Harem Legion: Queens of the Apocalypse-Chapter 178 Even She Gets Picked First?

One of the girls laughed and tossed out a suggestion. The others picked it up and started singing together, "Looking, looking, looking for a friend, found a lovely little friend. Kiss the lips, hold the hand - you’re my dearest friend..."

Magnus stood frozen with a towel in hand, completely dumbstruck. They’d gotten this bold?

Then a sharp-eyed girl spotted him and waved. "Captain! Come play with us!"

In an instant, the girls, who’d been sitting in a circle, got up. Even the one blindfolded ripped off her eye cover. A dozen of them swarmed around Magnus, grabbing him in excitement, tugging him into their game.

Hands were all over him, pulling him forward, someone even slipped a blindfold over his head. Magnus felt stiff and awkward as hell. If it weren’t such a crowd watching, with how his morals had been slipping lately, maybe he’d have just played along, indulged the fantasy of being a lord for once.

"I got stuff to do. You all keep playing - I just... I need a bath..."

He tried to make a break for it, but their energy was too much to fight. Most of them were Awakened, and strong. He couldn’t just shove them aside with force. Just as he was stuck not knowing what to do, a voice came from outside the circle, getting him out of the mess.

"Alright, that’s enough. Let the Captain go already."

Charlotte stepped in, shaking her head with a sigh. She moved through them with the calm of someone used to cleaning up chaos and gently pulled Magnus out. Noticing the towel in his hand, she started leading him toward the bath wagon. After a few steps, she turned and glanced at him. "Headed to wash up?"

"Yeah, just wanted to clean up a bit..."

Magnus threw a glance back. The girls were still grinning and watching him as he left.

When they reached the bath wagon entrance, Charlotte paused. "Wait here, I’ll check if it’s a good time."

She returned shortly after. "The shower line’s packed. But the soak wagon’s empty. Come on, I’ll take you over."

As they headed toward the soak wagon, they passed several girls in minimal clothing, all throwing cheeky greetings their way.

"Oh? Charlotte and the Captain are going to soak together?"

"Heh, need a massage, Charlotte? We promise not to peek."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Can’t you lot behave for once? I’m just taking the Captain to soak. Gotta keep an eye on him, or he’ll get eaten up by you terrors."

One girl, bold and loud, pushed her chest forward and laughed. "We wouldn’t dare eat the Captain. But if we accidentally did... well, we’d have to spit him out, then gulp him again, then spit, then gulp... haha!"

Their giggles burst out in waves. Charlotte flushed a little, but it passed quickly. She’d been through marriage and motherhood - her skin wasn’t that thin.

They stopped at the wagon entrance. Charlotte looked at Magnus. "Alright, go on in. I’ll find two decent ones to stand guard."

"Thanks, Charlotte." Magnus nodded and stepped in. Just as he took his first few steps, Charlotte called after him.

"If anything weird happens, just shout."Just as he was finally relaxing, Charlotte’s words hit Magnus like a stone.

Soaking in the wooden tub felt incredible - every pore on his body wide open, a rare comfort in this godforsaken world. He lit a cigarette, inhaled slowly, then exhaled a cloud of smoke. With his free hand, he popped open a cold soda from the camper’s tiny fridge, took a swig - it was icy, fizzy, slid down his throat and pooled cool in his gut.

Was this really life in the apocalypse?

Eyes half-closed, staring at the ceiling of the bathing vehicle, he felt like he was trapped in a dream. Somewhere between waking and sleep, strange images flickered through his mind - fragments of his past life... scattered memories, no focus, no logic.

He saw himself cradling Sarah’s lifeless body, tears spilling uncontrollably. Next thing - he was lunging at Emily, tearing at her clothes, rage and grief blinding him. Emily closed her eyes, jaw tight, her long lashes damp with tears.

Then, she pushed him away - but it was too late. A rat-beast lunged, tearing her apart. Grace burst in on a motorcycle, ramming into the monster, breathless and wild.

More jumbled visions: women from his old team pointing guns at him, fingers on triggers. Bullets floated toward him, slow like syrup, punching into his chest. The women’s faces were pale, shocked, backing away like he’d become something else. And then - red light. Blood-red beams lancing the sky, spawning hulking black beasts, clawed things crawling and flying from the light, covering the sky and earth.

"Ahhh!!"

He yelled and shot upright in the bath, water slapping over the sides. Down below, Chloe and Isabel were on watch duty - hearing the scream, they rushed in, only to find Magnus standing stark naked, dazed and panicked.

Both women flushed, quickly turning their heads away.

"Captain, are you okay?" Chloe asked, looking off to the side.

"Magnus, what was that scream about?" Isabel added, awkward.

"I... I’m fine..." he gasped, still winded. His heart was slamming against his ribs, the panic slow to fade. Everything inside his head was a tangled mess, too loud, too fast. He stepped out of the tub, legs unsteady, mind spinning. One thought repeated itself - sort this out, sort this out. But what did he even need to sort?

"Hey! Don’t come over here like that!" Isabel yelped in a panic, backing away as the naked Magnus stumbled toward them.

Chloe froze, eyes squeezed shut, but didn’t move an inch.

"I–!" Magnus suddenly realized how absurd he looked, hurriedly covering himself. He turned away, scrambling to throw on clothes, fumbling with buttons. "I - I need to go back to my vehicle!"

Back to his vehicle?

Hearing that, Chloe and Isabel exchanged a glance, minds hazy. No one said a thing, but the tension in the air thickened.

Chloe’s chest rose sharply. After a long pause, she whispered, "Okay."

That one word hit Isabel like a punch to the gut. Her brain twisted. She and Chloe were close, tight. But Chloe just... agreed? Just like that?

She couldn’t process it. Not when she didn’t even have... not even a lousy piece of chocolate to offer? This wasn’t right. This was all wrong.