Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”Uh...” Samantha froze for a moment. When she heard the first half of Ethan’s sentence, she thought there might still be a chance. A flicker of hope sparked in her heart. But by the time he finished, that hope was crushed in an instant.

Ethan, as merciless as ever, swiftly dealt with the remaining desperate humans.

Now, the only ones left in the clearing were a group of mutated creatures. Their sinister eyes were locked on Ethan, yet none of them made a move to flee.

Maybe their minds worked differently from humans. Or maybe that Radiant Crystal was just too important to them.

Even if it meant risking their lives, they had to try.

”Those humans were useless,” the leader of the creatures rasped, its voice hoarse and grating. It seemed disappointed that the humans hadn’t even managed to trouble Ethan, let alone slow him down. They’d been slaughtered like cattle.

Ethan turned his head toward the creatures, his gaze calm but sharp, like someone eyeing dessert after a satisfying meal. Maybe a cookie with a gooey center.

”Raaaargh—!”

The creatures roared in unison, their resolve solidifying. They decided to go all in, betting their lives on this fight. Tentacles erupted from their bodies, writhing and lashing out toward Ethan.

These creatures were physically powerful, their bodies built for survival even in the harsh Domain of the Dead. But to Ethan, their movements were sluggish, like watching a slow-motion replay.

With a single step, Ethan darted forward, weaving effortlessly through the onslaught of tentacles. His blade—a sleek tachi—sliced through the air in a clean arc, carving open the chest of one of the creatures.

Their weak spot was the heart. He’d figured that out already.

Sure enough, a crystal core shot out from the creature’s chest as its body crumpled to the ground. Within moments, it shriveled up, leaving behind nothing but a thin, leathery husk stretched over its skeletal frame.

The remaining dozen or so creatures didn’t stand a chance against Ethan.

In just a few breaths, the clearing was silent again. Ethan had wiped them all out.

”Schlunk!”

With one final thrust, Ethan drove his blade into the leader’s heart. The creature froze in place, its eyes still glaring at him with unrelenting hatred, as if it refused to accept defeat.

”We... won’t let you get away with this,” it growled, its voice dripping with venom.

”Oh, thanks for the heads-up,” Ethan replied casually, flicking his blade upward. With a sharp swish, he carved out the creature’s crystal core.

The leader’s body collapsed with a heavy thud.

And just like that, the battle in the forest was over. The scene was a mess—broken trees scattered everywhere, the ground caved in at odd angles, and the stench of rotting flesh hanging thick in the air. The corpses of mutated rats littered the area, adding to the carnage.

All of this chaos, all these factions drawn here by a single meteorite, and in the end, Ethan had claimed it all for himself.

After collecting the bodies and storing them in his spatial storage ring, Ethan’s figure shimmered and vanished into thin air.

...

Meanwhile, back in the city, Bulldozer and his gang of undead minions were having a feast.

The street in front of the skyscraper was filled with the grotesque sounds of flesh being torn and devoured. The air reeked of blood and decay. The sight of the undead gorging themselves on corpses was surreal, almost nightmarish.

But Ethan? He was at home.

Sitting comfortably, he studied the Radiant Crystal he’d just acquired. Its faint glow pulsed gently, radiating a soft, otherworldly light. It seemed to stimulate cellular activity, speeding up evolution and enhancing energy absorption.

Before, Ethan could only absorb the energy from two A-grade crystal cores in a day. Now, with the Radiant Crystal, he could handle three. At this stage of his evolution, eating raw flesh didn’t do much for him anymore—it was more about keeping his stomach full than gaining strength.

”Fascinating...” Ethan muttered to himself, turning the crystal over in his hand. He couldn’t help but wonder how something like this had come to be.

He glanced out the window at the vast expanse of sky above. The universe was so immense, so full of mysteries. Compared to it, Earth was nothing more than a speck of dust. Even the entire solar system was like a single grain of sand in an endless desert.

It was humbling, really. Like the old saying went: ”We’re just mayflies in the grand scheme of things, a drop in the ocean.”

This Radiant Crystal, though—it was like a catalyst for the apocalypse.

If it had formed naturally and just happened to crash on Earth, that would’ve been one thing. But if some other lifeform had deliberately sent it here... that was a whole different story. A terrifying one.

There was something big going on here. Something dark. Something that reeked of conspiracy.

Maybe... the end of the world wasn’t some random disaster. Maybe, to some advanced species out there, it was just an experiment. A test.

And those parasitic creatures? Their origins were a mystery, too. Why were they so obsessed with the Radiant Crystal? What was their connection to it?

This world was still full of unknowns.

Ethan leaned back, lost in thought for a moment.

”Eh, whatever,” he finally said with a shrug. ”I’ll just keep laying low and getting stronger. That’s the safest bet.”

...

Meanwhile…

At the San Bernardino branch of Genesis Biotech, the sharp clack of high heels echoed down the hallway as the secretary, her face tense with urgency, strode into Sophia’s office.

”Sophia, the team we sent… they’re all dead.”

”What?” Sophia’s head snapped up, her expression a mix of shock and disbelief. ”What happened?”

”According to the data transmitted by the cyborgs, they first engaged in a fight with mutated rats. Then, they were ambushed by the Black Hand Legion.”

”The Radiant Crystal… did the Black Hand Legion take it?” Sophia’s tone sharpened, her focus narrowing on the crystal’s fate.

The secretary shook her head. ”No. After that, a group of terrifying parasitic creatures showed up.”

”Figures…” Sophia frowned, her mind racing. She had suspected this mission would be dangerous, but clearly, she had underestimated just how bad it would get.

A miscalculation on her part.

She should’ve sent more people.

”So… the Radiant Crystal was taken by the parasitic creatures?” she asked, her voice tinged with frustration.

”Not exactly. In the end, a powerful zombie appeared and took it.”

”Wait… what?” Sophia froze, her expression blank for a moment. After all the twists and turns, it all came back to a zombie?

The secretary quickly recounted the entire sequence of events in detail.

Sophia leaned back in her chair, her eyes narrowing in thought. For some reason, anything involving Los Angeles always seemed to go sideways. That city was cursed. A black hole of bad luck.

”Why are the parasitic creatures after the Radiant Crystal, anyway?” she asked after a long pause.

”We’ve studied samples of those creatures before,” the secretary explained. ”Their DNA tests showed that they’re not native to Earth. So, it’s highly likely they have some kind of special connection to the Radiant Crystal.”

”Hmm…” Sophia tapped her fingers on the desk, her mind working through the implications. If that was the case, the creatures wouldn’t just give up. They’d come back for the Radiant Crystal, no doubt about it.

The zombie king of Los Angeles might be strong, but those creatures weren’t pushovers either. And then there was the looming threat of the Santa Monica zombies, always watching, always waiting. It was only a matter of time before things spiraled into chaos.

”Maybe,” Sophia said slowly, ”it’s not such a bad thing that the Radiant Crystal isn’t in our hands right now.”

...

The moon rose, the sun set, and night fell.

But this wasn’t an ordinary night.

In Ethan’s territory, a crowd of zombies had gathered at the base of the skyscraper. Suspended above them was the Radiant Crystal, glowing faintly and casting flickering light across the scene. The eerie glow bathed the area in shifting shadows, making the gathering look like some kind of dark, forbidden ritual.

Ethan, of course, wasn’t keeping the Radiant Crystal all to himself.

His underlings basked in its light as if they were sunbathing, their bodies rapidly evolving under its influence. The lower their rank, the more dramatic the changes.

Some of the elite zombies began to crackle with energy, their bodies undergoing visible transformations. One sprouted sharp bone spikes from its arms. Another’s sense of smell became so acute it could detect prey miles away. Others found their claws growing longer and sharper, gleaming like blades in the dim light.

The horde of zombies stood together, greedily soaking in the Radiant Crystal’s glow. The scene was surreal, almost otherworldly, as if they were performing some ancient, malevolent rite.

Among them was Bulldozer, his massive frame towering over the others. He tilted his head back, staring at the Radiant Crystal with wide eyes. ”Is that… a star from the sky?”

”Sort of,” PhD replied, standing nearby. ”It came from space, probably from some galaxy light-years away.”

”Light-years?” Bulldozer frowned, the term completely foreign to him. ”How many years is a light-year?”

”It’s not a measure of time,” PhD said, exasperated. ”It’s the distance light travels in one year.”

”Oh…” Bulldozer scratched his chin, his face scrunched up in deep concentration. ”So… how many years is that?”

...