Apocalypse: King of Zombies

By now, the compound gate looked like a warzone. Bodies were everywhere—dead and wounded mixed together.

Ethan and Skinny Pete hadn’t even pulled weapons or used abilities, but with strength like theirs, every casual hit was either crippling or lethal.

More and more soldiers piled into the fight. They brought out everything—abilities, rifles, even heavier firearms.

It still didn’t put any real pressure on the two of them.

”Tier 9! He’s definitely Tier 9!”

”Holy shit—an ordinary Enhanced hit Tier 9 this fast?”

”Hah! I’ve hated these Military Police for ages. Finally somebody’s venting for us!”

”Now this is a show!”

Off to the side, Colin—missing an arm—stared at them with naked terror.

Only he understood: these two weren’t ”just Tier 9.”

He’d gone metal, and the guy had crushed his arm like it was cheap aluminum. That wasn’t something a normal Tier 9 could do.

That man… he might be Tier 10.

The thought made Colin’s insides go cold.

Tier 10. How the hell did a monster like that exist already?

He watched his men go down one after another, but he didn’t dare charge back in. He knew the truth—if he stepped up, he’d just be delivering himself to death.

As the seconds dragged on, more bodies hit the ground. Then—

”Stop!”

A booming voice cut through the chaos. A figure sprinted into the battlefield.

The soldiers visibly exhaled when they saw who it was, and they hurriedly halted.

But Ethan and Skinny Pete didn’t slow down at all. Their hands and feet kept moving, steady and ruthless.

”I said stop! Didn’t you hear me?!” the newcomer shouted.

Ethan glanced at him, then casually kicked another cluster of soldiers into the air.

”You can yell all you want,” Ethan said. ”I’ll fight my fight. Problem?”

”!!!”

The crowd sucked in a collective breath.

”Damn. He’s not even giving Lieutenant Colonel Conrad Hayes—Provost Marshal—any face.”

”Why would he? He doesn’t even know him.”

”Haha, this is gonna be good. Conrad’s probably about to explode.”

Sure enough, Conrad’s expression turned ugly.

But to everyone’s surprise, the man who was feared across the compound—authority incarnate, the base’s chief enforcer—didn’t blow up.

He drew in a long breath, forced himself to lower his posture, and spoke in a tight, controlled tone.

”I’ll admit my men handled this badly,” Conrad said. ”But you’ve already killed a lot of people. You’ve made your point. Let’s end it here. How about it?”

”No.”

Ethan didn’t even hesitate.

”Once you’ve started swinging, you don’t just ’end it here’ because you feel like it.”

Conrad’s jaw clenched. ”…Then what do you want?”

”Let me kill for another half hour.”

”That’s impossible!” Conrad’s face went dark, and he locked eyes with Ethan. ”You came here to pick someone up, not to slaughter people. Keep this up and you really think you’ll still be able to take whoever you came for?!”

Ethan finally stopped moving.

He narrowed his eyes at the man in front of him.

”And you are?”

”I’m Conrad Hayes,” Conrad said. ”Provost Marshal. I’m in charge of discipline and punishment in this compound.”

”Good.” Ethan’s voice turned razor-cold. ”Then we can stop… if you trade your life for theirs. What do you say?”

Conrad’s face snapped white. ”You dare?! Are you trying to make Goldcrest City your enemy for good?”

”Enemy?” Ethan looked almost amused. ”You think too highly of yourself.”

”One life for all those lives?” Ethan continued, eyes flat. ”That’s a bargain.”

As he spoke, a machete lying on the ground suddenly rose into the air as if yanked by an invisible hand.

Before anyone could even process what they were seeing—

It shot forward and stabbed straight into Conrad’s throat.

Conrad clutched his throat, eyes bulging as he stared at Ethan.

He couldn’t believe it. The guy had actually dared to kill him.

Conrad tried to speak, but when he opened his mouth, all that came out was blood.

Then his body tipped straight over and hit the ground. His eyes stayed open—full of unwilling rage and confused disbelief.

”!!!”

The sudden turn made everyone freeze, staring with wide eyes and slack faces.

This was Conrad Hayes—the compound’s Provost Marshal. The man who held everyone’s life and death in his hands. And he’d just been killed right in front of them?

Sure, plenty of people secretly wished he’d die.

But seeing it happen for real was something else entirely.

Conrad was also a peak Tier 8 Enhanced, yet he hadn’t even gotten a chance to react. Instant kill.

That planted a dangerous question in everyone’s mind.

Was this guy really ”only” Tier 9?

Could a Tier 9 one-shot a peak Tier 8?

Even with the doubt hanging in the air, nobody wanted to believe someone above Tier 9 already existed. It was easier to tell themselves Conrad just hadn’t expected Ethan to strike so suddenly.

Colin, on the other hand, wasn’t surprised.

But he was shaken by how decisive Ethan was.

Provost Marshal. One of the highest authorities in the compound—and Ethan killed him without blinking.

Too brutal.

The scene fell into a dead silence. Everyone stared at Ethan and Skinny Pete like they were looking at walking disasters.

Then another group hurried over from inside the compound. The young man in front took in the wreckage, his face darkening.

”You two went way too far.”

”Isn’t this exactly what you wanted?” Ethan said lightly. ”You wanted to test us. Testing costs money.”

”You—”

”Enough,” Ethan cut in. ”Take us to Leonard.”

”...”

The young man drew a slow breath.

”Fine. Follow me.”

He turned and walked into the compound.

Ethan smiled faintly and led Skinny Pete after him.

Only when they were gone did the people at the gate finally breathe again.

They looked at the devastation—especially Conrad Hayes’s corpse—and the feeling spread through them, cold and certain.

Goldcrest City was about to change.

Colin let out a long sigh. He ordered men to clear the area and carry Conrad’s body inside.

What happened at the gate spread through the compound almost immediately, setting off an uproar.

Someone had killed Conrad at the main entrance.

The news hit like an earthquake, leaving people stunned.

If so many hadn’t witnessed it firsthand, no one would’ve believed it.

Before long, the entire Goldcrest City was talking about it. Rumors multiplied by the minute, flying in every direction.

Meanwhile, the young man led Ethan and Skinny Pete toward the compound’s center.

Along the way, anyone who saw him immediately lowered their head and greeted him. Plenty of them whispered to each other too.

From the way people acted, it was obvious his status here was no joke.

And from what Ethan caught in those low conversations, the guy in front of them was connected to Deputy Base Commander Leonard Hale—closely.

Ethan flicked Skinny Pete a look.

Skinny Pete nodded, stepped up a few paces, and fell in beside the young man.

”Hey,” Skinny Pete said. ”What’s your name?”

”Lucas Hale.”

The young man clearly disliked them, but he didn’t dare show it openly. He answered honestly.

Skinny Pete, as always, went straight for the throat. ”What are you to Leonard Hale?”

Lucas hesitated, then finally said, ”He’s my uncle.”

”Oh.” Skinny Pete nodded slowly. ”No wonder everyone’s so polite to you. So you’ve got connections.”

”...”

”You’re part of the Hale family?” Ethan asked suddenly.

”Yes,” Lucas said.

Skinny Pete stroked his chin. ”Huh. So Leonard Hale’s got backing too. No wonder he can be the compound commander.”

”…”

Lucas really wanted to snap back.

But thinking about what these two had just done—and how strong they were—he swallowed it.

Less trouble was better.