Apocalypse: King of Zombies

The roar of human fury drowned out Viren’s begging mid-sentence.

Only then did it hit him—really hit him—what they’d done to the humans in this compound since they occupied it.

Back when it was happening, he hadn’t felt a thing about it. In a world where the strong preyed on the weak, that was simply how every race survived.

In their original world, weak races were almost always enslaved by stronger ones. That was the rule, not the exception.

And if the human race hadn’t happened to have someone this terrifying backing them?

Viren wouldn’t have thought he’d done anything wrong. Not for a second.

It was only now—now that he needed to beg—that he suddenly remembered: he didn’t even have the right to beg.

A messy, bitter mix churned in his chest. For the first time, something like regret finally surfaced.

But it was too late.

As that horrifying soulless thrall lunged at him again, Viren whirled around and charged straight into the Verdants’ ranks.

”Stop it!” he roared. ”Hold it back!”

At the elder’s command, a flicker of disbelief spread across the Verdants’ faces.

”You couldn’t beat it, and you want us to hold it back?”

”That’s a peak Tier 35 soulless thrall! We’re Stage A—how the hell are we supposed to stop that?”

Whether they wanted to or not, the moment Viren dove into the crowd, Tharok came right after him.

The Verdants could only grit their teeth and throw out control skills like their lives depended on it—because they did.

But Tharok was surrounded by a raging storm of lightning.

Any vine that came within range was instantly burned to ash.

As he charged into the Verdant crowd, the lightning around him swept outward like a living storm, tearing through everyone nearby.

One Verdant after another collapsed, swallowed by the crackling lightning.

”You all move too,” Ethan said, turning to Chris and the others.

”Got it.”

Chris and the rest nodded, then led more than three hundred Awakened as they slammed into the Verdants’ experts.

At the same time, the other soulless thralls struck as well, unleashing one terrifying skill after another—everything crashing down at once.

Screams erupted across the Verdants’ camp. Within minutes, their formation shattered, and they started fleeing in every direction.

But there was nowhere to run.

The area was already packed tight, sealed off by a dense ring of people.

These Void Realm creatures had humiliated them for too long. No one here was about to let them slip away.

Skills rained down in a frenzy, cutting off every escape route, forcing the Verdants back into the killing zone.

Some humans died trying to stop them—bodies dropping under desperate counterattacks—but it didn’t break their will.

If anything, it pushed them over the edge. Made them fight even harder.

Thankfully, the soulless thralls weren’t what they used to be.

Under their relentless assault, Verdants fell in waves—whole swaths collapsing to the ground.

In less than half an hour, the several thousand Verdants were either dead, unconscious, or pinned to the ground.

By then, Viren had been blasted into the dirt by Tharok’s lightning barrage, unconscious and limp.

At long last, Atlas City compound was free.

From that point on, the Atlas Federation’s five major compounds were back in human hands again.

But it was only temporary.

If the compounds couldn’t raise their strength fast, there was still a real risk they’d be seized again by other races from other worlds.

Luckily, Ethan had Riftwalk.

If something urgent happened, he could appear instantly to reinforce a compound—or, if it came to it, get out just as fast.

That was a huge reason he’d chosen the skill in the first place. Support, escape—either way, it was ridiculously useful.

And there was another reason too.

Ethan planned to test something after a while. If it worked…

This skill was going to be way too damn fun.

After dealing with the Verdants, Ethan was about to tell Maxwell to start building a place for creating soulless thralls—only for Maxwell to say it was already done.

They’d heard what happened at the other compounds, so they’d built it ahead of time. Even the materials needed to create soulless thralls were prepared and waiting.

That saved Ethan and the others a lot of trouble.

After that, just like at the other compounds, Chris and his group taught Maxwell and the rest how to create soulless thralls.

As for the Verdants’ elder, Viren?

Skinny Pete would be the one to create him.

It wasn’t that Ethan was trying to hoard top-tier powerhouses.

Maxwell and his people simply couldn’t create a Tier 35 thrall at all.

Even for Chris and the others, creating a Tier 35 was brutal—so hard they passed out from exhaustion afterward.

And if that was what it did to them, Maxwell’s group didn’t stand a chance.

A few days later, every Verdant who was still breathing had been created into a thrall.

Atlas City finally had high-Tier combat power of its own.

Right after that, Maxwell’s first move was to bring the Satellite Operations Control Center back online.

This was the Atlas Federation’s biggest trump card.

During the time the Verdants occupied the city, Maxwell had made a hard call—he ordered everything in the facility shut down and had everyone keep their distance.

A few Verdants had wandered in before, but a room full of electronic equipment they couldn’t even begin to understand bored them fast. They lost interest and left.

With the technicians working through calibration, the Satellite Operations Control Center was up and running again in no time.

Maxwell immediately had the team compile a detailed report on every Void Realm creature still active within the Atlas Federation’s borders.

Now that every major city’s compound was back in human hands, Ethan and the others weren’t in a rush to leave. They stayed and waited for the data.

For them, it mattered just as much.

The technicians worked day and night. Three days later, an extremely detailed dossier landed on Maxwell’s desk.

He didn’t waste a second.

Maxwell called Ethan, the others, and a group of high-ranking Atlas Federation officials into his office.

Everyone dug into the report, reading in silence.

A long time passed before they finally set it down, faces heavy.

”I didn’t expect there to still be this many Void Realm creatures and Outland Beasts inside the Atlas Federation,” Maxwell said, sounding grim.

”That’s normal,” Ethan replied. ”We’ve got dozens of Void Realm channels on this side. The number of creatures that came through was at least in the millions. What’s left now is already ’not much’—it’s probably the result of them fighting each other nonstop.”

”Then…” Gabriel hesitated. ”Ethan, do you think these Void Realm creatures are all as strong as the Verdants?”

”No,” Ethan said, shaking his head. ”The Atlas Federation only has five human city compounds. Any race that managed to take a compound is the strongest of the strong. If you’re not powerful enough, you don’t even dare touch a human compound.”

He tapped the report with a finger.

”So most of what you’re seeing here is weaker than the Verdants.”

He paused, then added, ”That said, I won’t rule out the possibility that some powerful Void Realm creatures aren’t interested in compounds at all. They might’ve come here out of curiosity.”

His tone tightened.

”So no matter what—unless it’s necessary, don’t leave the compound. It’s still dangerous out there.”

”Understood,” Maxwell and the others said, nodding seriously.

”This report isn’t just Void Realm creatures. It also lists Outland Beasts,” Ethan continued. ”If you want the compound’s strength to climb fast, relying on absorbing mysterious energy under the night sky won’t cut it. You need crystal cores.”

”Now that the Satellite Operations Control Center is restored, you can use satellite feeds to locate smaller groups of Outland Beasts. Take your soulless thralls, hunt them, and raise the compound’s overall strength as quickly as possible.”

Maxwell nodded. ”That’s exactly what we’re thinking.”

”Good.” Ethan stood. ”Then we’ll head out too. We’re going to hunt Outland Beasts and push our own strength up.”

He looked at Maxwell directly.

”If you run into another powerful Void Realm creature like Viren, contact me immediately.”

Maxwell nodded, but he didn’t speak right away.

He studied Ethan for a long moment, then stepped forward and clasped Ethan’s hand in both of his.

”Ethan,” Maxwell said, voice low and steady, ”there are things a country can repay… and things it can only remember.”

”If not for you and Fallen Star City, the Atlas Federation might still have a name, but it wouldn’t have people who could stand on their own anymore.”

”You did more than save our compounds. You gave our survivors a future. You gave them weapons, hope, and the courage to believe humanity could still fight back.”

His grip tightened slightly.

”So remember this. From this day forward—if you ever call, the Atlas Federation will answer.”

Ethan fell quiet for a beat.

Then he smiled faintly and shook his head.

”General Kane, you’re making it sound way too serious.”

He met Maxwell’s eyes.

”I’m part of the Atlas Federation too. I only did what I should’ve done.”

Maxwell didn’t respond.

He just held Ethan’s hand a little tighter.