Reborn As A Doomsday Villainess-Chapter 187: Manage to squeeze in

Lingquan’s voice cut through Qingran’s thoughts with the cold edge.

[Warning: Horde approaching from the north. Hostile count: 103. Estimated arrival time: 28 seconds.]

Qingran’s breath caught. Her grip on the axe shifted instantly, muscles coiling. "Horde, north side! One hundred plus! Twenty-eight seconds!"

She snapped into motion. "Yu Song, flank the right! Xu Tianming, help Leiu! Everyone else, move closer, now!"

As she reached for her interface trying to trigger a quick terrain scan or prep defensive flamesneverything inside her mind ground to a halt.

Flickering for some seconds. Then silence.

Then Lingquan’s voice returned.

[Deal triggered. The barrier for the hotel was deployed. As agreed, system access is now locked. All abilities offline for 24 hours.]

"..."

"Fuck! Right now? When I’m physically drain!!"

["..." Good luck host, right not to kill yourself.]

"Fuck you!"

Qingran readied her stance, she could already feel the zombies coming.

The zombies poured in from all sides, quickly filling up the space.

Qingran landed a hit on the first zombie, slicing off its head cleanly. But they just kept coming, over and over again.

Her team had quickly gotten a overpowered, she asked them to fall back and leave the killing to her.

"Fuck!"

Qingran could feel her hands grow tired but she knew she couldn’t stop until she took care of the zombies.

"We can’t let her take on everything by herself."

Zhang Yi said as he ran back to the horde, Yu Song and Meng Nian nodded as well following him.

Leaving Xu Tianming, Fang Mokin and Zhang Leiu behind.

The horde surged forward, spilling into the depot’s open space like a living flood.

Qingran swung her axe again and again, each strike cleaving through rotting flesh, smashing skulls.

The sharp clang of metal on bone echoed as she tore through the relentless wave, but for every zombie felled, two more pressed in.

Her breath came ragged, muscles screaming with exhaustion, but she kept moving.

The others scrambled to pile up crates and topple metal beams, slowing the monsters’ advance where they could.

Still, the sheer numbers overwhelmed the makeshift barricades within seconds.

"Fall back! Leave the killing to me!" Qingran shouted, voice hoarse but commanding.

Yu Song, Meng Nian, and Zhang Yi exchanged looks before nodding grimly.

They sprinted back toward the depot’s rear, disappearing briefly into the chaos.

Xu Tianming, Fang Mokin, and Zhang Leiu stayed behind, trying to hold any gaps.

Qingran felt her grip loosen on the axe. Her hands were raw, trembling, stained with sticky blood.

Sweat mixed with grime ran down her face.

Her legs threatened to buckle with each step, but she forced herself onward, driving through the fatigue.

A zombie lunged, snapping jaws inches from her arm.

She barely dodged, spinning and swinging in a desperate arc that shattered the creature’s skull.

Another grabbed her leg, knocking her down hard onto the cracked concrete floor.

Pain flared sharp and immediate, but she rolled free and scrambled back up. Every inch of her ached, every breath burned, but she refused to yield.

The horde finally began to thin as the last few fell, broken and silent at her feet.

The depot was a massacre zone, splintered wood and twisted metal everywhere, blood soaking the ground, the air thick with the stench of decay.

Qingran dropped to the ground, gasping, chest heaving, utterly spent.

Her vision swam, and for a moment she thought she might collapse.

She took a deep breath, fighting the darkness clawing at the edges of her mind.

Slowly, she pushed herself up, legs shaking.

"Alright," she rasped. "Let’s start loading and get the hell out of here."

"But, you look like you’re about to pass out. Why won’t you leave the loading to us."

"..."

"I know my body, this is nothing."

[Don’t lie to yourself. Just let the men do the work.]

She ignored him and scanned the space. "Prioritize what we can fit. There’s only two SUVs, with limited space. Heavy items go on the roof racks or secured to the back frames. Light and critical gear in the cabins."

Meng Nian was already hauling the waterproof concrete mix each bag worth 50 kg.

"There’s no way we’re fitting 45 bags," he muttered.

"Ten bags per SUV max," Qingran said. "Twenty total. That’s half the order, but it’s all we can carry for now."

"We’ll store them on the roof pad with foam sheets underneath" Zhang Yi suggested.

"Fine. Lash them tight."

"Found the rebar bundles" Yu Song called out. "Too long."

"Twelve millimeter, six meters... yeah, no way they’re fitting inside." Qingran moved toward him, eyes flicking over the steel rods.

Xu Tianming examined the SUV roof rack. "If we cut them in half, three meters, they’ll fit across diagonally. We’ll lose strength integrity, though."

"Cut ten rods and bring them. We’ll use weld sleeves to reconnect them later."

Zhang Leiu and Fang Mokin started working with a handheld saw they saw while others dug out supplies. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

"Insulation panels next. They’re lightweight, we can slide them into the back seat area. If we stack vertically, we can safe space."

"Sixty square meters?" Zhang Yi scoffed. "We’re taking maybe twenty."

Qingran nodded. "Enough to line the walls of one room. The rest, we come back for it tomorrow.."

They began stacking panels carefully, wrapped in protective foam. Fang Mokin moved toward a corner and returned with a cardboard box.

"Fast-setting adhesive foam. Thirty cans."

"Take ten.." Qingran said. "Cabin storage. Make sure they don’t tip."

Meng Nian passed her a sealed crate. "Sealant kits, fasteners, brackets."

"One box each. Cab one’s storage compartment. Don’t bury them under the concrete."

"Got the lightweight roofing sheets here!" Zhang Yi called. "Aluminum, three meters each."

"Ten max. Tie to the side rails with padding underneath."

PVC pipes came next in assorted diameters, coiled in loops.

"We’ll take half" Yu Song said. "Keep the 4cm and 6cm diameters, leave the rest for now."

"That’s good.." Qingran agreed. "One bathroom’s worth."

The last to be located were the precast floor panels ten massive slabs. Everyone stared at them in silence.

"No way they fit" Xu Tianming finally said.

"Leave them" Qingran muttered, closing her eyes for a moment. "We’ll come back when we have more cargo space."

"Still want to try carrying one?" Zhang Yi asked dryly.

"No" she answered. "We’ve already got a weight problem."

Meng Nian climbed up the side of the SUV, strapping down the last of the concrete bags. "All right, first one’s at limit."

"The second still has roof space," Yu Song added. "We’ve packed light inside, left one backseat folded for cargo."

"Good. That’s all we can manage." Qingran exhaled slowly. Her legs trembled. She leaned against the SUV, pressing her forehead to the hot metal.

[Materials loaded: ~50% capacity. Return possible.]

[Additional trips required for full shelter construction.]

"Alright everyone. Let’s try to find somewhere to seat, just find a place to stay while we head back to the hotel."

They climbed in with difficulty.

Every inch of space inside the two SUVs had been crammed with suppliesmfoam panels wedged upright against the windows, toolboxes stacked under the footwells, crates jammed into gaps between the seats.

No one had room to stretch out.

Elbows pressed against ribs, knees jammed into gearboxes, shoulders hunched tight.

Qingran didn’t even sit, she crouched awkwardly on the folded seat beside the gear, one hand braced against the window to keep from sliding.

Sweat dried in streaks down her back as the engine roared to life. Her shirt clung to her, blood-speckled and dust-covered. Her fingers felt numb where they gripped the door.

Yu Song was driving the first SUV, eyes sharp despite the smear of grime across his jaw. Meng Nian sat beside him, an arm draped over a box to keep it from tipping.

In the second vehicle, Zhang Yi had wedged himself between the insulation panels and a spool of PVC tubing, his legs cramped and bent unnaturally.

Xu Tianming and Zhang Leiu sat on the folded-down floor, backs against the wheel well, breathing hard.

The SUVs rolled over cracked pavement, bumping and creaking under the weight. Loose metal clinked with every jolt.

One of the PVC coils groaned audibly in protest as it shifted under Fang Mokin’s boot.

Qingran watched out the window, jaw clenched. Her eyes never stopped scanning every building, every overturned sign, every passing rooftop.

She still didn’t trust the silence.

Even now, with the depot behind them and the hotel just five kilometers away, her instincts screamed danger.

[Lingquan, status?] she asked without speaking aloud, her thought curling like a tendril in the void.

[System still locked. 22 hours, 16 minutes remaining.]