Building a Safe Zone with My Harem In The Post-Apocalyptic World

Elaine watched Gideon’s back without saying anything, then rolled her eyes. She never understood what drove men to walk straight into battles they weren’t even sure they could win.

Did they never think about their own safety, or the strength of the enemy in front of them?

The aberrant facing Gideon was not as strong as the Devourer, but it was extremely toxic, like many A to S rank aberrants that people usually avoided because they simply were not worth the trouble.

Their bodies could not be consumed, and their cores were difficult to extract. The risk and effort outweighed any reward.

Even so, she had a feeling Gideon would win anyway, he was the one that singlehandedly fought the Devourer.

The moment she touched him, she knew his body was different, as if it was built from something else entirely. Strange, but not something she wanted to put her finger on.

With a quiet sigh, Elaine turned the steering wheel and glanced at Piggy. "Tell everyone to follow me. We need to move fast. The wind will carry that mist this way."

Piggy frowned slightly as she adjusted the truck. "You’re just going to leave Gideon?"

Elaine let out a short laugh. "What, you suddenly care about him now? Interested?"

Her tone turned dry. "Good for you. You might even have a chance. He doesn’t seem picky about getting close to women."

Piggy’s expression flattened. "I’m not interested in men."

That made Elaine blink, genuinely caught off guard. She had known Piggy since before the apocalypse, yet this was the first time she had heard that.

Then again, Piggy had always disliked men getting too close to her, even if she ended up working with them all the time.

"But I’m not lesbian." Piggy continued, "I just am not interested in love."

She then raised her voice. "Everyone, turn around! Follow us!"

Her shout cut through the tension. One by one, the others snapped out of it, turned their vehicles, and followed her lead, leaving Gideon behind.

***

Gideon, on the other hand, was already thinking about the reward. A valuable core, more experience, and another level. It was a perfect opportunity.

Since he was immune to the toxin from the Devourer, he was confident this would not affect him either. If anything, it was a good chance to test how his body handled toxins in the air.

As he moved closer, the aberrant, which he decided to call the Black Wolf, opened its massive mouth and released a thick wave of purple mist that quickly swallowed his vision.

He did not feel any immediate effect, but his eyes started to sting, like fine grains of sand scraping against them.

Without hesitation, he wears the night vision goggles he had bought from the system shop, keeping the vision mode off so he could still see clearly.

The thermal function struggled to pick anything up through the dense mist, which kept spreading and growing thicker.

Then movement suddenly erupted from the ground. The Black Wolf’s "children" surged up again, attacking from every direction as they emerged from the purple haze.

Gideon moved without hesitation, his sword cutting through anything that got close. His enhanced attributes made everything around him feel slower, as if the world itself lagged behind whenever he was in danger.

Every strike landed cleanly, every movement precise as the aberrants all turned into dust. It was easily one of the most useful features the system had given him.

"Hell yeah! Even the small wolves give me exp and cores! If I keep killing them for five minutes, would I level up faster?" he wondered.

It wasn’t a bad idea. Gideon not only used his sword, but also his rifle and even grenades as now it turned into a battle of endurance.

However, it keeps getting annoying. No matter how many he cut down, more kept rising from the sand as if the ground itself refused to run out of them. They surrounded him from every direction, lunging without fear, their hollow eyes fixed on him.

Some of them managed to slip past his attacks, their claws grazing his side, tearing into his shoulder, even catching his leg for a brief second before he shook them off.

The wounds burned, but only for a moment, as his body quickly healed them as if nothing had happened.

This was not difficult, but it was overwhelming. Fighting something that did not stop, did not hesitate, and did not fear death was far more exhausting than facing a single strong enemy. At least that would have an end.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations on leveling up!]

[Level 29!]

[just a bit more to turn to level 30 and you will open up a new feature!]

"Yup, let’s just go to the final boss."

Gideon exhaled slowly, his grip tightening around his sword as he looked toward the massive head in the distance. It was clear now that the smaller ones would not stop unless he dealt with the source.

Instead of holding his ground, he moved forward. The wolves lunged at him again, but this time he did not bother cutting all of them down.

He stepped onto one as it rose, using its body as support before shooting it with his handgun, it crumbled beneath him, then he shifted onto another, pushing himself higher.

At the same time, his hand reached into his inventory and pulled out several grenades he had bought from the system. He activated them without hesitation and threw them behind him as he continued moving forward.

The explosions erupted moments later, one after another, tearing through the swarm and clearing a path behind him. The shockwaves scattered the wolves and slowed their advance, giving him the opening he needed.

Even when he has enough, he knows he needs to kill as much for the sake of selling those cores. Though it was only D-rank cores, money is still money.

Gideon landed and immediately pushed forward toward the giant head.

The aberrant reacted instantly. Thick, dried vines burst from its head, twisting and striking toward him, trying to pierce and bind him before he could get any closer. Instead of avoiding them completely, Gideon used them.

The moment one shot, he stepped onto it, letting its force carry him higher, then shifted onto another, moving along them as if they were solid ground.

The vines tried to coil around him, to trap him, but he was already ahead of them, his movements faster than their reactions. Each step brought him closer to the massive head, closer to the source of everything.

As he approached, the creature opened its mouth wider, releasing even more of the purple mist that filled the air around him. The closer he got, the thicker it became, but he ignored it, focusing only on what was inside.

Then he saw it. A faint glow deep within the creature’s mouth, pulsing steadily.

The core.

Gideon narrowed his eyes, his lips curling slightly as he reached into his inventory once more and pulled out a block of C4.

"This should be enough to destroy it. It wins by numbers but loses in endurance, anyway."

But still, the timing had to be exact. If he hesitated, even for a second, he would lose the chance.

He pushed forward with one final step, using a rising vine to launch himself toward the open maw. For a brief moment, everything seemed to slow as the creature’s jaws began to close, the mist swirling around him, and the glow of the core becoming clearer.

Without hesitation, he threw the C4 straight into its mouth.

The moment it left his hand, he twisted his body and kicked off a nearby vine, forcing himself away from the creature. He landed on the sand and moved immediately, putting distance between himself and the massive head.

Then he detonated it.

The explosion erupted from inside the creature, tearing through it in a violent burst. The massive head shook as cracks spread across its surface before it collapsed, its structure breaking apart as the purple mist scattered in all directions.

Within seconds, it began to disintegrate, just like the smaller wolves, turning into dust that was carried away by the wind and only left a sphere that was now falling to the ground, half broken.

The swarm stopped. No more wolves rose from the sand.

The battlefield fell silent, leaving only the faint glow of the core as it dropped onto the ground where the creature once stood.

Finally, Gideon heard it, the familiar sound that felt like music in his soul, the system notification echoing in his mind. Before he could even check it, a voice called out from behind him.

He turned to see Elaine approaching, wearing a gas mask she had likely taken from the lot they got from the Skull Fangs.

"Ugh, figures you’re still alive," she said, her voice carrying a hint of annoyance.

Gideon let out a small chuckle. "Of course I am. Let’s go. It’s not safe for you to stay here, even with that mask."

Elaine did not respond immediately. She stayed quiet for a moment, as if weighing her words, before speaking again.

"We found their vehicles... and I still don’t think it’s a good idea to bring them there."

Gideon’s expression shifted slightly as he understood what she meant. Their mental state was already fragile, and seeing the bodies of their loved ones would only push them further.

He exhaled softly, then nodded. "Let’s go. I’ll talk to them."