Apocalypse: King of Zombies

"Wait... hold on a second..." Locomotive's eyes widened, something clearly felt off. His gaze sharpened as he scanned the scene, and then he noticed it—Ethan was holding a remote control in his hand.

His face instantly froze in shock, fear washing over him.

How the hell does he have that thing?

"Hey, hey, big guy, let's talk this out, alright? No need to rush..." The fierce, menacing look on Locomotive's face vanished in an instant, replaced by a nervous, almost pleading expression.

"Huh???" The gang members around him, who had been gearing up for an all-out brawl to drive Ethan and his group away, were left dumbfounded. Their boss, who was always the first to throw down, suddenly looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole.

"Boss, why are you scared of him? We can take him out for you!" one of them shouted, confused.

"Shut up! You don't get it!" Locomotive barked, silencing them immediately. His underlings, whose evolutionary progress wasn't as advanced, had no clue what the remote control represented. But Locomotive did—it was his Achilles' heel, plain and simple.

Without another word, he jumped down from the rock he'd been standing on, no longer daring to look down on Ethan from above.

He shuffled over to Ethan, his tough-guy demeanor completely gone. "Big guy, we're on the same side here, right? Why's the remote in your hands? Please, for the love of everything, don't press that button!"

"I picked it up at the Genesis Biotech lab," Ethan said casually, as if it were no big deal.

"Oh..." Locomotive nodded, but his gaze flicked to the Zombie Horde standing behind Ethan. His mind raced, piecing things together, and the realization hit him like a freight train. His shock deepened.

Did this guy... wipe out the Genesis Biotech lab?

How strong is he?

Ethan didn't give him much time to process. "So, can I enter your territory now?"

"Of course, of course!" Locomotive nodded so fast he looked like a bobblehead. "You can even come in and have some seafood if you want..."

...

Genesis Biotech Headquarters

Sophia had just been briefed on the recent events.

"What? The lab was wiped out by zombies?" she exclaimed, her voice sharp with disbelief.

"Yes," her secretary explained. "After conducting an investigation, we found traces of the zombie virus in the water supply system. It was clearly an act of sabotage."

Sophia's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. "What about the lab's research data? And the evolution viruses?"

"The X Virus and Y Virus are both missing," the secretary replied, her tone grim. "And the vault suffered extensive fire damage. All the research data was destroyed."

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"Unbelievable!" Sophia slammed her fist on the desk, the loud thud echoing through the room. She shot up from her chair, her jaw clenched tightly, her chest heaving with frustration. She was absolutely livid.

The lab was a cornerstone of the company's operations. The researchers there weren't just employees—they were top-tier talent, irreplaceable assets.

"And Isaiah? What about his Awakener squad? Were they just sitting around doing nothing?"

"He... he's dead," the secretary admitted, her voice dropping to a near whisper, sensing her boss's growing fury.

"..." Sophia was momentarily speechless. The safe zone's defenses weren't weak by any means. Isaiah was an A-rank Awakener, and he had over fifty people under his command. Yet somehow, they'd all been wiped out by zombies?

"And it's not just Isaiah," the secretary continued hesitantly. "Jonathan's dead too. He led a team of over a hundred people to the shopping mall to eliminate the Phantom Infected. None of them made it out alive. It was like they vanished into thin air."

She paused before adding, "According to drone surveillance, the zombies from the shopping mall were later seen heading toward the safe zone. So..."

"Where are those zombies now?" Sophia cut in, her tone sharp. The X Virus and Y Virus were critical. If the zombies injected themselves with the viruses, their strength would skyrocket. She had to recover the viruses before that happened.

During monthly meetings, Sophia often mocked Nathan for losing those two evolution viruses. There was no way she was going to let herself make the same mistake.

Otherwise, she'd never live it down.

The secretary quickly answered, "High-altitude drones tracked their movements. They're heading toward the train station."

"The train station..." Sophia's eyes lit up. This was good news. The Zombie King in the train station area was one of her company's creations.

That area was home to over four thousand zombies, all under her control.

So, they thought they could escape by running into her territory?

Sophia's lips curled into a faint smile. She felt a bit more at ease. Recovering the viruses seemed like a sure thing now. And even if she couldn't recover them, she could at least ensure those zombies were annihilated.

To make absolutely certain nothing went wrong, she decided to send one of her top enforcers—Alexander Steele.

Alexander was one of the Four Knights of Bernardino, a name spoken in the same breath as Griff Black. An A+ rank Awakener with wood-based abilities, he was a force to be reckoned with.@@novelbin@@

With this double layer of security, Sophia felt even more confident.

"Alright, let Alexander handle it," Sophia said with a calm nod.

"Understood." The secretary responded respectfully, her high heels clicking against the polished floor as she left the office to inform Alexander's team about their new mission.

Once the secretary was gone, Sophia leaned back in her chair, alone in her office. She waited for the inevitable good news, confident in her plan. With some time to kill, she picked up the remote and turned on the TV.

"At first, no one paid attention to the disaster..."

...

At the Train Station

Locomotive stood in front of Ethan like a scolded child, his posture stiff and his expression filled with a mix of regret and frustration. He began recounting his grim story, his voice tinged with bitterness.

"Boss, those humans are ruthless. They cracked open my skull and planted a bomb inside."

"Oh?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, his tone casual. "How many zombies like you are out there?"

"Five or six, I think," Locomotive replied, scratching the back of his head. "They're all stationed on the outskirts of the city. I'm the only one who got to be a boss in the central area."

He sighed heavily before continuing, "But the thing is, once we evolve to B+ rank, they kill us. They take our crystal cores to boost their own strength."

Ethan nodded thoughtfully, piecing things together. No wonder San Bernardino had so many A-rank Awakeners. They weren't just fighting zombies—they were farming them. Raising Zombie Kings while keeping the rest of the undead population under tight control. It was a clever, if not downright sinister, strategy.

And to prevent any risks, they capped the zombies' growth at B rank. Any stronger, and they'd be too hard to manage.

Locomotive looked up, his tone shifting to one of cautious optimism. "But now, things are different, Boss. You destroyed the lab. I'm free from their control. I don't have to take orders from them anymore."

"Don't be so sure," Ethan said, his voice calm but laced with a hint of warning. "They might still have another remote control lying around."

"Uh..." Locomotive froze, his face falling as the realization hit him. If Genesis Biotech had the resources to make one remote, they could easily make more. And if they had backup methods to control the bombs...

What if humans had one remote, and zombies had another? Both issuing conflicting commands?

Who would he even listen to?

"This is bad... really bad," Locomotive muttered, his face clouded with despair.

Ethan noticed his unease and offered a solution. "Relax. I can help you get the bomb out."

"Huh?" Locomotive blinked, his worry deepening. "Wait, you mean... you're gonna crack my skull open again? Maybe let's not do that... What if it explodes while you're at it?"

"No need to crack your skull," Ethan said simply.

Before Locomotive could react, Ethan's hand shot out, his long fingers moving with precision. They phased effortlessly into Locomotive's head, bypassing the physical barrier entirely. Ethan worked quickly, careful not to trigger the bomb. The moment he extracted it, he stored it safely in his spatial storage ring.

Locomotive blinked, confused. "Boss, what are you doing? If you're not opening my skull, then... how are you gonna get it out?"

"It's already out," Ethan replied matter-of-factly.

"What?" Locomotive's jaw dropped, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You're kidding, right? I didn't even feel anything! It's... it's done?"

...