Chapter 1122: The Lie That Found Them

Inside the mansion, Ethan pulled out a large sack and dropped it in front of Miles.

Miles opened it—and his eyes went wide.

"Captain, where the hell did you get this many Tier 1 crystal cores? Don’t tell me you robbed a major compound or something."

"Come on, we’re not bandits," Ethan said with a grin. "We ran into a big compound in Clearford City. Traded some Tier 6 cores for these."

Miles gave the bag another look. "There’s gotta be close to two hundred thousand in here. Clearford’s compound is that loaded?"

"Yeah, they’re doing pretty well. It’s a large-scale compound with a population of around 300,000."

"No wonder," Miles nodded, eyes gleaming with excitement. "With this many crystal cores, and paired with the Energy Absorption Technique, our compound’s about to hit a serious growth spurt. Might be time to start expanding into nearby regions."

"Don’t overreach," Ethan warned. "This kind of game’s all about pacing. We’re going elite, not playing the numbers game."

"Got it," Miles said with a firm nod.

"So, how’s the Enhanced situation in the compound?"

"Still holding steady at ten thousand. All of them are Tier 6 now. Their loyalty’s solid—I’ve been focusing on training them up. Planning to send them out to sweep nearby counties soon, then expand from there."

"Good work. The compound’s in your hands now," Ethan said, giving Miles a pat on the shoulder. Then he pulled out a notebook and handed it over. "We saw some solid management systems over at that compound. I had Mia jot them down. Take a look when you get a chance—might give you some ideas."

"Perfect! This is exactly what I needed," Miles said, pleasantly surprised as he took the notebook. "Honestly, I’ve got a ton of ideas, but putting them into practice has been tricky. I’ve been wanting to see how other compounds handle things. Captain, you really get me."

Ethan chuckled. "As long as it helps."

He stood up. "Alright, I’ve dropped off the goods. I’m heading back. I’ll see if I can get my hands on a satellite phone from over there. Would make things way easier—no more flying back and forth."

"Satellite phones are back online?" Miles asked, surprised.

"Almost. Atlas City just reclaimed the satellite control center. Shouldn’t be long before the bigger government Safe Zones start rolling them out."

"Sounds like Atlas City’s way ahead of the curve," Ethan said. "All the more reason for us to step it up."

"Don’t worry, Captain. Fallen Star City won’t fall behind any other compound," Miles said with conviction.

With this much in resources, if he couldn’t push Fallen Star City to the top, he wouldn’t be able to face his captain again.

"I believe in you. Just don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Take it one step at a time."

"Yeah."

"Alright, I’m off."

A moment later, Ethan was airborne again, riding on Nugget’s back as he soared away.

—

Clearford City — Union Plaza

Union Plaza used to be a massive shopping center, bustling with life before the apocalypse. Now, it was a wreck—walls crumbling, storefronts shattered, the whole place scarred by battle.

It sat about fifteen miles from the Clearford compound. Most teams wouldn’t dare venture that far out.

Even though the military had swept the area once, it was far from safe. Zombies needed to feed, and they roamed constantly in search of humans. Just because this place had been cleared didn’t mean others wouldn’t wander in from elsewhere.

That’s why scavenging missions were always dangerous—the farther from the compound, the higher the risk.

But right now, Union Plaza was crawling with people—thousands of them.

Silverfox Squad had arrived in full force.

Sophia had deliberately led the team this far out to avoid competing with other squads closer to the compound.

And it was paying off.

The farther they got from the compound, the richer the pickings. After just half an hour of searching, everyone’s backpacks were already stuffed to the brim.

Just then, Emily stormed up to Sophia, clearly upset. "Captain, you lied to me!"

Sophia’s heart skipped a beat. She forced a smile, trying to play it cool. "When did I lie to you?"

"You said we were coming here to hunt a Tier 7 zombie, but there’s nothing here! We’re just scavenging for supplies. Why couldn’t we have waited until after I saw my brother?"

"I didn’t lie," Sophia said, sounding a little too confident. "There was a Tier 7 zombie here. We must’ve been too slow—it probably moved on."

"Really?" Emily gave her a skeptical look.

"Well, if it’s gone and we’ve already gathered a ton of supplies, shouldn’t we head back now?"

"No. We came here to find that Tier 7. Until we confirm it’s gone, we’re not leaving."

But just as the words left her mouth, a squad member came sprinting over, breathless.

"Captain! A huge horde of zombies is headed this way! And... we spotted over a dozen of them with no facial decay. There’s a high chance a Tier 7 is among them!"

"What!?" Sophia shot to her feet, her expression a mix of disbelief and panic.

She’d only made up the Tier 7 story to keep Emily away from the compound—and her brother. And now, a real Tier 7 shows up? You’ve gotta be kidding me.

"How many zombies are we talking?"

"Just over twenty thousand!"

"Twenty thousand..." Sophia frowned.

This area had already been swept by the military. For that many zombies to gather again, there had to be a Tier 7 leading them.

She hesitated for a moment, then clenched her jaw. Screw it. If they were here, they’d fight.

Twenty thousand was a lot, sure—but with Emily’s Recovery-type ability, they had a real shot.

"Alert everyone. Get ready for combat!"

"Yes, ma’am!"

"Wait... there’s actually a Tier 7?" Emily blinked, stunned. She’d thought Sophia was just making excuses—but now it looked like she’d been wrong.

Sophia gave her a quick pat on the shoulder. "Told you I wasn’t lying. The Tier 7’s here. Get ready—we’re counting on you for this one."

"Got it!"

"All units, clear the buildings! Form a perimeter, back-to-back! All Tier 6 Enhanced, on me—we’re focusing fire on the high-tier targets!"

"Yes, ma’am!"

At lower tiers, fighters usually relied on buildings for cover. But once you hit Tier 6 and above, structures became more of a liability—too easy to get trapped or buried. Open ground was safer.

Silverfox Squad didn’t disappoint. As the second-ranked team in Clearford’s compound, their coordination was razor-sharp. In moments, they’d cleared the buildings and formed a tight circle, weapons drawn—melee and ranged alike—ready for battle.

The squad had over 3,000 members, most of them Tier 5 or higher, and every one of them was battle-tested.

They also had over fifty Tier 6 Enhanced, and two Tier 7s—Captain Sophia, and her vice-captain Mark, the young man always at her side.

Moments later, the zombie horde came crashing in, and the two sides clashed in a brutal melee.

Faced with overwhelming numbers, Silverfox Squad stuck to their tried-and-true strategy: play it safe, play it steady.

With Emily on the field, they didn’t have to worry about stamina or mental energy. They could grind the horde down, bit by bit.

This was Silverfox Squad’s signature tactic.

Whenever they were outnumbered, they didn’t panic. They just dug in and wore the enemy down—one corpse at a time.