Semua Bab The Apocalypse Hoarder: Bab 401 - Bab 410

That haul alone bought Cyrus several more years of fuel.As he climbed out of the pit, Thorgan spotted him at once and asked, "All done?"Cyrus nodded. "Yeah. Clean job. Not bad."He meant the fuel, and he meant Thorgan. Without the help, the job would not have gone nearly as smoothly.Thorgan brightened and clapped his hands. "That's great! Cyrus, you're amazing."The praise was sincere, and it made Cyrus uneasy. All he had done was sweep the tanks into his pocket dimension. The real work belonged to Thorgan.Thorgan did not see it that way. Clearing snow was simple. Anyone could grind through it with enough time. Moving fuel at this scale by hand, though, was impossible.Cyrus asked, "Did you never think about digging up supplies before?"Thorgan let out a long, weary sigh. "Of course we did. But the cold is too severe. We can't travel far from the village."Even with sled dogs, ours aren't northern breeds. They didn't grow up in this climate. Push them too hard and their bo

Thorgan walked step by step across the frozen Luxorim River, heading back.Cyrus drove in the opposite direction, toward Cloudcrest Manor.What he had told Thorgan was not kindness. It carried layers of intent.Warn Willowford Town? He was not that generous. They had attacked him twice. If the village were wiped out one day, Cyrus would not lose sleep over it.He knew that sooner or later, other groups would come sniffing around Cloudcrest Manor. Willowford Town sat right next to it, which made it a natural buffer.Once Cyrus planted that idea, anyone who appeared nearby would look like a threat to Thorgan. That meant Willowford Town would absorb much of the hostility meant for him."Not bad, having a tool like that," Cyrus muttered as he watched the clumsy figure crossing the ice.Even so, he remained cautious. Thorgan had come to him for one reason only. Cyrus was strong. Without that display of overwhelming force, Thorgan would have died the night before along with the others

After Willowford Town took that beating, no one crossed the Luxorim River again.Cyrus settled into a quiet routine with two beautiful women. Days passed with ease. Food and heat stayed steady, and entertainment never ran short. He enjoyed it.On the other side of his life, his phone kept buzzing with messages from Thorgan.Thorgan: [Cyrus, I'm bored at home. When are you taking me on a mission?]Thorgan: [Cyrus, we should form a superpower squad. Five people, each represented by a color. You'd be the captain, Fire Dragon Knight. I'd be Snow Wolf Knight.]Thorgan: [Cyrus, why aren't you replying? If you don't like that, we can do a Rainbow Team. I'll be the Azure King. You'll be the Colorless King. How about that?]After meeting Cyrus, Thorgan felt as though he had finally found his own kind. He had never had friends in the village.After that fight, the others pushed him even farther out. No one said anything to his face. The looks said enough. They felt colder than the north w

Cyrus could not help wondering what two grown women had to whisper about at midnight instead of talking in daylight.They both wore sleepwear. Zoey wore pink. Scarlett wore purple. The choices looked deliberate and enticing, which made sense since Cyrus had picked them himself.The magic lay in restraint. Everything that needed covering stayed covered. Everything else revealed just enough to tease. True allure never came from bare skin. It came from suggestion.Pale calves showed beneath soft fabric, with brief hints of curves. Even their bare feet against the floor stirred the imagination far more than nudity ever could.Anyone who saw two beautiful women, dressed lightly, meeting in secret at night, might think they had been caught doing something they should not.Color still warmed Zoey's cheeks. Scarlett looked like a child caught stealing candy.Cyrus narrowed his eyes. His thoughts took a crooked turn."Are you two this wild now?" he asked.He lifted Zoey's chin and studi

Zoey had even suggested a few bold ideas just now. Cyrus would be lying if he said they did not move him.Both women looked at him, their eyes full of hope. "So, will you agree?" Cyrus drew a breath and smiled. He was about to refuse.Then Scarlett added one more line. "Babs' legs have always been bad. In this cold, she won't last long outside. Every time I think about that, my heart hurts."The words he meant to say caught in his throat."Wait. Babs?"The name came back to him. Scarlett had mentioned her before. A cousin named Barbara Mistelle. She was 18, studied at a private school in Volaris, and stood out for both her looks and her skill as a top-tier hacker.'Eighteen, beautiful, and an elite hacker…' He turned it over in his mind until one word surfaced. 'Perfect.'Network security had become his biggest headache. Capable tech experts were rare in this world, and trustworthy ones were rarer still.An untrustworthy person inside the bunker posed a greater threat than an