvale units had been quiet. Like they suddenly got honest.

Even the 500 prisoners they returned hadn’t raised a stir. The bigger survivor groups - those holding entire towns or small cities - still weren’t enough to threaten the Ice Regiment. No one dared to mess with them.

Anyone looking to trade food brought their goods, nice and obedient.

In terms of supplies, the Ice Regiment had stockpiled a staggering amount of stuff already. Just short on vegetables, and heavy weapons or ammo. No one seemed willing to trade those for food.

Of the 6,600 Crystals dug from the Meteorite Mountain, Magnus only kept 600. He handed the other 6,000 - 2,000 each of Earth, Nature, and Metal Crystals - to Liana for safekeeping, especially since their female teams needed them during outposts and tasks.

Grabbing a towel and heading off the vehicle, Magnus decided to enjoy a soak in the wooden tub. Days without battle weren’t half bad - hot baths, peace, and flipping through those post-apocalypse novels he would hoard in his room. Lately, he’d really gotten into them.

Though honestly, none of those so-called "protagonists" had it as good as he did. He had more girls, more comfort, everything better.

Passing through the bustling underground food storehouse, many survivors smiled warmly at Magnus, some even blowing kisses or chuckling coyly.

Along one wall, a line of women had laid out cloths on the floor. On them - makeup, fine clothes, snacks. No price tags, just a list saying what they wanted in return. Clear trades. Goods for goods.

Walking for over ten minutes and turning a few corners, Magnus neared the bath area. He was about to call over some female team members to check if the bath truck was empty when he spotted a crowd of women near a cargo truck.

There were over a dozen sitting in a circle, with one blindfolded woman standing in the middle, waving her arms around clumsily.

The ring of women clapped and sang, clearly playing a game.

"Alright, next round - let’s play ’Find a Friend’..."