Chapter 1349: Not Just the Squad

When the fighting finally ended, everyone started cleaning up the battlefield.

The losses were brutal.

Over

three hundred thousand Enhanced

had fallen out there.

But the results were just as staggering.

Nearly

eight million

zombies had been wiped out—easily the largest zombie kill count since the apocalypse began.

Of course, a huge chunk of that was thanks to the Flamebirds.

With aerial superiority and wide-area attacks, Flamebirds in a battle like this were pure slaughter machines.

Without them, nobody knew how long this fight would’ve dragged on... or how many of the Enhanced standing here now would’ve made it to sunset.

All around, people looked at the Flamebirds and the Fallen Star City fighters with raw admiration.

Edmund walked over with a group of compound executives and said sincerely, "Thank you to Fallen Star City for coming to our aid."

"No need to thank us," the Fallen Star City unit commander replied. He was the Fallen Star Corps’ Corps Commander,

Trent Hawke

. "We’re just carrying out a mission. The mission’s done, so we’re leaving."

"Wait—what? You’re leaving now?" Edmund blinked. "At least stay for a meal. And the crystal cores haven’t even been tallied yet—"

"No meal," Trent said, already turning away. "As for the crystal cores, talk to our Deputy Commander

Miles

."

With that, Trent led his people back onto their Flamebirds. They took off and flew into the distance—without even glancing at the carpet of crystal cores glittering across the ground.

Fallen Star City didn’t lack crystal cores. At least, anything below Tier 19 barely even counted as "resources" to them anymore.

Not to mention, nobody knew how many high-tier cores Deputy Commander Miles still had stockpiled. And just from routine zombie sweeps lately, Fallen Star City had already hauled back

hundreds of millions

of cores.

So yeah—this field of cores didn’t impress them.

But "not impressed" didn’t mean "free."

They’d fought. They’d earned a cut. And that cut wasn’t negotiable.

How the split would be handled was Miles’s problem.

Either way, Fallen Star City wasn’t going to take a loss—and nobody was stupid enough to try to make them.

People nearby watched the Fallen Star City force depart with worshipful faces.

And in that moment, they finally understood the gap.

Forget the Fallen Star Squad. Forget the Fallen Star Guard.

Just a random twenty-thousand-person detachment from Fallen Star City could crush any single compound here.

"Fallen Star City is terrifying," someone murmured. "It feels like we aren’t even playing the same game."

"Yeah... if they hadn’t come, we’d all be dead."

"I really want to go to Fallen Star City," another person said, voice full of envy.

"Who doesn’t?" someone replied bitterly. "But getting resident status there now is harder than getting permanent residency in Atlas

before

the apocalypse. It’s not like you can just show up and ask."

Someone sighed. "Man... I’m jealous of the old Silverlake City compound people. They didn’t even have to do anything and they became part of Fallen Star City. I heard some of them weren’t happy at first—bet they’re laughing in private now."

"Silverlake didn’t have it easy," another person said. "They got overrun twice. It makes sense they’d be defensive. But yeah... now they’ve finally made it through the worst."

"Then we grind too," someone said, forcing a little hope into his tone. "Maybe if Fallen Star City recruits outsiders again someday, we can try."

"Don’t kid yourself," another person said with a tired shake of the head. "We’re too far. By the time we even got there, it’d be over. And now that the compounds are stabilizing, they probably won’t expand recruitment again. Better to stay put in Crownfall."

"...Yeah."

A lot of people could only shake their heads and go back to work, dragging bodies, sorting loot, trying not to look at the places where friends had fallen.

The battle at Crownfall City Compound had the entire Atlas Federation holding its breath.

Atlas City had already used satellites to broadcast the fight in real time to every major compound.

So when Crownfall finally held... everyone, everywhere, exhaled like they’d been drowning.

And at the same time, they all gained a new understanding of Fallen Star City.

It wasn’t just the Fallen Star Squad.

It wasn’t just the Fallen Star Guard.

Fallen Star City could casually send out a unit like that—and the rest of the federation still couldn’t touch them.

Atlas City Compound — Conference Room...

"I told you Fallen Star City had more heavy hitters," Gabriel said with a laugh, the tension finally easing from his shoulders.

Charles shook his head, still amazed. "I honestly didn’t expect they’d have a whole twenty-thousand-person unit at Tier 19. Fallen Star City’s been hiding their strength way too well."

"Hiding?" Gabriel snorted. "No way that’s only twenty thousand. Think about it—Ethan casually tossed us ten thousand Tier 19 crystal cores back then. That alone tells you their reserves are ridiculous."

"Alright," Maxwell cut in, firm. "Stop guessing."

He looked around the room, voice steady. "They’re strong. That’s a good thing for us. Fallen Star City belongs to the Atlas Federation. Their strength is Atlas’s strength."

Then his gaze sharpened.

"Just remember one thing: don’t ever make them an enemy."

"Understood!"

Maxwell nodded. "And even though Ethan’s abroad, the one managing Fallen Star City—Miles—isn’t a simple man. If we have new research results, share them with him immediately. That’s about the only way we can be useful to them."

"Okay."

Rus Federation...

In a hidden mountain valley, Ethan’s group sat inside an underground chamber Garrick had shaped out with an earth-type ability, listening to the wind and watching shadows pass overhead.

Another group of Winged Clan fighters flew by.

Ethan and the others could only look at each other, helpless.

They really hadn’t expected they’d end up hiding like this.

But what choice did they have? The Winged Clan had numbers.

This batch alone was over two hundred.

If Ethan released Dopey and Rocky, they could fight—sure.

But the losses on their side wouldn’t be small.

And more importantly, these Winged Clan fighters cultivated constellation charts just like they did. They didn’t even drop crystal cores.

There was no profit here worth gambling their lives for.

On top of that, if a fight broke out, more Winged Clan elites would swarm over fast. And once that happened, Ethan’s group might not even be able to run.

"Ethan, we can’t keep doing this," Chris said, frowning. "We’ve got too many people. Sooner or later they’ll find us."

Ethan nodded slowly, thinking. Then he said, "You all stay here. I’ll lure them away. Once they’re pulled off, you leave Rus Federation and head back to the Atlas Federation."

"No." Mia stepped forward immediately, eyes sharp. "Absolutely not. They’re too fast. Even with Teleportation, shaking them will be hard. That’s suicide."

"Yeah, boss," someone else added quickly. "No need to risk it. We can just stay careful. When they leave, we move."

"No." Ethan shook his head. "They already know we’re in this area. You see them looping around? If they keep searching like this, they’ll find us soon."

"That..." The group’s expressions tightened.

Ethan’s voice stayed calm, almost cold. "Relax. Those guys can’t take me down."

Then he looked at them one by one. "It’s settled. You stay hidden. Don’t make a sound."

Before anyone could argue again, Ethan slipped out of the underground chamber.

On the surface, he pulled out two daggers, kicked on

telekinetic flight

, and shot off in the opposite direction.

"There!"

Just like that, the moment he showed himself, a few Winged Clan fighters spotted him.

A shout rang out. Farther away, other searchers snapped toward him and accelerated hard, wings cracking the air.

Ethan didn’t hesitate. He streaked away like a bolt of lightning.

His telekinetic flight was fast—faster than their normal flight, at least.

But the Winged Clan had speed-boost skills.

The second they activated them and went all-out, they started gaining.

The gap shrank.

Fast.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed as the pressure at his back grew heavier by the second... and the sound of wings drew closer.