Day Six of the Apocalypse.

By now, it was rare to see a regular zombie out there. Nearly all of them had evolved into Tier 1.

For anyone who hadn't gotten their hands on a crystal core early on, the window had pretty much slammed shut. Facing a Tier 1 zombie without enhancements? That was suicide. Facing a group? Forget it.

Sure, if you had a gun, that changed things—somewhat.

But most handguns didn't carry enough rounds, and the noise was a death sentence. Fire one shot, and you'd have a dozen more on you in seconds. So unless you had a death wish, you didn't pull the trigger unless you had to.

Which meant the people who'd been too scared to fight in the early days were now stuck. Hiding in corners, waiting for a rescue that might never come.

And rescue… wasn't as simple as they hoped.

...

Inside a conference room in Starlight City.

Tension crackled in the air as several high-ranking officials argued around a long table.

"We can't wait any longer!" a young officer in military fatigues slammed his fist down. "Every day we delay, more civilians die! We have to start the rescue operation now!"

"Starlight City has over a million people," said a middle-aged man, shaking his head. "No one knows how many are still alive, but we do know this—there are at least 800,000 zombies out there. With our current ammo reserves, we can't make a dent."

"Then we fight hand-to-hand if we have to!" the young officer snapped. "I won't stand by and watch innocent people get slaughtered!"

"Hand-to-hand? Are you insane?" the older man barked. "You want to send our soldiers into a meat grinder? Once they're surrounded, they're dead. All of them."

"If I'm afraid to die, I don't deserve this uniform!" the young man shot back, eyes blazing. "I may not be as clever as you, but I know my duty. We're soldiers. We protect the people. And right now, they need us. I won't turn my back on them."

"Zach, calm down," another official said, trying to defuse the heat. "We get it. We all want to help. But this is exactly when we need to think clearly."

"Even if we could rescue them, where would we put them? How would we feed them? House them? You think it ends once we pull them out?"

The man at the head of the table, clearly the one in charge, finally spoke. "Our top priority is to establish a large enough survival base. A secure zone where people can be brought safely. Once that's done, we'll broadcast its location and call survivors in."

"You want them to come on their own?" Zach asked, voice tight.

"Yes. Rescue operations will still happen—but in waves. We can't save everyone at once. We don't have the manpower or firepower. If they can make it to us, great. If not…"

He didn't finish the sentence.

Zach's jaw clenched. "You think ordinary people can make it through that hell out there?"

"If they can't," the man said quietly, "then we can only hope they hold out long enough for us to reach them."

Zach looked like he wanted to argue more, but the leader cut him off. "That's the plan. Now let's talk about building the base."

"…Fine."

...

Back at the university.

Patterson Hall.

Ethan stood in the hallway, staring down at the courtyard below. His expression was grim.

"What is it?" Chris asked, stepping up beside him.

"They're all Tier 1 now," Ethan said. "And I counted eight Tier 2s. The rate they're evolving… it's insane."

"Yeah," Chris muttered. "Looks like we need to pick up the pace."

Ethan nodded. "Go get the girls. We're not done yet."

"On it."

Once Grace and the others came down, the group launched into another round of slaughter.

There were only about three hundred zombies left in the area, but they were tougher, faster, and more aggressive than anything they'd faced before. It took the entire morning to clear them out.

When the last corpse hit the ground and no more came charging up the stairs, the three guys finally let themselves breathe.

Chris leaned against the wall, sweat dripping from his chin. "Holy hell… we're finally not trapped."

"Yeah," Henry said, wiping his face. "And I swear, after today, I don't care if it's a guy or a girl zombie—see enough of them, and you just want to puke."

"…"

Just as Ethan had observed, among the three hundred or so zombies they'd cleared, eight were Tier 2.

After downing two more Tier 2 crystal cores, Ethan hit a wall—no further effect. That made six in total, and it seemed that was the cap for Tier 2.

But what a cap it was.

His strength now hovered around 1,200 pounds—two hundred more than the official Tier 2 peak listed by the authorities.

And that extra power? It lined up almost exactly with what he'd gained from three nights of stargazing on the rooftop.

"So the strength I get from absorbing that mysterious energy… it's a bonus," Ethan thought, a slow grin tugging at his lips. "Which means I'm officially breaking the rules now."

He glanced down at his hands, flexing them. "Guess it's time to start getting freaky."

The remaining Tier 2 cores were split between Chris and Henry, giving both of them a solid boost. Their movements were sharper now, their strikes heavier. The difference was obvious.

Once the last zombie was down, Ethan reached into his pocket and pulled out a small handful of crystal cores—more than a dozen—and handed them to the girls.

"You've done well," he said. "Take these. I hope they help you survive out there."

But this time, the girls didn't snatch them up with their usual wide-eyed excitement.

Instead, Grace stepped forward, her expression serious. "Can we… come with you?"

Ethan blinked. "Why do you want to follow us?"

"Because we want to live," Grace said, her voice steady, her eyes locked on his.

Ethan looked at her, then at the others. Their faces were tense, but their eyes held the same resolve.

He hesitated, then shook his head. "Not yet. We're not looking to grow the team right now. But with your current strength, if you keep fighting, you should be able to survive."

He paused. "If we run into each other again and you've gotten stronger—and you still want to join us—I'll consider it."

Disappointment flickered across their faces, but Grace recovered quickly. She smiled, calm and composed. "That's fair. We'll survive. And next time, we won't let you down."

Ethan studied her for a moment, then gave a small nod. This woman… she had something. Guts. Brains. Maybe even leadership.

He turned to go, then stopped. "One last gift," he said. "We're leaving, and we don't have time to dig. But all the zombies we killed today? They're yours. Whatever cores you find, keep them. Grow stronger."

The girls froze.

"All of them?" one of them gasped.

There were hundreds of corpses. Even if only a fraction had cores, that was still dozens.

Ethan nodded. "Take your time. And next time we meet—don't disappoint me."

With that, he turned and headed downstairs, Chris and Henry falling in behind him.

Tier 1 cores didn't mean much to them anymore. Now that they were free to move, it was time to hunt Tier 2 zombies and push their strength even higher.

The girls stood in silence, watching the three disappear down the stairwell.

"They're… really good people," the cute one murmured.

"Yeah. So why won't they let us go with them?"

"Isn't it obvious?" another girl said, her voice tight. "We're too weak."

"…"

Grace didn't say anything. She just stared after them, jaw set.

Next time, she swore silently, you'll see what we're capable of.

"Alright," she said aloud. "Let's get to work. Start digging for cores."

"Right!"

After two days of hauling corpses, they'd gotten used to the gore. Cracking skulls and fishing around for crystal cores didn't even faze them anymore.

But the more they dug, the more stunned they became.

"Why do all of them have crystal cores?" one girl whispered, eyes wide.

"Didn't the authorities say only a small percentage of zombies had them?"

"Wait… could it be that all the ones they killed were mutated?"

They looked at each other, the same realization dawning in every face.

These weren't just any zombies.

They were monsters.

And this—this was a goldmine.

"A massive haul," Grace murmured, eyes gleaming.

They got to work.

...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.