Apocalypse: King of Zombies

"Huh?"

Ethan stared at him, confused, wondering if he'd misheard. Was this guy talking nonsense or something?

"I said, hand over the crystal core," Giant Boulder Zombie King repeated impatiently.

Strength-type zombies were known for their brute force, tough bodies, and thick skin. They were powerful, sure—but they all shared one common flaw: they weren't exactly the brightest bulbs in the box.

Because Scissorhands had previously lost several crystal cores to Little Shadow and his crew, Nightmare had specifically warned them not to let the Zombie Kings from L.A. snatch any more cores.

Giant Boulder Zombie King had kept that firmly in mind.

Besides, he figured he'd done his part by helping kill those two humans, draining their energy completely. Surely, he deserved at least one crystal core for his trouble.

So, he asked confidently, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"You want the crystal core?" Ethan asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Yeah, yeah!" Giant Boulder Zombie King nodded eagerly, sensing he might actually get it. "Just give me that strength-type crystal core, that's all."

"Oh, I see..."

Ethan's voice was casual, but a faint red glow flickered in his eyes. Suddenly, his terrifying Domain of the Dead surged outward, flooding the area with overwhelming pressure.

Giant Boulder Zombie King instantly felt as if a mountain had crashed down on him. If not for his incredibly tough physique, he probably wouldn't even be able to stand.

At the same time, a deep sense of dread rose in his heart. Within Ethan's Domain, the murderous intent was so thick it felt tangible, making his very soul tremble.

Even someone as dense as Giant Boulder Zombie King realized something was terribly wrong.

"W-what are you doing?" he stammered nervously.

"I want a crystal core too," Ethan replied calmly.

"..." Giant Boulder Zombie King's eyes widened in horror as he finally understood Ethan's meaning—he wanted the core inside his head!

"Wait! We're allies! You can't just kill me!"

"Allies, huh? Yeah, that was nice while it lasted..." Ethan said casually, raising his Tachi blade. "But I think it's time we changed the terms of our cooperation."

Whoosh—

Before Giant Boulder Zombie King could react, Ethan's blade sliced through the air, cutting cleanly through his neck as easily as slicing a watermelon.

Giant Boulder Zombie King barely registered what happened. In his final moment of consciousness, he saw his own headless body collapse to the ground.

Then, darkness swallowed him forever.

Killing an A-level Zombie King was child's play for Ethan. He calmly extracted the crystal core from Giant Boulder Zombie King's corpse, absorbing its energy for himself. In a twisted way, this was just another form of "cooperation."

Nearby zombies who witnessed Giant Boulder Zombie King's death immediately lost their will to fight. Terrified of Ethan, they scattered in all directions.

Ethan didn't bother chasing them down.

He knew they'd report everything back to Nightmare.

But honestly, Ethan couldn't care less.

So what if Nightmare found out he'd killed Giant Boulder Zombie King? What could he possibly do about it?

All the humans in the surrounding area were already dead anyway.

Meanwhile, the Devourer Ants had multiplied even further. They hovered in the air like a dark storm cloud, splitting into several groups and flying off in different directions, searching for new prey.

Ethan followed behind leisurely, cleaning up the battlefield.

One good thing about these Devourer Ants was that they only ate flesh, organs, brains, and stuff like that. They couldn't digest crystal cores. Even skin was usually left behind—probably because it was too tough or tasted bad.

"Picky eaters, huh?" Ethan muttered to himself, strolling around casually like he was shopping at a supermarket, picking up crystal cores and Neurocores scattered around.

...

Rancho Cucamonga.

Inside a run-down hall.

Several elite zombies rushed back in panic, stumbling over each other as they shouted, "Boss! Bad news! Giant Boulder's dead!"

"What?"

Nightmare's brows instantly knitted together, disbelief flashing across his face.

Giant Boulder was tough as nails, practically indestructible. Even if he couldn't beat the humans, he could always retreat safely. Not even an A+ level enhanced human could easily kill him. He was basically their best harassment specialist.

He'd been roaming around San Bernardino lately.

How could he suddenly end up dead?

One of the elite zombies quickly added, "It was the Zombie King from L.A. who killed Giant Boulder!"

"What?!"

Nightmare's eyes widened in shock, a complicated mix of anger and frustration surging inside him. Ethan was already his personal nightmare, and now he'd killed one of his most reliable subordinates. Nightmare's hatred toward Ethan deepened even further.

"Why did he kill Giant Boulder?"

"Because... because Giant Boulder went and asked him for a crystal core."

The zombie nervously recounted everything he'd witnessed in detail.

Nightmare fell silent, speechless for a moment.

Suddenly, he felt like maybe Giant Boulder had it coming...

"Of all the stupid things he could've done, he had to go ask THAT Zombie King for a crystal core?"

"But boss, didn't you say we shouldn't let the L.A. Zombie Kings take any more crystal cores?" the zombie minion asked innocently.

Nightmare's face darkened, feeling a headache coming on.

"I meant the other Zombie Kings from L.A., not THAT one!"

Because if Giant Boulder had confronted Bulldozer or Little Shadow, at least he wouldn't have gotten himself killed.

"He dared to kill one of ours! He's clearly disrespecting us. Boss, let's go teach him a lesson!" Several Zombie Kings around Nightmare growled angrily upon hearing the news, their eyes burning with rage.

Especially a Zombie King named "Toxin," who had been pretty close with Giant Boulder.

"Exactly! We were supposed to be allies, and he just straight-up killed Giant Boulder. Boss, he's not giving you any face at all!"

"This isn't even about face anymore," Scissorhands chimed in coldly. "Boss, he's basically saying you're nothing to him."

Nightmare remained silent, visibly struggling to suppress his anger.

He desperately wanted Ethan dead.

He'd even pay any price to make it happen.

But Nightmare knew deep down he wasn't Ethan's match. Hell, even that woman from the shelter would be tough enough to handle if she got serious...

"If we fight them now, we have zero chance of winning. We've worked too hard to get this far—we can't just throw our lives away."

"This..." The Zombie Kings' anger deflated, their heads drooping in frustration.

The hall fell into a gloomy silence. The zombies stood quietly, heads bowed, a heavy, bitter atmosphere hanging over them.

They had no choice but to swallow their anger over Giant Boulder's death.

But just as they stood there helplessly, a sudden turn of events appeared.

At that moment, a zombie swaggered into the hall, walking with exaggerated confidence, completely out of sync with the gloomy atmosphere around him.

This zombie had a deep slash wound on his head, his skull slightly caved in. It was none other than Wreckhead, the "Chief Diplomatic Zombie" appointed by Nightmare himself.

Ever since he'd visited Ethan's territory and established their shaky alliance, Wreckhead hadn't been idle. Nightmare had sent him out to make contact with other potential allies nearby.

But Wreckhead had been gone for ages, and Nightmare had started to assume he'd died out there. After all, being a zombie diplomat was a pretty high-risk job.

Now, Wreckhead strutted in, head held high, and loudly announced:

"Boss, I'm back!"

...