Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle

It didn’t take that long before their group arrived at the villa...

As soon as they saw it, they had a strange feeling, but none of them mentioned it. Instead, they were all vigilant in case a Zombie just suddenly popped out...

Soon, the gate creaked open as Tundra himself unlocked it.

Tundra stepped through first as he was confident with his current set of Legendary Equipment.

Crunch~

His boots crunched softly as he stepped on the vines that had covered the villa. The others followed in formation... Sona to his left, Otto to his right, Zephyrion and Eldric covering the rear.

The villa was silent.

Unfortunately, there weren’t any notifications that they entered a Zombie Lord Territory.

”Ahh... What a pity... I thought that we’d be hunting a Zombie Lord here.” Tundra muttered as he really expected that this place was some kind of a dungeon.

But he expected too much...

There were no groans or bloodstains around. He tried looking around but there were also no claw marks on the walls. The iron gate hadn’t been bent or forced as well...

The windows were intact. Even the outer garden, though overgrown, still held shape... Even the stone benches, the dry fountain, and a row of hedges that had grown wild weren’t really destroyed. They just all aged because they weren’t taken care of.

”Ahhh... So it was like that.” Eldric muttered. He finally realized what was so weird when they saw the villa. It was the lack of signs or the presence of Zombies.

They were so used to seeing ruined towns, villages, and structures because of the Zombies.

This time, however, what they were seeing was simply an abandoned building not overrun by Zombies or raided by Scavengers whatsoever.

The others also realized this and couldn’t help but smile.

Otto muttered... ”Hmm... This still feels wrong. No place stays untouched... There must be something special here.”

Zephyrion’s skeletal bird flew ahead, scanning the structure with its hollow gaze. After a moment, it returned to his shoulder and clicked its beak once.

”No undead...” Zephyrion confirmed. ”No lingering death aura. Not even residual fear. This is interesting... Maybe this place had some sort of Zombie Warding Talisman or something?”

That was unlikely since the Zombie Warding Talisman only had an effect that could last for a few days. Obviously, this villa had been abandoned for decades or even centuries. There was no way a Warding Talisman or something similar would have such a long lasting effect.

Sona placed her palm against the wall and closed her eyes. Frost bloomed briefly across the surface, then faded.

”No signs of recent magic either...” she said. ”No barrier or warding talisman... As for the traps... I’m not sure, but I didn’t sense anything obvious...”

Tundra didn’t speak. He walked slowly through the courtyard while brushing his hand against the stone railing. If needed, he could plant a dozen bombs here in seconds, but there was no need.

He was considering how they would proceed from here...

The villa itself wasn’t large enough to house ten thousand people. At most, it could accommodate about two hundred people... But it wasn’t the villa they were here for.

It was the land.

Beyond the villa’s rear wall stretched a wide basin... There was flat, and seemingly fertile land with patches of wild grain and berry shrubs.

There was also a freshwater stream that cut through the terrain, flowing toward the distant coastline. The forest to the north was dense but healthy, with tall hardwoods and scattered fruit trees. And to the east, just beyond the hills, the sea could be seen.

Tundra had seen the ship bottles Shane kept in his study room.

They were miniature galleons, frigates, and cargo ships sealed in enchanted glass.

According to Shane, they just need to break the bottle, and the ship would emerge. They were full-sized, seaworthy, and ready to sail.

But for that, they needed a port.

This place had potential.

The coastline wasn’t steep. The creek nearby could be dredged and reinforced, and the land was arable. The forest offered lumber, and the stream provided clean water. Even if the water was actually dirty, the elves could do something about it...

And the villa that seemed untouched could serve as a command post or administrative hub. Of course, they still have to explore the place, as there might be something even more dangerous here.

But still, Tundra turned to Eldric.

”Thoughts?”

Eldric scanned the horizon. ”Sir Shane planned to build a town from scratch... With the size of the land here, settling ten thousand people or more is doable. We’d need to clear the basin, set up drainage, and build tiered housing. But the terrain’s stable. No signs of sinkholes or Zombie Nests as well...”

”Right? This place looks good. But before that... Let’s fully explore this villa.”

***

Just like that the group split up to sweep the villa.

Otto and Sona took the east wing. Zephyrion and Eldric moved toward the cellar and storage halls. Tundra, on the other hand, headed deeper into the central structure, toward what looked like the administrative wing.

’Hmm... It’s not as bad as I thought.’ Tundra mused after realizing that the air inside was stale but dry. There was no mold or rot, and only dust that he had to worry about.

He passed through a corridor filled with already faded portraits and cracked wall lamps... Eventually, he reached a heavy double door at the end of the hall. The brass plate on it had long since tarnished, but faint lettering remained.

[ Director’s Office ]

Tundra pushed the door open.

The room inside was large, and a wide window overlooked the basin behind the villa. Vines had crept in through the cracks, but it was still fine...

However, there was a shattered monitor lying on the floor. As for the filing cabinets, they looked like they were hastily emptied...

He stepped inside, scanning the room.

There were no active devices and most of the paper files had long since crumbled into unreadable fragments. But then he saw it—an old plaque mounted on the wall behind the desk.

[ Biogenix – Regional Research Node 07 ]

Tundra froze.