CHAPTER 360: CHAPTER 13: KNOWING SHAME

A gunshot rang out suddenly, and the priest’s head exploded in a flash of scarlet, his heavy body falling to the floor like a piece of rotten wood with a "thud."

The women inside the church screamed out in terror, but soon fell silent again. Each face lost its color, shrinking back in fear, deeply frightened by the armed intruders from outside.

In the chaos, a woman in her early thirties forced herself to stand calmly, her voice trembling as she said, "Please... don’t kill anyone, there is no one here who can resist you, we have no weapons."

Zhou Qingfeng was brought here by a trembling captive.

He only knew that most of the men from Bantu Town had gone out to plunder, while the women left behind were gathered in this church, engaging in futile prayers.

After the apocalypse, the absolute disadvantage in physical strength and power caused women’s status to plummet.

Women who manage to survive in this brutal environment need not just survival wisdom, but must also learn to accept the twists of fate.

The members of the "Holy Light" who flooded into the church were extremely excited, unabashedly scrutinizing the surviving women in the church, as if they had discovered hidden treasure.

These women have obviously been "selected" to some extent. Though they were all skinny from hunger, their appearances and figures were still considered outstanding.

Of course, they must have had previous owners, maybe even experienced more than one. But in this world where order has collapsed, no one cares much about these past events, there’s nothing to contest.

Chen Rui followed behind Zhou Qingfeng, his eyes hot as they swept over the frightened women, particularly noting the one who had stepped forward.

He moved forward two steps, lowered his voice, and said excitedly to Zhou Qingfeng, "President Zhou, I like these mature women who have guts and wisdom!"

Zhou Qingfeng’s gaze only briefly lingered on these shivering women before coldly turning to the captive behind him, asking in an icy tone, "How are the women here divided?"

The captive trembled and timidly raised his head, as if pressed down by an invisible force. His eyes flashed as he replied softly, "Whoever... whoever has the harder fists gets more..."

This simple and cruel answer starkly revealed the survival rules of the end times.

In fact, compared to those plunderers who have completely lost their humanity, the ’Holy Light’ team offers many benefits to women due to better living conditions, and its members are quite restrained.

Even though they have completely controlled the situation, they instead carry an indescribable restraint, as if considering a moral boundary long gone.

If it were those carefree white male groups, they would have pounced like hungry wolves, grabbing whoever they could, without giving the town’s women any right to speak.

"What’s your name?" Zhou Qingfeng asked calmly, as his gaze fell back on the woman who stepped forward.

"Stacy." The woman replied, her lips tightly pressed and her eyes complex.

"Well then, Miss Stacy," Zhou Qingfeng said, "choose one of my men behind me as your man."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over every woman present, continuing, "The world has collapsed, individuals can hardly survive.

The men you’ve relied on either have died or been captured, you must make a new choice.

I don’t care about your past; I assure you my men have no bad habits and will do their best to treat you well, I hope you will too."

These words were directed at all the frightened women present, who instantly realized they were at a crossroads in their lives.

The women’s gazes, like invisible threads, quickly scanned the Holy Light members with aggressive stares, ultimately converging on Zhou Qingfeng himself.

Having undergone enhancements, Zhou Qingfeng possessed a statuesque strong body, limbs filled with explosive power, and stern features like chiseled granite, exuding a formidable and dangerous aura.

More importantly, he remained in a leader’s position, and the unique aura formed from long-time leadership was such that even those unfamiliar with him could lock onto him in a crowd.

"Sorry, I’m not among your choices," Zhou Qingfeng said as he moved half a step to the side, creating distance between himself and the women, "Choose quickly, or I’ll randomly assign you someone."

There were many young women in Bantu Town; in this church alone, there were twenty-seven, and afterward, eight more were found.

They were not natives of the town but foreigners who fled along Highway 85, like rootless duckweed floating in the torrents of apocalypse.

In other towns conquered by "Holy Light," most were in similar situations, as being near the highway gathered more foreign populations.

In merely half a day, Zhou Qingfeng sent hundreds of young women to Avoni Town’s camp, pairing a third of the "Holy Light" members with "life companions."

Though forced pairing seemed cold and unkind, in the current end-times environment, for those struggling on the edge of survival, there was little room for complaints.

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As Stacy and the other women sat in the back of the electric Pika, they instantly felt comfortably relaxed—the vehicle actually had air conditioning and a refrigerator, they almost forgot the enjoyment of modern life.

After the virus outbreak, the first public service to disappear was electricity. Without electricity, water supply also stopped, followed by a collapse in law and order.