Apocalypse: King of Zombies

As the words fell, a figure suddenly appeared at the front of the crowd.

”Ethan!”

”Captain!”

The moment they saw him, everyone in Fallen Star Squad lit up. The tension in their chests finally eased—hard.

Facing Tier 10 and Tier 11 Titan Apes, the pressure had been crushing. Thank God their boss had made it back.

A lot of other people recognized Ethan too.

”Isn’t that Fallen Star Squad’s captain? How’d he just… appear?”

”Didn’t even see it, but that entrance was cool as hell.”

”But even if he’s here, does it matter?” someone whispered. ”Isn’t he only Tier 9? These mutant beasts have to be Tier 10 at least. Otherwise they couldn’t have tanked that many bombardments!”

”Damn…”

”Tier 10? Then aren’t we completely screwed?!”

”Good thing there’s only a few left. Hopefully the people down there can grind them down…”

Down on the line, Colonel Mitchell was just as relieved.

”Ethan—you’re finally back!”

”Yeah. You’ve been through it, Colonel Mitchell.” Ethan smiled. ”You did well.”

He’d seen everything on the way in. He knew this had to be the military’s work. Without their delaying tactics, the Titan Apes would’ve already smashed into the compound and started slaughtering people.

”ETHAN!!!”

The second Sophia saw him, she snapped—eyes wild, voice cracking with manic excitement.

”Hahahaha! Perfect. I thought you’d run. I didn’t expect you to actually show your face. Should I call you stupid… or call you loyal?”

Ethan looked her over carefully, like he’d just noticed something. Then he smiled.

”This is only our second time meeting, right? And you hate me this much?”

”Yes!” Sophia practically screamed. ”It’s all because of you! If it weren’t for you, how would I have ended up like this?!”

”Ended up like what?” Ethan asked, sounding genuinely puzzled. ”You look pretty good to me. You’ve hit Tier 8, and you’re getting along great with a bunch of powerful Titan Apes.”

He shrugged innocently, his gaze slowly sweeping over her body, the corner of his mouth quirking up.

”Aside from the fact that he’s clearly gotten plenty of use out of you… and the flesh between your legs looks a little loose…”

He paused, still smiling.

”…you don’t seem worse off at all.”

”PFF—!”

Chris’s eyes bulged. ”Ethan—how can you even tell that?!”

Ethan chuckled.

”What can I say?” He lifted his hands in a helpless shrug. ”I’ve always had excellent eyesight.”

”Damn,” someone blurted. ”That’s insane.”

Big Mike’s eyes lit up. ”So that means my guess earlier was right?”

”Yeah,” Ethan said. ”Probably.”

Big Mike nodded hard, then lowered his voice like he was sharing a discovery. ”I was wondering why the Titan Ape leader was protecting her. Then I thought about it—did you notice? I don’t think we’ve seen a single female Titan Ape.”

His grin spread.

”Maybe it wants her to breed for it.”

Ethan and the others were keeping their voices low, but the people nearby still heard every word.

Immediately, a bunch of them looked at Sophia with… very complicated expressions.

”AHHHH!!!”

Having it exposed to her face like that, Sophia completely lost it.

”It’s you! I’ll kill you!”

”Kill them!” She pointed at Ethan and the others, screaming at the Titan Ape leader behind her.

But the Titan Ape leader didn’t even spare her a glance. Its eyes were locked on Ethan like nails.

Because one of its subordinates had already recognized him—the man they’d been hunting. The one who’d ambushed them.

And now he’d actually shown up here.

”Hey,” Ethan said with a smile, casually greeting them like old buddies. ”How’ve you been, big gorilla?”

”ROAR…” (So you really are here. You’re dead.)

The Titan Ape leader bellowed and lunged straight at him.

”Holy shit,” someone blurted. ”That’s violent—”

”Then let’s do this,” Ethan shot back. ”Like I’m scared of you.”

He drew his poleaxe and met it head-on.

Back in the Void Realm, Ethan had made the white-furred apes dig out crystal cores from the thousands of mutant beast corpses on that battlefield. Seven of them had been Tier 10 cores.

Four from Titan Apes, two from foxes, and one from a flying mutant beast.

On the road back, Ethan had eaten and absorbed all seven. At this point, his strength was basically at the peak of Tier 10. And with the poleaxe in his hands—plus the extra power he’d gained from absorbing mysterious energy every night while ”stargazing”—

Even facing a Tier 11 Titan Ape, he wasn’t the least bit intimidated.

BANG—!

Fist and poleaxe collided. The impact cracked through the air, and both sides were forced back several steps.

The entire crowd went wide-eyed.

Weren’t these Titan Apes supposed to be Tier 10?

So how the hell was Fallen Star Squad’s captain fighting it to a standstill?

Did that mean Ethan was Tier 10 too?

”Hey, Rambo,” a few Enhanced whispered urgently as they crowded around a man nearby. ”Your sensing ability can read someone’s strength, right? Tell me that Titan Ape isn’t Tier 10. Please.”

”It’s not Tier 10,” Rambo said.

”Whew…” They exhaled like they’d been holding their breath for hours.

”I knew it. There’s no way anyone can fight a Tier 10 head-on.”

Rambo looked up again, face stiff. ”This one… is Tier 11.”

”What?!!”

Their relief instantly turned to shock. They stared at him like he’d just declared the sky was falling.

”Tier 11?!”

”Yeah.” Rambo nodded once, grim and certain.

”—!”

A few of them nearly collapsed on the spot, legs going weak.

”My god… Tier 11. Why the hell did I even come down here to fight?!”

Their outburst spread fast, and the people around them finally understood what they were looking at. Everyone stared at the Titan Ape leader in disbelief.

”Tier 11? How is there a Tier 11 mutant beast right now?!”

But what really broke people’s brains was this—

Ethan was fighting that Tier 11 leader evenly.

Could it be…

Was Ethan Tier 11 too?

Nobody wanted to believe it, but their eyes were telling them otherwise.

On the military side, Colonel Mitchell and the others saw the clash and their eyes lit up.

Sure, Ethan’s power was insane.

But what mattered more was simple: the compound could be saved.

Not far away, Sophia watched Ethan knock the Titan Ape leader back, and her face went blank with disbelief.

”No… that’s impossible!”

On the way here, she’d gotten a very clear sense of what the Titan Apes could do.

That was exactly why she’d had the confidence to march straight on the compound.

But now, the Titan Ape leader—this ”invincible” monster in her mind—had only fought Ethan to a draw.

How?

This was Tier 11!

Ethan—what right did he have?!

Sophia’s chest felt like it was being crushed.

She’d endured humiliation and suffering to get this ”helper,” convinced it would steamroll everything…

…and it was only a tie.

She couldn’t accept it.

”ROAR…”

The Titan Ape leader was clearly surprised too. But it didn’t hesitate for long. It threw itself at Ethan again.

At the same time, the remaining Titan Apes surged toward the crowd.

”Everyone else, fall back!” Ethan barked. ”Fallen Star Squad, up front—one per target. Hold them!”

”Yes!”

Chris and the others didn’t hesitate. Weapons came out in a flash as they charged to meet the Tier 10 Titan Apes head-on.

”Ethan,” Colonel Mitchell called quickly, ”we can help too!”

”No,” Ethan cut him off. ”Pull back. These Titan Apes are Tier 10—you can’t handle them. Keep an eye on those Tier 9s over there. That’s your job.”

Chris and the others were already peak Tier 9. Following the Body Refinement Technique, their gains hadn’t been as outrageous as Ethan’s, but it still boosted their combat power by a lot. Add in strong weapons and their abilities, and even if they couldn’t kill Tier 10s outright…

They could definitely hold them.

And the white-furred apes were almost here.

They only needed to buy a few minutes. There was no point letting soldiers run in and die for nothing.