Chapter 1128: The Calm Before the Hunt

Henry had found his sister, and Fallen Star Squad had just gained a new member—definitely cause for celebration.

Apart from the dishes Emily and Mia whipped up in the kitchen, Ethan pulled out drinks, wine, fresh fruit, and snacks from his spatial storage ring.

Ever since they’d gotten their hands on that ring, the quality of life in Fallen Star Squad had leveled up like crazy.

And Ethan’s space ring? Practically a bottomless pantry. Anything you could think of—he had it. And with preserved storage keeping things fresh indefinitely, he’d long since gotten in the habit of stuffing it full of anything useful.

Looking at the feast spread out across the table, Emily’s brain short-circuited for a moment.

Is this really the apocalypse? She blinked in disbelief. It felt more like Thanksgiving than the end of the world.

Back in Silverfox Squad, having basic rations every day already felt like a luxury. Seeing this now… that squad might as well have been living in a slum.

Silverfox Squad wasn’t weak by any means—but their numbers were too large. Most of what they earned went straight into crystal cores. Not much budget left for food, let alone this kind of spread.

Then again, pretty much every squad in the compound was in the same boat.

Only a team like Fallen Star Squad—with their absurd firepower and small numbers—could afford to live this extravagantly.

After everyone had eaten their fill and officially hit food coma levels, they started trickling off to rest.

Fallen Star Squad had an odd little tradition. They always went to bed early, only to wake up in the middle of the night to stargaze. After that, they’d grab a few more hours of sleep. It was practically a ritual by now.

“Mia… can I sleep in your room tonight?” Emily asked softly, eyes lowered.

“Sure,” Mia smiled. “But this mansion’s huge—everyone could have their own bedroom no problem. There’s more than enough space.”

“I… I’m scared.”

“Haha—what, scared Chris’ll sneak into your room tonight?” Big Mike chuckled. “You know, that may not be impossible. That guy can turn invisible. Only Ethan can spot him when he’s using stealth. Could definitely sneak past the rest of us. Yeah, better play it safe.”

“…”

“Am I really that kind of guy?” Chris said, grinning.

“Big Mike, keep talking like that, and I will sneak into your room tonight. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Big Mike immediately shrank back, looking spooked. He shut up real fast.

“Wait, isn’t Emily actually older?” Garrick asked, confused.

“Doesn’t feel like it, though.”

Emily was Henry’s older sister—he was 21, so she’d be about 23. Mia, on the other hand, was only 22, a year younger than Emily.

“Yeah, but aside from age, Emily kinda gives off a ‘younger sister’ vibe in every other way,” Sean said with a grin.

“You’d better be talking about height,” Ethan said, giving him a look.

“Uh—yes, height. Definitely height,” Sean backpedaled fast.

Mia just shook her head with a laugh. Then she turned to Emily and said, “C’mon, let’s go to my room.”

“Mm-hmm!” Emily nodded quickly and followed her upstairs.

“Mia, while you’re at it, let her know about how the squad works,” Ethan called after them. “And explain the stargazing routine—how we absorb the mysterious energy at night.”

“Got it!”

After they were gone, Ethan turned to Henry.

“Your sister’s… kinda soft,” he said bluntly. “I’m guessing she didn’t see much front-line combat in Silverfox Squad. You’ll need to get her into the rhythm soon. You know how we work—everyone in Fallen Star Squad fights.”

Henry nodded seriously. “Yeah. I understand.”

“Good. Then let’s call it a night too.”

The next morning, the squad was up bright and early.

Ethan took Henry and Emily to see Michael, asking him to investigate what really happened to their parents.

With Ethan making the request, Michael didn’t dare slack off—he thumped his chest and promised he’d get to the bottom of it.

While discussing the case, Ethan also learned something else: Silverfox Squad hadn’t returned to the compound at all last night.

The moment he heard that, Ethan’s suspicions were basically confirmed.

They hadn’t come back because they’d already panicked—and bolted. That detail should’ve jumped out yesterday, but Ethan had been too focused on other things.

Still, trying to run in a world like this? Not so easy. Especially when they seemed to forget about one particular problem—

Golden Eagle Nugget.

They messed with Fallen Star Squad’s family—and thought they could just disappear?

Yeah. Not happening.

After wrapping up with Michael, Ethan contacted Skinny Pete and gave the order: send Nugget out to track every last member of the Silverfox Squad.

Golden Eagles had incredible vision to begin with. A Tier 9 Golden Eagle? Practically unstoppable. Silverfox Squad could scatter like rats, but avoiding Nugget’s eyes? Close to impossible.

The only downside was the time. Too much had passed already, so the search radius was wide. It might take a bit.

Not that they were in a rush. The squad had something else on today’s agenda—those Tier 8 zombies Sean and the others had scouted out yesterday.

No way that intel was going to waste.

After breakfast, Ethan gathered the squad, and they headed out of the compound.

These days, Fallen Star Squad was famous around here. Every move they made was under watch.

Plenty of people saw them leave—but no one followed.

Strong was one thing. Strong and ruthless? No one wanted to mess with that.

Normally, if they needed to kill Tier 8 zombies, Ethan would just hop on Nugget, spot the target, then bam—problem solved in a single strike.

But with Nugget out on recon, that luxury was off the table.

Time to kill the old-fashioned way.

Which, honestly, wasn’t a bad thing. Emily needed the combat experience, and they could use more high-tier crystal cores anyway. Their reserves were running low.

…

At the heart of the compound, inside the Military Command Center…

“General Cross, they’ve left,” Michael reported. “Judging by the direction, they’re heading toward Lakeside Residential District. My guess—that Tier 8 zombie sighted over there is their target.”

“Understood. If that’s the case, let’s switch focus to Magnolia Plaza for today’s sweep. Keep overlap to a minimum—we don’t want conflict.”

“Yes, sir.”

Director Vaughn let out a long sigh. “General, I still don’t get your thinking. They were planning to leave… you’re the one who insisted they stay longer.”

“I’ve been on edge ever since,” Vaughn went on. “Every day I worry someone’s gonna piss them off again and we’ll have another pile of bodies to explain away. We’ve got enough trouble managing the Enhanced as it is.”

Cross didn’t look bothered. “I wanted more time to observe them. Think about it—how does a group this small outperform the military? Aren’t you even a little curious?”

“And if a Tier 9 zombie shows up in Clearford again,” he added, “it’s better to have them sticking around.”

“As for the rest of the Awakened in the compound… anyone with a working brain knows not to pick a fight with that squad. These people don’t kill indiscriminately. As long as no one crosses them, there won’t be trouble.”

Vaughn didn’t look fully convinced, but he didn’t argue either.

Then Michael gave a tight smile, half a wince. “General Cross, I think our compound might be heading into another storm real soon.”

Cross and Vaughn both tensed and looked at him sharply. “What do you mean?”

Michael leaned in slightly, lowering his voice. “Today, they came to me asking about a case. Remember the young man who asked us to help find his parents? Turns out… they didn’t die to zombies, and they didn’t become zombies either. They were murdered. On their way here—killed by people.”

“And the ones who did it? Highly likely they were from inside this compound.”

Michael paused. “And it’s tied to Silverfox Squad.”

“…”

The room went dead silent. Everyone’s face twisted into a grim frown.

“Damn,” Vaughn muttered. “Just when it felt like things were calming down—here we go again.”

They all knew what this could mean.

A new bloodbath… might be right around the corner.

“I’m torn on whether we should dig into this further,” Michael admitted.

“We dig,” General Cross said, no hesitation. “Fast and deep. And make sure he sees our attitude loud and clear. We must stay on good terms with that team. We may need them sooner than you think.”

Everyone in the room nodded—even Vaughn. None of them were ready for another Fallen Star Squad rampage. And if this murder was as bad as it sounded… they might not have a choice.