Chapter 1252: Warships on the Horizon

Capítulo 1252: Warships on the Horizon

Early the next morning, Vivian left with her people.

Deepwater City’s compound wasn’t far from here, so it wouldn’t take them long to get back.

Ethan and the others got up, ate breakfast, and took off on their flying mounts too.

Aurora came along with them to Fallen Star City. At this point she was basically glued to the Fallen Star Squad.

With Aurora included, there were ten of them total—perfect. Five flying mounts, two riders per mount.

The only problem was that Ethan couldn’t ride Flint alone anymore. Every mount had to carry two people.

Ethan had originally planned to pair up with Chris, but Mia gave her seat to Aurora and hopped onto Flint behind Ethan instead.

Ethan was thrown off.

Something about Aurora had felt a little… off lately.

Ethan wasn’t exactly some social genius, but even he could tell Mia had been acting strange recently.

Was she actually making a move on him?

Hadn’t they agreed she joined the Fallen Star Squad to get stronger? How was it suddenly not that simple anymore?

Ethan felt torn. Honestly, Mia—looks, vibe, everything—was about as perfect as anyone he’d ever met. The first time he saw her, his heart had genuinely skipped, which was probably why the first time he met her, he’d ended up seeing far more of her than he should have.

He didn’t just use [True Sight] on random women.

But maybe because they’d spent so much time together, that initial spark had faded. These days, he thought of her more as a teammate.

And now, suddenly realizing she might like him… it left Ethan at a loss.

He was sure Mia hadn’t felt this way before.

Back then, she’d treated him strictly as the captain. Everything had been about getting stronger.

He had no idea when she’d started thinking like this.

“Did she see Chris and the others pairing up and get ideas?” Ethan thought.

When it came to romance, he honestly didn’t think he was even as good as Chris.

And right now, he didn’t want to waste energy on that kind of thing.

So he could only pretend he hadn’t noticed.

Behind him, Mia quietly watched Ethan’s back.

She wasn’t even sure when it had started. At some point, her attention had begun drifting toward him more and more often.

Maybe it was the way he led the Fallen Star Squad. Maybe it was that calm, decisive confidence he carried even in the worst situations.

Whatever the reason, somewhere along the way, she had started seeing him differently.

The others in the squad had joked about it before, teasing her about being Ethan’s “girlfriend.” At the time she’d laughed it off.

But after hearing it enough times… maybe the idea had quietly taken root.

And lately, with Grace and the others showing up, an unfamiliar sense of urgency had begun creeping into her chest.

What if someone else got there first?

Which was why she had been acting a little more boldly than usual.

Yet the idiot in front of her didn’t seem to notice a thing.

That didn’t make sense though. Ethan was sharp—far too sharp to miss something this obvious.

Was he pretending not to notice?

The thought made Mia’s emotions twist into an uncomfortable knot.

She’d always been confident in herself.

But when it came to Ethan… suddenly she wasn’t so sure.

After a long moment of hesitation, Mia finally gritted her teeth.

Then, slowly, she wrapped her arms around Ethan’s waist.

“…”

Up front, Ethan’s body went rigid.

That sudden softness caught him completely off guard. He could only sit there, frozen.

Mia’s lips curved into a small smile. He hadn’t pulled away. At the very least, that meant he didn’t dislike her.

That was enough.

“Holy—this is something a non-paying member is allowed to see?” Big Mike’s exaggerated voice suddenly rang out from behind them.

“I didn’t see anything, I don’t know anything!” Emily covered her eyes—while spreading her fingers wide enough to see everything.

“Man, the weather’s really nice today,” Chris said to Henry behind him.

“Mhm. Yeah. Totally can’t complain,” Henry agreed solemnly.

The moment she heard everyone, Mia’s face went bright red. She panicked and quickly let go.

Ethan finally exhaled… then immediately missed the softness against his back.

He twisted around and shot Chris and the others a vicious glare, then urged the peregrine falcon, Flint, to fly faster.

“So the captain’s the real hidden ladies’ man, huh?” Big Mike said, clearly aiming it at Chris. “Quiet as hell and he already locked Mia down. Unlike some people—self-proclaimed playboy—still hasn’t even held hands.”

“Dude, Big Mike, are you asking to get punched?” Chris instantly bristled.

“Tch. I’m just stating facts,” Big Mike shot back without an ounce of fear.

“Who says he hasn’t?” Emily suddenly cut in.

“Henry, switch spots with me.”

“Oh. Okay.” Henry was pretty obedient when it came to his sister.

They swapped positions in a flash. Emily moved in behind Chris… then, just like Mia had, she wrapped her arms around him from behind.

Everyone went momentarily still.

No one had expected Emily to be that bold out of nowhere.

Big Mike’s expression went stiff and awkward.

“So… the clown was me all along.”

And Chris—Chris was practically trembling with excitement.

Not just because of the hug.

But because Emily had protected his pride.

Chris had dated his ex for three years. Forget protecting his pride—if she didn’t publicly embarrass him, that alone had been a good day.

In that moment, Chris felt like he could do anything for her.

“Emily, I—”

“Don’t talk…” Emily’s face was burning red.

Taking this step had taken an insane amount of courage.

“O-okay.” Chris just stood there like an idiot, reaching back to hold Emily’s hand like he was afraid she’d disappear if he let go.

“Alright, alright, move it along. I can’t watch this romantic crap anymore,” Big Mike said, then urged his golden eagle, Nugget, to speed up.

The others quickly followed, giving the two of them some distance.

Atlas City’s compound…

General Maxwell Kane’s office…

Maxwell was reading a document when rapid knocking suddenly came from outside.

“General, we have a situation.”

“Get in here!” Maxwell snapped, slapping the file down and rising to his feet.

A soldier hurried into the office.

“General, satellite command reports several Yamato Empire warships approaching. They’ve already entered our territorial waters.”

“Yamato Empire warships?” Maxwell’s brow knotted.

“For God’s sake. The world’s already falling apart and they still want to start something?”

The moment the Yamato Empire came up, Maxwell couldn’t stop himself from cursing.

He came from a military family. Growing up, he’d heard story after story about the Yamato Empire’s surprise attack on the Atlas Federation—an act of betrayal his family had never forgiven.

“Can you see how many people are on those ships?”

“We can’t make them out. The satellite feed is being disrupted by unknown material—image quality is terrible. We can only identify the ships themselves.”

“And we also found that Yamato Empire sent a lot of warships this time, but most of them were sunk along the way. The mutant beasts in the ocean seem to be evolving even faster than the ones on land—and they’re even more terrifying.”

“That’s only natural,” Maxwell said grimly. “The ocean’s endless. Nobody knows what’s lurking down there. After the apocalypse, it’s absolutely going to be a human no-go zone.”

“Good thing the sea creatures probably haven’t evolved to the point where they can leave the water and survive on land yet,” the soldier said. “Otherwise, coastal cities would’ve fallen already.”

Maxwell’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah. But that’s just a matter of time. As they keep getting stronger, they’ll eventually come ashore.”

“We’ve already got enough problems. Human survival is hard enough as it is.” Maxwell’s jaw tightened. “And those bastards still want to start a war.”

“Fine. They wanna play? I’ll play.”

“This isn’t peacetime,” he said, voice cold and sharp now. “If they think they can just walk onto our soil, they’re in for a rude awakening.”

“Notify the nearby compound,” Maxwell ordered. “I want every zombie in the area lured to their landing point. Let’s give them a warm welcome.”

“Sir… shouldn’t we at least find out what they want?” the soldier asked carefully.

“Screw that. They didn’t sail here to make friends.” Maxwell’s tone was final. “Sending warships at a time like this? That tells me everything I need to know. Don’t ask—serve them the full course.”

“If the zombies don’t finish them, hit them with artillery first. After that, send high-tier Enhanced. I want them wiped out the second they set foot on our soil.”

“Yes, sir!”

“And one more thing,” Maxwell added. “Have Atlas City’s high-tier Enhanced on standby too. If the people they brought are strong, send reinforcements immediately.”

“Yes, sir!”