Investing in My Harem in the Apocalypse Makes Me Stronger

”It hasn’t moved.” Nathan replied.

The 2nd Echelon zombie had remained inside the park and only sent its subordinates.

A playful smile appeared on Cain’s face.

”Perfect.”

Ron looked toward him.

”Plan A?”

”Plan A it is.” Cain nodded and turned around as he continued, ”We bring them to the crossroads.”

The three immediately began running south.

The creatures soon emerged from the park behind them.

The ten strongest zombies moved at the front while more infected poured onto the road after them.

Cain deliberately controlled his speed.

They could easily outrun the horde, but that would defeat the purpose.

Whenever the zombies fell too far behind, Cain slowed slightly. Nathan followed his pace, while Ron had even less difficulty maintaining whatever distance he wanted.

They kept the strongest zombies close enough without allowing them to catch up.

The noise behind them grew increasingly loud.

More than a hundred infected running together created enough commotion to echo between the surrounding buildings.

Soon, the crossroads appeared ahead.

Cain glanced over his shoulder before shouting at the top of his lungs.

”GET READY!”

His voice carried toward the intersection.

Everyone quickly moved into position.

Professor Holt brought the stronger fighters toward the front while Maya directed the weaker survivors farther behind them.

Jack stretched his arms.

Alex had his greatsword in his hand.

Elara already unsheathed her sword.

Cain, Ron, and Nathan passed the frontline before stopping several dozen meters ahead.

They turned around.

The horde appeared shortly afterward.

The ten 1st Echelon zombies were easy to distinguish from the others.

Their bodies had mutated far beyond ordinary infected humans. Several were considerably larger, while others possessed unnatural limbs or hardened flesh.

Behind them came the Unranked horde.

Cain looked toward Nathan and Elara.

”You two take the 1st Echelon kills.”

Nathan and Elara nodded their heads in response.

Cain then looked at Ron and Alex.

”Help disable the rest.”

”No problem,” Ron answered.

Cain raised his voice.

”Everyone else who has already advanced, disable the Unranked zombies.”

He glanced toward the weaker survivors waiting behind them.

”Anyone still Unranked takes the finishing blows.”

The nervousness among many of them quickly changed.

Cain had no use for experience while his level remained locked.

Most of the 1st Echelon fighters would also benefit far less from killing ordinary zombies.

Giving those kills to the weaker members was simply more efficient.

The first mutated zombie reached them.

Cain drew his sword.

The creature swung one enlarged arm toward him.

Cain avoided it with a small movement before his blade swept through its waist.

Shhk!

The zombie separated into two pieces and collapsed.

Its upper body continued crawling.

Another 1st Echelon rushed toward him from the side.

His sword flashed again and the creature lost the lower half of its body before it could properly attack.

A third followed shortly afterward and met the same fate.

The difference between Cain’s current strength and ordinary 1st Echelon zombies was simply too large.

He no longer needed to spend much effort dealing with them.

”Nathan.” Cain called Nathan out.

An arrow flew past Cain and entered the first disabled zombie’s eye.

When the creature became still immediately, Nathan already had another arrow ready.

Elara moved toward the second one.

Cold Mana covered her sword as she stepped around its reaching arm and drove the blade through its temple.

The battlefield quickly became chaotic.

Ron moved around another 1st Echelon zombie at a speed it could barely follow.

His spear destroyed one knee before striking the other.

The creature collapsed just like that.

Elara finished it moments later.

Alex dealt with another one more directly.

His greatsword tore through one of its legs and forced the creature onto the road, leaving Nathan to deliver the killing blow.

Cain continued moving between the remaining 1st Echelons.

He did not bother to think much while going against such weaklings, because a slash through the waist or legs was enough to disable them.

Nathan and Elara handled the rest.

The Unranked horde reached the other fighters soon afterward.

Jack punched an approaching zombie hard enough to throw it onto the pavement, then destroyed the knee of another.

”Finish them!”

Several weaker survivors immediately rushed forward.

Professor Holt and the others did the same across the frontline.

Instead of aiming for heads, they destroyed legs and restrained the infected long enough for the Unranked survivors behind them to approach safely.

Maya’s amplified voice repeatedly rang across the area.

”DON’T MOVE TOO FAR FORWARD!”

She quickly directed people toward disabled zombies and prevented the excited survivors from breaking formation.

The entire battle became far easier than the size of the horde initially suggested.

Their group had grown enormously stronger and many of their main fighters were already well into the 1st Echelon.

Against ordinary Unranked zombies, they possessed an overwhelming advantage.

Cain disabled another 1st Echelon before looking around.

Ron and Alex were doing the same.

Nathan and Elara continuously took the finishing blows.

The ten powerful zombies that had led the horde began disappearing one after another.

Nathan killed another with an arrow through the head.

Energy entered his body as his level increased.

[Human | Level 36]

He barely paused before moving toward the next target.

Not long afterward, another kill pushed his level up again.

[Human | Level 37]

Cain noticed the change and nodded in satisfaction.

Elara was progressing just as quickly.

After killing another disabled 1st Echelon zombie, her Level increased.

[Human | Level 37]

She immediately moved toward another target Alex had brought down.

Her sword pierced through its skull and a second surge of power entered her body.

[Human | Level 38]

Elara pulled the blade free and briefly adjusted to the sudden increase in strength.

Cain smiled in satisfaction since the situation was going exactly as he wanted.

By the time the final 1st Echelon zombie died, Nathan had reached Level 37 and Elara Level 38.

The Unranked horde was already collapsing as well, since most of the zombies had been crippled by the stronger fighters.

Dozens of weaker survivors moved through the battlefield, finishing them off and gaining Levels one after another.

Several people who had been frightened of fighting earlier were now approaching disabled zombies without hesitation.

Cain did not interfere as there was no reason to.

He stood near the front and watched the remaining infected disappear rapidly.

More than a hundred zombies had come from the western park and ten of them were 1st Echelon, yet their group had not suffered any meaningful difficulty.

What had originally been sent to kill them had instead become a convenient source of experience.

Cain slowly turned his gaze north, a faint smile appeared on his face since Plan A was working perfectly so far.

Once the final zombie stopped moving, the crossroads quickly became busy again.

There was no time to celebrate.

The stronger survivors began dragging corpses away from the center of the road so they would not interfere with the vehicles later. Black blood covered most of the intersection, and severed limbs were scattered across the pavement after the short battle.

Others searched the bodies for anything useful.

Several Orbs had dropped from the Unranked zombies, along with a few Scrolls of varying colors.