Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Hearing this, Nathan was suddenly wide awake—he was getting a promotion?

That meant more authority, better resources.

"Richard, don't worry. I'll make sure to do a great job."

"Mhm. You've managed to hold your own against the Zombie King of Los Angeles for this long, which proves you've got real skill. I trust you," Richard said.

Sophia, standing to the side, widened her beautiful eyes in shock. She was completely dumbfounded.

Nathan? The guy who spent his days slacking off? Getting promoted?

Her entire worldview just shattered into pieces.

"Richard, are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"

"Sophia, I know you and Nathan don't get along, but now's not the time for personal grudges. The fall of San Bernardino wasn't entirely your fault, but the fact remains—you failed. From now on, you'll be assisting Nathan. Learn from him," Richard said.

"Wait, what???" Sophia's face was full of question marks.

Learn from him?

What exactly was she supposed to learn? How to play poker?

Richard continued, "I still need to report the fall of San Bernardino to headquarters. That's it for this strategy meeting. Dismissed!"

With that, the meeting ended, and the various leaders logged off one by one.

Inside the Office

Sophia took off her VR headset, her delicate face full of frustration.

Meanwhile, Nathan was grinning ear to ear.

"Sophia—oh wait, I should call you 'Assistant' now, shouldn't I?"

"You—" Sophia gritted her teeth, but there was nothing she could do. She was under someone else's command now, and orders from the higher-ups were absolute.

Sometimes, you just had to swallow your pride…

"I seriously can't believe you got promoted."

"Yeah, me neither. Guess I just look good by comparison," Nathan said, shrugging.

"..." Sophia fell silent. She knew there was no point in arguing—losers making excuses just sounded pathetic.

But with her personality, there was no way she'd be content playing second fiddle to Nathan.

She had to find a way to rise again.

"I don't just need to prove myself—I need to take back everything I lost."

...

Outskirts of San Bernardino

Ethan was with Mia and the other survivors. The battle was over, and the entire power dynamic of the area had shifted dramatically.

It was time to part ways.

"Seeing that you're safe, I can relax now. We're heading out," Mia said.

"You make it sound so noble…" Ethan muttered, easily guessing her real motive. "You're in a hurry to get to Rancho Cucamonga for supplies, aren't you?"

"Oh, come on, it's on the way," Mia said casually.

Ethan didn't bother arguing.

"Alright, go on then."

"Yeah."

Mia nodded and turned to leave, but suddenly, something came to mind.

"Wait! Hold on—"

"What?" Ethan asked, puzzled.

Mia's sharp eyes locked onto him.

"The human-faced spiders in Angeles National Forest… that was you, wasn't it? We got attacked by them a while back."

"Yeah, that was me," Ethan admitted without hesitation. But honestly, he didn't think it was his fault.

"I didn't bring those spiders back in the first place, so how is that on me? …Oh, right, I also brought back a species of flying ants. You guys might wanna watch out for those too."

"Wait, what? Flying ants???" The other survivors' eyes widened in horror.

Ants sounded way worse than spiders.

"..." Mia's face darkened. She had no idea about this until now.

"All Ethan's fault!"

...

In the rear, the Zombie Horde of Los Angeles had already "cleaned up" the battlefield—anything edible was long gone. The thrill of victory still hadn't faded, and under the guidance of several Zombie Kings, they began making their way back to the city.

But Big Ears had his eyes set in another direction.

"As the ruler of Rancho Cucamonga, shouldn't I go check on my territory?"

"Big Ears, looks like some humans from the shelter went to your turf to scavenge for supplies," Shrimpy said beside him.

"Oh..." Big Ears thought for a moment, then quickly changed his mind. "Guess I'll wait a few days, then."

Shrimpy scratched his head. Big Ears' title kept getting more impressive, but he was just as humble as ever—no different from when he was just a small-time leader.

Well, at least he hadn't lost his original self.

With that, they followed the massive Zombie Horde back to Los Angeles.

The long, dark night would eventually pass.

After seeing Mia and the others off, Ethan returned home. As usual, he took a shower, changed into a crisp white shirt, poured himself a glass of juice, and began absorbing crystal cores.

The brutal battle had yielded plenty of high-level crystal cores. The most valuable, of course, was Elias' S+ grade psychic-type core.

Nightmare's S-grade core wasn't bad either.

Ethan could feel himself hitting another bottleneck. Once he finished absorbing these cores, he figured he wouldn't be far from breaking through.

And maybe because he had consumed so many psychic-type cores, his mental power had grown overwhelmingly strong, causing subtle changes in his Domain of the Dead.

But what exactly those changes were, he couldn't quite tell. It was something beyond words—probably something he'd only understand once he broke through.

Ethan's evolution was a process of trial and error. He was among the fastest to evolve, with no precedent to follow.

Maybe future zombies would use him as a benchmark.

Now, there was no force around Los Angeles that could challenge him. The entire region—including San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga, and the vast Angeles National Forest—was effectively his domain.

He was the undisputed ruler of the land.

The number of zombies under his command had grown from sixty thousand to ninety thousand, with elite forces reaching thirty thousand.

His overall strength had surged once again.

A Zombie Horde of this scale would be a force to be reckoned with anywhere on Earth.

For now, Ethan had no grand plans. He intended to lay low at home for a while, absorb the crystal cores, and take things from there.

Outside his window, a restless guitar riff rang out, mixed with the occasional zombie growl.

Ethan knew what that meant—his zombie underlings were throwing a party, celebrating their victory.

He walked to the window, taking a slow sip of the crimson liquid in his glass, and looked outside.

There stood Elegy, perched atop a three-story building like it was her personal stage.

The streets below were packed with zombies, and some of the elite ones had even climbed onto nearby buildings.

Everywhere he looked, it was a sea of undead.

Their battle high hadn't faded in the slightest. They moved with the rhythm of the guitar, swaying and thrashing in sync.

Bulldozer, Laura, and the other Zombie Kings were in the crowd, and even Sprout had extended several vines, waving them back and forth to create a stage effect for Elegy.

Her fingers moved faster and faster over the guitar strings, until it was like she was electrified. The music surged to a fever pitch, and then she belted out—

"We will, we will rock you~~~!"

...