LOGINDark clouds pressed low over the sky. October winds whipped through Somervale, strong and restless. The wind rolled in from the sea, threading through the high-rises and kicking up piles of trash at every intersection.A four-year-old newspaper lifted from the debris and slapped against the dusty window of an abandoned car.This city, frozen in death for four years, was loud again."Raargh!""Raargh!""Raargh!"Hordes of zombies poured out from every direction: streets, apartment blocks, and residential zones.Somervale had once been Henerland's premier international city. Dense and sprawling, its footprint rivaled places like Aecraton, but its population had been 20 times larger.Before the outbreak, more than 20 million people lived here. When everything fell apart, the entire city turned into a sea of death.Not a single living person was left. Not one survivor.Somervale belonged to the dead now.Zombies flooded the streets like a rising tide. Every road, every corner, w
Hayley finished speaking and jumped.She dove straight from the helicopter toward the wide river below.Griffin followed right behind her. As soon as he jumped, he grabbed onto her leg. Barnaby, Tyler, and the rest came after them, one by one, each grabbing onto the next, hands or legs locking them together.As they reached the stretch of river, Hayley waved. Everyone pulled their parachutes open.Splash!Splash!Seconds later, all of them landed safely near the middle of the river.Back in the helicopter, the others saw all seven of them make it into the water without a problem, and their eyes lit up."Go, go, go! Follow them! Jump into the river!""Yeah, the river's safer!""Fifty-nine seconds remaining. Fifty-eight seconds.""We're out of time. Move!"The countdown overhead kept dropping.No one hesitated anymore. They all started jumping.After hitting the water, Hayley and her group swam hard for shore. By the time they climbed out, more parachutes were dropping on
After Preston's group finished recruiting, several pairs of eyes shifted toward Hayley.Preston leaned in and whispered something to one of his men. The guy's eyes lit up as he looked at Hayley. "Hey, you. The boss likes you. Come over and give him a kiss, and he'll take you in. No need to hand over your bullet."Hayley let out a quiet, amused laugh.Tyler and Barnaby, who were sitting beside her, both stood up. "No, thanks. She's our leader. We're not going anywhere."After hearing that, Preston and his men looked Hayley over again and again. The broad, heavily built Preston studied them with a mix of scrutiny and contempt, a greasy smirk tugging at his lips. Then he waved his man back.The guy sneered at them before returning, "Keep up the act. When the time comes, we'll see how you beg us to take you in."Their side sat back down and stopped talking.The tension in the cabin thickened as everyone waited for what came next.There were no windows in the helicopter. No one kn
The thought had barely formed in Hayley's mind when the selection day arrived. It came before she even had the chance to track down the person who had been there the longest."Today is the day of our leadership selection. All candidates, board the aircraft and proceed to the trial site."A loud, mechanical voice echoed across the island.At the announcement, people began boarding the helicopters one after another.Parked in the square were massive heavy-lift helicopters, each capable of carrying 200 people. There were 18 in total, enough to transport everyone on site.Everyone lined up and waited for their turn to board.Quite a few looked eager, as if they were ready to prove themselves.Before boarding, each person was handed a set of gear.Hayley glanced through hers. It included a required communicator, a parachute pack, and a handgun.The gun had only one bullet. It was hard to tell what they expected anyone to do with that.But aside from her and Griffin, everyone else
The moment Hayley said that, Griffin broke into a grin.After Alex and the others were escorted out, Hayley mentioned to the man in the white coat that she wanted to bring one more person. The other side agreed without hesitation.The dorms they were assigned were double rooms.Griffin was also given a number, No. 8188.Hayley glanced at the number and frowned."What's wrong, Captain Gorgeous? You like my number?""Heh. Idiot."Griffin stared at her."Did you even notice my number?" Hayley held hers up. "It's 7132. There's a gap of over 1,000 between us. But we already wiped out the inner camp. There's no way they're still issuing numbers from there.""So that means… They've got other camps?""Guess you're not a total idiot." Hayley gave him an approving look, though inwardly, she couldn't help but reassess just how powerful the Sovereign Academy really was.If each base recruited around 50 people, then they had at least 20 branches the size of the inner camp.Twenty.And
The canyon's inner camp had already sent in a report before this.They claimed they had found a one-of-a-kind multi-Gifted.The news had shaken the upper ranks right away.They immediately sent someone to bring Hayley in, hoping to secure her. But the agent they dispatched, Diana, came back with a different answer. The so-called multi-Gifted was fake. There was no such person.But now…The man in the white coat stared at Hayley, barely able to contain his excitement. "You've been to our canyon inner camp before. ID number 7913, right?""Yeah."Hayley admitted it without hesitation.The man leading the group's gaze flickered, then he continued, "Something must've gone wrong back then for us to lose someone as exceptional as you. We'll keep investigating that. But Ms. Reid, we're glad you've decided to rejoin us.""No problem. I've always wanted to be part of something powerful. After learning about your Sovereign Academy, I figured this is exactly where I belong."The tense ex
With Hayley constantly cheering him on, Scott's blade moved faster, stronger, and sharper.From midnight until 3 a.m., they fought nonstop for four full hours. Finally, as a third of the base's population was lost, the zombie tide from all directions came to a halt.After Scott finished off the la
The zombie's mouth was enormous.Its lips were torn apart, its jaw stretched to its absolute limit, its throat pulled wide open. That black, gaping maw was savage enough to bite Hayley's head off in a single snap."Raarh!"Hayley's hand moved toward the long blade on her back.A flash of steel c
Scott's eyes lit up. He looked surprised at first, then seemed to understand. He was about to keep asking when Hayley spoke first."Honestly, Captain Fuller, I felt an instant connection with you. I truly think you're a good person, so I'll be straight with you. Life in that lousy league of mine is
After happily pocketing 100 thousand crystal cores, Hayley felt comfortable from the bottom of her heart to the tips of her toes.Being able to squeeze Scott like this wasn't something just anyone could pull off.He could only blame himself for manipulating people and playing the noble leader. Now







