Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Ethan returned to the area near the building and gathered his crew to introduce their new companion, the zombie tiger. He even gave it a name: Snowy.

Bulldozer found the whole thing fascinating. Squatting down, he clapped his hands to get the tiger’s attention.

”Snowy, come here! Come on!”

But Snowy completely ignored him, turning its head away. Instead, it rubbed its massive head affectionately against Laura, clearly favoring her.

”…” Bulldozer was speechless, feeling like he didn’t have much luck with animals.

At least this tiger couldn’t talk back and insult him…

”Hey, can you ride this thing? Let me take it for a spin!” Bulldozer’s curiosity quickly turned into a new idea.

”Forget it,” Laura cut him off. ”It’s a perfectly good tiger. Don’t turn it into a camel!”

Meanwhile, PhD was crouched on the ground, fiddling with a broken ”metal man.” It was the remains of the cyborg they had fought earlier, now reduced to scraps after their meal.

PhD had always had a habit of dissecting his ”food” while eating, studying its structure. Now, he was completely engrossed in taking apart the cyborg’s components, piece by piece.

When he got to the head, he removed a lens connected to a small device. As he pressed a button, the lens emitted a faint green glow, and a scanning beam began moving up and down.

”Huh?”

PhD seemed to realize something. He placed the lens over his left eye and turned to look at Laura.

The green beam swept across her body, and data began to appear around the edges of the lens.

[Scanning… Mutation Grade: A. Estimated Combat Power: 316.]

”A-grade?” PhD muttered under his breath. With his sharp mind, he quickly figured out the lens’s purpose.

Laura noticed him staring and turned to ask curiously, ”What’s that thing you’re wearing?”

”It’s some kind of human tech. It analyzes mutation levels and combat power.”

”I’m an A-grade?” Laura wasn’t too concerned about rankings—she’d always believed that as long as she could win a fight, the rest didn’t matter.

PhD nodded. ”Yeah, that’s already really strong.”

”She? A-grade and strong?” Bulldozer, standing nearby, wasn’t having it. He straightened up, clearly unwilling to be outdone. ”If she’s A-grade, then I’ve gotta be S-grade. Come on, scan me!”

PhD adjusted the lens and scanned Bulldozer.

[Scanning… Mutation Grade: B+. Estimated Combat Power: 289.]

”Well? Am I S-grade?” Bulldozer asked eagerly, his eyes practically sparkling with anticipation.

PhD, keeping a completely straight face, nodded seriously. ”Yep, you’re BS-grade.”

”BS?”

Bulldozer froze for a moment, then the gears in his head started turning.

BS?

That’s one more letter than S. That must mean he’s even stronger!

A smug grin spread across his face.

”I knew it. I’m just built different…”

...

The dark night passed quietly.

As the sun rose, its light spread across the desolate wasteland. The city of the apocalypse remained as broken and scarred as ever.

Big Ears, however, hadn’t rested all night.

Determined to prove his worth and join Ethan’s crew, he’d been tirelessly searching for signs of humans. Pressing his oversized ears to the ground, he crawled back and forth, listening intently. He repeated this process over and over.

By the time he was done, he’d unintentionally polished a good portion of the street with his movements.

”Boss, any luck?” one of his subordinates asked.

”Nothing,” Big Ears replied, standing up and shaking out his floppy ears.s were incredibly rare in the city. Even Genesis Biotech’s Beast Hunter Squads operated in separate zones, with each team assigned to a specific area to avoid wasting resources. After the squad they encountered last night was wiped out, no others had shown up.

”I think we should try searching near the city’s edge…” Big Ears mused aloud. He figured Santa Monica might be a good bet. That area had been flooded by seawater, and there was a decent chance humans would head toward Los Angeles from there.

Once he made up his mind, he turned to his crew and gave them instructions. ”I’m heading out to look around. You guys stay here and keep an eye on things. If anything happens, head straight to Ethan’s territory.”

”Got it, boss,” his team replied in unison.

Big Ears pressed his oversized ears to the ground again, carefully listening as he moved forward. This method not only helped him detect humans but also allowed him to sense potential dangers, ensuring his safety.

He continued down the street, tilting his head left and right to catch every sound.

Before long, the sound of rushing water reached his ears.

”Hmm, something’s up…” Big Ears muttered to himself. Following the noise, he unknowingly arrived at the riverbank. That’s when he heard the heavy thud, thud of approaching footsteps.

Looking up, he spotted a hulking figure in the distance.

”Hey, hey! Bulldozer! It’s me!” Big Ears called out cheerfully.

”Oh, it’s you, kid…” Bulldozer recognized him immediately. He knew of Big Ears, one of the zombie kings, and glanced down at him with a raised brow. ”What are you doing? Playing minesweeper or something?”

”No, no, not at all!” Big Ears waved his hands frantically, putting on his most flattering smile. ”I just thought, you’ve been working so hard patrolling, so I came over to help out!”

”Huh. Not bad, kid.” Bulldozer crossed his arms, clearly pleased with the response.

Big Ears’s eyes darted around as he quickly added, ”I mean, out of all the five lords under our boss, you’re definitely the hardest-working one. If it weren’t for you holding things down, this place would’ve fallen apart ages ago!”

”Hmm, true, true! You’ve got a good eye.” Bulldozer’s grin widened, his chest puffing out a little.

”Of course! Bulldozer, you’re the backbone of this whole operation—the strongest, the most responsible! You’re basically our superhero! My admiration for you is like this river: endless and unstoppable!” Big Ears gushed, his tone dripping with exaggerated reverence.

With Bulldozer’s level of intelligence, he was completely defenseless against such a barrage of compliments. If he had a good leg, he might’ve been so flattered he’d have trouble standing.

Before long, the two were walking shoulder to shoulder, arms slung around each other like old friends.

”Big Ears, if you ever need anything, just come to me!” Bulldozer said, clapping him on the shoulder with a hearty laugh.

”Nah, I’m really just here to help you patrol,” Big Ears replied, his face the picture of sincerity.

”Alright! Patrol wherever you want!” Bulldozer declared with a wave of his hand.

Big Ears nodded and began walking along the riverbank, pretending to patrol. But he hadn’t gone far when several vines suddenly shot out of the ground, blocking his path.

A figure slowly emerged from the bushes.

It was Sprout, with green grass swaying atop his head. His narrowed eyes scanned Big Ears from head to toe, suspicion written all over his face.

”Ahhh!” Big Ears yelped, stumbling back a few steps in surprise.

Before he could recover, he felt another gaze boring into him. Turning around, he saw Laura standing silently behind him, her expression cold and unreadable.

”Holy crap!” Big Ears nearly jumped out of his skin.

He recognized both of them. They’d previously invaded his territory, killing and looting with ruthless efficiency. Their strength was terrifying, and their reputations even more so.

”What are you doing here? You’re not up to something, are you?” Laura asked, her tone sharp and distrustful. To her, Big Ears’s smooth-talking demeanor screamed trouble.

”Queen Laura, I’m just trying to survive…” Big Ears said with a nervous laugh, his expression as earnest as he could make it. ”I came here to help the boss find humans. I even heard something just now.”

”Big Ears, don’t give me that,” Bulldozer interrupted, frowning. ”There’s no way anything like that would show up in my patrol area.”

”Alright, enough,” Laura cut in, silencing them both. ”Let him look. If he doesn’t find anything, he’s not leaving here alive.”

”…” Big Ears froze, his face darkening. Isn’t that a bit extreme? he thought to himself.

Laura’s suspicion wasn’t unfounded. She worried that Big Ears might be a spy sent by another zombie king to gather intel and report back.

The only way to prove he wasn’t lying was for him to actually find humans.

And until then, his life hung by a thread.

...