Chapter 16: Heading to the Storage Center

"It's just a small injury. Can you stop freaking out so much?" Clove said, trying to calm the two women, who were clearly panicking.

He had endured worse injuries in his previous life, so something like this was no big deal. As long as his limbs weren't severed, to Clove, it was just a minor wound.

"Still, you need to disinfect it," Linda muttered.

Clove sighed, reluctantly taking off his clothes and letting them clean and dress the wound.

Knock, knock.

There was a knock on the door.

"Mr. Clove, we've cleared everything downstairs. The apartment's front door is damaged. Should we move to a safer place?" Lucius' respectful voice came from outside.

With his head resting on Linda's lap, enjoying a brief moment of comfort, Clove immediately got up and said to Linda and Kelly, "Pack up. We're moving."

"Try not to wear any high heels, got it?"

With that, Clove opened the door and stepped outside.

Lucius' eyes briefly scanned Linda and Kelly as they stood there, and a wave of envy hit him.

So this is the benefit of having powerful strength?

Before the apocalypse, to even have one beauty like this—let alone two—would require immense wealth and power to control!

And now…

Just by relying on strength, Clove could have two beautiful women sharing the same room!

Clove noticed Lucius' gaze and, as a man himself, he easily understood what Lucius was thinking. He patted him on the shoulder and chuckled, "Follow me. One day, you'll have this too. Beautiful women are resources in the apocalypse."

A smile spread across Lucius' face as he nodded repeatedly.

"How are the others? Are they trustworthy?" Clove casually asked while heading downstairs.

"They're trustworthy. The power you've shown completely exceeded their expectations. Now, they're all depending on you to lead them through the apocalypse," Lucius replied.

Clove nodded slowly, not surprised by the answer.

The more time he spent with them, the more he realized—these people would revere him like a god!

As the two of them reached the ground floor, the two cannon fodder who had surrendered earlier in the morning immediately stood up upon seeing Clove.

"My lord," they said, bowing their heads.

Clove waved his hand dismissively and looked at Harvey, saying, "Since you didn't try to run, I'll consider you part of my team."

"But if you want my trust, you'll need to prove your loyalty even more."

The two men nodded earnestly, not daring to show any resistance.

Beside them, Bob said, "My lord, we've gathered all the weapons and ammunition. There are 5,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammo, 80 fully functional AK-47s, and 10 other types of assault rifles."

As he spoke, Bob pointed to the pile of firearms.

Clove glanced at the two fully armed individuals and waved his hand at the pile of weapons, transferring them into his space.

Having unlocked the first genetic lock, his spatial ability had improved significantly with his growing strength. Now, he no longer needed to physically touch items within ten meters to store them.

Bob and Harvey stared wide-eyed at the disappearing firearms.

They had initially thought that the man in front of them, capable of fighting zombies and killing all of them single-handedly, was already powerful enough!

But they hadn't expected him to possess such an extraordinary ability!

"Spatial-type superpowers," Clove said lightly. "I've stored enough supplies in my space to sustain a hundred people for a month. As long as you stick with me, you won't have to worry about running out of food."

"As long as you're useful, you'll never go hungry!" he added, his tone casual.

If this had been a year after the apocalypse, his spatial ability would be nothing to brag about. By then, most of the food produced by humanity would have already been consumed, or it would be spoiled due to various reasons.

But now, this was the beginning of the apocalypse!

Possessing spatial ability and an abundance of food gave him the leverage he needed to recruit talent and warriors.

Though no one would possess superpowers in the first year of the apocalypse, there were always those bold enough to hunt first-tier zombies for Vitality Orbs.

Consuming a single Vitality Orb could instantly transform even the weakest, most frail person into a strong man with eight-pack abs!

If someone consumed enough Vitality Orbs, it was even possible to unlock the first genetic lock early and gain superpowers.

And after all, he was only one person—he couldn't handle everything himself.

Recruiting individuals with strong physical abilities, courage, and special skills had been part of his plan since day one of the apocalypse.

The Federal North had many mountains, abundant mineral resources, and ample water sources. The most important thing was that there were far fewer humans living there compared to the Federal South.

Unlike the Federal South, where each city had millions of people, some cities even had tens of millions!

At that moment, Kelly and Linda slowly walked down from the stairs, both dressed in sportswear and carrying backpacks.

Clove took two pistols from his space and handed them to them, saying, "Don't point the guns at each other. If you encounter zombies, aim for their heads."

"Except for sleeping with me, you'll have to fight."

"Be useful," Clove said with a cold expression.

Linda wasn't surprised to see Clove become cold and ruthless again. Besides, she had been wanting to try killing zombies for herself!

"Don't underestimate us women!" Linda said.

Kelly gripped the handgun tightly and chimed in, "We can be warriors too!"

Clove raised an eyebrow at the girls' words, but wasn't surprised.

He had seen women much more intense than these two, women who fought against mutated zombies armed with heavy swords or spears.

Those women were far more insane than these two!

"Alright, warriors, let's go. First, let's find two cars. We're heading to the storage center in Norton City."

"My space is still half-empty," Clove said, laughing as he walked outside.

A few police cars were parked by the roadside, left behind by the police before the apocalypse. Now, they all belonged to Clove.

Looking through the windows, Clove saw the keys still in the ignition. Clearly, no police officers had suddenly appeared to drive the cars away.

"Linda, Kelly, you're with me in one car. You three take the other."

"Stay close, don't fall behind." With that, Clove waved at Linda and said, "You drive. Don't tell me you don't know how."

Linda raised an eyebrow. "As long as you don't throw up, I'm good. My hobby is racing."

Sitting in the car, as the engine started smoothly, the car ahead picked up speed, racing through streets that were nearly turned into ruins. Clove was surprised.

He hadn't expected someone as gentle as Linda to enjoy racing!

Just as they were about to collide with a car frame that had been almost completely burned to charcoal, Linda suddenly slammed the steering wheel to the right, and the car skillfully drifted past the wreckage!

"Zombies!" Linda shouted, and the car's speed immediately slowed down.

Clove didn't react at all, merely saying indifferently, "Hit them."

"Huh?" Linda responded, slightly hesitant.

She enjoyed racing, yes, but she'd never considered running people over, let alone zombies.

Clove's voice turned serious. "I said, hit them!"

Linda gritted her teeth and slammed the gas pedal. The police car shot forward at full speed.

The zombie that was charging toward the car was instantly knocked aside.

With the roar of the engine echoing down the streets, more and more zombies began to follow the sound of the car.

Even from inside buildings, many zombies leaped down from the upper floors.

"Help, help us!" Up ahead, a person with sharp hearing leaned against the window, shouting for help.

Linda glanced at Clove, her eyes silently asking what they should do now.

Clove slowly closed his eyes and murmured, "Storage center."

Linda nodded and turned her attention away from the person pleading for help.

"Damn it, all of you can die!" Failing to get any response, the man at the window went insane. He grabbed his handgun and began firing wildly at the police car.

But a fast-moving vehicle was not so easily hit.

In fact, it was Clove who, at the moment the gunfire rang out, pulled an AK-47 from his space. With his finger on the trigger, he instantly emptied the entire magazine at the man.

Having unlocked the first genetic lock, Clove's physical abilities had significantly improved, and so had his shooting skills.

Even while the car was moving at high speed, Clove still managed to hit the man who had shot at them in a futile attempt to get help.

"See? This is the apocalypse," Clove said, holstering his gun back into his space.

"Everyone is a hidden madman."