The voice, cold as the Grim Reaper's whisper, sent chills through everyone, drowning their hearts in dread.
The mob of gnarly Zombies up front sparked to life, belting out savage roars, their eyes sparking with a killer vibe. Jake looked like he was having the time of his life.
"Today, our big boss Zane's whipped up a buffet," he thought, "with over two hundred dishes on the menu..."
With a beastly yell, Jake led the charge, his crew smashing into the crowd.
Screams ripped through the air as folks scrambled every which way, but the Zombies were on them like white on rice, pinning them down and going to town on their flesh. The scene turned into total anarchy.
The second those gates swung open, it was like stepping into a nightmare.
Kai was hit with a wave of total despair. Drained, he couldn't muster the strength to fight back. He finally got that it was this hardcore squad of Zombies that had taken down the prison and offed Zhang Xiaoyuan.
And Zane had leveled up to a King of the Dead! A King with his own turf was a nightmare no one wanted.
"How's humanity gonna pull through this?" Kai wondered as his clock ticked down.
A sharp pain tore through him as Zoe went to work. After Quantum Leap Innovations fell, any fight left in regular folks was a lost cause. They dropped like flies, easy pickings for the Zombies.
This was the real deal apocalypse. All blood and horror, it left folks desperate and lost.
Soon enough, the screams died out, replaced by the grisly sounds of the Zombies tearing into their feast.
The place was wiped clean, not a soul left standing!
Zane, looking all kinds of indifferent, started to walk off. Jake, Zoe, and the crew fell in line.
"Time to head back..."
...
After wiping out Kai and his squad, Zane snagged five Core crystals.
Chowing down on three, he felt a rush of power, like he was on the edge of a breakthrough.
But the massive energy from the three Core crystals needed time to settle, so he decided to stash the other two for later.
On the way back, dawn was breaking.
Back in the day, this would've been a bright, hopeful morning.
Now, it was a scene from a horror show, with bodies everywhere and the city in ruins.
As Zane and his posse strolled through a park, the ground was splattered with blood, the air thick with the stink of decay.
Scattered around were various Zombies, some stuck in loops from their past lives.
One kept slamming its back against a tree, like it was working out.
Its flesh was shredded, but it kept at it, leaving bloody smears on the cracked bark.
Another, an old lady, pushed a wheelchair in stiff circles around the square.
Peeking closer, Zane spotted a big rat in the wheelchair, clutching something and gnawing away.
Soon, a few younger Zombies showed up ahead.
These looked fresher than the rest, clearly having eaten recently.
One, flashing sharp teeth, roared at Zane.
"Hmm?" Zane looked over, surprised a little Zombie would step to him.
But the roar was clear: "This is my boss's turf, and you ain't welcome."
Looked like this spot was under another King of the Dead's rule, which explained the gutsy challenge.
Realizing this, Zane got the picture.
Jake, known for his short fuse, spotted a Zombie howling at his boss.
In two big steps, he was up close, grabbed the Zombie by the neck, and hoisted it up like a ragdoll, then slammed it down hard.
"Crack!"
The little Zombie shattered into bits, its blood splattering everywhere.
Jake treated it like a toy to be smashed...
Yet, Jake still wasn't satisfied. He turned to the nearby Zombies and, with a flurry of punches and kicks, turned them into mush.
Then he strutted back to Zane, grinning like he just won the lottery, as if to say... "Aren't I the man?"
"Let's roll, let's head back," Zane said, cool as a cucumber, leading his crew away.
However, off in the distance in the park, on a hillside, a group of Zombies was watching.
Their leader was a giant, standing tall at two meters, with creepy pale red skin.
Black veins popped on his face, making fierce patterns.
Around his neck, he sported something dark and furry, looking like a massive scarf.
"The humans in the mall were hunted by them," a Zombie next to him said, showing smarts almost like Zoe's.
"Heh—" The leading Zombie Overlord let out a series of low growls.
He saw the mall as his personal hunting ground, where he could slowly pick off humans.
But now, other Zombies had hunted there!
As the saying goes, two tigers can't share one mountain. Killing is second nature to Zombies, who can chow down on each other's Core crystals to power up.
"It's time... to expand the turf..."
This Zombie Overlord, eyes blazing with bloodlust, now marked Zane and his squad as his next meal.
And if he wanted his horde to beef up, he had to take down other Zombie Overlords.
"Squeak—squeak, squeak, squeak—"
The 'scarf' around his neck suddenly squeaked. Turns out, it was a giant rat, and even creepier, it had a human head, covered in fine black hair, looking downright horrifying!
Zane got back home and kicked back with a relaxing bath before slipping into clean threads.
Emma, always on point, had cleaned the house spotless. Every item was in its place, a sight for sore eyes for anyone with a touch of OCD.
After all, while other servants might lose a bit of their pay for slacking, Emma risked way more if her work wasn't up to snuff.
Seeing Zane change, she scooped up his clothes to wash. Even though he hadn't touched anything at the mall, his white shirt still picked up a faint smell of blood, which Emma could sniff out.
"Boss... did you go out to eat again?" she asked cautiously.
"Yep, buffet," Zane answered, not missing a beat.
Emma flinched a bit, sensing the gravity but didn't pry further, quickly getting to work on the laundry.
Zane then whipped out his smartphone to check the latest online buzz. His recent 'big job' had just wrapped up, and Quantum Leap Innovations was still in the dark. The company's official site still boasted that the 'King Hunt Operation' was about to kick off.
The comments section was hopping:
"If they can clear out the Zombies, we might get to rebuild our homes. Fingers crossed this operation works!"
"Pfft! Quantum Leap Innovations messes with human lives; they're not really for humanity. They hunt Zombies just to boost their own game, all selfish."
"Who knows how this will pan out, let's wait and see!"