Building a Safe Zone with My Harem In The Post-Apocalyptic World-Chapter 101: The Work Begin

Gideon smirked as he shifted his body, resting his elbow against the headrest of the sofa and propping his head on his hand.

"I think you’ll enjoy it," he said lazily. "I can guarantee that."

"Hm... you sound a bit too confident," Elaine replied, unfazed. Then she added, "I want five Devourer scales instead of fifteen A-rank cores."

"I don’t mind giving them to you," Gideon said, raising a brow. "But is your debt getting worse again?"

"Debt? What debt?" Elaine scoffed. "I’m going to sell those scales and hire people to deal with those Skull Fang bastards."

She crossed her arms, her expression completely serious.

Gideon blinked, slightly surprised. He had not expected that level of pettiness, though considering Skull Fang was closer to a criminal organization than a proper faction, he could not say he minded.

He let out a short chuckle. "I didn’t know you had this kind of humor. But isn’t Skull Fang a pretty big faction?"

Elaine nodded. "It is, but their structure is different. They aren’t centralized. It’s more like groups within groups, each operating in different territories under different leaders."

She took a sip of her coffee before continuing. "Most of them don’t care if another group gets wiped out, as long as it doesn’t affect their own benefits."

"Huh... that’s more fragmented than I thought."

"Exactly. That’s why they’re easier to deal with," she said, a faint, dangerous smile forming. "The one I have a problem with is just a small branch. Once they’re gone, I’ll take everything they’ve been hoarding and sell it to the mercenary guild."

Gideon let out a low whistle. "That’s ruthless." He shook his head slightly, amused. "I like you more now."

Elaine narrowed her eyes at him. "Don’t start flirting with me. I’m not like Delilah and her daughters."

"Oh?" Gideon’s grin widened. "Maybe I should save that for later in bed. Might get a better reaction out of you."

She frowned at him, clearly unimpressed, then turned to leave. After a few steps, she stopped, glanced back, and added flatly,

"Don’t forget the scales."

"Don’t forget our sex arrangement," Gideon shot back.

She answered him by rolling her eyes before walking off.

Gideon leaned back, letting out a quiet laugh as he shook his head. "This is going to be interesting."

***

William needed at least twelve hours to complete the planning, including blueprints, zoning, and simulations.

His tablet could run trial-and-error models for toilet placement, communal bathrooms, water sources, distribution systems, drainage, sanitation, and more.

Not only that, it could project the terrain of Gideon’s Safe Zone with precision, allowing him to position every facility before construction even began.

It minimized risks and made everything far safer.

That morning, the two of them finalized the budget. Gideon approved it without hesitation. The total came to around 350,000 Love Coins, including the cores needed to pay workers, though it did not cover the housing project but cover all the heavy equipment cost.

"Good. We can start manual work immediately for marking and layout," William said. "After that, excavation for the water source and drainage trenches, then we lay the foundation for generators and pumps."

Gideon nodded. One advantage of the system was that electricity did not rely on fuel from this world. Instead, it ran on the system itself, though it required a monthly cost in satisfaction points.

For now, he had enough.

[50,000 satisfaction points]

The number kept increasing daily as the residents’ needs were met.

’At least they’re easy to please,’ he thought.

"Jade is lending us five men that are able to operate the heavy equipment. Some are experienced, the rest can at least handle the equipment. Will that be enough?"

"It should suffice," William replied. "And the construction workers? We only have twelve unskilled men. That’s not ideal, even for a small project."

"Unskilled is a bit harsh," Gideon said.

"They can handle basic repairs and simple structures. The main team will arrive soon, though not in large numbers at first. We’ll coordinate with the foreman. Since you’ll be working alongside him, it’s better if you get used to each other."

"That won’t be necessary," William said calmly. "As long as the foreman can follow instructions, there won’t be an issue."

Gideon chose not to respond. He could already see the potential problem. William was an idealist, and if the foreman had the same stubbornness with a different approach, it would become a clash of personalities, which was always worse than technical issues.

"Gideon, who’s this?" a voice called from behind.

He turned and saw Freya, Summer, Elaine, and Delilah coming down the stairs, dressed in robes and boots as if preparing to head out.

"This is William Sinclair," Gideon said. "He’s the civil engineer managing our infrastructure project."

William stood and gave a slight, polite bow.

The introductions followed, starting with Summer and ending with Delilah.

"We’re heading to the bunker," Delilah said. "The girls want to retrieve some of their things. Except for Elaine who just wants to hitch a ride."

"Well, can’t be expected, I don’t have a vehicle to move. This place is too far away." Elaine sighed

"Isnt mom told you to invest in more important matter?’ Summer titled her head, "You are rich, i cant believe you still cant buy a vehicle."

"What? Do you think medical books aren’t important? Anyway, let’s just go, I’m already late to treat my patients."

"What patients? Your clinic burned down." Freya chimed in and then it started their little argument in the morning.

Gideon nodded. "Be careful. There are more aberrants around lately. They seem to be noticing us."

Then his attention shifted back to William’s tablet almost immediately.

The others exchanged brief looks, confused by his coldness. Only Delilah lingered a moment longer, her expression unreadable before she turned away.

***

Once they left, Gideon and William moved to inspect the area designated for the water system.

The terrain was favorable. There were no major obstacles, only a few large rocks that needed to be cleared. The ground would require further leveling, and there were likely more rocks beneath the surface, but overall, it was workable.

Since this place was a bit far from the tents, Gideon began pulling materials and heavy equipment out of his inventory. Excavators, bulldozers, and even PPE for the workers appeared one after another.

Aria, who approached them faster than lighting and unusually energetic, immediately got to work organizing a separate tent for the construction crew with the help of others.

"Wow... these machines look brand new," someone muttered.

The workers gathered nearby, staring in amazement. It made sense. Most heavy equipment in this world came from salvaged remnants of the old one. Seeing brand-new machinery was rare.

Not long after, Jade arrived with an older man. He looked to be in his sixties, but his build was still solid. His grey hair and dark eyes gave him a seasoned, no-nonsense presence. He wore a sleeveless shirt and simple trousers.

"Gideon," Jade said, "this is the man I mentioned. His name’s Grant."

Grant, however, barely acknowledged the introduction. His attention was locked onto the excavator.

"Where the hell did you get something this clean?" he muttered, impressed.

Gideon ignored the question. "Let’s talk somewhere quieter."

They moved a short distance away from the crowd.

"I’m overseeing the project," Gideon began. "William here is the project manager."

Grant frowned. "That wasn’t part of the deal. We usually handle things our own way."

"It should make things easier," Gideon said. "William already handled the planning, layout, resource allocation, and risk management. Your team just needs to follow the plan." He kept his tone firm.

"I don’t like working under someone," Grant replied bluntly. "We come in, do the job, and leave. You just need to trust us."

"We can’t trust what we haven’t verified," William said evenly. "I won’t be fussy if not necessary,"

Grant let out a short scoff. "And we’re just supposed to believe that?"

The tension thickened.

Gideon glanced at Jade, silently asking her to step in. She sighed, then slung an arm over Grant’s shoulder.

"Old man, look at those machines," she said. "All of that belongs to Gideon. He is rich and wants everything to be perfect, not that slab of metals stacking against each other. He can afford to pay you well, so just follow his lead. You’ve handled worse jobs than this, haven’t you?"

Her smirk sharpened. "Or are you not as good as you think?"

Grant clicked his tongue. "Tch. Of course I can handle it." He paused, then added, "Fine. But I want ten coins an hour instead of five."

"Deal," Gideon said without hesitation.

Ten coins was equivalent to 1 D-rank cores, it didn’t cost a lot and by selling some of the Devourer scales to the system or the mercenary guild, it was enough to pay for everything.

And just like that, the work began as more and more construction workers and Freebound’s men Gideon’s rent from Jade came to his territory and started digging.