Sophia quickly wiped her tears and opened her medical kit, desperately trying to stabilize her mother. "Sophia..." Lillian said softly, her voice strained. "You ’t save me. It’s not about the injuries..." Suddenly, her expression shifted, her eyes widening with panic. "You have to go! Now!" she shouted, shoving Sophia away with surprising strength.

  "No! I won’t leave you!" Sophia screamed, trying to reach for her main.

  Zack, watg from nearby, noticed the sudden shift in Lillian’s demeanor. His eyes narrowed, and he quickly gave an order: "Ego, take trol of the armor a Sophia out of here. Now!"

  Sophia’s armor abruptly activated its propellers, lifting her off the ground against her will. "No! Mom!" Sophia cried out in despair as the armor carried her away, her outstretched hand reag for her mother.

  Lillian turoward Zack with a faint, bittersweet smile. "No wonder I found you pleasing," she said softly. "Take care of my daughter..."

  Her smile turned sad as a faint red gloeared in her chest, right over her heart. Zack’s eyes widened in reition. "A chip..." he muttered, his voice heavy with realization. Lillian nodded faintly. Then, in a fsh, the glow intensified.

  BOOM! The explosion tore through the air, leaving a devastating silen its wake. Lillian’s body was bloart, her perfe reduced tments. Even ih, her face bore a serene, inexplicable smile.

  "Collect her remains. Prepare for burial," Zack said coldly, his face devoid of emotion. He didn’t dwell on what had just happehere was no time for that. He removed his nanosuit and equipped the Apex armor. With a roar of thrusters, he desded the mountain, ndihe burning wreckage where Bck Hand y.

  Bck Hand, or what was left of him, sat amidst the fmes. His cloak had been burned away, revealing the horrific truth beh—a body of twisted metal and syic ans. Only his head retained a vaguely human appearahough even that was damaged. His syic voice rasped through a damaged speaker. "Hahaha... so you’ve e, Zack..."

  Zack’s gaze hardened as he stepped closer, his armleaming in the firelight."Bck Hand... or should I call you Gers?" Zack asked, his voice sharp with reition.

  The half-mae being chuckled darkly. "Ah, so you remember. Gers. One of the top five richest men in the world," he said mogly. "The mobile phone empire I built domihe world. At its peak, it was worth 2.5 trillion dolrs. A... I died of an illness. Imagihat."

  "You're dead," Zack said coldly. "Whatever this is... it ends here."

  "Dead? Hah! In this world, Zack, money bring even the dead back to life," Gers sneered, his meical voice dripping with disdain.

  "Why are you ughing?" Zack asked, grabbing Gers by his mangled remains and lifting him effortlessly.

  "Unless you’ve backed up your mind ured out some other ridiethod of resurre, you’ll die for real today," Zack growled.

  Gers ughed again, his ughter a distorted echo from the speaker in his throat. "I’ve lived long enough," he rasped. "If I take you down with me, then that’s a fitting end."

  "You don’t even realize the kind of enemy you’ve provoked, Zack. But you will..." Gers’s voice faded into static as Zack crushed the remains of his body. As Gers finished speaking, his ughter echoed through the air, wild and urained. But after a few moments, it abruptly stopped.

  His one remaining human eye bulged unnaturally, glowing red as if ed ial. It twitched violently, and it became clear that something was about to happen. "A trol chip again?" Zack muttered, his tone a mix of irritation and disappoi. "Figures this guy wasn’t really a high-level pyer after all."

  Without hesitation, Zack tossed Gers’s half-meical body away like garbage. He didn’t even bother looking back as he walked away.

  BOOM!

  Behind him, the sound of an explosion shook the air as Gers’s body detonated. "Brother! Are you okay?" Annie called out, driving Tarantu toward Za a hurry.

  "What could happen to him? He’s tougher than a monkey," Erza muttered, though her worried steps toward Zack betrayed her words. Despite her casual demeanor, the sight of Zaharmed brought Erza a quiet sense of relief.

  "Alright, alright. Let’s all head back," Zack said without emotion, waving the two girls off. His tone was curt—he had no time for pleasahere was still too much to handle, and he wasn’t about to waste energy.

  "Ego, when clearing the battlefield, make sure to collect tissue samples from the tyrant master. Don’t miss anything," Zack ordered as he walked. "And once we’re back, equip every piece of armor, every Ant and Spider, and every Avalon with anti-interferend anti-magic devices." He paused, his voice taking on a sharper edge. "These days, mutants are everywhere. It’s only a matter of time before a anic mutant shows up to ruin my day."

  Zack’s tone was cold aermined. He wouldn’t allow the same mistakes to happen again. This time, he was going to make everything foolproof—no exceptions.

  The day. In an open field oskirts of the industrial zone, a coffin was slowly lowered into a freshly dug grave. Sophia stood nearby, her face pale and haggard. She covered her mouth with trembling hands, muffling the sound of her sobs. It was clear she hadn’t slept all night. "Big Sister Sophia, we’re here," Annie said softly, stepping forward aly holding one of Sophia’s fingers. Her small voice carried a quiet fort.

  Erza didn’t say a word. He simply walked up beside Sophia, pg a hand on her shoulder in silent support. Ava was there too, standing off to the side, his expression heavy with grief.

  Even Zack, usually distant and indifferent, had taken time out of his packed schedule to attend the funeral. Dressed in bck, he stood silently at the edge of the gathering, his face as unreadable as ever. The coffin was lowered into the grave, and soil was shoveled on top.

  A simple tombstone was erected, bearing the inscription:Lillian’s TombBeloved Mother, and Guiding Light"In our hearts, her love forever shines."

  When the funeral cluded, Zack returo the Mansion. He spent the first part of his day perfeg the Titan Armor he had been w on. After that, he checked the progress on the instaltion of aromagic devices across all equipment. Finally, he walked into the biology b, alone. "I didn’t expect you to attend my funeral," a woman’s voice echoed from within the b.