Chapter 456: You really came for me...

Chapter 456: You really came for me…

“…” Fear stood there, a vein twitching on his forehead.

“Man, that name of yours… it’s seriously messed up.” The underboss gave him a weird look, but his expression quickly turned vicious. “Well then, today I’m gonna beat the crap outta you, Fear!”

With that, he lunged forward like a beast, tackling Fear to the ground. His jaws opened wide, aiming straight for Fear’s neck.

Fear’s heart jumped into his throat. He threw up both claws just in time, pushing against the guy’s head to keep those teeth at bay.

The two of them rolled across the ground, locked in a brutal, no-holds-barred brawl.

This underboss had been injected with both the X and Y viruses—his body was a tank, and his healing factor was off the charts.

Fear was clearly outmatched. If his combat level was a 3, this guy was a solid 4—stronger, faster, and relentless.

All around them, other zombies had clashed into a chaotic melee. They clawed, bit, and roared at each other, the air thick with snarls and screams.

“Hah! You’re weak as hell!” the underboss sneered, straddling Fear and throwing punches with both fists.

Fear tried to block with his arms, but a few heavy blows still landed. His head rang like a bell, vision swimming.

There was no way their ragtag group of zombies could take on the ones backed by Genesis Biotech.

His crew was already starting to fall. Their numbers, already thin, were dwindling fast.

Fear’s mind flashed to Mist. To Ethan. He remembered the promise he’d made—to lead their horde, to grow stronger together. And now? It looked like he was about to break that promise.

“I… I’m sorry…”

“Huh?”

The underboss paused, confused. Sorry? Sorry to who?

Was this guy so messed up from the beating he was just babbling nonsense now?

“Die already!” the underboss snarled, gripping Fear’s head with both hands and twisting hard, trying to snap his neck.

“Raaagh—!”

Fear let out a guttural roar, his heart burning with defiance.

“I don’t wanna die! Boss said he’d come back for me!”

Maybe it was that belief—his faith in his leader—that sparked something deep inside. Fear’s strength surged, and he fought back with everything he had.

“Oh? Still got some fight in you, huh?”

The underboss gritted his teeth and pushed harder.

But Fear just wasn’t strong enough. Against this elite enforcer, he was losing ground fast. His neck creaked under the pressure—bones straining, seconds from snapping.

“I’d like to see who the hell’s gonna save you now!” the underboss growled, pouring all his strength into the final twist.

But just as the words left his mouth, the sky above suddenly churned with thick, black fog. It rolled in like a tidal wave, swallowing the sun, plunging everything into darkness.

It was like someone had flipped a switch—day turned to night in an instant.

The underboss froze, eyes darting upward.

“What the hell…?”

Down below, Fear’s eyes lit up with a savage gleam. That fog… that feeling… it was all too familiar.

“He’s here… He’s really back!”

From within the swirling mist, four figures emerged.

Big Ears. Shrimpy. And the rest of the Overlord Squad.

“You dare mess with my little bro? You’re dead meat!” Mist’s voice boomed through the darkness, full of fury.

Big Ears locked eyes with the underboss, instantly sizing him up. Strong—but not stronger than him.

“Let’s take this bastard down, boys!”

The four zombies launched themselves forward. One grabbed the guy’s legs, another his arms, one went for the head, and the last twisted his neck.

They moved like a well-oiled machine—battle-hardened, perfectly in sync.

And they were stronger. If the underboss was a 4, these guys were solid 5s.

It didn’t take long.

Crack.

With a sickening snap, the four of them twisted his neck clean around—ending it right there.

After the underboss was taken out, the Overlord Squad didn’t stop—they charged straight into the rest of the enemy horde.

For a battle of this scale, Big Ears and the other three were more than enough to carry the fight. They tore through the opposing zombies like a buzzsaw, cutting down everything in their path.

And Mist’s old crew? The moment they saw that thick, rolling fog, it was like someone had injected them with pure adrenaline. They fought harder, fiercer—like they had something to prove.

In just a few minutes, the enemy was in total disarray. Aside from a few who managed to flee, the rest were wiped out—completely annihilated.

“First thing we do after landing is lead a full-on battle? Man, we’re gonna make a name for ourselves in Texas!” Big Ears said, riding high on the victory.

Shrimpy nodded enthusiastically. “I’m starting to think Texas is where we’re really meant to shine.”

“Yeah, no doubt,” Big Ears agreed.

The truth was, back in L.A. and the surrounding areas, the zombies were way too strong. The four of them were basically just background noise there.

But here? The local zombies were weaker, and for the first time in a while, they felt like real contenders again.

“Mist!” Fear, battered and bruised, limped over, his voice trembling with emotion.

Mist clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You did good, brother. You held out.”

“It wasn’t… nothing,” Fear said through gritted teeth, trying to hold back the pain.

But just then, the thick fog began to fade, slowly unraveling like smoke in the wind. And through the haze, not far off, a figure in white appeared.

Handsome. Calm. Unshaken.

“Boss!” Fear’s voice cracked as he saw Ethan. All the pain, all the fear, all the bottled-up emotion came flooding out like a dam breaking.

“Waaahhh… Boss… you really came for me… waaahhh…”

Fear stumbled forward and collapsed in front of Ethan, sobbing like a child who’d finally found his way home. His cries were raw, heartbreaking—enough to make even the coldest heart ache.

Ethan blinked, a little surprised. Fear was one of the rare low-level zombies who had evolved enough to actually cry. The last one who’d done that… was Laura.

Which meant Fear had massive potential for evolution.

“Look at you, all torn up. Come on, don’t cry,” Ethan said gently.

“Mm-hmm.” Fear nodded quickly, wiping his tears and trying to pull himself together.

Big Ears walked over, frowning. “Alright, bro, what the hell happened? Why were you being hunted by another zombie horde? Spill it—I’ll make it right.”

“It was Genesis Biotech…” Fear began, his voice low but steady, and he laid it all out.

After Ethan had wiped out Genesis Biotech’s elite squad and the Black Hand Legion, Richard—the man pulling the strings—had gone ballistic. No way he was letting that slide.

He sent out more teams to scout the area. At first, they kept a low profile. But once they realized Ethan had left, they started getting bolder.

And worst of all, they left behind a pack of their own trained zombies.

Fear and the others became easy targets—punching bags for the humans’ frustration. They were constantly hunted by Awakeners, forced to run and hide like rats.

If it hadn’t been for Mist’s teachings—his “Ultimate Survival Tactics”—they’d all be dead by now. Fear had learned how to run, how to vanish, how to survive.

Even so, they were eventually driven out of the city, forced to take shelter in a nearby forest, surviving off bugs and scraps. It was a miserable existence.

But Genesis Biotech wasn’t done. They sent in their elite zombie units, forming a new horde to hunt them down in the woods.

“Genesis Biotech… they want us wiped out,” Mist said grimly.

Big Ears narrowed his eyes, thinking it over. Just as he suspected—this all traced back to Genesis Biotech.

“Are they really trying to push me into destroying their headquarters?”

“Huh?” Fear’s eyes widened. Was he really that strong? He sounded… terrifying.

Big Ears gave him a reassuring grin. “Don’t worry. Those days of running and hiding? They’re over. Now you’ve got me… and our boss is here too. That means we’ve got hope again.”

…