Apocalypse: King of Zombies

At this moment, Ethan was still holed up at home, living quite comfortably despite the brutal apocalypse outside. With nothing better to do, he was fiddling with his phone.

"'The shelter's food storage was attacked by a thousand-strong horde of zombies. After a grueling battle by the Awakeners, they successfully evacuated without any casualties.'"

Ethan's eyes immediately caught this piece of news.

"The shelter got hit too, huh…" he muttered to himself.

Thinking it over, he quickly pieced together where the massive horde had come from. After all, in Los Angeles, aside from himself, none of the other zombie kings had the kind of influence to pull this off.

The shelter's announcement was, all things considered, good news.

Below the post, the comments were buzzing.

"Damn, that's impressive! First time I've seen no casualties in a situation like this."

"Mia's really becoming a powerhouse. She's like humanity's last hope!"

"Big cheers for Mia!"

"Word is, Sean was the MVP this time. Took down the most zombies and even got rewarded with two apples by the shelter…"

"…"

Ethan scrolled through the comments, finding them pretty entertaining.

The zombies from Santa Monica had first wandered into his territory, and now they'd gone after the shelter.

Clearly, they had their sights set on Los Angeles and weren't planning to back off anytime soon.

It seemed…

The calm days wouldn't last much longer.

A new storm was brewing.

...

Meanwhile, over at Genesis Biotech, things had been quiet for over a month. No major developments, no big moves. But after several discussions with headquarters, Nathan finally saw a glimmer of hope. He'd been entrusted with a "secret weapon."

The G-Virus.

But this wasn't a virus meant for zombies—it was for humans. And no, it wasn't designed to trigger human evolution.

Instead, once injected, it would turn humans into bio-monsters.
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These creatures were said to be even more ferocious than zombies—violent, bloodthirsty, and utterly uncontrollable. It was essentially humanity's "forbidden drug," something to be used only as a last resort.

And even then, the G-Virus was still in its experimental phase. The exact effects were unpredictable.

Headquarters had sent it to Nathan not as a solution, but as a test. They wanted to see how effective humans injected with the G-Virus would be against zombies.

"This thing… it's a double-edged sword," Nathan mused to himself. He knew that if he wasn't careful, it could very well backfire and destroy him instead.

What he needed now was the right test subjects.

But within his own company, there weren't any suitable candidates. If he injected survivors or Awakeners and turned them into powerful bio-monsters, there was a high chance they'd turn on him.

As he mulled it over, an idea struck him. There was one group that might just fit the bill.

The Black Hand Legion.

The members of this group were utterly unhinged, operating without any moral boundaries. To put it bluntly, they were all psychos.

And only psychos were worthy of handling something this insane.

Ever since Ethan's rise to power, Genesis Biotech had been losing its grip. Nathan had already been considering a partnership with the Black Hand Legion.

In the chaos of the apocalypse, the Black Hand Legion had spread like a cancer. Their members were no pushovers either, and their influence had grown to a point where they couldn't be ignored.

Of course, Nathan was well aware of their lack of loyalty and feared they might stab him in the back.

But when faced with an unbeatable zombie king, he was willing to take that risk.

Besides, he had a bargaining chip—the "Human Evolution Serum." Profit was, after all, the ultimate glue that held alliances together.

"Get me in touch with the Black Hand Legion," Nathan instructed.

His female assistant frowned, clearly hesitant. "Mr. Nathan, are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I've made up my mind…"

On the outskirts of Ethan's territory, there was a certain "unofficial resident" who had been thriving lately. Every now and then, they'd bring up one particular event—the battle by the river!

"Let me tell you, that battle? We were unstoppable," Big Ears boasted to a small group of nearby zombie factions, puffing out his chest. "We tore through them like a hot knife through butter. They didn't even have a chance to fight back!"

A zombie standing nearby snorted. "Yeah, right. You were probably just the lookout, weren't you? Like a glorified guard dog."

"What?! No way!" Big Ears' eyes widened in indignation, clearly offended. "I'm a zombie king, okay? I don't just stand around—I was out there wrecking everything!"

"Oh yeah? Who'd you take down, then?"

"I… I crushed their hope!" Big Ears declared after a moment of hesitation, trying to sound as dramatic as possible.

The surrounding zombies exchanged glances. It sounded impressive, but… it didn't really seem like he'd done much.

Undeterred, Big Ears continued, "Listen, the zombies in that fight weren't your average shamblers. The Bone-Claw Zombie King even pulled out his full skeletal form—dude was terrifying. But in the end, Ethan and I took him down together!"

"Whoa, that's insane!" The other zombies nodded in admiration, clearly impressed despite themselves.

Big Ears basked in their praise, his ego swelling. Among the smaller factions in the area, he'd already built up quite the reputation. He was practically the unofficial boss of the "freelancers" around here.

"Tell you what," Big Ears said, puffing out his chest even more. "If I get the chance, I'll introduce you guys to Boss Ethan. Maybe you can join his Zombie Horde too."

The other zombies looked skeptical. Wasn't Big Ears just freeloading in Ethan's territory? Did Ethan even officially recognize him?

But before anyone could voice their doubts, Big Ears' oversized ears twitched.

He froze, tilting his head slightly. "Wait… hold up. Opportunity's knocking."

Without another word, Big Ears dropped the conversation and pressed his ear to the ground. His massive ears twitched again as he picked up faint vibrations. Then, with his butt sticking up in the air, he kicked his legs and slid forward on his belly, heading toward the distant street like some kind of bizarre zombie otter.

The zombies left behind stared after him, baffled.

"Hey! Don't just leave! Tell us more about the fight!" one of them called out, but Big Ears was already gone, his "tail" disappearing into the distance.

...

When it came to work, Big Ears was surprisingly diligent. His massive ears could pick up sounds from up to two miles away, and he was always on the lookout for anything interesting.

This time, he'd caught something unusual—human voices.

Following the faint sounds, he moved closer and closer, the voices growing clearer with every step. Soon, he could even make out snippets of their conversation.

"They're underground…" Big Ears muttered to himself, quickly pinpointing their location.

Sure enough, not far from where he stood, a group of humans was making their way through an underground passage. These weren't just any survivors—they were members of the Black Hand Legion, the group Nathan had reached out to.

There were five of them in total: three men and two women.

Leading the group was a wiry young man with short, spiky hair like steel needles. He had a lip piercing and carried himself with the cocky swagger of someone who thought they were invincible.

"This deal with Genesis Biotech is a steal," the spiky-haired leader said with a smirk. "We're practically robbing them blind."

"Yeah, the zombies in L.A. must be insane if they're desperate enough to work with us," another man chuckled, his tone dripping with amusement.

A third member of the group nodded. "No kidding. That zombie king they're so scared of? His territory's basically a no-go zone for humans. It's like walking into your own grave."

"Wait, you don't think he'll notice us, do you?" one of the girls asked nervously, her brows furrowing as she glanced around the dark tunnel.

"Relax," the spiky-haired leader said dismissively. "Genesis Biotech already told us—his minions are crows. They patrol the skies. As long as we stick to the underground, we're golden. No way he'll find us."

"Oh… okay." The girl still looked uneasy but nodded, reassured for the moment.

The group continued walking through the pitch-black tunnel, which had once been part of the city's subway system. Now, it was long abandoned, with no zombies in sight. It was eerily quiet, but that only made it feel safer.

Their voices echoed through the empty corridor, bouncing off the walls. What they didn't realize was that those sound waves were traveling upward, through the ground, straight into a pair of very large ears.

Big Ears grinned, his sharp teeth glinting in the dim light. "Heh heh… this is my moment. Time to shine!"

...