Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Of course, the person in question was Justin. He was absolutely terrified. Ethan had deliberately ordered his men not to kill him, thinking he might still be of some use.

At that moment, Justin heard footsteps approaching. Trembling, he lifted his head and saw Ethan’s cold, emotionless face. Behind him were Bulldozer, Laura, and the PhD zombie, all radiating an aura of menace.

Justin immediately felt a warm, wet sensation in his pants—he’d pissed himself out of fear. ”Don’t kill me! Please, spare me! I... I can work with you!” he stammered.

”Work with me?” Ethan raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

Justin’s voice shook as he explained, ”I... I know a lot of Genesis Biotech’s secrets. If you let me live, I’ll tell you everything!”

”Alright, let’s hear it,” Ethan said, studying him with interest.

Justin swallowed hard, his lips dry. Instinctively, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and shakily placed it between his lips. But just like last time, his hands wouldn’t cooperate. He fumbled with the lighter over and over until, finally, with a faint click, a small flame flickered to life.

”Phew!” But before he could light the cigarette, Ethan casually blew out the flame.

”No smoking in public places.”

”...” Justin was speechless, but he forced himself to calm down and began to speak. ”Genesis Biotech is planning to cultivate zombies.”

”I already know that.”

”Right.” Justin nodded and continued, ”The X-virus you got last time? That was just the first stage. It enhances cell activity and speeds up reaction times. But there’s a second stage—the Y-virus. It’s designed to strengthen zombie skeletal structures.”

As Nathan’s assistant, Justin was part of the management team and knew more than most.

Ethan found this information useful. ”Where’s the Y-virus?”

”It’s at the company’s headquarters. They’re transporting it here in ten days,” Justin said, glancing up nervously.

Ethan fell silent, thinking. The Y-virus, like the X-virus, would likely be transported by helicopter. If he could get his hands on it, his zombie army would evolve again, becoming an even more terrifying force. But this also showed just how advanced Genesis Biotech’s technology was.

”Anything else?” Ethan asked.

”There’s more...” Justin hesitated, then gritted his teeth and revealed a high-level secret. ”Genesis Biotech doesn’t just use ordinary people for human experiments. They also use Awakeners.”

”According to reports from headquarters, they’ve made preliminary breakthroughs. They can now transfer and graft Awakener abilities, concentrating them into a single individual. We call them ’Cyborgs’—basically, the second-generation Doom Hunters.”

”Cyborgs don’t have their own thoughts. They act entirely according to pre-programmed instructions.”

”Oh?” Ethan’s mind raced. Cyborgs sounded powerful. If they could combine multiple abilities into one body, wouldn’t that mean... they’d also have multiple crystal cores?

Justin took a deep breath and continued, ”The real purpose behind cultivating zombies is to extract the abilities of Phantom Infected and transfer them to Cyborgs, creating the ultimate killing machines.”

”Also... headquarters has already formed a special task force to hunt down Phantom Infected. The team is made up of A-rank or higher Awakeners and is equipped with extremely expensive Cyborg warriors. Their combat strength is off the charts.”

”I see...” Ethan nodded, realizing Genesis Biotech was no small threat. While he was growing stronger, they were advancing just as quickly.

Justin, feeling he’d said everything he could, cautiously asked, ”So... can I go now?”

”Yeah, go ahead,” Ethan said casually.

But Justin hesitated. Something about Ethan’s tone made him uneasy. Why did it feel so... uncertain?

”You... you’re really not going to kill me?”

”I’m not. If I say I won’t kill you, I won’t,” Ethan replied, his tone a bit more serious this time.

Justin finally believed him, a glimmer of hope sparking in his heart.

”Alright, I’m leaving then.”

He scrambled to his feet, eager to get out of this hellhole. Without looking back, he hurried toward the street outside.

But Justin hadn’t taken more than a few steps when he felt a sudden gust of wind behind him. Then, with a sickening squelch, a sharp, searing pain exploded in his chest. Blood gushed out, warm and sticky.

”You...”

Justin’s eyes widened in shock, his entire body trembling. He already knew what had happened. Slowly, he turned his head. The first thing he saw was Laura’s smiling face.

Ethan stood just behind her, watching him with a calm, detached expression.

”I didn’t kill you,” Ethan said flatly.

”...” Justin wanted to scream, but no words came out. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as his vision blurred and his consciousness began to fade.

”In your next life... never trust a zombie...”

Thud!

Justin’s lifeless body collapsed to the ground.

...

And with that, the battle was finally over. In truth, the fight had been decided the moment Serpent-Eye was killed. The remaining zombies under his command had already given up resisting.

After all, they hadn’t evolved enough to develop something as complex as ”loyalty.”

Even the giant snakes had scattered, slithering away in all directions, fleeing for their lives.

Ethan’s zombie horde began cleaning up the battlefield, feasting on flesh and collecting crystal cores.

Mia walked over, her steps light. ”It’s over already? I didn’t even get to do anything.”

”If you’re that bored, I’ll call you next time,” Ethan replied dryly.

”So, what’s the plan now?”

”No plan.”

Ethan had no grand ambitions of world domination. As a ”simple little zombie,” all he wanted was to live a peaceful life, free from hunger or worry.

That had been his plan even before the apocalypse.

But in this world, plans rarely went as expected. If he hadn’t killed Serpent-Eye, the guy would’ve kept coming after him. Ethan had no choice but to take over his territory.

Mia tilted her head, studying him. ”Well, now that your territory’s bigger, how about letting me loot the place?”

”Trade me crystal cores for it,” Ethan said bluntly.

Mia’s big eyes darted mischievously. ”Next time, for sure...”

With that, she turned and walked away, taking Sean, Chris, and the others with her. Their figures grew smaller as they disappeared into the distance.

”Crazy woman...” Ethan muttered under his breath, watching her leave.

At that moment, the sun broke through the heavy clouds, its rays spilling across the blood-soaked battlefield. The lingering stench of blood in the air tinted the sunlight a deep crimson, like thin red threads stretching down from the sky.

The blood pooling on the ground reflected the eerie red light, casting an otherworldly glow. It was as if the apocalyptic city had been painted with a final, macabre stroke.

Ethan stood tall amidst the chaos, his silhouette commanding and unyielding. Behind him were his three most trusted lieutenants, leading a massive zombie horde.

”Let’s go. Time to head home.”

At his command, the zombie army surged forward like a tidal wave.

”Caw—caw—caw!” Overhead, a flock of crows swept across the sky, their dark wings blotting out the sun.

But trailing behind the main horde was another group of zombies—Little Shadow and his ragtag crew.

”Boss, what do we do now?” one of his underlings asked nervously.

”Hmm...”

Little Shadow hesitated, deep in thought. After this battle, he was completely in awe of Ethan. But more importantly... there was food to be had.

”We’re going with them. Back home!”