Harem Legion: Queens of the Apocalypse-Chapter 228 Women, 620 Super Soldiers

On the way back to the caravan’s base, the tension that had bottled up earlier seemed to finally ease. Everyone looked a bit more relaxed now. Magnus drove the vehicle carefully through the winding path. Dakota, still visibly shaken, stepped up behind him and spoke with a hoarse voice.

"Captain, I’m sorry. We messed up. We should’ve followed your lead," she admitted, eyes still red. "Just because you’re young doesn’t mean we should’ve ignored your orders."

"Still hung up on my age, huh?" Magnus chuckled and glanced at her in the mirror. "Plenty of forty, fifty-year-olds in your group - how come you don’t follow them?"

"Captain!" Dakota raised her voice, partly anxious. "You’re still mad, aren’t you?"

"It’s over," Magnus said casually, with a small smile. "But you’ll all have to take the heat for this one. Otherwise, the team’s discipline falls apart."

Lana came over then. "It’s on us. Even if we don’t get how you saw it coming, we were wrong," she said calmly. "We accept punishment."

At 8:10 in the morning, Magnus pulled the vehicle into the convoy’s position. The other women stayed onboard while Lana and Dakota followed him into his private RV.

No sooner had they stepped in than the two of them began their formal apologies to Emily and the others, admitting they were out of line and pledging to accept consequences. Seeing their attitude, Emily’s group eased up. No one pressed for Lana’s removal as Third Division Captain. Instead, two deputy captains - Chloe and Megan - were temporarily assigned to take command. Lana and the others would reflect for at least three months. That was that.

During the day, there were no rat-beasts or bats roaming, but poultry, livestock, and even sparrows were more active. Come night, it’d flip.

Once everyone was seated, Magnus laid out what he saw in Hanford City. The strange meteorites, the massive egg - Liana and the rest sat up straighter, listening closely.

"Too risky..." Charlotte frowned. "The vehicles might get through, but if anyone steps foot down there... unless we soak everyone in animal blood."

Emily took a sip of water, brow furrowed. "Even that could backfire. A person breathes, moves - the beasts might still sniff us out. A truck doesn’t breathe."

"I’ll test it," Sophia offered. "I’ll take one Metal Crystal, cover myself in blood, and head down. If they don’t react, we’ve got a potential method."

"No way!" Charlotte snapped. "Last time you tried that, you nearly got torn apart - if Magnus hadn’t shown up, you’d be gone. I won’t allow it."

"Then let me go!"

Lana stood up, voice firm. "Let me earn back some trust."

"You? Too risky." Charlotte quickly shut it down. "Sophia’s speed after her second awakening is six times the norm. You’re also awakened twice, sure, but not as fast. If Sophia can’t outrun them, you definitely can’t."

Six times the speed? Magnus blinked, surprised. "Wait, you’re telling me that everyone here’s gone through a second awakening?"

Liana nodded. "Yeah, we didn’t get the chance to tell you. Last night, while you were dealing with those beasts outside the grain depot, we did a quick count. Out of our 5,300 Awakened female members, over 620 experienced their second Awakening during the second red light. Sophia and Ice were special - both Awakened for speed. They tested it last night - their speed’s about six times faster now. But their strength and stamina haven’t changed."

Over 620 Second Awakening! Magnus was stunned.

He knew exactly how strong a Second Awakened was. With 620 of them, even without crystals, they could probably take on a 3,000-strong First Awakened force head-on.

And that was being conservative. At least for himself, Magnus had no doubt he could handle five First Awakened alone without damage, even barehanded and without Metal Crystals or guns.

Emily and Sophia had both reached their Second Awakening. This time, Magnus seemed to have awakened stamina. Neither Liana nor Charlotte had reached their second though, which left both looking a bit downcast.

Magnus didn’t notice their mood. He turned to Lana. "Lana, out of the 83 you brought back - any new Awakened?"

"Awakened?" Lana looked a bit puzzled. "Some of us felt like we might have, but on the ride back, we tested it - no big change in strength or speed."

"What about stamina?" Magnus asked quickly. "Who felt it? Roughly how many?"

"Me, Dakota, and maybe ten others," Lana said after thinking it through. "You’re saying our stamina might’ve Awakened?"

They’d been hiding in the meteorite shelter so long, it was hard to tell if their stamina changed.

That matter was shelved for now. Liana circled the talk back to digging up meteorites in Hanford City. Magnus had explored the city alone last night, and now shared his findings.

"I wandered all around Hanford City. There are a lot of meteorites - probably over 200. But what surprised me were the chickens, ducks, geese - they’re still laying eggs."

"Eggs?" Sophia raised her brow, looking intrigued.

"Yeah. About three meters wide, meter and a half high. Saw plenty - dozens at least."

"Can we eat them?" Liana asked eagerly. Her focus was always food.

"Should be edible..." Magnus replied, recalling the eggs he saw. Shame he didn’t have something to capture the image.

Liana grinned. "Then when we go in for meteorites, we snatch some eggs too?" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Magnus glanced away, thinking. "Didn’t test how tough the shells were, but getting them on the truck won’t be easy. Either we crack them and collect the contents in large barrels, or we tie them with ropes and haul them onto the roof."

"Roof’s tricky," Liana replied. "If they’re as big as you say, they’ve gotta weigh over a hundred pounds. Lifting that onto a roof without breaking it? Not easy. We could use the cargo containers, but they’re full. Not ideal. Best bet’s what you said - break a hole and drain them into barrels."