Chapter 1121: Missed by Minutes

Clearford Compound – Central Mansion

"Chris, the captain’s gone. What should we do now?" Big Mike sidled up to Chris, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"Didn’t Ethan say we could do whatever? Chill at home, go out and kill some zombies—up to us."

Chris narrowed his eyes. "But why do I get the feeling you’ve got something else in mind? Ethan’s not around, and suddenly you’re looking real suspicious."

"Come on, man! I’m a model citizen. When have I ever caused trouble?"

"I just heard there’s an Entertainment District inside the compound. Supposed to be pretty lively. Thought I’d go check it out."

"There’s an Entertainment District here?" Skinny Pete perked up. "Yeah, that sounds worth a look."

"I heard there’s a bunch of working girls over there looking for company," Garrick said with a smirk. "You two planning to go do some charity work?"

"No way—it’s not like that!" Big Mike said, all righteous indignation. "We just wanna see what it’s like. Plus, didn’t the boss say we should gather intel? That place seems like a goldmine for info."

"Alright, alright, no need to explain," Chris said, shaking his head. "If you wanna go, go. Ethan said today’s free time. Do whatever."

Figures. When Ethan’s around, these guys act all proper. The second he’s gone, their true colors come out.

"Cool. Chris, you coming?"

"Nah, I’ll hang back and walk around with Henry."

"Suit yourself. We’re off!" Big Mike said, and he and Skinny Pete headed out.

Sean and Garrick exchanged a look.

"We should go too. Keep an eye on those two before they stir up trouble."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same."

They followed after them.

"..."

Chris let out a sigh. "Man, I really misjudged you two."

"You could come too, you know," Mia said with a teasing smile. "I’ll stay with Henry."

"Uh... I’ll pass. I’m kinda over women right now," Chris said, shaking his head.

"So you get cheated on once and now you’re done with women? That’s kinda weak, don’t you think?"

"Can we not bring that up? I’ve already forgotten about it."

"If you really forgot, you wouldn’t be saying you’re over women."

"..."

"Come on, let’s go for a walk. This compound’s huge—still plenty of places to explore."

"Yeah," Chris muttered, falling in step.

Elsewhere — Silverfox Squad Base, District 9...

"Captain, can I not go on this one? I really want to see my little brother," Emily said, looking at Sophia with hopeful eyes.

"No," Sophia shot back without hesitation. "This mission’s tough. Without you, we won’t be able to pull it off."

"Can’t we delay it a bit? Just let me see him first, then I’ll go."

"No can do. We finally tracked down a Tier 7 zombie. If we wait, someone else is bound to snatch it first."

"You can see your brother anytime. But this Tier 7? We only get one shot. After we take it down, you’ll have plenty of time."

"Alright..." Emily nodded, clearly disappointed.

Right now, all she could think about was seeing her brother. She had zero interest in going out on a mission. But she couldn’t disobey a direct order from her captain—she’d just have to wait until they got back.

Soon, thousands of Silverfox Squad members were marching in formation toward Union Plaza, just outside the compound.

People nearby quickly stepped aside to clear a path.

"Where’s Silverfox Squad headed with that kind of firepower?" someone murmured.

"No clue. Looks like a full mobilization, though. Probably found something big."

"Man, I’m jealous of those elite squads."

At that moment, Chris, Henry, and Mia had just left the central district and caught sight of the scene.

Chris and Mia watched the massive squad with curiosity, while Henry still looked out of it, barely paying attention to anything around him.

"That squad’s packing some serious heat," Mia said, eyeing the formation.

"Yeah. I heard they’ve got a couple Tier Sevens and a bunch of Tier Sixes," Chris replied. "Must be nice having the military backing you. Way less risk than what we went through."

"It’s all relative," Henry said flatly. "Lower risk, lower reward. Most of the good stuff goes straight to the military. Those guys just get the scraps."

Mia smiled. "Still, we’ve got our own edge."

Chris blinked, then grinned. "Right. We’ve got Ethan. Without him, we’d be long dead."

"Come on, let’s check out the rest of the place," Mia said.

"Yeah."

As the two groups passed each other, Silverfox Squad exited the compound while Chris and the others headed toward one of the trading markets inside.

Meanwhile...

After more than two hours of flight, Ethan finally crossed into Redwood County.

Along the way, aside from that flock of mutated crows, he’d run into several other types of mutated birds. Luckily, Nugget’s Tier was high enough that most of them didn’t dare get close. Only one dumb Tier 8 mutated vulture had tried to ambush Ethan from behind.

It didn’t end well for the vulture.

Nugget took it down, and Ethan tossed the corpse into his spatial storage ring, harvesting a fresh Tier 8 crystal core in the process.

Eventually, they reached the skies above Fallen Star City.

The city had taken shape—outer walls were nearly complete, and from above, Ethan could see people working hard in every direction.

As soon as the Golden Eagle Nugget approached, hundreds of Enhanced inside the compound grabbed their weapons and snapped into combat readiness.

"Relax, it’s me!" Ethan called out, leaping off Nugget’s back.

He dropped from over a hundred feet in the air, then used a quick Teleportation to land smoothly on the ground.

The moment people saw him, their faces lit up.

"Leader!!!"

"He’s back!"

The shout echoed across the compound as more and more people rushed over.

Every pair of eyes locked onto Ethan, filled with awe and admiration.

"No way... our leader just flew in on a Golden Eagle?" someone whispered.

"That’s insane! Flying’s been my dream since I was a kid!"

"Same here. And I swear, that Golden Eagle might be even stronger than the mutated Bengal Tiger or the mutated jaguar from before."

"Holy shit, seriously? Those two were Tier 8s. If this eagle’s stronger, does that mean it’s... Tier 9?!"

"So what? In front of our leader, even a Tier 9 mutant beast has to behave and play mount."

"True that. Our leader’s on another level. Did you see how he just jumped from that height and landed like it was nothing? I can’t even imagine how strong he is now."

"His strength isn’t something we can guess at. All we need to do is follow him—and we’ll be living the good life."

"Damn right."

Just then, Miles came hurrying over from inside the compound.

"What are you all crowding around for? Get back to work!"

"Yes, sir!"

The crowd dispersed immediately, their discipline so sharp it even caught Ethan off guard.

"Captain, what brings you back all of a sudden?" Miles asked.

Ethan grinned. "Brought you something good."

"Oh?" Miles raised a brow.

"Come on, let’s go inside and talk."

"Alright!"