Early the next morning, Miles didnât immediately share the Energy Absorption Technique with the compound. Instead, he waited nearly a full weekâuntil every member of the Fallen Star Squad had reached Tier 8âbefore gathering the Enhanced and revealing the method.
Ethan understood what he was doing. Miles wanted to widen the gap between the squad and the rest of the Enhanced.
Honestly, Ethan didnât think it was necessary. They were already two Tiers ahead, and with the Body Refinement Technique in their hands, no one was catching up unless the squad got lazy.
Still, he didnât interfere. Miles probably had his reasons. And with Redwood County relatively safe now, a slight delay in the others leveling up wasnât a big deal.
When the Enhanced finally heard the contents of the technique, most of them were skeptical at first. But that night, when they tried absorbing mysterious energy using the method, the results blew them away. Several Tier 5 peak Enhanced broke through to Tier 6 on the spot.
That changed everything.
Their awe for the Fallen Star Squad turned into reverence. And more than thatâthey were moved.
Everyone knew how valuable this method was. The squad had handed it over without hesitation, treating them like true comrades.
These Enhanced, already loyal, now had their faith locked in. Their loyalty solidified completely. They would follow the Fallen Star Squad without hesitationâeven into life-and-death situations.
They could feel it in their bones: with the squadâs strength, this compound was destined to become a major power.
And they were luckyâlucky to be the first generation of members here.
As long as they stuck close to the Fallen Star Squad, maybe one day, theyâd rise to the top too.
With the Energy Absorption Technique in play, the Enhanced in the compound began steadily growing stronger.
Meanwhile, Ethan and the squad spent their days exploring the surrounding mountain ranges.
The deeper they went, the more dangerous it got. Even with their strength, they had to stay sharp.
Mutant beasts were everywhereâsome in massive packs. When they ran into large groups, even they had to back off.
Boars and wolves werenât a problem in small numbers, but once the packs grew, retreat was the only smart move.
Still, the trip wasnât without rewards. They managed to track down two Tier 8 mutant beasts.
This time, they didnât bother trying to let Skinny Pete control themâthey just killed them outright and harvested the crystal cores.
With their upgraded weapons and gear, taking down Tier 8 beasts wasnât too difficult. They handled it cleanly, without burning too much energy.
The two Tier 8 crystal cores pushed Ethan straight to peak Tier 8.
He stored the mutant beast corpses in his spatial storage ringâfuture meals.
After thoroughly scouting the nearby mountains and confirming there were no higher-Tier threats, the squad decided it was time to leave Redwood County.
Back at the compound, more and more Enhanced were reaching Tier 6. The lower-Tier mutant beasts in the area didnât pose much of a threat anymore.
Besides, the beasts seemed content to stay in the mountains. None had shown signs of moving down toward the compound.
So for now, things were stable.
Even with the Energy Absorption Technique, breaking through from peak Tier 8 to Tier 9 would still take five to six days.
Ethan didnât want to wait.
He wanted to find a Tier 9 mutant beastâor a Tier 9 zombie. If he could get his hands on a Tier 9 crystal core, he could break through instantly and save himself the wait.
Which meant leaving Redwood County was necessary.
Inside a room at the center of the compound...
"Captain, have you decided where weâre heading next?" Miles asked, watching Ethan pack.
"Yeah. First stop is Henryâs hometown. I want to see if he still has any family left," Ethan said.
"Clearford City, right?" Miles asked.
Henry nodded. "Yeah."
"Thatâs pretty farâwhat, six hundred miles or so?" Miles said, doing a quick mental estimate.
"Roughly. But weâre riding Bengal Tiger Goldie and Pumpkin, the orange cat. With their speed, weâll be faster than any vehicle we used to have. Shouldnât take too long," Ethan replied.
"Alright. Just be careful out there," Miles said.
"Will do. Iâm leaving the compound in your hands. Once the main structureâs finished, rename this place to Fallen Star City. Iâll take overall command, youâll be second-in-command. As for the rest of the squad, assign them roles as you see fit," Ethan said.
"Got it. Thatâs what I was thinking too."
"Good. Then weâre off."
Ethan packed food and supplies into the spatial storage ring, then left the compound with the rest of the squad.
No doubt about itâhaving a spatial ring made things way easier. Without it, theyâd need a whole convoy just to carry their gear.
Their departure didnât raise any eyebrows in the compound. The squad went out almost every day, so no one thought much of it.
The only difference this time? They took a few mutant beasts with them.
Miles didnât make a big deal out of it. Construction inside the compound continued smoothly.
With most of the zombies in Redwood County already cleared out, Miles even had the Enhanced help with building.
He wanted to surprise Ethan and the others when they returnedâshow them just how far the compound had come.
On the highway cutting through Redwood County, three mutant beasts thundered down the asphalt at full sprint.
Originally, Ethan had only planned to bring Goldie and Speckles.
Speckles was the jaguarânamed by Skinny Pete because of its heavy spotted pattern. No one in the squad had the energy to roast Peteâs naming skills anymore. He was the beast tamer, after all. What could they do?
Technically, both Bengal Tiger Goldie and the jaguar Speckles could carry four people each, but itâd be a tight squeeze. For a long journey, that kind of cramped ride was a no-go.
So in the end, they brought Pumpkin tooâthe oversized orange cat.
The plan was for Mia to ride Pumpkin solo. Somehow, Ethan ended up getting bumped over there too.
To be fair, Pumpkinâs frame was big enough for two people to ride comfortably. The only downside? With the beastâs bounding gait, there was no avoiding a bit of body contact.
Thatâs when Ethan suddenly became very aware that there was a woman in the squad.
Luckily, Mia was sitting in front.
If sheâd been behind him, pressing up against his back with that figure of hers... Ethan wasnât sure he couldâve kept a straight face.
The group tore down the highway at breakneck speed. Faster than any car theyâd ever driven. The only downside? Riding a mutant beast wasnât exactly luxury travelâno backrests, and your ass took a beating.
But hey, it was the apocalypse. Comfort wasnât the priority. Speed was.
...
Clearford City.
Sprawling across more than twenty square miles, Clearfordâs compound housed over 300,000 survivors. Vast agricultural zones, military stockpiles, and secured supply lines kept the entire operation running like a machine.
Where Starlight City had fractured under Mayor Marksâ incompetence, Clearford thrivedâthanks to General Adrian Cross, the commanding officer of the massive joint military base anchoring the city.
Compared to Starlight, Clearfordâs military presence was on a whole different level.
The city was home to one of the Atlas Federationâs largest military installations. In terms of troop numbers and firepower, Starlight couldnât even come close.
And General Cross? He wasnât even in the same league as Colonel Reyes.
When the apocalypse hit, most of the personnel inside the joint base turned into zombies. But General Cross didnât.
He reacted fastârallied the surviving soldiers and launched a counterattack.
Compared to civilians, soldiers had a massive edge. They didnât freeze up at the sight of zombies.
Early-stage zombies werenât much stronger than regular peopleâand they had no intelligence.
Against that kind of threat, trained soldiers with access to heavy weapons had no reason to be afraid. It didnât take long for them to clear out the infected inside the base.
From there, General Cross established a compound right on the base grounds and immediately launched rescue operations.
His decisive action saved countless survivors in Clearford who hadnât yet turned.
Then, leveraging the baseâs massive arsenal, he led a full-scale sweep of the cityâpushing back the zombie hordes and expanding the compoundâs territory.
Now, Clearfordâs compound was running like a well-oiled machine. Half the cityâs zombies had already been wiped out. The rest had been forced into the far side of the city.
Originally, Cross had planned to finish the job and clear the city completely. But as the zombies evolved and grew stronger, conventional weapons started losing their edge.
Thatâs why, even now, the cleanup remained unfinished.