Harem Legion: Queens of the Apocalypse-Chapter 134 Feed the Crowd, Starve the Wolves

Three days after the flyers were handed out, by the fourth day, survivor squads started pouring into Ashbrook Town for grain exchange. Around Springvale City alone, there were well over a hundred scattered groups. Not all were starving, but plenty had useless junk they’d rather trade for a sack of rice.

The small town was packed tight. Convoys clogged the few narrow streets. The chaos alone cooled the ambitions of bigger factions eyeing the Ice Regiment.

So many teams were already here - what were they gonna do, rob everyone at once? Problem was, all these trader teams were armed to the teeth. Any funny business, and they’d be biting off more than they could chew.

Those eyeing trouble blended into the crowd, but didn’t dare to move. Yet just as tensions climbed, the Ice Regiment’s exchange speed was deliberately slow, dragging things out. Frustration spread. The lines grew, and folks started grumbling.

"Liana, get the cooks moving. Doesn’t matter how many show up - we’ll keep the rice flowing. Let ’em eat all they want," Magnus ordered, sitting calmly in the lounge of his RV buried beneath the grain warehouse.

"What about water?" Liana asked.

"Water too," Magnus replied. He turned to Evan. "Ian, go get your people. Send out a tanker from our stock. Hand out the rice and water. Make sure the team leaders get a carton of smokes each and two cans of meat. Talk nice, tell ’em what they wanna hear. Don’t let them gang up on us."

He looked over again. "Chloe, get some people. Roll out our mortars and APCs. Let the hardware speak, remind ’em who they’re dealing with."

"And Charlotte," he added, "take the crew out and tell everyone - we’re trading by category. Today it’s household goods. Tomorrow, vehicles. If they want something else, they wait. Drag this out. We need time."

With orders given, the team scattered.

Just then, Lucy climbed up into the RV with urgency in her step. "Commander! Cliff’s group from Springvale just arrived. They’re camped along the highway!"

Magnus stood, paced a few steps, then stopped. "How many trucks, how many people?"

"Seventy-seven transport trucks," Lucy said quickly, "and about five hundred people. They’ve got ten APCs too."

Before the words were cold, Molly rushed in. "Commander, someone from Cliff’s unit wants a meeting."

"Wants to see me?" Magnus snorted. "Tell ’em we’re too busy for that. They can wait."

"Got it!" Molly nodded and left.

Cliff had arrived. Seventy-seven trucks worth of grain trade. Five hundred armed men. Ten armored carriers. Magnus paced the RV like a ghost in thought, mind racing through scenarios.

From his last life, he knew Cliff’s men weren’t the type to turn a blind eye to this kind of crowd. They’d likely try coercion, sweet talk, or some mix of both to gather useful dogs into their fold.

But now... two days had already passed. The crowd outside was seething. Some squadrons were even thinking of leaving empty-handed.

Still, Cliff’s forces hadn’t made a move. Not one. Were they planning to finish trading and then go recruit those other teams? If that’s the case, it meant one thing - Cliff was taking this trade seriously. Until he secured the supplies, they wouldn’t dare make a move.

"Magnus, the Ridgebreak Battalion is here! Their guy wants to see you!" Chloe rushed onto the truck first thing on the third morning after Cliff’s convoy arrived.

Magnus told her to let them in. Soon after, a burly man well over six feet tall climbed aboard, his face hidden behind a thick beard. Two others trailed him, both with narrow eyes and cold stares. Clearly, they weren’t the friendly sort.

Once inside, the bearded man dropped into a seat without asking. "Not bad, kid. Young as you are, you’ve taken a whole warehouse and got the guts to play tough with us."

Magnus just smiled, sitting calmly across from the Ridgebreak men. One of his teammates brought tea to each of the three visitors. Chloe stood behind Magnus, leaned down, and whispered, "They only brought three cargo trucks this time."

Only three? That made it clear - they were just feeling us out.

Magnus smiled. "So what is it this time? Looking to trade, or think you’re gonna rob us?"

"Rob? Hah!" The big man burst out laughing, showing off a mouth full of yellow teeth. "You’re funny, kid. But I gotta say, Cliff’s bunch is still waiting out there, huh? You made them wait three days. Not worried they’ll just take the place by force?"

"If someone’s planning to rob us, they’ll come no matter what I do. Being scared won’t stop them," Magnus answered coolly, eyes fixed on the bearded man. Then he added, "But if the Ridgebreak Battalion wants to trade, we’re glad to make it easier. You folks don’t need to wait in line - get first pick."

"Oh?" All three men stared in surprise. They hadn’t expected Magnus to give them that kind of face. Keeping Cliff waiting while letting Ridgebreak cut the line... what was he up to?

"Yeah, I’m serious," Magnus said, voice steady. "You should know we’ve got some of your old 13th Brigade men in our ranks."

"You mean Evan and Simon?" The bearded man’s face darkened. Even though they’d rebelled against Cliff, those two had also betrayed Ridgebreak once they joined the Ice Regiment.

"Yeah. They left the 13th, sure - but that doesn’t mean they don’t still care. They had their reasons," Magnus said.

The bearded man snorted, clearly unconvinced. Magnus acted like he hadn’t noticed, going on, "We can’t cut prices for Ridgebreak, or else it’s chaos out there. But priority access, no waiting - that much, we can manage."

Now the three Ridgebreak men couldn’t get a read on Magnus. Was he nervous? Maybe they would’ve believed that before, but after letting Cliff’s crew stew out there for days?

Claiming loyalty to his old unit? They weren’t buying it. If Evan was loyal, he wouldn’t have switched sides.

Their faces flickered with uncertainty. At that moment, Magnus signaled to Chloe. She gave a subtle nod and stepped forward, holding three small cardboard boxes. She handed them out in silence.

Metallic clinks sounded from inside the boxes. The bearded man glanced at Magnus, snorted once more, and tore into the package.

Let’s see what game this kid’s playing.