Apocalypse: I Have A Multiplier System

When the two new zombie kings saw it, they tilted their heads in confusion. It was a strange-looking suit made of shiny material, nothing like any armor they had seen before.

The gray-skinned zombie king frowned. "What is this thing?"

The green one scratched the side of his head. "Is it… clothes? For humans?"

They looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions. They had never seen anything like it before.

Their intelligence, though higher than normal zombies, was still stuck somewhere in the range of a young teenager.

They could plan battles and feel an endless hatred toward humans, but anything beyond that confused them.

"It is not clothes for humans," Narak said firmly. "It is for you. Put it on."

The green-skinned one made a face. "Why? What does it do?"

"You will see," Narak replied. "Now stop asking and do it."

Both zombie kings grumbled under their breath but took the suit. The material felt strange and smooth under their rotting fingers. They struggled for a while to figure out how to wear it. One tried putting both legs in the same hole. The other tried wearing it upside down. The older zombie who had brought it over had to help them get it right.

After what felt like a long time, they were finally wearing the suit. It fit them tightly, making their movements look stiff.

The gray-skinned one turned in a circle, pulling at the collar. "It feels weird. I do not like it."

"Just follow my orders," Narak said, standing up from his throne-like chair. "Go to the wall."

The two looked at each other but obeyed.

The gray-skinned zombie king hesitated. "Through it? That is stupid. We will die."

"Do as I say," Narak ordered sharply.

Finally, the green-skinned one stepped forward. He closed his eyes and pushed himself toward the wall. To his shock, he passed straight through it.

On the other side, he opened his eyes wide. "I… I am alive!"

The gray-skinned zombie king quickly tried it too, walking through the wall like it was only fog. "This… this is magic!"

They both laughed in surprise. "We are on the other side!" the green one shouted. "This is amazing!"

Narak stood with his arms crossed, watching them with a calm face. "Good. Now come back."

They walked back through the wall again. This time they looked even more amazed.

The gray-skinned zombie king dropped to one knee in front of Narak. "You are the smartest of us all. No one else could think of this."

"Yes," the green-skinned one agreed, bowing his head. "With this, we can take Hope Base. No one will stop us."

Narak did not smile. He simply looked at them with cold eyes. "It is not my idea. Someone… gave me this suit."

Both of the zombie kings blinked. "Someone? Who?"

"That does not matter," Narak said. "What matters is that we use it well."

The green-skinned zombie king tilted his head. "Why would this someone help us?"

Narak's gaze darkened. "I have my reasons. And so does the entity. That is all you need to know."

The two zombie kings looked at each other but did not question further. They did not really care about the details. All they cared about was the thought of tearing into a human base without being stopped by those strange, deadly walls.

Narak returned to his seat. "Prepare yourselves. We will move to attack Hope Base soon. This time, we will not fail."

The gray-skinned zombie king grinned, showing broken teeth. "We will crush them."

The green one added, "And we will eat them all."

One by one, the zombie kings said their pieces, each boasting about how they would crush Hope Base. Suddenly, a voice broke the mood.

It was the brown-skinned zombie king, the one who had been sitting silently in the corner. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Narak.

"What about the deal you made with Su Jiyai?" he asked slowly. "We were supposed to work together."

The room grew quiet.

Narak stopped leaning on his throne. His fingers tapped against the armrest. Then he spoke in a calm, almost cold voice.

"That cooperation is over," he said. "Boss Su will never get the cure for the zombie virus. There is no reason to keep waiting."

The green-skinned zombie king frowned. "What do you mean?"

Narak looked at each of them, his voice heavier now. "For twenty years, we have waited. For twenty years, scientists told us to be patient. They said one day, we could turn back into humans. If we did not attack, they would find a way. But we all know… no cure has come."

The gray-skinned zombie king shifted uneasily.

Narak's eyes darkened, and there was something bitter in them. "We will never be human again."

The room went silent. None of the zombie kings spoke. The words hit them like a heavy stone.

Narak's mind, however, was no longer in the room. He was remembering…

..................

The first thing he saw when he woke up was the ceiling of an abandoned building. His body felt strange. His skin was gray and cold. His fingers… his nails had grown long, sharp.

He pushed himself up and froze. There was a broken piece of glass nearby. He looked at his reflection.

His face was no longer human. The eyes were dull yellow. The skin was stretched tight, veins dark beneath.

"No…" he whispered, or at least, he thought he whispered.

The sound that came out was a low growl.

Still, his mind was clear. He could think. He remembered his name. He remembered his home. He remembered the people at Moonlight Base.

He refused to give up.

"I still have my mind," he told himself. "I can tell them. I can make them see."

He wandered for days until he finally reached the Moonlight Base. The tall walls stood just as he remembered. His heart... if it still beat... would have raced.

Two guards spotted him.

"Zombie! Zombie outside the gate!" one shouted.

"No! Wait!" Narak tried to say, but his words came out garbled, like a beast's snarling.

The guards raised their guns and fired. Bullets tore into his shoulder and chest, but he didn't feel pain the way he used to.

He raised his hands, trying to show he meant no harm.

They fired again.

Narak stepped back, realizing they couldn't understand him. To them, he was just another monster.

Slowly, he turned away. "Not now… I will come back when I am strong enough," he muttered to himself, even though his voice was still rough and broken.

He spent months wandering. He avoided humans, choosing instead to train. He found out he still had his super strength and speed from before. At first, they were weak, but he trained every day.

One day, he saw a patrol from Moonlight Base. Among them was his best friend, Daron.

Narak's eyes lit up. "Daron!" he tried to call.

Daron froze. He looked closely, then his eyes widened. "Nicholas…?"

Narak moved closer, smiling in relief. "Yes! It's me! I'm still here! I still have my mind!"

But to his dismay, Daron didn't understand what he said and instead looked at him with pity.

He only shook his head, chuckling sadly. "You're a zombie now. Even if you think, even if you have intelligence… There is no place for you in the human world."

Narak's smile faded. "What are you saying? You know me!"

Though he didn't understand Nicholas's words, Daron's gaze was hard. "You're not one of us anymore. Leave. If you stay, they'll kill you. I… I can't stop them."

As Narak stood frozen, Daron's words cut deeper. "Your wife is with me now. She's safer this way."

It was like someone had crushed Narak's chest.

Later, Narak found his wife and children in the base courtyard. He stepped forward, desperate to see them.

"It's me," he tried to say, but his voice was still twisted by the zombie throat.

His wife's face went pale. She stepped back, fear in her eyes. "Stay away from us!"

His children clung to her, crying.

Narak's hands trembled. He took one step forward, but the guards rushed in and forced him away.

He watched them leave, his heart heavy with something worse than death.

Time passed. He met a few more humans who noticed his strange behavior and thought maybe he wasn't a normal zombie.

But even they turned away in the end. Some even tried to kill him, afraid he would lose control and eat them.

He understood. Humans feared zombies. They feared him, no matter how much he begged.

Eventually, he stopped trying.

"I will not beg to be accepted," he told himself. "If they will not accept me, I will build my own world."

He trained harder. His power grew. His blood changed. One day, he woke to find other zombies bowing to him. He had become a zombie king.

They followed him. They listened to him. They never told him to leave.

That was when the idea formed in his mind.