Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Fallen Star City…

By now, Chris and the others had come up from the basement. Each of them had a soulless thrall trailing behind them—Emily had two.

Ethan wasn’t around, and without him they couldn’t stash the thralls inside a spatial storage ring. So for the moment, they had no choice but to keep them following in a line.

Ethan’s door was still shut tight. He was probably still absorbing that crystal core.

Nobody disturbed him. They headed straight for Miles instead.

Miles was in his office, leaning over a sand table.

After Atlas City Compound fell, they’d lost satellite surveillance. A lot of things now had to be explored the old-fashioned way.

The sand table was dotted with flags of different colors—markers for locations where Fallen Star City’s recon teams had confirmed the presence of powerful Void Realm creatures.

And it wasn’t just the races occupying the major compounds.

Plenty of strong Void Realm groups were scattered elsewhere too.

With the dimensional rifts sealed, they couldn’t go back. So they claimed land, dug in, and built their own settlements.

The fact that they hadn’t taken a human compound didn’t mean they were weak. There simply weren’t enough human compounds to go around.

Right then, Miles was studying the closest Void Realm settlements to Fallen Star City.

”Miles, what’s up?” Chris asked as they walked in. ”You look like you’re trying to frown a hole through the floor.”

Miles looked up, and his tight expression finally eased. ”Oh? You’re done already? Everyone got their thralls?”

”Of course.” Chris jerked his thumb over his shoulder, grinning at the line of silent followers.

”Ethan’s still going all-in on his breakthrough,” Chris added. ”Help us store these guys away first. Having them trail behind us all day is a pain.”

”Sure.” Miles nodded, then started collecting the thralls one by one, pulling them into the pocket dimension—an alternate space tucked away inside him.

Once the last one vanished, the room instantly felt less crowded.

”The remaining captives—did you have Calvin’s people start creating thralls?” Miles asked.

”Yeah. They’re already on it.”

”And you told them not to touch that green-haired old man, right?” Miles’s tone sharpened a little. ”I’m creating that one myself when I have time.”

”Relax.” Chris chuckled. ”We told them. Besides, other than you, nobody has the taste to want that green-haired old fossil.”

Miles finally exhaled. ”Good.”

Then he waved them closer, expression turning serious again.

”Perfect timing. There’s something I can’t quite decide, and I want your input.”

Chris raised a brow. ”What kind of problem could stump our master strategist?”

”It’s not internal.” Miles led them to the sand table and tapped a cluster of flags. ”It’s about combat.”

”I’m planning to send the Fallen Star Guard out to hunt Outland Beasts. Back when we still had satellite feeds, I noticed a large pack showing up around this part of Alderon State.”

He traced a line with his finger.

”But when I sent a team yesterday to confirm their trail… they found something else. Not far from that location—closer to Fallen Star City—there’s a residential settlement built by Void Realm creatures.”

”In other words, if we move on those Outland Beasts, we’ll almost definitely stir up that Void Realm group.”

The room went a shade quieter.

”The recon team didn’t dare get close,” Miles continued. ”They were worried about tipping them off. So their strength is unknown. All we can do is judge by the settlement size—roughly six or seven thousand Void Realm creatures.”

He let his hand drop, jaw tightening.

”I’m torn on whether we should make a move. Rivermark State nearly got you guys killed. That means Fallen Star Guard absolutely can’t be sent into a situation like that.”

”But these Outland Beasts are the best target I’ve found so far—something we can actually turn into gains.”

”Six or seven thousand Void Realm creatures with unknown strength?” Skinny Pete’s eyes went wide. ”You’re seriously considering this? If there’s even one Stage S in there, you’d be sending the Fallen Star Guard to die.”

”It’s a special situation,” Miles said, voice firm. ”Risk is unavoidable. Fallen Star Guard only reaches its full value if it’s out there hunting Outland Beasts.”

Chris smiled like he’d seen through him from the start.

”So you’re not really asking us to help you decide. You want us to scout that settlement for you.”

Miles laughed, totally unashamed. ”I mean… you guys just happened to be free right now.”

”Alright. We’ll make a trip,” Chris said with a nod. ”Ethan’s still not out anyway, so we’ve got nothing pressing.”

”Mm.” Miles looked relieved. ”Appreciate it. See if you can bring that roc with you. I’m worried there might be a Stage S powerhouse in there.”

”Got it.”

Not long after, Chris and the others left Fallen Star City—bringing the roc along with them.

Technically, the roc was the Glacial Bear’s underling now. But once Henry asked, the Glacial Bear didn’t refuse.

Inside Ethan’s room…

Ethan was still absorbing the crystal core’s energy—slowly, carefully, like he was defusing a bomb.

A Tier 35 crystal core was simply too powerful for him. One slip, one moment of greed, and he could end up with his body torn apart from energy overload. So he didn’t dare take even the slightest risk.

After a full day of absorption, Ethan’s strength finally rose into Stage S.

And just like that, he returned to that familiar void space again.

Now that he’d learned more of the hidden truths, his curiosity about that place only grew sharper.

Why was it that only humans could comprehend abilities from multiple elements, while the other races could only comprehend a single element?

If there was an answer, it had to be inside this void space.

Ethan had asked Nerissa about it before. She didn’t even know a place like this existed. For her people, every time they broke into a higher Stage, they would automatically comprehend a skill from their own element. The higher the Stage, the stronger the skill.

In that sense, it really wasn’t so different from humans: every time they advanced a Stage, they’d also automatically awaken a new skill.

Void Realm creatures were born with abilities, then gained skills as they advanced…

Wasn’t that basically what an Awakened was?

That thought hit Ethan—and then, in the next heartbeat, something in his mind snapped into place.

It wasn’t that the Void Realm creatures’ powers resembled human powers.

It was the other way around.

Human Awakened abilities resembled theirs.

Or more precisely… the so-called Awakened might have obtained fragments of power that originally belonged to Void Realm creatures.

Which meant humans, as a species, might not have had supernatural abilities at all.

They only gained them by advancing to higher Stages—by taking something from the void space.

And the existence of Awakened?

That was likely an accident caused by the appearance of The Crimson Star.

After multiple encounters, Ethan had already figured it out: The Crimson Star wasn’t on humanity’s side. It stood with the Void Realm creatures.

And the Nine-Star Dipper—that was the one backing humanity.

Maybe the Crimson Star’s light carried some special effect. When ordinary humans absorbed its radiance, they accidentally gained a Void Realm ability—creating what people later called Awakened.

But because they were still human…

They could continue enjoying humanity’s ”native” advantage too.

So every time an Awakened advanced to a higher Stage, not only could their innate abilities evolve, they could also enter that void space and choose an additional new power.

In other words, Awakened were anomalies—mutants who carried both the Void Realm creatures’ style of power and humanity’s unique potential.

That was why Awakened crushed others at the same Tier.

Even against Void Realm creatures, they could still dominate peers of equal Tier.

The more Ethan thought about it, the more it felt right.

And for the first time in a long while…

He felt a real spark of hope for the future.