Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle

He had been observing Shane's ranking, the infamous Shadow Strider, as he maintained the top 1 in the Leaderboard.

With his incredible achievement, including the one in the latest Boss Raid Event, Shane had become a legend among survivors, but Asad was determined to surpass him. The next Zombie Wave was approaching, and he intended to take the top spot in the Individual Rankings.

"With this force... I should be good enough to surpass Shadow Strider's record," he mused while his lips curled into a faint smile.

The upcoming wave would be his opportunity, and he was prepared to unleash his full power. He had purchased enough Talismans, Pills, Potions, Spirit Stones, and even Recruitment Stones… He was confident that he'd be the fastest clearer even if he met several High-Tier Zombies at the same time.

"Mhmm?"

As the sun descended below the horizon, Asad's eyes narrowed.

It seemed that the rulers of the desert had finally arrived. These creatures were the reason why no one, aside from him, could survive in the desert region…

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The ground soon trembled beneath his feet. It was faintly at first, then it slowly got stronger, as though something massive was moving beneath the sands.

Suddenly, the earth erupted in a cloud of dust, and a deafening screech echoed through the air.

Boom!

Five enormous Zombie Worms, each as large as a bus, burst from the ground. Their segmented bodies were covered in rotting flesh, and their mouths were filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth. Their pale, milky eyes were sightless, but they didn't need vision to hunt. They could sense the life—or in this case, the death—that lingered in the shelter.

The Dessert Worm Zombies were a rare and dangerous breed of zombie, capable of burrowing through sand and stone alike.

Their arrival was unexpected since Asad would normally deal with only one or two Desser Zombie wve

Asad, however, was not intimidated.

His eyes flared as he raised his hand, calling forth his undead army. The skeletons clattered into formation, their bones rattling as they drew rusted swords and shields.

'This is a perfect opportunity to test my army before the Zombie Wave…' Asad thought. After all, his undead summons could be killed but they could still be summoned once he recovered.

Soon, his Ghouls, with their elongated claws, crouched low, as they got themselves ready to pounce. Behind him, the Lich stepped forward and raised its staff high as a pulse of dark energy surged through the air.

Asad smirked beneath his hood. "You've come to the wrong place."

The first Zombie Worm dived forward, its massive body crashed down toward the shelter's walls. But before it could reach them, Asad unleashed his power.

With the use of 1,500 Spirit Points, he summoned the Doom Knight.

Roaarr!

The ground cracked as the armored figure appeared… It had such an epic appearance, with its black plate glistening in the fading sunlight.

The Doom Knight then wasted no time as it charged towards the worm with its greatsword raised.

Boom!

The sword met the worm's thick hide with a deafening crash, cutting deep into its flesh.

The worm may not feel pain, but it surely felt the force that blocked its movement. It didn't end there as the Doom Knight pressed on; its strength surged and soon, it overwhelmed the Dessert Worm Zombie!. Behind it, the Ghouls swarmed, leaping onto the worm's body and tearing into its decaying flesh filled with savageness…

"Come on! Faster!" Asad ordered…

At the same time, the Lich raised its skeletal hand, and from the ground, hundreds of skeleton warriors clawed their way to the surface as they charged to the remaining worms…

They marched forward in perfect unison with the bone weapons Asad had prepared. They moved without any fear for their lives!

However, the worms fought back, thrashing violently, killing dozens of skeleton warriors very easily… But Asad's undead were an unstoppable force. Their sheer numbers would soon overwhelm the monstrous creatures.

Asad stood at the center of it all. His hand still raised, controlling the battle with his mysterious connection with the undead creatures…

The worms were powerful, but they were no match for his army. One by one, the worms fell, their bodies torn apart by the bone weapons of the undead.

'Those bones weapons are expensive, but with this, even Tyrant Zombies would have their flesh torn apart.' Asad grinned after seeing how great those weapons were.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

These bone weapons weren't something he looted or created. He bought all of them from a seller in the market, claiming that they were from a Crusher Zombie's drop and had been crafted into weapons by a Legendary Talent Holder.

The bone daggers, bone spikes, bone swords, bone spears, and other weapons carried by the Skeleton Warriors were all worth 50 to 70 Zombie Cores each! Furthermore, some of them had even received an upgrade from his Item Upgrade Crystal.

Basically, all of Asad's wealth had already been turned into items to strengthen his army.

The last worm, battered and bleeding, attempted to retreat as it seemed to have a trace of little intelligence and knew that it couldn't win.

It tried burrowing back into the ground!

"Hmph! It's too late…" Asad muttered as wasn't finished yet. With another command, he sent the Doom Knight after it. He also used one of his Necromancy Skills, called Deathly Aura Surge, to strengthen the Doom Knight. Within 3 minutes, it received a 2x Strength Effect!

The undead warrior charged its sword into the worm's body, pinning it to the ground. Unable to move, the worm was soon overwhelmed and let out one last, agonized screech before falling silent.

[ You have eliminated a Dessert Worm Leader Zombie. ]

"Ohhh… So it was a leader… Their appearance looked the same. Aside from a little intelligence, it wasn't really that different…" Asad muttered.

He then lowered his hand and commanded the Lich to bring back all the bone weapons before cancelling the Skeleton Warrior summons.

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The battle was over…

He then walked over to the Doom Knight, its glowing eyes still locked on the corpse of the worm. "Good work," he muttered, though the creature gave no sign of acknowledgment.

Asad didn't mind it as he started looting all the Zombies he had eliminated.

***

As the day of the third Zombie Wave approached, Shane took a moment to look at this hastily built camp to see if he was missing something.

Of course, his preparations had gone as planned, but no matter what, this shelter wasn't even a month old and hadn't met any strong resistance against Zombies.

They may have encountered some Jumper Zombies, Violent Hurdler Zombies, Licker Zombies, and others, but they would only come in groups of 3 or 5. The number was so few so they couldn't push the limit of their defense and see if there was a hole in their defense.

'Tall palisade wall combined with electric barb… hundreds of traps with explosives, five watchtowers, two Automated Turrets, 30 combatants, including me… Is this enough for the third Zombie Wave?' Shane thought to himself.

To be honest, he wasn't sure if they would survive if five or more Giant Zombies attacked at the same time. After all, two of them attacked the Manor during the second Zombie Wave all at the same time and it wasn't easy.

Although they might not get such a difficult Zombie Wave this time with their lower population, he had to be prepared.

He needed something extraordinary. Something that would shred the undead to pieces before they could even reach the walls.

'That would be interesting if I could make them…' He thought…

Then, an idea came up.

He still has the Otherworldly Mechanic Talent!

'Right, I have hundreds of Reputation Points and thousands of Zombie Cores… I should splurge a bit.'

Shane then spent the last few days testing the limits of his Otherworldly Mechanic Talent's abilities and of course, he had seen the vast inventory of the Anima Store, a secret marketplace that only those with this talent could access.

Anyway, as a mechanic, he was able to confirm that he could construct complex machines and use advanced technology far beyond what was available in this apocalyptic world, but it came at a cost. Reputation Points, Zombie Cores, and sometimes even Experience Points were required to purchase the components and materials he needed.

"Experience Points…" Shane frowned as he realized that the technology that was completely out of this world would eat up his levels for sure. If he didn't want that to happen, he possessed some items close to that technology to trade and avoid paying a huge price.

After studying for a long time, he soon confirmed a project he could do with minimal expenses on his side…

"This should be perfect…" Shane said with a grin on his face.

The last measure he decided to take was to build a massive grinder—a device that would automatically crush and destroy any zombies that dared to approach the camp's walls!