The Last Queen of the Apocalypse novel Chapter 31

Early the next morning, Iris began clearing the area in front of the air–raid shelter’s barbed wire fence.

This time, she decided to try a different approach.

She and the dogs wiped out all the zombies from the fence all the way to the main road. Then she planted a sign in the ground: [Private Property. Beware of Dogs.]

A sign made a perfectly good boundary marker.

At this point in the apocalypse, not many people were still alive, and anyone who could walk out alive and argue land ownership with her was practically nonexistent.

The sign was here. So this land was hers.

Who was going to tell her otherwise?

“Beep–territory expanded by five acres detected. Reward: 500 points!”

The system notification instantly lifted Iris‘ mood.

As expected, her idea worked.

These unclaimed zones–even places that once had o ers20:42

could all be absorbed into her territory

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There was only one condition–the land had to be cleared and explored by her or her dogs.

Today, the distance she and the dogs had covered from the base to the sign came out to roughly five acres.

She marked the area along the routes they’d explored.

It felt a lot like an exploration game–only the places the main character walked through would light up on the map.

Thankfully, her dogs counted as part of her team, greatly expanding her exploration range.

She drove the sign firmly into the ground and dusted off her hands. In her mind, the territory map extended to this point.

Standing there, Iris began planning her next move. By now, the entire hill where the air–raid shelter sat could be considered fully under her control.

To her left was the main road. To her right stretched a sparsely populated mountain area, with an abandoned quarry and a handful of scattered hillside villas.

While the flat highway to the north led straight to Aster City and would be a walk in the park to seize, the mountains to the right were going to be a much tougher nut to crack.

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Iris didn’t think for long before choosing the right side. Of course she picked the right one.

She was the cautious type, not reckless. The terrain on the right was complicated, but it was a sure thing. If she didn’t secure the land she could already control, what was the point of rushing toward the main road on the left?

Over there, people might show up one minute and a horde of zombies the next. She would have to keep cleaning the place over and over again.

Her territory came with strict safety rules.

Every zombie had to be cleared. If an area was left uncleared for too long, the system would automatically cut it off from her territory.

It made perfect sense. If your land was crawling with zombies or other hostile creatures, could you really call it yours?

That rule also killed her brief idea of keeping a few zombies around as guard dogs.

Thankfully, she had plenty of help now. The 15 military dogs under her command were smart, fast, and highly efficient. They made excellent guards and were great at dealing with any stray zombies that wandered in.

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needed more dogs, especially as her territory continued to

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grow. Even this wasn’t nearly enough.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Iris focused and headed straight into the mountains on the right.

By the time she returned that evening, she had successfully claimed another hill.

Her points jumped by another thousand, bringing her total to 2,656.

“Good work, everyone. Time to eat.”

With a broad wave of her hand, Iris took out fresh beef from her storage and fed it to the dogs.

She was never stingy with her companions.

If she ate well, everyone under her did too.

For herself, Iris pulled out a hot serving of fried chicken and fries.

She had stocked it back when she’d raided the mall.

Her supplies were overflowing, more than she could ever finish, so she rotated her meals every time.

Fried chicken today, a juicy steak or a loaded burger tomorrow, 4/7

and maybe roasted meat with crispy skin after that.

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When she was out exploring and didn’t want to slow down, she would casually grab ready–to–eat food from storage-

sandwiches, wraps, grilled sausages–just enough to keep her going.

Everything stayed exactly as it had been when she stored it: fresh, hot, and straight, off the grill.

Even with gloves on, Iris could tell the fried chicken had just come out of the oil. The crust was shatteringly crisp.

With a simple pull, she tore it apart.

The tender drumstick burst with juice, and the garlicky soy glaze hit her all at once. The rich aroma rushed straight through her senses.

She washed it down with a gulp of ice–cold cola.

It was pure bliss.

In a world like this, being able to eat the kind of food people enjoyed before everything fell apart was something to savor as much as possible.

All the fatigue from the day melted away in that moment.

She ate with abandon, easily polishing off enough for three

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