Chapter 1052: The Missing Piece

Back in the living room, with everyone watching expectantly, Miles sat cross-legged on the floor and swallowed the crystal core.

Five minutes later, he opened his eyes—and even someone as composed as him couldn’t hide the joy lighting up his face.

"Judging by that look, I’m guessing it’s something pretty damn good?" Ethan grinned.

Miles was the type who rarely showed emotion. For him to look this excited, the ability had to be something special.

"Yeah!" Miles nodded, practically vibrating with excitement.

"Spatial-type ability—[Pocket Dimension]!"

"What?!"

Everyone’s eyes went wide as they stared at him.

"You sure?"

"Positive!"

"How big?"

"About fifteen cubic yards," Miles said, thinking it through. "And I think the space will expand as my strength increases."

"That’s perfect! You couldn’t have gotten this at a better time!" Ethan said, clearly thrilled.

They’d wasted so many supplies lately just because they couldn’t carry them all. Ethan had even been considering whether to prioritize a spatial-type ability the next time they had a chance to choose.

He never expected Miles to land one on his own. Talk about luck.

It might not be a combat ability, and it wouldn’t boost Miles’s personal power much—but for the team? This was huge. Absolutely essential.

"Hell yeah, Miles. That’s a damn good pull!" Big Mike laughed, clapping him on the back.

Everyone understood how valuable this was. With this ability, they basically had a mobile warehouse.

No matter where they went, they wouldn’t have to worry about running out of food or supplies.

Fifteen cubic yards might not sound massive, but it was more than enough to cover the team’s needs.

"Did your original ability change at all?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, I got a new skill—[Light Beam]. Straight-line attack."

"Not bad. At least you’ve got some offensive power now," Ethan nodded.

"Mm."

"With that, Mia’s the only one left who hasn’t reached Stage D," Ethan said. "We’ll stay one more day. Tomorrow, we go hunting for a Stage D zombie. Day after that, we leave Starlight City."

"Got it!" Everyone nodded and headed off to rest.

The next morning, around nine, after breakfast, Ethan led the group out to search for a Stage D zombie.

Thanks to Miles’s pocket dimension, no one had to lug around heavy packs anymore. They just tossed everything into his space—easy, secure, and efficient.

Once again, everyone couldn’t help but praise how damn useful that ability was.

With Ethan leading the way, their search was way more efficient than when Sean and the others had been wandering around aimlessly.

Stage D zombies weren’t exactly common, but they weren’t rare anymore either.

By the time Ethan climbed to the rooftop of the fifth high-rise, he spotted one.

Without hesitation, he led the team straight into battle.

With their current numbers and power, Stage D zombies weren’t a threat anymore.

Even if the target had thousands of minions swarming around it, it didn’t matter. The squad charged in and wiped them out head-on.

Abilities flew in every direction, cutting down the horde like a lawnmower through weeds.

Realizing it was in trouble, the Stage D zombie tried to flee—but just then, a machete shot through the air like a bolt of lightning, stabbing straight through its neck.

Ethan’s control over [Telekinesis] had become razor-sharp.

As his strength grew, so did the power of the ability. More importantly, he could now pour in extra mental energy to drastically boost the weapon’s speed—so fast the enemy couldn’t even react.

The only downside? He still couldn’t control multiple weapons at once.

Probably something he’d unlock after his next breakthrough.

Ethan used [Teleportation]to blink over and retrieve the Tier 6 crystal core. Then, with a flick of his hand, he controlled the machete using [Telekinesis], cutting down the remaining Tier 5 zombies one by one.

Once the area was clear, he collected their crystal cores too, then led the team away without bothering with the low-tier zombies—waste of time.

Once they reached a safe spot, Ethan handed the Tier 6 crystal core to Mia.

"Use it here," he said.

Mia stared at the core in a daze.

Before joining the Fallen Star Squad, she never imagined getting her hands on a Tier 6 crystal core could be this easy.

In just one day, the squad had completely shattered her expectations.

Joining them... was hands down the best decision she’d ever made.

Without hesitation, Mia sat down and swallowed the crystal core.

Not long after, the last member of the Fallen Star Squad successfully advanced to Stage D.

Her new ability was a water-type skill called [Water Surge].

To be honest, it wasn’t particularly strong—just a frontal knockback attack. Against enemies stronger than her, it wouldn’t do much.

But the water it generated was drinkable.

Which meant they no longer had to worry about running out of clean water.

From that angle, it was actually a pretty solid support ability.

Even better, her original power had evolved—from single-target freeze to area-of-effect freeze.

That was a huge upgrade. In group fights, it would be a game-changer.

With the Tier 6 zombie taken care of, Ethan led the team back out to keep hunting.

Even though everyone was now Stage D, they still welcomed more Stage D crystal cores. You could never have too many.

By nightfall, they’d taken down two more Stage D zombies and collected dozens of Tier 5 cores.

Ethan had originally hoped to find a mutant beast or two so Skinny Pete could test out his [Beast Control] ability.

But after a full day of searching, they came up empty.

Which was strange.

Starlight City had plenty of pet owners before the apocalypse. Cats, dogs—you name it. But now? Mutant beasts were practically nonexistent.

So far, Ethan had only encountered two: the orange cat Pumpkin and a husky. Nothing since.

It was like all the mutant beasts had vanished from the city.

Ethan had a gut feeling about it—mutant beasts were going to be a bigger threat than zombies in the future.

Because unlike zombies, mutant beasts knew how to lay low and grow stronger.

And once they did, they’d become humanity’s worst nightmare.

Unfortunately, knowing that didn’t help much. It’s not like they could just march into the forests to hunt them down—that’d be suicide.

Ethan was sure of one thing: the forests now belonged to the mutant beasts. Total no-go zones for humans.

As for the two Stage D cores they’d just picked up, Ethan handed them straight to Chris, giving his strength a solid boost.

Ethan wasn’t the type to hoard useful stuff. Power was the best investment. If they needed more later, they’d just go out and get it.

Every bit of strength gained was another layer of survival.

Besides the cores, they’d also scavenged a good amount of supplies, all of which went into Miles’s pocket dimension.

Don’t let the fifteen cubic yards fool you—it could hold a surprising amount.

That night, after dinner, the team started packing up.

First, all the crystal cores went into Miles’s space. Then came the food—jerky, canned goods, anything edible got tossed in.

They didn’t stop until the pocket dimension was completely full.

With that stash, they could go a whole month without finding a single supply drop and still be fine.

The rest of the gear—mostly daily necessities—would just go in the vehicles.

Once everything was packed, the group rested until midnight, then climbed up to the rooftop one last time to stargaze.

Unfortunately, Ethan still didn’t break through to Tier 7.

Clearly, that step wasn’t going to come easy.

But he wasn’t in a rush. With the squad’s current strength, they were more than ready to head back.

As for the Tier 5 zombies in the backyard cage—none of them had evolved to Tier 6.

Ethan gave the order to wipe them out.

The team cleared the cage and brought back over a dozen Tier 5 crystal cores.

The cage itself couldn’t be taken with them, but it didn’t matter. It had served its purpose.

They didn’t need to raise zombies anymore. Tier 6s were no longer a challenge—they could kill them on demand.

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