Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Late at night, in the backyard of the mansion on the hilltop...

Chris dragged the Light-type Awakened out from the basement and dumped him onto the grass.

The man’s face was twisted in pain, still cursing through gritted teeth.

Miles and Mia stood nearby, both watching with confused expressions.

Ethan had told Mia she was just a reserve member, but the fact that he brought her back here meant she was in. He wouldn’t have brought her otherwise.

Since she was part of the team now, there was no point in hiding things. That would only backfire. So Ethan had called her out too.

His rule was simple: trust the people you use, and don’t use the people you don’t trust.

”Lie down,” Ethan said to Miles.

”Uh, okay.” Miles didn’t get it, but he obeyed and lay down on the ground.

As soon as he did, Chris stepped forward and ended the Light-type Awakened’s life with a clean strike. A mercy, really.

Then, with practiced ease, Ethan extracted the man’s light ability—his glowing energy core—and fused it into Miles’s body.

”Alright. Try it out,” Ethan said.

Miles got to his feet, still looking unsure.

”Focus your energy,” Ethan instructed. ”Try to form a barrier in front of you. It should block incoming damage.”

Mia’s eyes widened in shock.

That was the exact ability the dead man had just used.

Miles hesitated, then followed Ethan’s instructions.

A moment later, a shimmering Energy Barrier appeared in front of him.

”!!!”

Miles’s eyes went wide. Mia clapped a hand over her mouth, stunned.

”You can transfer abilities?!”

”No wonder... No wonder everyone in the Fallen Star Squad is Awakened!” The two of them were completely floored. It was too unbelievable.

”Shocking, huh?” Big Mike clapped Miles on the shoulder, grinning like he’d just pulled off a magic trick. ”Standard procedure. You’ll get used to it.”

”...”

Miles adjusted fast. He took a deep breath, then looked at Ethan with serious eyes.

”Ethan... thank you,” he said, voice tight with emotion.

”No need for that,” Ethan replied casually. ”You’re part of the Fallen Star Squad now. How could you not have an ability? That’s what sets us apart.”

”Yeah.” Miles nodded hard.

Ethan made it sound easy, but Miles knew better. Bringing back a Light-type Awakened from a government Safe Zone couldn’t have been simple.

He didn’t say anything more. Just quietly etched it into his heart.

Ethan tossed the Light-type Awakened’s corpse into the iron cage filled with zombies.

To zombies, Awakened flesh was a rare delicacy—it could accelerate their evolution. The higher the Tier of the Awakened, the more potent the effect. That’s why zombies always charged at humans like rabid beasts—they weren’t just hunting, they were feeding for power.

Ethan had a theory. The last time a Stage D zombie emerged, it was probably because they’d fed on that Fire-type Awakened’s corpse. Same setup—same result.

So he figured, why not try again? Maybe tonight, another Stage D zombie would be born. After all, these zombies had been stuck at Tier 5 for a while now. Some of them were probably already at the peak, just waiting for a push.

Ethan couldn’t bring himself to feed innocent people to the zombies. But a corpse like this—already useless—he had no problem recycling.

Mia frowned slightly but didn’t say anything.

She wasn’t stupid. She knew when to speak and when to stay quiet.

”Alright, let’s head up to the roof. Time to stargaze,” Ethan said with a grin, leading the group upstairs.

The Fallen Star Squad was nine strong now. All nine were Awakened, and seven of them had already reached Stage D.

With a lineup like that, they could walk through most of the world unchallenged.

But Ethan knew better. Numbers still mattered. As more people reached Stage D, it wouldn’t be realistic to expect just nine of them to take on an entire compound.

They needed a faction.

Still, Ethan had no interest in becoming someone else’s grunt—running around every day collecting crystal cores just to feed a growing army. That would only slow down his own progress.

So yes, they’d build a faction—but it had to be lean. No dead weight. Every member had to be a high-Tier Awakened, capable of surviving and growing on their own.

Right now, thanks to what he’d brought back from the government Safe Zone, Ethan had over fifty thousand crystal cores across all Tiers. That would be enough to kickstart the faction. After that, it was up to them. He trusted Miles to make it work.

On the rooftop, the group sprawled out across the balcony, gazing up at the stars.

Mia followed suit without asking questions. She was starting to realize—this squad was deeper than it looked.

No wonder the Fallen Star Squad could rival the government. This wasn’t luck. It was inevitable.

They spent the night absorbing mysterious energy under the stars. For Ethan, the only noticeable change was that the first star in the constellation map in his mind absorbed enough energy to boost his strength by another 30 kilograms.

Not much else.

But that made sense. He was already at the peak of Tier 6. Gains were slow at this level.

Still, even if his strength didn’t increase, the mysterious energy was being stored in his body. Ethan figured it was building up for a breakthrough—prepping him for Tier 7.

Mia, on the other hand, was stunned by the power growing inside her. This method of getting stronger—how had they even discovered it?

But she didn’t ask. She knew now was the time to watch and learn, not talk.

Ethan activated [True Sight]and glanced down at the iron cage. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Just as he’d hoped—another zombie had evolved into Stage D.

But this one was smarter than the last. It didn’t make a scene. It stayed low, pretending to be just another Tier 5, lying limp among the others.

Probably waiting for them to leave so it could break out.

Ethan chuckled, then led the group downstairs to the cage.

Inside, the Stage D zombie was still playing dead, sprawled out like it had no strength left.

”Sean, drag that one out,” Ethan said, pointing directly at it.

”Got it.”

Sean nodded, his arms shifting into metallic form. He opened the cage and grabbed the zombie by the leg, yanking it out.

The moment it realized it had been exposed, the Stage D zombie lunged—mouth wide, aiming straight for Sean’s head.

”Hah, I was waiting for that,” Sean sneered.

He slammed a fist into the zombie’s chest, sending it crashing to the ground.

A spike of earth shot up from the floor, impaling the creature through the torso. A split-second later, a Wind Cutter sliced clean through its neck.

With Sean, Garrick, and Skinny Pete working in sync, the Stage D zombie didn’t even get a chance to twitch before it was dead.

”Damn, that was easy. Crystal core practically delivered itself,” Big Mike laughed.

”Chris, grab the core. Give it to Miles,” Ethan said.

”On it.”

Chris stepped forward, his dagger coated in a layer of black energy. He made a clean cut through the zombie’s skull and pulled out the crystal core.

He handed it to Miles.

Miles took it, his expression a whirlwind of emotions.

He’d followed Connor for so long and gotten nothing in return.

Now, after just one day with the Fallen Star Squad, he had an ability—and a Stage D crystal core.

It was a lot to take in.

This time, he didn’t say thank you.

Saying it again would’ve felt like he didn’t belong.

...