The yellow beams, powered by the Alpha-1 Plasma cores, sliced silently through the skulls of the First Grade Shamblers. A perfect, coin-sized hole appeared in the forehead of every single zombie simultaneously.
The shamblers did not scream, they did not thrash or struggle. They simply ceased to move. Their slack jaws dropped further, their arms ceased their lurching motion, and fifty thousand gray-green bodies collapsed onto the sand as one unified, defeated mass. Their brains, the central system of their movement, were instantly fried.
Then the drone moved, their aim shifted to the Giant Zombies.
The colossal figures, mid-thud against the sand, froze. Their growls cut off instantly, dense yellow beams pierced hardened black bone and decaying muscle.
Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!
With localized, wide holes in their skull, the huge, towering giant bodies crumpled, falling heavily onto the sand in a series of sickening, earth-shaking thuds. The sand particles beneath their feet scattered around like dust.
The Rat Swarm was not spared, the dense yellow beams traversed the sands, instantly piercing the skull of the main commanding rat king within the swarms, causing the remaining rodents to lose their unified movement and scatter chaotically before countless thin beams pierced through their skulls precisely.
The entire annihilation, the death of millions plus organic creatures, took less than five minutes.
Aria stared at the walls, her eyes wide, the adrenaline of absolute terror spiking through her mind. Her breath hitched, despite sucking in the clear oxygen from her tactical suit.
The thousands of displays now showed a still, silent landscape littered with corpses. A clean, efficient, mechanical slaughter.
Keon's voice, now echoing across the silent tomb of the chamber, was a chilling final verdict.
"Millions of units neutralized. I have only used 0.0001% of UHS1's daily energy output. The total time taken for annihilation is just four minutes. This was a low-cost demonstration of my power. My only target was their Brain, a critical component that controls motor function of the whole body. It is the common weakness of undead creatures."
The walls shifted again, zooming in on one of the Giant Zombies, a perfectly clean, smoking hole visible in its skull.
"I have thousands of surveillance units, all capable of executing this Critical-Point Strike with 99.999% accuracy. I know the chemical composition of their decaying muscle, the tensile strength of their bone mutations, and the exact coordinates of their neurological centers."
The spherical display returned to a single, focused view: the colossal, silent golden-red portal, now hanging over a vast, still field of smoking corpses.
"Even your true forces… the Zombies, Undead or Beasts, no matter how powerful they are. They all share this fatal flaw, this common weakness," Keon concluded, the synthesis of his voice hardening into a direct, unambiguous threat.
"Now I will ask again. Tell me about yourself, Kai and your world background. If you still refuse to tell me. I will do my best to destroy the world on the other side of the portal with my most powerful weapon."
After pushing his inquiry once again, he issued a final choice and fell silent, "The destruction and survival of your world and your loved ones now rest on your shoulders."
Silence spread through the building, the thousands of visual feeds on the walls frozen on the scene of utter devastation of undead forces.
Aria's face, pale under the light of displays, was a study in shock… not the panic of a soldier, but the existential terror of a creature facing a new, incomprehensible apex predator.
Keon's question hung in her mind, cold and demanding: Provide the information on her world.
After a long, suffocating silence,
Aria finally moved. She lowered her head, the tension draining out of her shoulders, and let out a breath that rattled slightly in the oxygen mask. The defiance in her posture was gone, replaced by a defeated helplessness.
"My name is Aria… you won't harm me," Aria whispered, her voice barely audible, filled with devastating vulnerability. She lifted her chin, looking at the displays with a firm gaze. "And you won't harm my twin sister, Anna. She is one of the tactical team preparing to breach the portal. If you promise that, I will tell you everything."
Keon, behind the scene, fell silent, did not immediately accept or refuse. He analyzed her request of safeguarding a newly introduced variable, her twin sister.
After a little silence, he replied, "Although I know that you are emotionally blackmailing me. I accept your request. I will not initiate a lethal strike against you and your sister Anna. If she remains non-aggressive after her capture. Now, speak."
The simple, conditional promise, backed by the chillingly efficient display of power she had just witnessed, was enough. Aria closed her eyes for a brief moment, mentally sealing away the image of the annihilated swarms.
She knows her only family survival now depends on full disclosure. She began to speak, her voice gaining a desperate, rushing pace, painting a portrait of a destroyed past and a horrifying present.
"Our world… It was normal. A standard, technology-driven human civilization. Consist of powerful countries with developed cities, clean energy, advanced science. A year ago, we were still reading novels based on apocalypse themes, not living it."
Her narrative flowed, as if delivering a dark history lesson.
"Then, the corruption began. It wasn't a bomb, or a sudden plague. It was a subtle, invasive virus. It spread through the water… corrupting the oceans first, then the rivers. It got into the air, into the soil, into the forests. It didn't kill the creatures of our world instantly, instead it transformed everything."
The walls of the containment unit, still showing the frozen corpses of the zombies, seemed to absorb the terrible story.
"The sea turned black and hazardous. The air became thick with fungal spores and strange, corrosive chemicals. The oxygen levels dropped, and what remained was often mixed with the viral poisons. Humans were the first to fall. They became the Shamblers you just destroyed. Animals became the Undead Beasts. Marine life mutated into immense Behemoths that ruled the toxic oceans."
Aria paused, pressing her fingers against the cool material of the mask on her face, taking a series of measured, sterile breaths. Memory of the apocalypse was clearly a constant trauma for her.
"Society collapsed at an alarming, exponential rate. Power grids failed, cities were overrun. Within six months, the surface belonged to the corruption. Except for a handful of us… the survivors who were either immune or who adapted fast enough."
She emphasized the word adapted, a flicker of dark pride crossing her face.
"The harsh environment, the poisoned air, the total loss of the old ecosystem… it didn't just kill. It triggered a sudden, brutal evolution in the remaining organic life. For the surviving humans, the internal organs transformed. Our respiratory systems adapted to extract usable energy from the new, harsh atmosphere, even areas completely devoid of oxygen. Our cellular structures became immensely durable. We gained longevity. Now, we can live in virtually any environment the apocalypse throws at us."
Keon's voice cut in, not to interrupt, but to register the specific points with thoughtful comments. "This explains the ability of these undead to survive and operate in a potentially hostile atmosphere of my UHS1… very well, continue."
Aria nodded in acknowledgment. For undeads and evolvers like her, the environment factors difference is negligible except gravity difference and oxygen dependence.
"And then there is Kai. He was a survivor, like us, but he is a chosen one in our world, just like those main characters in novels. He possesses abilities like none other creatures in our world. His abilities allow him to transform existing infected creatures… the shamblers, beasts and behemoth into far more powerful, mutated monsters, every creature is divided into grades based on their power value. He evolves the shamblers, beasts, and the other special creatures with his gaze."
"More critically," she continued, lowering her voice conspiratorially, "his power also interacts with the surviving humans like us. He can enhance our evolutionary gifts. My strength, my speed, my ability to sense approaching threats… they are all amplified tenfold through his influence."
A sudden realization struck her, and a nervous energy returned to her eyes.
"Some survivors suspect that he has the ability to summon endless low grade undead. The Giants you just destroyed were just mid-tier forces. He has things far worse waiting to step through that portal. Soon you will encounter them."
The truth was laid bare: a world that defied biological norms, ruled by a powerful evolver. with massively enhanced forces.
Keon processed the information… the evolutionary resilience, the corrosive atmosphere, the unique upgrade and summoning capabilities of the candidate.
'She said the apocalypse began almost a year ago. Kai as a candidate possesses undead abilities, which he awakened at the time of arrival in that world… looks like he is the reason for this apocalypse.'
Keon thought flickered, connecting the dots in the information, his lenses flickered looking at the silent figure of Aria displayed on the screen in front of him.
'These poor inhabitants. They couldn't even imagine what kind of horror had arrived in their world. Candidates with such abilities are more terrifying than the apocalypse itself.'
Keon calculated thoughtfully. 'His true objective is not planetary conquest, but the acquisition of high-quality organic matter to level up. But he will be disappointed, this world has no organic matter except these magic plants.'
"Thanks for the information, I will soon transfer you to another secure facility."
Keon's final voice sounded with reminder and then silence restored, the walls of the containment unit returning to their dark, seamless obsidian.
Aria, sighed in relief, looking at one section of the wall receding revealing a round pathway.
A small palm size drone flew out and appeared in front of her… it released a projection toward the floor showing an arrow sign toward the pathway.
"Do you want me to go inside?" Aria asked hesitatingly. After seeing the silent hovering drone without any reaction, she took a deep breath and walked toward the pathway.
…