"No feeling at all? How can you not feel anything?" Big Ears looked more anxious than Bulldozer himself.

"I dunno," Bulldozer said with a helpless shrug, his massive shoulders rising and falling like boulders.

Just then, a few thick vines slithered across the ground, dragging along a pile of heavy debris. Sprout was hauling scrap past them, his leafy limbs flexing with effort.

"Bulldozer," Sprout said as he passed, "I think… I might be about to evolve."

"Huh?" Bulldozer's tiny eyes widened in surprise.

During the battle with the humans, Sprout had unleashed his ultimate move—Sky-Piercing Vine!—latching onto the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser from the ground and draining nearly all his energy. That massive exertion had triggered subtle changes in his body.

As the first plant-type Zombie King under Ethan's command, Sprout had awakened the rare ability Absolute Domain. With his unique talents, he definitely had the potential to become one of the Voidborn Undying.

Big Ears let out a low whistle and gave him a big thumbs-up. "Damn, that's badass!"

Truth was, all the zombies in the nest were keeping a close eye on who'd be the next to break through to SSS-rank. After Laura's evolution, speculation was running wild—who would be the third Voidborn Undying?

Bulldozer, meanwhile, was feeling a little down. Laura's breakthrough was one thing, but now even Sprout—who'd joined Ethan's crew after him—was showing signs of evolution?

Is my talent just… worse than theirs?

Guess I better step it up…

Elsewhere on the battlefield, cleanup continued in full swing. Zombies moved with eerie coordination, collecting weapons, salvaging tech, and dragging corpses into piles. Everything was running like a well-oiled, undead machine.

But up on a nearby hillside, a crowd of curious zombies had gathered, forming a loose circle around Wraithshade. His bizarre appearance—two heads, twisted vines, and a cloak of fungal growth—had drawn plenty of attention.

Shrimpy, Mist, and a few others were peppering him with questions, eager to gossip about Frostmere.

Wraithshade's two heads took turns answering, one on the left, one on the right—like a creepy, undead talk show.

"Mist," one head said, "you asked about Abyssion, the Overlord of Frostmere? Pretty sure he's male."

"Ohhh, okay. What about the Overlord of Heartland? Male or female?" Mist asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

"Female," the other head replied.

"Is she strong?"

"She made it into Heartland on her own strength. So yeah, she's no pushover. Stronger than Bloodveil, at least."

"Oh…" Mist nodded slowly, finally getting a sense of the power scale.

Locomotive, standing nearby, chimed in. "So, is Frostmere rich in resources? Besides zombies, I mean. What else is there?"

"Overall, it's more resource-rich than Southvale," Wraithshade's left head answered. "But… there's a radiation zone. A big one. A lot of zombies there undergo secondary mutations. You get some real freaks."

The crowd went quiet.

They all looked at Wraithshade—who already looked like something out of a nightmare—and thought, If even he calls them freaks… damn.

"The radiation zone covers about a third of Frostmere," Wraithshade continued. "But the real reason the region's so valuable is because it has a coastline."

"Wait—the sea?"

Shrimpy, who'd been quiet until now, suddenly perked up, eyes sparkling.

"There's an ocean in Frostmere?"

"Yeah, I think so. I've never been in it myself, but it's there," Wraithshade replied honestly.

Shrimpy was practically vibrating with excitement. He'd been wondering about this for ages. A planet as big as Originis—there's no way it doesn't have shrimp!

"Don't worry, Wraithshade," Shrimpy said, puffing out his chest. "Frostmere's gonna be ours. Even if the boss doesn't go, I'll send Big Ears to help you take it!"

"..."

About a week later, the battlefield was finally cleared. Every usable piece of tech, scrap, and salvage had been hauled back to the heart of Southvale—the zombie nest.

But of course, the crown jewel of the spoils was the massive Dreadnought-class Starcruiser. The zombies had carefully parked it in a secluded mountain valley, where it wouldn't draw too much attention.

PhD and Hammerhead led the restoration project, overseeing a swarm of undead engineers and laborers. Among them were heavy-hitters like The Japanese Iron Trio, The Dune Twins, and other Zombie Kings lending their muscle. T-Rex, a brute-force type Zombie King, was especially useful—he could lift even the heaviest components like they were nothing.

During the battle, PhD had already calculated the damage output precisely—only superficial systems had been targeted. So now, with the right hands on deck, the repairs wouldn't take long at all.

The victory high still hadn't worn off. Back in the Southvale nest, the zombies were throwing a full-blown rave to celebrate.

On a towering stone platform, Elegy stood with her guitar, fingers dancing across the strings as she launched into another electrifying set.

"Out on the horizon, the fire's burning high~~~

Raise your voice, let it echo through the sky.

Clap your hands, stomp your feet, feel the beat tonight—

This is the song that keeps the dead alive!"

The crowd of zombies went wild, bodies swaying and jerking to the rhythm, the whole place pulsing with undead energy.

Meanwhile, Ethan was in a quiet, sealed room, absorbing the energy from the crystal cores they'd collected.

He could hear the music faintly through the walls. It was festive, upbeat. He didn't mind it.

Warm energy from the cores flowed through his body, nourishing every cell, strengthening him from the inside out. It felt… good. Powerful.

The battle against the humans had paid off big time.

They'd secured four SSS-grade crystal cores—and one SSS+ core, taken from the veteran powerhouse Harren. That one was in a league of its own.

It was a high-tier lightning-type core, and it gave Ethan a significant boost in power.

As for the rest of the loot, Hammerhead had already finished inventory. Of the original 1,000 Guard Mechs, many had been damaged in the fight. But thanks to the haul from the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser, they'd actually ended up with more—1,500 in total.

Then there were the weapons: Crystal Core Firearms, Crystal Core Blasters, and more than they could count.

But what really caught Ethan's eye… were the lightsabers.

Last time he'd visited human civilization, he hadn't managed to bring back many. But now? The humans had practically delivered them on a silver platter.

They'd recovered 3,000 functional lightsabers. Each one embedded with an S-grade crystal core. Costly, rare, and deadly.

Even the wealthy human factions hadn't mass-produced them in large numbers.

Ethan had a plan.

He would handpick 3,000 elite zombies—battle-hardened, physically superior, with lightning-fast reflexes—and form a new unit: The Saber Corps.

With lightsabers in hand, these elite undead would become walking death machines. Each one strong enough to take down an S-rank Zombie King in single combat.

And together? They'd be a force of nature. Not just additive—multiplicative. A true game-changer.

When the time came to march on Heartland, this would be one of his trump cards.

And, well… there was one more reason Ethan liked the idea.

They looked damn cool.

Meanwhile, back in Eastreach, Bloodveil had already returned to his own zombie nest, cruising in his brand-new, top-of-the-line flight module.

A crowd of Zombie Kings and lieutenants had gathered around, gawking at the sleek machine.

"Boss, this thing's insane! You just said you wanted one, and boom—you got it?"

"Eh… it's alright," Bloodveil replied casually, trying to play it cool.

The others took it as modesty and immediately started laying on the praise.

"Boss, this has gotta be the best tech the humans have, right?"

"It's good," Bloodveil said, nodding. "But it's not the best."

"Ohhh?" The zombie underlings leaned in, eyes wide. "Then what's better?"

Bloodveil smirked, letting the suspense hang for a beat.

"There's still… the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser."

...

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