Pretty much every major compound had the same story.

Those Enhanced who’d charged out all fired up, looking to show off... almost all of them ran into that exact situation.

Best case, they lost more than half their people.

Worst case, the whole squad got wiped.

Even Fallen Star City wasn’t spared.

Some of the guys who were usually mediocre—but loud, cocky, and restless—got a big power spike and immediately started floating. Inside the city, everyone had improved, so there was no sense of achievement. No one to impress.

So they went outside to "farm" zombies, hoping to feel that rush again.

Instead, the zombies taught them a lesson so brutal they barely crawled back alive.

Fallen Star City — Council Chamber...

Miles was listening to reports from his people when Ethan and the others walked in.

"Captain!"

"Commander!"

Everyone in the room stood up at once, calling out.

"Sit," Ethan said, waving them down. "Relax. It’s fine."

He took a seat and looked straight at Miles. "You said it was urgent. What’s going on?"

Miles’s face was heavy. "Captain... the zombies got a massive boost."

Ethan stared at him. "And? Isn’t that normal? Humans got stronger—zombies aren’t allowed to level up too?"

"It’s not a small boost," Miles said, voice tight. "Their growth is way beyond ours."

"Today, every major compound sent teams out to hunt zombies, and almost all of them took catastrophic losses."

He paused, like he wanted to make sure Ethan heard every word.

"Based on what we’ve gathered... Tier 15 and Tier 16 zombies are everywhere outside now. And we’ve even seen Stage B zombies."

"...What?" Ethan’s eyes widened. "Stage B? You sure you’re not mixing something up?"

"I’m sure." Miles didn’t blink. "An Awakened with a detection ability confirmed it and sent the report back."

Ethan’s mouth twitched.

Before The Crimson Star appeared, the strongest zombie he’d personally seen was only Tier 12.

Now Miles was telling him that in ten days, Stage B zombies were walking around?

What, were they gaining a Tier per day? Did The Crimson Star single them out for some special treatment?

It wasn’t that Ethan was scared of zombies.

It was that the growth rate was flat-out insane.

Miles kept going. "There’s something else, too. It’s... weird."

"Weird how?"

"The zombies seem to have suddenly lost their intelligence," Miles said. "Like they regressed. They look mindless again—like real walking corpses."

Ethan frowned. "Huh."

"A side effect of leveling too fast?" he asked, half to himself.

"No idea," Miles said. "But from what we’re seeing, most zombies out there don’t seem to have any real awareness anymore. They’re like the earliest zombies—only one difference."

He spoke slowly, emphasizing it.

"They’re way, way stronger."

Ethan leaned back, quiet for a long moment.

Zombies turning like this was obviously tied to their sudden surge in strength.

But if everyone had been under the same sky, breathing the same air...

How the hell had the zombies gotten that kind of growth?

After humans got the Energy Absorption Technique, their cultivation speed generally beat zombies.

Yet this time, humans got crushed.

Which meant only one thing.

The zombies had found something else—something even better.

All at once, Ethan thought of the crimson energy he’d seen.

"Yeah," he said, more to himself than anyone. "That’s it. That has to be why."

Humans couldn’t absorb that stuff—but that didn’t mean zombies couldn’t.

If zombies were taking in mysterious energy and crimson energy, then their ridiculous growth finally made sense.

He’d felt it personally. That crimson energy was a higher tier of power altogether. If it could push zombies to this level, it wasn’t strange at all.

And he’d also sensed something else mixed into it—something impure.

Maybe that was exactly why the zombies had turned mindless again.

Once Ethan connected the dots, the shock drained out of him. His eyes sharpened instead, shifting to the bigger picture.

"Honestly," Ethan said with a small grin, "this is our chance."

A Fallen Star City administrator frowned. "Commander... how is this a chance?"

"Because yeah, the zombies are stronger than humans again," Ethan said. "But they lost their intelligence. That means they can’t organize those nightmare-scale zombie tides anymore. For humans, that’s the best possible outcome."

Miles nodded immediately. "Captain’s right. This is an opening for humanity."

"The scariest thing about zombies was never individual strength," Miles continued. "It was the hordes—the coordinated swarms. If that threat is gone, then even if they’re stronger, humans still have ways to kill them."

"And right now," he added, voice turning practical, "killing even one zombie is basically a payday for any compound."

"Atlas City already made the crystal-core decomposition tech public. As long as we can kill high-Tier zombies, a compound’s strength will jump. Then killing more zombies gets easier. It snowballs."

A few of the senior people in the room lit up, suddenly seeing it.

"Right—why didn’t we think of that?"

"If this keeps going, humanity’s strength could surge again..."

Ethan waved them off. "Alright. That part isn’t what you need to lose sleep over. Zombies can get as strong as they want—it won’t threaten us. With the Fallen Star Guard, it’s simple. They come, we kill. Doesn’t matter how many."

"Oh... right." A couple of them exhaled like they’d just remembered where they lived. "Fallen Star Guard’s already that strong. We’re fine."

The tension in the room loosened. They’d been scared at first, but thinking it through—being in Fallen Star City meant they weren’t nearly as vulnerable as everyone else.

Miles suddenly asked, "Captain, do you need the Fallen Star Guard?"

"Not for the next couple days," Ethan said. "But after that, I’m taking them to the Yamato islands to wipe out Infernals."

"Got it." Miles nodded. "Then I’ll send them out to hunt zombies these next two days. With zombie strength spiking, we can harvest a lot of high-Tier crystal cores. I want to start building up the Fallen Star Corps."

"The Guard’s strong now, and they’ll probably be leaving the city with you more often," he added. "But Fallen Star City still needs a standing defense."

"Yeah. Do what you think is best." Ethan stood. "I’ve got my own headache to deal with first—those Void Realm things we didn’t finish off. Leaving them out there is like a splinter under my skin."

"Understood."

After they left the council chamber, Ethan called Maxwell and asked for the location of the remaining monsters.

The answer he got was... annoying.

They hadn’t come out. They’d been staying deep in the mountains the entire time.

Ethan clicked his tongue.

Karst Valley State was basically nothing but mountains. Endless ridgelines stacked on ridgelines. Trying to find a handful of monsters hiding out there was like trying to catch smoke with your hands.

"Guess we’ll have to wait until they show themselves." Ethan shook his head.

Then he looked at the others. "Come on. Let’s go take a look at what the world looks like now."

The Crimson Star’s return had hit Earth hard. The most obvious change was the massive jump in strength—humans and zombies alike.

But if Ethan had to guess, that wasn’t the only change.

They were just about to head out when Miles sent someone running in again.

"Commander! Deputy Commander wants you at the Beast Enclosure."

"The Beast Enclosure?" Ethan paused. "What happened?"

"I heard... the white-furred apes are rioting."

"The white-furred apes?" Ethan’s brows knit. "Why would they riot out of nowhere?"

The messenger hesitated, then said, "They... seem to be affected like the zombies. Their intelligence took a hit."

Ethan froze for half a beat, then smacked his own forehead.

"Damn it. I can’t believe I missed that."

He turned. "Alright. Let’s go."

The group moved fast, heading straight for the Beast Enclosure.

On the way, Ethan couldn’t help asking, "The Flamebirds haven’t rioted too, right?"

He tried to keep it casual, but everyone heard the edge in his voice.

Thirty thousand Flamebirds going berserk... Fallen Star City wouldn’t be able to hold that.

Skinny Pete snorted. "Relax, Captain. Their leader, Ember, is under my control. Even if its intelligence took a hit, it’ll still follow orders."

"And the Flamebirds obey Ember on instinct," he added. "If their minds get messed with, that won’t change."

Ethan let out a breath. "Good."

He glanced ahead, jaw tightening. "Let’s go. If we have to... we’ll just control the white-furred apes too."

"Yeah," Miles said. "If it comes to that."