Apocalypse: King of Zombies

When the news spread, it caused an uproar within the Zombie Horde.

The Zombie Kings, led by Bulldozer, were buzzing with excitement. This was the first time they'd ever received such an order. Up until now, Ethan had never sent his underlings to stir up trouble elsewhere.

"This is a first!" Bulldozer's fierce eyes gleamed with anticipation.

Laura glanced at him. "Wait, are you saying you're a rookie?"

"Forget it. With your level of understanding, you wouldn't get it anyway…" Bulldozer waved her off, too pumped to explain. "Before, the boss always brought back the prey himself. This time, I'm gonna grab as many high-grade crystal cores as I can and bring them back to show my respect."

"You better be careful," Laura said, her tone dripping with disdain. "The boss said to harass, not to go all out. Don't mess it up like last time, when the boss had to bring the whole Zombie Horde to bail you out."

"…" Bulldozer's face darkened. How does she still remember that? It's been ages…

"What's this about?" Elegy asked, her face full of curiosity. Since she'd joined later, she had no idea about this embarrassing chapter of Bulldozer's past. "Did Bulldozer screw something up?"

"No, no, don't listen to Laura's nonsense!" Bulldozer quickly tried to salvage his image.

…

Meanwhile, at the edge of the territory, three zombies—Big Ears, Shrimpy, and Locomotive—had also caught wind of the plan.

Locomotive was the first to jump up. "We're heading to San Bernardino? That's my turf! I have to go!"

"Why bother? Wouldn't it be better to stay back and strategize?" Big Ears tried to reason with him.

Locomotive shot him a look. "Big Ears, do you know why you'll never be a leader? You're always hanging back, strategizing. How are you supposed to dominate like that?"

"He's got a point!" Shrimpy chimed in, nodding in agreement.

Big Ears paused, considering the argument. It did make sense. Plus, this was just a harassment mission, not a full-on battle. It probably wasn't too dangerous.

"Alright, fine. If you're gonna twist my arm, I guess I'll have to step up and wreak some havoc." With that, the three zombies decided to join the operation.

The Zombie Kings gathered their forces, each bringing a small group of elite underlings. The numbers weren't huge—this was just a skirmish on the outskirts, not an all-out war.

Overhead, a flock of red-eyed crows circled, scouting the area.

Big Ears pressed his ear to the ground, his legs stiff as he crept forward, scanning for any sudden threats.

Behind him, Bulldozer, Laura, PhD, and the other Zombie Kings followed, their faces alight with excitement and bloodlust.

"Wanna make this interesting? Let's see who can hunt the most crystal cores," Laura said, a sinister grin spreading across her face.

Bulldozer scoffed. "You're on. Like I'd lose to you."

"Alright then, I'm heading out first," Laura said casually.

Bulldozer frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You guys are too slow." Laura crouched low, her body tensing like a spring. Then, in a flash, she bolted forward, disappearing from sight in an instant.

"Whoa, she's fast…" The other Zombie Kings stared, wide-eyed.

PhD watched silently in the direction Laura had vanished. Her strength had clearly reached A+ level by now.

Bulldozer clicked his tongue. "She's cheating! Jumping the gun like that. How's that fair?"

"Getting there early doesn't always mean getting there smart. Sometimes, the right choice beats hard work," PhD said, his tone cryptic.

"What's that supposed to mean…?" Bulldozer and the others looked puzzled. It sounded deep, but they couldn't quite grasp it. Still, judging by PhD's expression, he clearly had a plan.

PhD elaborated, "According to the boss's intel, the Rancho Cucamonga shelter was recently overrun. A large number of survivors fled toward San Bernardino. So, the area between those two cities is bound to have the most humans. That's where we should go."

"Wait, you're right!" Bulldozer's small eyes lit up, a newfound respect for PhD bubbling up inside him. Man, this guy really lives up to his name… Why didn't I think of that?

Without wasting any more time, they followed PhD's plan and headed toward the area between the two cities.

Sure enough, it didn't take long before Big Ears, who had been "sweeping the ground" ahead, suddenly froze in place. He stood up, brushed the dust off his oversized ears, and turned back to the group.

"Bulldozer, there's movement up ahead. Zombies and humans are fighting."

"Oh?" Bulldozer raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. Someone beat me to my prey?

PhD chimed in casually, "It's probably Nightmare's zombies. They must've caught up with the humans fleeing from Rancho Cucamonga."

"Let's go check it out," said Little Shadow, his entire figure cloaked in black. He remembered Ethan's orders clearly: no human crystal cores were to fall into the hands of the other side.

As they moved forward, the sounds of chaos grew louder—zombies snarling, humans screaming in rage and agony, and the wet, visceral sounds of flesh being torn and weapons slicing through bodies. Just as PhD had predicted.

Ahead, in an open field, a group of about thirty humans was locked in a desperate battle. They carried backpacks stuffed with supplies and wielded alloy weapons, fighting tooth and nail against a horde of zombies.

The fight was brutal.

These humans were Awakeners who had escaped from Rancho Cucamonga, and they weren't pushovers. Leading them was a young man, a B+ rank ice-type Awakener.

He wielded a titanium-alloy falchion, his body radiating an icy chill. He darted through the zombie horde with precision, his blade slicing through undead flesh. Each strike unleashed a wave of freezing energy, instantly encasing zombies in ice. With a swift follow-up slash, the frozen zombies shattered into pieces, their remains scattering across the ground like shards of glass. His killing power was immense.

"Hold on, everyone! I've already contacted the Genesis Biotech branch in San Bernardino. They'll send reinforcements soon!" he shouted, his voice steady despite the chaos.

"Got it!" a young woman beside him responded, her hands never stopping as she continued to swing her titanium-alloy machete.

She was a B-rank speed-type Awakener, her movements swift and precise. Each slash of her blade took down a zombie in one clean stroke.

But there were just too many zombies. No matter how many they killed, more kept coming, an endless tide of death.

As the battle raged on, something suddenly streaked toward them from the distance—a blur moving at an impossible speed. Before anyone could react, a massive, scissor-like bone blade was pressed against the young woman's neck.

"Huh?"

Her eyes widened in shock, her expression frozen in terror as the horrifying face of a Zombie King loomed before her.

"Kehehe… You're too slow," the Zombie King sneered, his face twisted with excitement, his bloodlust palpable. Without hesitation, the razor-sharp bone blades snapped shut with a sickening snick.

In one swift motion, like a giant pair of scissors, the Zombie King decapitated her.

Blood gushed out in a violent spray as her headless body crumpled to the ground. Her severed head hit the dirt with a dull thud, rolling several feet away. Her lifeless eyes remained wide open, frozen in the same look of terror she had in her final moments. She had died with no chance to fight back.

"Emily!" the young man screamed, his voice raw with anguish. Just moments ago, she had promised to hold on, and now… now she was gone.

His gaze snapped to the Zombie King responsible. The creature's frame was slender, but its mutated arms were grotesquely oversized, ending in massive, scissor-like bone blades. Fresh blood still dripped from the edges of those blades, staining the ground below.

"Damn it! It's Scissorhands!" the young man's face twisted in panic as he recognized the infamous Zombie King.

"Scissorhands? So that's what you humans call me," the Zombie King said, his voice dripping with malice. His blood-red eyes gleamed as he extended his unnaturally long tongue, licking the fresh blood off his bone blades with a look of pure satisfaction.

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"I'm a barber zombie, you see. And I specialize in… giving haircuts."

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