Investing in My Harem in the Apocalypse Makes Me Stronger

Ron glanced at the fading World Announcement.

”Exactly fiftieth.”

Alex looked pleased with the result.

Cain studied him for a moment longer.

The incident inside the auditorium had made Alex look far less impressive than he actually was. After being defeated so easily by Cain, it would have been easy for the others to assume that his strength was nothing special.

However, that was far from the truth as Alex’s Talents were heavily focused on Strength, and among everyone Cain had gathered so far, there was no one who could match him when it came to pure physical power.

He had simply challenged the wrong person.

Someone who would normally look monstrous against others appeared much less impressive when standing beside Cain.

Now that Alex had advanced to the 1st Echelon and his Stats had doubled, keeping the three of them together would only lower their efficiency.

Cain looked toward the northeast.

”You head that way.”

Alex raised an eyebrow.

”Alone?”

”You can handle yourself now.”

Cain pointed toward the district beyond the nearby buildings.

”Search that area and kill whatever you can handle. If you run into something obviously beyond your capability, leave and come to us immediately.”

Alex rested the greatsword across his shoulder.

”Fine.”

There was no need to complicate things.

With Alex moving separately, they could cover far more ground before regrouping later.

Cain took one last look at the evolved bear’s corpse before removing its Core and put it in his inventory.

He now had 3 purified 1st Echelon Cores and a normal 1st Echelon Core from the evolved bear.

Two had come from previous Investment Returns, while the other two were obtained from the Level 42 zombie and the evolved bear they had just killed.

Alex soon disappeared toward the northeast.

Cain and Ron continued east.

Their objective had also changed.

Ron had already completed the first requirement of his Advancement Mission.

Now they needed to find a 1st Echelon creature willing to chase him.

Fortunately, they did not search for long.

Several minutes later, Cain sensed a powerful presence ahead.

He stopped near an intersection.

”One.”

Ron immediately tightened his grip around the spear.

”1st Echelon?”

Cain nodded.

He briefly explained what they would do.

Ron would approach the creature, provoke it, and make sure it properly targeted him before escaping.

Cain would remain far enough away that the System should not consider his presence assistance. At the same time, he would stay close enough to interfere if Ron ended up in actual danger.

If that happened, the mission would fail.

But Cain would rather repeat the mission than watch Ron get himself killed trying to satisfy some vague System condition.

Ron looked toward the road ahead.

”Alright.”

He went forward alone.

Cain remained behind and waited for several seconds.

Then, while standing in the middle of the ruined street, Cain suddenly thought of something.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

As expected, there was still no signal.

Cain did not care as he wanted to use a camera on his phone.

His own face appeared on the screen.

After adjusting the angle slightly, he pressed record.

”Hey, kids. This is your dad.”

Cain started walking leisurely down the road.

”Today, the apocalypse descended and a lot of people became zombies.”

He turned the phone toward several infected figures wandering far in the distance, then pointed it back at himself.

”Your dad is doing well.” Cain paused, then continued with a faint smile. ”At least for now.”

”Right now, I’m helping your poor uncle complete his mission. Apparently, his greatest contribution to humanity is running away from things.”

Cain nodded solemnly toward the camera.

”In the future, make sure you don’t grow up to be a loser like your uncle.”

A distant shout suddenly echoed between the buildings.

”RUN!!”

Cain stopped.

”FUCK! IT’S A CRAZY GORILLA!”

Cain immediately turned the camera toward the sound.

Ron came sprinting around the corner at full speed.

Something enormous followed closely behind him.

It was a gorilla.

Except calling it a normal gorilla no longer made much sense.

Its body had expanded tremendously, and its muscular arms were nearly as thick as Ron’s torso. Dark fur covered most of its massive frame, while its furious expression made it obvious that Ron had succeeded a little too well in provoking it.

[1st Echelon Evolved Gorilla | Level 41]

Cain stared for half a second, then he burst out laughing.

He immediately pointed the camera toward Ron.

”Kids, look at your pathetic uncle.”

Ron noticed the phone in Cain’s hand, his expression immediatey twisted.

”He’s being chased by his kin.”

”You fucking bastard!”

Ron flew past him.

Cain started running alongside him while continuing to record.

”Why the fuck are you making a vlog right now?!”

”I’m documenting your greatest achievement.”

”Turn that shit off!”

Cain laughed.

”I need proof for my future children.”

”Cain!”

A roar erupted behind them.

The gorilla slammed one of its enormous fists against the road while running.

Bang!

The pavement cracked beneath its knuckles.

Cain finally lowered the phone.

Ron glanced backward.

The new boots had increased his speed considerably, but the gorilla was still fast enough to keep him within sight.

However, it showed no intention of giving up.

”What now?”

Cain looked over his shoulder.

”Keep running.”

Ron turned toward him in disbelief.

”That’s the plan?”

”That was one of them.”

”You said you had a plan.”

”If you were fast enough to lose it completely, this would already be over.”

Ron looked back again.

The gorilla smashed through an abandoned motorcycle without slowing down.

Metal twisted beneath its arm before the wreckage was sent rolling across the road.

”Clearly, I’m not losing it!”

Cain nodded.

”It also seems unusually angry at you.”

”I stabbed it so it would chase me!”

Cain looked at him.

”Where?”

Ron hesitated for a second.

”...Its ass.”

Cain nearly lost his rhythm from laughing.

”No wonder.”

”I needed it to target me!”

”Well, congratulations. It definitely does.”

”Fuck off!”

Cain finally slipped the phone back into his pocket.

His Sense spread across the surrounding streets as they continued running.

”Let’s try something else.”

Ron looked sideways.

”What?”

”Find another 1st Echelon.”

Ron frowned.

Cain continued before he could complain.

”If we lead this one into another creature’s territory, they might fight each other.”

That made more sense.

If another evolved creature considered the gorilla an intruder, Ron might be able to escape while they turned on each other.

Cain searched as they moved.

Several streets later, another powerful presence entered his senses.

”Left.”

They immediately changed direction.

An artificial pond appeared ahead, surrounded by damaged walking paths and scattered benches.

Something enormous stood beside the water.

At first glance, Cain thought it looked almost absurdly large.

Then he recognized what it was.

A hippo.

Its body had expanded far beyond anything natural, and thick dark skin covered a frame that looked heavy enough to crush a vehicle simply by falling onto it.

[1st Echelon Evolved Hippo | Level 40]

Ron’s expression brightened.

”Perfect.”

They ran directly past it.

The hippo lifted its head, its small ears twitched.

Moments later, the gorilla charged into the area behind them.

The hippo stepped away from the water.

Cain looked back.

For a moment, he thought the plan had worked.

The hippo’s attention shifted toward the approaching gorilla.

Then its gaze moved past the ape, straight toward Ron.

Cain’s expression became strange.

The hippo opened its enormous mouth, a deep bellow escaped from its throat.

Then it charged toward them instead of the gorilla as its eyes were focused on Ron.

Boom!

Its heavy feet struck the ground with surprising speed.

Ron looked backward.

”...”

Cain looked at Ron.

”...”