Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"And I want to build my own kingdom, away from the rest of my family," Mao Jing continued, turning his gaze away from me and staring off into the distance. 

"Not much incentive for me to put you in the manager role if you are thinking of wanting to take over everything," I pointed out, not at all concerned about his plans for the future. 

"But it is. I give you my allegiance, and in return, you give me what I need to succeed."

"You are still not really selling yourself here. Are you sure that you were once important?" I said with a chuckle. 

"I was important enough not to need to learn how to sell myself," he answered with a shrug, fully acknowledging that he was screwing up.

"Tell me, in detail, what your plans are, and I will tell you if I will kill you or give you what you want," I said in no uncertain terms. I was tired, and I wanted to sleep, so this conversation needed to be over and done with fast. 

"I want to build this place into an actual safe haven," he said, turning to look away from the people and back to me. "I want to become strong enough that nobody fucks with this place, and I want a safe place for me and mine."

"That is good and all," I said, realizing that I was looking at a male version of myself in my second life. "But what are you going to do when they betray you? And people will always betray you."

He was silent for a moment before he opened his mouth. "I want to be powerful enough that everyone wants to come here, but no one can get in. I want to create a haven for those of us that are here right now and any new fighters."

"You are still planning on hosting the fights?" I asked, surprised. 

"If stupid people want to throw money away, why not be the one that they are throwing it at? Mind you, the matches would no longer be to the death," he answered with a shrug. I would admit it was a good way of thinking.

"And how would you keep the zombies fed?" I asked, tilting my chin toward where the zombies were eating as quietly as they could in the corner. "They need fresh food."

"I didn't actually take their… diet… into account," he admitted, watching one of the zombies ripping a chuck of flesh off from the ribs of the old boss. He was still alive but had long given up on screaming. Or maybe the hole in his throat was preventing him from making a sound.

"If I could make a suggestion?" I said, already accepting the fact that I would have him in the manager position until he pissed me off. 

"Of course," he answered quickly, looking at me again with his undivided attention.

"There are always going to be people who test your limits, both inside and outside of this club. Use them to set an example and feed your zombies."

"Like you did?"

"Like I did," I agreed with a smile on my face. "I am not planning on spending the rest of my life here, and you are right; I want to play least in sight. So, if you want to be the manager, that is completely fine with me. Just remember, at the end of the day, I am still the one with absolute authority," I continued, looking back at the man. "And it is no skin off my back if I feed you to the zombies and find someone to replace you."

"Understood," he answered with a grunt. 

-----

Once lunch was over, the humans quickly set to work cleaning up the main floor and turning off the god-awful red lights. Even the zombies pitched in to help, putting the remains of their meals in a bag and throwing it outside. 

"We need to open at the regular time tonight," I said as 50 or so people scurried around me, trying to get the place clean. Liu Yu Zeng grunted his agreement. We didn't know when the recruiter would show up, and we had to be ready. 

"It's amazing that eight people multiplied into this many," he said, looking around at the organized chaos. 

"Put food out, and they will come," I said with a shrug. Even the young children were trying to help out as much as they could. 

"Do you have enough food to keep this going for a while?" he asked, turning around to look at me. He knew that if I didn't have at least a year to three years of food stockpiled in my space, I would start to get twitchy.

"No," I answered simply. "But that is why I am getting them to go a garden on the roof with chickens and maybe a beehive for honey," I continued, "Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach a woman to garden, and the whole neighborhood gets zucchini."

He chuckled at my response, and I saw the woman who had mentioned gardening approaching me. 

"Is it possible to see the space we are working with? The sooner I can get planting, the faster we will have food to eat," she said with a bright smile on her face. I shared her look. There was something about the garden that called to a certain type of people… and like recognized like.

"Sure," I said with a nod. Turning to look at Liu Yu Zeng, I opened my mouth. "Better get the rest of the guys here. Now that we don't have to worry about you fighting each other to the death, it is better to have everyone close by."

"Got it. I'll let them know. You go talk garden. I have everything under control here," he said, gently kissing my forehead and pushing me toward the door leading to the stairs. I had no idea what I was about to find, but I was looking forward to it.

"How good of a gardener are you?" I asked, looking at the woman following beside me.

"A wannabe homesteader stuck in the middle of the city," she answered, a twisted smirk on her face.

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