The Corpse King's hood totally swamped the two-headed wolf, like a heavyweight vibe crushing down on it.
In a snap, the big bad wolf trembled like it was deep in the ocean, getting slammed by some serious pressure. Its legs buckled, and it crashed down with a loud 'thud.'
"Whimper~~"
It let out a sad whimper, sounding like a whipped pup. Its eyes, once fierce, now filled with fear.
Looks like a single stink eye from Zane was enough to make the mighty wolf crumble.
Everyone was straight-up shocked.
Turns out, the Corpse King's aura had a major squashing effect even on freaky beasts.
"This...."
The survivors were gobsmacked, totally didn't see that coming.
The dude in front of them was just too much.
Meanwhile, Zane was wondering if the two-headed wolf had double the brain goodies or just the usual setup.
To check it out, he moved in and cracked open the wolf's skulls with his dagger, finding out each noggin did have its own brain prize.
Too bad, these brain bits were kinda on the small side.
Not nearly as juicy as those from the more woke creatures.
If a woke one's brain bit was a 'big cherry,' then the wolf's were more like 'little cherries.'
Zane chowed down on both brain bits.
Still tasty, and the energy was clean, giving him a slight boost in pep.
Then, he cleaned his dagger and gave it a lick, finding the wolf's blood surprisingly zesty, packed with more kick than your average cow or chicken juice.
"Not bad..."
Zane was pretty pleased. With a flourish, he stashed the wolf in his pocket dimension, planning to show it off back at his pad.
As for the humans still kicking it behind him, Zane couldn't care less.
Offing them wasn't worth his time.
Better to let them keep on keeping on, maybe pop out a few more humans, or wait till they got a bit more interesting, then deal with them.
Zane slipped through the wall.
Disappeared like a ghost.
The folks left behind were just standing there, mouths agape, totally shook. They hadn't pegged the big bad wolf to go down without a fight.
"What kind of freak is he?"
...
Back at his place, Emma had wrapped up the day's housework.
"Boss, got your threads all clean and ready," she said.
"Cool, go chill," Zane tossed back.
But Emma, rubbing her neck, wasn't feeling it.
"Boss, my head's all itchy. Think I'm leveling up?"
"Oh?" Zane gave her a once-over, then dropped his advice.
"Hit the showers."
Emma, bummed out, left the room.
Zane took a hot shower, slipped into his fresh digs, and tied a crisp white scarf around his neck. He sat down to dig into some wolf steak he bagged earlier.
The wolf chow was solid, chewy, kinda like how folks dig into beef jerky.
On the tube, a survivor was freaking out. "Monsters, man! Not just the beasts flipping out, but some are getting all cozy with the Zombies. Caught this freak show on my drone, check it!"
Munching on his meal, Zane glanced at the screen.
It showed a massive python, thick as a barrel, but the freaky part? It had a Zombie's head!
It was coiled around a house, looking all sorts of nope. This was after it had a Zombie buffet, and they kinda merged.
Plus, the news was all about these hybrid monsters popping up at official safe spots.
So, there was this human-faced spider, big as a truck, all hairy and spinning webs tougher than steel cables.
Then, these rat-like critters, size of cows, but with human heads on their backs, all screaming like they're at a horror movie.
"Perfect dinner show..." Zane cracked a smile while munching.
Outside, the world was a hot mess, crawling with these freaky monsters, where zoning out for a sec could mean game over.
Humans had to watch their backs too, not just from monsters but from each other, scrapping over grub or whatever looked good.
But Zane? He was chilling in his spotless crib, maid on deck, living the cushy life, far from the chaos outside.
He even had a squad of three main dudes and a whole army of minions. No awakener or mutant beast dared to mess with his turf.
Just like that, Zane kept it low-key for another ten days.
During this time, he chowed down on a whopping 200,000 pounds of meat!
Zane's power was off the charts now.
His [Dead Zone] got a serious upgrade, doubling its reach to twenty meters, tougher and lasting longer.
Lately, though, Zane noticed more choppers in the sky and more human hustle outside.
Turns out, it was because more awakeners were out there, doing rescue gigs.
Over at the official Verdantia shelter, the crowd hit fifty thousand, with seven thousand awakeners.
They even had a leaderboard, ranking the top hundred awakeners from strongest to weakest.
But hey, these ranks were just on paper, not proven in the field.
They also kept everyone in the loop with daily rescue updates, keeping folks from falling for any shady tricks.
That day, Zane was watching the tube.
With most networks down, options were slim, but the shelter's radar feed was still kicking.
'Today's rescue update: Rescuers Olivia and Landon, two awakeners, heading to University Town. If you're nearby, hang tight for rescue.'
"Hmm?"
Zane wasn't really paying attention until he heard those names.
Then, photos popped up on the screen.
One was a girl with bangs, golden hair, and skin so fine it was unreal, her big eyes dark but empty, like a doll...
The other was a dude with rough skin, thin cheeks, and curly hair. His eyes were the real talk, one straight, the other off-track, looking wise in his own way.
The dude next to the doll-like girl made for quite the contrast.
But Zane knew them both.
His eyes drifted to an old photo on the wall from the orphanage, packed with childhood memories.
There they both were in that photo.
Olivia, who he used to hang with, got sent to a psych ward 'cause the orphanage head said she was ill. Zane never saw her after that...
And Landon Vega, always labeled the slow kid because of his eyes. His folks ditched him.
Zane remembered when Landon was twelve, his hamster got sick, and Landon fed it rat poison...
Now, seeing them on TV, those childhood pals, teaming up for rescues?
"Can a nutcase and a simpleton really save anyone???"