Investing in My Harem in the Apocalypse Makes Me Stronger

Elara’s expression tightened slightly.

Cain had already explained why. So, there was nothing more to discuss about that part.

”If I can kill it normally, good. Mission completed.”

Ron swallowed part of his food.

”And if you can’t?”

Cain turned toward him.

”We’re going to go for plan B.”

Ron stopped chewing because for some reason, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

”If Plan B becomes necessary, all of you will retreat and wait near the western edge of the city.”

Then his gaze settled on Ron.

”Except you.”

”Me?” Ron raised an eyebrow.

”Yes.” Cain smiled proudly. ”You’re going to be the heart of Plan B, Ron.”

That immediately caught Ron’s interest.

”Oh?” He straightened slightly. ”What am I supposed to do?”

Cain chuckled.

”Nothing complicated. You just need to run as fast as you can.”

Ron slapped his chest confidently.

”That’s easy. If there’s one thing you can count on me for, it’s running.”

However, when he noticed the smile still lingering on Cain’s face, his confidence faltered slightly.

”Wait.” Ron narrowed his eyes, then asked. ”Who exactly am I running from?”

Cain’s smile widened.

”The 2nd Echelon zombie.”

”...”

Ron slowly lowered his hand.

Cain continued before he could interrupt.

”If I fight that thing and realize I can’t kill it immediately, but I’m still confident that I can eventually wear it down, then I’m not going to stay there and fight until one of us dies.”

He pointed toward Ron.

”That’s where you come in.”

Ron’s expression became increasingly suspicious.

”I’ll push myself as far as I safely can. Once I’m approaching my limit, I’ll create some distance from it, then you pick me up and run.”

Ron blinked his eyes.

Cain continued calmly.

”My recovery ability is extremely strong because of a body constitution I awakened. So while you’re carrying me away, I’ll recover.”

Nathan already seemed to understand where the plan was heading.

Cain leaned back slightly.

”Once I’ve recovered enough, I go back and fight it again. If I still can’t finish it, we retreat again.”

His lips curved upward.

”We keep repeating that until I grind that bastard to death.”

Ron stared at Cain as if he had just heard something completely unreasonable.

Then his eyebrow twitched.

”You spent all that time making me stronger so I could become your personal taxi?”

Cain nodded without the slightest shame.

”An extremely fast taxi.”

”...”

Ron’s face darkened further.

”Don’t tell me this is the thing you wanted my help with.”

”What else could it be?” Cain chuckled.

Ron immediately remembered the deal Cain had offered him earlier.

A Yellow Scroll in exchange for helping him once.

At the time, Ron had already suspected that Cain was planning something troublesome. He knew his friend far too well to believe that such a valuable reward would come without a catch.

However, he had never imagined the catch would involve carrying Cain while running away from a 2nd Echelon zombie.

Cain shrugged. ”You already agreed anyway, so you’re not taking it back now.”

”You shameless motherfucker!”

Ron nearly jumped to his feet.

”How can you trap your best friend like this?!”

Cain looked completely unmoved by his outrage.

”Relax. Plan B is only a contingency.”

”That doesn’t make it better!”

”I’ll still give you the Yellow Scroll even if we never need to use it.”

Ron paused, the anger on his face immediately weakened.

”...You will?”

”Yeah.” Cain nodded.

”I’m not going to take it back just because everything goes smoothly.”

Ron slowly sat down again.

His expression improved considerably, although he still stared at Cain with obvious resentment.

Only now did he finally understand why Cain had repeatedly told him to put his Free Stat Points into Agility.

It was not simply because speed was Ron’s greatest strength.

Cain had been preparing him for this.

Cain noticed his expression and smiled.

”Listen, you only need to keep us away from that thing for a bit. Once I’ve recovered to some extent, I’ll immediately fight it again.”

Ron crossed his arms.

”And if you still can’t kill it?”

”Then we just need to do it again.”

Cain’s smile became slightly vicious as he continued, ”I’ll keep fighting it until that motherfucker finally dies.”

Nathan, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke.

”What if it doesn’t chase you?”

Cain looked toward him.

”That would actually be better.”

Nathan frowned slightly.

Cain continued, ”If I retreat and it stays where it is, then I can recover without Ron needing to run for his life.”

He paused for a moment.

”The real problem is if it decides to ignore me and goes after everyone else instead.”

Elara’s expression changed.

Cain’s tone became more serious.

”That’s Plan C.”

He looked across the people gathered around him.

”If the 2nd Echelon zombie refuses to chase me and turns toward the group, then forget about my Advancement Mission. At that point, there’s no reason for me to keep insisting on fighting it alone just to complete my Advancement Mission.”

Cain’s eyes narrowed slightly.

”We will fight it together and kill it as quickly as possible.”

His Advancement Mission was important, but it was not worth gambling everyone else’s lives over.

If the situation reached that point, Cain would simply accept that the mission had failed and deal with whatever consequences came afterward.

Cain did not wait for anyone to respond after explaining the last possibility as there was nothing else they needed to discuss for now.

”Alright. That’s enough talking.”

Cain stood and brushed the crumbs from his hands.

”We’re leaving immediately. Get ready.”

Professor Holt nodded and turned toward the survivors under his responsibility, while Maya quickly began relaying Cain’s order to those farther away.

Maya reacted even faster.

”EVERYONE, PREPARE TO DEPART!”

Her amplified voice spread across the temporary base.

People who had been resting quickly got back onto their feet. Weapons were checked one final time while the drivers returned to their vehicles.

The few injured survivors were helped into the buses first.

Those who could still fight remained near the doors, allowing them to leave quickly if the convoy suddenly stopped.