At the back of the conference room, a middle-aged dude named Gavin Blake was parked on a chair. He was the big boss around here.
Watching his team of awakened beings picking the easy jobs, Gavin was getting ticked off. Only by taking down the tough Zombie Overlords could they really level up.
But here they were, slacking off, choosing the one-star gigs.
Still, he figured a smooth operation might boost morale and beef up the company's rep, earning some trust from the survivors.
...
Meanwhile, Zane was just lounging at home, sipping some crimson liquid from a fancy glass, living the good life.
Outside his building, a red-eyed crow did a few laps in the sky before landing on a streetlamp.
"Yo, little black bird?"
From a nearby alley, Jake poked out half his head, keeping a low profile.
He had a strong sense of his territory and had been eyeing this crow that kept cruising around his area. Being a bit of a prankster, he planned to catch it.
So, Jake tiptoed and sneaked up, moving as silently as a cat, inching forward without making a sound.
Being super cautious, it took him a solid five minutes to cover thirty meters.
Luckily, the crow seemed clueless, still perched on the lamp, not looking to fly off.
Now, Jake was less than ten meters away. He slowly bent his knees, gathering all his strength, then leaped up.
"Gotcha..."
Jake's jump was explosive, cracking the pavement, shooting towards the crow like a missile.
As he got closer, reaching out to grab it,
At the last second, the crow flapped its wings hard, shooting straight up, dodging Jake's grasp by a hair.
"Can't catch me... can't catch me..."
The crow's taunting chirps floated down, sounding smug and a bit mocking.
"Roar—"
Jake roared in frustration, seriously ticked off, grabbing a nearby manhole cover and swinging it at the crow.
But the crow was quick, flying up higher.
"Can't hit me... can't hit me..."
"Roar, roar, roar! Come down here, you little black bird!"
Jake, unable to reach it, could only shout in rage.
The crow didn't bother with him, instead flapping its wings and flying higher, gradually disappearing.
"Big dummy... big dummy..."
Jake was left fuming, pounding his chest and stomping his feet, but out of options.
The crow shot straight up to the twentieth floor and landed on a metal railing outside a window that was spotless, just like Zane's pad.
"Hey good guy, hey good guy..."
"Isn't that Brother Crow?"
Zane peeked out, recognizing the big crow. If it hadn't been for its help, hunting down the mutant rat king would've been a real pain.
He figured he owed Brother Crow some chicken legs...
Generous as always, Zane swung open the window and pulled out a few big chicken legs from his stash, tossing them out.
The crow gobbled them up like they were jelly beans.
"Thank you, good guy. Thank you, good guy."
"No worries."
Zane leaned on the windowsill, continuing the small talk, "Got time to drop by today, huh?"
"People, and Zombies are coming to attack you, lots and lots of them!"
The crow blurted out.
Clearly, it had spotted something while flying and came to give Zane the heads-up.
Zane raised an eyebrow.
Hearing this news didn't surprise him much; after all, he'd ticked off plenty of folks lately, and it seemed they had finally come knocking.
If they dared to mess with him, he'd show them what cruelty meant.
Just perfect, he had just absorbed the last two Core crystals from his last hunt and was wondering where to get more, and now... folks were delivering themselves to his doorstep.
But, he couldn't be careless.
He had to prepare for battle.
So,
Zane signaled his crew, alerting them about the impending invasion.
Jake, hearing about the invasion, flipped out. He was already steamed from the crow incident.
Now he was absolutely livid.
"Roar—"
With his roar, echoes of growls filled the air.
A horde of elite Zombie minions surged out.
Normally, Zombies weren't active during the day, but now they were wildly excited, their eyes bloodthirsty, their presence menacing, radiating a murderous aura.
Dare to invade the boss's turf?
That's asking for trouble.
Two thousand elite Zombies, an imposing force, stood ready, with Jake, Zoe, and Nathan leading the charge.
The undead troops were lined up, ready to kick off a bloody feast.
Zoe chuckled creepily, "Hehehe," not angry about the invasion but rather thrilled, finding it amusing.
Her thirst for carnage was even stronger than Jake's.
Meanwhile, Zane stood on the rooftop of the building.
The wind was tearing through his hair, and his eyes, sharp as hawks, were fixed on the horizon.
Way off in the distance, a bunch of tiny black specks started popping up, zooming in fast towards us.
Those were flying scouts from Quantum Leap Innovations.
Down on the street, there was this decked-out armored vehicle parade, led by a giant bulldozer clearing the path, tossing aside junked cars and random Zombies like they were confetti.
This was the 'King Hunter Squad' from Quantum Leap Innovations, featuring ten awakened folks, four of whom had harnessed Core crystals.
There was also a crew of five hundred, locked and loaded, rocking black nano combat suits with a cool red Quantum Leap Innovations logo on the chest, looking all kinds of awesome.
These nano suits were tough as nails, zombie-proof against scratches, bites, and even stabs—super effective.
On top of that, Quantum Leap Innovations rolled out a couple of bio-modified weapons called the Pursuers.
In one of the vehicles, four Core crystal awakened ones were chilling, three guys and a gal, the real muscle of this operation.
"This mission is a sweet gig, we're lucky to be in on it," one of the dudes bragged.
The gal just nodded.
"A one-star necropolis difficulty, perfect for some real-world training, and it's my first time out on such a mission."
"Ha, you better watch closely and learn a thing or two," another guy added.
Nearby, Captain Silas chimed in with a warning.
"Harper, remember, even when hunting rabbits, go all out. Don't underestimate any Zombie; they're all dangerous."
"Captain Silas, we're only dealing with two thousand Zombies here, probably the Zombie Overlord isn't anything special, just strong, or else it wouldn't be just this little territory," Harper shrugged.
The last tall guy agreed.
"Just hope we don't bump into any Ghost Corpses. Just dealing with the physically strong ones, they're one of the easiest types of Zombies to handle."
"Oh..."
The gal was all ears, soaking in the conversation. It was her first mission, and she was just realizing there was so much to Zombie hunting.
Looks like she really needed to hang more with the veterans...