Nova City’s shoreline...

Tens of thousands of zombies were having a feast by the sea.

They’d been lured here from all over Nova City—and it had cost the lives of hundreds of suicide-squad members to pull it off.

And to keep the zombies anchored in place, they’d dumped countless mutant fish corpses along the beach.

The ocean was overflowing with fish, especially the small ones—packed so thick it was like the water itself was alive.

Now that those little fish had mutated, each one was several times bigger than before. One net tossed out came back heaped full.

They were bigger, stronger, and more violent than they used to be... but still within range for humans to harvest.

The ocean, for now, was still relatively safe—as long as you didn’t go too far out. Most of the truly massive sea monsters seemed to have left the shallows and headed for the deep.

What humanity didn’t know was that the ocean’s mysterious energy didn’t need the Nine-Star Dipper’s nighttime "shine" to become active. It was active all the time.

You could barely feel it in shallow waters, but the deeper you went, the denser that mysterious energy became. So the big sea monsters with any real strength had all rushed to the deep sea, leaving the shallows to the little fish and shrimp.

Zombies ate human flesh and mutant beast carcasses. If there weren’t any humans handy, they weren’t picky—having all these mutated little fish to stuff their faces with worked just fine.

As the zombies enjoyed their seafood buffet, three warships appeared on the sea’s surface, racing toward the coast.

The thunder of engines quickly drew the zombies’ attention.

One by one, blood-smeared zombies turned, mouths still dripping, and stared at the approaching ships.

Off to the side of the zombie horde, a few soldiers were hidden in a concealed position, watching through binoculars.

As the ships got closer, the soldiers finally got a clear look at what was on deck.

And the moment they saw it, their eyes went wide.

The decks of the incoming warships were slick with blood. Spread across each vessel stood hundreds of red-skinned humanoid creatures, staring coldly toward the shore.

A chill crawled down the soldiers’ spines.

"What the hell are those things?" one of them muttered.

"No idea..." Another soldier swallowed hard, then grabbed his radio. "Command, this is Coastal Observation Post. Unknown hostiles confirmed aboard incoming vessels."

A brief pause.

Then the reply came through.

"Observation Post, stand by. Artillery battery is cleared to engage once targets enter range."

The soldiers traded uneasy looks.

"Roger that."

The warships kept coming.

"Range?"

"Seven nautical miles... six and closing."

Inside the coastal artillery control vehicle, the fire-control officer stared at the holographic targeting display.

"Targets locked."

He raised his voice. "Battery—prepare to fire."

Outside, three massive Super-Heavy Mobile Artillery Platforms slowly adjusted elevation, their long barrels tracking the ships.

"Range confirmed," the targeting operator called.

The officer didn’t hesitate. "Fire."

The coastline erupted.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM.

The artillery thundered as the first volley screamed out over the water.

Seconds later—

Massive explosions ripped through the lead warship. Fireballs burst along the hull as shells punched through the deck.

"Direct hit!"

The Super-Heavy Mobile Artillery Platforms were terrifyingly powerful. In no time, the enemy warship was blasted into pieces.

Hearing the explosions from the shoreline, some of the zombies immediately sprinted toward the artillery position. Others stayed where they were, staring out at the red-skinned creatures on the warships.

But the crew on the guns didn’t panic at all. They kept loading and firing like machines, not stopping until all three warships had been completely sunk. Only then did they rapidly relocate the Super-Heavy Mobile Artillery Platforms, dragging them into concealment.

They’d been specifically assigned to this mission for a reason—their strength was solid. Every one of them was Tier 9. Normal zombies couldn’t do a damn thing to them.

They shook off the pursuing zombies quickly, found another hidden spot, and pulled out binoculars again.

And soon they realized something was wrong.

The ships were down... but the red-skinned creatures from the decks were still alive—every last one of them. Now they were swimming toward the shore at high speed.

No sharks showed up like they’d hoped.

Hell, there weren’t even any sea creatures attacking them.

Those things just... swam straight in and climbed onto land.

The zombies waiting at the beach, eager as ever, didn’t sense danger at all. They surged forward and threw themselves at the newcomers.

What happened next left the soldiers completely dumbstruck.

Faced with tens of thousands of zombies, the red-skinned creatures looked excited. They plunged into the horde, casually grabbed the nearest zombies, and bit down.

"Ptoo!"

"#￥@...%!" (Again with this!)

Disgust flashed across their faces.

Then, without warning, flames burst out from inside their bodies. One after another, they turned into living fire—walking flame-men.

In the next instant, fierce heat rolled outward from them in expanding waves.

Zombies vanished on contact, incinerated into ash.

Only then did the zombies panic, turning and fleeing in every direction.

"Gulp..." The soldiers swallowed hard, faces pale with shock.

"What... what the hell are those things?"

"Don’t worry about it. While the zombies are holding them up, we go report—now!"

"Right!"

A few minutes later, every zombie on the shoreline had been reduced to ash.

The red-skinned monsters stared toward the towering sprawl of Nova City, licked their lips, and started forward.

Nova City compound, central Military Command Center...

"What!?"

Rowan Pierce’s eyes went wide as he stared at the soldiers in front of him. "What you’re saying is real?"

"A hundred percent." One soldier quickly pulled out his phone. "I recorded video. It’s a bit blurry, but you can still make them out."

Rowan snatched the phone and watched with several senior officials gathered close.

The footage was distant and grainy, but it was clear enough to see what mattered—

Where those figures passed, zombies didn’t fall.

They evaporated.

The more Rowan watched, the heavier his expression became. When the video ended, he still didn’t move for a long moment.

"What kind of monster is this...?" Rowan murmured. "And what level are we even talking about?"

"General, what do we do?" One official’s voice shook. "If they find our compound, we’re finished!"

The others were the same—like ants on a hot pan, panicking more by the second.

Rowan forced himself to breathe. "Contact Atlas City immediately. Tell them everything—every detail."

"Yes, sir!"

Atlas City compound...

When Maxwell heard Nova City’s report, his face sank just as hard.

"So that’s the game—dump the disaster on us." His eyes were cold. "I knew those Yamato bastards were up to no good. I didn’t expect them to pull out something like this."

"General," an officer asked tightly, "where could those things even come from? We’ve never seen anything like them."

"Isn’t it obvious?" Maxwell snapped. "Void Realm. Those Yamato guys couldn’t handle it, so they shoved it onto our turf."

"Fuck." Maxwell’s jaw clenched. "The world’s already chaos and they’re still doing this. Once we have breathing room, I’ll make them pay."

Then his tone turned grim. "But that’s later. If we don’t deal with these monsters, Nova City is done."

"But based on what Nova City sent us," another officer said, "their strength is basically impossible to estimate. How are we supposed to deal with something like that?"

"General," Arthur Caldwell spoke up from the side, "what if we ask Fallen Star Squad to intervene?"

Maxwell’s gaze cut over like a blade. "We don’t even know what we’re dealing with and you want me to send them in? You trying to get them killed?"

Arthur jolted, then hurried to explain. "General Kane, you misunderstand. I’m not saying we throw them into a slaughter. I mean—looking across the entire Atlas Federation, Fallen Star Squad is the strongest force we have. If even they can’t handle it, then sending anyone else is pointless."

Maxwell snorted. "You’d better not have any other ideas. If Ethan hears you’re playing games, your Caldwell family will end up just like the Hale family." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"I wouldn’t dare." Arthur immediately lowered his head.

Maxwell turned back to the map and reports. "Nova City should have someone with sensing-type or scouting-type abilities—Enhanced, maybe even Awakened. Right?"

"With a population of over two million, they should be able to find one," an officer said. "But both sensing and scouting have limits. If those monsters are too strong, they might not be able to read them."

"Then have Nova City find that person, raise their Tier, and send them to probe the monsters’ strength," Maxwell ordered, voice heavy. "Even if they can’t get an exact number, I want a minimum. I need a baseline."

Scouting types usually could only "see" targets within three tiers above themselves. Sensing types could feel up to five tiers higher.

Even a scouting type at Tier 9 could identify a Tier 12 Enhanced—or a Tier 12 Awakened. If they couldn’t see anything at all, that meant the enemy was Tier 13 or above.

At least then they’d know what kind of nightmare they were facing.

"Understood," the officer said. "I’ll notify them immediately."