Apocalypse: King of Zombies

After chatting with Ethan and the others for a while, Miles finally remembered there were still more than five hundred people standing outside.

”Ah—almost forgot about you guys,” Miles said, a little awkward. ”Come on in.”

”Sure thing!” Jaxon flashed a wide smile and nodded, not showing a trace of resentment.

Soon, Jaxon came into the meeting room with the woman beside him and his scout.

Inside, Ethan sat at the head of the table, with Miles across from him. The rest of the Fallen Star Squad took seats wherever they felt like it.

Jaxon’s trio, meanwhile, stood off to the side, stiff and out of place.

The scout had already whispered another warning: there were ten people in this room, and he couldn’t read a single one of their Tiers.

Which meant every person here was at least Tier 10.

Jaxon and the others instantly behaved—quiet as cats, not daring to even breathe too loud.

”Where did you come from?” Miles asked.

”We… we escaped from Harrison City,” Jaxon said carefully.

”Escaped?” Miles frowned. ”Last I checked, Harrison City’s compound was developing pretty well. Something happen?”

Miles clearly had done his homework on Harrison City before.

”Yes,” Jaxon said, putting on an earnest face so convincing you’d never guess he’d once planned to take this place for himself. ”A Tier 10 zombie appeared in Harrison City. It led more than eight hundred thousand zombies and broke the compound in one strike. People inside either died or ran. We barely made it out and ended up here. When we saw your compound, we wanted to come in and seek protection.”

”A Tier 10 zombie?” Ethan said, smiling like he’d just heard about a fun weekend plan. ”Sounds like we’ve got work to do again.”

”Captain, you’re going to handle it?” Miles looked from Ethan to the others.

”Since we ran into it, of course we’ll stretch our legs a bit,” Ethan said lightly. ”It’s been a while since we did something for the compound.”

Miles laughed. ”If you’re taking action, then it gets a whole lot simpler.”

He leaned forward, eyes bright. ”Perfect timing, actually. I’ve been planning an offensive toward Harrison City. I held off because their compound was still there. But if it’s already been destroyed… then there’s nothing left to worry about.”

”Mm.” Ethan nodded. ”You arrange it however you want.”

Fallen Star City’s internal stuff was Miles’s job. Ethan wasn’t about to micromanage. If there was a chance to be lazy, he was going to take it.

Jaxon swallowed, then forced himself to look hopeful. ”Um… Base Commander. Deputy Commander. We want to join Fallen Star City. I was wondering if…”

He wasn’t stupid. After seeing Fallen Star City’s strength, he’d realized the best move was to latch onto this… well, this monster of a powerhouse.

As for his earlier dream of taking the compound for himself?

That had been tossed straight into the trash.

Miles gave them a quick once-over, then nodded. ”We’re short on manpower in the south fields—land clearing and farming. Go help there.”

Jaxon and the others froze like they’d been hit with a stun grenade.

”The, uh… Deputy Commander,” the woman blurted, struggling to keep her tone polite. ”Are you sure there isn’t a misunderstanding? Our captain is a Tier 8 Enhanced. I’m Tier 7. We’ve got a lot of Tier 6s and Tier 7s in the team. Sending us to… work the fields, that’s…”

”We only need people planting and clearing right now,” Miles said flatly. ”If you don’t want to, then go back where you came from.”

The woman opened her mouth to argue—

Jaxon clapped a hand over it immediately and plastered on a smile. ”We’re willing. We’re willing! We’ll go right now!”

He practically dragged the two of them out of the meeting room at top speed.

Ethan watched them go and chuckled. ”Miles, you’re getting smoother by the day.”

Miles scratched his head, a little embarrassed. ”Haha. This is what happens when you’ve been managing stuff for too long.”

Then his expression turned serious again.

”We don’t know those people,” he said. ”Who knows what their real intentions are. Put them in the fields and watch them for a while.”

He added, ”And honestly, there are already some high-Tier Enhanced doing basic work inside the compound—people we brought back from other places. Until we’re sure they’re loyal, they all get treated like regular workers.”

Ethan nodded. ”You’re right.”

Miles’s mood flipped back to upbeat in an instant. ”Alright—come on. I’ll take you to your new place. I promise you’ll like it.”

He grinned. ”And I found a few legit great chefs in the compound. Tonight I’m having them cook up a full spread. We’ll drink a little and celebrate.”

”That’s perfect,” Ethan said, genuinely delighted. ”Finally, I don’t have to cook.”

Mia rolled her eyes. ”Like you’ve been cooking lately.”

Ethan coughed and rubbed the back of his head. ”Uh… fair.”

”But having great chefs is amazing,” Ethan said, recovering fast. ”You two can relax too—just sit there and wait to be fed.”

Mia nodded, a little pleased despite herself. ”That part’s true.”

”Let’s go!” Chris and the others were already grinning, clearly hyped.

Miles led them deep into the residential district, all the way toward the back.

Before long, five luxurious mansions came into view.

They were arranged in a circle, with a huge lawn in the center. There was even a pond, a decorative rock garden, and a gazebo. The whole place looked ridiculously nice.

The compound itself was enormous, but the population was only a little over fifty thousand, so everyone’s housing was already spacious. And as the Base Commander, Ethan’s living area was naturally even more grand.

Each mansion had been carefully designed—wide open layout, expensive furnishings, and most importantly…

Every rooftop was built into an open-air balcony. Each one had several oversized lounge chairs laid out.

Why it was set up like that, everyone understood perfectly.

Seeing the mansions, their eyes lit up.

”Haha, Miles—you get us,” Chris said, laughing as he slapped Miles on the shoulder.

”As long as you like it,” Miles said with a grin. ”From now on, this is where Fallen Star Squad lives. They’re huge—two people per mansion. Pick whatever you want.”

”Hahaha, then I won’t hold back.” Chris pointed at the mansion on the far left. ”I’m taking that one. Ethan, let’s share a place.”

”I don’t care,” Ethan said. ”They’re so big we could all cram into one and still have space. We’re not even here that often.”

”True, but I still think two people to a place feels better.”

”Fine by me,” Ethan said, shrugging. ”We’ll take one together.”

”Mia, let’s take that one,” Emily said—no, Mia said, pointing to the mansion right next to Ethan’s.

”Mm!” Emily nodded quickly.

With the choices made, everyone happily hurried inside to claim their new places.

On the other side…

Jaxon and his people walked south toward the farmland.

Nobody looked happy.

Back in Harrison City’s compound, their squad had been the strongest force outside the government itself. Wherever they went, people treated them with respect. And now they’d come here and gotten sent to farm?

Anyone would feel humiliated.

”Captain, they’re clearly messing with us on purpose,” the woman said, scowling. ”First they left us waiting forever, and now they’re sending us to the fields. They never intended to take us in.”

”Exactly,” another Tier 7 Enhanced said. ”Captain, we should just leave. With our strength, we could do well anywhere. We could even build our own compound.”

Jaxon shot both of them an icy look.

”You really think this is a place where you come and go whenever you feel like it?”

He lowered his voice. ”I guarantee you—if we step out of that gate, we’ll get slapped to death in minutes.”

”…”

The two of them went pale.

Only then did it really sink in: this wasn’t a government compound. These people didn’t have to worry about rules, reputation, or consequences.

”T-then… Captain, what do we do?”

”We do what they told us,” Jaxon said flatly. ”We work farm duty.”

He clenched his jaw. ”It’s probably a test. If we perform well, with our strength, we’ll definitely be allowed into the combat squads.”

”…Yeah.”

”C-Captain,” the scout suddenly said, voice strange. ”I think you might be wrong.”

Jaxon frowned. ”What?”

The scout pointed ahead, toward the people working in the fields. ”Those workers are all Tier 6… and I even saw several Tier 7s.”

”…”

Jaxon’s face stiffened.

Tier 6 and Tier 7… doing manual labor?

That was a little too much.