Apocalypse: King of Zombies

"Oh…" Ethan nodded slowly, a shadow crossing his face. "That's… a pretty tragic story."

"We lost everything after the battle at Solaris Citadel," Hank went on, his voice low and bitter. "After that, I took a few of my guys and started roaming the wilds. But we were starving—desperate. So we took a risk and snuck back into Solaris Citadel to steal a Razorback to eat. Bad luck though… they caught us."

"Dreadpaw completely lost it. Said I had to face the harshest punishment. So he exiled me here."

"…"

Ethan listened, but something didn't quite add up.

"You couldn't find food out in the wild?"

"The wild?" Hank looked genuinely confused, like Ethan had just asked if the sky was green. "There's no food out there."

Even the zombie underlings behind him exchanged puzzled glances, clearly just as baffled.

It was like they'd never even considered the idea.

Ethan thought for a moment, and then it clicked—this world wasn't like Earth at all.

Back on Earth, even in the worst conditions, you could still find mutated beasts or catch a few oversized rats to survive. But here on Originis, a mass extinction had wiped out most life. The ecosystem was completely wrecked.

And the reason? Too many zombies. Way too many. Their numbers had exploded far beyond what the planet could handle. And they weren't weaklings either—most of them were powerful and had an insatiable hunger for flesh.

Ethan frowned, deep in thought. If Earth kept going down the same path, maybe it'd end up like this too.

As his own underlings evolved, they needed more and more flesh to sustain themselves—like bottomless pits. One day, they might devour everything: mountains, rivers, even the oceans. Until the planet had nothing left to give.

"What about humans?" Ethan asked, shifting gears. "Where's human civilization in all this?"

"The real human civilization?" Hank leaned back, gesturing vaguely. "It's on the other side of the Exile Zone. That wasteland acts like a natural barrier. Keeps the massive zombie hordes from migrating over. That's the only reason there hasn't been a full-scale war yet. Otherwise? It'd be chaos."

Ethan turned to look out the window at the endless, barren land stretching into the horizon. Yeah… that made sense. Even an S-class Zombie King couldn't cross that wasteland. It was like a wall of nature itself.

And honestly, he felt a little relieved. At least he hadn't flown in the wrong direction.

Hank kept talking. "But there are still small skirmishes. Humans sometimes cross the Exile Zone to hunt zombies for crystal cores or Neurocores. They call it… 'The Hunt Trial' or something. I ran into a few of them before. No idea what the name really means, though."

"Huh. That's kinda cool…" Ethan nodded, piecing it together. So the Exile Zone had created a sort of uneasy balance between humans and zombies.

But one thing was clear—whether it was the tech level or the evolutionary stage of lifeforms, Originis was way ahead of Earth. Maybe… just maybe, there really was a way to restore Mia's memories here.

That thought brought him back to the mysterious signal he'd received.

"Oh, right. Do you know anything about the Voidborn Undying?"

"The Voidborn Undying?" Hank scratched his head. "That's just a title. When a Zombie King evolves to SSS-level, they earn that name. See, zombies don't have emotions or intelligence. They're seen as low-tier lifeforms. But once they evolve past a certain point, the term 'zombie' doesn't really fit anymore. That's when they start calling them the Voidborn Undying."

"I see…" Ethan muttered. No wonder that alien being had gotten so offended when he called it a zombie. It probably felt insulted—wanted to make it clear it was something more, something beyond. A Voidborn Undying.

After this long conversation, Ethan finally had a decent grasp of what Originis was all about.

First impression? The planet was bled dry. Whatever flesh and resources were left were hoarded by the strongest beings.

And they were fiercely protective of it.

Take Hank, for example—he stole a single Razorback from Dreadpaw, and the guy went ballistic. Didn't even care about the S-class crystal core in Hank's head. Just wanted him gone. Exiled.

That kind of rage? That wasn't just about food.

That was personal.

Ethan's current plan was simple: find a resource-rich area, build a corpse nest, and then summon his zombie underlings to regroup.

As for that mysterious Voidborn Undying who had sent him a signal—yeah, Ethan wasn't planning on meeting him anytime soon. His power base was still way too weak. For now, he needed to lay low and bide his time.

"Boss, what're you thinking about?" Hank asked, noticing Ethan had gone quiet, lost in thought.

"I'm thinking… how the hell we're gonna survive," Ethan said bluntly.

"Mm…" Hank nodded, totally on board. That was the big question, wasn't it?

Even if they made it out of the Exile Zone—then what?

Go back to Solaris Citadel and try to steal another Razorback? Yeah, right. That'd just be a repeat of last time.

Dreadpaw had already gone nuclear over it once.

Try that stunt again, and who knows what kind of hell would break loose…

But Ethan was already thinking bigger. He'd started to grasp the core issue with this planet—Originis was drowning in zombies. Their numbers had exploded way past what the ecosystem could handle.

And honestly? The solution was pretty straightforward.

Wipe out eighty percent of them.

"This planet… needs a purge."

"Huh??" Hank blinked, completely thrown off by the sudden declaration. He had no idea what Ethan meant.

What he couldn't possibly imagine was that the arrival of this one Zombie King would soon plunge Originis into a storm of blood and fire.

...

The aircraft continued its journey, stopping now and then to swap out crystal core energy cells.

Time passed slowly. Days and nights blurred together. A full week slipped by.

Ethan stood at the window, staring out at the barren land below. But something had changed.

The landscape was still desolate, but the temperature had dropped—down to around thirty degrees Celsius. It wasn't the scorching inferno of the central zone anymore.

"We're finally… finally back!" Hank said with a deep sigh, his voice full of emotion. Even he hadn't expected to make it out of the Exile Zone alive. Life was full of surprises.

Ethan glanced at him, saw the excitement on his face, but didn't say anything.

As they neared the edge of the Exile Zone, the aircraft began its descent. The engines flared, then slowly powered down as the ship touched down with a soft thud.

Click—

The hatch slid open with a mechanical hiss, and Ethan stepped out.

For the first time, he set foot on the soil of Originis.

The ground wasn't the red-brown rock of the Exile Zone anymore, but it was still dry and lifeless. Mostly gravel and sand, with barely any nutrients. Nothing could grow here.

Compared to Earth, it was still a wasteland.

But Ethan didn't care. He'd spent half a year lying low on Earth, his evolution stalled, his body stagnant.

It had been far too long since he'd felt the rush of devouring a crystal core, the surge of power as it nourished his body.

And deep down, he craved it.

Because no matter how much intelligence he had, no matter how much strategy he used—at the end of the day, he was still a zombie.

And killing was in his blood.

Now that he was on Originis, it was like the chains had come off. The battlefield was wide open. The sky was the limit.

This… this was where he would unleash hell.

"Boss, what's the plan now?" Hank asked, his voice as dopey as ever.

Ethan didn't hesitate. "We're heading to Solaris Citadel. See if we can score some high-grade crystal cores. And while we're at it… we're stealing another Razorback."

...