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

The street reeked of burnt ichor and oil.

Flames licked from the broken windows and collapsed husks of buildings, set alight by the stray grenades, burning what remained inside. The cheers faded into the groans of men scurrying around to find traces of survivors or information about the gigantic Hive ahead.

I tightened my grip on the sword still buried in the Alpha's hollowed skull. The edge steamed faintly as I pulled it free, black gore dripping in thick strings. Finally, the battle was over, but something tickled the back of my mind.

The sense that something might go wrong.

As if this were just an opening act.

"John!" A member of the forces jogged over, helmet tucked under his arm. His eyes darted between the massive corpse and me. "Losses confirmed: one jeep, seven men injured, one KIA… that's it." His throat bobbed. "Against that? Sir, that's—"

"A miracle," I cut in, wiping the filth from my cheek using the back of my gauntlet. "Not as bad as I thought, seeing the sudden chaos..."

The soldier looked a little nervous, and so I stopped acting and continued. "Secure the wounded in the jeeps, using the rear seat and trunk as bedding. We can only leave the corpse. I am no fan of carrying dead weight to greet a plague."

He saluted sharply, relief flooding his face.

It turned out that gaining new orders steadied men faster than any prayer.

Thankfully, the back seats of the jeep could be folded to create a makeshift bed, big enough for several people.

People in the military are so resourceful!

Qinglan wiped the blade of Endless Night using her forearm before leaning against me with her lips curled into a sultry smile as she reached for my hand. The frigid chill from her fingers was a little unsettling.

"That core looked special, do you plan to eat it now?"

I smirked. "What, by chance do you want half?"

She furrowed her brows, tilting her head with blue eyes shimmering in the light. "I'd love it if that was an offer, but won't be greedy. A kiss while you swallow it is enough for me."

Memories of sharing the bone marrow elixir and her tongue lapping up the fluids inside my mouth surfaced in my mind.

"Lan'er…" I groaned, though the corners of my mouth betrayed me. She brushed past, deliberately letting her hip bump mine.

She then vanished from my sight.

That's when another bouncy female appeared. Liang Mei dropped from above, hitting the ground with a thud, her breasts and thighs jiggling as she stood up. Still radiant despite the sweat oozing down her cheeks, then dripping into her cleavage.

The zip of her bodysuit pulled down to reveal them just slightly.

"Mm~ this is so amazing, John the power you gave me is beyond my wildest dreams!" The quiet and lovely sheep bounced with each word, her legs flexing with tight muscles, letting them pop as she swept around my body. "See? How amazing, I can anchor myself in the air with these huge muscles."

"You were amazing, i'm impressed Liang Mei." I said, brushing the cotton candy hair from her cheeks. "What reward do you want for helping so much?"

She giggled, but shook her head.

"Call me Mei Mei like in battle, it makes my chest race and I feel energised!" She pouted, then brightened in an instant. "As for a reward, how about the same as Qinglan? A kiss?"

I paused, wondering if she had selective hearing.

Qinglan choked on a laugh from ten steps away. I rubbed my temple. Mei Mei was going to kill herself with enthusiasm before a monster ever touched her.

"Well, we can see about that later, right now we need to see if this Hive can be destroyed... or cleared somehow since it is more dangerous than we thought."

Avoiding the kiss issue for now, I hurried the cleanup of the area and climbed into the leading jeep once again.

Ready for anything that might happen.

The convoy resumed motion in shuffles and staggered orders. Cables unspoiled from broken winches, jeeps repositioned, wounded loaded carefully. Above the ruined street, dawn finally broke through the dust, casting long golden bars between skeletal towers. For one fragile moment, the city almost looked alive again.

I tightened my gauntlets and scanned the map in my vision. All the red dots had vanished. Yet a vibration remained, toward the Hive, and part of me wondered if the system couldn't scan inside it.

The Alpha wasn't the end.

"Lan'er," I called softly.

She leaned against me in the back while humming, her cheeks covered in dirt and ichor from the Landsharks. "What's the matter?"

"I think we'll be going inside the hive, after all..."

My words caused her eyes to shimmer.

Different from my plans, it seemed we wouldn't be able to avoid it. Yet Qinglan's eyes shone brighter as if she wanted this. I didn't bother to ask because I also felt a similar desire, as if the evolved blood in me sought combat and strong opponents more and more.

"Head towards the Hive, be cautious."

"Y-Yes sir!"

The jeeps rumbled forward at a cautious pace, engines muted, as if the men feared even the sound of pistons would draw more monsters from below. I sat with Qinglan at my side, her shoulder pressing into mine, the faint chill radiating through my bodysuit.

Her presence steadied me in a way no system message could, and on the other side, a soft, squishy Liang Mei closed her eyes and dozed beside me.

It was heaven.

"Sir, the road clears after another two clicks," a driver's voice came over comms. "But... the Hive seems to have increased activity since we came so close... Zombies are moving from the north and west towards the hive."

I could hear the tension even through the static.

Fear always spreads faster when facing unknown enemies.

"Keep moving, keep yourselves sharp and report ANYTHING, no matter how small."

A series of acknowledgements followed.

Qinglan stretched her legs out, resting Endless Night across her lap. The blade shimmered faintly, reflecting her cold eyes. "The Hive…" she murmured, almost to herself. "We'll have to go in, won't we?"

I didn't answer right away.

She sometimes acted a little unhinged, and so I tried to keep her on a leash.

The system map in my vision pulsed faintly, red dots blotting the centre and location around the hive, which squatted above and beneath half the district. No distinct dots, but a mass of zombies, all Stage Two. It was becoming rarer and rarer to spot a wild Stage One zombie after a month of the apocalypse.

I looked at Liang Mei, then Qinglan.

A dull pressure, like something pressing a thumbprint against my skull. It was the same sensation I felt before the Alpha breached, only deeper and more painful.

I exhaled slowly. "Yeah. If we leave it, it'll keep spitting those things out until the entire city collapses."

Her lips curled into a bizarre and crazed smile.

The kind you'd expect a knife-wielding stalker to have.

Sometimes, Qinglan unnerved me more than the monsters.

***

Jiang Siwan helped with the convoy while I took a rest.

The convoy slowed as we reached the edge of a collapsed highway, which branched towards the city centre, and outside to the next province.

Rusted cars lingered, rolled on their sides, crushed or destroyed, with their frames stripped of anything of value. One jeep after another parked in a staggered line while soldiers jumped down to secure the perimeter.

I climbed out and crushed the glass with a crunch.

Dawn's light filtered through the haze of dust, painting the ruins in a pale golden glow.

For a heartbeat, it almost looked beautiful.

Then I saw the true image.

At the far end of the ruined street, the ground simply dropped away. Not like the Alpha's breach, but a wide, yawning sinkhole with soggy mud with rebar, concrete and human corpses... A constant hiss of steam flowed from the depths.

This was the entrance to the hive?

Then what was the huge beehive-like construction a few hundred metres away?

Even standing twenty metres back, my skin prickled as if ants crawled across it. The qi in the air warped, twisted, the four elements I'd worked so hard to harmonise now pulling in opposite directions.

"John!" Qinglan's voice barely reached me as it crackled over the comms, something strange interfering with contact the closer we came to the sinkhole.

"What's wrong?" I turned back, only to notice the terrified looks of those behind me, all holding their rifles towards the hive.

A low buzz echoed in the sky.

I slowly looked up and saw what spooked them.

Their bodies were gaunt with yellow and black skin, wings buzzing with a metallic hum. Compound eyes gleamed sickly green, jaws bristling with crooked fangs as black ichor dripped from twitching, insect-like talons.

Giant Mutated Hornets!