Chapter 1082: We Fight or We Die

The group moved quickly toward the compound’s outer wall.

Along the way, they passed clusters of people, all with panic written across their faces. Clearly, word had already spread.

When they reached the top of the wall and looked out, everyone’s scalp tingled.

In the distance, a massive tide of zombies was slowly advancing toward them. The horde was less than two miles away now.

Seeing the sheer scale of it, Ethan knew Tyler hadn’t been exaggerating. It really did look like every zombie from the old city was on the move.

“Looks like a Tier 8 zombie really has emerged,” Ethan muttered.

Normally, a Tier 6 zombie could only command around ten thousand underlings. Tier 7s could push that to forty or fifty thousand. But seventy to eighty thousand moving together? That could only mean one thing: a Tier 8 was leading them.

Ethan had thought his own advancement speed was already insane. But clearly, some zombies had gotten there first.

Then again, it made sense. After reaching Tier 6, he’d barely consumed any crystal cores—just one Tier 7 core. The rest of his progress came from nightly stargazing and training.

Zombies, on the other hand, didn’t just absorb starlight—they also gained strength by eating people. And while high-tier zombies didn’t get much from low-tier Enhanced, it still gave them an edge.

So yeah, it wasn’t surprising that after all this time, one or two gifted zombies in Redmont City had broken through to Tier 8.

Understanding it was one thing. Solving the problem was another.

“Tyler, get every Enhanced in the compound to gather at the main gate. I mean everyone—Tier 1, Tier 2, all of them,” Ethan ordered.

“On it!”

Tyler took off at a run.

“Ethan… you’re planning to fight?” Chris asked quietly.

“Yeah. We took over this compound—now it’s our responsibility,” Ethan said. “These people are probably the last survivors in all of Redwood County. If they’re wiped out, building any kind of power base gets ten times harder.”

“The captain’s right,” Miles added. “We can’t avoid this fight. But if we win, it’ll be worth more than a thousand speeches. Their loyalty will skyrocket. And if we can’t win, we retreat. It’s not like the zombies can catch us.”

“But with a horde this size, the compound doesn’t stand a chance,” Mia said, her voice tight.

“Then we make it stand a chance,” Ethan said flatly. “We boost everyone to Tier 5. Miles, check for anyone with potential—push them to Tier 6. We’ll burn through a lot of crystal cores, sure. But if we win this fight, the payoff will be massive.”

“Got it.” Miles nodded seriously.

Not long after, Tyler returned with the entire Enhanced force—over twelve thousand people, including the low-tier ones.

Ethan glanced at the approaching horde, then turned to face the crowd of nervous, wide-eyed Enhanced.

“You all know what’s happening, right?” he said loudly. “That’s right. Nearly every zombie from the old city is headed this way. At least sixty thousand of them.”

The moment he said it, the crowd’s anxiety turned to outright despair. Faces went pale. Some looked like they might collapse on the spot.

Ethan didn’t give them time to spiral.

“Now, I don’t know if you should call yourselves lucky, or if we’re just the unlucky ones,” he said, voice steady.

“If we hadn’t shown up yesterday, I can say with absolute certainty—every single person in this compound would’ve died. No exceptions. Because there’s a Tier 8 zombie in that horde.”

“What!?”

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Eyes widened in disbelief.

A Tier 8 zombie—that was the kind of thing they didn’t even dare imagine.

“So yeah, maybe you are lucky. Maybe fate decided you weren’t meant to die just yet. Because we’re here.”

“I’ll handle the Tier 8. We’ll take care of the Tier 6s and Tier 7s too. I just have one question for the rest of you—everything below Tier 6… do you have the guts to fight?”

“YES!” the crowd roared back.

Right now, they felt nothing but gratitude. These people—Ethan and his team—were their light in the darkness. If they hadn’t shown up, and Raymond was still in charge? They’d all be dead meat.

“But… even if we’re willing to fight, there’s still the numbers,” someone called out from the crowd, voice trembling. “There are too many of them. Even if we’re brave, we can’t win.”

The words hit like a bucket of ice water, dousing the rising hope.

He wasn’t wrong. Sixty thousand zombies, and only twelve thousand Enhanced to face them?

And most of those zombies were Tier 4 and Tier 5. Meanwhile, the compound had only a few hundred Tier 5s, maybe three thousand Tier 4s. The rest were low-tier Enhanced.

How the hell were they supposed to win that?

Sensing the fear spreading through the crowd, Ethan raised his voice again.

“Let me make one thing clear—this isn’t a fight you can sit out just because you think you’ll lose. If you don’t fight, you die. Simple as that.”

“We’re all Tier 7. Worst case, we run. Those zombies can’t stop us. But you? You won’t make it out.”

“We’re staying because we want to give you a shot at surviving. We took over this compound, and that means we’re responsible for it.”

“If you’ve got the guts to fight, I’ll give you the resources to stand a chance.”

“But if you don’t even have that much courage, then we’ll walk away. No point wasting crystal cores on people who’ve already given up.”

The moment he finished, someone shouted from the crowd, voice cracking with desperation, “No! Leader, please don’t abandon us! We’ll fight!”

“Yeah! You’re our leader now! As long as you don’t give up on us, we’ll fight!” More voices joined in, rising in urgency.

They were terrified Ethan and his team would leave them behind. And they knew he wasn’t wrong—if Ethan wanted to run, none of those zombies could stop him. But they couldn’t run. If they were left alone, they were dead.

Miles glanced at Ethan, admiration flickering in his eyes.

This captain always said Miles was the one good at reading people and winning hearts—but Ethan? He was no slouch either.

Just a few words, and he had the entire crowd rallying behind him.

If they won this battle, Miles could already see it—these Enhanced would be loyal to the bone. And if Ethan’s team performed well in the fight? These people wouldn’t just be loyal—they’d be fanatics.

And as for whether they’d perform well?

Please. That wasn’t even a question.

“Alright,” Ethan said, his voice steady and commanding. “If you’re willing to fight, then I’ll make sure you live.”

“If your strength isn’t enough, I’ll raise it.”

“Miles—hand out the crystal cores.”

“On it.” Miles immediately reached into his [Pocket Dimension] and pulled out a mountain of crystal cores, neatly sorted by Tier.

Crystal cores were valuable, but compact. Miles always kept a stockpile in his spatial storage just in case.

The crowd stared, eyes wide, as pile after pile of crystal cores appeared before them.

How many zombies had they killed to gather this much?

And now they were just… giving it all away. Just to give them a better shot at surviving.

Some people were already tearing up.

“Squad leaders, step up and collect your team’s cores. Distribute them fast—the horde’s almost here.”

“Got it!” Dozens of Tier 5 Enhanced rushed forward, grabbing the cores they needed and sprinting back to their squads.

Miles had already organized everyone into teams yesterday, making distribution fast and efficient.

“Listen up!” Ethan barked. “Only take the cores that match your Tier. Eating more won’t help. If I catch anyone hoarding or over-consuming—I’ll throw you over the wall to feed the zombies myself!”

“Yes, sir!” the crowd shouted in unison.

Everyone knew by now that overloading on crystal cores didn’t work. No one was dumb enough to risk their life for something useless.

Soon, the Enhanced began sitting down in place, swallowing the cores one by one.

Low-tier cores were easy to absorb—most people could process one in ten seconds or so before moving on to the next.

Sure, the power boost from this kind of rapid leveling would be unstable, maybe even a little hollow—but that didn’t matter right now.

They needed numbers. They needed strength. And they needed it now.

The rest could be stabilized in battle.