Apocalypse: King of Zombies

After coming back from Nerissa, Ethan and the others still decided to use the Azure Nereids’ method to absorb crystal cores.

It was a technique refined over countless years. Of course it was better than their crude, ”eat it and pray” approach.

And the results proved it.

They spent the whole night absorbing and comparing notes. The absorption method was slower, but it squeezed out more of the crystal core’s energy.

If they swallowed cores directly, going from early-stage to peak within a Tier took nine crystal cores.

With absorption, seven cores were enough.

Two cores saved—per Tier. That added up fast.

More importantly, even after reaching the peak of a Tier, they could continue absorbing crystal cores of the same Tier to push themselves forward.

Based on their estimates, absorbing about five more crystal cores of the same Tier would be enough to break into the next Tier.

In other words, with this absorption method, they didn’t necessarily need crystal cores one Tier higher to advance. As long as they had enough crystal cores at their current Tier, they could still force their way into the next Tier.

However, that only applied to normal Tier advancement. Breaking from one Stage into the next was different. For a Stage breakthrough, higher-tier crystal cores were still required, because that kind of breakthrough was not just about quantity. It also required a higher quality of energy.

Once they understood that, everyone felt a brief, sharp stab of pain.

They’d wasted so many crystal cores before.

But the feeling only lasted a moment. If they hadn’t wasted those cores back then, they wouldn’t be who they were now. And regret didn’t put strength back in your body.

Still… the method really was slow.

Even absorbing a same-Tier crystal core took, on average, a little over an hour.

In an emergency, who had that kind of time?

They started at night and didn’t finish until noon the next day—and that was only because they didn’t actually have that many usable cores.

This trip to Rivermark State had netted them tens of thousands of crystal cores, but the ones they could truly use were limited. Most of what they’d killed had been lower-Tier than them. Enemies above their Tier were simply too hard to bring down in numbers.

Even so, it was enough to raise the entire Fallen Star Squad to Tier 27.

And Ethan himself jumped all the way to Tier 29.

The reason the gap was so big was simple: crystal cores above Tier 27 were rare. They could have pushed everyone to Tier 28, but it wouldn’t have mattered much. It was better to stack everything onto Ethan.

So in the end, Ethan hit Tier 29, while the others stopped at Tier 27.

And there was another, even bigger reason for doing it this way—

Henry had a Tier 35 crystal core in his possession.

A gift from the Glacial Bear.

Once Ethan reached Tier 29, he would be within the ”six Tier” safety window—meaning he could finally absorb that Tier 35 core.

So after everyone finished, Henry didn’t hesitate. He pulled out that crystal core and handed it to Ethan.

Henry placed it in his palm.

”Here, Ethan. Time for you to take off.”

Ethan accepted it without even a second of fake politeness. At this point, there was no need for that between them.

Even Ethan—usually pretty good at keeping his emotions in check—felt his blood surge the moment the Tier 35 core touched his hand.

This was a Tier 35 crystal core.

With it, he would break into Stage S. No question.

As for how far his Tier would climb after that… he honestly didn’t know. He’d never tried anything like this before.

But one thing was certain: a Tier 35 core wasn’t going to disappoint him.

Soon, everyone filed out of the room, leaving Ethan alone to absorb it.

Absorbing same-Tier cores already took more than an hour each. Absorbing a Tier 35 core?

You didn’t even need to think about it—it would take a long time.

Because with same-Tier energy, you could absorb confidently, even aggressively.

But with an energy gap of six full Tiers, he could only take it a thread at a time.

Any faster… and he might literally stuff himself until he burst.

After leaving the room, Miles headed straight for the training complex. He’d already ordered the Fallen Star Guard and the Fallen Star Corps to assemble there.

Aside from what Ethan’s group had kept for themselves, all the crystal cores they’d brought back from Rivermark State had been handed over to Miles.

Times were different now. Miles planned to convert every last core into combat power.

Those cores were enough to create at least ten thousand more Stage A fighters for Fallen Star City—and even the Fallen Star Corps members would get another solid boost on top of that.

With the Glacial Bear stationed in Fallen Star City, the city was far safer than it had been before.

But no matter how terrifying the Glacial Bear was, it was still external strength. Miles couldn’t truly command it. Honestly, even Ethan couldn’t order it around.

In the end, Fallen Star City still had to be strong enough to stand on its own.

Once all ten thousand members of the Fallen Star Guard reached Stage A, Miles planned to send them out to hunt Outland Beasts and bring resources back to the city.

Only by turning outside threats into fuel could Fallen Star City’s strength grow fast.

After Miles left, Chris and the others went down to the basement.

They still had those few dozen Tier 29 Void Realm creatures locked up down there—the ones they’d captured yesterday.

And thankfully, those bastards were tough. Even after being frozen for a full day, they still weren’t dead.

There were more than thirty of them.

If they wanted to create soulless thralls, there was no way Chris and the others could ”digest” that many by themselves.

Right now, everyone except Emily already had two soulless thralls. That meant Emily could still create two more, while everyone else could only refine one additional thrall at most.

Miles could create two more as well.

As for the rest… they’d have to hand them off to Calvin’s people later.

Chris’s group picked through the thirty-something captives and each grabbed the ones they liked, taking them away on the spot.

Most of what they chose were Stoneborn and Sylvans.

Among that batch of Void Realm creatures, those two races were the strongest.

Stoneborn brought defense. Sylvans brought control. Both were useful in a real fight.

And now that Chris and the others had finally built up their own strength, they didn’t need thralls to do everything for them anymore. Instead of raw power, versatility mattered more.

Fallen Star City had entered a phase of explosive growth.

But out in the rest of the world…

Earth was still pure chaos.

Some groups were fighting over human cities. Some Void Realm races were tearing into each other over old grudges. Some Void Realm creatures were locked in brutal fights with Outland Beasts.

The whole planet had turned into one massive battlefield, and no one was exempt.

Some weaker races had already been wiped out entirely in the crossfire.

And humanity—though still technically alive—was mostly surviving by crawling through the cracks.

Among the Atlas Federation’s five major compounds, aside from Fallen Star City, the one still living with the most dignity was Atlas City Compound.

And the main reason Atlas City Compound could still hold its head up was the earlier Glacial Bear incident.

After that soldier told the Verdants that the Glacial Bear could supposedly be called in once during a critical moment, the Verdant powerhouses immediately became far more cautious.

They had no clue whether the claim was true.

But when a Stage SS beast was involved, ”not sure” was already enough. None of them dared gamble.

They’d seen it with their own eyes: that human had stood there chatting with the Glacial Bear, and the bear had seemed… pretty friendly about it.

So after the Glacial Bear left, the Sylvans’ attitude toward Atlas City’s humans changed dramatically.

They weren’t exactly polite—but at least they stopped killing people whenever they felt like it. They were genuinely afraid that if they pushed too hard, the humans might call the Glacial Bear back.

Maxwell’s bluff had worked beautifully.

As for the other compounds… they were living miserable lives.

Especially Clearford City.

Among the major compounds, Clearford City had fallen under the Flamekin—a brutal fire-type race.

They killed people whenever they pleased. And when they did, they burned entire groups alive.

General Adrian Cross, forced to live in the residential district, had become visibly haggard in just a few days. His hair was a mess, dark circles carved under his eyes, and exhaustion sat on his face like something permanent.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what the last few days had done to him—body and mind, both ground down.

”General!” Colonel Mitchell rushed in, barely able to contain himself. ”We just got word—tens of thousands of Void Realm creatures attacked Fallen Star City yesterday, and they were completely wiped out! Fallen Star City has combat power beyond anything we imagined. We still have hope!”

”Mm.” General Cross nodded, but his reaction was muted. ”I believe we still have hope too.”

Because if he didn’t believe that…

He would’ve already led everyone in Clearford City into a final, desperate fight to the death.