Apocalypse: King of Zombies Chapter 1528: I Just Wanted the Crystal Core

"Why?" a woman demanded, her eyes red. "The Western Region has been devastated! Why haven’t any of the pinnacle races come to help? Are they really abandoning us?"

Everyone fell silent.

They wanted to know too.

This war had started in the Southern Region and erupted in full force in the Eastern Region. What had the Western Region done wrong? Why were they suffering the most? Was it simply because they were weak?

It wasn’t just the Aurelians. Every surviving race in the Western Region was asking the same question.

The Outland Beasts had received reinforcements at Stage SS. Why hadn’t a single powerful fighter come to help the Western Region?

Did the pinnacle races truly not care if the entire region was wiped out?

What they didn’t know was that the pinnacle races really didn’t care. In fact, this was deliberate.

If they wanted to end the war, they had to appease the Beast Sovereign.

And appeasing the Beast Sovereign required a price.

The Western Region was that price.

None of its races had ever imagined they would one day be sacrificed as pawns.

While the Aurelians struggled to hold the line, a massive figure suddenly appeared in the distance and flew toward the battlefield.

The moment the Aurelians saw it, despair filled their eyes.

"A Stage SS Outland Beast!"

They were already on the verge of collapse, and now a Stage SS beast had arrived. They truly had no way out.

"The Aurelians are finished." The Aurelian Patriarch closed his eyes in anguish.

Just as the massive bird reached the battlefield, a dimensional rift suddenly opened directly in front of it. Several figures emerged from the rift.

"Squawk?!"

The bird had no time to react and crashed straight into them.

Thud!

Several figures were sent flying, while the Outland Beast itself was knocked back more than fifty feet.

"Holy shit! What the hell was that?" Big Mike spread his Gale Wings and stared around in confusion.

The others landed on the ground, equally baffled by the densely packed members of another race surrounding them.

The rest of the squad emerged from the dimensional rift and froze at the sight of the battlefield.

"Ethan... where the hell did you bring us?" Chris asked blankly.

"The Western Region... probably," Ethan said, sounding less than certain.

"Boss, this teleport seems even less reliable than usual," Garrick muttered as he looked at the countless figures around them.

"I’ve never been to the Western Region. How was I supposed to know where we’d end up? All I could do was aim west," Ethan said awkwardly.

Every person and beast below stared at them in confusion. The fighting had come to a complete stop.

Where had these people come from?

After recovering from their initial shock, the Aurelian Patriarch and several senior elders seemed to realize something. They exchanged stunned looks.

Humans!

What were humans doing here?

Their expressions became complicated.

The pinnacle races had already ordered everyone to report any humans the moment they were discovered.

Before today, the Aurelians would have obeyed without hesitation.

But now...

The Stage SS bird recovered from its shock and flew into a rage.

"Squawk!"

With an angry screech, it charged at the newcomers.

"Huh. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad place to land after all." Ethan’s eyes lit up. "We just got here, and a Stage SS crystal core is already delivering itself to us."

He was about to attack when the bird finally noticed him.

"Squawk?!"

It cried out in terror, slammed on the brakes, and immediately turned to flee.

What the hell? How had it missed the Tier 39 monster hiding among them?

"Heh. A little late to run now, birdie."

Ethan vanished and appeared directly in its path. He raised his poleaxe and brought it down on the bird’s head.

The poor beast had arrived eager to make its grand entrance, only to run straight into a monster. It couldn’t even resist before Ethan smashed its skull apart.

With a wave of his hand, Ethan pulled its crystal core into his palm.

"Not bad. That was easy." He smiled.

Every Aurelian below stared with wide eyes.

A Stage SS Outland Beast had been killed just like that?

They had thought its arrival meant the end of the Aurelians. Instead, the situation had taken a completely unexpected turn.

The Aurelian Patriarch’s eyes shifted. Then he suddenly dropped to his knees.

"Thank you for saving the Aurelians, my lord!"

The elders froze, but quickly understood what he was doing and knelt as well.

"Thank you for saving the Aurelians, my lord!"

With their Patriarch and elders on their knees, the rest of the Aurelians naturally followed. In moments, a vast crowd had knelt before Ethan.

"Thank you for saving the Aurelians, my lord!"

Ethan stared at them, completely baffled.

"What do you mean, I saved the Aurelians? I don’t even know who you people are. I just wanted the crystal core."

Other than the Azure Nereids, Ethan had no fondness for the races of the Eldoria Continent. Why would he go out of his way to save them?

"You may have acted only for the crystal core, but by killing that Outland Beast, you saved the Aurelians," the Patriarch said earnestly.

"The Aurelians always repay our debts. If our benefactor ever has need of us, we will brave any danger to serve you."

Ethan smiled at the man’s solemn declaration.

"Nice try. I know exactly what you’re doing. Don’t think you can latch onto me for protection."

It wasn’t difficult to see through the Patriarch’s intentions.

The Aurelians were on the verge of extinction. After witnessing the Fallen Star Squad’s strength, they clearly wanted to place themselves under Ethan’s protection.

"My lord, we mean every word!" the Aurelian Patriarch insisted.

"I don’t care whether you mean it. With how weak you are, you’re no use to me. You’d better stay here and keep playing with these Outland Beasts."

Ethan turned to leave with the others.

The Aurelian Patriarch immediately panicked.

"My lord, we can be useful! The Aurelians possess extremely powerful healing and support abilities. We can definitely help you!"

"Oh?"

Ethan stopped.

He activated True Sight and swept his gaze across the Aurelians. Surprise appeared on his face.

"They actually do."

Every Aurelian possessed powerful healing abilities. They also shared an ability called Empowering Aura, which could enhance other people’s combat strength.

Individually, none of them could compare to Henry or Emily.

But there were a lot of Aurelians.

In a large-scale battle, their value would be enormous.

If Ethan brought them back to Earth, they could provide a massive boost to Fallen Star City.

There was just one problem.

Ethan didn’t trust the races of the Eldoria Continent.