Apocalypse: King of Zombies

With both sides in agreement, the trade itself went smoothly.

Ethan reached into his pocket and casually began pulling out crystal cores by the handful. In just a few moments, over two hundred Tier 6 crystal cores were stacked neatly on the table.

These were the spoils from their journey—cores taken from Tier 6 zombies they’d killed along the way, including those taken down during the battle with the Tier 9. Most of their stash was still with Miles, so this was just what Ethan had on him.

But to General Cross and the others, the scene was borderline surreal.

He just kept pulling them out of his pocket? Like that? No storage case, no protective container—just loose in his pants?

And how deep was that pocket, anyway? It didn’t even look bulky. Where the hell was he keeping all that?

Ethan didn’t bother explaining. He simply looked up and said, ”I don’t have that many on me right now—let’s just trade two hundred for now.”

”...”

General Cross stared at the pile of Tier 6 cores on the table, speechless.

Two hundred Tier 6 cores. Just like that. And the guy had the nerve to say he didn’t bring much?

He couldn’t even pull that many from the entire compound’s reserves if he tried.

This guy’s flexing so hard it hurts, Cross thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

Still, he turned to Michael Harper, the man in charge of logistics and civilian affairs. ”Michael, take a team to the warehouse and bring back two hundred thousand Tier 1 crystal cores.”

”Yes, sir,” Michael nodded and quickly left the room.

Two hundred thousand was no small number. Just counting them would take a while—he’d definitely need extra hands. Fortunately, Tier 1 cores were only the size of a grain of rice. A medium duffel bag would be enough to carry the whole batch.

Once Michael was gone, Cross turned back to Ethan.

”Ethan, I’ve got to ask—why are you only trading for Tier 1 crystal cores? Most zombies these days start at Tier 5. Tier 1 Enhanced are barely stronger than regular civilians.”

Ethan shrugged. ”They were slow to react early on, didn’t collect enough Tier 1 cores. We’ve got plenty of Tier 2s and 3s, but Tier 1s are in short supply. So we’re just stocking up for now. If we need higher-tier ones later, we’ll come back and trade again.”

He kept his tone casual, but of course, he wasn’t about to reveal the real reason—like the fact that they had the Energy Absorption Technique. That was the foundation of their compound’s rise, and there was no way he’d let that slip.

After seeing how this place operated, Ethan had already figured it out: when it came to compound strength, unless there were special circumstances, civilian-built compounds couldn’t hold a candle to government-backed ones.

And if Clearford was already this well-developed, then the capital’s compound—Atlas City—had to be on another level entirely.

Cross nodded slowly.

He was smart enough to know Ethan wasn’t telling the whole truth, but he didn’t press. Pushing too hard would only sour the relationship.

And with how absurdly strong this group was, making allies was far better than making enemies.

”You’ve probably built your own compound by now, haven’t you?” Cross asked, testing the waters.

”Yeah,” Ethan said with a nod. ”Just a small one. In this world, if you want to survive, you’ve got to stick together. Otherwise, the zombies will tear you apart.”

Ethan didn’t deny it. In fact, he was curious to see how the government viewed independent survivor groups building their own compounds.

General Cross nodded. ”You’re right. In the face of disaster, unity is survival. I fully support capable people establishing their own compounds. It helps protect survivors faster and more efficiently. If we relied solely on the government, too many people would miss their best chance at rescue. Zombie outbreaks are completely unpredictable—some of our top officials turned overnight, and the resulting chaos crippled our response. Organizing a rescue effort was the last thing anyone could manage.”

”You’re not worried about things spiraling into uncontrollable chaos?” Ethan asked.

”Uncontrollable chaos?” Cross shook his head, then gave a wry smile. ”Honestly, before meeting you, I wasn’t worried at all. Ordinary people, no matter how tough, can’t compare to the military. But after seeing what you’re capable of… yeah, I’m a little concerned now.”

He leaned back slightly, voice calm but firm. ”Still, that’s a problem for later. Right now, the priority is surviving this apocalypse. If humanity gets wiped out, what’s the point of worrying about anything else?”

He paused, then added, ”And with the rise of the Enhanced and the decline of traditional firepower, there’s no going back to the old world. A new era is coming—maybe even an age of warlords and power struggles. Not just civilians—even local governments… how many of them will stay true to their ideals?”

Ethan glanced at him, a bit surprised.

No wonder this man had managed to build such a massive compound so quickly. He saw things clearly—sharply.

Cross continued, ”So, are you planning to head back once you find your people?”

”Yeah,” Ethan nodded. ”This trip’s mainly to find family. Once we do, we’ll bring them back. After that, we’ll keep searching for the rest of our squad’s families. In the apocalypse, nothing weighs heavier than not knowing if your loved ones are alive or dead. No matter the outcome, we have to find out.”

Ethan himself didn’t have many relatives left—his parents had died in a car crash—but the other members of Fallen Star Squad still had family out there. And since they came from all over, tracking them down would be a long, difficult task.

But it had to be done.

Fallen Star Squad was the core of their compound. Only by giving every member peace of mind could they move forward without hesitation.

”I respect that,” General Cross said sincerely. ”Not many people still put family first in times like this.”

That made him relax a little.

People who still cared about family usually weren’t the reckless, power-drunk types he feared. His biggest concern had been that these powerful individuals might abuse their strength and cause chaos. But now… maybe he’d been overthinking it.

After a moment, Cross spoke again. ”Ethan, if things aren’t too urgent back at your compound, I’d suggest staying here a bit longer.”

”Oh?” Ethan raised an eyebrow. ”Why’s that?”

”We’ve established contact with Atlas City’s compound. They’ve regained control of a satellite ground station and restored satellite communications. It won’t be long before all major compounds can start using satellite calls. Once that’s up, you’ll be able to ask other compounds for help locating distant relatives.”

”That’s great news,” Ethan said, eyes lighting up. ”If we can actually make calls again, we won’t have to blindly search anymore. At least we’ll know where to look. Sounds like Atlas City’s compound is developing fast.”

Cross nodded. ”Of course. It’s the capital. They’ve got the most advanced weapons, the strongest military units, and some of the most capable leaders.”

He leaned forward slightly, his tone filled with anticipation. ”Atlas City is already mostly stabilized. They’ve restarted production and launched research into zombies, crystal cores, mutant beasts, and special energy types. I expect we’ll see results soon.”

Ethan nodded thoughtfully. Just as he’d expected—Atlas City wasn’t just the political center, it was a powerhouse. The speed of their recovery was impressive.

With a pre-apocalypse population of over seven million, Atlas City likely had more than six million zombies. For them to stabilize and resume production, they must’ve wiped out at least four million of them.

That meant they’d harvested a massive number of crystal cores—more than enough to cultivate a huge force of Enhanced. High-tier ones, too.

But there was one thing Ethan was sure of: unless they’d discovered the Energy Absorption Technique or the Body Refinement Technique, no matter how many Enhanced they had, their top-tier strength wouldn’t surpass Fallen Star City.

By his estimate, the ten thousand Tier 5 peak Enhanced in Fallen Star City were already starting to break through to Tier 6. Soon, they’d have a force of ten thousand Tier 6 Enhanced.

That kind of power would shake any compound to its core.

And with the Energy Absorption Technique accelerating their growth, Fallen Star City’s development speed would soon outpace every other compound.

Maybe they couldn’t match the sheer numbers of other cities, but in terms of overall strength?

They wouldn’t be second to anyone.