Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Goldcrest City…

As the western super-metropolis of the Atlas Federation, Goldcrest City had a population of over twenty million. It was also the headquarters location for the western Joint Military Base.

When the apocalypse hit, a city that size turned into a living hell overnight.

A massive population meant a terrifying number of zombies. Surviving here was far harder than in most places.

The only saving grace was that the Joint Military Base stationed here had an equally massive troop presence—and their stockpiles were deep. Compared to Clearford City, Goldcrest’s heavy weapons were more complete, more plentiful, and better organized.

With firepower doing the talking, the military managed to establish a compound inside Goldcrest City and begin rescue operations.

But Goldcrest City dwarfed Clearford in both area and population, and its leadership wasn’t as capable as General Cross. So even though the compound was successfully built, they only clawed back a small portion of the city. Most of Goldcrest was still in zombie hands.

Still, the compound’s defenses were stacked. The zombies couldn’t break in, and life inside was… stable.

Stable, but not free.

Unlike Clearford City, Goldcrest City’s Enhanced had to obey the compound administrators’ unified command. All resources inside were distributed by the leadership. Plenty of people resented it, but in this world, resentment usually stayed behind clenched teeth.

Right now, inside a huge mansion within the compound, a middle-aged man studied a couple in their forties with a strange look in his eyes.

He was Goldcrest City’s top administrator—formerly Deputy Base Commander Leonard Hale.

”You’re really saying you don’t know General Cross?” Leonard asked again.

The husband and wife shook their heads, baffled.

They were just ordinary people who’d run a small business in Goldcrest City. How would they know someone like that?

”Then that’s what I don’t get.” Leonard frowned. ”If you don’t know him, why would he go to all this trouble to have me find you? He even paid with a Tier 8 crystal core.”

Leonard genuinely looked confused.

”Colonel Hale… are you sure you’ve got the right people?” the man asked carefully.

”No.” Leonard’s tone turned ironclad. ”The details he gave were very clear, and they match you perfectly. There’s no mistake.”

He waved a hand, losing patience. ”Fine. You can go for now. Once they get here, we’ll know what this is really about.”

”Yes, sir.”

After the couple was escorted out, Leonard turned to a young man standing off to the side.

”Have people keep an eye on them,” Leonard said. ”Don’t let them leave their room these next few days.”

”Yes.”

”And General Cross said they’ll send someone to pick them up within a day or two,” Leonard added. ”Tell the guards to pay extra attention.”

The young man hesitated, then couldn’t help himself. ”That… Clearford City is nearly a thousand miles from here. In the apocalypse, they really have the ability to cross that kind of distance just to pick up two people?”

”Who knows.” Leonard’s eyes narrowed slightly. ”But if General Cross was willing to hand over a Tier 8 crystal core for them, Clearford City must be doing pretty well.”

”Even if they’re doing well, how could they be better than us?” the young man said with open disdain. ”Goldcrest City has way more resources than they do.”

”Don’t underestimate General Cross,” Leonard said coolly. ”He climbed from an ordinary man to Joint Base Commander. That doesn’t happen by luck.”

”Yes, sir.”

The young man leaned in a little, curiosity winning out. ”Uncle Leonard… if he values those two that much, why didn’t you ask for more crystal cores?”

”Everything has a price,” Leonard said. ”Once you ask beyond what it’s worth, anyone who isn’t a fool knows how to weigh trade-offs.”

”Understood.”

Leonard’s mouth curved into a faint smile. ”Still… I’m interested in the people coming here. Anyone who can travel a thousand miles in the apocalypse should be strong.”

His eyes gleamed. ”If I can get them to stay in Goldcrest City… that could be a pretty nice gain.”

Hundreds of miles from Goldcrest City, high in the sky, two enormous birds tore through the air at top speed. One rider sat on each back.

Golden Eagle Nugget and Dire Eagle Pebble had been stuffing themselves with Tier 10 mutant beast meat these past few days. Their strength had climbed to the peak of Tier 9, and their speed was nothing to joke about.

And because they were strong, most ordinary flying mutant beasts avoided them on sight.

But not all of them.

Some powerful creatures weren’t scared of Nugget and Pebble’s aura at all.

Along the way, they’d already been hit by multiple aerial attacks—mostly flocking birds that hunted in groups, and a few savage raptors with strength not much weaker than Nugget and Pebble.

Luckily, the two riders were strong enough to back them up. Every time, they managed to fight their way through and turn disaster into a near miss.

Flying might be faster than traveling on the ground, but the danger level wasn’t lower.

If anything, it was higher.

In the air, most people couldn’t bring much combat power to bear. And if you slipped up even once…

You didn’t ”get hurt.”

You became a smear of meat on the earth.

As Goldcrest City drew closer and closer, excitement finally broke across Skinny Pete’s face.

”Skinny Pete, your family home is in Goldcrest City proper?” Ethan asked.

”No,” Skinny Pete said. ”We live out in the suburbs. But my parents do business downtown, so they’re in the city most of the time.”

”Got it.”

Right then, the sky dimmed.

A massive peregrine falcon appeared above them out of nowhere. It tucked its wings and dove—then accelerated again, dropping like a missile. It was even faster than Golden Eagle Nugget and Dire Eagle Pebble.

Ethan’s eyes lit up.

”A Tier 10 peregrine falcon.”

He glanced at Skinny Pete. ”You can still control it, right?”

”Yeah.” Skinny Pete sounded confident. ”I’m already at peak Tier 10. The four I’m controlling—Goldie, Speckles, Nugget, and Pebble—are all still Tier 9. Adding one Tier 10 won’t be a problem.”

”Good.” Ethan smiled faintly. ”Then let’s add another flying mount to the collection.”

The peregrine falcon hit them in an instant, talons aimed straight for Nugget’s head—clearly ignoring Ethan on its back.

Ethan let out a cold laugh. His poleaxe flashed into his hands from his spatial storage ring, and he chopped hard at the falcon’s chest.

The sudden counterattack startled the peregrine falcon. It beat its wings, trying to juke aside—

Too late.

Rip.

The poleaxe sank straight into its chest.

Wounded, the falcon turned vicious. Its talons clamped down on the poleaxe handle, and with a furious burst it shot upward.

Ethan held on tight, and in the blink of an eye he was yanked off Nugget’s back, dragged into open air by sheer momentum.

”Careful!” Skinny Pete’s face went tight, eyes locked on Ethan.

The moment the peregrine falcon had pulled Ethan away from Nugget, it released its grip—clearly intending to let Ethan fall and splatter.

But Ethan was already moving.

With a Teleportation, he vanished—

—and reappeared right on the falcon’s back.

Then he drove the poleaxe down, stabbing into the peregrine falcon’s back with a brutal thrust.

”SKREE—!”

The falcon shrieked, its body rolling violently through the air as it tried to shake Ethan off.

Ethan wrapped both arms around its neck like a vice, hanging on no matter how hard it flipped.

If he’d been allowed to kill it, with his current Tier 11 strength he wouldn’t have needed any of this—he could’ve snapped its neck clean.

But he wanted a flying mount.

So he ground it down the hard way. The falcon’s chest and back were still bleeding, and it couldn’t keep this up forever.

The peregrine falcon dragged Ethan through a string of insane aerial maneuvers. Meanwhile, Nugget and Pebble kept pace, carrying Skinny Pete as they chased close behind.

Finally—after more than half an hour of frantic struggling—the falcon’s movements started to slow.

Its strength bled out with every beat of its wings.

Then its body sagged, and it plunged toward the ground.

Boom—!

The peregrine falcon hit hard, slamming into the earth. Luckily its wings flared instinctively, bleeding off some of the speed, so the impact wasn’t completely catastrophic.

Ethan teleported at the last moment, landing steadily on the ground.

A moment later, Golden Eagle Nugget and Dire Eagle Pebble swooped down with Skinny Pete and touched down nearby.