Apocalypse: King of Zombies

It took Sean and the others more than a day to finish turning their chosen Stage S captives into soulless thralls.

Chris, however, ran into trouble.

The ones he’d picked were the two elders—one at Tier 34, the other at Tier 35.

The Tier 34 elder alone took far longer than anyone else’s target.

But the Tier 35 elder… was on a completely different level.

No matter what Chris tried, he couldn’t complete the creation process. Again and again, the elder fought back so violently it nearly tore the entire basement apart.

In the end, Ethan had to rush over and personally suppress him.

Even after being beaten half to death, the Tier 35 elder resisted the whole time, making it almost impossible for Chris to force the soul-binding through.

By the time they finally succeeded, three full days had passed—just for that one thrall.

The instant it was done, Chris’s body gave out completely. His eyes rolled back and he collapsed on the spot.

Ethan immediately stored the newly created soulless thrall into his spatial storage ring, then bent down, hauled Chris up, and carried him out of the basement.

Sean and the others had been waiting outside. The moment they saw Chris slung over Ethan’s shoulder, their eyes widened.

”Holy shit,” someone blurted. ”How the hell did creating a thrall knock him out?”

”Boss, what happened?” Sean asked, baffled. ”Why was this one so much harder than the others?”

Ethan paused, thinking it through. ”It might be the limit of the technique. This soul-binding method probably can’t go beyond Stage S. Tier 35 is already the peak of Stage S, so turning him into a thrall was naturally a lot harder.”

”Wait…” Big Mike’s face twisted with instant regret. ”It has a limit? And here I was thinking we could snag a few Stage SSS powerhouses as thralls someday.”

”Keep dreaming,” Ethan said flatly. ”Everything has limits. This kind of soul-binding art already goes against the natural order. The fact it can even produce Stage S thralls is impressive.”

He glanced toward the basement door, voice turning a shade more serious.

”Dopey is also peak Tier 35. Whoever created him must’ve been insanely strong. And after turning Dopey into a soulless thrall, they even used some special method to strengthen his physical body.”

”If there were no restrictions, they would’ve just created a higher-Stage thrall from the beginning. Why go through all that trouble?”

Ethan wasn’t particularly disappointed.

Thralls were borrowed strength, in the end. What mattered most was always your own power.

”Uh… yeah,” Big Mike muttered. ”That… actually makes sense.”

Ethan shifted Chris’s weight slightly on his shoulder and looked at the others. ”Alright. Thralls are ready.”

A cold light flickered in his eyes.

”It’s time to move.”

”We’re taking back the Atlas Federation compounds.”

”Good!”

Excitement snapped through the group like a spark. Heads nodded hard.

The real war was finally about to start.

”Emily,” Ethan said, turning. He handed the unconscious Chris over to her. ”Take care of him. Have the kitchen make him some restorative soup.”

Ethan still needed to see Miles and get a clean picture of the current situation in the other compounds before deciding which one to reclaim first.

”Ah… okay.” Emily took Chris, but her face turned red for some reason.

The others immediately started grinning like sharks.

Only Henry looked… deeply conflicted, like he was losing a battle inside his own head.

”Come on,” Ethan said to the others. ”You guys come with me to Miles’ office.”

”Alright.”

They followed.

After taking a few steps, Ethan suddenly turned his head back toward Emily, like something had just occurred to him.

”Oh—right. He’s just exhausted. Plain chicken soup is fine. Don’t add anything weird.” His gaze flicked briefly over the group. ”We’ve got a battle this afternoon.”

Emily’s face, already pink, flared all the way down her neck.

Even Mia’s cheeks turned red.

”Captain!” Emily snapped, stomping her foot. ”What are you even thinking?!”

Then she hugged Chris a little tighter, spun on her heel, and hurried off.

Miles’s office.

Miles was in the middle of writing something when Ethan and the others came in. He stood up at once.

”Captain. You’re finally here. Are we ready?”

”Yeah.” Ethan nodded. ”We move this afternoon.”

Miles’s shoulders visibly loosened. ”Good. The leaders at the other compounds are barely holding things together. If we don’t act soon… something’s going to break.”

”It’s that bad?” Ethan’s brow creased.

”Yeah.” Miles’s voice turned heavy. ”Other than Atlas City Compound, the people in the other three compounds are living without any dignity at all. The managers have been trying to suppress things, but a lot of hot-blooded young people would rather die fighting than keep living in humiliation.”

”So every compound has seen waves of resistance.” Miles let out a long sigh. ”And you know how it ends. Those Void Realm creatures never show mercy to humans.”

”They’re idiots,” Sean muttered, shaking his head.

Ethan’s expression hardened. ”I wouldn’t call it stupid.”

He looked at Sean directly, his tone steady.

”They know rebellion means death, but they still stand up because they refuse to live on their knees.”

He paused, then added, more quietly, ”Maybe to us it looks reckless… but it’s something worth respecting.”

”…Yeah.” The others nodded, the mood sobering.

Ethan turned back to Miles, still frowning. ”What I don’t get is Atlas City Compound. You said they’re okay?”

”They’re… relatively okay,” Miles said. ”When the Glacial Bear passed by there before, they were the ones who told it your location.”

”And they used that moment—just a few words with the Glacial Bear—to make the Void Realm occupiers think they were connected to it.”

Miles’s mouth twisted. ”The Void Realm creatures there are scared of the Glacial Bear, so they don’t dare go too far. They’re afraid the bear might come looking for trouble.”

Ethan grinned. ”They turned one conversation with the Glacial Bear into a whole damn safety net. Clever.”

Miles nodded. ”Exactly.”

Ethan’s eyes sharpened. ”Which compound is the worst right now?”

”Clearford City,” Miles answered without hesitation.

Ethan nodded slowly.

He knew Clearford City well. It was the first compound they’d gone to after leaving Fallen Star City back then.

And Ethan had a good impression of its manager too—General Cross.

”Alright,” Ethan said. ”We’ll rest a bit. Once Chris is fully up, we head to Clearford City.”

Miles hesitated. ”Do we need to mobilize the Fallen Star Guard too?”

Ethan thought for a moment. ”Where’s the Guard at right now, strength-wise?”

”After you brought back all those crystal cores from the forest,” Miles said, ”the entire Fallen Star Guard is now Tier 26. In the Fallen Star Corps, a lot of people are at Tier 24. The ones who aren’t are mostly at peak Tier 23.”

Ethan nodded. ”And the second echelon?”

”The second echelon—three hundred-plus Awakened—are all Tier 27 now. Calvin, Vivian, and a few others have reached Tier 28.”

”Good.” Ethan’s eyes cooled into something decisive. ”Second echelon comes with us. Fallen Star Guard stays home.”

”Understood.” Miles nodded.

At noon, after lunch, everyone gathered at the compound’s central plaza.

Chris had been out for less than half an hour before he woke up. He didn’t look that bad at all—if anything, the chicken soup had been overkill.

His face was still bright red, though. And every so often he shot Ethan a wounded, accusing look.

Ethan pretended not to notice.

Not long after, the three hundred-plus Awakened of the second echelon assembled in the plaza.

The moment they heard the Commander was taking them to rescue the other compounds, excitement lit up across their faces. Some of them were practically vibrating in place.

Ethan stepped forward and swept his gaze over them.

”You ready?”

”Ready!” they roared back.

”Good.” Ethan nodded once. ”Then let’s go.”

He lifted a hand and casually sliced it through the air.

Space split.

A dimensional rift opened in front of them like a door cut into reality.

The second echelon stared at it—nervous, thrilled, half terrified they might mess something up just by breathing wrong.

Then, one after another, they dove in.

And the rift swallowed them whole.