Chapter 1168: Were you calling for me?

Seeing the soldiers below—standing their ground without a hint of fear—more than a few people on the wall had red-rimmed eyes.

The compound’s military had always been met with a mix of awe and gratitude.

Without them, most of the people here would’ve been eaten by zombies a long time ago. No way they’d have survived to today.

It was the soldiers who built the walls. The soldiers who guarded everyone struggling on the edge of death.

Sure, once some people got stronger, they started getting full of themselves. But watching this scene, even the loudest among them went silent.

The soldiers of the Atlas Federation were still the same soldiers they had always been.

And just seeing them stand there made people feel safe.

Chris and the others watched too, a tight feeling in their chests.

This... was what a real soldier looked like.

"Let’s go," Chris said. "If we’re fighting this one, we’re fighting for real. Do everything we can to cut down soldier casualties."

"Yeah."

Everyone nodded. Then they jumped straight off the wall and headed toward the front.

"It’s Fallen Star Squad!"

Their movement was spotted almost immediately. A lot of people recognized them on sight.

"Fallen Star Squad really is something—this is the situation and they’re still going in!"

"Yeah. They’ve only got a few people and they’re not backing down. What the hell are we scared of?"

"Exactly. We’re Enhanced too. We’ve been eating the compound’s resources. Now the compound’s in trouble—how can we just stand here?"

"Right! We can’t sit it out. It’s only a few mutant beasts—hit them together. Even if we can’t kill them fast, we can grind them down!"

"Move! We’re going too!"

In no time, squads of Enhanced started hopping down from the wall and moving forward.

Even Chris’s group didn’t expect their decision to spark that kind of chain reaction.

Of course... not every Enhanced came down. Plenty stayed up top, watching with tight faces.

They didn’t know exactly how strong mutant beasts were if even the Super-Heavy Mobile Artillery Platform couldn’t kill them.

But they knew one thing for sure—those weren’t enemies they could afford to provoke.

Better to save their lives now... and think about where to run when things went bad.

Chris and the others pushed past the soldiers and went all the way to the very front.

When Colonel Mitchell saw them, he finally let out the breath he’d been holding.

He knew how strong those Titan Apes were. He knew, with brutal clarity, that the soldiers weren’t a match. They were buying time with their lives—nothing more.

They’d put the whole bet on Fallen Star Squad’s captain, Ethan. If Fallen Star Squad didn’t come down, he’d have to worry they were planning to abandon them outright.

But Fallen Star Squad

was

here.

That at least meant they were genuinely willing to fight.

"Chris," Colonel Mitchell said as he came up, voice clipped and urgent, "what do we do next? We’ll coordinate with whatever you need."

He understood the chain of command here. Ethan wasn’t present, and in Fallen Star Squad, the one calling the shots right now was Chris.

"When they get here, if they don’t attack right away, none of you fire first," Chris said quickly. "If we can stall, we stall—every second matters. If they

do

attack, you need to find a way to split them up. We’ll take the Tier 10s down one by one."

He paused, jaw tightening.

"As for the Titan Ape leader... we probably have to wait for our captain Ethan to get back."

Colonel Mitchell’s eyes flicked toward the road. "Any idea when Ethan returns?"

"I don’t know," Chris said. "But he should already be on the way."

"Understood." Colonel Mitchell’s voice turned iron. "We’ll get it done."

A moment later, the Titan Apes thundered up to the line.

That oppressive pressure rolled over everyone like a physical weight, and hearts sank across the formation.

The Titan Ape leader’s eyes were bloodshot—murder in them—ready to start slaughtering.

Right then, Sophia—who’d been hiding in the Titan Ape leader’s arms, clinging to it for dear life—suddenly spoke up.

"Wait. Let me say a few words first!"

"Rooar..."

The Titan Ape leader was clearly impatient.

"Relax. It’ll be quick. We’re already here anyway—there are tons of humans inside. When the time comes, you can eat all you want."

"ROAR."

(Hurry it up!)

Sophia hopped down from its arms, then looked at the people ahead, a cold smile sliding across her face.

"Colonel Mitchell. Long time no see."

Mitchell’s expression turned ugly. "So it really is you, Sophia."

Down below, a lot of the Enhanced—both on the ground and on the wall—recognized Sophia instantly. Eyes widened one after another.

"Isn’t that Silverfox Squad’s captain? Why is she with mutant beasts?"

"Yeah... don’t tell me she called these mutant beasts here?"

"It’s possible. But how the hell did she pull that off? And where did these mutant beasts even come from?"

"Who knows. She climbed off that mutant beast—

I bet she sold herself to them.

"

"Exactly! Disgusting. The compound treated her well and she teams up with mutant beasts to attack it?

She’s a traitor!

"

Plenty of people cursed her out.

But there were also quite a few who looked at Sophia with something uglier—envy and jealousy.

Mutant beasts that strong... if they listened to

me

...

"If that’s what it took to get power like that," someone muttered, "I’d sell myself too."

In the apocalypse, the hunger for strength twisted people. Sophia wasn’t some rare exception.

"Sophia," Colonel Mitchell said, staring her down, "the compound didn’t treat you badly. What the hell is this?"

"Didn’t treat me badly?" Sophia burst out laughing, sharp and bitter. "Oh, sure. Before Fallen Star Squad showed up, the military was

fair.

But after they came? Where’s that fairness then?"

She jabbed a finger forward like it could stab.

"Let me ask you this—if Fallen Star Squad decided to wipe out my Silverfox Squad, would you stop them? Would you—or wouldn’t you?"

"..." Colonel Mitchell choked on the question.

Because she wasn’t wrong.

If Fallen Star Squad wanted someone gone, the military couldn’t exactly "manage" them.

Mia’s voice cut in, cool as ice. "Fallen Star Squad doesn’t bully the weak. Anyone we kill has a reason to die."

Her gaze didn’t waver.

"You’re asking whether the military would interfere, but you’re conveniently skipping the part where Fallen Star Squad would

need

to destroy Silverfox Squad in the first place."

Mia’s tone hardened, each word landing clean.

"Coveting someone else’s ability. Killing her parents. Pretending to be a good person. Planning to deceive her for the rest of her life."

"Fallen Star Squad doesn’t go looking for trouble. But sorry—your target was the sister of one of our members, and the people you killed were our member’s parents."

"Destroying Silverfox Squad was only right. So where do you get the nerve to stand here screaming about ’unfair’?"

Mia’s words rang out, forceful and sharp.

Even people who hadn’t known the details finally understood what kind of "unfairness" Sophia was talking about. A lot of them looked at Fallen Star Squad with something close to longing.

A team like that... who wouldn’t want to be part of it?

Sophia’s eyes slid to Mia.

And when she saw Mia’s face—prettier than hers—and that perfect figure, jealousy flared so hard it felt like it could burn through her skin.

Why did Mia get to live so comfortably...

...while she’d been forced to endure what that Titan Ape had done to her?

"You people..." Sophia’s smile warped. "You’ll all suffer the same fate I did. Every last one of you—turning into toys under Titan Ape crotches!"

The thought roared in her head.

She stared at Mia, her face twisted.

"It’s because of you. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have suffered through that inhuman hell!"

"You like to talk, huh?" Sophia sneered. "Don’t worry. In a minute, I’ll make sure you can’t say another word."

"And you—Fallen Star Squad." She swept her gaze across Chris and the others. "You think you’re so amazing? Even if you are, can you be stronger than

them?

If you’ve got the guts, go fight them!"

Chris and the others didn’t answer.

Against this group of Titan Apes, they really weren’t a match. Right now, all they could do was keep quiet and stall for time.

Sophia threw her head back and laughed. "What—scared?"

"Didn’t expect the mighty Fallen Star Squad to chicken out. Where’d all that swagger go?"

"Where’s Ethan?" she shouted, eyes wild. "What, did he run? Did he shove you out here to die for him?!"

Chris’s jaw tightened—

And then a voice rang out from behind them, calm and razor-clear.

"Were you calling for me?"