Apocalypse: Infinite Supplies System

Chapter 37: Refusal to Recruit; It’s Either Friends or Enemies

“Need anything? Want to buy something?”

The sheriff followed up with a voice message: “10086, let’s cut to the chase. I sincerely invite you to join my team. Once you join, besides me, you’ll be the one calling the shots.”

“I know you have plenty of resources, but with zombies getting stronger, only by teaming up can we survive. 10086, join us!!”

After listening to this voice message, Alex burst out laughing.

This sheriff seemed like he came straight out of a sales pitch for Southern Sunshine Engineering.

It was a complicated scheme.

Alex wondered if he could survive the apocalypse with Mia.

Moreover, he had the absolute game-breaking advantage of unlimited resources.

Join the sheriff’s team, for what? So, Alex responded without hesitation: “Nice try, but I refuse.”

The sheriff, eager to expand his influence, was very interested in Alex.

After all, 10086 was known for his abundant resources.

If they could recruit 10086, it would be a powerful help for the entire team.

Perhaps, they wouldn’t have to worry about survival resources for a short time.

However, the sheriff never expected Alex to reject his invitation so decisively.

Faced with this situation, the sheriff was not willing to give up.

He believed that Alex’s refusal was because he didn’t see the necessity.

So he decided to appeal to Alex’s emotions and reasoning.

“10086, you need to understand, the zombie tide will start soon, and higher-level zombies will appear one after another. Your resources are indeed abundant, I admit, but can you guarantee that your resources will always be sufficient? Can you sustain them until we resist the upcoming zombie tide? You see, this could be a long process.”

Although Alex wouldn’t be completely honest with the sheriff, he still needed to stall.

“Sheriff, you seem to care about me a lot, thanks. But, you’re overthinking it. I’m not boasting, but I’m absolutely confident that I can survive in the future post-apocalyptic world.”

“So, don’t waste your time on me.”

The sheriff continued, “10086, I hope you’ll think about it carefully. Let me be frank, if we can’t be friends, then sooner or later, we’ll become enemies. I don’t want that day to come.”

Persuasion didn’t work on Alex, so the sheriff resorted to threats, hoping to make him capitulate.

However, the sheriff was just testing the waters and didn’t hold much hope.

He had a feeling that Alex wouldn’t be so easily swayed.

Indeed, after seeing the message, Alex replied directly, “The sheriff’s mix of threats and inducements is quite skillful, but unfortunately, I’m not buying it.”

“I’ll be clear: as long as you don’t provoke me, I won’t bother with you. But if you do provoke me, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

The sheriff frowned upon seeing Alex’s message.

Why is this 10086 like a piece of stone? It seems there’s no way to persuade him.

Since we can’t be friends, we can only be enemies.

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In the past world, the sheriff wouldn’t have been so extreme; not being able to become friends would just mean being enemies.

But in the current doomsday world, any survivor with ample resources and proximity poses a significant threat.

So, from the moment Alex chose not to join, the sheriff decided to blacklist Alex.

What can’t be obtained should be eliminated! What if there’s abundant resources? As long as I kill you, won’t you become my resource? After all, there’s no loyalty without poison! Seeing the sheriff frown without speaking, 001 guessed that negotiations with 10086 might not have gone well and asked, “Sheriff, is there anything where you need my help?”

001 is the captain of the special operations team established by the sheriff in his own group.

In their special operations team, everyone goes by code names.

It seems that even before they arrived in this doomsday world, they were already trusted subordinates of the sheriff.

So, the sheriff was able to quickly prosper with the help of this special operations team.

The sheriff sighed and rubbed his temples.

“This 10086 is like a stone in a dung heap, impossible to reason with. Honestly, I don’t want to be enemies with him.”

001 nodded in agreement, somewhat apprehensively saying, “Indeed, 10086 was able to offer so many resources during the auction of barrier walls before. Presumably, he has even more resources now, far beyond what we can imagine.”

“But, Sheriff, you don’t need to worry. Our team is strong, and we have a steady stream of survivors wanting to join us now. Given time, the relatively weak 10086 is nothing to fear!”

The sheriff cracked his knuckles.

He always made this gesture subconsciously when contemplating a problem.

After a while, the sheriff slowly spoke, “Let’s leave 10086 aside for now and decide once our wings are fully spread. Currently, the most crucial thing is to expand our team by all means necessary. You go out and promote, anyone who comes will have food to eat.”

001 suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.

Their team’s resources couldn’t actually support so many survivors.

With utmost caution, using the most tactful tone, 001 said, “Sheriff, while recruiting more survivors to join the team can indeed quickly enhance our strength in the short term, will we be able to handle the burden of providing for a large number of survivors? It might be a bit difficult for us at the moment.”

The sheriff smiled at 001, gesturing for him to sit on the sofa beside him.

After taking a sip of tea and clearing his throat, he spoke, “001, I understand what you mean. Indeed, our food might not be abundant, but that’s not a problem.”

In fact, they’ve been on a strong streak lately and have plundered resources from the deceased Benjamin and Daniel. Food isn’t exactly scarce.

It’s just challenging to support a rapid expansion of the team.

Upon hearing this, 001 was very puzzled.

“Sheriff, I don’t quite understand…”

The sheriff laughed heartily and said, “001, do you know how Nazi Germany managed to conquer Europe during World War II?”

001 was taken aback for a moment, then recalled the explanations from military classes back in college and suddenly realized.

“You mean to sustain war through war!”

“We’re recruiting a large number of survivors. As long as we hold out with short-term food supplies, later on, we’ll systematically gather resources and distribute them uniformly. Then, we’ll operate like a perpetual motion machine!”

The sheriff nodded with a smile.

That was exactly his plan.