Harem Legion: Queens of the Apocalypse-Chapter 29 I Want All of You
"Him? Hah! He’s no different from the rest - just wants to chase me!"
Sophia never bowed her head, not even a little. Especially after today, when she’d made a mistake and Magnus had grabbed her collar and lifted her into the air like some warning. She was mad - mad enough to find a reason to say that to her sister. Her pride wouldn’t allow anything else.
But deep inside, in that brief moment she hung there, something strange flashed through her mind - could he be the one who could actually keep her in check?
She’d always wanted that kind of man - someone who could rein her in. No matter how tough she acted, she was still a woman with a hidden softness, longing to lean on someone strong.
No matter how fierce a woman becomes, she’s still a woman at heart. That’s just how things are.
Does he really like my sister...?
Grace suddenly felt all the strength leave her body. The lamb leg she’d been holding slipped from her fingers and hit the ground with a dull thud.
She’d only known Magnus for a day, yet they’d already been through hell together. He’d come alone to save her, and she’d helped him too. She started liking him then, just a little. But at the time, she thought he was just following orders from her sister, coming to retrieve her like another task.
So she’d threatened him - told him if he didn’t save her trainees too, she wouldn’t go. Back then, she assumed he feared her sister too much to say no.
But after returning, she realized she’d been wrong. No one had ordered him. He came because he wanted to. He could’ve ignored her threats, walked away, and left her behind. But he didn’t.
Now, the sisters were on opposite sides in their feelings - but thinking about the same man.
*****
That night, Magnus drank two bottles of beer to unwind. He was exhausted. His team could take turns resting - he couldn’t.
Emily and Sarah sat on either side of him, taking turns tearing off lamb meat and pouring him drinks. Across the fire, Taylor and Isabel were also fighting to offer him chunks from their ration boxes.
He glanced at the timer on his phone. Eighteen hours and twenty-five minutes left until the Emberleaf Legion’s assault on Springvale City. Most likely around 5pm tomorrow.
Tonight the whole team would rest. They needed to. By 3pm tomorrow at the latest, they had to evacuate through the North Gate.
The prep was nearly done. Aside from the water issue, everything was ready. Magnus figured the supplies could keep their 200+ people alive for a year - comfortably, even.
Water wasn’t too serious. They could hunt for Water Crystals in the meteor fields. One of those was worth more than a thousand crates of bottled water.
What bothered him more was the lack of combat personnel. They still hadn’t filled that gap, and it gnawed at him. Even when they found new recruits, they were often like Grace’s ten trainees - virtually zero combat power and completely self-centered.
Still, tonight he noticed something. After dinner, those ten white-collar girls were working harder than anyone, probably afraid of being seen as dead weight in the team.
Tomorrow morning from 6am to 3pm - that was the last window to recruit fighters before they left Springvale. Thinking through it all, Magnus called Sophia, Grace, Emily, Liana, and Charlotte into the sleeper carriage for a meeting. He laid out his plan.
"I don’t agree!" Sophia was the first to object. "We already have enough mouths to feed, and now you want to bring in even more freeloaders? And why only women, Magnus? What’s really on your mind?"
"I don’t agree either," said Liana, the logistics chief. Naturally, she was against the idea.
Emily stayed silent, staring at Magnus. She wanted to hear his explanation.
After a pause, Charlotte added, "I don’t get it either. Do we really need more people? Isn’t our number already enough?"
"We’re far from enough..." Magnus took a drag from his cigarette. "There’s still a lot you don’t know about this world..."
"What could be so secret?" Sophia sneered. She hated when people were vague.
Magnus glanced at her, voice calm. "When I’m sure none of you are going to run off and join the Emberleaf Legion, then I’ll tell you the rest."
"So you actually think we’d just leave?" Sophia was getting mad. "And why won’t you let any men in the team, huh? What’s your real reason? You afraid someone else might steal one of us away? Or is your goal to keep all 200 of us to yourself?"
She was clearly still sore about Magnus lifting her like a sack earlier. Now she was like a cannon ready to go off.
But her words stunned Magnus. All 200? She actually thought he had that kind of ambition? Ridiculous.
Looking around and seeing the strange looks from the rest of the girls, Magnus felt a surge of frustration. "Fine, I’ll tell you why. If you’re so open to taking in male Awakened, I won’t stop you."
He then explained the difference between male and female Awakened - how men were more prone to betrayal, how women faced worse fates if captured. He told them how, three months from now, the Emberleaf Legion would be putting bounties on female Awakened.
"In short, men can easily betray us and live well over there. But if women turn, they’ll just end up in the slave camps. That’s why I only want female team members. Understand now?"
"You’re not Cliff. How do you know what he’s planning?" Sophia still wasn’t satisfied.
"I’m not him. But I know exactly what that bastard’ll do!" Magnus snapped, then shifted away from them and barked orders.
"Liana, get the girls to finish the vehicle mods."
He turned to Charlotte. "Top up all the gas in every truck tonight."
Then to Emily, "Check how many of our girls still can’t drive the big trucks. Have them practice tonight. I want everyone able to drive. The rest get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, up at 5 a.m., we roll out at 6."
"You - !" Sophia was shaking with rage at being ignored. "You act like this whole thing’s just about keeping us for yourself!"
"Oh yeah? That’s right! I want to keep all of you! Happy now?!"
Magnus had been bottling it up, but Sophia’s constant poking finally pushed him over the edge.
