“No way! You’re ing too!” shouted Antonny, their leader. “The hangar’s just ahead! Once we’re on the pne—”

  A gunshot cut him off mid-sentence. Antonny turo see the pilot who had volunteered to cover them fall to the ground, blood poolih his lifeless body. “Adam!!!” Antonny screamed, his eyes bzing with fury. “You bastards! Is killing us all really necessary?!”

  He raised his gun and opened fire, his shots precise and deadly. Several pursuers dropped instantly, but their numbers were overwhelming. Before long, Antonny took two bullets—oo the shoulder, ao his lower abdomeumbled and nearly colpsed, but one of his teammates caught him and dragged him toward the hangar.

  “Get the captain on board!” another pilot shouted, taking cover and ying down suppressive fire. He and his partner exged grim looks before stepping out of cover, determio buy their rades more time.

  From the enemy ranks, a man with sharp features stepped forward, wielding a rge-caliber revolver. His movements were deliberate, his aim unerring. Bang! Bang! Two sh out, and the pilots fell instantly, each bullet striking dead ter in their foreheads.

  “Well done,” said a voice from the shadows. Kane, one of the masterminds behind the coup, stepped forward, appuding slowly. “With marksmanship like that, have you sidered staying at our base ohis is all over?” His tone was light, almost pyful, but his eyes glinted with alice. As a ruthless real estate mogul turned warlord, Kane’s unassuming name masked a deadly ambition—and a willio crush anyone who stood in his way.

  Antonny, the founder of the base, had suffered heavy losses duried missions to fight off threats. Each time he went out, his subordinates faced severe casualties. This left his position vulnerable, and Kane, along with his aplices, seized the opportunity to wrest trol of the base.

  The devastating Battle of NYC was no exception. Antonny’s forces were crushed, and his loyal followers were dwindling rapidly. Seeing the perfect ce to strike, Kane allied with the other Base—a rge survivor base on their south. Together, they po elimionny and his remaining men. “Not ied,” t, a middle-aged man with a stern expression, said ftly. His tone carried no hint of emotion. “If it weren’t for my boss’s orders, I wouldn’t even bother with these people.”

  Kane wasn’t fazed by the reje. Instead, he pressed on with a sly grin. What he cared about most was ensuring Antonny’s death and seg absolute trol over the Imperial Capital base. “Rex,” Kane replied fidently. “O’s done, you’ll get what you want—five thousand girls, as promised.”

  The popution of the base was in the hundreds of thousands. Even if the ratio of women was low, there were still over 20,000. Giving away 5,000 wasn’t a problem for Kane. He was already scheming to send older women to make up the numbers if needed. “Don’t try to fool us,” t said coldly, his sharp eyes narrowing. “We want girls, not your tricks.”

  Kane’s scheming mind was exposed, and he could only ugh awkwardly. “Of course. You’ll get exactly what you asked for.” t snorted but didn’t linger. Without another word, he headed toward the hangar where Antonny and his men were hiding.

  Ihe hangar, chaned. Antonny’s group was making a desperate attempt to escape. “Start it up, quickly!” Ava, one of Antonny’s trusted allies, shouted as she frantically activated the armed helicopter. The bdes roared to life, sending a deafening sound reverberating through the space.

  “Leave me! Steve, you and Ava get out of here!” Antonny, bleeding heavily from two gunshot wounds, struggled to keep his voice steady despite his weakening state.

  “No way! Captain, hang in there!” Steve, a young soldier with a limp from a bullet wound in his leg, gritted his teeth and tinued dragging Antonny toward the helicopter.

  Before they could reach safety, t ehe hangar like a shadow of death. His revolver barked once, and the soldier standing guard crumpled to the ground, a hole between his eyes. His speed and accuracy were terrifying, as if aiming wasn’t even necessary. “You won’t escape!” t shouted, his voice eg over the deafening sound of the rotors.

  Steve, despite his injuries, turo face t, raising his pistol in a st act of defiance. But t was faster. Another sh out, and Steve colpsed, lifeless. With no oo support him, Antono the ground as well, his blood poolih him.

  “Damn it!” From ihe helicopter, Ava saw the age. Rage filled her eyes as she pulled the trol stick. The helicopter lifted slightly off the ground, its nose swiveling to aim at t. Moments ter, twin Gatling guns roared, unleashing a hail of bullets in his dire. t’s expression didn’t ge. He rolled swiftly to avoid the gunfire, moving like a predator.

  “Captai on board!” Ava yelled, her voice crag uhe pressure.

  “Leave me!” Antonny shouted back, his voice hoarse but anding. “That’s an order!”

  “Captain!” Ava hesitated, tears brimming in her eyes.

  “GO!” Antonny’s roar was filled with a st surge of strength, a leader’s final and. “Obey orders!”

  With trembling hands, Ava bit back her emotions and turhe helicopter toward the exit. The Gatlings fired relentlessly, mowing down the pursuers waiting outside as she made her escape.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  t fired three precise shots, each hitting the same spot on the helicopter’s steel pte. The bullets peed the armor, but the helicopter didn’t go down. It rose into the sky, esg into the distance. Watg the helicopter disappear, Kane scowled. “One of them got away?”

  “I never fail,” t replied coldly, his voice devoid of doubt. He holstered his revolver and walked bato the hangar.

  Inside, Antonny y motionless beside Steve’s body, his strength pletely gone. His oermined eyes grew dim as doubt crept into his mind. Was everything he fought for worth it? He couldn’t protect his men, couldn’t protect the survivors…

  As darkness closed in, a faint, imagined voice broke through his despair. It was Steve’s voice, joined by others he had lost.“Captain, it’s not your fault.”“If we don’t protect the survivors, then who will?”“We’re soldiers, Captain. We don’t regret it.”A faint smile appeared on Antonny’s lips, and thehi silent.

  Elsewhere, Zack sat in his Armory, staring at Ego’s holographic dispy. “What?! Antonny is dead?”

  “Yes, Sir” Ego replied. “Satellite footage suggests a power struggle broke out in the Imperial Capital Base. Antonny’s fa was overthrown. Only one helicopter escaped.”

  Zack ched his fists. Antonny had oraveled thousands of miles to help him fight a massive zombie horde. He still owed the man a favor—a debt he could never repay now.“And the ones responsible?” Zack asked grimly.

  “A third-party force from South region, The Caribbean base, seems to have been involved,”

  Ego's capacity to manage such a wealth of information with just oellite was already impressive.

  “Caribbean base?” Zack’s voice was sharp, with a trace of iger. “Greed,” he muttered, his tone growing colder. “Their hands are reag too far.”