I already knew that the zombies coming out from the turtle zombie den were special. They could traverse waters and come on land to fight. However when I saw a few of them coming ashore back then, I mistook that I had enough time to prepare for them.

However from what Fang said, these zombies seemed to act cunning and sly. They spanned over a large stretch of land, covering almost the entire southern region.

If they keep increasing their numbers and expanding their reach, then in a matter of a few weeks or months they might be able to endanger my entire kingdom.

Zombies coming at my land from one point held a different level of threat than those coming at my kingdom from every corner.

This was bad. And I never expected this to happen. I was lost in deep thought, trying to find out a solution to stop this plaque from expanding.

Just to show how deadly this was, I just needed to take a peek at what was happening at the western border to know how black the future was.

[So if we dont stop them now, if we dont prepare for the worst to come, we are going to be all killed!] I imagined the all calm and collected Fang to start screaming in immense worry.

Despite the dire situation, it looked really funny.

[Sending reinforcements wont do]

[Then come in person and deal with this mess!]

I wasnt surprised by his weird change of demands. After all, I might be considered much stronger than many armies combined.

[If I have the power and means to kill them, do you think Id have stayed my hand back?]

[Then what shall we do? You do know that time isnt in our favour]

[Retreat!]

[What?!!!]

This was indeed shocking, but it was the only way I could think of to deal with this troublesome mess. The situation was desperate, and I lacked any means to properly deal with it.

If fighting wasnt an option, and defending wasnt possible, then retreat was the answer.

[Your lands arent well fortified like mine] but I knew giving such out of the blue order was hard to grasp for Fang and his people. Besides, he had to report this back to his superior and his people as well.

I was acting as their leader and lord, but if they didnt properly understand my intentions and plans to the core, bad things might happen.

Last thing I wanted to see was to lose many good fighters like Selvators. They would also leave behind stronger zombies if they died. And that would make the situation more desperate.

[We have enough defences!]

[Not like the ones I built all over my kingdom] I didnt doubt his words, but compared with my kingdom defences built by the genius Isac, theirs must pale against mine.

[You didnt see ours yet!]

[Thats not needed] I paused, [even with my kingdom dense defences, things are terribly bad here]

[You want us to defend your lands and abandon ours?]

[Dont get the wrong idea, my point is even with much defences and endless forces, defending isnt going to work]

I knew dealing with smart people was quite tiring. They could easily see through many tricks and easily jump over terrible conclusions.

But I wasnt lying or trying to bluff him. Even with my kingdoms defences and armies, we still were going to be crushed.

[Do you imply that you will even retreat inside your lands?] He finally got what I meant.

[Thats a loss indeed, but its a must to have one]

[Why? We have the alternative to fight, search far and wide for these bastards dens and crash them without risking anything]

[Tsk! Why are you suddenly acting like that warmonger?] I sighed, [Here are things you dont know]

I started to give him a brief of the grand zombie lying in defence at the southern ocean. At the same time, I told him that I tried to fight and couldnt leave a single scratch over that behemoths body.

After I explained how futile fighting or adopting his naive plan, he went into silence for a few minutes. I knew he was frustrating, I was too. But there was no other option but this.

[Whats your plan then?] Fang asked this after five minutes of silence.

[Going all out, fighting over all fronts]

[Either crush all and live as the only king or end up defeated and lose everything?]

[Smart!] my face cracked and showed a simple smile that surely wasnt anything like it.

[Is there any other option?]

[If so, do you think I wont adapt it before going all crazy?]

[Fine! Ill retreat with all, abandon the southern continents and lands However after all this is done, I want ten times the lost lands as compensation]

[Ten folds? Why wont you ask for half of my seat then?] I scoffed, [Dont be greedy. The most I can do is give you double]

[Nine times our lost lands then]

[This isnt a bargain! If you want more, join my crusade and accomplish great deeds. This way, you can have even more than ten folds!]

[Agreed! Wait for me until I arrive then]

[Time waits for no one, and Ill start my plan right away]

[Cant you wait for a few days?]

[Not a single day. Just come fast and be ready to join blood fights the moment youll arrive]

I closed the chat and felt quite amused. This Fang got clues about what I meant earlier. Going all out didnt include fighting zombies only. I thought and recalled that his information network was something praiseworthy.

He must have caught wind with the presence of Hescos here. It would be great if he knew where others were, but at least hed know about their presence in the northern lands.

The most interesting part was his lack of hesitation to ask for a refund. It looked like he was sure of my victory, despite all the odds.

pan,da-n0v el That was interesting. Why was he this confident about this? Even my close friends werent!

As I closed the chat with him, I got time to start my big plans.

And as any grand performance required a speech in the start, I selected a name and sent a message over.

[Hey bro, I hope you are still living well]

[Did you think about what I told you earlier?]

[Sure, tell these Hescos next to you this short message: You dared to invade my home, so Im going to invade yours right away]

The one I contacted with none other than Wryly. I knew about his dire situation right now. The Hescos were indeed unstoppable by any race, not in such early stages of the apocalypse.

So taking control over the Berserkers was indeed an easy feat for them. And it wasnt strange though. Despite Berserkers were famous for their lust for fights, they were nothing compared with the mighty Hescos.

Even dragons and Selvators wouldnt be of match to any of them. I sent this message over so I could stir the still water and even muddy it.

I didnt plan to keep my actions hidden. I wanted them to know so theyd grow restless and decide to come to me here.

If not, then Id simply bring chaos to their worlds. And they knew Id do that. Or else, why would they fetch teams here, trying to burn my garden while I was away?

Cleaning this world from their presence was a must. At least those residing in the northern American continent had to be killed.

Wryly went into utter silence after that. And I didnt expect any answer from him to be honest. I just wanted him to deliver a message, and I was sure he was watching forty-eight seven to make sure he wouldnt leak any important news or secrets.

However when I was about to return and meet the expedition generals to set plans and tactics, I got a message from him.

[Dont act ahead of yourself. You are a mere useless human with nothing but a backing from such a cowardly race as the Toranks!]

Once I read these words, I knew this message wasnt sent by Wryly. One of the Hescos must be taking care of threatening me.

But did he think just by using empty threats like this Id back off? Humph! Childish thinking!

[If you have the power, then come and stop me] I didnt close the chat and waited in amusement for the next message hed send.

[You take my sincere advice as empty words? Interesting! Ill promise you this, none will kill you. In return, Ill make sure to capture you alive, imprison your soul for tens of thousands of years. Aside from agony and torturing your pathetic soul, Ill show you every single victory well have against those pussy-like backers of yours]

[Hahahaha! Empty threats, all you have is just empty threats, hahahaha!]

[Well see about that! Pretty soon, I promise you!]

Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.