Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Grilling was practically a core skill for Fallen Star Squad by this point.

With everyone working together, the meat on the rack grew more and more fragrant as it sizzled over the flame.

The Glacial Bear stared so hard it looked like it was trying to burn holes through the roast with its eyes. Drool pooled on the ground beneath its muzzle.

The smell was basically weaponized.

A few times it reached out like it was about to grab a chunk—then forced itself to stop, swallowing hard like it was trying to act ”polite.”

The roc, on the other hand, didn’t seem that interested. It was sprawled on the ground resting, barely lifting its head.

Half an hour later, that massive Outland Beast was finally done.

Golden on both sides, crisp on the outside, tender inside—fat crackling, aroma blasting through the air.

The Glacial Bear couldn’t hold back anymore. It lumbered right up, staring at them with big, eager eyes.

Ethan smiled and tore off half, handing it over.

The Glacial Bear took it like it was receiving a sacred offering and bit down.

One bite—

And its face instantly went slack with bliss.

What is this? it practically radiated.

How is this so good?

It didn’t stop to ask. It just dove in, wolfing it down with violent enthusiasm.

Ethan’s smile deepened.

Perfect.

The bait was working.

This Glacial Bear had an obvious weakness.

Good food.

Ethan tore off a smaller portion and offered it to the roc too, but the roc barely cared. It pecked at it a little, more out of courtesy than hunger.

Birds didn’t have the same obsession with taste. As long as it was edible and filled its stomach, it was fine.

So if Ethan tried to ”hook” the roc with barbecue, he’d be wasting his time.

But that was fine.

This time, his real target was the Glacial Bear. The roc was just a bonus.

In no time, the Glacial Bear had reduced its half to a bare frame of bones. It licked its lips, then looked longingly at what was left on the rack.

Ethan laughed softly and handed over the rest.

Eat. Please eat.

He wasn’t afraid the bear would get full—he was afraid it wouldn’t like it.

As long as it liked eating, everything got easier.

The Glacial Bear’s eyes actually softened with gratitude. Then it dug in again, devouring the second half like it had been starving for a week.

Meanwhile, Ethan and the others pulled out jerky and started chewing.

They didn’t eat a single bite of the roast.

They’d given it all away.

But none of them cared. If they wanted, they could roast more anytime.

The Glacial Bear was huge, and it ate fast. Before long, the other half was gone too.

It licked its lips, still unsatisfied, then glanced at Ethan’s group—

—and realized they were eating dry, tough jerky.

The Glacial Bear scratched its head, suddenly looking a little embarrassed.

Only then did it seem to register that it had eaten the entire roast, while everyone else got stuck gnawing on something that looked miserable.

After a beat, it hurried over, grabbed an even larger Outland Beast corpse, and brought it over with an eager look—then stared straight at Big Mike like, Do it again.

Big Mike waved his hands, helpless. ”Can’t. We don’t have enough seasoning left. Without spices, it won’t taste good.”

That was the line Ethan had told him to use.

You didn’t let the bear eat until it was satisfied.

You kept it wanting.

And sure enough, the Glacial Bear’s eyes drooped in obvious disappointment.

It didn’t doubt Big Mike for a second—because if they really had seasoning left, why would they be chewing dry jerky instead?

Ethan judged the moment, then stepped in with a friendly smile.

”We’ve got tons of spices back in the city,” he said smoothly. ”Why don’t you come hang out with us for a bit? We’ll hunt a bunch of Outland Beasts on the way, and you can eat as much as you want in one sitting.”

The Glacial Bear’s eyes lit up like someone had just opened the gates to heaven.

It started nodding so hard its whole massive head bobbed.

”Roar… roar… ROAR!”

The roc watched from the side, eyes narrowed suspiciously as it looked from Ethan… to the Glacial Bear… and back again, like it could smell something fishy.

But it didn’t say a word.

Twice now, these humans had dragged it back from the edge of death. It was grateful to the bone. Even if there really was some scheme here, it would still side with them.

Seeing the Glacial Bear agree so easily, Ethan’s smile widened again.

So far, so good.

Then Ethan and the others got to work digging crystal cores out of the Outland Beast corpses.

This fight had nearly killed them—but it had also left behind a mountain of bodies.

Tens of thousands of Outland Beasts, ranging from Stage B up to Stage A.

For them—and for Fallen Star City as a whole—this was an obscene amount of wealth.

They’d already dug out a portion while Henry was treating the Glacial Bear, but there was still a huge section left.

Ethan released all of his thralls and had them help with extraction. With eighteen thralls working alongside the squad, it still took more than an hour to finish.

By the time they were done, the numbers were staggering.

They’d killed over sixty thousand Outland Beasts.

More than fifty thousand of those were Stage B.

But Stage A?

They’d still taken almost ten thousand.

Ten thousand Stage A crystal cores was exactly what Fallen Star City needed right now. It was rain in a drought. With those cores, the city could mass-produce Stage A experts at terrifying speed—an immediate, brutal leap in overall strength.

And mixed in were even higher-tier cores too—Tier 26, Tier 27—enough to push the squad’s own strength up another notch.

Everyone wanted to start upgrading immediately.

But the Glacial Bear was already impatient, huffing and nudging like a kid who’d been promised candy. It kept urging them to hurry up.

So they swallowed the urge and packed everything away.

They could eat later—back home.

With the haul secured, the squad set out, bringing the Glacial Bear and the roc with them.

This trip had been dangerous enough to nearly wipe them out, but the reward matched the risk.

The crystal cores were huge, sure.

But the real prize?

A Stage SS Glacial Bear walking beside them, alive and cooperative.

If they could convince it to stay in Fallen Star City, then no matter how ugly the world got, the city would finally have something solid to stand behind.

So far, even though Earth had been flooded with Void Realm invaders, they still hadn’t seen many Stage SS-level powerhouses.

Stage SS had to be rare even in those worlds.

And when dimensional rifts first opened, every race would send scouts first—advance forces to probe the new world—not toss their top-tier monsters in immediately.

So Ethan was confident: even if Earth did have Stage SS invaders already, there couldn’t be many.

For now, this Glacial Bear was the one anchor strong enough to hold Fallen Star City steady in the middle of the storm.

Fallen Star City…

Outside the walls, a massive crowd of Void Realm creatures had arrived again—tens of thousands at minimum.

And they were the same bunch from Eldoria.

They’d spent time roaming, searching for other human cities they could take… and failed. Every city strong enough to occupy and actually hold had at least a Tier 34 or Tier 35 powerhouse in the background, and usually several Tier 30+ Stage S elites as well.

It wasn’t something they could even think about.

Compared to that, the Azure Nereids—who only had a single Stage S—looked like the easiest target on the board.

Sure, the Nereids had a powerful background.

But the dimensional rifts were closed right now. What good was a background if no reinforcements could come?

If they wiped the Nereids out here, then even if the rifts reopened later… who would be able to prove what happened? Who would know which race did it?

So after some quick negotiation among the Eldoria factions, they turned back around and came here again.

There were millions of humans inside this city.

Split them up between the races, and every faction could take tens of thousands—more than enough.

Miles stood on the wall, face grim as he stared at the approaching mass.

Beside him stood Nerissa, commander of the Azure Nereid vanguard.

The moment the Eldoria forces got close, Fallen Star City’s recon team had spotted them. Miles had immediately called every Azure Nereid over.

Now they waited—silent, tense—watching that tide of enemies roll closer.