"Well done, I'll take you in," Sylas said to Tilda and the others, smiling with satisfaction. Hearing Sylas's promise, Tilda breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't worried about what Sylas might do to them because she had already noticed the three beautiful women accompanying him. With such beauties by his side, Sylas was unlikely to be interested in them.
Sylas turned to Hayden and the other two behind him and said, "Go inside and collect the supplies. We need to head back quickly."
"Okay," Hayden and the others replied promptly, entering the warehouse and starting to gather the supplies.
Tilda watched their actions curiously, initially planning to help. After all, the supermarket warehouse had a lot of items, and it wouldn't be easy to move everything. With only four people, how much could Sylas and his group possibly carry? So Tilda intended to lend a hand.
However, she soon realized she was entirely mistaken. She watched in amazement as Sylas and the others simply touched the boxes of food, and they vanished before her eyes. Tilda was stunned.
Sylas explained calmly, "Don't be surprised. This is the ability of storage space."
Since Tilda and the others would be joining him, it was impossible to keep some things hidden. Besides, Sylas was strong enough now that he wasn't worried about this secret getting out.
Upon hearing Sylas's explanation, Tilda realized that they possessed the ability of storage space. It was truly incredible. The warehouse was emptied in an instant by Sylas and his group. Tilda had been wondering how they would transport all the supplies, but now the mystery was solved.
Knowing they used storage space to move the supplies filled Tilda with a sense of wonder and delight.
Tilda wasn't a fool; she quickly grasped the power and convenience of this ability. With this power, Sylas and his group could gather supplies from everywhere. The size of Sylas's storage space determined the amount of supplies they could store. If their storage space was large enough, they could potentially store a vast amount of supplies.
Thinking about this, Tilda's anxious feelings quickly settled. Many others had the same thoughts, and expressions of joy began to appear on their faces. In no time, the warehouse was emptied by Sylas.
Sylas then said to Tilda, "There are too many of you to leave all at once. We need to split up. We can squeeze two more people into our vehicle. Who wants to come with us first?"
Tilda wanted to leave as soon as possible, but she knew this was her chance to prove herself. So she volunteered, "Leader, I'll stay behind and let them go first."
She had noticed that Hayden and the others called Sylas "Master," so she followed suit. Although the title felt a bit embarrassing, if Hayden and the others used it, she felt she could too.
Sylas smiled and said, "You don't need to call me 'Master.' You are different from them. From now on, call me 'Leader.'"
In truth, being called "Master" would create a closer bond, but Sylas knew there would be more women like Tilda joining him in the future. Having them call him "Master" might not be agreeable to everyone and wouldn't easily gain their loyalty. So, he had Tilda call him "Leader," which also established their relationship.
Tilda breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "Yes, Leader." Calling Sylas "Leader" instead of "Master" made her feel much more comfortable.
Tilda didn't know that only Sylas's true insiders were allowed to call him "Master" and receive the best treatment. There was no need to explain this to Tilda, as she would understand it herself in time through future interactions.
"Tilda, you've done well. For now, you'll be the captain. These women will be your team. If you perform well, you can become the official captain," Sylas said.
"Thank you, Leader," Tilda replied excitedly. She knew her proactive efforts were finally paying off. As the former general manager of the supermarket, she understood social dynamics well, which is why she had been so eager to prove herself. Her goal was to demonstrate her capabilities to Sylas and earn a position of importance.
Her efforts had paid off. However, Sylas wasn't concerned with Tilda's motivations; he cared about whether she had enough ability and loyalty. Someone with both skill and loyalty was definitely valuable.
Tilda selected two women to leave with Sylas first, while the rest stayed behind with her in the warehouse, awaiting Sylas's return for rescue.
On the way back, they didn't encounter any trouble since Sylas was already quite familiar with how to handle things. The key factor was that, during the daytime, the number of zombies on the streets significantly decreased, greatly reducing the difficulties for Sylas and his group.
Driving back wasn't easy, taking them an hour to return to the villa. Sylas realized that taking women along on such trips was a foolish decision. While he wasn't afraid of zombies, his women were, and they also attracted zombies. When Sylas acted alone, he could move as freely as a fish in water. But with several women, his movements were constrained.
So, while he took them along today, he decided he wouldn't do it again in the future. There were other ways to train his women that didn't involve taking them on such dangerous missions. Collecting supplies alone was not only safer but also faster and more time-efficient.
Hayden and the other two women returned to their villa. The two women they brought back were arranged to stay in the neighboring villa. All the nearby villas were vacant, so Sylas simply opened the door and settled them next door.
After settling the women, Sylas set out again. This time, without the burden of the women, he took out his motorcycle and headed to the supermarket. Riding the motorcycle was indeed more convenient. The city streets had too many obstacles for driving a car comfortably. A motorcycle could easily avoid these obstacles, making the journey much easier.
What took an hour by car only took Sylas less than ten minutes by motorcycle to return to the supermarket. With his zombie aura, no zombies attacked him as he returned to the supermarket alone.
Sylas didn't plan to act in stages this time. He had already scouted the route and found that it was entirely possible to drive a large bus and take all the remaining women back at once. While large buses were uncommon on the roads, public buses were relatively easy to find.
Failing to find a large bus, Sylas located a public bus instead. The bus was filled with trapped zombies, so Sylas opened the door and drove all the zombies off the bus, including the driver. The keys were conveniently still in the ignition, making it easy for Sylas to drive.
Instead of driving the bus immediately, Sylas stored it in his storage space and returned alone to the supermarket. At the supermarket warehouse, he used his unlocking ability to open the warehouse door.
Tilda was taken aback. She hadn't noticed this before, but now she realized that Sylas had opened the locked door without a key. The door had been securely locked by Tilda, yet Sylas had opened it effortlessly. This demonstrated that Sylas had a remarkable unlocking ability, causing Tilda to further overestimate Sylas's capabilities.
Ignoring the astonished looks from everyone, Sylas said calmly, "I just got a bus, so I can take all of you at once. Anyone who still wants to come with me can leave now. This is your last chance. If you come with me, you'll be my people and will have to work for me. Disobedience will be punished. If you don't want to work for me, you can leave now."
No one left. Although they were women, they were not foolish.
They were fully aware of the situation outside. They also knew very well that relying on their own abilities, they had no way to survive in this world. Having Sylas as their leader was their good fortune.
"Leader, we all want to go with you," Tilda quickly said.
"Leader, us too," the remaining women echoed.
They were not foolish; they knew that their only chance of survival was to leave with Sylas.
"Alright, let's go," Sylas said, waving his hand and walking ahead. Tilda and her group followed behind him.
There were quite a few of them—excluding the two who had left earlier, there were still twenty-one women remaining. Those who survived were mostly young women. The older women had either turned into zombies or been killed. Dwight and his group did not keep any useless old women; they had killed all the ones they deemed useless.
It was Tilda's first time leaving the warehouse. Seeing the now empty warehouse, she realized that all the supplies had been taken by Sylas. This made her even more determined to follow him. In a world like this, their only chance of survival was to stick with a strong person like Sylas.
Along the way, Tilda and the others saw many zombie corpses. It was evident that these were all Sylas and his group's doing.
Soon, they reached the supermarket lobby. Just outside was the entrance. Sylas raised his hand and released the bus from his storage space. With a grand gesture, Sylas said, "Get on the bus."