The group had just finished stargazing and was about to head back to rest when a sudden crash echoed from the courtyard below. A split second later, a figure burst through the perimeter wall and bolted into the distance at breakneck speed.

"!!"

"What the hell was that?!"

It was too dark to make out exactly what—or who—it was. Most of them couldn't see clearly.

But Ethan did. His eyes lit up with surprise and excitement.

Well, damn. After all this time, he'd actually managed to raise a Stage D zombie.

That's right—the one that just broke out was one of the Tier 5 zombies he'd been keeping locked up in an iron cage. After days of waiting, one of them had finally broken through to Tier 6.

What he hadn't expected was that the thing's injuries would heal after the breakthrough—and that it'd be strong enough to bust open the cage. That part was a little much.

"Go fix the cage," Ethan ordered quickly. "Don't let the others escape. I'll go catch it!"

"I'll come too," Sean offered, stepping forward. "I'm fast—I can keep up."

He'd just advanced to Stage D himself and was itching for a real fight.

"Alright. I'll intercept it first—catch up quick." Ethan vanished in a flash of light, using a [Teleportation] skill.

Sean didn't waste a second. He leapt straight off the rooftop and took off in the direction the zombie had fled.

The rest of the group just shook their heads and headed downstairs to the backyard.

When they saw the wrecked cage, all they could do was sigh.

Meanwhile, the Stage D zombie was sprinting like hell, desperate to escape this nightmare of a place.

Once it got away, it was going to rally a whole horde of its zombie underlings and come back to wipe these people out.

These monsters weren't human. They'd broken its arms and legs and locked it in a cage like an animal. That kind of grudge? It wasn't letting go.

But just as it thought it was in the clear, a figure suddenly appeared in front of it, blocking the path.

The zombie froze. Its eyes filled with fear.

It was him—the one who'd broken its limbs.

But then it remembered: it wasn't the same anymore. It was Stage D now. It had power.

Rage and humiliation surged through it, fueling its strength. With a furious roar, it lunged at the man.

"Oh? Still got some fight in you?" Ethan raised a foot and kicked it straight back like it weighed nothing. "You just hit Stage D and you think you're hot shit?"

He hadn't brought any weapons—he'd left in a rush—but Ethan was already near the peak of Tier 6. On top of that, he'd been absorbing mysterious energy every night while stargazing, which had pushed his strength even further past the Tier 6 ceiling.

The zombie, freshly advanced and nowhere near Ethan's level, got sent flying. It tumbled across the ground in a messy roll.

But it didn't seem to get the message. It scrambled up and charged again.

Ethan kicked it back. Again.

And again.

After a few more humiliating knockbacks, the zombie finally realized it was completely outmatched. It turned and bolted in another direction.

Only to run headfirst into Sean, who had just arrived.

Without a word, Sean's arms morphed into gleaming metal, and he slammed a punch straight into the zombie.

Boom—

The blow sent the zombie crashing to the ground, its body riddled with punctures. The metal spikes jutting from Sean's fists weren't just for show.

"Ha! That felt good!" Sean let out a hearty laugh, then went to town on the zombie, hammering it with blow after blow. Every punch landed with a sickening thud—pure, brutal force.

Ethan stopped in his tracks, arms crossed, watching the beatdown unfold.

Sean's metal-arm ability was no joke. Honestly, even Ethan wouldn't want to take a direct hit from that.

Poor zombie. It had just broken through to Stage D, barely had time to enjoy its new power, and then ran into two absolute monsters. In the end, it got beaten to death—literally.

"Nice work," Ethan said, giving Sean a thumbs-up.

"Don't flatter me, Ethan," Sean replied seriously. "Everything I have is because of you. If it weren't for you, we'd probably be dead back at Starlight State University. No matter what happens from here on out—even if you ask me to die—I won't hesitate."

"Alright, alright, cut the drama. We're all still breathing, no need to talk about dying. Now hurry up and dig out the crystal core."

"On it." Sean crouched down and quickly extracted the crystal core from the zombie's skull. Then he walked over and handed it to Ethan. "Who's getting this one?"

Right now, the only ones in the group who hadn't reached Stage D were Big Mike, Skinny Pete, and Garrick.

"What do you think?" Ethan tossed the question back to him.

Sean thought for a moment, then said, "I'd say give it to Garrick. His ability's got a lot of potential. If he hits Stage D, I think he might surprise us."

Ethan nodded. That was his thought too.

Still, Sean, Big Mike, and Skinny Pete had joined earlier. Even if they didn't say anything, giving the core to someone newer might stir up some feelings. But since Sean was the one suggesting it, that made things easier.

"Alright. Let's head back. You give it to him."

"Got it."

The two of them returned to the courtyard, where Chris and the others were still working on the cage.

The cage was made of reinforced steel—thicker than standard—strong enough to hold a Tier 5 zombie.

Now, two of the bars were snapped. And without proper welding tools, fixing it was a pain.

In the end, they had to bend the broken bars back into place and wrap the joints with layer after layer of steel wire.

It wasn't as solid as before, but at least the Tier 5 zombies inside—still crippled—weren't going anywhere.

"Can't believe that thing healed its broken limbs after evolving. Zombie regeneration is nuts," Big Mike muttered.

"Yeah, maybe we should just chop off all their arms and legs," Chris said. "Let's see them grow those back."

"Wouldn't they bleed out?" Big Mike asked.

"Uh… do zombies even bleed out?" Chris replied.

"Who knows? They were human once," Skinny Pete chimed in.

"So are we chopping or not? If a few more of them break through to Stage D, this cage's toast," Chris said.

"Relax," Ethan cut in with a chuckle. "This thing's just a temporary fix. Once we're all Stage D, it won't matter. You think this cage can hold a Stage D zombie?"

"Fair point," Chris said. "As long as the Tier 5s stay put, we're good."

"Exactly."

Sean walked over to Garrick and handed him the crystal core. "This is for you."

"For me?" Garrick blinked, surprised. He was the newest member of the team—by all rights, he should've been last in line for an upgrade.

"Yeah. We figured your ability's got the most potential. You hitting Stage D could really help the team," Sean said.

"Thanks." Garrick looked genuinely touched as he accepted the core.

Without hesitation, he sat down right there and swallowed it, clearly excited.

Big Mike and Skinny Pete didn't say a word. No complaints, no side-eyes.

Ethan's move—having Sean hand over the core—was smart. Sean used to be their leader, and the three of them were tight. Coming from him, it didn't feel like favoritism.

Five minutes later, Garrick opened his eyes, a strange expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" Sean asked.

"I… I got another earth-type ability," Garrick said, half-laughing, half-crying.

"..."

Everyone stared at him, expressions caught somewhere between sympathy and disbelief.

"Man, you're really married to earth-type abilities, huh?" Big Mike said with a grin.

"..."

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