Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Staring at the unfamiliar address on her screen, Sophia couldn’t help but feel a surge of curiosity.

”Could this be... the hideout of the Black Hand Legion’s supreme leader?”

With Blackhand City now fallen, she had nowhere else to go. Vanessa had given her this one lead—this one location—and that was all she had.

With no other options, Sophia didn’t hesitate. She didn’t even bother packing. She turned and bolted for the rooftop.

There, waiting for her, was a sleek aircraft.

She jogged up the ramp and climbed inside, heading straight for the control panel. Her fingers flew across the interface as she punched in the coordinates Vanessa had sent.

The aircraft’s autopilot kicked in immediately. It even had a flight history log.

Sophia blinked in surprise—Vanessa had been to this place before.

That only made her more certain: this had to be the lair of the Black Hand Legion’s elusive leader.

”Am I... really going to meet him?”

Her lips were dry. She swallowed hard. The leader of the Black Hand Legion was a mystery wrapped in myth—powerful, enigmatic, and utterly unknowable. No one even knew if they were a man or a woman.

Sophia knew this trip could be insanely dangerous. But maybe... just maybe, it was also the start of something new.

She didn’t let herself hesitate. With a deep breath, she slammed her palm down on the ignition.

The aircraft roared to life, blue flames blasting from its thrusters as it shot into the sky.

As the altitude climbed rapidly, Blackhand City shrank beneath her, the chaos below becoming a distant blur. Just beyond the city limits, the battlefield raged on—a blood-soaked hellscape overrun by the undead.

From her vantage point, Sophia could see it all: hundreds of thousands of zombies swarming like locusts, flooding the hills and valleys, tearing through the last remnants of humanity.

The entire region had become a living nightmare.

Then the aircraft pierced the clouds, and the horror below vanished from view.

”I’ll be back,” Sophia whispered to herself.

...

Back on the battlefield, the slaughter dragged on for two full hours before it finally ended. Richard’s so-called ”ultimate defense line” had been completely overrun by the zombie horde.

The Perfect Team—wiped out.

Cyborg units T-01 through T-07—destroyed.

Now, the undead were sweeping the field, scavenging what was left. Their enemies had been fresh, living humans—so for the zombies, this was nothing short of a feast.

They clustered in small groups, hunched over the corpses, tearing into flesh with blood-slick jaws. Their faces were grotesque, smeared with gore.

The air was filled with the sounds of ripping, chewing, and snarling as they fought each other for scraps.

The setting sun cast a blood-red glow over the carnage, painting the ruined landscape in crimson hues. It looked like something out of a nightmare—a twisted, surreal masterpiece of death.

Ethan stood among the wreckage.

From his spatial storage ring, he pulled out a crisp, clean white shirt and slipped it on.

He buttoned it slowly, one button at a time. With each click, the savage aura that had surrounded him during the battle faded, replaced by his usual calm, composed demeanor.

By the time he fastened the last button, he looked immaculate—untouched by the chaos around him.

”What now?” came a voice from behind.

It was Mia. She was covered in blood, her wounds scabbed over. The fight had pushed her to her absolute limit—her pain threshold nearly maxed out, her body on the verge of collapse.

Ethan paused, then said, ”We rest.”

”Mm...” Mia nodded. She knew what he meant. ”Rest” meant laying low for a while, absorbing energy from the crystal cores they’d collected.

”And after that?” she asked.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed, his gaze drifting toward the northeast.

”Then... we keep going.”

Behind Ethan, Chris and the others froze, their faces paling as the implications sank in.

The horde—hundreds of thousands strong—wasn’t stopping. It was going to keep rolling forward, sweeping across America, crushing everything in its path, absorbing any surviving factions, and growing even more unstoppable.

According to the Zombie King files, there was only one other Zombie King left in the U.S. besides Ethan. And that one? Located somewhere in the northeast.

But now that Ethan had taken down Genesis Biotech’s North American HQ and looted a mountain of resources, he was on a whole different level. Just from that last battle alone, he’d scored two SS-grade crystal cores, over a dozen S+ cores, and dozens more S-grade ones.

And that was just the beginning. The Genesis Biotech warehouse probably still had a ton of valuable stock left.

So yeah, that other Zombie King? Technically in the same category, but realistically? No match. Hell, Ethan’s underlings could probably wipe them out without breaking a sweat.

Ethan didn’t even consider them a threat.

Mia, standing nearby, gave him a long look. Then, casually, she shifted the topic.

”By the way... my Tachi broke during the fight.”

”Oh.” Ethan nodded, acknowledging her words—but didn’t move. He just stood there, completely still, offering no follow-up.

Mia stared at him. He stared back. The silence stretched.

The air between them grew... weirdly tense.

Chris, Leah, and the others exchanged awkward glances, standing stiffly in place. No one dared interrupt. No one dared speak.

Finally, after a long beat, Ethan sighed and flipped his hand. A sleek katana materialized in his grip—Stellar Fang. Without a word, he tossed it to her.

He didn’t need it. He had the Star Map slab now—his main weapon. The katana was just collecting dust.

Mia caught it mid-air. The hilt was cold and solid in her palm. Despite its elegant, slender design, the blade was surprisingly heavy—over a hundred pounds.

But for someone with her strength, it felt just right.

”Now that’s more like it,” she said with a satisfied nod. Truth was, when she mentioned her Tachi breaking, she’d been fishing for a replacement. Mission accomplished.

Ethan gave her a look. ”Take care of it. Don’t lose it. And when you’re done, give it back.”

”...Seriously?” Mia’s eye twitched. So stingy...

Still, she figured it was better to have it than not. She was already thinking about handing it over to the research team—see if they could reverse-engineer how it was forged from extraterrestrial meteorite.

After all, they’d hauled back a bunch of meteorite chunks from Albuquerque. Maybe she could get her own custom blade made.

...

With the battlefield cleared, Ethan gathered up all the high-grade crystal cores and stashed them away. Then he turned his attention to the Genesis Biotech North America HQ.

Time to see what was inside that warehouse.

Evolution virus samples? Crystal Core Armaments? Or maybe something even crazier?

He couldn’t help but feel a little excited. It was like finishing a dungeon and finally getting to open the treasure chest.

At that moment, the Genesis Biotech base was already under new management—Big Ears had taken over.

”Hey! Clean that up! Get rid of the bloodstains!”

”And you—yeah, you! There’s broken glass over there! You blind or what?”

”Goddamn it! Do you even know how to sweep?! You’re useless!”

”...”

Big Ears was losing his mind trying to direct the cleanup.

He knew the boss liked things tidy, so he’d decided to get a head start on cleaning the place up. Hell, even during the battle, he’d told the others to go easy—try not to break too much stuff.

But commanding zombies to clean? Way harder than commanding them to kill.

Killing was instinct. Cleaning? That was basically anti-zombie behavior.

Even the more evolved ones—those with higher intelligence—had zero concept of ”clean.” They couldn’t tell the difference between dirty and spotless.

Honestly, even Big Ears himself was a little fuzzy on the details.

”This is giving me a damn headache...” he muttered, rubbing his temples.

...