Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Chapter 1309 - 1309: Dig Deeper

"Yeah," Ethan said, noncommittal, giving a small nod. "That's one option.""Alright. You don't need to babysit us. We're going to head deeper and look around."

"Oh—sure. Go ahead."

Oliver didn't suspect a thing. He just assumed Ethan's group wanted to see if there were any leftovers—anything they'd missed.

That part didn't worry him at all. They'd had this Void Realm for ages. They'd turned over every inch of dirt multiple times. There was no way any treasure was still hiding here.

Once Ethan and the others were far enough away, Oliver's underlings finally dared to speak.

"Boss… so from now on, we have to share this Void Realm with them?"

"Then what else do you suggest?" Oliver shot back.

"You all know how terrifying they are. This is the best outcome we're getting."

"…Fine." The underling nodded, frustrated but resigned.

On the other side, Ethan kept True Sight running as he searched carefully, sweeping every stretch of ground.

Nobody else talked. They just followed quietly at his side.

After a long while, Ethan stopped between several collapsed mountain peaks.

"Garrick," he said. "Dig."

"Hell yeah." Garrick nodded, then planted both hands on the ground.

In an instant, the earth around them split and peeled back. A pit more than forty feet deep opened up right in front of everyone.

At Stage B peak, this kind of work was way easier for Garrick than it used to be.

The commotion quickly drew Oliver's group over.

"What are they doing?"

"No idea. Looks like… they're digging a hole."

"…"

"That's a pretty creative way to dig."

"Earth-type ability," someone said. "Come on. Let's go take a look." Oliver's tone was cautious.

He didn't know why, but a bad feeling had started crawling up his spine.

Garrick dug fast. Before long, the pit had punched down more than a thousand feet—and by then, everyone could feel it: the mysterious energy was getting even denser.

"Captain," someone asked, peering down. "What's down there?"

"Not sure yet," Ethan said. "But the mysterious energy in this Void Realm is coming from below. There's probably something nasty—in a good way."

"You mean like… one of those insane ore veins from web novels?" Big Mike's eyes went wide, pure excitement splashed across his face.

Ethan paused. "Uh… honestly? That's not impossible."

"Holy shit!" Big Mike practically bounced. "Then what are we waiting for? Garrick, dig!"

Garrick shot him a look. "How about you come do it?"

"Easy for you to say."

Big Mike coughed. "I mean—I don't have an earth-type ability. So yeah, you're the guy. I'll buy you a drink later."

"…"

Garrick shook his head, then kept digging anyway.

Emily activated Energy Link and connected to Garrick, keeping his mental energy and stamina topped off in a steady stream.

With Garrick opening the earth ahead of them, the whole group dropped downward at a crazy pace.

By the time Oliver and the others arrived, all they could see was a dark, bottomless shaft. Ethan's group was long gone from view.

"Boss… what do we do?" one underling asked, uneasy.

"What do you think we do?" Oliver rolled his eyes. "We wait. You wanna jump down there?"

If they went down and pissed them off…

They'd wipe us out in seconds.

"…Yeah, no." The underling swallowed. "But—are they seriously going to find treasure? What kind of treasure would be buried that deep?"

"Who knows?" another muttered. "And how can they even be sure there's something down there? They're just digging straight down. What if it's all for nothing?"

"Stop guessing," Oliver said, voice flat. "Fallen Star Squad didn't get where they are by luck. They've got something special. Maybe one of them has a treasure-finding ability."

It wasn't the kind of thing you could be jealous of and fix with hard work.

With nothing else to do, they could only stand guard at the rim of the shaft, staring into the darkness and waiting for whatever came next.

Down below, they kept dropping—2,000 feet… 2,500… 3,000.

At that depth, even with how strong Garrick had gotten, it was starting to wear on him. He was finally hitting his limit.

Good thing Emily's link was the real deal, constantly feeding him recovery.

"Garrick," Ethan said suddenly, "dig down-right."

Everyone turned to him, eyes bright. "Captain—you see it?"

"Yeah." Ethan's face lit up with pure excitement. "Found something good."

"An ore vein?" Big Mike blurted, practically vibrating.

"Uh… sure, let's call it that." Ethan clearly didn't feel like giving the full lecture.

"It's kind of like that weird crystal we embedded in the ritual circle up on the Celestial Stairway—same vibe. But this one's huge, and the mysterious energy is insane."

"Hah!" Big Mike grinned like a kid. "I can't wait. Garrick, you got this!"

Garrick's fatigue evaporated on the spot. Following Ethan's guidance, he drove the excavation toward that direction.

Before long, the dirt gave way.

What showed up ahead wasn't soil anymore, but a slick, jet-black rock that almost looked polished. Garrick tried a few times, pushed harder, changed angles—

Nothing.

He stopped, frustrated. "Captain, this has gotta be some kind of ore. It's hard as hell. I can't dig through it."

"Yeah." Ethan nodded. He'd seen it with True Sight, but he hadn't expected even Garrick to get stonewalled.

"Try weapons," Ethan said. "See if we can crack it."

"Got it!"

Everyone drew their weapons and started hammering the black rock with everything they had.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The impacts thundered through the underground like artillery. The entire shaft shuddered. Dirt and debris rained from above so hard they nearly got buried alive.

Garrick reacted instantly, splitting the falling earth apart to keep it from collapsing on them. Then he looked back at the wall.

It had worked—kind of. They'd shattered a good chunk of the black ore.

But "good chunk" was relative.

They'd maybe advanced less than two feet.

"Ethan," someone asked, hopeful anyway, "how far is the thing you're talking about?"

Ethan scratched his cheek. "Uh… about three hundred feet."

"…."

Everyone's faces twitched.

Three hundred feet of this? Yeah, no. This was a nightmare.

Ethan sighed and shook his head. "Alright. You guys are useless for this."

Then he flicked his wrist.

A figure appeared in front of them.

Chris laughed. "And once again… Dopey suffers for all of us."

Ethan handed the poleaxe to Dopey.

"Dopey," Ethan said, pointing at the black wall, "smash that."

Dopey didn't do speeches. He took the poleaxe and swung it like he was trying to delete the world in front of him.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!

The shockwaves were horrifying. The deep shaft Garrick had painstakingly opened immediately started caving in. Tons of dirt poured down in an instant, swallowing the space.

Garrick threw up a protective dome on reflex, bracing it against the collapse to keep everyone from getting buried.

Sure, with their strength, even getting entombed wouldn't kill them.

But it would feel like absolute garbage.

Up above, Oliver and the others stared at the collapsed pit, completely dumbfounded.

"What the hell is this?" someone blurted. "They dug a hole just to bury themselves?"

"If you're gonna bury yourself, do you really need to go that deep? What—worried you won't be dead enough?"

"Shut up," Oliver snapped, rolling his eyes. "If they hear you, you're done."

"Boss…" one underling said nervously, peering into the mess. "Are they actually okay down there? Should we start digging them out?"

Oliver frowned at the collapsed shaft for a long moment, then shook his head.

"No. We don't need to." His voice was tight, but firm. "They're Fallen Star Squad. This won't take them out."

"And they dug at least three thousand feet. If we try to dig down, we'll be at it until next week."

"…Yeah. Fair."

Still, the underlings couldn't stop staring.

"I'm honestly dying to know what they're even doing," someone muttered. "Who digs that deep?"

"Same," another said, eyes locked on the darkness like it might answer back.