Apocalypse with my SSS Harem Beauties-Chapter 174: Meet Them

Not far away, where Myles and the others had just stopped cultivating, the air suddenly rippled.

A strange distortion spread through the space ahead of them. The grass bent slightly as if pushed by an invisible force. Then a thin crack formed in midair.

The crack slowly widened. Within seconds, it turned into a swirling rift suspended above the ground.

Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and stood up. Their eyes fixed on the phenomenon. No one said anything and they just looked.

They had already experienced countless battles inside the dungeon. Every strange event until now had only led to one thing, which was enemies.

Naturally, they assumed the same thing would happen again. Something would appear from the rift and attack them.

But nothing came out. Seconds passed. The dark vortex continued spinning quietly in the air. No monster jumped out or more armored soldiers rushed through it.

The silence slowly became strange.

Myles frowned slightly before turning to the one person who might understand what was happening.

He looked at Lilian. "What’s going on?"

Lilian looked at the rift for a moment. Then she shrugged and gave him a tired smile.

"You don’t think I bother to know everything here, do you?" she said with mild annoyance.

Myles sighed. "You should help me with this, Lilian."

Her eyebrow lifted slightly.

"Oh?" she said with amusement. "You accept that you need me?"

"I always need you," Myles replied without hesitation.

The words came out so naturally that even he didn’t pause to think about them.

But Lilian did. For a moment, her heart fluttered unexpectedly.

She had expected Myles to tease her back. Instead, he answered honestly.

That caught her completely off guard. A faint warmth rose to her face before she quickly turned away.

Trying to hide the slight blush forming on her cheeks, Lilian walked toward the rift.

"I’ll check it out," she said.

Behind them, Ethan leaned closer to Daniel and whispered quietly while watching the two.

"How did they even meet?"

Daniel shook his head immediately.

"I don’t know. I never asked." He glanced at Myles and Lilian for a moment before continuing. "And it feels like something we probably don’t need to know."

Ethan stayed silent for a moment while thinking.

Then he nodded.

"Yeah... you’re probably right."

But even as he said that, the same question lingered in his mind.

Well, actually, not only him who thought about that. Everyone in the group had wondered about it at some point.

Lilian was clearly not human. She was a powerful being from another world. And judging from the way she treated everyone else, she clearly didn’t care much about humans.

Yet her bond with Myles was completely different. She listened to him. She followed him.

Myles could even order her around without hesitation. None of them would ever dare to try that. If any of them attempted it, they were certain Lilian would smite them without mercy and they would die on the spot.

Meanwhile, Lilian had already approached the rift.

She observed it quietly for several seconds. Then she said, "There are people on the other side."

Myles’ eyes sharpened slightly.

"How many?"

"About twenty."

The group immediately grew tense. Facing twenty enemies with their current numbers would be dangerous.

"Are they strong?" Daniel asked.

Lilian narrowed her eyes slightly as she sensed the other side.

After a moment she answered. "No."

Clara frowned slightly. "Is that by your standard?"

Lilian turned toward her with a grin.

"Yes." Then she added casually, "But even by your standards, they’re not very strong. Their strength is lower than yours."

"But their numbers..." George still looked uneasy.

Myles fell silent for a moment. He thought carefully. Then he made a decision.

"Let’s meet them first," he said.

Everyone looked at him.

"If they attack, we fight," Myles continued calmly. "But if they don’t... maybe we can talk."

He glanced at the swirling rift again.

"There’s no reason to kill each other if we don’t have to."

The group exchanged uncertain glances. They weren’t fully convinced. But Myles had already decided and they trusted his judgment.

One by one, they nodded.

Without further hesitation, the group stepped forward and together, they crossed the rift.

—

On the other side of the rift, Jack and the remaining members of his group suddenly felt the air around them grow heavier.

The swirling rift hovering before them began to glow brighter. Then a dark vortex appeared and pulsed as if something inside it had started moving.

Every warrior immediately reacted. Their eyes widened as they stared at the rift, and panic crept into their hearts.

Something was coming out.

The vortex expanded slightly before the first figure stepped through. Then another. And another.

Jack’s grip tightened around his weapon as the shapes became clearer.

But the moment he finally saw them clearly, his expression froze.

They weren’t monsters or more armored warriors.

They were humans. Nine of them stepped out of the rift one after another.

They wore makeshift armor assembled from various materials, their equipment rough but practical. Their appearances were no different from the survivors who had struggled through the apocalypse like them. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

For a few seconds, both groups simply stared at each other in silence.

The tension between them grew thick. Then Myles slowly raised one hand.

"We don’t need to fight," he said calmly.

His tone carried no hostility. Both of his blades remained sheathed at his waist, and his posture looked relaxed despite the tense situation.

Behind him, the others remained alert but did not advance.

Jack stared at Myles. Then he looked past him at the eight people standing behind him. Confusion filled his mind.

None of this made sense. How were there other people here?

Red had personally said that this trial dungeon was something only his group knew about. That was why Jack and the others had been sent here after Red himself and his main group. No other survivors were supposed to know about it.

Yet here they were. Another group had just stepped out of a rift from someplace inside this dungeon as well.

Jack’s eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to process the situation.

"What is this...?" he muttered under his breath.

His gaze returned to Myles.

"Who are you people?"

None of the warriors behind Jack lowered their weapons. Even if the newcomers were human, no one dared to relax.

Myles slowly lowered his raised hand.

"My name is Myles," he said calmly. "We’re clearing this dungeon as well."

The moment those words left his mouth, several men in Jack’s group stiffened.

Jack’s eyes widened slightly. Clearing the dungeon?

"How is that possible?" one of the warriors behind Jack blurted out.

Jack’s mind raced. Red had been very clear. This dungeon was supposed to be their opportunity. Their path to becoming stronger under Red’s command.

Yet another group had somehow reached the same floor through a different path.

His gaze shifted briefly toward the rift behind Myles.

The swirling portal slowly began fading.

If what Myles said was true, then this dungeon was far larger than Red had ever mentioned. Or perhaps... Red had never known the whole truth either.

What should he do to these people? They could take their opportunity to satisfy Red’s requirement.

There were only nine of them, while there were twenty of them...

—