Harem Legion: Queens of the Apocalypse-Chapter 186 Grenade Through the Roof

"Boss! That guy alone took down ten of ours! Five of them had Crystals, too! What do we do?"

"Boss! Let’s just get outta here! He brought a whole convoy! Who knows how many damn people he’s got!"

"Boss, your call! Fight or flee, just say the word! I, Jack, ain’t afraid!"

"Boss..."

...

On the third floor of the old cannery, thirteen ragtag soldiers huddled together, fear plain on their faces. All of them saw Magnus take down ten men alone. That kind of power shook even the toughest of them.

The squad leader, Adrian Judd, barely in his twenties, had a buzz cut and a cruel glint in his eye. Around here, everyone called him Boss or Judd.

"Run? Heh, run where?" A vicious sneer twisted across Judd’s face as he spun around and hurled a table toward the corner. It crashed hard, drawing sharp cries from a group of women it hit.

This used to be a spacious conference room, about 250 square meters. Nearly 200 half-naked women knelt, crammed against the walls after being dragged here by the soldiers.

Blood soaked many of them, fresh wounds piled on top of old ones. Some had belt marks, others cigarette burns. A dozen or so were coated in wax. Even the ones just hit by the flying table only whimpered briefly before biting down on their screams, too scared to cry out again.

"He’s already in the courtyard, Boss!" one of the soldiers barked, panic rising in his voice as he reached for his weapon out of instinct.

"Damn it!" Judd shot a glance toward the window, then strode to the center of the room. He crouched, yanked open a military pack, and pulled out several Metal Crystals.

"Jack! Catch!" he shouted, tossing one over.

Out of the thirteen men, four were Awakened. Judd handed out a Metal Crystal to each, then crushed one in his own fist.

"Take it now. When he walks in, we jump him. If we catch him alive, maybe we can use him to bargain with that convoy."

"Got it!"

The soldiers got moving, tense and ready. Judd looked at the rest - non-Awakened ones - and barked, "You lot, hide yourselves. Stay put ’til we’ve got him down. Otherwise, you’re like damn chickens out there - useless."

*****

Out in the courtyard, Magnus had just barely caught the sound of women screaming from the third floor. He looked up at the building where the sound came from, considering if he should call in Molly and the others.

These bastards had Crystals. Fighting alone might be a stretch.

Just then, he heard muted voices - men talking, couldn’t make out the words. Then silence.

They’re setting up an ambush?

Calling Molly over would cost at least ten Crystals just to gear up. Not worth it. And if these thugs were planning to bury him here, then there was no need for mercy.

He suddenly remembered the last time, back on the battlefield. He’d had a grenade tucked in his belt - pulled the pin at the last moment and took over a dozen soldiers down with him.

He still had one now.

And thanks to the Crystal in his body, he checked the indicator on his thumb. He still had about an hour’s worth of protection left.

Plenty. He wanted to save a few Metal Crystals, so he clipped a grenade to his waist and looked up at the third floor once more before heading straight for the stairs.

The stairs were right past the entrance. No mutated beings inside, spiderwebs had been cleared. Magnus moved carefully, alert to every sound, trying not to make any noise as he climbed floor by floor.

No one ambushed him on the way up. At the third floor landing, he glanced to the right. The double wooden doors to the meeting room were tightly shut, and inside came the faint, painful whimpers of women - soft, but unmistakable.

If he just walked in like this, they’d trap him like a rat. He could pop the grenade pin and take a few down with him...

No idea how sturdy the building was. It might not collapse, but it’d sure leave a big hole in the third floor at least...

A big hole?

That thought stuck. He turned his head and spotted a steel ladder embedded in the hallway wall just around the corner - led straight to the roof. He hesitated for a second, then moved lightly over, looking up. The roof was like a basement ceiling - solid iron hatch door. He climbed up the ladder quietly and eased the hatch open. One leap and he was on the rooftop.

Going by memory, he found where the meeting room should be underneath and crept over. Deep breath. He glanced back at the roof hatch. He still didn’t know what lay inside that room, but those women’s cries... no way he’d risk tossing a grenade inside just to hit some bastards and blow innocents apart.

But blowing open the roof should be safe enough - strong shock, low chance of direct casualties.

He picked a good spot, carefully pulled the grenade pin, placed it on the roof, then turned and sprinted hard back toward the hatch.

Ten seconds on the fuse.

Magnus dropped down through the hatch and charged straight for the meeting room doors. Just as he reached them - BOOM! The explosion blasted a five-meter-wide hole in the ceiling.

He kicked the double doors open.

Chaos erupted inside. Nearly two hundred naked women screamed and ran for the exit.

Magnus stepped on shoulders, heads - quickly spotting seven or eight men in military gear. Another leap, and he landed in a clear spot, raising his pistol and opening fire.

Six down immediately - one of them powered up with a Metal Crystal.

Three or four more tried rushing him as the women panicked and fled, clogging the room with noise and motion. The air was thick with smoke, dust everywhere. Magnus fired, moved, fired again - constant motion. They couldn’t even spot his shadow.

The blast smelled of sulfur. The thick cloud of mutant mosquitoes didn’t pick up on the scent of people below. Almost two hundred women seized the chance and ran.

Magnus fired thirty rounds, dropping nine. The last four left standing had activated their Metal Crystals.

Most of the women had gotten out. Magnus didn’t want to take on all four juiced-up men head-on. He spun, kicked the glassed-in wooden window until it shattered, then darted toward the closest enemy.

The guy panicked, lunged with his right fist. Magnus shifted sideways, dodged the punch, grabbed his arm with one hand and his waistband with the other - heaved - and tossed the bastard right through the open window to the ground below.

Then the second. And the third.

The fourth? He kept that one. Hand over his mouth and nose.