Chapter 386 Two Orders



"Everyone, gather up!" Mathew shouted once the matter with Kasper's girls was…

Settled it was not.

Mathew simply decided to gloss it over. There was no real point in putting doubt into the motivation those girls had for joining the fight… especially when Mathew's very intention was to bolster the number of hunters before setting off.

'There is no point wasting time on discussing the path they took to become hunters either,' Mathew thought, before fully taking the entire topic out of the focus of his mind and stuffing it into the very back of his head.

"Tonight you all have just two tasks to fulfill," Mathew announced once all the whispers and chatters died off and everyone properly tuned in to his voice.

"First, I want each and everyone one of you to go out and look for two more recruits," Mathew announced before turning silent to let the small crowd absorb the news.

There were nearly a hundred people in the fortress alone by now. Adding up all the people serving directly under Peter at his compound and then under Daniel in the media building and this number swelled up to over two hundred people.

And with that kind of number and in how the world worked right now, having just eleven fighters was far too little.

There was Mathew, his three original wives, Carol and Norbert that could be counted as forces to be reckoned with. Then, there were a total of seven left.

A total of mere thirteen people took on the burden of gathering the cores, exploring new parts of the city, and defending against any and all zombies and monsters that the survivors crossed paths with.

Taking Mathew's wish to remove himself and his wives from the picture, that number would drop to a mere eight or nine, depending on how one would count Norbert's presence.

As such, the decision to raise this number to at least twenty-one was something that Mathew had a long time coming.

"During your first mission, I will be accompanying you to prevent the worst from happening. We will also provide you all with one firearm each and then however many melee weapons we will be able to procure," Mathew went deep on explaining what was he scheming in his head.

"Your first mission will be to obtain at least fifty cores for each of your teams!" Mathew announced before, once again, giving the hunters some time to break down the news and properly think them through.

The job, despite how bad it sounded, wasn't all that hard.

As long as they stayed clear from the denser areas of the town, the number of zombies they would encounter should be too much for simple firearms to handle. As long as the hunters and their recruits would hold the line, no zombie should be able to come close to the barrier of fire this unit could create at a moment's notice.

By keeping everyone together and moving as a single, cohesive unit, gathering three hundred and fifty cores would take a while… But it would also be a mere beginning.

"The trail I've plotted for this expedition will take us to the media building first. Once there, I will exchange the cores you guys will obtain and bestow each and every last one of you with a system!"

This was the highest point of the announcement.

A payday of sorts. A promise of a reward that the hunters would earn as long as they found two recruits and then survived the ordeal.

"You will all have the rest of the night to get yourself used to your system. You might spend the night training, resting, feasting, or fucking, I couldn't care less," Mathew shook his head. "But come the sunrise, we will set off for the main goal of our mission!"

Mathew took two steps forward. By doing so, he got close to the hunters enough to make it near impossible to have them all within his view at the same time.

"And our goal will be to reach and then clear the ruins of the castle on the hill overlooking the town!"

This mission was a long time coming. Even though the main reason why Mathew ever brought the topic of the castle up now turned desolate with the evolution of their fortress into a settlement…

The castle itself didn't lose even a shred of the value that made it a great target back in the planning phase!

'Knowing how things work, we will need three settlements to go to a level above them,' Mathew thought as he threw one last look at the hunters before retreating back to where he was just a moment ago.

"You can leave the task of clearing the ruins to me and my wives. There might be a strong or evolved monster slash zombie waiting there, so it would be a tall order for me to task you with it. But the road leading to the castle?"

Mathew shook his head before putting on a cheerful smile and crossing his hands on his chest.

"Save for the most extreme of situations, my group won't lift a finger. And if one of you receives injury too heavy to heal…" Mathew made a short pause, this time to increase the dramatic effect of what he wanted to say next.

Soon, all the hunters leaned forward, eager to learn the plan for the worst-case scenario.

"Then, it will be one of the recruits of yours that will receive the system you were supposed to get."

This was a simple yet necessary rule.

The cost of a zombie cure was too damn high for Mathew to afford it right now.

Sure, he could go out, earn enough cores to get some vials and then keep it just in case…

But what would happen to those who would lose a limb? Or have their intestines gutted out?

Healing that level of injuries would only be possible via the system and the touching grass feature. In other words, only those with a system would be able to make use of it…

And why would Mathew invest cores worth of system seeds in people that would receive fatal injuries in their first serious fight and under Mathew's direct supervision and protection?