Chapter 21
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In the following days, the people in the shelter were energized, taking down zombies and rebuilding the city.
Ethan had blessed everyone in the shelter once before leaving, returning occasionally for food supplies. As a result, Quinn took charge as the de facto leader.
Seven months passed quickly, and Ethan had been relentlessly slaughtering zombies. Whether it was Lickers, Hunters, or Tyrants, none could stand against him.
Ethan's zombie-killing spree totaled between three to four million. His strength had soared past 500,000 points. With a full-powered strike, he could collapse a mountain over 3,000 meters high. A stomp could trigger an 8-magnitude earthquake.
"Too bad I still can't punch through a star," Ethan sighed. But it made sense—the Earth alone weighed 6*10^24 kilograms. A small meteor, though, that was within his reach.
One day, as Ethan was killing zombies, a flying aircraft appeared in the sky.
Costa, the alien visitor, was preparing to leave. Over the past few months, he had monitored Ethan, curious to see how he grew stronger. After seven months of study, Costa had concluded that killing increased Ethan's power. However, he still couldn't understand why such a bloodthirsty being would care about a group of humans.
Ethan leaped onto the aircraft, as he had many times before.
"Dear angel, my experiment is over. You may release the humans and deal with the New Church. Thank you for keeping your promise. Here's a gift from my planet. I hope you like it," Costa said respectfully. Despite his actions, Costa had grown to admire Ethan's strength. He handed him a black fruit and some data.
Ethan took the fruit as the system conveniently identified it.
Wisdom Fruit: Increases intelligence by 10 points.
Zombie Virus Cure Data: Can be used to create a potion that kills the zombie virus.
Zombie Virus Immunity Potion Data: Can be used to craft an immunity potion against the zombie virus.
"Your gift is appreciated, but I won't be seeing you off," Ethan replied coldly. He couldn't harbor goodwill for the cause of the apocalypse.
Costa didn't mind, smiling as he sent Ethan away and activated the aircraft's space-jump ability, vanishing from the planet.
Watching the spacecraft disappear, Ethan sighed. "If I could travel through space, I wouldn't have let you leave so easily."
Though Ethan had become stronger, he lacked abilities like space travel and flight. Interstellar wars weren't just brawls like the Avengers—one star destroyer could obliterate the planet. No matter how strong Ethan was, he couldn't prevent human extinction if the planet was destroyed.
Back at the shelter, it was time to end the New Church's tyranny and liberate the survivors.
When Ethan returned, the people greeted him as "Father." Ethan waved it off and summoned the shelter's leaders: Quinn, the head; David, the combat officer; Ryan, who managed logistics and construction; and Michael, the head of security.
Looking at the flourishing shelter, Ethan felt relief. Power hadn't corrupted them.
"The alien has left. Now, I will destroy the New Church's experimental bases. You'll need to prepare to rescue the survivors. Here is the data for the zombie virus cure and immunity potions. Once we produce them, the zombie era will end."
Finally, Ethan added, "I'll capture the Pope of the New Church and bring him to trial."
Quinn and the others bowed deeply, grateful. From Ethan's interactions with the alien, they knew he wasn't human, yet he had done so much for humanity.
They were determined to honor Ethan by establishing the Church of Destruction as the planet's primary faith.
But Ethan waved them off. "This is just a mission. After I leave, no gods will watch over you. Your future is in your hands. You can record my existence in history, but the church must not remain."
The three leaders exchanged glances, surprised and disappointed.
"We understand," Quinn replied, disheartened.
"Don't be discouraged. The New Church holds all of humanity's technological knowledge, plus interstellar advancements from the aliens. Within a hundred years, humans will be a first-level civilization."
Elsewhere, in the New Church, Washington and his fellow archbishops were celebrating.
"Praise God! Now that troublemaker is gone, we can finally rule the world," Washington toasted, grinning at the satellite feed.
The others joined in the celebration, oblivious to the doom creeping toward them.
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