Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”You’ve got your eye on my crystal cores?” Ethan asked lightly, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he glanced at Julian.

Julian scoffed, tone full of disdain. ”As if. That petty haul’s beneath me. I was simply offering General Cross some advice—so he doesn’t get taken for a ride.”

But even as the words left his mouth, the flash of heat in his eyes gave him away.

Over a hundred thousand Tier 5 crystal cores—even someone from Atlas City wouldn’t look at that pile without feeling tempted. He just couldn’t afford to show it. Not in front of these ”country bumpkins.”

”Appreciate the advice,” General Cross said calmly. ”How about you don’t offer any more.”

”...”

An awkward beat followed.

Then Cross turned to Ethan with an apologetic expression. ”Uh… Ethan, maybe you and Sean should head back? I’ve still got a few things to handle here.”

Obviously, he just wanted to get the fire away from the tinder before the whole place lit up. If these two morons tried to pick a fight, they were gonna die. No question.

And if Victoria Hale or Julian Mercer ended up dead in his compound? Considering the kind of weight the Hale and Mercer families pulled back in Atlas City… Cross would be in a world of trouble.

Ethan caught the look, understood it instantly, and gave a small nod. He cast a glance at the two so-called envoys and said casually, ”Since General Cross asked, I’ll let it go. But let’s be clear—if either of you have ideas about my crystal cores, feel free to try me.”

With that, he turned, slinging the sack of cores over his shoulder, and walked out with Sean following close behind.

”Who the hell are you calling an idiot?!” Julian snapped, face flushing with rage.

He made to chase after them—only for Director Vaughn and Director Michael to immediately step in, grabbing both envoys by the arms and pulling them back.

”Don’t. Bad idea. Really bad idea.”

”They just insulted us! Are we seriously letting that slide?!” Victoria fumed.

”Let ’em,” Vaughn said quickly. ”Better a bruised ego than a carved-up corpse.”

Julian’s eyes narrowed. ”...What’s that supposed to mean?”

Vaughn gave him a look like he couldn’t believe the guy was this dense. ”You really don’t get it? You think we’re nice to them for fun?”

Julian frowned, suspicious. ”Are you saying they’re that strong?”

”What do you think?” Vaughn rolled his eyes.

Why the hell would Atlas City send two spoiled rich kids like you all the way here? To intimidate someone? Too late, pal. That ship’s long gone. I’ve already been properly intimidated—and believe me, those two did it better than you ever could.

You two Tier 8s preening in front of Ethan? Man, if he weren’t restrained by our relationship, your heads would be fertilizer by now.

Julian huffed. ”Sure, even if they’re tough, how strong could one guy be? Tier 8’s the ceiling for anyone without access to top-tier mutation gear. What, you wanna claim he’s Tier 9 or something?” He sneered. ”You’ve got Tier 8s here in your own compound, and I don’t see anyone babying them like this.”

He scoffed again.

”If my dad hadn’t told me to lay low on this little ’outreach trip,’ I would’ve wiped the floor with those two just now.”

”...”

A long silence.

Then General Cross’s voice turned cold.

”Go ahead.”

”What?”

”You said you’d take them out? Then go. I’m honestly curious to see how that plays out.”

Julian looked taken aback—then quickly covered it with a spark of delight. He’d been holding back this whole time because it wasn’t his turf. If even the local big boss was giving the green light, why not?

He was just about to move, when—

Cross added, dry and sharp, ”Just a heads-up: those two? One’s a Tier 9, the other’s Tier 8. And their crew has seven more Tier 8 Awakened.”

He gave them a slow look.

”If you’re gonna attack, remember to guard your heads. I’d like to collect enough pieces for a full burial.”

”...!!!”

The color drained from Julian and Victoria’s faces.

They froze mid-step, like someone had hit the pause button on their bodies.

The young man swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple visibly bobbing as he looked stiffly toward General Cross. ”T-That’s gotta be a bluff… right?”

”You want to know if I’m lying?” Cross shrugged. ”Go ahead. Try them yourself.”

He gave them a dry, pointed stare. ”I’ll tell you this much—if you do, you’ll be finding out real quick… and real dead.”

”...”

”That’s impossible!” Victoria snapped, eyes wide with disbelief. ”Atlas City’s the administrative hub of the entire region—we’ve thrown everything we’ve got into developing Tier 9s, and we’ve only managed to produce two! How could a random nobody be Tier 9?!”

”Believe it or don’t. Doesn’t change the situation,” Cross said, tired of explaining. ”You want to charge out there and test their patience? Be my guest—I’m done stopping you.”

The two of them looked between Cross, Vaughn, and Michael, trying to sniff out any hint that this was some elaborate intimidation ploy.

But what they saw on those faces was… dead serious.

After a long moment, they begrudgingly stepped back, pulling back the feet they’d already planted toward the exit.

”…Director Vaughn,” Julian said, forcing his tone to be more composed, ”that guy’s seriously Tier 9?”

”Yep.”

”But… how’d he do it?”

Vaughn huffed, clearly out of patience. ”Hell if I know. I’d love to find out myself.”

Honestly, if these two weren’t envoys from Atlas with real authority behind them, Vaughn would’ve already knocked their teeth in for the crap they’d pulled since setting foot in the room.

”Alright, enough of that,” General Cross cut in, tone brisk. ”Let’s get back to why you’re actually here.”

...

Meanwhile…

”Boss,” Sean asked quietly as they walked, ”you think what that guy said about fusing crystal cores is legit?”

”Seems like it,” Ethan replied without looking back. ”Hard to fake something like that. Atlas City has tech and talent—they’re capable of figuring something like that out.”

”You think they’ll actually share it?”

”That depends on who’s in charge now,” Ethan said. ”If it’s someone who really wants to help humanity, like the old leadership, then sure—sharing that tech would save a lot of lives.”

”But if they’re selfish or power-hungry?” He shrugged. ”Then all bets are off.”

”That said, the fact that those two were willing to blurt this out suggests they’re planning to share it. Or at least, share it with government-supported compounds. Privately run ones?” He smirked. ”That’s a maybe.”

Sean frowned. ”If it comes to that, won’t we lose our edge?”

”Nope.” Ethan shook his head. ”We’ve got the Energy Absorption Technique. With that, we can level up at more than twice their speed.”

”And they’re still stuck on extracting power from Tier 5 cores—barely scratching Tier 6 conversion. Even if they crack higher-tier fusion someday, they’ll need the raw materials first. High-tier cores aren’t exactly falling from the sky.”

”One hundred low-tier cores to make one high-tier core? At that rate, mass-producing high-ranking Awakened isn’t even remotely realistic.”

Sean let out a breath. ”Good. That’s been bugging me.”

”Doesn’t mean we can get cocky though,” Ethan added. ”This is just the beginning. Their research’s still in the early phase. If things progress fast enough, it could lead to bigger breakthroughs later. We need to keep pushing.”

It wasn’t about challenging Atlas City directly—but Ethan had no plans to sit back and let someone else control his fate. If a clash was inevitable, then better to be ready.

”At this rate, government-backed Tier 6 Enhanced are gonna start popping up all over the place,” Sean said. ”Might even hit critical mass.”

”True,” Ethan nodded. ”Could be the start of humanity launching a counteroffensive.”

”But zombies aren’t slowing down either,” Sean muttered darkly. ”Every time one hits Tier 6, the progression rate accelerates. And the sheer numbers they command...”

”A single Tier 9 zombie can coordinate hundreds of thousands,” Ethan said flatly. ”If a Tier 10 ever shows up? We’ll be looking at million-strong hordes. Clearford might not stand a chance.”

”That means the fights from here on out will be brutal,” he added. ”Leveling up won’t just be faster—it’ll be mandatory.”

”And if we want to keep leading the pack, we’ll need more than just consistency—what we need is a lucky break.”

Sean’s eyes lit up. ”The Void Realm expedition tomorrow?”

Ethan nodded slowly.

”Yeah… that might be the game-changer we’ve been waiting for.”

”Let’s hope we come out of it with something really good.”