"I'll unlock the doors, and you handle the rest," Sylas said to Tilda and the others behind him.
"Yes," Tilda responded quickly.
Since Sylas was the only one with the unlocking skill, he had to open the doors. They started with the first floor. Sylas opened a door, and as long as no zombies rushed out, he left it to Tilda's team to clear the room and moved on to the next door.
Once Sylas unlocked a door, Tilda led her team inside to clear out any zombies. If the room was empty, there was no need to clear it. Only Tilda's team entered the rooms, while the other three teams stayed with Sylas, as he unlocked doors much faster than they could clear zombies.
When Sylas opened one door, a zombie charged out. With a swift motion, Sylas decapitated it. He glanced inside to confirm there were no other zombies, then moved on to the next door.
The team worked in perfect harmony, quickly clearing the entire floor. Sylas had expected to encounter survivors, but they only found a few zombies. Prepared for these encounters, dealing with ordinary zombies was straightforward.
Lillian and the others were part of the team but didn't engage unless they encountered mutated zombies. If Lillian and her team couldn't handle a situation, Sylas would step in.
Their process was seamless, accounting for every detail. They cleared one floor after another, systematically moving upward. Anything useful found in the rooms was packed by Clarissa and the others, who all had spatial storage abilities, allowing them to easily carry everything they wanted.
Occasionally, they encountered survivors. Sylas offered these survivors a choice: they could join the group and follow the rules, or they could leave.
Survivors could choose to stay or go with Sylas to live in the villa area. Instinctively seeking safety, most survivors opted to move to the villas. However, a few chose to stay behind. Sylas didn't concern himself with those who chose to remain. Their fate was no longer his responsibility, and he mercifully left their food supplies untouched.
It took the entire afternoon for Sylas and his team to clear the apartment buildings of zombies. They killed countless zombies but rescued fewer than a hundred survivors—only ninety-eight, to be precise. Before the disaster, the neighborhood had housed at least ten thousand residents. The current small number of survivors highlighted the catastrophic impact of the apocalypse on humanity.
For those willing to join him, Sylas made arrangements. The survivors were registered and assigned housing based on their families. For safety, they were housed near Sylas's location. With plenty of vacant villas, each villa could accommodate several families. Spreading out over a few villas, the survivors had enough space.
Sylas didn't fully trust the survivors, aware of the unpredictability of human nature. Thus, he instructed Tilda to use only one squad at a time for clearing surrounding zombies, while the rest stayed in the villa to guard against any potential trouble from the survivors.
The female warriors, along with Clarissa and the others, had superior combat skills compared to ordinary people, ensuring that any potential threats from the survivors could be managed.
Additionally, Sylas didn't allow the survivors to remain idle. He had Tilda organize them into patrol teams, ensuring they contributed to the community's safety and security.
Patrols were conducted continuously throughout the residential area every day to ensure its safety. Other tasks were not required of the survivors. It wasn't out of kindness that Sylas spared them from other duties, but given the current situation, these ordinary people simply couldn't handle them. The outside of the neighborhood was swarming with zombies. Ordinary people venturing out would just become zombie fodder. Sending them to scavenge for supplies would be tantamount to delivering them to the zombies.
For other tasks, they were even less needed. So, Sylas decided to have them only patrol the neighborhood, ensuring its safety. This also kept them busy, preventing them from causing trouble. People tend to create problems when they have nothing to do.
To Sylas's disappointment, though many survivors were found, including a fair number of women, none of them matched the criteria for an ideal slave. One of Sylas's goals in clearing the buildings was to find exceptional slaves, but there were none. Finding such individuals was difficult even before the chaos, let alone now.
Sylas was somewhat disappointed but didn't dwell on it.
By the time everything was settled, night had fallen. And the night was Sylas's main battlefield.
"What do we do now?" a subordinate whispered inside a villa room.
They were among the survivors from the building who had been rescued by Sylas and then brought to the villa area. They were assigned to a villa. Their leader, named Oscar, had been a boss in the underworld. Before the apocalypse, he wouldn't have given Sylas a second thought. But now, he had no choice but to lie low and survive.
Oscar peered out at the patrolling female warriors, his gaze dark and brooding. "Those women are tough. We're no match for them. Having them protect us is actually a good thing for now. We'll stay here and see how things develop," Oscar said quietly.
"Yeah, those female warriors are really something. They kill zombies like they're just dogs," another subordinate remarked.
"Let's follow the boss's lead and settle in here. By the way, that woman is really hot. I can't believe Clarissa is here. Damn, I'd love to fuck her," the first subordinate said lewdly.
Thinking about Clarissa's figure and looks, a glint of greed flashed in Oscar's eyes. "Clarissa is truly something special, but there are more of them than us, and they're stronger. We can't take them on easily," Oscar muttered.
Oscar did have ideas about claiming Clarissa and the other women, but he lacked the power to do so. So, he kept his thoughts hidden.
At that moment, the sound of a motorcycle approached. Oscar saw a man riding out of the neighborhood.
"That's the leader," Oscar said softly, watching Sylas's departing figure with wary eyes. He didn't know how strong Sylas was since he hadn't seen him in action. But being the leader of such formidable women, Sylas had to be even stronger. That's why Oscar was so wary of him.
Besides wariness, there was also deep jealousy and envy. After all, Clarissa and those other women were Sylas's.
They lived together in the villa area. Sylas was unaware of Oscar and his group's jealousy, but he wouldn't have cared even if he knew. Such feelings were uncontrollable and entirely normal. People are inherently like this. No matter how well Sylas treated them, it was impossible for everyone to feel grateful. There would always be some who harbored resentment.
Sylas had one simple strategy: to remain forever stronger than them, ensuring they never had the ability to rebel.
After nightfall, Sylas, having eaten and drunk his fill, set out. His power as the King of the Night could only be fully utilized after dark. Nighttime was not only the domain of zombies but also Sylas's prime hunting ground. It was the best time for him to hunt mutated zombies. Otherwise, Sylas wouldn't have spent his daytime efforts clearing the neighborhood.
During the day, the number of zombies decreased, but mutated zombies were also harder to find. Sylas had no interest in ordinary zombies; his focus was on killing mutated ones.
As Sylas left the neighborhood, it was plunged into darkness and silence. Zombies were highly sensitive to light and sound. Keeping the area quiet was crucial to avoid attracting them. This was one of the reasons Sylas planned to leave the city. In urban areas, you couldn't use lights or make noise at night. In the countryside or wilderness, this wouldn't be a concern.
Just after exiting the neighborhood, Sylas spotted a mutated zombie. Without hesitation, he raised his katana and charged. Though his level hadn't increased, his combat power had grown significantly. Now, facing these zombies, he no longer needed to be cautious.
Moreover, the title of King of the Night increased Sylas's combat power by fifty percent, making it even easier for him to kill mutated zombies.
While Sylas was busy harvesting mutated zombies, Clarissa and the others were not idle. They filmed a video showcasing their superior living conditions, reliable security, and the fact that they were surrounded only by women. The purpose of the video was to attract new members.
After filming the surroundings, the camera focused on Clarissa. With a sincere expression, she began to speak:
"Hello, friends. I'm Clarissa. You've seen the quality of life I now have, the abundance of food, and the safety we enjoy—all thanks to my man. Before, I was nearly starving to death. At the last moment of my life, I met my man. He's younger than me by three years, very strong, and incredibly handsome. To repay him for saving my life, I became his woman.
"My man is an extraordinary person with great power. He has the ability to keep us safe and provide us with food. To preserve humanity's future, my man plans to save more women. But we will only choose the best. Only women who meet our criteria will be accepted into our group.
"So, friends, if you meet the criteria, please contact us. My man will arrange to rescue you based on your location."
Clarissa then specified the requirements for women: they must be beautiful, have a good figure, and still be virgins. Those who didn't meet these conditions wouldn't be rescued.
After confirming there were no issues with the video, they uploaded it to the internet. The video quickly went viral, causing a sensation online.