Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Both came from outer space—maybe there’s some kind of connection between them.

With a flick of his wrist, three Radiant Crystals appeared in Ethan’s palm.

And then—

Something happened that left the surrounding zombies stunned.

Two of the crystals suddenly flared up, glowing like incandescent bulbs, becoming intensely bright. Then, as if drawn by an invisible force, they floated up from Ethan’s hand.

”So they are connected.” Ethan immediately concluded.

The stone slab acted like a magnet, pulling the Radiant Crystals toward it. Suspended in midair, the crystals slowly drifted toward the slab.

Moments later, they reached the two hollow sockets on the slab’s surface.

Then, without hesitation, they dropped straight in—fitting perfectly, down to the last fraction of an inch.

BOOM—

In an instant, the entire slab erupted with light. The energy from the Radiant Crystals surged through the intricate patterns on its surface, illuminating every carved line.

A strange force field radiated outward, pushing Bulldozer back several steps. But when he let go of the slab—

The zombies around him gasped in shock.

The stone slab didn’t fall.

It was floating.

”What the…?”

”That’s insane!”

Their eyes widened in amazement.

And under the glow of the slab’s light, they could feel it—every cell in their bodies was buzzing with energy, their evolution accelerating.

Ethan hadn’t expected this either.

He studied the glowing patterns on the slab. There was something eerie about them, something ancient and powerful.

”This thing… might actually be a treasure.”

He stepped forward cautiously. The force field didn’t reject him. Reaching out, he grabbed the edge of the slab with one hand—

It was heavy.

Despite its relatively small size, the slab weighed several tons.

But for Ethan, that was nothing.

”Whoa!” Big Ears’ eyes sparkled with admiration. Ethan, standing under the radiant glow, lifting the slab effortlessly with one hand—it was badass.

”Bulldozer, Bulldozer! What is that thing?”

”Hmm…” Bulldozer stroked his chin, deep in thought. The Radiant Crystals, which they usually used for ”sunbathing,” had just embedded themselves into the slab like they belonged there.

”Think of it like… a showerhead.”

”Uh…?”

Big Ears blinked. How the hell does that make sense?

Meanwhile, Ethan turned the slab over in his hands. It had a dense, solid feel to it—like metal, but also like stone. Definitely not something from Earth. It didn’t even have a name yet.

”What should I call you…?”

He studied the intricate patterns, the way they connected to the two Radiant Crystals—like a vast cosmic map, with two massive celestial bodies.

”Star Map. Yeah, that fits.”

Feeling the weight of the Star Map in his grip, Ethan gave it a casual swing.

A burst of radiant energy surged outward—

The air howled.

BOOM!

A nearby crumbling high-rise was blasted clean through, leaving a gaping hole in its structure. Then, with a groan, the entire building collapsed in on itself.

The zombies scattered.

”Uh…”

Ethan glanced at the rising cloud of dust and debris.

Didn’t expect that.

This slab… had serious power.

Might come in handy for smashing people later.

There were too many mysteries surrounding it—too much to figure out all at once.

For now, he’d hold onto it.

Plenty of time to study it later.

”Alright, you guys really pulled through this time!” Ethan said to Big Ears and the other two zombies.

The three of them instantly lit up, eyes gleaming with excitement. Getting praise from Ethan? That was a huge honor.

”Boss, this is just what we’re supposed to do! No big deal!”

”Yeah, yeah! We’ll keep looking for more of these things!”

”We’d go through fire and water for you, Boss!”

”...”

The three zombies responded eagerly.

Ethan nodded, then waved his hand to dismiss the Zombie Horde.

”Alright, meeting’s over. Get lost.”

...

Aside from that little incident, things in the territory remained peaceful.

Well, except for the fact that Big Ears and his two buddies had found themselves a new hobby—wandering around everywhere.

Santa Monica, San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga, the vast Angeles National Forest, and all the surrounding wilderness—they scoured it all.

They had basically turned into full-time street roamers, aimlessly patrolling the territory day in and day out.

Every day, they prayed for a meteorite to fall from the sky.

Just so they could find another treasure.

Hell, whenever they spotted a shooting star, they’d chase after it, running for miles until it completely disappeared from sight—only then would they give up, disappointed.

Funny how things worked out. Getting hit by a meteorite used to be considered a disaster. Now? It was something they wished for.

Meanwhile, Ethan stayed holed up at home.

Aside from absorbing crystal cores, he now had a new project—studying the Star Map slab.

Two things about it puzzled him.

First, the slab could only hold two Radiant Crystals, but Ethan had three. That meant one was left over.

Second, two of the slab’s edges were irregular, like it had been broken off from a larger whole.

Putting those clues together, Ethan was almost certain—

The slab wasn’t complete.

It had been shattered by something.

The question was… where were the other pieces?

”This is basically a puzzle…”

But there was something else that made Ethan uneasy.

The slab’s material was insanely tough. Even with his current strength, he couldn’t break it.

If something—or someone—had managed to shatter it…

That meant whatever did it was ridiculously powerful.

Not exactly a comforting thought.

But then again…

That thing probably wasn’t on this planet.

Still, Ethan wasn’t the type to take chances. He needed to keep evolving. If he ever did run into something that strong…

He’d make sure to kill it first.

Time flew by.

Before he knew it, Ethan had been laying low at home for over half a month.

It was now the seventh month since the apocalypse began.

He had almost completely absorbed all the high-grade crystal cores he’d gotten from the last big battle.

And it wasn’t just his physical strength that had improved—his mental power had grown significantly too.

At this rate…

It wouldn’t be long before he reached the next stage.

”Where the hell am I supposed to find more high-grade crystal cores?” Ethan started thinking again.

Problem was, he had already wiped out most of the high-level Awakeners in the area. Even Genesis Biotech had stopped delivering ”takeout” to him.

If he wanted more high-grade crystal cores, he’d have to go further.

”But would going too far be too dangerous?” Ethan pondered.

That’s when he thought of Mia.

Times like these were when having friends came in handy.

Of course, he wasn’t planning to kill her for a crystal core.

He just wanted to ask if she had any leads on where to hunt for some.

With that in mind, Ethan picked up his phone and sent Mia a message, explaining what he was looking for.

A few moments later, she replied.

”Actually, I do know a place that’d be perfect for you. But… it’s really far.”

”Where?”

Instead of answering directly, Mia asked—

”You remember the Black Hand Legion, right?”

Ethan frowned slightly.

”Yeah, kinda.”

Back in the early days of the apocalypse, there was a group by that name. They were basically a bunch of lawless scumbags—doing anything for profit. No morals, no bottom line. Hell, they even ran online scams and organ trafficking rings.

They used to roam around his territory a lot.

Which made them easy pickings for his underlings—quick meals, delivered straight to the doorstep.

But lately, they had completely vanished.

It was like they had disappeared off the face of the earth.

That’s when Mia sent another message.

”I heard the Black Hand Legion built a city.”

...