Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Cathay Republic — Dragonspire City Compound…

By now, Dragonspire City Compound had expanded several times over.

While other human compounds were drowning under Void Realm invasions—where simply staying alive was a luxury, let alone expanding—Dragonspire kept swelling outward at an almost ridiculous pace.

The reason was simple.

That mysterious figure had moved in, and Dragonspire City Compound became the safest place on Earth.

Cathay Republic didn’t just have Dragonspire. There were several other city compounds too—but those had all been occupied by Void Realm creatures. Later, Orin Vale simply ordered them abandoned, pulling everyone back and concentrating all survivors into Dragonspire.

And it wasn’t just Cathay’s own people.

Survivors from a lot of neighboring countries were absorbed as well. Dragonspire’s population exploded, and the walls had no choice but to keep moving outward.

Plenty of Void Realm creatures eyed Dragonspire like hungry wolves.

None of them dared get close.

So for most of humanity, this disaster was exactly that—a disaster.

But for Dragonspire City Compound, it was opportunity.

With the muscle of the Void Realm creatures that had submitted to them, Dragonspire hunted massive numbers of Outland Beasts and built up a respectable combat force of its own.

Dragonspire Compound Operations Center…

Orin and a room full of Cathay Republic’s top brass were in the middle of a heated discussion.

”Mr. President,” one executive said, barely containing his excitement, ”we’ve reached twenty Stage S powerhouses now. And our Stage A count has exceeded thirty thousand. With our strength, even without relying on that person, I believe we can sweep every nation on Earth.”

Orin nodded, not quite letting himself get drunk on it—though the way the corners of his mouth kept lifting betrayed him anyway.

”Against Earth’s remaining humans, yes. That’s not even a fight,” he said. ”But we still need to be careful with the offworlders. Some of those races are genuinely dangerous.”

”Mr. President,” another high-ranking official—Helena Voss—said smoothly, ”we don’t need to overestimate them. That Stage SSS expert scared them out of their minds. They don’t even dare approach our compound.”

She continued, voice full of confidence.

”And from what we’ve learned, even the strongest offworld races don’t have huge numbers. The largest groups top out around ten thousand. Most only have a few thousand. Their relationships are hostile and fragmented. As long as we keep developing steadily, it won’t be long before we grind them all underfoot.”

”Exactly,” someone else chimed in. ”We can keep squeezing the offworld races we’ve already subjugated—make them keep hunting Outland Beasts for crystal cores. Sooner or later, our strength will surpass theirs. And once we do, unifying Earth will be easy.”

Orin gave a slow nod. Then, as if a thought had been waiting patiently in the back of his mind, he asked, ”Last time, I told you to use satellite coverage to investigate other countries. Any results?”

”Yes.” The speaker hesitated. ”Most other nations’ satellite networks are down, so they’re easy to observe. Their situations match what ours used to be—most are basically occupied by offworld creatures.”

Orin’s eyes narrowed. ”But?”

”But the Atlas Federation… their satellite system is still operating normally. And they’ve enabled counter-recon protocols. We can’t get eyes inside.”

”Still operating?” A ripple went through the room. Several executives turned sharply to stare at the man who’d spoken, like they were trying to force the answer out of him with sheer pressure. ”They weren’t occupied?”

”I don’t know,” he admitted. ”We can’t see. Before the apocalypse, the Atlas Federation deployed the Atlas Orbital Grid. It surpassed our satellite capabilities. We can’t break their counter-recon system.”

The room fell silent.

The Atlas Federation was Cathay Republic’s number-one rival. No one here wanted them thriving. Ideally, they would’ve been crushed and erased by the apocalypse.

But if their satellite system was still running—and they had the spare capacity to activate counter-recon—then the Atlas Federation was probably doing fine.

And that realization punched a hole straight through the smug mood the room had been building.

”Mr. President, don’t worry,” someone said quickly. ”Even if the Atlas Federation still has compounds, they’re probably barely hanging on. They can’t compare to us. We’ll crush them later.”

Orin’s expression darkened.

”I know they can’t compare,” he said coldly. ”But just knowing they’re still alive sticks in my throat. I want people sent over there to confirm what’s going on.”

A different official frowned. ”But we’re separated from the Atlas Federation by the Pacific. Our warships and submarines were destroyed by sea creatures. We can’t cross.”

Orin looked at him like he’d just insulted everyone’s intelligence.

”Are you an idiot?” he snapped. ”Go through the Bering Strait. Capture some flying mutant beasts and ferry people over.”

The man’s throat bobbed. ”S-sir… that means we’d have to pass through Rus Federation territory.”

Orin’s eyes sharpened. ”And? Rus Federation has already fallen. What are you afraid of?”

”…Yes, sir.”

”Good,” Orin said, voice low and hard. ”Move fast. I need to know exactly how the Atlas Federation is doing. And if they really are living comfortably…”

He paused, letting the implication hang.

”…then I want them to stop living comfortably. You understand what I mean?”

”I understand.”

”Then go.”

”Yes, sir.”

As the man hurried out, another executive leaned in, cautious. ”Mr. President… shouldn’t we solve our domestic issues first before worrying about the Atlas Federation?”

Orin turned on him immediately, irritation flashing.

”With that Stage SSS expert here, we can sleep soundly,” he said. ”All we have to do is keep developing and stacking strength.”

His voice hardened into something sharp enough to cut.

”But I don’t want any other country living as well as we are—especially the Atlas Federation. Do you understand?”

The executive swallowed. ”…Understood.”

Atlas Federation — Rivermark State…

After Ethan and the others arrived, they didn’t leave.

They stayed for three full days—and fought for three full days.

For those seventy-two hours, they were basically awake the entire time. No real sleep. Barely any rest. Just constant killing.

Outland Beasts were insanely sensitive to sound and scent. From the moment the first clash started, the flow never stopped. As the fight dragged on, Outland Beasts kept pouring in nonstop, drawn like sharks to blood.

At some point, even they lost track of how many they’d killed.

All they knew was the battlefield had long since been carpeted in corpses—so many you couldn’t even count them anymore.

The crystal core haul was even more ridiculous.

Just Stage A cores alone… tens of thousands upon tens of thousands—well over a hundred thousand. Stage S cores numbered in the hundreds.

By the time the third day ended, all three hundred-plus Awakened from the second echelon had reached Stage S.

And within Fallen Star Squad itself…

Ethan had reached Tier 34

Chris and Sean were both at Tier 33

Everyone else was sitting at peak Tier 32

And that was with a few Tier 35 crystal cores still untouched, since most of their growth had come from straight-up consuming cores during the grind.

Tier 35 cores were too valuable to just swallow whole—it wasted too much.

Ethan planned to refine and absorb them properly.

The problem was, that kind of absorption took time. You couldn’t do it mid-battle. That would have to wait until they got back.

Ethan looked over the group.

Everyone was in terrible shape.

Three days of nonstop combat—even with rotating shifts—was still too much. It wasn’t just stamina or mental energy anymore.

Their minds were fraying.

Even Chris looked wrecked. Bloodshot eyes. Tight faces. That brittle, dangerous edge that meant one more push might break something.

If they kept going, someone was going to make a mistake.

And in Rivermark, a single mistake could turn into a wipe.

”We’re going back!” Ethan shouted.

He swept his hand, and a dimensional rift tore open in the air.

”We’re leaving!?” someone almost cried, relief hitting them so hard their knees nearly buckled. ”Thank god. I can’t take it anymore. I’m gonna sleep until I forget my own name.”

”Same!”

People didn’t need to be told twice. They rushed into the rift, one after another, like the portal was the only thing holding the world together.

Ethan stayed behind with several Tier 35 thralls, holding the line as the Outland Beasts surged and screamed, trying to crash through.

Once the last person disappeared into the rift, Ethan pulled the remaining thralls back into his storage ring.

Then he blinked—Teleportation—and stepped into the dimensional rift himself.

A moment later, the rift snapped shut.

Gone.

”ROAR—!”

Outland Beasts howled from every direction, raging at empty air.

But all they could do was roar and glare, helpless, surrounded by the stench of blood and the mountain of bodies they couldn’t even understand.