Investing in My Harem in the Apocalypse Makes Me Stronger

Only the fading crackle of Lightning remained for a short while before disappearing.

Dozens of Zombie Race corpses covered the ground outside the outpost, leaving black blood scattered across the already dark soil.

Ron rested his spear against his shoulder and released a long breath.

His breathing was heavier than usual after pushing Thunder God Overdrive so hard, but the grin on his face had not faded in the slightest.

”That was fucking amazing.”

Jack glanced toward the deep crater left behind by his earlier punch before looking down at his gauntlets.

”Yeah. These things are even better than I thought.”

Nearby, Sonya was still staring at the scorched section of ground left behind by her Solar Flare in satisfaction, especially after finally seeing what her abilities could do against actual 1st Echelon enemies.

Elara simply sheathed her sword.

Cain gave everyone a moment to catch their breath before approaching.

”How are everyone’s Levels?”

”Already 50,” Ron answered immediately.

Nathan nodded. ”Same.”

”So am I,” Elara added.

Alex rested the greatsword against his shoulder.

”Me too.”

Cain wasn’t surprised as they had just killed several dozen 1st Echelon enemies inside a World-Class Mission Zone that doubled the Experience they gained.

If anything, it would have been stranger if none of them had reached the limit.

Cain looked at the four who had reached Level 50.

”None of you accepted the Advancement Mission yet, right?”

Ron gave him an frustrated look.

”You’ve warned us enough times about that already.”

”Good.”

Their Mana Cores had already progressed far beyond their newly formed states, but none of them had reached the Perfected Stage yet.

Cain had warned them about this beforehand.

Reaching Level 50 did not force someone to immediately begin their Advancement Mission.

Once an Awakener reached the Level limit and their Mana Core met the System’s minimum requirement, they were given the option to receive the mission.

They could refuse and wait until their Core reached the stage they wanted it to be.

In Cain’s opinion, anyone with the resources to continue improving their Core should refuse since this matter was related to their future improvement.

Sonya looked between them.

”Is waiting really that important?”

Cain nodded.

”The stage of your Core when you accept the Advancement Mission affects how much your Stats will multiply when you reach the next Echelon.”

Her expression became more serious when she heard it.

Cain continued.

”Once you accept the mission, that increase is locked in. Even if you improve your Core afterward, the multiplication won’t change.”

Everyone understood the meaning of this.

There was little reason to sacrifice future potential merely to advance a little earlier.

Cain looked across the battlefield.

”Alright. Gather the loot before we go inside.”

Nobody needed further explanation as the group immediately spread out across the battlefield and began collecting everything the Zombie Race soldiers had left behind.

The Cores were the easiest to find.

Every 1st Echelon soldier possessed one, and the energy contained within the three 2nd Echelon Cores was noticeably denser.

Beyond those, faint lights remained beside several bodies.

Cain headed toward the three 2nd Echelons he had killed.

The Level 60 commander from the previous camp had given him nothing besides its Core, so he kept his expectations low.

The first corpse had no additional drop.

The second was the same.

Cain extracted their Cores and approached the last body.

A faint cyan glow caught his attention.

His eyes immediately lit up.

”Finally.”

Cain crouched and picked up the source of the light.

The moment his fingers touched it, the information appeared.

A Cyan Scroll.

His mood immediately improved, then another cyan glow became visible beneath the edge of the corpse.

Cain pushed the body aside and found a second Scroll lying underneath.

He stared at the two items in his hands.

”Two?”

Cain immediately stored them as he thought it was probably the effect of the double rewards.

He then removed the zombie’s Core.

By then, the others had begun calling out whenever they found something valuable.

With dozens of 1st Echelon corpses scattered around the outpost, the number of drops added up quickly.

Several colored Orbs had appeared among the bodies, and more Scrolls were found nearby. They had gathered decent equipments as well.

The World-Class Mission bonus made the harvest even better, with system rewards from several kills appearing in doubled amounts.

Ron eventually walked over with his arms full.

Several Zombie Cores were pressed against his chest, with a few glowing drops awkwardly balanced on top.

He stopped in front of Cain.

”Take these before I drop something.”

Cain opened his Inventory.

Ron immediately handed everything over.

The items disappeared one after another.

Ron looked at Cain’s empty hands with visible envy.

”Your inventory might actually be the ability I’m most jealous of.”

Cain looked at him strangely.

”Out of everything I can do?”

”Right now? Absolutely.”

Ron glanced toward the battlefield, where more corpses were waiting to be searched.

”You get to stand there while everyone else carries shit back to you.”

Cain laughed in response.

Ron chuckled and turned around as he headed back toward the corpses.

The others soon began returning as well.

Nathan brought over the drops gathered from the enemies around his side of the battlefield, while Elara handed Cain several Zombie Cores she had collected.

Jack arrived afterward with his hands occupied and placed everything down beside Cain before heading back for the rest.

Cain stored each batch as it came.

Without the Inventory, carrying this much loot through the Invasion Corridor would have become troublesome very quickly.

Even with six cubic meters of space, Cain was beginning to understand that the capacity might eventually become a problem if every battle produced rewards like this.

Still, there was no reason to expand it yet. Six cubic meters was more than enough for their current needs, and he could always spend System Points to increase it later.

By the time the last corpse had been searched, their harvest was far greater than what they had obtained from the previous camp.

Ron returned and looked toward Cain.

”Are we checking everything now?”

Cain glanced past him toward the outpost.

”Let’s do it later.”

Ron followed his gaze and understood.

”The Blood Crystals.”

”That’s what we came here for.” Cain nodded with a smile.

The previous camp had contained thirty despite being much smaller than this place.

If the markings on the map really reflected the importance of each Zombie Race position, Cain doubted an outpost protected by this many soldiers would contain less.

There could also be things inside far more valuable than Blood Crystals.

He started toward the entrance.

”Let’s find out what’s inside first.”

Jack followed beside him, wiping black blood from one gauntlet.

”You think there’s another storage room?”

”There should be.”

Ron rested his spear against his shoulder.

”If that tiny camp had thirty Blood Crystals, this place better have a mountain of them.”

Cain glanced back.

”Try not to curse our luck before we even search.”

Ron frowned.

”Since when are you superstitious?”

”Since you started talking.”

”Fuck off!”

Cain ignored him and continued toward the entrance.

The others immediately followed.

For the first time, they passed through the open gate and entered the outpost itself.

It was larger than it had seemed from outside the walls.

Dark stone buildings stood along the cleared paths, their doors still open from when the Zombie Race soldiers had rushed outside to meet them.