Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Next came the part that had become routine for them—creating soulless thralls.

Luckily, Fallen Star City had built plenty of dedicated facilities for it. Everyone could work in parallel. Otherwise, even with their current strength, this would’ve taken forever.

And with their Tiers now, creating Tier 35 thralls finally didn’t feel like the old days—where you’d finish one and sit there blank-faced like your soul had been drained out through your nose.

At this point, the weakest person in Fallen Star Squad was still peak Tier 33. Creating Tier 35 thralls wasn’t difficult anymore.

And it wasn’t just Fallen Star City.

Other compounds were creating thralls too. During the seven-day purge, they’d dragged back plenty of captives as ”materials.”

The difference was, unlike Fallen Star City, most of what they’d captured were Stage A targets. They had a few Stage S captives, but very few.

For them, Stage A was already high-tier combat power. If it was still breathing, they hauled it back and turned it into a soulless thrall. Simple as that.

That sweep hadn’t just cleaned the Atlas Federation up—it had massively boosted thrall counts across every compound.

And now that intelligent Void Realm races were no longer squatting inside Federation territory, the compounds could finally take their thralls out and hunt Outland Beasts for crystal cores without constantly worrying about getting raided.

Three days later, Fallen Star Squad had basically finished creating their new thralls.

At this point, every squad member controlled:

one Tier 35 thrall

one Tier 34 thrall

one Tier 33 thrall

Ethan himself controlled two Tier 35s and one Tier 33.

Miles’s three new ones were all Tier 35.

Once the thralls were done, Ethan didn’t waste time.

He took the entire Fallen Star Guard and the entire Fallen Star Corps out again.

This time, his target was Rivermark State.

He planned to sweep the Outland Beasts there too. That place was basically a crystal core goldmine—enough to push everyone’s strength up another level.

A few hours later, the huge force arrived at Rivermark.

A crowd that large was like ringing a dinner bell.

Outland Beasts poured in from every direction.

And instead of fear, they looked excited—as if they couldn’t believe the buffet had walked in on its own.

They charged.

So Fallen Star City switched to slaughter mode.

AoE skills rained down like a storm. Outland Beasts fell in sheets. The logistics teams moved exactly as planned—harvesting crystal cores at high speed, stuffing them into burlap sack after burlap sack.

Watching the pace, Ethan couldn’t help but feel it again.

Numbers really were power.

Then Ethan released all the thralls as well, throwing them into the frontline.

In an instant, the Outland Beasts started getting driven back step by step, crushed under the combined pressure.

The battle rolled on as they advanced, pushing forward from morning into afternoon. Nobody even knew how many sacks they’d filled anymore.

Then—just as they reached the outer edge of Blackpine Wilds—a gigantic roar erupted from deep inside.

The ground began to tremble.

Something huge was coming. Fast.

Ethan’s pupils tightened. He activated True Sight and looked deeper into the wilds.

A massive beast was charging straight at them at terrifying speed.

It looked like a bull… but magnified into a nightmare. Its body was enormous, its horns speared upward like lances, and the aura it carried made every other Outland Beast feel small.

A Titan Bull.

Ethan’s expression changed instantly.

”Stage SS. Tier 38!”

Someone’s voice cracked. ”There’s something like that in there!?”

”Retreat!” Ethan ordered without hesitation.

This time they hadn’t brought the Glacial Bear.

If they did, its aura alone would scare every Outland Beast within miles into hiding. No beasts coming out meant no farming, no crystal cores—so Ethan had left it at home.

And of course, the moment they didn’t bring it, they ran straight into a Stage SS.

It was honestly infuriating.

But a Tier 38 Titan Bull…

Even if the Glacial Bear were here, it wouldn’t matter. The gap was too big. They’d still get flattened.

So retreat was the only call.

At Ethan’s order, everyone dropped what they were doing and pulled back immediately—no arguing, no hesitation.

They didn’t get far.

The Titan Bull reached them in a blink, slamming into view with pressure so heavy it made people’s lungs seize.

It was monstrous—over thirty feet tall, nearly ninety feet long, with horns that speared up toward the sky. The sheer dominance it radiated made it feel less like an animal and more like a natural disaster that happened to have a body.

All the surrounding Outland Beasts fell prostrate the instant it appeared.

Ethan’s face tightened. ”Dopey and I will hold it. You all run—now!”

”Got it!”

No one tried to play hero. They turned and sprinted, fleeing as fast as their legs could carry them.

”ROAR—!”

The Titan Bull bellowed. The shockwave ripped across the field, rattling bones and leaving ears ringing into numbness. Still, the crowd didn’t slow down.

The bull snorted, white steam blasting from its nostrils as it prepared to give chase.

But a figure stepped in front of it.

Dopey.

The Titan Bull’s eyes flicked with open contempt.

It stomped once.

The ground erupted—jagged earth spikes spearing up in a dense patch—and Dopey was launched into the air like he’d been hit by a cannon.

”Hmph…?”

The Titan Bull tilted its head, puzzled.

That should’ve impaled him straight through. Why did it look like a knockback instead?

Dopey crashed down, flipped, and stood up.

Not a scratch on him.

For the first time, the Titan Bull’s huge eyes widened, staring at that small figure like it was seeing something impossible.

Dopey didn’t care about its confusion. The moment he was upright, he charged again.

The Titan Bull stomped again—more earth spikes, sharper, thicker, punching up with terrifying force.

Dopey couldn’t dodge. He got blasted away again.

He hit the ground, rolled, stood up.

And charged again.

”…”

The Titan Bull stopped caring about the fleeing humans. Its gaze locked onto Dopey like a predator that had just decided on a personal vendetta.

As Dopey closed in, the bull lowered its head and drove forward, horns snapping up in a savage thrust.

Dopey got launched over a thousand feet, disappearing into the brush in the distance.

A moment later, he came back out.

Still uninjured.

Still charging.

”Hmph…?”

Now the Titan Bull was fully furious. Steam poured from its nostrils. It roared at Dopey like it was trying to tear the sky open.

Then the ground under Dopey suddenly turned into sucking swamp-mud, trapping him in place.

Before he could climb out, a massive meteor tore down from above and smashed into him, detonating into the earth and leaving a crater big enough to swallow a house.

The Titan Bull stared at the crater for a long beat.

No movement.

It snorted, pride oozing from every breath, as if the problem had finally been handled.

Off to the side, Ethan watched with a grim expression.

Tier 38…

It really was a different league.

Dopey was getting beaten so hard he couldn’t even fight back.

Ethan could still feel Dopey through their connection, which meant he wasn’t dead—but that meteor was ridiculous. If that had been anyone else, there wouldn’t have even been bones left.

When Dopey didn’t immediately reappear, the Titan Bull’s gaze shifted to Ethan.

It stomped.

Earth spikes exploded upward in a wide spread, stabbing for Ethan’s position.

But Ethan had already teleported into the air.

Two daggers floated under his boots like stepping stones, holding him suspended above the ground.

The instant the Titan Bull looked at him, Ethan had moved.

He didn’t have Dopey’s insane body. If those spikes caught him, he’d get skewered clean through.

And a Tier 38 hit…

Even with Nullspace Domain, he wouldn’t be able to take it.