It was a little over six hundred miles from Redwood County to Nova City. Even riding flying mounts, it still took Ethan’s group close to two hours to get there.

Not long after they reached Nova City’s airspace, they spotted a massive compound below.

Ethan thought for a second, then headed straight toward it.

Nova City was huge. Finding several hundred red-skinned monsters inside it by brute force would be a pain in the ass. Asking the people in the Nova City compound would be way faster.

As they approached, the Nova City compound instantly sounded the alarm. Anti-air guns swiveled up one after another and opened fire on the birds in the sky.

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!"

Shells streaked in with flaming trails, screaming toward them at high speed.

Golden Eagle Nugget and the others accelerated hard, their bodies twisting and juking through the air as they dodged the barrage.

Ethan was just debating whether to make a move when a booming shout came from below.

"Cease fire!"

A senior officer came sprinting over, yelling at the top of his lungs. "Stop! All units, stop firing—pull the guns back!"

The wall troops looked confused, but they cut fire immediately and retracted the guns.

Ethan smiled a little and signaled for Peregrine Falcon Flint and the others to descend.

With a few powerful wingbeats, the mounts swept into the compound and dropped into the central plaza—landing under a sea of stunned, curious stares.

The moment Ethan and the others jumped down, the senior officer hurried over, cautious but clearly relieved.

"Excuse me—are you Mr. Ethan Cole?"

"Yeah." Ethan nodded.

"I’m sorry." The officer bowed his head quickly. "They didn’t know it was you. We meant no offense—please forgive us."

"It’s fine. I get it." Ethan really didn’t care. If you suddenly saw mutant beasts flying at your walls, this was a normal reaction.

"Thank you for understanding," the officer said, still embarrassed. "General Rowan Pierce was just saying you might come by in the next couple days. I didn’t even have time to notify the guards... and you were already here."

"We move fast." Ethan waved it off. "Alright—take me to General Rowan Pierce."

"Yes, sir. This way." The officer immediately led them onward.

Under his guidance, they quickly arrived at the compound’s Military Command Center.

Rowan had already gotten word. He stood outside the entrance with several senior officials, waiting.

When they saw Ethan’s group, they hurried forward.

"Ethan, you must’ve had a rough trip. Welcome to Nova City!"

"General Pierce, you’re being too polite." Ethan wasn’t really used to Rowan’s level of enthusiasm.

But he understood it too. Rowan probably saw them as the only lifeline left, so of course he was going to be warm.

"Come on," Rowan said. "Let’s talk inside."

"Sure."

They entered the Military Command Center together.

"Mr. Ethan," Rowan said, unable to hide his amazement, "you really do move fast. General Kane only told me yesterday you might come to Nova City. I didn’t expect you to arrive this quickly."

"General Kane said the situation was urgent," Ethan replied. "So I brought people over first thing this morning."

"Thank you." Rowan’s gratitude sounded completely sincere. "Whether we can ultimately deal with those red-skinned monsters or not—just the fact you came at a time like this is the biggest help you could’ve given us."

When everyone else was trying to avoid this mess, Ethan’s squad had rushed in. To Rowan, that alone was a favor he’d remember.

"And those idiots in Atlas City said you were forceful and overbearing," Rowan added, irritation flashing across his face. "Looks like that was total bullshit. General Kane’s got an eye for people."

"Uh..." Ethan rubbed his nose, a little awkward.

"Alright, enough of that." Rowan clapped his hands once. "You want the location, right? We know where they are."

"Good. Tell me where. I’m going to go meet them."

Rowan blinked. "Meet them... right now?"

"Yeah."

"Just... you guys?" Rowan’s voice rose despite himself.

"Just us." Ethan said it like it was obvious.

Rowan’s expression tightened. "That’s too dangerous. I know Fallen Star Squad is strong, but those red-skinned monsters are all Tier 15 and above. I really think we shouldn’t rush. We should plan carefully, discuss—"

"If we sit around planning, your compound’s going to be gone," Ethan cut in. "Let’s move. I’m just going to take a look first. Doesn’t mean I’ll fight right away."

"..." Rowan hesitated, then exhaled. "Alright. Okay."

Afraid Ethan wouldn’t be familiar with Nova City’s layout, Rowan not only gave him the coordinates—he also marked the area out on the holographic sand table, drawing the route clearly.

Ethan nodded. Then he took the group out, swung back onto their flying mounts, and headed straight for the red-skinned monsters’ location.

"That Ethan really doesn’t waste time..." one of Nova City’s senior officials muttered, watching them go. "But isn’t this... way too dangerous?"

"It should be fine," Rowan said, though his jaw was tight. "Even General Kane practically worships the guy. Ethan must have something special."

Then Rowan’s tone sharpened. "Tell the scouts to keep eyes on them. The second anything happens, I want the report immediately."

"Yes, sir!"

Following the location Rowan had provided, Ethan’s squad quickly spotted them.

Hundreds of red-skinned humanoids were in the middle of a ruined district, chasing down a scattered pack of zombies.

Nova City was a super-metropolis—over twenty million people before the apocalypse—but on the way here, Ethan’s group hadn’t run into many zombies at all.

Pretty obvious why.

The zombies here had probably been scared out of their minds and fled.

These unlucky ones had either been too slow or hadn’t gotten the message in time.

Ethan’s group appeared in the sky, and it immediately drew the red-skins’ attention.

They abandoned the fleeing zombies without hesitation and locked onto the targets in the air.

Compared to zombies... they liked humans a whole lot more.

"￥#%...!"

The red-skinned monsters shrieked a few harsh syllables, then actually crouched and leapt—trying to jump up and drag them out of the sky.

Too bad for them, Ethan’s group was flying high. They couldn’t even come close.

"Bunch of idiots," Big Mike sneered, lifting his hand, about to toss a [Rain of Flames] down there to test the waters.

Then Ethan’s eyes suddenly went wide.

"Holy shit!" he blurted. "What ’Tier 15’?! There are Tier 18s down there! Tier 18! And they told me Tier 15?!"

"Tier 18?!" The others jolted like someone had slapped them. Big Mike’s raised hand froze mid-motion.

And then—

The sky turned red.

A heartbeat later, flaming meteors came ripping down from above, raining straight toward them.

"Holy shit!" Skinny Pete gawked. "Big Mike—your Rain of Flames can cast that high?!"

"The hell it can!" Big Mike snapped. "That looks nothing like my Rain of Flames!"

"Retreat!" Ethan barked, face hard. The strength of that attack—he didn’t think he could tank it cleanly.

Their flying mounts instantly dipped, carving a sharp, graceful arc downward as they burst out of the meteor zone.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!

The blazing meteors slammed into the ground, blasting out enormous craters. Fire surged up from each impact site, roaring like open furnaces.

"Gulp..."

Everyone swallowed instinctively.

Thank god they’d moved fast. If they’d hesitated even a little, they’d probably be dead.

"Ethan..." Chris asked weakly, voice suddenly small. "Can we... even fight this?"

"It’s not impossible," Ethan said, thinking hard. "But we have to delete the Tier 18s first. Their skills are nasty."

"Why don’t we just send Dopey down?" Big Mike suggested. "One punch, one kill."

Ethan shot him a look. "If we’re doing that, why’d I even bring you guys? I could’ve come with Dopey alone and solved it."

"Don’t make Dopey the answer to everything," Ethan continued. "We still need to improve. Dopey’s a trump card, not a crutch."

"Yeah, yeah, captain’s right..." Big Mike grumbled.

Chris swallowed again. "So... how do we deal with those Stage B red-skinned monsters?"

Ethan rubbed his chin for a long moment, like he was weighing fate itself.

Then he said, completely straight-faced, "We use Dopey."

"..."