Apocalypse King: Recruiting S-Tier Beauties With My Ruler System

The jeeps lined up with several members of the base joining to drive them to the north for us. I sat in the back of the leading jeep with Mu Qinglan sitting beside me. The girls fought each other for this chance to sit with me.

Liang Mei sat in the front seat with a cute smile on her face after coming second. I couldn't believe she defeated Li Ya and Shen Yifei without help. But then, I remembered her immense speed and the power of her legs.

"What's wrong, John?"

"Hm?"

Qinglan poked my side before grasping my hand. She looked away while puffing her cheeks, and glared at me with sharp eyes, darting between me and Liang Mei.

Her jealousy of Liang Mei is quite intense.

"I didn't expect Liang Mei to defeat the others and win second place."

I gave an honest answer, curious about how Qinglan would respond to me. Her shoulder trembled as she turned towards the window in a huff while glancing at me in the reflection.

"She almost beat me! That girl... when did she become so powerful?"

You were there.

"Is she that strong?"

Although I wanted to calm her down, Qinglan looked cute when she pouted like that. She pressed her lips together and pinched my hand, which hurt. So I teased her and paid attention to Liang Mei, who looked at the jeep's digital HUD with sparkling eyes.

How can she be so pure and innocent?

"Mm?"

Suddenly, she turned to face me with a bright smile. "John, this jeep is amazing." Her pink hair, tied into a ponytail, bounced as we drove towards the north.

"...is it now?"

The female driver showed a bitter grin in the wing mirror before stepping on the accelerator.

***

Because of the damage from multiple buildings collapsing and the lingering existence of zombies, we couldn't drive at maximum speed.

However, in the heavy jeeps, we could rest easy as the soldiers on the back used silenced weapons to take down the weak zombies. "It seems like we'll reach the base in six hours if we keep this pace, but... I really don't like that huge hive."

Since Qinglan stopped speaking to me, I could only observe the area around me and plan for what might happen in the future.

Liang Mei closed her eyes in the front seat, appeared to have lost interest in the jeep, her breasts wobbling with each jolt of the jeep hitting broken rocks.

"Well it's not like anything will happen..."

Rumble!

The ground shook with violent tremors, sending several jeeps off course and almost causing them to crash into each other.

"What the hell!?"

"John? What happened?"

Mu Qinglan and Liang Mei shouted, shocked and on guard, their heads swivelling to look around, both gripped the leather seats with eyes opened wide.

Rumble!

The ground shook with violent tremors, sending several jeeps off course, almost crashing into each other.

"What the hell!?"

"John? What happened?"

Mu Qinglan and Liang Mei shouted, shocked and on guard, their heads swivelling to look around, both gripping the leather seats with wide eyes.

The convoy slowed, tyres screeching as drivers fought to stabilise on the broken asphalt. A cloud of dust rolled up from the collapsed buildings nearby, obscuring the skyline.

I pressed a hand against the seat in front of me, scanning the map. "That wasn't just a tremor. I think something's moving under us."

The soldiers in the rear jeeps raised their rifles, scanning rooftops and alleys. "Sir, no visual! Just noise!"

Because we defeated the horde, the soldiers all called me sir and treated me like a true leader, which made me happy.

However, the extra pressure was annoying.

My eyes flicked between the outside, rocks cracking and splitting apart, while on the System panel, something scurried under us. There were several large dots as if swimming through the concrete like water, which continued to make the ground shake.

"Then look below." My gut twisted with unease.

That wasn't the erratic collapse of a building.... it was deliberate destruction.

A second tremor surged, this one sharper and more powerful. The road ahead split with a crack like snapping bones or broken breadsticks. The pavement bulged and heaved upward, then caved in entirely.

The first jeep braked hard, halting just before a fresh sinkhole that devoured the street.

Everyone froze, the dust settling for us to see.

And there it was.

A dark, murky hole with a concrete rim full of warped rebar. Steam hissed from the depths in bursts, a faint clicking echoing out of it, like stone grinding against stone.

I could hear the panicked voices from the other jeeps, but my heart raced.

This was dangerous.

My gauntlets hummed, shells locked into place, ready for anything.

"...Is that a nest entrance?" one soldier whispered.

Liang Mei slipped out of the jeep and bounced with massive jumps around the gigantic opening. It almost felt as if hell reached the surface, strange scratches and thuds from the concrete sea beneath us.

"John! There's something inside the darkness, but I can't see it well...." Mei Mei shouted to me, her muscular legs bulging before she leapt up onto the building looming over the sinkhole, out of sight.

I could barely make out her pink hair.

"It's a tunnel!"

"To where?" A soldier asked nervously.

The hive, a strange creature that can tear through concrete as if swimming. With a sigh, I jumped in the direction Liang Mei did, my strength higher, but her leg muscles surpassed mine completely.

Thud!

Before I could speak, she bounced back to me with a pale face. "Sharks! There's sharks in the dirt!" Liang Mei's soft voice sounded terrified.

Sharks?

"How can there be sharks in the city... are you sure—!"

Well, what did I know?

Hidden in the darkness, the huge dots on my System map glowed while swimming through the dirt beneath the concrete. What made these sharks so eerie was their bodies... Pure white, lacking skin or flesh... like skeletons, they used their massive jaws to crush the stone, metal and dirt to traverse the underground.

[Warning: Unknown Subterranean Signature Detected]

[Classification: Stage Four?]

"Stage Four... but why the question?" I muttered to myself, unclipping my sword from its harness.

[Because of the unstable situation, I cannot scan beneath the earth, sorry, John.]

The driver glanced back at me, pale.

"Sir, if they can traverse unseen, the whole convoy. No! The compound is in danger!"

"Stay calm, don't worry." I cut him off to avoid his fear spreading, then scanned the others. "I believe we should be able to deal with them. Does anyone know of any aquariums around here?"

Silence descended upon the convoy. Even the engines idled quieter, as if afraid to draw attention. The soldiers gripped their rifles tighter, the jeeps' mounted weapons swinging toward the sinkhole.

"Landsharks," Qinglan muttered under her breath.

"Oh? Landsharks, that's a good name for them, Lan'er." I couldn't help but smile before signalling for everyone to gather.

The concrete beneath the second jeep bulged. A pale dorsal fin, skeletal and jagged, broke the surface like a knife cutting through water.

"CONTACT!"

The jeep lurched sideways as the ground collapsed, a soldier tumbling out with a shout. Before he even hit the asphalt, the fin surged, a massive white shape bursting out in a spray of rubble and dust.

It was hideous.

A long, gaunt body, all bone ridges and snapping jaws lined with serrated teeth. Hollow eye sockets glowed faintly yellow as it twisted midair, swallowing the screaming man in one bite before vanishing back into the earth with a sickening crunch.

Panic rippled through the convoy. "Open fire!"

Bullets hammered the pavement, sending sparks flying, but the beast was already gone. Only the rippling trail of its passage remained.

A jagged bulge tore through the asphalt like a predator circling prey.

Another fin erupted near the rear of the jeep. The ground split, tyres sank, and the vehicle tipped sideways, groaning as its weight buckled the road. Soldiers scrambled to escape, some firing wildly into the hole.

"Shit! They're trying to cut us off!"

"Keep formation!" I shouted, my gauntlets locking with a heavy click. "Stay close—don't give them space to enter our circle! You can toss grenades into the sinkhole!"

Liang Mei blurred past me, her legs a pink streak as she launched onto the tipping jeep. She braced it with sheer leg strength, kicking down against the road hard enough to steady the chassis.

Her face strained red, veins bulging along her thighs as she pulled out her longbow, sweating slightly as she drew it entirely, with a deep moan and shot!

Fwoosh!

The long arrow shot towards the ground like a meteor, without a chance to dodge. The sharp tip tore through the Landshark's fin and pinned it to a metal pillar.

"Prepare for combat!" she roared, as the soldiers scrambled from Liang Mei's voice. Liange Mei temporarily suppressed their fear despite her cute appearance; she crushed the enemy with rapid movement and pure power.

The whole convoy shook.

I raised my blade, qi surging down its edge. "Qinglan—you're with me, let's go hunting!"