Chapter 982: Two Cores, Zero Witnesses

Meanwhile...

"Holy shit. What a waste of time," Ray muttered, face dark with frustration. "I thought we were dealing with a squad of elites—turns out they’re just a bunch of nobodies."

"Exactly!" Evan snapped. "And we were being so damn polite. If you ask me, we should’ve just killed them and taken their supplies."

"Ray, good thing you didn’t lose your temper back there," one of the bodyguards said, frowning.

Ray turned to him. "What do you mean?"

"There’s something off about those people... Every single one of them gave me serious pressure. I don’t think I could take even one of them in a fight," the bodyguard said, his voice low and grim.

"...What!?"

Ray and Evan both stared at him, eyes wide in disbelief.

"No way!"

"He’s right," the second bodyguard chimed in, his tone just as serious. "You two might not have felt it, but we used to be mercs. We’ve danced on the edge of death more times than I can count. You develop a sixth sense for danger. And those people? If we’d made a move back there... we’d be dead."

"..."

"But they said they weren’t even Tier 3..."

"Ray," Evan said slowly, "I think what he actually said was that none of them were

Tier 3

. What if... they’re all Tier 4?"

"...!!"

Ray opened his mouth to deny it—but the words caught in his throat. If even Ravi and the others said they couldn’t win, what else could they be?

Six people. All Tier 4. That was insane. Unbelievable.

And yet, the look on Ray’s face said it all.

What the hell did I just walk away from?

Six Tier 4s—if they joined the Harlan family, their power would skyrocket overnight.

"Evan," Ray whispered, "you think if we go back now, they’ll slam the door in our faces?"

"Maybe we should wait till tomorrow," Evan said. "Bring a few gifts. Going back now might look... desperate."

"Yeah. Good call. We’ll prep something nice and head over tomorrow. Thank god we didn’t piss them off today," Ray said, exhaling in relief.

...

Late that night...

Ethan and the others lounged in deck chairs, stargazing in the backyard.

The stars didn’t give much energy each night, but the mysterious force they absorbed added up over time. It was a slow burn, but consistency was the key. Keep at it long enough, and they’d leave everyone else in the dust.

And tonight, they had something to celebrate—Pumpkin had finally broken through to Tier 4.

Unlike the rest of them, Pumpkin didn’t need crystal cores to level up. Its growth was entirely self-driven. Aside from the occasional core as a snack, it was surprisingly low-maintenance.

What had started as a whim—taking Pumpkin in—was now looking like one of Ethan’s smartest decisions. With Pumpkin guarding the house, they didn’t have to worry about anyone sneaking in.

Now that it had reached Tier 4, their home security had leveled up too. Unless a horde of zombies or a squad of high-Tier Enhanced came knocking, they were solid.

Ethan activated

True Sight

and glanced toward the backyard of the luxury home down the block. His eyes lit up.

"Nice. Two of them."

He turned to the others. "You guys go ahead and get some sleep. Chris and I are gonna go pick up a couple crystal cores."

"Got it."

A few minutes later, Ethan and Chris slipped out and made their way to the back of the luxury home.

Inside, the four guards were still posted at their usual spots.

Maybe it was the embarrassment from the night before, but tonight, they were doing everything they could to stay sharp—eyes wide, backs straight, fighting off sleep with sheer willpower.

Ethan and Chris perched silently in the branches of a tall tree overlooking the backyard. Ethan pointed toward the two zombies locked in separate iron cages below.

"Those two are Tier 4," he whispered. "But they’re not close together. Snagging both cores without alerting anyone’s gonna be tricky."

Chris grinned. "Relax, Ethan. Watch and learn."

With that, he vanished—literally. His body shimmered and faded as he activated his stealth ability, slipping down from the tree and into the yard like a shadow.

He picked up a loose stone from the ground, weighed it in his hand, then hurled it straight at a window.

CRASH!

The glass shattered with a sharp crack, echoing through the quiet night. Inside the house, the four guards jumped to their feet, startled.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Sounded like a window—go check it out!"

As they rushed toward the noise, the zombies in the cages began to snarl and thrash, riled up by the sudden commotion.

Chris didn’t waste a second. He darted toward the first cage, axe already in hand. One clean swing—

crack!

—split the zombie’s skull open. He was gone before the body even hit the floor.

He reached in, fished out the crystal core, and slipped it into his pocket.

The snarling grew louder, but the guards didn’t notice anything unusual. The zombies were always noisy—what was one more tantrum?

"Damn glass," one of them muttered, inspecting the broken window. "Scared the shit outta me."

"Probably just a weak pane. We’ll patch it up tomorrow."

"Yeah, make sure we use better stuff this time."

While they debated window quality, Chris was already at the second cage. Another flash of movement, another clean kill. The second zombie dropped without a sound, and Chris vanished into the shadows once more.

By the time the guards turned back around, both cages were still—unnaturally still.

"Holy shit!" one of them gasped. "What the hell—two more dead?!"

"No way! You think they knew we were watching and started fighting again?"

"Forget that—grab the cores before Ray finds out. If we show up empty-handed, he’ll lose his damn mind."

They rushed to the cages, hands diving into the gory mess of the zombies’ skulls.

"Nothing?"

"What do you mean nothing?!"

"They’re gone! The cores are gone!"

"Already eaten? That fast?"

"Wait... you think they killed each other over the cores?"

"But zombies don’t eat crystal cores. That’s not a thing."

"Then what—what if it wasn’t the zombies? Look at the wounds. Doesn’t this look like... an axe?"

"Holy shit, man, don’t say that. It’s the middle of the goddamn night, there’s no one out here, and you’re telling me someone snuck in and chopped up two Tier 4s with an axe?"

"I’m just saying, the cuts are clean. Too clean."

"Jesus. Don’t tell me this place is haunted."

A chill ran through the group. The idea of someone—or something—sneaking in under their noses and killing two Tier 4 zombies without a sound was enough to make their skin crawl.

"So what now? You wanna wake Ray up for this?"

"And tell him what? That the cores vanished into thin air?"

"Just tell the truth."

"The truth? You think

you

believe that story? Ray’s gonna think we stole them. And with his temper? You know what happens next."

"...Shit."

"Exactly. If we don’t wake him, we’re screwed. If we do, we’re still screwed."

Silence fell over the group.

"Man, screw this," one of them muttered suddenly. "It’s the goddamn apocalypse, and we’re still getting pushed around like we’re in some corporate boot camp. I’m done. I’m Tier 3 peak—there’s nowhere I can’t survive. I’ll leave Starlight City if I have to. Let’s see the Harlan family try to find me in this mess."

The others stared at him, stunned. The fear of the Harlan name had been so deeply ingrained, none of them had dared even think it.

But now... now that he said it out loud, it didn’t sound so crazy.

"Shit... you know what? You’re right," another said, eyes lighting up. "We could make it on our own. Maybe even build something."

"Yeah, I’m not saying we’ll be kings or anything, but at least we won’t be living like dogs."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go."

"Should we take out the rest of the zombies before we leave? Those Tier 3 cores could come in handy."

"Forget it. Too noisy. If we wake anyone up, we’re not getting out of here."

"Fair point."

...