Apocalypse: King of Zombies

While Maxwell and the others were holding their secret meeting, the Atlas City Council Hall had its own closed-door discussion.

The Verdants’ upper ranks were gathered inside, voices low—but the mood was sharp.

”Elder,” a young Verdants man said, ”based on our investigation, that Glacial Bear has gone south a long time ago. It’s already more than six hundred miles away.”

His lip curled.

”I think these humans were just bluffing us. With strength like theirs, how could they possibly have the qualifications to make a Stage SS ferocious beast fight for them?”

”I agree,” another man chimed in casually. ”Lately I’ve had people kill plenty of humans—openly and in the shadows. They only dared to be angry, but none of them dared to act.”

He snorted.

”If they had a backer that strong, they would’ve called it in ages ago.”

Viren, the Verdants elder, nodded slowly. His face was dark.

”Then we’ve been played by these humans.”

”Damn it!” A hotheaded young man slammed his fist down. ”A bunch of ants dared to play us? I’ll go kill them right now.”

”Wait.” Another man spoke up, cutting him off. ”I called all of you here because I have important news—news that could have a huge impact on us. Don’t act rashly yet.”

Everyone turned toward him.

”What news?”

”This morning,” the man said, ”my people ran into a few Luminari from Dawnreach Continent while hunting Outland Beasts outside.”

”At first we thought they were lying low, but they approached us themselves. According to them, they had occupied a human compound.”

He took a breath.

”But a few days ago, a group of human powerhouses suddenly descended on that compound and wiped out all of their upper ranks. They barely escaped with their lives.”

”Human… powerhouses?” The Verdants’ senior officers stared at him like he’d told a joke without realizing it.

Then laughter broke out.

”Humans have powerhouses? Don’t tell me they mean a Tier 23 ’expert.’”

”Ha! I’m dying. That ’Luminari’ race must be some trash-tier species if they got chased off by humans.”

The room filled with disdainful smiles.

It wasn’t even arrogance, not really. They’d been on this world for nearly a month. They’d seen basically every Enhanced fighter this city had. Outside the walls, they’d slaughtered hundreds of thousands—millions—of monsters.

And the strongest human they’d personally seen?

Peak Tier 23.

To them, that level was a joke.

So the phrase ”human powerhouse” sounded ridiculous.

But the man didn’t laugh with them. He just kept going.

”My people asked them directly about their strength.”

He looked around the room, making sure every face was watching.

”They said the Luminari force was led by a peak Tier 35 elder and a Tier 34 captain.”

”And under them… more than ten Stage S elites.”

”Plus over six thousand Stage A fighters.”

The air in the council hall went dead.

All those sneering smiles froze in place.

”That’s impossible,” someone said slowly, his voice turning stiff. ”That lineup is stronger than us. If humans really had power like that, how could we bully them like this and never see resistance?”

”Exactly,” another officer said, frowning hard. ”Those Luminari are probably just boasting. Maybe they didn’t even have a Stage A—so of course humans could beat them.”

The man shook his head.

”The Luminari my people met were all peak Tier 29,” he said.

”…!”

Silence.

Someone’s throat bobbed as they swallowed.

”Could it be…” a Verdants officer started, then hesitated.

”Don’t guess.” The messenger’s voice stayed calm, but the content hit like a hammer. ”We already questioned them thoroughly.”

”They were only ordinary members of the Luminari vanguard. And the Luminari’s overall strength is very likely above ours.”

He paused, then dropped the rest in one breath.

”They occupied that human city for more than twenty days. They repelled dozens of other races.”

”And then a group of humans arrived out of nowhere and erased them with thunder. Their elder and more than ten upper ranks were killed.”

”The survivors only escaped because they could fly.”

”Even then, out of six thousand-plus fighters, only a little over two thousand made it out.”

The room erupted into shocked breathing.

”Are you sure it was humans and not a ferocious beast?” Viren asked, brows drawn tight.

”Yes,” the man said firmly. ”Humans.”

”Then… does that mean humans have a Stage SS powerhouse?” A Verdants woman blurted, eyes wide.

”No,” the man replied, voice heavy. ”Still Stage S.”

”But their combat power is terrifying.”

”This…” Faces tightened across the room.

In an instant, the Verdants’ entire mood shifted—like someone had poured ice water down their backs.

The Verdants’ high ranks all went grim.

They’d only just ”confirmed” that the humans had been bluffing about the Glacial Bear, and they were gearing up to really tighten the screws.

And now—out of nowhere—humans had apparently found themselves another terrifying backer.

Worse, if what the messenger said was true, then the Luminari force that got wiped out was stronger than the Verdants in pure lineup.

The Verdants only had one Tier 35 elder, one Tier 33 captain, and a little more than ten Stage S fighters. The rest were Stage A.

If those humans could erase a Luminari team like that with thunder, killing the Verdants… wouldn’t be hard at all.

One thought after another piled up, heavy and cold.

If humans dared to strike the Luminari, would they also strike the Verdants?

”Elder… what do we do?” the others asked, all looking toward Viren.

Viren’s face darkened as he snapped, ”This information hasn’t been confirmed yet. What are you panicking for?”

He took a breath, then barked an order.

”Go. Bring me the humans’ leader. If humans really have power like that, their leader will know something. If it’s real, we撤.”

Someone immediately frowned. ”That’s pointless. With humans like this, even if they don’t have it, they’ll still claim they do.”

”…”

Another Verdants officer gritted his teeth. ”Then what do we do? If it’s true, we’re in danger. But if we leave now and it’s fake…”

A third voice cut in, blunt and practical.

”Real or fake, we should retreat first. Observe for a while.”

”If it’s fake, we can always come back later.”

”If it’s real, at least we keep our lives.”

Several people nodded instinctively.

Viren’s jaw tightened. Then he slammed the decision down.

”Garron’s right. Notify everyone—pack up. We pull out for now.”

”Understood!”

Very quickly, every Verdants member inside Atlas City compound began gathering their things, then moved toward the central plaza to assemble.

That kind of commotion was impossible to hide from the humans living in the compound. The news spread like wildfire.

Before long, it reached Maxwell’s group.

”What are they doing?” Gabriel frowned.

”That… looks like they’re getting ready to run.”

”It’s not ’looks like,’” Maxwell said, voice firm. ”They are running.”

”But why would they suddenly decide to run?”

”They caught wind of something,” Maxwell replied immediately. ”Ethan’s been making big moves lately. It’s not strange that rumors would reach them.”

Charles frowned. ”Then what do we do? Ethan’s people are supposed to come here. If the Verdants run now, won’t Ethan be coming for nothing?”

Maxwell thought for a few seconds, then made the call.

”Send people over. Find a way to stall them.”

He was already reaching for his phone.

”I’ll contact Goldcrest City and tell Ethan to hurry.”

”Got it.”

An aide quickly left to carry out the order.

Maxwell raised his phone and dialed Damien Caldwell.

But before the call could connect—

Outside, not far from their building, the sky suddenly tore open.

A jagged裂缝 split the air, and one figure after another stepped out of it.

Maxwell and the others stared through the window, frozen in place.

For a moment, nobody breathed.

Then the phone finally picked up.

”Hello? General Kane?” Damien’s voice came through.

Maxwell’s mouth slowly curled into a smile—one he hadn’t worn in a long time.

”No need,” he said softly.

He hung up.