Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”Dylan!!”

The people around the young man jerked like they’d been shocked. They clearly hadn’t expected someone to actually dare lay hands on him.

They rushed over, hauled him up, and steadied him.

”Dylan, you alright?!”

”Pff—” Dylan spat out a mouthful of blood, eyes locked on Chris with pure hatred.

”Fuck!” he snarled. ”You hit me? Kill him. Kill him right now. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility!”

”Got it!”

The guys with him smirked and started walking toward Chris like this was already over.

Meanwhile, a crowd gathered fast from every direction. Human nature—nobody ever hated a good show.

”These guys have some balls. They actually hit Dylan Voss.”

”He’s probably new. Doesn’t recognize him.”

”New people should be even more careful. Who shows up and starts throwing hands on day one?”

”Probably thinks he’s got skills. Those cocky types always get taught a lesson.”

”Heh. Hitting Dylan isn’t just ’a lesson.’ With how protective his brother is, these guys are screwed.”

”Yeah. Shame, though. Those two girls are seriously something.”

Chris watched the group coming at him, shook his head, then glanced over at Ethan. ”Ethan. Can I kill them?”

Ethan’s brows knit. Something about this whole group felt… off. Like they were too eager, too sloppy. Almost like they’d been hoping for exactly this.

But weird or not, Ethan wasn’t about to swallow it when someone walked up and started harassing his people.

He gave a small wave of his hand. ”Don’t hold back.”

”Perfect.” Chris nodded.

By then, the group had reached him.

”You little punk,” one of them said, chin raised. ”You’re real arrogant, huh? You even dared hit Dylan Voss. I suggest you walk over right now, get on your knees, and apologize. Maybe Dylan will spare your life. Otherwise—”

Thud—!

Chris didn’t bother listening. He drove a kick straight through the guy’s chest and sent him flying.

”Fuck! He’s still swinging!”

”Get him! Kill him!”

A storm of skills and abilities came crashing toward Chris.

Big Mike cracked his knuckles, itching. ”Chris, you want help? I can wipe them with one hand.”

”Don’t need it,” Chris tossed back.

Then he plunged into the crowd.

The next second, it was just impact after impact—fists, knees, elbows, kicks. Bodies lifted off the ground like ragdolls.

In less than a minute, more than thirty people were down, sprawled across the road, not moving. Dead or alive—hard to tell.

But a bunch of them had caved-in chests, holes punched clean through. A lot of them were probably gone.

The onlookers went dead quiet.

Nobody had expected Chris to be this strong.

Those were Tier 6 and Tier 7 Enhanced—over thirty of them—and he’d crushed them like they were nothing.

”Tier 8?” someone whispered.

”Feels higher,” another muttered. ”They had multiple Tier 7s. Even Tier 8 can’t just delete Tier 7s that easily.”

”Then… Tier 9?”

”Could be.”

The crowd rippled with shock.

”Ha—Dylan finally kicked the wrong hornet’s nest.”

”Would be nice if someone could kill him. Dude’s been an asshole forever.”

”With his brother around? No way.” Someone snorted. ”And this guy just killed people in the compound. Even if he’s Tier 9, he won’t get away with it.”

”Yeah… but watching Dylan eat shit is still satisfying.”

Chris stepped over the bodies and walked straight toward Dylan.

Dylan’s face went pale. He stumbled backward. ”D-don’t come closer! I’m telling you—my brother’s the Security Captain! If you kill me, you’re done! You’re really done!”

Chris tilted his head, almost conversational. ”Emily literally warned you. Told you to leave or it’d be ugly. You just wouldn’t listen.”

Dylan swallowed hard. ”I—I believe you! I’m leaving right now!”

”Leaving now?” Chris smiled like he’d heard a good joke. ”Little late for that.”

He reached out, clamped a hand around Dylan’s throat, and started to twist—going for the snap.

”Stop!”

A sharp roar cut through the noise.

A second later, a large group of uniformed men forced their way through the crowd, pushing people aside as they surged in.

”You’ve got a lot of nerve!” the man in front bellowed, furious. ”Killing people inside the compound?!”

”B-bro—save me!” Dylan wheezed, his neck still locked in Chris’s grip. The moment he saw who it was, his face lit up with desperate relief.

Hearing Dylan’s voice, Bennett Voss snapped his head over—and his expression detonated into pure rage.

He yanked out a gun and aimed it straight at Chris.

”Let him go!” Bennett shouted. ”Or I’ll execute you on the spot for endangering compound security!”

Chris didn’t even blink at the threat. He just smiled, almost friendly. ”That your brother?”

”Yes!”

”Oh.” Chris’s smile widened. ”Then your brother’s gone.”

Crack.

Bone snapped.

Right in front of the Compound Security Force, Chris twisted—and Dylan’s neck broke clean.

”!!!”

The whole street froze.

Nobody had expected him to kill someone with security standing right there—much less the Security Captain’s brother.

”Yeah… no one’s saving them now,” someone muttered from the crowd, half in awe, half in dread.

Bennett stared for a couple seconds like his brain couldn’t process it. Then his face contorted.

”Ah—! You’re dead!” he screamed, and pulled the trigger at Chris.

A beam of light lanced out from the muzzle, firing straight at him.

”Huh?”

Ethan and the others all stared, startled. Only now did they notice Bennett’s weapon didn’t look like a normal gun at all.

Chris, curious more than anything, casually raised a hand and blocked the beam.

Pssht.

The light hit his palm. It actually stung.

”This thing’s got some bite,” Chris said, sounding genuinely impressed.

That simple line—plus the fact he was still standing—nearly made the onlookers’ jaws hit the ground.

Laser weapons were Atlas City’s most successful post-apocalypse invention: converting crystal core energy into high-output laser fire.

The power depended on the core installed. Normally, they were loaded with cores strong enough to kill zombies of the same Tier.

A Tier 6 core could kill Tier 6 zombies and seriously injure Tier 7s.

But the materials required to build these weapons were extremely rare—and the higher the Tier, the harsher the material requirements. They weren’t mass-produced yet. Only special government personnel had them.

And as a Security Captain, Bennett carried a Tier 8 laser weapon, loaded with a Tier 8 crystal core.

That kind of gun could kill a Tier 8 Enhanced outright. Even a Tier 9 wouldn’t dare tank it head-on.

Yet Chris had caught it with his bare hand—and he was fine.

In that moment, everyone felt their worldview shatter. A wave of shock rolled through the crowd like a physical thing.

Just how strong was this guy?

Even Bennett sobered instantly, his rage cooling into disbelief as he stared at Chris.

”H-how is that possible…?”

Right then, a figure abruptly appeared at his side—like he’d blinked into existence.

Before Bennett could react, the newcomer snatched the laser weapon right out of his hand and started examining it on the spot.

”???”

Bennett stood there dumbfounded.

Who the hell was this? How did he get here? And why was he taking Bennett’s gun?