Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Zombie Fetus was in a foul mood, the flames of vengeance burning fiercely in his chest with nowhere to vent.

To be fair, Azure Scaled wasn’t exactly weak. With the ocean as his domain, danger and opportunity went hand in hand. Food wasn’t scarce, and over time, he’d cultivated an army of elite zombies.

By fusing with the crystal cores of sea beasts, his forces had grown even stronger, with powerful warriors at his command.

But Azure Scaled wasn’t eager to go head-to-head with Ethan. At the same time, taking down Ethan’s sanctuary wasn’t something that could be done quickly. Frequent skirmishes and harassment had yielded little progress.

”Maybe… it’s time to play dirty,” Azure Scaled muttered, his tone laced with malice.

”Oh?” Zombie Fetus perked up, intrigued.

He knew Azure Scaled all too well. This so-called ”Adoptive Father” was as cunning as they came, with a mind as deep and treacherous as the ocean itself. If anyone could come up with a truly sinister plan, it was him.

Azure Scaled’s yellow, predatory eyes gleamed as he slowly uttered a single word:

”Parasites.”

The waters that had swallowed the city were teeming with parasites—creatures that had once tormented humans, driving them to the brink of madness.

But these parasites weren’t picky. They could infest zombies too, burrowing into their flesh, feeding, breeding, and eventually hollowing them out completely.

Azure Scaled had lost many of his own soldiers to these parasites in the past, and they’d been a constant thorn in his side.

”Maybe it’s time… to let them taste what it’s like to deal with parasites,” he said, his voice dripping with venom.

”Hey, now that’s a solid idea!” Zombie Fetus’s eyes lit up with excitement.

He couldn’t help but admire Azure Scaled’s twisted genius. To take something as destructive as parasites and turn them into a weapon? That was next-level scheming.

”So, who do we hit first? Humans or zombies?” Zombie Fetus asked eagerly.

Azure Scaled smirked, a condescending curl of his lips. ”You’re still such a child,” he said, shaking his head.

In his mind, the answer was obvious. Why choose when you could target both?

That said, humans were generally smarter and more likely to take precautions, making them harder to infect. Zombies, on the other hand, were… well, not exactly known for their brains. They’d be much easier to infest.

With that in mind, Azure Scaled decided to focus his efforts on the zombies first.

The plan was simple: send out the Zombie Sirens to use their mind-control abilities to lure some zombies out. Once the parasites had infested them, they’d be sent back into their own territory to spread the infection quietly and efficiently.

And if that didn’t work? Well, then they’d go with Plan B—something a bit more… direct. He’d send in parasite-infested zombies on suicide missions to wreak havoc.

...

Night fell.

The stars dotted the sky, and a bright, full moon hung high above, its silver light outlining the clouds like a glowing halo.

Ethan’s territory was eerily calm.

Groups of zombies roamed the area, their faces twisted into grotesque snarls. Every section of the territory was guarded by powerful zombie kings, their presence radiating menace.

In the damp, shadowy corners, massive bio-engineered monstrosities lay in wait, their hulking forms barely visible in the darkness.

Above, red-eyed crows occasionally flitted across the sky, their sharp cries echoing like mournful wails.

The entire territory was a death trap, a no-go zone for any living—or undead—creature foolish enough to wander in.

Of course, there were exceptions to the grim atmosphere.

One of them was Big Ears, who was, as usual, bragging to the nearby zombies.

”Hey, you guys see those bio-monsters roaming around the territory?” he asked, puffing out his chest.

”Yeah, we saw them. They’re terrifying!” one of the zombies replied.

”Exactly! And guess who’s responsible for them?” Big Ears said, thumping his chest with pride.

The other zombies looked confused. ”Didn’t the boss bring those back? What’s that got to do with you?”

Big Ears rolled his eyes. ”If it weren’t for me discovering that G-virus deal, do you think the boss would’ve gotten his hands on it?” he said smugly.

The zombies exchanged glances, then one of them shrugged. ”I dunno. Maybe the boss would’ve just gone straight to Genesis Biotech and taken it himself.”

”…” Big Ears froze, his face darkening. He opened his mouth to argue but couldn’t think of a good comeback.

”Forget it,” he muttered, waving them off. ”You guys are too low-level to understand. There’s no point trying to explain.”

But just as he was about to brush it off completely, his oversized ears twitched.

He picked up on something—a faint, eerie melody drifting in from the edge of the territory. The tune was strange, the notes unfamiliar and haunting, like a whisper carried on the wind.

”Shh! Something’s moving…” Big Ears’ eyes widened as he hissed at the others. Without hesitation, he dropped to the ground, sticking his oversized ear flat against it, as if that would help him hear better.

”I think I’m about to make another big discovery,” he whispered, his voice brimming with excitement.

”For real?”

”Of course it’s real! Just wait and see!” Big Ears shot back, puffing up with pride.

He focused on the faint sound, pinpointing its direction. His face lit up with excitement as he started dragging himself toward the source of the noise.

But the closer he got, the clearer the sound became.

And then, something changed.

Big Ears’ expression suddenly went blank, his eyes glazing over. He stopped crawling and stood up, swaying slightly as if in a trance.

”Caw! Caw!”

A crow screeched as it flew overhead, but Big Ears didn’t even flinch.

He was already near the edge of the territory, and now, he wandered past it, stepping into the desolate wasteland beyond.

The area outside the city was barren and eerie. The ground was littered with rotting corpses, and a few skeletal trees stood like silent sentinels under the pale moonlight.

The scene was bleak, almost haunting.

And then, in the stillness of the night, figures began to emerge.

Zombies.

They shuffled forward, groaning softly, their faces bloated and decayed from prolonged exposure to seawater. Chunks of flesh hung loosely from their bodies, some of it sloughing off entirely.

But the most horrifying detail?

Parasites.

Dozens of them wriggled through the rotting flesh of the zombies, their slimy bodies weaving in and out like grotesque puppeteers.

The parasites made the zombies’ movements jerky and unnatural, like marionettes being controlled by invisible strings.

Behind this grotesque parade stood a Zombie Siren.

Her upper body was humanoid, but her lower half was a fish’s tail, her skin a sickly grayish-blue. Her tangled hair hung in damp clumps, and her hollow eyes gave her an otherworldly, terrifying presence.

Surrounding her were elite zombies and lizard-like creatures, standing guard.

”How’s the control going? Got any zombies yet?” one of the elite zombies asked.

”Of course,” the Zombie Siren rasped, her voice hoarse and grating.

Under the moonlight, more figures began to shuffle toward them—zombies with vacant stares and slack jaws. Among them was Big Ears, along with several other low-level, mindless zombies.

Big Ears had been caught because of his overly sensitive hearing. The Zombie Siren’s haunting melody had ensnared him, pulling him under her mental control.

”Huh? A B-class underling? That’s unexpected,” one of the elite zombies remarked, surprised to see Big Ears among the group.

”Let’s hurry up,” the Zombie Siren said, her tone impatient. ”Controlling a B-class isn’t stable. He could snap out of it at any moment.”

The elite zombie nodded and gestured to the parasite-infested zombies. ”Go. Get close to them. Spread the love.”

The parasite zombies staggered forward, their stiff limbs moving awkwardly. One of them approached Big Ears, its rotting hand slowly reaching out to rest on his shoulder.

Its decayed face, crawling with parasites, leaned in closer and closer to Big Ears, aiming to infect him.

The stench of decay hit Big Ears like a slap, and perhaps it was the overwhelming sense of danger—or sheer dumb luck—but he suddenly snapped out of the Siren’s control.

With a shudder, his mind cleared, and the first thing he saw was the parasite zombie’s grotesque face, mere inches from his own.

Its slimy, writhing parasites were already brushing against his cheek.

”Holy crap!” Big Ears screamed, stumbling backward in terror.

He slapped his own face repeatedly, smacking the parasite off with a series of loud thwacks.

His thoughts were a jumbled mess, his memory hazy. The last thing he remembered was trying to track down the strange sound, thinking he was about to make a big discovery.

And now?

Now he was surrounded by a nightmare.

Who am I?

Where am I?

What the hell is going on?

Big Ears’ wide eyes darted around, taking in the horrifying scene. Zombies were everywhere, their bodies riddled with parasites. Hundreds of them, maybe more. The parasites squirmed through their decaying flesh as they pressed against other zombies, trying to spread the infection.

”What the hell is this?!” Big Ears shouted, his voice trembling with panic.

From the shadows, a raspy voice answered.

”Well, well. Waking up at the worst possible moment, huh? How inconvenient…”

...