Apocalypse: King of Zombies

After they got back to Fallen Star City, Ethan and his people finally had time to breathe.

Nothing inside the compound needed them micromanaging. And killing zombies? That definitely didn’t require them anymore.

These days, the strongest zombies outside were only around Tier 10. With twenty thousand Tier 9 Enhanced holding the line, Ethan’s group didn’t need to lift a finger.

So for the next few days, they spent their days in the mountains and woods, hunting high-Tier mutant beasts, and their nights grinding mysterious energy to push their Tiers higher.

They’d wanted to see if they could find any Tier 11 mutant beasts, but after days of searching, they didn’t spot a single one.

They did run into a few Tier 10s, though. Those got killed, no questions asked.

Skinny Pete was in full white-furred-ape prep mode now. He didn’t have the spare focus to control any more mutant beasts.

Finally—on the fourth night after returning from Harrison City—Chris, Skinny Pete, and Sean all broke through to Tier 11 at the same time.

The next day at noon, Ethan went to find the white-furred apes.

The apes had only gone up the mountain on the first day, tagging along with Goldie and the other five mutant beasts for a day. After the team returned from Harrison City, they refused to go back up at all.

Probably because the forest out there didn’t feel as comfortable as the place they used to live.

Ethan couldn’t exactly do anything about it. He didn’t dare piss them off. So he let them stay in the big open courtyard in the middle of the mansion complex.

Most of the mutant beasts they’d hunted in the mountains these past few days had ended up in the apes’ stomachs.

The Bloodfang Wolf corpses in Ethan’s spatial storage ring were running low. There was no way he could keep roasting Bloodfang Wolf every day.

The ones he had left… were saved for today.

Ethan walked up to the white-furred apes and smiled.

”Come on. I’m gonna treat you guys to something good today.”

At his words, the apes’ eyes lit up. They scrambled to their feet almost instantly.

After spending so much time together, they could understand most of what Ethan said.

And after all this time, they trusted him too. They weren’t about to suspect he had some kind of bad intentions.

Ethan led them to an open patch of land behind the mansion.

After Miles found out the apes loved barbecue, he’d had people build a massive grilling platform here just for them.

Right now, Chris and the others were already stripping fur off the Bloodfang Wolf carcasses.

When the apes saw there was Bloodfang Wolf again, every single one of them got visibly hyped.

After trying all kinds of roasted meat from outside, they still had a soft spot for Bloodfang Wolf above everything else.

They’d thought it was all gone. Turns out there was more.

Soon, the wolf carcasses were up on the racks. Everyone got to work like they’d done it a hundred times—turning the meat, basting it, sprinkling on seasonings. And besides the usual spices, they also added something… special.

Not long after, the roasted wolves were done.

The white-furred apes couldn’t wait. They yanked the meat down and tore in, wolfing it like their lives depended on it.

”Slow down. Don’t choke,” Ethan said. Then he pulled out a bottle of specially made bourbon from his spatial ring and handed it to the ape leader. ”Here—try some of this.”

The ape leader stared at the bottle, puzzled, clearly having no idea what it was for.

Ethan grinned. He took out another bottle, popped the cap, and took a big swig right from it.

”Ah… that hits.” He coughed from the burn, but his face still looked downright blissed out.

The ape leader took the bourbon with clear interest. Copying Ethan, it cracked the cap and chugged the whole thing in one go.

”….”

”Damn. Respect.” Ethan gave a big thumbs-up.

”Roooar…”

The ape leader opened its mouth and started forcefully breathing out, over and over, tears welling up in its eyes.

Seeing that, the other white-furred apes turned to look, faces full of confusion.

It took a while before the white-furred ape leader finally caught its breath again.

It smacked its lips like it was savoring the aftertaste, then tipped the bottle up and shook it. When it realized it was empty, it immediately looked at Ethan with blatant expectation.

”Damn,” Ethan muttered, amused. ”Wouldn’t have guessed you were a boozehound.”

He chuckled, then pulled out another bottle and handed it over.

The other white-furred apes saw that and hurried over too.

Ethan was ridiculously generous. He straight-up took out a whole pile of booze and let them grab whatever they wanted.

He’d mixed extra alcohol into these bourbons that morning. The proof was scary high. He wasn’t worried they’d take them—he was worried they wouldn’t.

The apes, hyped as hell, each snagged a bottle. Then, copying their leader, they chugged them down in one shot.

The way they were drinking made Chris and the others watching from the side twitch hard in the eyelid.

A second later, the white-furred apes were all tearing up from the burn, tongues hanging out as they panted.

After a while, two of them reached for another bottle. The rest shook their heads and went back to gnawing on the roasted wolf.

Apparently white-furred apes were just like humans—some got hooked on alcohol, and some just couldn’t handle it.

But Ethan had planned for both outcomes. Whether they drank or not, the end result would be the same.

A few minutes later, the white-furred apes started dropping one after another, collapsing onto the ground.

Ethan smiled. Then he brought Skinny Pete over to the leader. They shook it hard for a long time until it finally cracked its eyes open, all bleary and unfocused.

Skinny Pete activated Beast Control immediately.

Maybe it had really drunk too much, because the ape leader didn’t show any urge to resist at all. Skinny Pete got control fast.

But the moment he did, Skinny Pete’s face went a shade paler.

”Holy shit,” he said, still shaken. ”This guy’s strong. Definitely not some average Tier 12. Good thing I’m Tier 11 now—otherwise I would’ve gotten mental backlash for sure.”

”Obviously.” Ethan sighed. ”It’s not like you haven’t seen them fight. Their bloodline’s gotta be crazy strong—power and defense way above other mutant beasts at the same Tier. That’s why I had to use a trick like this.”

Skinny Pete laughed. ”Man, we hit the jackpot. Right now it feels like I could sweep everything just with my mutant beast squad.”

Over this stretch—thanks to a steady supply of Tier 10 corpses—Nugget the golden eagle and Goldie the Bengal tiger had both advanced to Tier 10. Add in a whole pack of Stage C (Tier 12) white-furred apes, and purely on brute strength, they were already stronger than the Fallen Star Squad.

”Can you still control other flying mutant beasts?” Ethan asked with a grin. ”We still need two more flying mounts.”

”Two?”

”Yeah. Fallen Star Squad’s got Emily now. Even if we don’t count Miles, that’s nine people. Four flying mounts won’t fit everyone—what, we’re just gonna hang from talons the whole way?”

”Uh… fine.” Skinny Pete looked pained. ”But if it’s two, we can only go for Tier 9s.”

Even though he’d reached Tier 11, controlling the white-furred ape leader had burned way too much mental energy. He didn’t have much left to spare on other beasts. Trying to control a Tier 10 now would be a stretch—he had to settle.

”That’s fine. For travel, Tier 9 is enough. And Tier 9s are easier to find anyway.”

”Let’s go,” Ethan said. ”We’ll take Nugget and the others and search the different mountain ranges. Grab two Tier 9 flying mounts and bring them back. We’re leaving for Atlas City tomorrow.”

”What about them…?” Chris asked, pointing at the white-furred apes sprawled on the ground.

”It’s fine. They’ll wake up after a few hours.”

”Alright.”

Before long, Ethan and the others mounted up on Nugget and the rest and flew toward the mountain forests.

They spent the entire afternoon combing through one range after another, flying more than fifty miles in total. Finally, they found a Tier 9 vulture and a Tier 9 owl.

Because Nugget and the others—now Tier 10—gave off such overwhelming presence, those Tier 9 mutant beasts had been hiding. Ethan had only managed to spot them because he kept True Sight running the whole time.

Up against a group of Tier 10 and Tier 11 monsters, the two Tier 9 flying mutant beasts didn’t have any real ability to resist. They got beaten down quickly, and Skinny Pete controlled them on the spot.

At that point, the Fallen Star Squad’s lineup of flying mounts was finally complete.