Harem Legion: Queens of the Apocalypse-Chapter 225 He’s Going In Alone - Again

Magnus couldn’t see what was going on from the lead vehicle. The sleeper van behind him had just driven over the giant rooster’s body, and he hadn’t caught a glimpse of the incident. All of a sudden, though, he heard a loud bang from the roof.

There was a steel box welded onto the roof during Liana’s second round of modifications - a sealed container with who-knew-what inside. Probably something with a strong smell that attracted the beast. The rooster took a jab at it.

But its head was too big, and the steel box was reinforced - ten-centimeter thick rebar welded tight. One peck, and three or four rods went straight through its lower jaw. Blood poured out instantly.

The huge rooster went berserk, shrieking and squirming, retreating fast. Magnus jumped out of his vehicle after triggering the Super Fire Crystal. He caught sight of the beast’s mangled jaw, blood gushing, clearly struggling to back off.

Steel rods had done the job.

Magnus watched the bird awhile, ready for anything. But the big bird didn’t come for them again. It looked shaken. Once he was sure it wasn’t charging back, he climbed back into the lead vehicle and drove on.

They made it out of Ashbrook Town with no more trouble - but that stretch alone had taken them nearly two hours.

The convoy had to go slow. Everyone was on edge. One rogue beast or one whiff of dried-up blood scent failing, and they’d be toast.

By 6 PM, after crawling along all afternoon, they had only covered 30 kilometers toward Hanford City - supposedly just 40 kilometers away. Their speed wasn’t any better than someone jogging barefoot.

Finally, they reached the interchange. Straight ahead led to the Ironvale County shelter. Dropping under the overpass led into Hanford City.

The convoy came to a stop.

Magnus activated the Super Fire Crystal again and got out. He checked the surroundings. In the nearby fields, chickens, ducks, and geese wandered around, ignoring the trucks. Oddly, they even made way for them.

The sky wasn’t dark yet. No bats in sight. Just packs of sparrows flitting across the air, unlike the dense swarms of black mosquitoes - these came in squads of ten or twenty, looking like aerial scouts.

It was luck he had the Super Fire Crystal running. If he’d been using the Metal Crystal instead, without the scent of beast blood on him, those sparrows might’ve dive-bombed the convoy.

Magnus stepped off the lead vehicle and went straight to the two infantry trucks behind. One by one, he carried Emily, Sophia, Charlotte, and Liana into his private RV for safety.

Inside, Taylor was behind the wheel, and Sarah had stayed in there the whole time. When she saw Magnus and the others enter, she rushed up to greet him.

"Magnus! I heard you’re heading into Hanford City alone. Is that true?"

"I’ll be fine. I’ve got the Super Fire Crystal," he reassured her as he led her over to sit near the couch.

But Liana raised a brow. She hated germs and gave him a scowl.

"I said don’t sit there - you’re filthy," she snapped, pinching her nose and swatting her clothes like an angry cat. Magnus ended up on a small stool near the door. She hadn’t even had time to bathe after being carried in.

"I want to talk about the meteorites in Hanford City. Are we going after them or not?" he asked, dragging the stool closer.

Emily glanced at Liana. "We were just talking about that earlier - we were going to ask you too."

"Of course we go!" Sophia cut in. "That Super Fire Crystal’s no joke. Why leave it? Even if we crawl back to Ironvale’s shelter, what then? Sit around till we run dry?"

"I’m with Soph," Charlotte added. "But we need a plan. Storming in blindly is asking for death."

After listening to the others, Magnus spoke up. "I’ll grab three hours of sleep first. Don’t bother waking me for dinner. I’ll head into Hanford City around 10 tonight. Want to scout it out ahead of time. I’ll be back late tonight or early morning. Once I know what’s going on in there, we’ll decide what to do."

"Alright, Magnus, go crash. Bet you haven’t slept since yesterday," Emily said, frowning as she noticed the bloodshot in his eyes. She felt a twinge of sympathy - he’d held everything together last night. Without him, the Ice Regiment might’ve fallen apart.

The others kept chatting, but Magnus’s head was already starting to swim. He stood, ready to return to his room. Sarah started to speak but swallowed her words. Liana, however, wasn’t about to let it slide.

"You’re just gonna go inside like that without a wash?"

Magnus turned, surprised. "A wash?"

"Yeah." Liana nodded seriously. "Do you even know how bad you smell right now? Worse than a corpse. You stagger in there without cleaning up and Sarah might never go near your room again."

He scratched his head, sniffing his sleeve out of habit. Truth was, he’d gone nose-blind a long time ago. But her words made sense. He stepped off the rig.

The shower truck was still stuck under the grain silo, unusable. So Magnus found one of the sleeper buses, climbed aboard, and asked the women there if he could borrow the washroom to rinse off.

"Captain, what’s that smell? Smells like Sophia, doesn’t it? Heh..."

"Yeah, yeah, what are you doing on our bus, Captain? Here to pick a bride?"

"He’s obviously flirting with someone. Come to hit on one of our girls, clearly."

This banter was nothing new. No matter how bad things got, every time Magnus stepped onto another of the girls’ vehicles, it drew a round of teasing.

In the apocalypse, a light heart could be rare. Staying morose just got you dead faster. For the surviving women of Ice Regiment, laughing was their daily hobby - and Magnus was always good for a laugh.

Dinner wasn’t cooked that night. No fires lit, fearing they’d attract creatures. So they each had a big bun, a cup of water, all sitting in the dim interior. No lights on the bus.

Magnus grinned, holding his bottle of body wash and a clean change of clothes. "Got dirty last night. Just borrowing your washroom for a quick rinse."

"Rinsing off?" A girl lying near the front bunk stretched her words, then turned back to her companions. "Captain’s gonna shower here, anyone know how to scrub backs?"

"Of course, that’s me!"

"I can do it too!"

"Don’t fight, I studied at the Back-Scrubbing Academy. You amateurs step aside."

"Pfft, what academy? Sounds more like you majored in being horny."

Magnus let out a helpless laugh, trying to ignore the giggles and snickers around him as he headed to the back with his stuff. Some of the bolder girls reached out as he passed, tugging his arm or pinching his thigh.

He was used to it. Thick skin came with the job. Reaching the washroom, he showered fast and changed into clean clothes. He thanked them all with a smile, climbed down, and returned to his bedroom in the main rig.

He slept till 10 o’clock. Sarah gently woke him with a tap. Liana and the others were still lounging in the lounge.

Magnus gave them a few instructions, then stepped off the vehicle alone. The night ahead in Hanford City awaited.

His three tasks were clear: rescue anyone still alive, figure out how many meteors had landed, and assess what kind of monsters had made the city their hunting ground.