Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Late the next night, New Atlas’s senior leadership stood on a rooftop, staring tensely at the sky.

At midnight, the Nine-Star Dipper appeared once more.

The Crimson Star did not.

Everyone breathed a deep sigh of relief.

But that relief didn’t last long.

The Crimson Star was gone, yet the Void Realm passages remained open—and that was terrible news for New Atlas.

The last time the passages opened, they had closed again the following day. Many outsiders far stronger than New Atlas had made it through, but without reinforcements, they’d eventually been defeated. Ethan had turned the tide and wiped out the Void Realm races occupying the major compounds.

This time, the passages hadn’t closed. Creatures from the Void Realm could enter Earth whenever they wanted. Even those that had chosen not to come at first could appear later.

The thought weighed heavily on everyone.

They looked back at the Nine-Star Dipper and realized it was visibly dimmer than before.

”The Commander said the Nine-Star Dipper was suppressing the Crimson Star,” Maxwell said quietly. ”With the Crimson Star appearing so often, the Nine-Star Dipper must be reaching its limit. Suppressing it again was probably all it could manage. It likely doesn’t have enough power left to seal the Void Realm passages.”

”Then what do we do?” Rowan frowned. ”As long as those passages remain open, we’ll never know how many powerful enemies might come through.”

”There’s nothing we can do except rely on ourselves. The Fallen Star Squad and the Deputy Commander are all in seclusion right now. If anything happens over the next few days, we’ll handle it together. Once the Commander comes out, I’m sure New Atlas will be stronger than ever.”

The others nodded firmly.

Outside, battles continued to rage across the world, but New Atlas entered a period of relative quiet.

Outsiders still attacked the city occasionally, but none of them returned alive.

Unless one of the dominant races came for them, New Atlas had little to fear from an ordinary race now.

Finally, the next afternoon, Chris became the first to break through to Stage SSS.

The commotion drew New Atlas’s entire senior leadership. When Chris emerged from his room and rose into the air, everyone was thrilled.

The Atlas Federation finally had its second Stage SSS fighter.

He wasn’t an external ally like the Beast Sovereign or Theron. Chris was a true member of the Atlas Federation.

After learning about the current situation, Chris didn’t waste any time. He immediately headed for a mountain range near New Atlas.

The city desperately needed Stage SS crystal cores, and with everyone doing everything they could to advance, Chris intended to hunt down some cores for them.

Reaching Stage SSS had given him several powerful new abilities. At his current strength, he was confident he could go anywhere on Earth and still escape. No one could keep him from leaving.

The day after Chris reached Stage SSS, Mia and Emily broke through as well.

The two of them flew excitedly through the sky, and all of New Atlas shared in their celebration.

With members of the Fallen Star Squad breaking through one after another, the entire city felt increasingly secure.

More good news soon arrived from the Beast Enclosure.

The Dread-Eyed Lion had successfully advanced to Tier 44, giving Fallen Star City another high-Tier combatant.

Soon afterward, the roc and the remaining three white-furred apes all reached Stage SS on the same day.

Good news kept pouring into New Atlas. Even the shadow of the disaster seemed to recede.

Then, while everyone was still celebrating, troubling news arrived.

The battle between the two races at Goldcrest City had ended, and the group of red figures was flying toward New Atlas.

Everyone’s excitement immediately turned to concern.

There was no question that those red figures belonged to a dominant race. Even after fighting such a brutal battle, they still had more than twenty Stage SSS fighters left.

No one knew whether the two sides had reached an agreement or had simply realized that continuing would only lead to mutual destruction. Either way, they had stopped fighting.

Now, more than twenty Stage SSS fighters were flying straight toward New Atlas.

Their destination couldn’t have been more obvious.

Even setting aside individual strength, they vastly outnumbered New Atlas.

”What do we do?” Rowan asked nervously.

”We need to inform Miles. This isn’t something we should decide on our own.”

”Agreed.”

They went to Miles’s residence and pulled him away from his study of the spatial storage ring.

His expression turned grave when he heard what had happened.

Ethan had already told him how strong the Pyrathi were.

They had two peak Tier 47 fighters, several more at Tier 47, and quite a few at Tier 44 and Tier 45.

New Atlas had hoped the two races would destroy each other, allowing them to reap the benefits afterward.

Instead, they had called a ceasefire.

Miles could understand why. The two Patriarchs weren’t idiots. Once they realized that continuing the battle would cripple both sides, they had no reason to keep fighting.

One side had probably backed down, giving the other a way to end the conflict without losing face.

From the looks of things, the hot-tempered Pyrathi had been the ones to compromise.

They must still be after Ethan. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have headed for New Atlas the moment their battle ended.

Miles thought for a moment before giving his orders.

”Notify every Stage SSS fighter and have them prepare for battle.”

”Understood.”

”But Miles, they have more than twenty Stage SSS fighters,” Maxwell said worriedly. ”Even if we include the Outland Beasts, we can barely gather a dozen. Can we really fight them?”

”We’ll fight whether we can win or not. They’re coming for us. There’s no avoiding this,” Miles said grimly.

”Then... should we notify the Commander?”

Miles glanced toward Ethan’s residence, then shook his head.

”Not yet. We’ll assess the situation first. If we really can’t handle it, then we’ll call the Captain.”

Ethan was probably at a critical point in his advancement. Miles didn’t want to disturb him unless absolutely necessary.

”All right.”

Maxwell nodded and led the others away to alert the Stage SSS fighters.

Miles pulled out his phone and called Chris back from his trip outside the city. Then he summoned Emily and Mia and headed for the city gates with them.

Every incoming enemy was Stage SSS. There was no point calling anyone weaker—they wouldn’t be able to take part in the battle.

Abyron soon received the news as well. He left his room and joined the group.

Not long after he arrived, Dahlia came out and walked straight over to him.

Abyron’s face fell. He hurriedly moved beside Miles, trying to use him as a shield.

Miles smoothly stepped away.

Whatever’s going on between those two has nothing to do with me. I’m only Stage SS. Getting caught in the middle could be dangerous.

After all, knowing when to stay out of trouble was one of the most basic qualities of a wise man.