The battle damage report came in quickly.

Over 4,000 Enhanced had died in the fight. More than 2,000 were seriously injured. The rest? Almost everyone had at least some kind of wound.

Sure, watching Ethan and his squad mow down zombies made it look easy—but that was only because their power was on a whole different level. For the average Enhanced, fighting zombies of the same Tier was already tough. Add in being outnumbered? It was brutal.

Even Ethan hadn't expected the losses to be this high.

Afterward, Miles organized cleanup crews to clear the battlefield and collect crystal cores.

Ethan recovered four Tier 7 cores from the fallen elite zombies. He handed two to Chris, pushing him to the peak of Tier 7, and gave the other two to Henry.

With that, Henry immediately began treating the critically wounded.

Now that these people were officially part of their own, there was no way Ethan was letting them die.

The lightly injured weren't a concern—at Tier 5, most minor wounds would heal on their own in a few days.

But over 2,000 critically injured Enhanced? That was a serious challenge, even for Henry. Even with crystal cores to replenish his energy, it was a grind.

Thankfully, as a Tier 7 healer working on Tier 5 bodies, the energy cost wasn't too bad. He could treat dozens—sometimes over a hundred—before needing a break.

And as Henry kept working, one after another, Enhanced who'd been on the brink of death were suddenly back on their feet, full of life.

To the others, it was like watching someone snatch people straight from the jaws of death.

Their awe for the Fallen Star Squad, already sky-high, now tipped into full-blown reverence.

With someone like Henry around, their lives had never felt more secure.

Why be afraid of fighting anymore? As long as you didn't get one-shot, you could just "recall to fountain" and come back full HP.

That's when they started to realize—every single member of the Fallen Star Squad wasn't just strong. They each had some kind of insane, game-breaking ability.

And that only made them more determined to follow them to the end.

Miles didn't waste the momentum. Using the collected crystal cores, he pushed every Enhanced in the compound to the peak of Tier 5.

Then, he handpicked several dozen who had performed exceptionally well in the battle—and promoted them straight to Tier 6.

The back-to-back upgrades sent morale through the roof. Loyalty? Maxed out. Sense of belonging? Off the charts.

With the compound stabilized, Miles began planning the next phase of development.

Meanwhile, Ethan and the others returned to the Pine Hollow compound to prepare for a full relocation.

It was no small task.

Pine Hollow might not have been huge, but it was packed with supplies. One warehouse alone spanned several thousand square feet and was filled to the brim.

Ethan rounded up a dozen mechanics from the compound—people who knew how to fix heavy trucks. Then he led them out to scavenge a dozen or so damaged cargo trucks that weren't too far gone.

After some hard work and a lot of grease, the trucks were up and running.

From there, the entire Pine Hollow compound kicked into gear.

Some loaded trucks. Others packed supplies. Everyone had a job.

Two days later, the migration was complete.

With both compounds merged, their total population was back over twenty thousand.

On the Enhanced side, Redmont's compound had over 8,000, and Pine Hollow added another 1,000+.

Miles selected a few hundred more survivors and trained them up, rounding the total to a clean 10,000—all at Tier 5 peak.

As for weapons, every Enhanced was now equipped with a heavy-duty rebar staff.

They weren't as massive or customized as the ones used by the Fallen Star Squad, but they were the largest available from Redmont's steel factory—more than enough to last through Tier 6.

And speaking of Tier 6, they now had over fifty Enhanced at that level.

With this kind of force, they might not be ready to steamroll the world just yet—but within Redwood County?

Zombies were no longer a threat.

In the days that followed, Miles organized the Enhanced into several squads and sent them out to sweep the surrounding areas of Redmont City, clearing out lingering zombies. Meanwhile, the regular survivors got to work expanding the compound.

With over twenty thousand people now inside the compound, there was no shortage of skilled hands. They might not have many high-tech experts, but when it came to farmers, construction workers, electricians, and plumbers? They had more than enough.

Miles' goal was simple: rebuild fast. Get production running, restore power, and push the compound toward full self-sufficiency.

Sure, they had plenty of supplies for now—but with this many mouths to feed, consumption was high.

Unlike other compound leaders who rationed food to the point of starvation, Miles did the opposite. His first priority was making sure everyone had enough to eat and stayed warm.

That one decision earned him massive loyalty. People worked harder, faster, and with real pride in what they were building.

While Miles was buried in logistics and planning, Ethan and the Fallen Star Squad weren't sitting idle either.

The day after relocating the Pine Hollow survivors, Ethan led the squad into the mountains—mutant beast territory.

Redwood County was surrounded by mountain ranges, thick with forests and steep terrain. The beasts up there had always been a looming threat, like a blade hanging over their heads.

Ethan wanted to change that.

He needed to know what they were dealing with—how many mutant beasts were up there, and how dangerous they really were.

Originally, he'd considered bringing Goldie along. But after thinking it through, he left the massive Bengal tiger behind.

Goldie was already Tier 8, and its presence alone would scare off most other mutant beasts before they even got close. That wasn't what Ethan wanted.

Instead, he brought Pumpkin—the orange cat.

In terrain like this, having a mutant beast along was a smart move. They had a natural edge when it came to sensing danger, especially in dense, unpredictable environments like the mountains.

Ethan couldn't keep [True Sight] active the whole time—it drained too much mental energy—so having Pumpkin as an early warning system was the next best thing.

They'd barely started climbing when the grass ahead rustled.

Ethan immediately activated [True Sight] and scanned the area—just in time to catch a glimpse of a massive rabbit diving into a burrow.

His eyes lit up.

"Maybe this mountain isn't a death trap after all," he said, sounding genuinely excited. "It might actually be a goldmine."

The others looked at him, confused.

"Why's that?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Think about it," Ethan said. "Our compound can already grow enough staple crops and vegetables—corn, potatoes, all that. But meat? That's still a weak spot. This mountain? It's a natural meat supply."

"..."

Chris gave him a skeptical look. "You sure the people we send up here won't just get eaten?"

"Well, yeah, there's danger," Ethan admitted. "But it's all relative. If you're stronger than the beast, it's food. If you're weaker, you're food."

"Most of the animals up here have mutated, sure—but the numbers haven't changed. There are still way more weak ones than strong ones."

"That rabbit just now? Only Tier 4. I'm guessing most of the beasts up here are around that level. With the strength we've got in the compound, as long as we avoid the real monsters, hunting up here could be a huge win."

"Plus, zombies don't reproduce. Mutant beasts do. That means we could eventually have a steady supply of low-Tier beasts—and that solves our shortage of low-Tier crystal cores."

The squad paused, letting that sink in.

Then their eyes lit up.

"Captain, when you put it like that… this mountain really might be a treasure trove."

Ethan grinned. "Exactly. Let's keep moving. Time to see what else is hiding up here."

And with that, the squad pushed deeper into the forested slopes.

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