"Hey, Commander, there are a few girls here. Should we kill them?"
Before long, UMP45's voice came from a corner of the bar.
"Wait. Let me take a look."
Lux quickly walked over to UMP45. In front of her was a sealed private room. Inside were eight women with decent looks, wearing nothing but underwear. Their ages ranged from seventeen or eighteen-year-old girls to women in their thirties.
Among them was an exceptionally beautiful girl, seemingly the school beauty mentioned earlier by that sleazy man.
A wave of licentious perfume flooded Lux's senses.
However, he was still immersed in mourning his fallen friends, and the scene before him only made him feel sad.
From the earlier conversations, he knew very clearly what kind of situation these women were in.
"Don't kill me, please don't kill me… I already slept with you, why won't you let me go…"
A mature woman, exuding a sensual aura, hugged her head and begged in terror.
They had been locked in here, but they had all heard the gunshots and screams earlier, so UMP45's question about killing them terrified them.
"Handsome, I'll serve you well. Please don't kill me, okay?"
Seeing Lux, the mature woman immediately tried to seduce him.
Relying on her thirty years of experience, she guessed that the two armed girls were following Lux's orders.
HK416 curled her lips. This time, however, she didn't fire. She had already decided that she would only shoot after Lux gave the order.
Although Lux hadn't blamed her last time, in her view, a disobedient Tactical Doll didn't deserve to stay by his side.
If she really caused trouble someday, Lux would definitely come to hate her.
"Hey… I won't kill you. I'm just here to take some alcohol. I'll leave soon."
Lux sighed. He knew that their attempts to lure him were purely for survival.
Most people wanted to live. There was nothing wrong with that. He wasn't a murderous psychopath who killed people on sight.
Lux's words made all the women in the room breathe a sigh of relief.
"Y-you… are you a cop? Are you here to save us?"
Hope flared up in the eyes of a woman with both a good figure and looks.
"I'm sorry, we're not. I'm just a survivor too."
Lux shook his head.
The light in the woman's eyes dimmed again.
"There's… no rescue?"
A girl who looked only seventeen or eighteen asked timidly.
"I don't know. But the military has set up a shelter at Hongi Commune. It's large and sparsely populated. If you're lucky enough to survive the winter, farming might even be possible. As for rescue… it's not very realistic. The radio said residents should head there on their own."
Lux answered calmly.
"Thank you."
"They… can't come save us?"
"The disaster is too widespread. They still have to defend the shelter from being overrun. There's no extra manpower."
"Can you take me there? In return, I can do anything for you."
The mature woman squeezed her ample chest forward.
"I-I can too!"
The other girls, a beat slower, licked their lips and threw flirtatious looks and seductive gazes at Lux.
"Sorry. I have my own mission. I can't take you there."
Lux shook his head and refused.
He was still a man, but he wanted to do that kind of thing with someone he liked, not just for physical pleasure.
"Heehee, Commander, want me to bring you a few playthings? We can even get another car—I can drive it too."
UMP45 said with a grin, immediately drawing an angry glare from HK416.
"You really want to get hold of my dirt that badly?"
Lux glanced at UMP45 indifferently.
"Hehehe. You're so pure, trying to use someone like me as leverage—it feels a bit mismatched, doesn't it? Men like you love proactive women like these, don't you? They're quite good-looking too."
UMP45 ignored HK416's furious stare and continued smiling.
The women who had been afraid of her earlier all nodded and struck various seductive poses toward Lux.
"Well, I'd still like my first time to be with someone I like…"
When they heard that Lux was still a virgin, every woman in the room reacted differently. If they could become his first woman, he would surely protect them in the future. In a world like this, attaching oneself to a man with weapons and decent looks like Lux was clearly a very viable survival strategy.
Even the most beautiful school beauty stiffly struck a seductive pose for Lux.
"Oh? Didn't expect this, Commander. You're actually pretty pure. If you don't want to do it with them, could it be that you want to…"
UMP45's gaze swept toward HK416 behind Lux.
"Stop. Enough jokes. I don't want HK to overload again."
"You clearly wanted to kill them just now. Why are you speaking up for them now? In the end, you want to bring them along as bait, or maybe as bargaining chips, right?"
Lux stared coldly at the smile on UMP45's face.
The women, who had been happy a moment ago because of UMP45's words, froze, looking at her with fear and anger mixed together.
"Oh? You figured it out? Commander, sometimes being too smart isn't a good thing. If you just accepted my proposal, you could freely enjoy this group of beautiful vases, couldn't you?"
"Look—this is a deal that costs you nothing."
UMP45 didn't deny it. Instead, she reached out and lifted the school beauty's chin, speaking in the tone of a salesperson.
HK416 was shocked. Even she hadn't figured out what UMP45 was planning, yet Lux had seen through her scheme completely.
What frightened her even more was UMP45's plan itself.
"This alone would be something you could brag about for a year—actually figuring out what UMP45 was thinking."
"I don't want to become corrupted like you yet… Alright, you've all heard her intentions, right? She's not someone kind enough to protect you."
"Of course, just to be clear, I'm not a good person either. Following me doesn't guarantee a good ending. If food becomes scarce or I find a suitable trade, I might sell you off. Compared to following me, you might be better off trying to survive on your own—who knows, you might even live longer."
Lux spread his hands and spoke to the group of beauties wearing only underwear.
He wasn't a good person by nature, but he didn't want to treat others as commodities or use them as bait either—at least, he didn't want to become someone completely devoid of conscience.