Chapter 724: What’s your name?

Clearly, this group of zombies had just escaped from their nest after it was overrun by Xenobeasts.

There weren’t many of them—barely thirty in total—and every single one was running for their lives, not daring to slow down for even a second.

But suddenly, one of them froze, its expression twisting with a surge of murderous intent.

Its head jerked to the side, and from its neck, a tentacle shot out like a spear, piercing straight through the chest of the zombie next to it.

A fleshy lump slid along the tentacle and burrowed into the victim’s body.

It had been parasitized.

“Parasitic monsters?!”

Another zombie turned its head, eyes wide with horror. They’d thought escaping the nest meant safety—but the monsters had already infiltrated their ranks.

To an ordinary zombie, these creatures were nearly impossible to detect.

And there wasn’t just one. All around, more parasitic monsters began revealing their true forms, tearing into the surrounding zombies or infecting them in an instant.

The scene turned into a bloodbath.

“Help! Somebody help!”

What had started as a desperate escape quickly turned into a frantic cry for rescue.

The zombies were drowning in despair. They knew the odds of survival were next to nothing. But just then, a low rumble echoed overhead—a small aircraft swept across the sky at low altitude.

One of the zombies immediately threw its head back and howled.

“Please! Save me! I’m begging you!”

But Ethan, watching the carnage unfold below, didn’t lift a finger. Scenes like this were all too common in Eastreach. He’d seen it a thousand times before.

So the aircraft flew right over the pleading zombie’s head without even slowing down.

The zombie’s heart sank into utter hopelessness.

And when it looked around, it realized all its companions had already been taken.

Their bodies were twisted, tentacles writhing from their flesh, faces contorted with savage hunger. They all turned toward it, lunging as one.

“RRAAAHHH—!”

In a final act of defiance, the zombie let out a thunderous roar. A burst of psychic energy exploded from its mind, scattering like a storm of steel needles, lashing out at the monsters around it.

“Oh?”

Ethan, watching from the aircraft’s window, had been expecting to see the zombie get torn apart. But that sudden surge of psychic power caught his attention.

A zombie with awakened psychic abilities? That was rare. Only a few had ever shown that kind of potential—PhD, Nightbane, Logan… all of them were powerful Zombie Kings.

Even Elegy, the weakest among them, had incredible support abilities—and could throw one hell of a rave.

Ethan narrowed his eyes, studying the zombie more closely. Its eyes were sharp, alert. It wasn’t mindless. There was something… familiar. A hint of PhD in the way it moved.

“Alright, screw it. Let’s save this one…”

He changed his mind on the spot. Maybe this zombie had some scientific potential. The lab was already stretched thin, relying solely on PhD. They desperately needed another brain on the team.

So Ethan swung the aircraft around and headed back.

The zombie below was barely holding on, its psychic energy flickering like a dying flame. The monsters, enraged by its resistance, charged again—this time even more viciously.

“It’s over…”

The zombie could feel death closing in.

But then, the rumble that had faded into the distance suddenly returned. Confused, it turned its head.

And to its shock, the aircraft had looped back and was flying straight toward it.

“What the hell? Why’s it coming back?!”

But there was no time to think. The stench of rot filled the air, and a wave of parasitic monsters surged forward, their tentacles lashing out.

Just as they were about to strike, a crushing pressure swept across the battlefield like a tidal wave.

The monsters froze mid-lunge. Their writhing tentacles began to tremble uncontrollably.

The trembling intensified—until, in a split second, they exploded.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

One after another, the monsters burst apart, spraying blood mist into the air. Their bodies collapsed like sacks of rotten meat.

“…What the…”

The zombie stood there, stunned, staring at the carnage around it.

This… this was way beyond anything it had ever seen.

In just a few heartbeats, the parasitic monsters were completely wiped out—annihilated on the spot. The battlefield was now littered with twitching corpses and pools of gore.

At that exact moment, Ethan’s aircraft touched down with a soft mechanical hiss.

“Those were all A- or B-class monsters… and they got taken out just like that?”

The lone surviving zombie stood frozen, staring at the aircraft.

Who the hell was inside that thing?

Click!

The hatch split open with a smooth hydraulic hiss, revealing a lone figure stepping out.

The zombie’s eyes locked onto him, not wanting to miss a single detail.

But Ethan had activated his illusion disguise—he still looked like an Umbradrake: tattered clothes, ashen skin, and while his features were technically handsome, the overall vibe was… a little underwhelming.

“…That’s it? Not as cool-looking as I imagined,” the zombie muttered to himself.

He’d expected someone with that kind of power to look more… impressive.

“What’s wrong? Disappointed?” Ethan asked casually, catching the mutter.

The zombie immediately shook his head like a bobblehead.

“No, no! Not at all! Thank you—thank you for saving me!”

“It’s fine if you are. Honestly, I’m kinda disappointed too,” Ethan replied with a smirk.

“Uh…”

The zombie blinked, confused. Even with his relatively high intelligence, he couldn’t quite follow.

Was… was this guy disappointed in his appearance?

Or wait—could high-level Zombie Kings actually develop self-esteem issues?

“What’s your name?” Ethan asked, cutting through the awkward silence.

The zombie shook his head. “I don’t have one.”

“Hmm…” Ethan could tell this guy was probably around A-rank at best. Back in his old zombie nest, that wouldn’t have even made him an elite guard.

At most, he was a solid frontline grunt. As for the psychic powers—those probably awakened during the chaos of the nest’s destruction and the desperate escape that followed.

“Well, I’ll give you a name then,” Ethan said.

“Really? Yes, please!” The zombie’s eyes lit up. Getting a name meant recognition—it meant he mattered.

Ethan gave him a once-over, then another. Nothing particularly special stood out—except for the guy’s oversized forehead, probably from some kind of brain mutation. His chin was narrow and pointy, giving his head an overall hammer-like shape.

“You’ll be Hammerhead from now on.”

“Huh?” The zombie blinked.

He rolled the name around in his mind. Hammerhead… yeah, that sounded pretty badass.

“Alright! I’m Hammerhead now. Thank you, Boss, for the name!”

Ethan nodded. “So, where were you headed?”

“With the Xenobeasts invading, all the zombies in Eastreach are regrouping at the Overlord of Eastreach’s nest. They’re planning a counterattack. I was heading there,” Hammerhead explained.

“Ah…” That lined up. The signal Ethan had picked up earlier had come from that same location. He’d been planning to check it out anyway.

“Hop in. We’ll go together.”

“Really? Thank you, Boss!” Hammerhead beamed, bowing repeatedly. If he’d had to walk there on foot, it could’ve taken months—assuming he didn’t die along the way.

Now, with a ride, he’d be there in no time.

He didn’t waste a second. Hammerhead sprinted toward the aircraft and climbed aboard.

But the moment he stepped inside, he froze again.

The interior was pristine—sleek, spotless, and clearly untouched by human hands.

“This… doesn’t look like it’s been used by humans. Wait a second…”

Hammerhead’s eyes narrowed in thought. His mind was sharp enough to put two and two together.

“Boss… did you just come back from the human continent—Terran Reach?”

…