Reborn As A Doomsday Villainess-Chapter 146: We let the hoard reduce the numbers

He swept a hand outward toward the crowd. "You’ll be divided into groups. Each with leaders chosen by me. Some of you will gather food. Some will patrol. Some will cook, clean, and watch over the children. No one sits idle. No one is above the other."

There was a beat of silence before he added, "And anyone who puts this place in danger, gets others hurt or killed, will be removed." freēnovelkiss.com

His tone left no room for misinterpretation.

Sun Zi Mo stepped forward next to him, unfolding the notebook. "Group divisions will begin now. If you’re a doctor, fighter, or engineer, step to the left side of the camp. If you’ve got kids or dependents, go to the right. Everyone else, form a line. We’ll start the registration by name, age, and skill."

Back below, the group started shifting into motion.

Still watching them, Feng Yizhou murmured, "We’ll need scouts. Runners. Drivers, if we can get vehicles. Someone to map out nearby resources and routes. This building won’t last the week."

Sun Zi Mo nodded. "We’ve already got one mechanic and a guy who says he used to work logistics for the military. I’ll start there."

Yizhou exhaled. "Good. Pull together a team to search the east side of the city. Factories, warehouses, anything fortified. I want options within two days."

"Yes boss."

Sun Zi Mo moved quickly, already barking orders to a few of the more able-bodied men lingering near the stairs.

They’d be his temporary runners, tasked with spreading word through each cluster of survivors.

A small fire had been lit off to the side, its smoke curling upward in thin, grey tendrils.

It wasn’t enough for warmth but it gave people something to gather around, something to anchor them.

Feng Yizhou stepped away from the ledge.

He knew these kinds of temporary camps. Knew how quickly hope could sour into chaos without direction.

He’d seen it before. And this time, he wouldn’t let it rot from the inside.

He descended the broken staircase, the rusted metal creaking under his weight.

Floor after floor, the sound of coughing and hushed voices filtered through the open concrete.

He passed by mothers cradling infants, men sharpening scrap metal into blades, a teenager using a mirror shard to tend a wound on his calf.

None of them knew who he really was.

They didn’t know he could crush a zombie’s skull mid-air with a flick of his fingers, or tear open space to leap ten buildings at once.

But right now, none of that power mattered.

He needed to build structure. To survive long enough.

He entered the hollowed-out space on the second floor, where they’d set up the command point.

A few scavenged tables were pushed together, and on them were bundles of wires, broken radios, knives, and maps scrawled on anything that could take ink—torn menus, old blueprints, the back of cereal boxes.

A hand-drawn city layout marked with red circles where scouts had seen zombie activity.

Sun Zi Mo joined him minutes later, breath quick. "I’ve got about fifty people with relevant skills. A few medics, construction workers, even a retired civil engineer. They’re rough around the edges, but they’re willing."

Feng Yizhou nodded. "That’ll do for now. Organize the engineers and builders. We need defenses. Make use of the surrounding vehicles—pull their metal and use it to create barricades. Even temporary ones."

"What about the zombies, boss?"

Yizhou paused, glancing at the map.

"They’re slow right now. Wandering. But the numbers are growing. Eventually, one of the larger hordes will get curious."

He pointed at a stretch of road south of their current position. "I want that street booby-trapped. Fuel traps, noise bombs, spike barriers. If a swarm comes, we lead them there and take them out from a distance."

Sun Zi Mo scribbled it all down, then stopped, looking up.

"And what if they don’t stop coming?"

Feng Yizhou’s voice was quiet.

"Then we run obviously.."

And there it was, the truth no one wanted to hear yet. This place, this ruined building, wasn’t a home. It was a stopgap. A place to rest their bones before the next battle.

But he’d give them something to hold onto.

His fingers drifted down to the worn communicator at his side. The one that had replayed Qingran’s voice earlier. She was out there, preparing supplies, making plans, probably leading her own group. If he could hold this place together just long enough, they could meet again—somewhere halfway through the apocalypse.

He didn’t just owe it to her.

He owed it to the 457 lives now resting on his shoulders.

"Sun Zi Mo," he said, voice steady. "Let’s turn this ruin into a fortress."

Sun Zi Mo nodded and searched around the room for Haoyu.

"Haoyu’s over there. Leave him be. I think he wanted to be with Qingran than with us.."

"...."

"That’s not true but I wouldn’t mind being with sister Qingran."

"Don’t we all...but she’s not and we got a shit turn of people to feed."

Feng Yizhou beaconed Haoyu to come closer.

"See those teenagers, tell all of them...that if they don’t stay in line...your big brother will take the life of the offenders."

"..."

"That’s a bit cringy but I get what you mean, get out of line...get killed.."

"Yeah something like that, but make it scarier and also we’ll be going for a stroll later. Let’s take a brief look at our location."

Haoyu nodded, but looking at those teenagers who’s going to take him seriously.

"Can I have a gun? I’m not sure they’ll take me seriously.."

"..."

"Of course, even if you asked for a grenade I’ll give you. We need to lessen the numbers.."

"..."

"I’m not going to kill anyone, just threatening them to stay in line.."

"..."

"I was just suggesting, nothing more."

"..."

"I’ll be going now. Don’t do anything stupid."

"..."

"I won’t. So hurry up."

As Haoyu headed downstairs, Feng Yizhou turned to Sun Zi Mo. "When the first hoard comes...we let them reduce the numbers a bit ."