Lucas stood there, completely dumbfounded.
What the hell was going on with these two?
They were seriously talking about being elegant—elegant—at a ti like this?
But then Ethan just nodded like it made perfect sense. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind next ti."
And with that, he swung the slab of stone straight at Lucas's head.
Thud! A dull, sickening crack echoed through the air. Blood sprayed everywhere, and a crystal core popped out of Lucas's skull, flying through the air before Ethan casually snatched it up.
Just like that, the "deal" was done.
Ethan walked away the clear winner.
They imdiately got to work cleaning up the battlefield. Supplies, bodies—Ethan took everything. He even helped himself to Genesis Biotech's truck, like it was just another piece of loot.
Mia, anwhile, picked up a few of the crystal core-powered firearms and tossed them over to Chris and the others.
"Let's take these back and study them. Maybe we can whip up so new weapons."
"Yeah, go for it," Ethan said with a nod.
Lately, Genesis Biotech had been advancing at a freakish pace. First, they rolled out aircraft powered by crystal cores. Now they had a whole arsenal of crystal core firearms.
It was starting to feel like a full-blown tech explosion.
Maybe they'd hit so kind of breakthrough that triggered a chain reaction of innovation.
The shelter had its own scientists too—if they could reverse-engineer this stuff, they might finally get a clearer picture of what Genesis Biotech was really up to.
A little while later, the battlefield was cleared. Chris and the others were fiddling with the new weapons, clearly fascinated by the tech.
"Now that Richard's nephew is dead, and one of the Black Hand Legion's leaders is gone too, I doubt they're just gonna let this slide," Mia said.
"Yeah," Ethan agreed with a nod.
"Well, that's not necessarily a bad thing."
"But this isn't your zombie nest," Mia pointed out. "If they send a bunch of Awakeners after us, it's gonna get ugly."
Ethan was strong, no doubt—but even he couldn't take on both Genesis Biotech and the Black Hand Legion at the sa ti.
He thought for a mont. "Then let's just move to another zombie nest."
"Uh…" Mia blinked, caught off guard. Actually, that wasn't a bad idea. Leave it to Ethan to co up with sothing so... sneaky.
After all, this was the apocalypse. Humanity was on the back foot.
Most people wouldn't dare step into zombie territory.
But their group was small, mobile. They could slip into a nest and disappear.
The others exchanged uneasy glances.
"Where would we even go? We should find a place with a weaker Zombie King, at least," soone said.
"I know a spot," Leah chid in. "The Zombie King there isn't that strong, but the place is super well-hidden."
She and her group were survivors from a nearby city—they knew the area like the back of their hand.
Chris looked surprised. "There's a place like that?"
"Yeah! That Zombie King survives by staying hidden. He's always sneaking around, barely ever shows his face," Leah explained.
"Huh?" Ethan raised an eyebrow. "A Zombie King that's actually scared to co out? Now I've gotta see this for myself…"
...
At that mont—
Richard was in his office, getting ready to call one of his regional branch leaders. With the new Crystal Core Armant finally developed, it was ti to start distributing them.
After a mont's thought, he imdiately thought of Nathan—currently the head of operations for the entire State of California. Naturally, he'd get priority.
Fighting the Zombie King in Los Angeles had to be brutal, and it had been a while since Richard had sent him any resources. He'd actually been feeling a little guilty about that.
So, Nathan was the first call.
"Hey, Nathan, you there?"
"Shhh! Keep it down—hold on, hold on, lem take this call real quick…" Nathan's voice ca through, muffled, like he was whispering to soone nearby.
"Huh?" Richard raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing, just in a eting," Nathan replied quickly. "Told my assistant to gather up so reports, heh."
"Oh." Richard nodded approvingly. "Good. Sounds like you're staying on top of things."
"How's everything going over there?"
"Pretty smooth. Business as usual. No problems—sa as before."
"Mhm. And what about Sophia? She doing okay?" Richard asked, his tone softening a bit.
He knew Sophia was a tough woman, a real powerhouse. Her branch had been overrun by a Zombie King, and that had to have hit her hard. Now she was stuck under soone else's command—probably not easy for soone like her.
Nathan paused, then said, "She's… alright, I guess. Not in the best mood. Hasn't been eating much, can't sleep either. But other than that, she's fine."
"Uh…" Richard frowned. That was fine?
Nathan quickly changed the subject. "So, Richard, you called for sothing?"
"Yeah, actually. Good news. Our new Crystal Core Armant is ready. I'm planning to send the first batch to you."
He expected Nathan to be excited—but instead, the guy hesitated.
"Uh… Richard, the area's crawling with zombies right now. We're practically surrounded. I'm worried the weapons won't even make it here before the Zombie King snatches them."
Richard's face darkened. "Co on, don't be such a coward. You can't keep living in fear like this. You really think we'd let the Zombie King intercept our shipnt? Relax. I'll send soone reliable to deliver them. It'll be fine."
"Oh… okay…" Nathan said, clearly not convinced but not wanting to argue.
Just then, a young assistant burst into Richard's office, looking panicked. "Richard! Sothing's happened—Lucas is missing!"
"What?" Richard's eyes snapped wide open. "Where the hell did he go?"
The assistant swallowed hard. "He was following your orders—taking the new Crystal Core Armant to make a deal with the Black Hand Legion."
"And the weapons?"
"Uh… they're gone too. I think."
"..." Richard was speechless. He hadn't expected this.
On the phone, Nathan's voice piped up again. "Richard? What's going on? Who's bringing the new weapons? I'll get ready to receive them."
"Uh… that guy… he… never mind. Sothing's co up. I'll get back to you later." Richard hung up before Nathan could ask more questions.
His expression darkened, brows furrowed deep. His voice rose a notch. "You said Lucas is missing?"
"Yeah. That's right."
"You think the Black Hand Legion had sothing to do with it?" Richard asked, suspicion flaring instantly.
But the assistant shook his head. "I already contacted them. They said it wasn't them."
Richard didn't buy it.
Lucas was his nephew—his only nephew. The kid was gifted, had awakened a rare ability, and was one of their top prospects. He'd already reached S-rank, more than capable of handling himself.
Richard had planned to send him to deliver the weapons to Nathan. And now he was just… gone?
"Alright. Got it. You can go," Richard said, voice low and tight, trying to keep his cool.
"Understood." The assistant nodded and slipped out of the office, clearly relieved to escape.
As soon as the door shut, Richard grabbed his phone and dialed the Black Hand Legion's leader—Vanessa.
"Hello? Vanessa?"
"Yeah, it's ."
"My nephew Lucas is missing. Was this your people's doing?" Richard demanded, cutting straight to the point.
But to his surprise, Vanessa didn't sound any happier than he was. "I was about to ask you the sa thing. Our commander, Damon, is missing too. And the rest of the team we sent? None of them ca back. What the hell happened?"
"Wait, what…?"
Richard's frown deepened. Damon was their top guy. If he was missing too, then this wasn't just so botched deal.
This was sothing much bigger than he'd thought.
...
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