Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”Uh...”

Robert blinked, caught off guard. That whole powerhouse squad... just to get Ethan’s clothes dirty?

But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. That really could’ve gone sideways fast...

Mia kept going, her tone serious. ”There’s a ton of supplies left in Genesis Biotech. We found loads of food, and more importantly, seed cultivation tech. You need to bring some people over ASAP and haul this stuff back. We’re short on manpower.”

”Yeah, yeah, no problem!” Robert nodded eagerly, clearly thrilled. Scoring the supplies from Genesis Biotech’s North American HQ? That was a game-changer. The shelter would finally be out of survival mode.

And with Black Hand Legion’s Blackhand City now fallen, even though a few stragglers had escaped, they weren’t a threat anymore.

The supply route was safe. No more ambushes, no more raids.

The survivors back at the shelter could finally start living like actual human beings again.

Just thinking about it made him grin like a kid on Christmas morning...

...

But the one who really hit the jackpot this time was Ethan.

Inside Genesis Biotech’s North American base, he’d looted 8,000 vials of the X and Y viruses. That meant, once injected into his underlings, he’d have nearly ten thousand elite soldiers at his command.

Just imagine the kind of power that gave him...

On top of that, he’d snagged thousands of Crystal Core Firearms, and close to ten thousand crystal cores of various types.

Each one of those cores represented a life lost.

Clearly, Genesis Biotech had been on a rampage, pillaging and killing without restraint.

But there was one thing that left Ethan a little frustrated—some of the most valuable data was locked away in computers, protected by layers of complex encryption.

If it were physical items, he could’ve just used his Domain of the Dead to phase through walls or vault doors and grab them. But digital data? That was a whole different beast. He couldn’t touch it.

Same went for the high-end scientific equipment. It was all just sitting there, useless.

Sure, his minions had evolved to be smarter, but their way of thinking was still miles apart from humans. Their understanding of concepts like ”clean” and ”dirty” didn’t even line up with human definitions—so expecting them to operate advanced lab equipment? Not happening.

Only PhD had the brains and evolutionary level to handle that kind of work.

But PhD was still back in L.A., working on the mechanical zombie army project. And progress was slow—after all, he was just one zombie. No matter how smart, he couldn’t do it all alone.

Ethan needed more scientific minds. Badly.

Knowledge is power, after all. That’s true in any era—even the apocalypse.

”Guess I really do need to hit the books...” Ethan muttered to himself, realizing just how much being uneducated was holding him back.

He even suspected that Genesis Biotech’s global HQ might be monitoring everything through the network—watching their every move, maybe even listening in on their conversations.

Worst-case scenario? They could trigger a remote self-destruct and wipe everything out.

”Yeah, that’s gotta be dealt with...” Ethan thought grimly. He needed to crack every password, take control of the system, and build a new, secure network from scratch.

And if he could reboot those high-end machines? Who knows—maybe he’d even pick up signals from outer space.

But a project that massive? Even with PhD on board, it’d take at least a year or two—and success wasn’t guaranteed.

”Where the hell am I gonna find some scientists?”

Ethan fell into deep thought. Without the right people, Genesis Biotech was just an empty shell. All that potential, wasted.

Still, finding scientists in this world wasn’t impossible.

His form shimmered—and then vanished into thin air.

...

In another room, Mia had just finished her call with the shelter. She was about to start coordinating the logistics of long-distance transport.

Suddenly, Ethan appeared right in front of her—out of nowhere.

”Hmm?”

Mia immediately noticed him, her bright eyes locking onto his with a sharp, instinctive glance.

”What is it? Something wrong?”

”Do you know a lot of scientists?” Ethan asked bluntly, skipping any pleasantries.

Mia nodded. ”Yeah. Most of the top research teams from the major shelters have relocated to Mount Elbert. I’ve met quite a few of them.”

”Oh, that’s good...” Ethan nodded slowly, then paused, thinking for a moment before continuing. ”I’ve got some things I’d like to... consult them about.”

”You sure it’s just a consultation?” Mia glanced around, her eyes sweeping over the powered-down equipment scattered around the room. It didn’t take her long to figure out what he was really after.

Ethan smiled gently, his expression calm and friendly. ”If they cooperate, of course it’s just a consultation.”

”Yeah, I doubt that.” Mia snorted, crossing her arms. ”Those old professors aren’t like regular people. They’re weird, stubborn as hell. Most of them would rather die than work with someone like you.”

”That so...” Ethan nodded thoughtfully. He could understand that. Geniuses were often obsessive, their personalities extreme—sometimes they came off more like lunatics than scientists.

”But they’ve got families, right? Kids, spouses, relatives?”

”...”

Mia stared at him, her expression flat, a vein twitching at her temple.

”What exactly are you planning?”

”Consultation,” Ethan said again, completely serious, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Silence.

Mia let out a long, silent sigh. She could already tell—Ethan wasn’t going to play by the rules. If he wanted something, he’d get it, one way or another.

Ethan added, as if trying to justify himself, ”Look, I’m thinking long-term here. What if we pick up some kind of alien signal or something? If we’re prepared ahead of time, it benefits everyone.”

”The greater good, huh...”

Mia gave him a look, then shrugged like she was buying it. ”Alright, fine. I’ll take you to Mount Elbert in a few days.”

...

In the days that followed, the Zombie Horde remained at the Genesis Biotech base, regrouping and reorganizing.

Ethan, meanwhile, was absorbing crystal core energy at an insane rate. His power was growing fast—each high-grade core he consumed brought rapid, almost unnatural changes to his body. Stronger. Faster. Sharper. Something more than undead.

Internally, he was preparing to recruit scientists and turn Genesis Biotech’s North American HQ into a fully operational research outpost.

Externally, he was ready to lead hundreds of thousands of zombies northeast, sweeping across the country in a campaign of total domination.

The operation, once called Operation Steamroll, now had a new name:

Continental Sweep.

Because in the northeastern U.S., there was still one powerful Zombie King listed in the archives—one that hadn’t yet been dealt with.

Only by hunting it down could Ethan eliminate all remaining threats.

Just then, a shadow passed across the window. A crow swooped in from the distance, cawing as it landed on the windowsill.

”Boss... hello...” it croaked in its eerie, raspy voice.

”Yeah. What’s the situation in the northeast?” Ethan asked, his tone calm but focused.

Before launching Continental Sweep, he’d sent out a squadron of crows to scout the area.

”The northern region... there’s killing. A massive zombie battle is underway,” the crow reported, its voice a strange mix of bird and speech.

”Oh?” Ethan raised an eyebrow. That was unexpected. The Zombie King in the northeast should’ve already established dominance. Aside from Ethan himself, no other zombie should be able to challenge it.

The crow continued, ”That Zombie King’s enemies are coming from the northern border. Huge numbers of zombies have crossed into the U.S. from the north. A smaller group landed on the East Coast by sea.”

”Foreign Zombie Kings?” Ethan narrowed his eyes, thinking. The northern border meant Canada. But if some were coming by sea... Europe? Africa? Asia?

Those continents were all connected by land or sea routes. Especially Asia—with its massive population density, it made sense that powerful Zombie Kings could’ve emerged there.

And now, they were crossing oceans to invade.

The game was changing.

...