Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle

"Relics?" Shane repeated. "I guess I can understand now."

"If they have those mystical artifacts, I guess it's not surprising anymore." Raze added.

Eve just remained silent as Raze and Shane started talking together, discussing what they should do from now on.

After some time, Shane decided to ask a few more questions about Eve's past or whatever important things she knew about the World Government.

"You said you want to burn them down…" Shane said. "Tell me everything you know."

Eve gently nodded as she recalled her memories. "Where do you want me to start? The lies? The atrocities? Or the fact that the World Government never truly fell?"

Raze crossed her arms. "We're listening."

Eve then paced slowly as if she were trying to reminisce about her past.

"Project Genesis wasn't just about creating weapons to fight against the Zombies." she began. "As you probably know by now, it was about transcendence. The higher-ups believed the Z-Virus could be harnessed to evolve humanity—or rather, a select few of them."

She tapped a finger against one of the shattered cryo pods. "There is also one more secret project you haven't heard about. It's the Project Zombie Lord. You probably killed some of them already."

"What? Project Zombie Lord?" Raze muttered in shock.

"T-that actually made sense." Shane softly said as he recalled the system notification or introduction of the Zombie Lords.

The Eclipse Wraith Collosus, Harbinger of Decay, and many others were noted as one of the legendary guardians of Sofia.

Shane immediately shared this with Raze and she froze… She finally recalled it.

After all, she had also defeated a few Zombie Lords with her team. Most of them indeed had descriptions telling them that they were Sofia's guardians.

It seemed that it was actually true and they were probably the first batch of human subjects to undergo transformation but failed.

"You're right… It's all connected… Maybe we'll find a way to end this Apocalypse soon." Raze muttered, thinking positively of the situation.

She didn't really care about Sofia's information before since she only knew that Sofia was an experiment subject who was quite special as she was able to reject the virus and perhaps, control it. Furthermore, based on the records, it suggests that Sofia must've been killed already.

However, with the method of preservation they currently have, it wouldn't be surprising if Sofia was still actually around!

Seeing their reaction, Eve confirmed that they had indeed encountered or killed those Zombie Lords.

"Consider them as a failed prototype. The real monsters are the ones who orchestrated this—the World Council. Seven individuals wanted to inject themselves with a stabilized strain of the virus. They don't want to rot. They don't want to age. Many other people were sacrificed to achieve this… If they managed to succeed, then they're probably still out there, pulling strings from the shadows."

Shenlong's brows furrowed. "So the apocalypse… was a controlled experiment?"

"I can't tell" Eve confirmed. "But the virus mutated beyond their expectations…"

Soon, she started to explain the various strongholds she could remember.

"These are their strongholds. The closest one is beneath the ruins of Neo-Vermont. That's where they refine the virus. That's where they're building their new world order and maybe, the first subject is there… Sofia."

Shane and Raze exchanged glances before gently nodding their heads.

Shane studied the map, then looked at Eve. "You want us to help you destroy them."

"I want you to help me erase their existence… However, if that's not the best decision. You can tell me. I still have to thank you for waking me up."

Raze smirked. "Sounds like our kind of job."

Shane didn't hesitate. "We'll assess together if they have to be erased. After all, they might really connected to those Eclipse Followers. Alright, You're in. But we do this my way—no solo vengeance runs. We strike when we're ready."

Eve tilted her head. "And what do you get out of this?"

"Intel. Resources. And one less existential threat to worry about," Shane said. "But more than that… I want to know what you can do."

Eve's smile returned, this time, she was filled with confidence.

If there was one thing she excelled at, that was definitely her combat abilities.

With a flick of her wrist, her fingers elongated into razor-sharp claws, the tips even dripping with a tar-like substance.

"Neurotoxin," she explained. "One scratch paralyzes. Two stops the heart."

Raze and Shane were obviously impressed by this, but they were a bit concerned that she had to fight against Zombies.

After all, toxins weren't the best weapon against them.

Nonetheless, they kept their silence and watched as her body dissolved into shadow for a split second before reforming behind Shenlong—faster than any normal human could track.

"Phasing," she said. "Useful for evasion. Or assassination."

Finally, she placed a hand on a broken cryo pod.

The metal warped and corroded under her touch and crumbled.

"It's viral manipulation. I can accelerate decay in organic and inorganic matter. However, I can't use this repeatedly since I'm still considered imperfect… It consumes a bit of my life force to do that."

Raze was obviously impressed seeing such a unique ability.

"Incredible… You're definitely coming with us."

"Good skills."

Shane also felt satisfied with her abilities. Her speed and strength seemed to be at the level 50s already. If they gave her some upgraded weapons and equipment, her strength would definitely increase.

After a few moments, he then turned to the remaining cryo pods.

"What about them?" He asked.

Looking at them, Eve's expression darkened. "Some are like me—enhanced hybrids. Others… are failures. Broken things that should've been euthanized."

Shane contemplated for a moment… He was considering whether to open them here or not… However, it was definitely his task to open them.

"We're waking them up," Shane decided. "We'll give them the same choice we gave you."

Raze and Shenlong agreed to this decision as they assisted him in opening the pods.

One by one, the pods hissed open. There were a total of eighteen of them.

Immediately, Shane focused on three figures in front.

A tall man with a metallic torso. His eyes seemed wild but lucid.

There was also a woman with serrated bone blades jutting from her forearms as soon as she was released, she seemed really disoriented.

The third was the teenage boy with glowing circuitry under his skin as if he were about to release some kind of electricity.

Then, just like what Eve said, some of them didn't feel comfortable as they recalled the past…

Some even wept as they thought that they were about to experiment again.

On the other hand, some raged as they believed that they were about to go through some brutal trials once again.

Shane and Raze took quite some time to calm them down. They had to explain the situation again which took quite a lot of time.

After more than twenty minutes of explaining the situation and calming them down, Shane was relieved that none of them were hostile after learning the situation.

Instead, they were all thankful after learning that this research facility was already abandoned and the one who had experimented on them had probably already perished since many decades had already passed.

Finally, Shane offered them to be part of his shelter. He informed them that it wouldn't be a forceful matter and they could decide to leave once they were ready or if they still wanted.

To Shane's surprise, every one of them chose to side with him and fight the Zombies or even the World Government if needed.

"That's great… Further introductions will be done later. For now, I just need to know what kind of sustenance you all need to function properly. I know you're all hybrid humans and you may have different requirements to satisfy your hunger or something." Shane said.

Thankfully, they could just eat normal food to function and Zombie Cores to strengthen themselves, especially during battle.

If they don't have any taxing work, even without Zombie Cores, they could easily survive.

"Is that the same for you, Eve?" Shane asked.

"Yes… Zombie Cores works better for me." She answered.

"Got it…"

After briefing them on what was about to happen, the group finally ascended from the lab to meet with everyone else.

***

As soon as Shane, Raze, and Shenlong appeared with more people, they didn't think too much of it at first since they also rescued quite a lot of people just now.

They wouldn't be surprised if there were other places they could be hidden.

However, they soon realized that something was off.

As they looked closely, they realized that Shane had actually brought modified humans! Mechanical eyes, weaponized arms, robotic feet, and some of them even seem to have Zombified limbs.

It was as if Shane had just raided an alchemy lab that was doing some forbidden medical practices!

"Whoa~ Where did you find them?" Tundra was shocked and couldn't help but ask Shane… He wanted to tease him for a bit but as soon as his eyes landed on Eve, he immediately froze…

"So beautiful…" He whispered.