Apocalypse: King of Zombies

With Dopey’s poleaxe coming down in a single hit, the ore seam they’d only managed to chip half a meter into… got blown open into a hole over thirty feet deep.

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.

They’d just experienced firsthand how ridiculous that black ore was—hard enough already, and they were a kilometer underground, where the pressure only made it tougher to crack.

They’d fought like hell just to make a half-meter dent.

Dopey casually swung once and punched out thirty-plus feet.

In that moment, the gap between them and Dopey stopped being ”big” and started being ”unfair.”

Even though they were already Stage B, in front of him they felt like ants that could be flicked to death without effort.

”Ethan…” Chris asked, face tight, ”what Tier do you think Dopey is, exactly?”

”No clue,” Ethan said, just as grim. ”But if I had to guess… he’s probably not below Tier 30.”

”Which means Stage S.”

”Stage S?!”

Everyone’s eyes went huge.

No wonder he was this terrifying. Someone at that level killing them really would be as easy as slaughtering chickens.

Dopey ignored the collapsing dirt entirely. He lifted the poleaxe again and hammered the ore seam.

BOOM!

The impact was like a cannon going off underground. The earth shuddered, and even more dirt poured down.

The deep shaft Garrick had dug was already completely filled in. The only space they had left to move was inside the protective dome Garrick was holding up.

Dopey didn’t care. He just kept swinging.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!

With each deafening blast, he carved a straight passage through the black ore like it was soft clay.

Everyone hurried after him. It didn’t take long before they reached the crystal Ethan had spotted.

”Stop!” Ethan barked, suddenly nervous Dopey would overdo it and smash the crystal too.

Dopey froze on the spot, motionless.

Ethan took the poleaxe back, then stored Dopey into the spatial storage ring.

”Just a little over three feet left,” Ethan said, eyes gleaming. ”Now it’s our turn.”

”Hell yeah.”

Everyone drew their weapons. Three feet was nothing.

After a brief, chaotic round of pounding, the last section of black ore cracked apart.

A massive, pure-white crystal was embedded in the dark seam, so bright it looked almost unreal against the black.

The moment it was exposed, the mysterious energy in the area spiked—so dense it felt like the air itself had turned thick.

The crystal was about the size of a human head. Perfectly white, no impurities, no cloudiness. The mysterious energy rolling off it was so concentrated it was almost visible.

”Jesus…” someone breathed, staring with glassy eyes. ”What even is that? The energy’s so rich it feels like you could just stand next to it and your Tier would start climbing on its own.”

Ethan reached out and touched it. Warm, smooth—almost like polished jade. It felt good under his palm.

”No idea what it is,” he said, voice low with excitement, ”but it’s absolutely a top-tier treasure. Something like this has to form under insanely specific conditions.”

”I’m telling you, that’s an energy crystal,” Big Mike said, practically shaking. ”And not just any—this is a massive, top-grade energy crystal!”

For once, nobody jumped in to argue with him.

”Calling it an energy crystal makes sense,” someone said slowly. ”But this thing is huge. Most of the ones we’ve seen are barely marble-sized. This one’s the size of a head.”

”I’m betting this is the core of a whole crystal vein,” another added. ”It probably absorbed the surrounding crystals over time and grew into this.”

Henry crouched near the black ore, studying it. ”Look at these black rocks. Some of them still have a faint trace of energy. Maybe they used to be energy crystals too—then they got drained and turned into this.”

”Huh.” Chris frowned. ”Henry’s got a point. But if it absorbed the energy of an entire vein, shouldn’t it be bigger than this?”

”It’s not small,” Ethan said. ”This crystal’s quality is absurd. It’s constantly releasing mysterious energy, but the energy stored inside it doesn’t seem to be dropping much at all.”

Everyone stared at him. ”That’s insane. So… with this, we don’t have to worry about mysterious energy anymore?”

”In theory.” Ethan nodded. ”As long as we don’t overdraw it, it should keep generating mysterious energy continuously.”

”Holy shit,” Big Mike whispered, then grinned like a maniac. ”We really hit the jackpot. With this thing and our ritual circle… our strength is going to skyrocket.”

”Yeah,” Ethan said, unable to hide his excitement now. ”This is a real score.”

He didn’t waste time. With a few quick movements, he dug the huge energy crystal free and slipped it into his spatial storage ring.

The moment Ethan took the energy crystal, the mysterious energy inside the Void Realm began to thin out—fast.

This shattered pocket world had long since lost the ability to generate mysterious energy on its own. All the mysterious energy everyone had been enjoying was coming from that crystal, steadily leaking it into the environment.

Now that the crystal was gone, the energy naturally started dissipating.

Up above, Oliver and the others were still standing there, staring blankly at the completely collapsed shaft.

If it weren’t for the occasional heavy tremors coming from below, Oliver would’ve seriously started wondering if he needed to dig them out.

”Huh… something feels off,” one underling said suddenly.

”Now that you mention it,” another muttered, ”yeah. It’s like… something’s missing.”

Oliver frowned. Then something clicked.

He dropped into a seated position and focused on sensing the flow around him.

A second later, his face changed.

”The mysterious energy—there’s less of it.”

”What?!”

The others hurried to sit and feel it out for themselves.

It didn’t take long before disbelief spread across their faces.

They’d cultivated here for so long that they were used to the concentration. The difference was obvious the second they reached out with their senses.

”What the hell is going on?”

They looked at each other, all of them lost.

”No idea.”

”Could it be because of them?” one underling said, pointing at the ground.

Everyone’s expression darkened.

Did that even need to be asked?

They’d been in this Void Realm for ages and nothing like this had ever happened. Fallen Star Squad shows up and it turns into this? You’d have to be an idiot to believe it was a coincidence.

”But what did they do down there to make the mysterious energy drop this much?”

”No clue. It’s gotta be connected to whatever they’re doing underground.”

”Maybe there was some treasure down there that was making the mysterious energy so dense,” someone said slowly, voice turning grim. ”They went down, took it… and now the energy’s weakening.”

The more they said it, the more it fit.

”…Yeah,” another person said, jaw tightening. ”That actually makes a lot of sense.”

”So what now?” someone else asked, panic creeping in. ”If this Void Realm loses its mysterious energy, how are we supposed to stay ahead of everyone?”

No one answered.

The silence said everything. They all understood how bad this was.

”Damn it,” an underling snapped, anger finally spilling over. ”We never should’ve brought them here. The rumors weren’t wrong—those guys are straight-up bandits.”

”Not bring them?” Oliver shot him an icy look. ”Do you really think that was an option?”

”If I hadn’t brought them, you think you’d still be standing here talking?”

”But—”

”Enough.” Oliver cut him off. ”Which matters more—some treasure, or your life? If you’re dead, what’s the point of guarding a Void Realm?”

”…Yes, boss.” Everyone lowered their heads.

But even with that said, the resentment didn’t vanish. It sat on every face, thick and bitter.

Oliver felt it too. It twisted in his chest like a knife.

But what could he do?

When you’re weaker, you don’t get choices.

That was reality.