Apocalypse: King of Zombies

A group of Zombie Kings was wreaking havoc around San Bernardino, slaughtering everyone in their path—whether they were fleeing survivors or Genesis Biotech's Awakeners. The carnage was relentless.

Inside the Genesis Biotech branch office, chaos reigned.

Sophia was at her wit's end. What she initially thought would be a noble mission—rescuing survivors—had turned into a nightmare, with casualty reports flooding in one after another.

"Damn it... If only my Bernardino Four Riders weren't down to just two, I wouldn't have to worry about that Zombie King from Rancho Cucamonga!" she muttered through gritted teeth, frustration etched across her face.

She couldn't help but blame Ethan for weakening her forces. If it weren't for him...

Just then, her secretary burst into the office, looking flustered. "Sophia, according to the drone footage, the Zombie King from Los Angeles has shown up too."

"What?" Sophia's eyes widened in shock.

She quickly turned on the projector, displaying the footage on the screen. Sure enough, the unmistakable figures of Bulldozer, PhD, Lil' Shroom, and several other Zombie Kings appeared on the video feed.

These weren't the Zombie Kings from Rancho Cucamonga.

Sophia's heart sank. The situation was far worse than she'd imagined.

Two zombie hives working together?

No wonder her people were dying so quickly...

The secretary, clearly panicked, asked, "Sophia, what should we do?"

"Don't panic. Let me think..." Sophia forced herself to stay calm. With two massive zombie hives practically at her doorstep, anyone would feel the pressure. If they decided to storm in, it'd be game over.

But then, an idea struck her. Nathan.

Nathan was in Los Angeles. If the Zombie Kings from there were all here, their territory would be left vulnerable. Without wasting a second, Sophia grabbed her phone and dialed Nathan's number.

After a few rings, the call connected.

"Hello? Sophia? What is it this time? Did you lose the X-virus and Y-virus again?" Nathan's voice came through, laced with sarcasm.

Sophia's face darkened, but with a crisis looming, she decided to let it slide. "Nathan, listen. All the Zombie Kings from Los Angeles are here in my area. You need to send people to attack their territory!"

"What?" Nathan sounded mildly surprised. There was a pause as he seemed to mull it over. But after a moment, his response was firm: "Nope."

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Sophia's voice rose, her frustration evident. She had been counting on this strategy—drawing the Zombie Kings back to defend their hive so her own forces could catch a break.

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Nathan's tone was calm, almost indifferent. "You don't seriously think that just because a few Zombie Kings left, I'd stand a chance against their hive, do you?"

"..." Sophia was speechless. Her jaw tightened as she clenched her fists. She was so angry she could practically feel her teeth grinding. "You're unbelievable. You're like mud that can't be shaped into anything useful."

Nathan, unfazed, replied, "You're the head of a company, Sophia. How can you be this reckless? You've got no sense of strategy."

"And you've got no backbone! How can you just sit there and do nothing?" Sophia snapped, her voice dripping with disdain.

"Our company's doing just fine, actually," Nathan said, his tone maddeningly casual. "The Zombie Kings haven't attacked us, so we're coexisting peacefully for now."

"Are you insane? Coexisting with zombies?" Sophia was incredulous. "They're not attacking you now because they've got plenty of food. But what happens when they're starving? Do you really think you'll be able to outrun them?"

"Oh..." Nathan's voice was as nonchalant as ever. "Well, I'll still probably live longer than you."

"..."

Click! Sophia slammed the phone down, cutting the call.

Her face was flushed with anger, her chest heaving as she struggled to calm herself. She was so furious she felt like she might explode. In that moment, she silently vowed to herself: If I ever call Nathan again, I'll be a dog!

Her secretary, witnessing Sophia's outburst, was visibly shaken. "Mr. Nathan... isn't going to help?"

"No problem. I'll find someone else!" Sophia took a deep breath, forcing herself to regain composure. She picked up the satellite phone and dialed another number—this time, the North American regional director, Richard.

The call connected.

"What's going on, Sophia?" Richard's deep voice came through.

"Richard, we're under attack in San Bernardino. Two zombie hives have joined forces against us..." Sophia quickly laid out the situation, sparing no detail.

Richard listened intently, his tone growing serious as he grasped the gravity of the situation.

Two zombie hives working together.

It was a nightmare scenario, and even he couldn't blame Sophia entirely for the mess...

"Don't worry about it for now," Richard reassured her. "The Zombie King from Los Angeles has already been logged in our database and flagged for action. Headquarters has issued a global bounty for high-level Awakeners to hunt it down. Someone's already taken the job and should be heading to Los Angeles soon."

"Oh?" Sophia raised an eyebrow, surprised but relieved. This was good news. She couldn't help but think, Headquarters really is on another level. The resources they can mobilize are far beyond anything I could ever manage.

And certainly far beyond what that Los Angeles Zombie King could handle.

With Headquarters' power, taking down a city-level Zombie King was practically a given.

"Finally, Headquarters is stepping in," Sophia exhaled deeply, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders. The stress Ethan had put her under in the past few days had been suffocating.

"Exactly," Richard replied, his tone steady. "And there's more good news. Our company's third-generation bio-enhanced soldiers have reached the prototype stage. They're made with liquid metal, allowing them to change their shape and appearance at will. Their combat capabilities are extraordinary. Headquarters wants to test them in the field. Originally, the first batch was going to be sent to Nathan in Los Angeles…"

"Forget it. Don't send them to Nathan. He doesn't deserve them," Sophia interrupted sharply.

Richard chuckled lightly and nodded. "Fair enough. Since you're facing a major crisis, we'll prioritize sending them to you instead."

"Sounds good," Sophia agreed without hesitation.

With that, the call ended.

Sophia leaned back in her chair, her expression finally calm and composed. For the first time in days, she felt a sense of control returning. A glimmer of confidence sparked within her.

When in doubt, call the higher-ups, she thought with a smirk.

Nathan, on the other hand? He was useless. A colleague as incompetent as him was more of a liability than an ally. Once she stabilized her situation and expanded her influence, she'd make her move on Los Angeles. She'd apply to annex his territory, and when that day came, Nathan wouldn't even be worthy of shining her shoes.

...

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Ethan was still holed up in his pristine home, living a life of leisure. He'd sent his underlings out to hunt, and they were probably having the time of their lives.

Suddenly, a red-eyed crow landed on his windowsill, a small pouch clutched in its beak. It tapped on the glass with its beak, making a rhythmic tap-tap-tap sound.

"Dinner's here! Dinner's here!" the crow squawked before dropping the pouch on the windowsill and flapping its wings as it flew off.

Ethan walked over and opened the window. Inside the pouch were four crystal cores. Their levels weren't particularly high—one was B+ grade, while the other three were just B grade.

"..." Ethan stared at the pouch in silence, wondering who had sent it.

It didn't take him long to figure it out.

It's probably Bulldozer, he thought with a faint smile.

This was exactly the kind of thing Bulldozer would do.

The big guy didn't realize that Ethan no longer needed crystal cores of this level—they didn't do much for him anymore. Bulldozer's only thought was to hunt down crystal cores and offer them to his boss as a sign of loyalty.

"What a lovable idiot," Ethan chuckled softly.

Over the past few days, Ethan had stayed home while his underlings roamed the area, hunting and occasionally bringing back crystal cores. Bulldozer wasn't the only one doing this—Laura was just as diligent.

In fact, Laura often delivered the cores herself. She'd show up at Ethan's door, her hands drenched in blood, cradling a few crystal cores with a dazed, almost fanatical smile on her face. She'd kneel before him, offering the cores with a reverence that bordered on obsession.

"Here, boss,"

...