Mag-log inOnly after a long pause did Hayley finally speak."Sixty percent," Alex replied coldly.Hayley propped her chin on her hand and thought for a long time. "Put the word out. When 95% of the bases come asking me for help, I'll agree and provide unified support. But all of them have to listen to me, including Tomorrow Base."Hayley was gambling, and she was aiming for the biggest possible win.She wanted every base to become part of her power, standing with her against the zombie tide. She planned to seize these last one or two years and go all in.If she won, humanity would turn the tables. But if she lost… She would probably be pushed back to square one, clinging to her small base and scraping by.But she took the bet anyway.It couldn't get worse than her previous life.The lives of those bases were never her primary concern.Ideas like "greater power means greater responsibility" had never applied to her.In fact, in her eyes, it worked the other way around. First comes the s
Hayley sat in her chair without saying a word.She held a cup of fruit tea in her hand, eyes fixed on Alex's laptop screen.In her mind, she kept weighing and recalculating.At the end of the day, someone like her always thought in terms of gains and losses.She first reviewed the chips she held. Over the past full year of the apocalypse, through careful planning step by step, she had built an ironclad shelter stronghold of her own.That stronghold had abundant supplies and solid defensive power.She had five core team members of her own and sixteen dogs. These were her most basic assets and her absolute foundation. They guaranteed that no matter what happened, her safety and supplies were secured.Beyond that, she had more than 80 residents. Those residents farmed thousands of acres of land for her, produced food and materials, and developed power systems. Their output was enough to sustain all the survivors they currently had.On top of that, she led a league made up of nearl
"Scott wants us to help them," Alex said. "They'll break out from the inside, while we'll push in from the outside. Together, we'll take Crestford. All resources will be split evenly."Hayley thought it over for a moment. "Let's talk after we finish taking Aecraton.""There won't be time," Alex said. "According to my models, the next year is our best window. Zombies are evolving too fast. If we wait another year, the difficulty in Crestford will jump ten to twenty times. It'll be almost impossible."After hearing Alex out, Hayley fell silent.He was right. There really wasn't enough time.They were already at the start of the second year of the apocalypse. Based on their current pace in Aecraton, there was no way they could take the last two districts in less than a full year.If she finished stabilizing Aecraton and then turned to Crestford, it would already be the third year.By then, zombies would've fully evolved. Taking Crestford would be brutally difficult.But still…"T
Surviving the apocalypse was like taking an exam.For an ordinary base, the moment you chose your location and started building, your future score was already being decided.If you picked a bad location and add weak leadership, you would die fast. Someone like Hayley, who chose an uninhabited area from the start, had the most textbook answer possible.That was why, up to now, Hayley's base had never faced a zombie tide or large-scale, targeted human attacks.Location points matter more than anything. Base K1 and Firebrand Base were both built in remote areas.Almost 100% of bases that survived did so because they were well located.That was why Scott was considered disadvantaged from birth. His base sat right in the city center.That location was like having half his exam papers ripped away.The reason he still had a few answers provided was that his location was practically a cheat zone. He could acquire massive amounts of supplies with ease, at far lower difficulty than any
Hayley could tell at a glance that Alex was absolutely heartbroken.She had basically snatched away the strongest ace from his previous life's base. With Ruby's résumé, the moment Alex realized who she was, he was bound to lose his mind.But there was nothing to be done. This was Ruby, after all.All the world's talent just kept falling into Hayley's lap.And not just Ruby. If she ran into anyone from the Ten Toughest People, she would grab them without hesitation.After Alex finally sat down, he stayed gloomy for a while before opening his laptop. "Captain Reid, do you know Scott Fuller from Tomorrow Base?"The moment Hayley heard the name Scott, her eyes lit up. "Scott Fuller?""I just found out that in the Eastern region, there's another major base called Tomorrow Base," Alex said.He turned his laptop so Hayley could see.On the screen was a full model of the Eastern region. Vast stretches of red covered the map, dotted with dozens of white points.The red areas marked zo
"Have a seat."Hayley led Alex and the rest over to the pink gazebo Ruby had built.Liam and Milo had been here once before. It hadn't looked like this back then. This time, they couldn't help but admire it."Looks great.""It's way better than before.""Of course. Aunt Ruby's got great taste," Hayley said with a hint of pride."Kids, time to eat," Ruby said, carrying over a large tray of snacks.There were cakes and breads she had baked, all kinds of dried snacks, and a big pitcher of fruit tea in the middle.Only then did Liam and Milo realize that calling her Aunt Ruby all this time really made sense."Thanks, Aunt Ruby.""Appreciate it, Aunt Ruby."This was Alex's first time meeting Ruby. Seeing everyone address her so naturally, the usual cold look on his face froze for a moment.Aunt Ruby?"What are you standing there for? Say hi to Aunt Ruby," Milo said."This is Hayley's aunt," Liam explained. "She invented the anti-zombie spray our team uses."At the mention of







