Harem Legion: Queens of the Apocalypse-Chapter 176 Release 500, Break Their Trust

"Release five hundred captives. Let them go back to Springvale City. The rest stay."

Emma was behind the bar, pouring a fresh pot of coffee. Abigail quietly brought over a cup to Magnus. He turned to look at her, eyes deep and unreadable. Her expression darkened, gaze shifting away as she walked back in silence.

They still hadn’t gotten over it. Still held a grudge against Magnus for treating them like tools back then.

"Why five hundred?" Sophia, as blunt as ever, didn’t bother picking up on the awkward vibe.

Everyone was staring at Magnus, except Charlotte, who seemed to have figured it out already. So he explained, "We send back five hundred. They deliver the message to Cliff. For the rest, trade them - two Crystals for each Awakened. For regular folks, either ten cans of food or sixty bullets per person. His choice."

"That’s insane!" Sophia snapped. "That bastard Cliff has tens of thousands under his command, and barely enough guns to go around. These guys aren’t worth that much to him. No way he’d trade Crystals."

"Yeah, even if he loses his mind, just send back ten or maybe twenty. Why release five hundred at once?" Grace chimed in with her sister.

Charlotte gave Magnus a knowing glance before stepping in, "I get it. If we let five hundred go, Cliff can’t just kill them all. Too many. That forces his hand. He either trades, or word spreads that his men’s lives mean less than sixty bullets to him. You think they’ll keep fighting for him after that?"

Magnus took a sip, then nodded. "Exactly. He’ll trade - because even if he doesn’t want to, he’ll have to."

The others finally caught on. Then Magnus looked over at Liana, "One more thing. I’m guessing you’ve heard - we used two Earth Crystals in Willowglen this time, got nearly sixty tons of ginseng. I planned on making porridge or tea with it, but locals told me it needs drying. Liana, think we can manage that without bugs or anything ruining it?"

"I heard about it too," Liana replied with a pause. "The mosquitoes above don’t seem to care for ginseng. I’ll have people clear out the rooftops tomorrow, post guards, and keep watch until it’s all dried."

"Sixty tons?! That much?" Sophia’s eyes lit up in surprise.

Magnus nodded. "The mountain trip paid off. We got over six thousand six hundred Crystals too."

"Six thousand six hundred?" Sophia gasped, and the rest of the team looked just as stunned.

Liana’s reaction was the loudest, "For real? Where’d you stash it? How did we not see any of that earlier?!"Same damn problem again... Magnus rubbed his scalp, thinking it over. The matter of the Crystal Space - it was time they knew. These women weren’t outsiders anymore. If he kept hiding it, it’d just stir up suspicion eventually.

Still, this wasn’t something to tell everyone. Just Liana, Charlotte, Emily, and Sophia would do. The rest of the squad captains didn’t need to hear it yet.

With that thought, Magnus glanced at Liana. "Liana, after the meeting, you and Charlotte hang back a bit. I..."

He was going to say, "I’ve got something to tell you," but paused. Didn’t want the others getting all suspicious, thinking they were keeping secrets.

But that pause? Big mistake.

That slight hesitation made the sharp-witted women read way too much into it. Liana’s face turned bright red. She’d already heard whispers of what went down in Willowglen Village - how Magnus had taken both Molly and Lucy to bed. Some were saying the guy had a thing for doing the deed with two at once.

Now he wanted just her and Charlotte to stay? What was he planning, another one of those?

Charlotte, ever the cool one, gave a side-glance at Liana, then teased with a smirk, "Leave me out of that. But your Liana... she could keep you company."

Magnus saw where this was going and quickly tried to fix it. "Not just you two - Sophia and Emily too. I need to talk to all four of you."

Charlotte chuckled, lips curling. "Our man’s got quite the appetite, huh? Dream on. They’re on their own, but me? Not a damn chance."

"You piece of crap!" Sophia slammed down her mug, eyes flaring. "What the hell do you take us for? Is this whole team just your personal harem?"

Emily said nothing, but that frost in her eyes said it all.

Magnus groaned inside. Damn it, can’t even speak without it getting twisted? Were they messing with him on purpose?

With the room turning into one big trial against him, he snapped. Got up, muttering a curse, then grabbed Sarah by the arm and stormed off into the room. Sarah gasped, startled, letting out a soft yelp.

As the door slammed behind them with a loud thud, the women left in the living room exchanged looks. Some thought the Captain had finally lost it. Others, like Sophia, were too pissed to even glare, cursing him out as she trembled with anger.

Then, barely seconds later, a sharp cry rang out from the room - it was Sarah’s voice.

The tension snapped.

Sophia was already up and shouting, ready to drag the others out of there. Emily, Liana, the rest - none of their faces looked good. They all got up, heading to leave.

But just before they made it to the front door, the bedroom swung open.

Sarah stood there, clothes untouched, eyes wide. "Emily, Sophia, Liana, Charlotte - it’s not what you think! Magnus, he... he..."

She tried, but the words stumbled.

"...he’s not feeling well," she finally blurted out, voice uncertain.