A wide road stretched ahead, packed with people running for their lives.

Behind them, seven figures gave relentless chase, cutting down anyone who lagged behind.

This time, Ethan clearly had no intention of letting them go.

Since they'd come knocking, they might as well stay here—permanently.

Seven people chasing down over a thousand. The scene was so absurd it looked like something out of a fever dream.

But it was real.

The fleeing mob had been completely broken. After the earlier slaughter, they'd lost all will to fight. All they wanted now was to get as far away from Ethan's squad as possible.

Unfortunately, the chaos of their stampede created a massive commotion.

Even though the path had been cleared earlier, the sheer noise and movement drew attention—and not the good kind.

Zombies.

From every direction, they began to appear, drawn by the sound and scent of panic. Dozens, then hundreds, swarmed toward the fleeing crowd.

Panic turned to horror.

Zombies in front. Death incarnate behind.

There was no good option.

In the end, the mob gritted their teeth and charged the zombies ahead. Clearly, in their minds, the undead were the lesser evil compared to the seven monsters chasing them.

The two sides collided in a brutal, chaotic melee.

To be fair, the Harlan family hadn't sent weaklings. Most of their people were Tier 4 or higher. They'd been crushed by Ethan's squad, sure—but that didn't mean they couldn't fight.

Against the zombie horde, they finally showed some teeth.

Meanwhile, Ethan and the others had come to a stop a short distance away. Somehow, someone had produced a few bags of sunflower seeds, and the group now stood there casually snacking, watching the carnage unfold like it was a live show.

No one made a move to help.

Zombies didn't care who you were—they bit anything that moved. And while the squad wasn't afraid of them, these zombies had been drawn in by the enemy. No reason to clean up their mess.

"I'm eyeing that guy's blade," Sean said, cracking a seed between his teeth. "Looks sharp and sturdy. Might swap it out. Ever since I hit Stage D, I can't go full force with this barbell bar—worried I'll bend the damn thing."

"Why not just use your fists?" Skinny Pete teased. "You're already smashing people like watermelons."

"Burns too much energy," Sean replied. "Can't keep that up forever."

"Fair. Not everyone's a Big Mike," Pete said with a grin. "Dude went so hard he knocked himself out."

"..."

"Got a little carried away," Big Mike admitted, scratching his head.

He'd just awakened his ability and went all in, blasting fireballs like a kid with a new toy. Ended up overloading himself and blacking out. If Sean hadn't pulled him out in time, he might've been toast—literally.

Lesson learned: powers are fun, but pacing matters.

The others weren't in much better shape. They'd all burned through a ton of energy during the fight. After all, they'd been going up against humans, not zombies—so yeah, they'd shown off a little.

But energy didn't come back fast. Right now, all of them were running low, even Ethan.

He hadn't used many abilities in direct combat, but redirecting that rocket and back-to-back uses of [Teleportation] had drained him hard.

"Man, I wish we could recover like Pumpkin," Chris muttered. "Just munch on a low-tier crystal core and boom—back to full."

"Hmm?" Ethan raised a brow. "Might be worth trying now."

"We already did, remember? Didn't work."

"Yeah, but that was before we hit Stage D. Maybe it's different now."

Chris paused. "You know what? That actually makes sense. Worth a shot. We've got more crystal cores than we know what to do with anyway."

He pulled a Tier 4 core from his pack and popped it into his mouth like a candy.

At first, he looked casual—then suddenly froze.

"Holy shit! It's working!"

"Yeah right," Henry scoffed. "Quit messing around."

"Try it yourself."

The others exchanged skeptical glances, then slowly reached into their packs and tossed a crystal core into their mouths.

In no time, everyone's eyes lit up.

"Holy shit! It actually works!"

"Haha! Finally, we can go all out with our abilities without worrying about burning through all our mental energy!" Excitement spread across their faces like wildfire.

"Why don't I feel anything?" Big Mike asked, looking a little bummed.

"Probably only works once you hit Stage D," Ethan said thoughtfully.

"Figures…"

"But the recovery's not that much," Henry added, frowning. "A whole Tier 4 crystal core only gave me back half. Using these to recharge feels kinda wasteful."

"True. These things will probably be useful later on," Ethan said. "If we're not in a fight, better to just let it recover naturally."

"Yeah, but at least now we know it works," Sean said. "Good to have a backup plan. Beats stressing mid-fight about running dry."

"Exactly."

While they chatted, the battle up ahead was finally winding down.

To their credit, the enemy had some real strength. Despite being swarmed by thousands of zombies, they managed to wipe them all out. But it came at a cost—hundreds of their own were dead.

And just as the survivors were catching their breath, they looked up… and saw the seven figures who'd been casually snacking on sunflower seeds now walking toward them again.

"You… you're really not going to let us go?" Caleb asked, voice cracking, eyes filled with despair.

Ethan gave a cold chuckle. "You don't think that's a little childish? You stormed into our territory, and now you're asking us not to fight back?"

"I admit we were wrong," Caleb said quickly. "I'll go back and tell the old man we won't mess with you again. You barely lost anything—can't you just let us go? We'll compensate you."

Ethan's smile vanished. "This isn't about whether you'll come after us again. It's about the fact that you already pissed me off. So no—it's not just you. The Harlan family doesn't need to exist anymore."

Caleb opened his mouth, ready to snap back with a "You and what army?"—but the words caught in his throat.

After everything he'd seen, after watching his elite force get torn apart like paper, his confidence had already crumbled.

Sure, the Harlan family was powerful.

But these monsters? They were something else entirely.

Caleb let out a long, defeated sigh. "We're all just trying to survive in this apocalypse. Humanity's already on the brink. Can't you leave at least one path open?"

"I already gave the Harlan family a way out back at Lakeview Estates," Ethan said coldly. "We moved halfway across the damn map to avoid trouble. You still came looking for death. Don't blame anyone else for what happens next."

"Kill them all," Ethan said flatly.

The moment the words left his mouth, Chris and the others moved in.

With their mental energy fully restored, they unleashed their abilities without hesitation.

The remaining few hundred enemies were already exhausted. Against the renewed onslaught, they didn't stand a chance. One after another, they fell—burned, crushed, pierced, or simply torn apart.

Only Caleb was spared.

Ethan had left him alive on purpose.

But the man was already hollowed out, his face ashen, eyes blank.

He'd never imagined this outcome.

He'd left with two thousand men, armed to the teeth with heavy weapons.

And now?

Not a single one had made it back.

...

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