Apocalypse: King of Zombies

With Skinny Pete keeping him pinned, Leonard basically spilled everything. Ethan even pried the secret method for creating thralls out of him.

And yeah—calling it ”secret” didn’t make it any less vile.

It was a twisted art that forcibly made living people into something like walking corpses—living dead.

The process would brutally stimulate the human body’s latent potential. If the creation succeeded, the thrall usually ended up stronger than they’d been in life, and it would still keep whatever supernatural ability it had before.

But the real selling point—the reason the Hale family valued it most—was that a successfully created thrall had no thoughts of its own. No will. It only obeyed its controller’s orders.

”No wonder this bastard dared to come after us,” Skinny Pete muttered, shaken. ”If he actually pulled this off, he’d skyrocket overnight!”

”Yeah.” Ethan’s voice stayed calm. ”Put enough profit in front of someone and they’ll lose their mind. He was acting it pretty well, too. Just didn’t expect me to move first.”

”If it’d been someone easier to talk to,” Skinny Pete said, ”with his whole ’hot women and good food’ routine, they might’ve actually fallen for it.”

”Mm.” Ethan nodded. ”Good thing we stayed cautious. Otherwise we’d be his puppets.”

Skinny Pete let out a breath, like he’d only just realized how close they’d come. ”So, Ethan. Now what?”

”Kill him. I’ll grab what I can, then we leave.”

”Alright.” Skinny Pete hesitated, then frowned. ”But if he dies… won’t this compound go to hell?”

”It won’t,” Ethan said flatly. ”This place already has a working system. If he dies, someone will step up. Worst case, Atlas City sends a replacement. Not our problem.”

”Got it.”

Skinny Pete nodded once, then drove his spear forward.

Leonard died on the spot.

The supreme commander of a compound with a population in the millions—once a Deputy Base Commander—collapsed stiffly into a spreading pool of blood.

In the apocalypse, he could’ve been a king.

One wrong step, and he didn’t even get the chance to regret it.

Ethan didn’t spare Leonard another glance. He started stripping the mansion instead.

This place was probably Leonard’s residence. There was a lot inside. Most of it wasn’t worth Ethan’s time, but a few things actually were.

Strange seeds. Special medicines. Fresh fruit.

Ethan didn’t have those on hand, so of course he was taking them.

For Ethan, going somewhere and leaving empty-handed just wasn’t a thing.

Outside the mansion, it was already surrounded by Enhanced. Someone had even hauled in AT-4s and all kinds of artillery, every barrel trained on the building.

But Leonard was still—supposedly—in the enemy’s hands, and with what had happened to the earlier group as a cautionary tale, none of the Enhanced dared to make a reckless move. They could only hold position outside, ready to strike the moment the intruders showed themselves.

The problem was… nothing happened for a long time.

The silence was making everyone itch.

”Captain, should we rush in and take a look?”

”You trying to get Colonel Hale killed?” the captain snapped. ”Unless you’re confident you can get Colonel Hale out of their hands!”

”I’m not…”

”Then stay put and do your job!”

”But what if they… do something to Colonel Hale—”

”Relax. They won’t dare.” The captain’s voice dropped, hard with certainty. ”This is Goldcrest City. Killing Goldcrest City’s top commander in Goldcrest City—even a Tier 10 Enhanced would think twice.”

”I’m guessing they’re negotiating terms,” he continued. ”All we have to do is lock the area down and make sure they don’t slip away.”

”…Yeah.”

Inside the mansion, Ethan finished sweeping every room. When he was sure there was nothing else worth taking, he finally stopped.

Then he activated [True Sight] and checked the situation outside.

His brows tightened.

”What is it, Ethan?” Skinny Pete asked, confused.

”The outside’s packed with Enhanced,” Ethan said. ”I’m guessing they’ve ringed this whole area.”

Skinny Pete snorted. ”So what? A bunch of Enhanced who aren’t even Tier 9 think they can stop us?”

”That’s not the point.” Ethan shook his head. ”Most of them are soldiers. They’re just following orders. Leonard’s already dead, so there’s no need to fight them.”

He looked at Skinny Pete. ”Call Pebble over too. We’ll just fly out.”

”Alright!” Skinny Pete nodded and started calling for Pebble.

With Skinny Pete’s parents along, Nugget alone as a flying mount wasn’t going to cut it. Two elderly people couldn’t stand steady on Nugget’s back—someone had to brace them from behind—so they needed at least two flying rides.

Not long after, startled shouts rose again outside. A moment later, Pebble came charging into the mansion as well.

”One each. We’re leaving!”

”Okay.” Ethan and Skinny Pete each scooped up one elderly person—both still wrapped head-to-toe in carapace armor—and jumped onto Pebble’s and Nugget’s backs.

Ever since Ethan had encased Skinny Pete’s parents in the Ironback Rat’s shell, he hadn’t let them out.

First, he was worried the people outside might start firing into the mansion.

Second, he didn’t want the two old folks seeing anything too bloody.

And honestly, the shell worked perfectly up in the air too, blocking the worst of the wind.

The moment they mounted, the Golden Eagle Nugget and the Dire Eagle Pebble launched straight up. They blasted through the mansion roof, tearing out a huge hole, and streaked off into the distance.

The Enhanced outside saw it and their faces changed instantly. They rushed into the mansion—

—and the second they spotted Leonard’s body on the floor, they froze like they’d been struck by lightning.

”It’s over… Goldcrest City’s about to flip upside down.”

None of them had believed the intruders would actually dare to kill Leonard.

”Captain! Didn’t you say they wouldn’t dare kill him?!”

”How the hell would I know?” the captain roared. ”Those two are lunatics! They killed Colonel Hale—Atlas City is not going to let this go!”

”Then what do we do now?”

”Send people—now. Get in contact with Atlas City!”

”Got it!”

On the other side…

Golden Eagle Nugget and Dire Eagle Pebble carried Ethan and Skinny Pete back to the spot where they’d landed last time.

Flint was waiting there.

Peregrine Falcon Flint’s injuries were still serious, but he looked way better than before.

”Can you fly?” Ethan asked.

”Chirp…” Flint cried out, then beat his wings, circled once in the air, and landed again.

”Not bad. That recovery’s impressive,” Ethan said. ”But you should thank me—I didn’t stab too deep back then…”

”…”

”Alright. If you can fly, then let’s move. When we get back, I’ll have Henry treat you.”

And just like that, they set out again, heading toward Clearford City.

The trip was pretty calm. They didn’t run into any mutant birds trying to block their path.

But just because things were quiet for them didn’t mean they were quiet everywhere.

Inside the Hale family estate in Atlas City…

The current head of the Hale family, Alexander Hale, was sipping coffee when a chief steward suddenly sprinted in.

”Sir! Something terrible has happened!”

Alexander frowned. ”What is it?”

”Something happened in Goldcrest City—your son Leonard has been killed!”

”What?!” Alexander shot to his feet. ”What happened? Tell me!”

”We just received a call from Goldcrest City. Today, two people from Clearford City went to Goldcrest City. They got into a conflict with Leonard, and then they killed him!”

”!!!”

”Leonard was already Tier 9,” Alexander snapped, voice tight. ”And he had a Tier 9 guarding him. How could he possibly be killed? Unless it was… Tier 10?”

”Yes. That’s what they reported.”

Alexander’s eyes went cold. ”Where are the two of them now?”

”They escaped on the backs of two massive birds…”

”….”

Alexander set his coffee down like it offended him. ”Get me Clearford City. Now.”