Zombie Apocalypse System

Chapter 13: The Irreproachable Ultimatum and the First Ultimate Weapon

"...pierce right into the Supreme Boss's heart right now!"

"You're crazy, Axel! That's suicide, you brat! Do you want both of us turned to charred ash?!" Abby screamed hysterically, her hands gripping the arms of the command chair until her knuckles turned white. Golden light from the sky swept across the entire room, melting steel consoles and making the atmosphere feel like it was being baked inside a giant oven.

"Shut it, Abby! Trust me, this light is nothing but a hollow bluff!" Axel grinned wildly, the veins in his neck bulging as he absorbed fusion energy from the fortress reactor. "System! Conceptual Critical... Existence Synchronization: One Thousand Times!"

Suddenly, Axel and Abby’s bodies turned transparent, vibrating at an impossible frequency. The golden beam that should have obliterated them passed right through their bodies like a flashlight shining through clear glass.

"Huh?! We... we're not dead?!" Abby fumbled over her own body, her eyes wide in disbelief. "Why did that just feel like a breeze from a desk fan?"

"I just shifted our dimension one millimeter to the side, Abby. Physically, we're still here, but conceptually, we aren't in the path of that Big-Eyed Boss's attack," Axel laughed coldly, his eyes fixed sharply on the sky. "Now, it's my turn to counter. Abby! Activate the Plasma Railgun Cannon now!"

"But Axel, the charging system isn't full! If we force it, the reactor could explode!"

"Stop yapping! Use the energy from that golden beam I just absorbed! Critical... Enemy Energy Conversion: One Thousand Times!"

Axel pointed his palm toward the monitor, and instantly, the golden energy that had been attacking them was sucked into the core of the fortress cannon. At the highest peak of the fortress, a massive hundred-meter-long cannon barrel began to crackle with dense, purple electricity.

"Target locked! The Supreme Boss Mothership at orbital coordinates!" Abby shouted, her fingers dancing wildly over the flickering holograms. "Fire, Axel! Wipe that fancy toy out of the sky!"

"Take this, Boss! Critical... Galaxy Annihilation Shot: One Thousand Times!"

BOOOOOOOMMMMMM!

A single plasma shot streaked out, tearing through the Earth's atmosphere and creating a vacuum hole in the Jakarta sky. The beam slammed into the Supreme Boss Mothership's golden shield, creating a miniature supernova explosion in outer space. The vibration was felt all the way to the base of the fortress, knocking down several wall decorations Axel had just put up.

"HITS! THE MOTHERSHIP IS RETREATING! THE PORTAL IS CLOSING, AXEL!" Abby jumped for joy, immediately pulling Axel into a tight hug. "Damn, you actually managed to make God run away!"

"He didn't run, Abby. He's just rethinking his strategy," Axel gently released Abby's hug, his breath coming in short gasps. "But one thing's for sure: we just proved this fortress isn't a trash heap they can just trample on."

Suddenly, the fortress alarm blared again, but this time the tone was lower and more formal.

"What now?! Is the guest list never-ending?!" Axel snorted in annoyance.

"Axel, look at the screen! There's a transmission request from the Global Lord Alliance. They're all gathered on one frequency!" Abby pointed to the main screen, which now displayed the faces of men and women in extravagant clothing from various parts of the world.

There was a man in a military cloak covered in medals, a woman with a diamond crown, and an old man in golden robes. They all stared at Axel with looks that were a mix of hatred, fear, and greed.

"Finally, the show-offs show up," Axel sat back in his command chair, crossing his legs casually. "Yo, Lords! What's up? Want to sign up as construction workers at my place?"

"How impudent, young man!" shouted the man in the military cloak. "I am Lord Ares, leader of the Western Alliance! You just destroyed our precious asset, the Black Tower!"

"Precious asset? You mean that cracker tin I just turned into cash?" Axel laughed mockingly. "Sorry, I didn't know you liked collecting junk."

"Listen to us, Axel," the woman with the diamond crown interrupted, her voice cold and sharp. "We acknowledge your anomalous power. But that nuclear fusion technology and the Absolute Fortress are too dangerous to be held by one person. Hand over the blueprints to the Global Lord Council, or we will declare total war against you."

"Total war? Oh, I'm so scared, Abby. Look, I'm literally shaking," Axel faked a tremble, making Abby giggle beside him.

"I think they need new glasses, Axel. Did they not see the Supreme Boss Mothership almost get turned to ash?" Abby chimed in, folding her arms.

"Axel! This is your last warning!" Lord Ares screamed. "We have ten motherships already locking onto your coordinates. Hand over your technology now, or Jakarta will become history!"

"Jakarta has been history since you all let system monsters slaughter civilians, you idiots!" Axel stood up, his aura suddenly turning freezing cold. "You all want my technology? Fine, I'll give you an exclusive demo of how it works. Consider this a free trial."

"What do you mean?!" Lord Ares asked suspiciously.

"Abby, aim the Plasma Railgun Cannon at Mount Salak to the south. Make sure there are no settlements there," Axel ordered without looking back.

"Coordinates locked, Boss. Range: fifty kilometers. Want me to fire now?" Abby smirked; she knew exactly what Axel was up to.

"Don't use normal power. Use Critical: One Thousand Times. I want that mountain erased from the map," Axel gave the order in a flat tone, as if he were just ordering a cup of coffee.

"Copy that! Firing in three... two... one... GOODBYE MOUNTAIN!"

DUMMMMMMMMM!

The entire fortress vibrated slightly. An incredibly thin line of purple light shot from the peak of the fortress toward the south. No sound of an explosion was heard in the room, but on the monitor monitoring the southern area, the view was pure horror.

Mount Salak, which had stood majestically moments ago, suddenly exploded into fine dust particles in the blink of an eye. It wasn't smashed into rubble; it was completely 'deleted' from the face of the earth, leaving behind a flat, smoking plain.

Silence.

The Global Lords on the monitor were frozen. Lord Ares dropped his cigar; the diamond queen covered her mouth with trembling hands.

"So, Uncle Ares? Auntie Queen? Was the tech demo satisfactory?" Axel asked in a low, threatening voice. "That was only ten percent of the power of my first ultimate weapon. Do you want me to try aiming it at your floating headquarters in the Pacific?"

"You... you're insane... that was a mountain, Axel! You just made a mountain disappear?!" Lord Ares muttered, his voice cracking.

"I can do more than just make a mountain disappear; I can make an entire continent vanish if I want to," Axel stepped closer to the screen, his face filling the Lords' transmission display. "Listen to my ultimatum carefully, because I won't repeat it."

"State your demands..." the old man in the golden robes said resignedly.

"First, from this second on, a hundred-kilometer radius from my fortress is a Forbidden Zone. Anyone, any ship, or any monster that enters without written permission from me or Abby will immediately become a target for that cannon. No warnings." Axel held up one finger.

"That is our sovereign territory!" Lord Ares protested weakly.

"Don't care. It's my territory now. Second, all factions that previously collaborated with the Black Tower or The Reapers must deposit fifty percent of their system resources to my fortress every week. Think of it as a protection tax so I don't get bored and shoot your bases."

"Fifty percent?! That's robbery!" the diamond queen screamed.

"Which do you prefer? Being robbed or being erased from the map?" Axel stared intensely. "Third, don't you ever dare send any more 'robed' messengers or assassins here. If I see even one intruder, I'll use conceptual techniques to 'criticize' all your hearts from a distance. You all know I can do it, right?"

The Global Lords fell silent. They looked at each other through their respective screens. They realized they were no longer facing a lucky survivor, but an apex predator holding the keys to the apocalypse in his hands.

"We... we need time to discuss this in the Council," the old man said.

"I'll give you ten minutes. Any longer than that, and I'll assume you've chosen the war option, and I'll start picking off your motherships parked in orbit one by one," Axel cut the transmission unilaterally.

PIP.

The screen went dark. Axel took a long breath and sat back in his chair. "Damn, my acting was pretty cool back there, wasn't it, Abby?"

"Cool, my foot! I almost fainted from shaking when you told me to shoot the mountain!" Abby hit Axel's shoulder hard. "But seriously, Axel... that shot really drained our reactor energy down to five percent!"

"Well, they don't know our reactor is running dry," Axel laughed deviously. "That's what you call a strategic bluff. Besides, the gold coins we got from converting that ship earlier are enough to recharge the reactor if we process them through the exchange system."

"You are a high-stakes gambler, I swear," Abby shook her head, but she immediately got busy in front of the monitor again. "But Axel, there's one thing bothering me. When you fired, my sensors picked up another signal leaving that mountain before it was destroyed."

"What signal? Did a monster survive?"

"Not a monster. It's a human signal, but the code is top secret. It looks like there was another secret lab under that mountain that didn't belong to the Global Lords," Abby showed a very strange signal graph. "The signal is labeled: 'Project 00: The Architect Genesis'."

Axel sat up straight. "Architect Genesis? That name is similar to my system title."

"Exactly! I think there's a third party in this apocalypse who knew about your power before you even did, Axel," Abby's voice sounded very anxious. "And that signal just moved north, specifically toward an underwater bunker off the coast of Jakarta."

"Well, this game of hide-and-seek is getting interesting," Axel stood up, his iron pipe glowing gold again. "Abby, prep the scout drones. I want to know who dares use the name 'Architect' besides me."

"On it, Boss! But look at this, the Global Lords have sent a reply!" Abby opened an incoming message on the large screen.

It was brief: "WE AGREE TO YOUR TERMS. BUT DO NOT EXPECT US TO REMAIN SILENT. THERE WILL SOON BE A SUMMIT MEETING ON NEUTRAL GROUND."

"A summit, huh? Tell them I'm the one picking the location. In the middle of the Mount Salak crater I just made," Axel smirked. "Let them see what it's like to have a meeting in the dust of destruction."

"You're crazy, absolutely insane!" Abby laughed while typing the reply. "Oh, Axel, one more thing. Look at the interior radar. There's an intruder on the ground floor of the fortress!"

"Huh?! Our shields are active! How is that possible?!" Axel was shocked, immediately checking the small radar screen on his wrist.

It was true; there was a single red dot moving very fast inside the fortress's underground lab corridors. The dot moved in an irregular pattern, as if it could pass through walls.

"They're not using a normal system power, Axel! This is a 'Phase Shift' signal! They can turn their body molecules into shadows!" Abby panicked, immediately activating the internal security system.

"Abby, you stay here. Guard the reactor. I'll go greet this special guest," Axel dashed out of the command room with incredible speed.

Axel ran through the futuristic hallways of his fortress. He used his instincts to sense the intruder's presence. At a turn leading to the material warehouse, Axel stopped abruptly.

"Hey! I know you're there! Come out now before I 'criticize' the air in this hallway into solid concrete!" Axel shouted loudly.

The atmosphere was silent for a moment. Suddenly, a shadow on the wall began to move, and a woman in all-black tactical gear emerged, holding a short blade glowing with purple light. Her face was covered by a mask, but her sharp eyes stared at Axel coldly.

"Oh, so it's the sniper from the building across the street, huh? Are you here to collect a debt or try to steal some bolts from my fortress?" Axel greeted her casually, but his hands were ready to detonate energy.

"Axel... you shouldn't have activated that Fusion Core so soon," the woman's voice was low and calm. "You just drew the attention of 'them'—those who are far more dangerous than the Supreme Boss."

"'Them' who? Don't play riddles with me, I'm not in the mood," Axel took a step forward.

"The 'Original Architects.' The ones who created this apocalypse system to filter out weak planets. And you... you just ruined their experiment with that cheating power of yours," the woman raised her blade.

"Experiment? You think the lives of billions of people are just an experiment?!" Axel began to grow angry, his silver aura exploding violently.

"To them, yes. And now, I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to give you a final warning," the woman threw an ancient silver coin toward Axel.

Axel caught the coin. The moment he touched it, a horrific vision of the future flashed through his head: the Earth split in two and a giant creature devouring the planet's core.

"What is this?!" Axel gasped, dropping the coin onto the floor.

"That is what will happen in seven days if you can't break through the 'Abyssal Gate' at the center of the system," the woman began to fade back into a shadow. "Find the 'Genesis' faction. Only they know how to fight the Originals."

"Wait! Who are you really?!" Axel shouted.

"My name is... Sarah. And I am the only 'Architect' who failed before you were born," the woman vanished completely, leaving a cold chill in the corridor.

Axel stood silent for a moment, staring at the silver coin lying on the floor. He clenched his fist tightly. "Original Architects, huh? My enemy list just keeps growing. But whatever, more enemies means more materials."

Axel returned to the command room. Abby looked at him with a face full of questions. "Well? Did you get the intruder?"

"I did. But she just wanted to give me a ticket to Apocalypse Part Two," Axel sat back in his chair. "Abby, look for data on 'Project Genesis.' We need to know their connection to these crazy system creators."

"I've already started searching, Axel. But a new system notification popped up right after that girl disappeared," Abby showed her tablet screen.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: LORD CHALLENGE UNLOCKED!]

[LOCATION: MOUNT SALAK CRATER. TIME: 2 HOURS FROM NOW.]

[REWARD: ACCESS TO THE ABYSSAL GATE & THE TITLE 'RULER OF EARTH'.]

"Wow, perfect timing. The Supreme Boss really wants to host a tournament over my suffering," Axel smirked wildly. "Abby, prep our best combat drone fleet. We're heading to Mount Salak now."

"But Axel, our reactor is still at five percent! We don't have enough power for a large-scale war!" Abby panicked.

"Don't worry. I have a plan to recharge our reactor on the way," Axel stood up and patted Abby's shoulder. "Abby, you believe I can turn 'empty air' into a 'nuclear battery', right?"

"Huh?! Are you crazy?! That's conceptually impossible!"

"In my world, nothing is impossible, Abby. Where there's a will, there's a critical way," Axel took a deep breath. "System! Conceptual Critical... Oxygen to Fusion Fuel Conversion: One Thousand Times!"

Instantly, the air inside the fortress began to be sucked into the reactor at high speed. The reactor's blue light flared brightly again, even stronger than before.

"DAMN IT! AXEL! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME BY OXYGEN DEPRIVATION?!" Abby screamed while gasping for air.

"Hehe, sorry! I only needed ten seconds! There, the reactor is back to a hundred percent!" Axel grinned guiltily.

"You are truly the biggest bastard architect I've ever known!" Abby cursed while putting on an emergency oxygen mask.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Let's go! Mount Salak is waiting for us to level it again!"

The two of them mounted a hoverbike reinforced with materials from the Lord Global mothership. The bike streaked out of the fortress gates, cutting through the Jakarta night sky toward the giant crater in the south.

Upon arriving, Axel saw a crowded scene. Hundreds of warships and thousands of Global Lord troops had gathered at the edge of the crater. In the center of the crater, a vast arena of light had formed.

"Wow, quite the audience. Looks like I have to give a performance that's truly 'explosive'," Axel got off his bike, walking toward the center of the arena with a very relaxed stride.

"Axel! Stop right there!" Lord Ares shouted from the honorary stage. "Today, you must prove you are worthy of holding that power through the 'Rite of Passage' combat!"

"Rite of Passage? What a complicated name. Basically, who do I have to beat up?" Axel asked, twirling his iron pipe.

Suddenly, the ground in the center of the crater exploded again. A fifty-meter-tall monster, with a body made of black crystal and ten dragon heads, rose from the magma. Its name appeared above its heads in glowing red: [THE WORLD EATER - GUARDIAN OF THE GATE].

"Crazy... that's a level one hundred monster?!" Abby trembled on the hoverbike.

"Level one hundred, huh? Good for a warm-up," Axel smiled broadly. "Hey, Ten-Headed Dragon! I want to ask you one thing before I mash you into paste!"

The dragon roared mightily, its ten heads spewing black fire simultaneously toward Axel.

Axel didn't dodge. Instead, he ran full speed toward the blast of fire, his iron pipe already glowing golden-hot.

"Critical... Energy Fission: One Thousand Times! DIE, YOU OVERGROWN SNAKE!"

Axel leaped high into the air, swinging his iron pipe directly at the dragon's main neck, and just as the pipe was about to touch its crystal skin...