At the compound gates, Ethan and the others hopped down from their mounts. Staring up at the towering, imposing entrance, even they looked a little surprised.
"Miles really pulled it off," Chris said with a laugh. "This fast and heâs already got the compound built? Just this gate alone, Iâll give it an eight out of ten. Docking two points so he doesnât get cocky."
"It is solid," Ethan said, amused. "And it looks even bigger than what he originally planned."
"Haha. Itâs
our
compound. Might as well make it impressive."
"Come on," Ethan said. "Letâs go in and take a look."
They headed for the gates.
By now, the entrance was packed shoulder to shoulder.
Over this stretch of time, Fallen Star City had grown to more than fifty thousand peopleâmost of them picked up during sweeps through nearby counties.
And in Fallen Star City, those fifty thousand were practically all Enhanced.
The difference was, here, anything below Tier 7 basically counted as "ordinary." Those people usually handled construction and day-to-day compound work.
Only Tier 7 and above got assigned to squads and sent out on zombie-clearing missions.
The Tier 7 cutoff existed for a simple reason: Fallen Star City didnât have many Tier 6-and-below Enhanced left.
With massive crystal core reservesâand the Energy Absorption Technique that let people raise their Tier on their ownâeven the elderly and kids had been pushed up to Tier 6.
But the compound still needed to be built and maintained, so the Tier 6sâwho wouldâve been core fighters in other placesâwere just regular labor here.
In Fallen Star City, Tier 7 was the minimum to be considered a real "Enhanced."
And that standard would keep rising as the cityâs overall strength climbed.
Right now, Fallen Star Cityâs true Enhanced force had grown from the original ten thousand to twenty thousand.
All Tier 7. With plenty of Tier 8s mixed in now.
A lot of those people had never even seen Fallen Star Cityâs Base Commander in person.
That didnât stop the curiosity.
For the original twenty-thousand-plus natives, their worship of the Base Commander was borderline fanatical.
Ever since newcomers arrived, theyâd been hearing the same thing nonstopâhow incredible the Base Commander was, how terrifying the Fallen Star Squad was.
Even when the Base Commander wasnât around, all of Fallen Star City was filled with their legend.
Now they were finally seeing the real guy, and people were so excited they looked ready to burst.
And honestly... the entrance alone was enough to shock them.
Those mountsâevery single one of themâradiated an aura that screamed
predator
. Everyone could tell: any of those beasts could casually crush them.
And when they spotted the white-furred apes, hearts clenched all across the crowd.
No need to guess. Those apes were horrifyingly strong.
"Base Commander...!"
"Base Commander...!"
As Ethanâs group approached, everyone straightened up. Eyes bright, faces full of excitement and admiration.
The attention was so intense that even Ethan and the others started to feel a little awkward.
"Alright," Ethan said, raising his voice. "Donât block the gate. Get back to your posts. Later, Iâll have Miles hand out some benefits for everyone."
"Okay!"
"Appreciate it, Commander!"
Laughing and buzzing, the crowd finally dispersed. Theyâd only come to catch a glimpse. Now that they had, they were satisfied.
As they walked away, the whispers followed.
"Did you see him? The Base Commanderâs so young..."
"Yeah, and heâs handsome too..."
"And the Fallen Star Squad are all young. Pretty good-looking, honestly..."
"Youâre just blinded by hero worship. I donât see whatâs so handsome about that guy..."
"Keep your voice down, idiot. If he hears you, heâll tear you apart."
As that little group drifted off, Big Mikeâthe towering man with the permanently dark expressionâturned his head and looked straight at them.
His face darkened another shade.
Pretty soon, the crowd at the gate parted again, opening a clear path.
Ethan had Goldie and the other six mutant beasts take the white-furred apes up into the nearby mountains to mess around. He also told a guard to escort Skinny Peteâs parents somewhere to rest.
Then Ethan and the others headed toward the center of the compound.
On the main road leading inward, Jaxonâs group was standing right in the middleâstuck in that awful place where they didnât dare go forward, but didnât dare retreat either.
The Base Commanderâs sudden return had made the guards completely forget about them. With nobody guiding them, they didnât have the guts to wander around a place like this.
"Captain..." the woman beside Jaxon whispered. "Are we really just going to stand here and wait?"
"What choice do we have?" Jaxon muttered. "You see how scary this place is. If we run around and someone slaps us to death, who are we going to complain to?"
He swallowed, forcing himself to stay steady. "We wait. Someone will remember us sooner or later."
Jaxon felt miserable.
Back in Harrison Cityâs compound, even the government had treated them politely. And now, in some remote city out in the sticks, heâd ended up in a situation like this.
But he didnât dare show even a hint of dissatisfaction. This place had rattled him too badly.
Just then, he spotted a group walking toward them.
Jaxon let out a long breath.
Okay. They didnât forget us.
He started to step forwardâ
âand one of his men grabbed his sleeve in a death grip.
Jaxon could feel the guy shaking so hard his whole arm trembled. Sweat the size of beans rolled down his forehead.
Jaxonâs heart thumped.
Donât tell me even scarier monsters are coming...
"C-Captain..." the scout stammered. "D-donât... donât go over. I... I canât... I canât see it..."
"What do you mean you canât see it?" Jaxon frowned.
"I canât see their... Tier." The scout swallowed hard, forcing the words out.
"...?"
Jaxon didnât get it at first.
Then it hit.
His eyes blew wide.
"You mean...?"
The scout nodded, pale as paper. "My skill can see up to three Tiers higher than me. But them... I canât see a single one."
"Hiss...!"
A chorus of sharp inhales rippled through the group as everyone around them processed what that meant.
If he couldnât see their Tier, it meant every one of those people was more than three Tiers above him.
But he was Tier 6.
More than three Tiers above Tier 6 meantâ
Tier 10.
A whole group of Tier 10s?
That was insane. Impossible.
Even after everything this compound had already done to their nerves, it still didnât feel real.
But whether they believed it or not, Ethan and the others were already in front of them.
Ethan looked at them, puzzled.
"Why are you guys standing in the middle of the road like this?"
"S-sorry," Jaxon said quickly. Even his voice was trembling now. "We... we just got here. A guard said heâd take us to see the Deputy Commander, but then he left us here. We didnât dare wander around, so we just... stood here."
Jaxon felt guilty in a way that made his skin itch.
Because earlier, heâd been entertaining the idea of taking this compound for himself.
Now, just thinking about it made him want to slap himself.
Was I trying to steal from a place like this? Am I suicidal?
"Oh." Ethan nodded, like it finally made sense. "New arrivals."
Then he waved a hand, casual. "If youâre here to see Miles, come with us."
Ethan turned and kept walking toward the compound center. They were headed to Miles anyway.
Jaxon jolted. "Ah... o-okay. Yes."
He hurriedly gathered his people and followed after them.