Zane was sizing up the situation too. Among all the awakened ones he'd hunted, Silas was definitely top-tier.
Earth powers, good for both offense and defense.
But, it was about time to wrap this up...
With a thought, Zane expanded his domain to the max, a crushing pressure hit Silas, almost knocking him to the ground.
He was physically overdrawn, hitting his limit.
Zane zipped forward, landing a punch right in Silas's chest.
"Boom!"
That punch shattered the mud armor around Silas, sending him flying like a kite with its string cut, smashing through a wall and out of the building.
"Cough! Cough, cough!"
Silas lay on the ground, coughing up blood, unable to stand, the bright light outside painfully glaring.
A bunch of Zombie figures closed in on him.
There was Jake, casually tossing a head like a basketball—it was the head of the Red-faced Zombie Overlord...
And Zoe, with fresh blood dripping from her sharp bone claws, smiling wickedly as she looked down at the man on the ground.
Behind them, over a thousand elite Zombies, fresh from defeating the Red-faced, still pumped from the slaughter.
"Is this it..."
Silas gazed at those terrifying faces, his vision blurring.
He'd always known this day might come, just didn't expect it so soon, about to leave this cruel world. From now on, nothing would concern him anymore. At this moment, Silas seemed somewhat at peace.
Might as well say goodbye...
Zane stepped forward, looking down, noticing the complex yet somewhat relieved look in his eyes.
"Got any last words?"
"Uh..."
Silas was startled, not expecting this Zombie to talk, and with a voice so deep and magnetic, nothing like his cold-blooded killing.
Suddenly, it felt like he was facing a human.
"Cough..cough, buddy, I know you're strong, but don't get cocky. Quantum Leap Innovations... it's not as simple as you think. They've got loads of secret projects... those are the real deal..."
"Right."
Zane nodded, he'd guessed as much. The real trump cards wouldn't be blabbed about online. Stuff like 'Zombie Eradication Plan,' 'Hunter Operation,' just for show to boost credibility.
Silas's eyes grew more distant, muttering two words.
"Weird... weird... they're feeding Zombies... breeding weirdness."
...
A chilly breeze swept through, and Silas's pupils dilated.
He was completely out of breath, dead.
Everything was quiet around, Jake stopped messing with the red-faced head and turned to Nathan whispering.
"Hey, what did that human mean just now?"
"Umm... with your brainpower, I'm not sure how to explain it to you," Nathan pondered.
"Oh..."
Jake nodded, sort of getting it but then thought something was off.
Was he calling him dumb?
Zoe and the others came over to Zane, tilting their heads to examine Silas's corpse.
"Boss, I think what the human said before he died was pretty good."
"That's what they say, 'a dying man's words are kind.'"
Zane pulled out a phrase.
With the surrounding Zombies' intellect, it was even harder to understand, especially for Jake, but his curiosity was strong.
"Eh? Boss, what do you mean by that?"
"It means... if a human speaks harshly, you beat him till he's nearly dead, then his words turn sweet."
"Oh, so that's it!"
Jake finally understood, learned something new, and was very happy, treating it as a wise saying.
No wonder the boss always makes sense.
He glanced disdainfully at Nathan beside him, meaning... if you can't explain it clearly, it must be your IQ that's the problem!
...
This great battle thus came to an end.
The streets were littered with flesh and dismembered limbs everywhere, a complete mess.
A group of dark crows cawed as they pecked at the flesh on the ground, finding the Zombie meat particularly delicious.
"Let's go, back home!"
Zane gave the order.
"Roar—"
The horde behind him roared fiercely, exhilarated by their victory, like triumphant soldiers.
They had taken down the Red-faced Zombie Overlord, and their territory had expanded.
From the building to the park, it had tripled in size.
After this battle, Zane got six Core crystals, a real bounty.
Over the next few days.
Zane just chilled at home.
He absorbed Core crystals, ate meat, drank blood, continuously taking in energy.
But Jake, Zoe, and Nathan were quite busy lately, as the territory had expanded, they had many new underlings.
From two thousand troops, it quickly grew to ten thousand, and the number was still increasing.
Thus, Zane became the Zombie Overlord commanding a horde of ten thousand!
But he felt it still wasn't enough, maybe adding 'hundred' in front would make it barely acceptable...
And those new underlings weren't elite, they were just stationed on the outskirts of the territory.
The original two thousand elites still guarded around the building, Zane's 'personal guard'!
After the expansion of the territory.
Jake was the happiest, wandering around, patrolling back and forth, checking for intruders or sneaky creatures.
If he was lucky, he might catch a few survivors, good for a snack, living the sweet life...
Jake was living the high life, and Zane was just cruising through.
After that showdown, nobody dared to mess with him anymore.
And before you know it,
Zane had become the stuff of human nightmares!
On the official website of Quantum Leap Innovations, photos of Silas and his crew had turned to grayscale, signaling that this hunter squad had been totally wiped out!
Since Quantum Leap Innovations started their operations, there had been casualties, but a total wipeout was a first.
This incident got extra attention.
"Silas was a B+ level Awakener, and he got taken out by a Zombie!"
"That's brutal... the whole squad went down!"
"Man, what on earth did they run into?"
"Ghost Corpses, dude! Heard a drone caught it all on camera!"
"For real?"
"..."
Zane scrolled down and, sure enough, there was a photo. It was super blurry due to the distance.
You could just make out a young figure standing on the edge of a building rooftop.
Crows were circling all around.
It had a kind of dark, edgy vibe.
The comments on this photo even surpassed the news about the squad's wipeout.
"Dude! Is that really a Zombie?"
"Feels... so oppressive!"
"It's just too blurry, and the crows are blocking the view, can't see the face."
"This ain't your average Zombie, this is Ghost Corpses! Wonder how many people they've taken down."
"Though, I gotta say... why do I think he looks kinda cool?"
...