Three days later, the situation in Deep Woods stabilized somewhat, and the newly appointed governor by the New Pacific Alliance arrived. After Jae-Woo Park completed the handover, he officially set off to leave.

Soon after the grand fleet of starships flew out, an old civilian starship slowly lifted off from the Saya base and entered orbit. Felix Lucas set the destination to Sycamore in District C40 and activated the autopilot.

The return journey felt relaxed. Yuui Hayashi hummed a tune and, for the first time in a while, put on makeup in front of the mirror. After shaping her eyebrows to her satisfaction, she casually remarked, “It’s surprising that Jae-Woo Park didn’t cause us any trouble.”

“No surprise there. After all, Sr. Montclair gave him a big favor,” Felix Lucas retorted seriously.

Onyx glanced at him, unfazed by his sarcastic tone.

“Jae-Woo Park is power hungry. You should be grateful it was him; otherwise, it wouldn’t have ended so smoothly. Without him holding the fort at the Palace of Unity that night, the remaining S-ranks wouldn’t have let us off.”

If a fight had broken out, with the other side having heavy weapons and hundreds of A-rank Aberrants, casualties on Saya’s side would have been unavoidable.

Speaking of the Palace of Unity, Cora Thornton remembered another matter. “Punk is dead. Will someone come after us?”

Onyx's lips curled slightly, but there was no humor in his eyes. “Relax, Jae-Woo Park will handle these loose ends. If he can't even manage his own people, he wouldn’t be fit to be a special envoy.”

Since Onyx said to relax, Cora did. She fiddled with her terminal for a while before suddenly exclaiming, “We’re famous!”

The news headlines in Deep Woods were half about the changes the new governor would bring and half speculating about the mysterious F777 team that assassinated Ne Kon due to “personal vendettas.” Since all the video footage had been destroyed in a fire, some unofficial media outlets, using their imagination, described F777 as hulking giants and boasted that all members were S-rank.

Everyone chuckled at the ridiculous reports.

Speaking of fame, Yuui pulled up another report. “Felalakas isn’t doing too bad either. Look at this video, ‘The Dark Horse F777’s Road to Victory,’ with over sixty million views. Our popularity has now surpassed ‘Iron Cafe,’ second only to ‘The Boss and His Three Goons.’”

“Sycamore too. You repelled a zombie horde before, gaining quite a reputation,” Charles Franz commented during a break.

“Don’t forget Sin City. The phrase ‘My name is Suchat, remember it’ is still legendary,” Felix added. Suchat, unexpectedly mentioned, stiffened at the memory of his embarrassing slogan.

Cora puffed out her cheeks in mild annoyance. “Grandpa always said to stay low key. Being too famous isn’t good.”

Onyx reassured her, “The Lucas Network is down, and information between districts spreads slowly. Even if we’re famous, it’s only in small circles, so you…”

He suddenly hissed in pain.

Charles was stimulating the atrophied nerves in his hand with his power. Despite staying another day in Saya, Onyx’s left hand was losing feeling, making even simple grip exercises impossible.

Cora stared at Onyx’s legs, knowing he disregarded medical advice and received two nerve blocks because of her. “When we get back to Sycamore, we’ll proceed with the surgery.”

She poked his hand, speaking earnestly.

“Yes, surgery,” Onyx smiled.

“Some people just refuse to give up, claiming they don’t need their legs, but deep down, they regret it,” Felix multitasked, coding while piloting the starship, and took the chance to mock Onyx.

Onyx gave a scornful laugh. “I figured one useless person on the team is enough. Adding more would only cause trouble.”

Felix’s movements halted, the words hitting home. His damaged mechanical arm had significantly reduced his combat and coding abilities, which frustrated him to no end.

Felix turned to Cora, seriously saying, “Captain, I request a replacement for my mechanical arm.”

“Approved,” Cora nodded decisively. Felix’s arm was damaged, protecting her, after all.

“This is the materials list.” Felix seriously shared a long receipt. Cora’s eyes widened, gasping at the cost, which was double the last time.

Onyx took the terminal, glanced at it, and scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Pure rhenium? Do you know how much that costs?”

“Rhenium is essential, and I calculated the minimum amount needed,” Felix insisted.

“Essential, my foot. Carbon steel or alloy steel works just fine.”

“Bicycles work too, so why do humans make starships?”

“With our current resources, you’ll have to settle for a bicycle,” Onyx retorted, handing the terminal back to Cora.

“Don’t spoil him.” Felix shrugged, not embarrassed at being caught trying to get away with it.

Since coming to Deep Woods, F777 had focused on assassinating Ne Kon, leaving no time for commissions and thus no income. Cora sighed inwardly. They needed to earn money and uphold her responsibilities as captain.

“Sis!” Damian Blackwood suddenly called out from the window. “Look at this!”

Cora followed his finger. The tops of skyscrapers billowed black smoke. The cross-river bridge was broken, and a thick layer of black covered the ring road and overpasses in a city that was supposed to be modern below them.

“Slow down. Something’s not right,” Onyx frowned.

Felix reduced the starship’s speed and activated the main control panel. The navigation map showed they were over District C77. Through the wispy clouds, the pervasive blackness seemed to move.

“Should I check it out?” Cora asked.

“Not yet,” Felix launched a drone. The external camera zoomed in, approaching the city’s airspace. What they saw was unbelievable–the black layer was a mass of zombies!

“This is a dead city,” Felix said. The drone’s thermal imaging showed no life signs within tens of kilometers.

Cora looked at Onyx. “Which district is this?”

Onyx’s expression was grim. “Yggdrasill.”

Yggdrasill (District C77), known for its bold and fantastical architectural style, was hailed as the design capital of the Alliance. Designers from Yggdrasill, despite having a lower district number, were valued for their expertise.

Stolen story; please report.

Such a once-prosperous and famous C-level city had now become a zombie haven.

“Yggdrasill was C-level. What happened?” Yuui Hayashi wondered aloud.

“It’s a zombie horde,” Onyx explained, sketching Yggdrasill’s terrain. “With its dense population and mountainous, basin-heavy landscape, if a chain zombie horde occurred, it would easily be surrounded and trapped.”

“A chain zombie horde...” The group fell silent.

“Let’s hope Yggdrasill’s tragedy is an exception,” Yuui murmured.

However, things didn’t go as they hoped. After passing through Yggdrasill, they encountered another C-level city filled with zombies, followed by a series of destroyed D-level cities. The situation grew increasingly dire.

"When we came to Deep Woods, these cities were fine. It's only been half a month. How have they been overrun by zombies?" Yuui couldn't fathom the scene before her. "Even if the number of zombies is increasing, there are more ways to deal with them. It shouldn’t be like this."

"Over there, someone," Cora pointed. On a deserted highway, a few figures were scavenging supplies in a gas station's supermarket.

"They’re humans," Onyx confirmed. "Ordinary people."

"I'll go ask. Damian, come with me," Cora said.

Felix switched to low-orbit flight, and Cora and Damian jumped off the starship, swiftly moving towards the gas station.

The group comprised seven or eight people, two keeping watch while the others rapidly emptied the supermarket shelves. As Cora approached, she deliberately made some noise to alert them.

"Who’s there?!" The two on watch immediately raised their weapons, shouting in panic, "Stay back! We found this place first!"

Damian stepped forward diplomatically. "Uncle and Auntie, we won't come closer. We just want to ask a few questions."

Hearing the commotion, the others rushed out of the supermarket. They were gaunt and wary, even though there were only two of them. "Ask from there, then leave!"

Damian stood obediently. "Brothers and sisters, why are there so many zombies here? Last time my sister and I came, it wasn’t like this."

"You don’t know?" The responder seemed surprised. "A Zombie Lord appeared nearby. It can command all levels of zombies, and many cities have been destroyed by it."

Cora was shocked. A Zombie Lord capable of commanding all levels of zombies?

In Da Nang, they had encountered a Level 3 zombie. Though it was large and powerful, it couldn’t command other zombies. Could this Zombie Lord be a Level 4 zombie?

Back on the starship, F777 held an emergency meeting.

"Based on current information, the Zombie Lord emerged near Yggdrasill and moved east after destroying the C-level city," Onyx analyzed.

"Sycamore is also to the east," Charles said anxiously. "Could it be heading towards Sycamore?"

Deep Woods is in the Alliance’s southwest, and Felix Lucas's return route headed northeast, passing through Felalakas and ultimately reaching Sycamore.

Sycamore’s outpost, Sakura Refuge, had previously survived a major zombie horde with F777's support. As the medical capital, Sycamore had relatively weak military strength. If it faced the Zombie Lord's army, the crisis would be no less than Yggdrasill's.

Onyx traced the destroyed cities on the map, stopping an inch away from Sycamore.

"Given the Zombie Lord’s current path, it’s just missing Sycamore." They had just sighed in relief when Onyx's finger slid left a notch.

"But what if it changes course? This area here is more densely populated. We can’t be certain how intelligent a Level 4 zombie is."

"Hurry, let's get back to Sycamore," Cora urged.

Sycamore must be protected, not only for the sake of Onyx’s leg surgery but also because countless doctors like Lynn Rolling were there, willing to risk their lives to save others. If Sycamore fell, it would be a devastating blow to the entire Alliance.

Felix switched to manual control, and the starship sped up sharply across the sky.

Yuui tried to comfort everyone. "There seem to be fewer zombies here than before. Maybe the Zombie Lord stuck to its original path."

Before she could finish, their terminals suddenly flashed an emergency alert, showing an S-level commission.

“Urgent announcement from the Alliance Headquarters of Aberrants: A chain zombie horde has appeared in Sycamore (District C40). Known zombie numbers are as follows, Level 4: 1, Level 3: 167, Level 2: XXXX. Detected Aberrant zombies total: 1257. All Aberrants in the vicinity are requested to assist immediately. Rewards in Alliance credits will be issued based on the number of zombies killed.”

Damn it, Onyx was right. The Zombie Lord is highly intelligent and has indeed changed course!

The starship raced to Sycamore as fast as possible, but the scene upon arrival was horrifying. The ground was ravaged, and the massive zombie horde was even more terrifying than the insect tide Cora had experienced in Blossomville. Compared to the previous large-scale zombie horde in Sakura Refuge, the number had nearly increased tenfold. Even from high above, they couldn't see the end of the horde.

The three front-line refuges were teetering on the brink of collapse. If their defenses fell, Sycamore would have no buffer and be completely exposed to the zombies. On the front lines, many Aberrants were fighting fiercely. Yet, as soon as they killed one wave, another surged forward like an unending tide.

Cora opened the hatch, desperately searching for a landing spot. Just then, the Jade Grove Refuge couldn’t hold out any longer. Its defenses were breached, and the zombie horde, seemingly under some command, surged over the walls, uniformly heading toward Sycamore, several kilometers away.

"No!!" Charles grabbed the window, shouting. The flow of air seemed to stop, and everyone’s heart was in their throat. Sycamore seemed to emit a faint cry of despair.

As the first wave of zombies was about to leap into the city gates, a golden light suddenly flashed above Sycamore, followed by an invisible barrier that the zombies crashed into. Some were flung away, others piled up on the ground, unable to advance.

"This... a domain power?" Cora, Onyx, Yuui Hayashi, and the others exchanged surprised glances, a name flashing in their minds.

They almost forgot that Sycamore had a domain Aberrant. No! A domain Aberrant dog.