Apocalypse: King of Zombies-Chapter 1196: Heroes Don’t Stay

Inside Clearford City’s compound—Military Command Center...

General Cross and the others were tallying up the losses from the battle.

In this fight, Clearford burned through all of its ammunition. Total depletion.

Enhanced casualties—including the military—hit a staggering 160,000.

Among them were over 10,000 active-duty troops, more than 30,000 reserve forces, and over 110,000 other Enhanced.

It was a brutal price.

But the gains were just as massive.

They’d collected fifty-plus Tier 8 crystal cores, over three thousand Tier 7 cores, more than a hundred thousand Tier 6 cores, and over a million Tier 5 cores.

They’d also killed some Tier 9 zombies—but those had been taken out by the Fallen Star Squad, and the crystal cores were in their hands.

Even so, just what Clearford had in storage now was enough to restore their combat power... maybe even push it higher than before.

General Cross stared at the numbers in his hands, his feelings tangled—relief and pain, joy and dread all at once.

Right then, a soldier rushed in.

"General Cross—Mr. Ethan is here!"

"Quick, bring him in!"

A moment later, the soldier led Ethan into the Military Command Center.

"Ethan—my apologies," General Cross said, hurrying forward with a guilty look. "I can’t believe I made you come to me. I should’ve gone to thank you in person, but the battle just ended and there’s too much to handle. I couldn’t get away."

"It’s fine. I get it." Ethan waved it off.

"I’m here mainly to say goodbye," he said. "We’re heading back."

"...Huh? You’re leaving?" General Cross and the others stared at him, clearly caught off guard.

"Yeah. We’ve been bothering you here long enough. It’s time to go home."

"This..." General Cross’s face tightened with reluctance.

To be honest, the Fallen Star Squad felt like the backbone of the whole compound. Hearing they were leaving made his stomach clench with a weird, irrational panic.

But if they wanted to go, he couldn’t stop them.

If it were anyone else, he could say, Outside is dangerous—staying in the compound is safer.

But saying that to the Fallen Star Squad?

He couldn’t even bring himself to try.

"If you’ve decided, then I won’t force you to stay," General Cross said at last. "Clearford City’s gates will always be open to you. Whenever you want to come, you’re welcome."

"Oh, and keep that mansion we’ve been using for us," Ethan said with a grin. "We’re used to it. Maybe we’ll swing by and stay there again sometime."

"No problem!"

"Right—General Cross." Ethan’s tone shifted. "Do you know what’s going on inside that special space-world Atlas City discovered?"

"I don’t know the exact details," General Cross admitted, a wistful look in his eyes. "But the people over in Atlas City say it’s a ruined world. There are a lot of things in there nobody’s ever seen before. Plenty of people came out with good stuff."

"You ever think about going to take a look?"

"I’d love to," General Cross said, then sighed. "But that space-world is under strict control by several major families now. Without their approval, nobody gets in."

"Fair." Ethan’s curiosity didn’t fade. "Do you know what kinds of ’good stuff’ people are getting?"

"Not really. If someone finds something valuable, they hide it. Like the Hale family’s method for creating thralls—if they didn’t talk, who would’ve known?"

He paused, then lowered his voice slightly.

"But I heard they got a special kind of ore from inside. Containers made from it can drastically reduce energy loss. It let their crystal-core fusion tech make a real breakthrough."

Ethan’s eyebrows rose. "What kind of breakthrough?"

"Before, it took a hundred crystal cores to extract and fuse them into a crystal core one Tier higher," General Cross said, expression turning grave. "Now it might only take twenty. And the fusion ceiling has already reached Tier 9 crystal cores."

Ethan’s eyes widened.

"...That really is a leap," he said quietly. "So Atlas City probably has a lot of strong people now."

"Yeah." General Cross nodded. "I also heard they got a method to actively raise your strength Tier—something that speeds up absorption of mysterious energy. But that part’s just rumors from other people. I can’t confirm it. Honestly, it sounds a little unbelievable."

Ethan nodded. He actually did think it was real—because his group already had a method like that.

Looks like I really need to make a trip to that Void Realm, he thought.

General Cross hesitated, then decided to ask anyway. "Ethan... those white-furred apes. They aren’t from Earth either, right? Are they also..."

"Yeah." Ethan nodded. "They’re from a world inside a Void Realm. Same thing you guys call a special space-world."

General Cross and the others exchanged looks—called it—and their faces lit up with excitement.

If there was a space-world nearby, didn’t that mean they could explore it too? Maybe they could get their hands on rare resources, special materials, who knew what else.

Then Ethan’s next sentence strangled that idea in the crib.

"I know what you’re thinking, but I’m telling you—don’t go." His tone hardened. "That Void Realm isn’t like Atlas City’s. Inside, Tier 9 and Tier 10 mutant beasts run in packs."

He paused, eyes sharpening.

"And most importantly... there’s one mutant beast in there that’s unbelievably terrifying. If it ever gets out, Earth is done."

Everyone went stiff.

"Ethan..." Michael asked carefully, like he was afraid the answer would bite. "What Tier is that mutant beast?"

"Don’t know," Ethan said grimly. "At least Stage A and up."

"...!"

General Cross and the others stared.

Director Vaughn did the math on his fingers, then blurted, "Tier 24?!"

"Yeah. At least Tier 24," Ethan said. "Could be higher."

No one spoke for a moment.

Then General Cross’s expression snapped into place—decisive, cold. "Understood. I’ll issue a strict ban inside the compound. No one is allowed to go there."

Ethan looked at him. "You know where it is?"

"Roughly," General Cross said. "We haven’t gone in, but there are enough traces left behind. If we send scouts to look, they can find it."

Ethan nodded. Then he said, "Actually, don’t bother with a ban."

General Cross blinked. "Why?"

"People are stubborn," Ethan said flatly. "Half of them weren’t even thinking about it until you tell them they can’t. The second you issue a ban, their curiosity gets hooked."

He gestured vaguely. "Just erase the traces. That place isn’t easy to find in the first place."

General Cross nodded slowly. "Alright. We’ll do that."

"Good." Ethan shifted his weight. "You guys get back to work. We’re heading out."

"I’ll walk you out."

"That works."

At the main gate of Clearford’s compound...

Chris and the others had already packed up. They waited at the entrance with the mutant beasts—those white-furred apes, Bengal tiger Goldie, and the rest—watching for Ethan.

A crowd had gathered all around.

Everyone knew the Fallen Star Squad was leaving.

Some looked genuinely reluctant to see them go. Some looked happy. More than a few looked like they could finally breathe again.

The pressure the Fallen Star Squad put on people was heavier than the military ever managed.

If you offended the military, you might get punished.

If you offended the Fallen Star Squad... you could pretty much declare yourself dead.

Everybody knew they didn’t do things by the book. If they wanted someone dead, even the military didn’t dare interfere. While the Fallen Star Squad was here, everyone kept their head down.

Now that they were finally leaving, some independent squads were probably already planning to celebrate.

Not long after, Ethan arrived with General Cross and the others, meeting up with Chris’s group at the gate.

"Alright, General Cross," Ethan said. "This is far enough. We’re going."

"Take care." General Cross gave Ethan a solemn military salute.

Behind him, hundreds of soldiers snapped into salute as well.

Voices rose from the crowd.

"Stay safe!"

"Good luck!"

"Take care!"

No matter how people felt about the Fallen Star Squad personally, one thing was undeniable: they had saved the compound. Without them, Clearford City’s compound might not even exist anymore.

They’d earned a send-off.

"Alright—let’s roll." Ethan lifted a hand in goodbye and sprang upward.

Peregrine Falcon Flint surged in and caught him cleanly, wings beating hard as it climbed.

Chris and Henry jumped onto Golden Eagle Nugget. Emily and Mia mounted Dire Eagle Pebble. The others swung up onto Bengal tiger Goldie, the panther Speckles, and the orange cat Pumpkin.

The mutant beasts took off at a run, tearing toward the distance, leaving the crowd staring with pure envy.

The white-furred apes refused to be left behind. They opened up their long legs and thundered after them.