Despite the gruesome se, Zack showed no sign of worry. In fact, there ark of anticipation in his eyes as he assessed the threat. The life-support system in his MV-02 armor would pletely block out the poisonous gas that the Swollen Man was about to release.

  "Sir, the enemy is approag," Ego’s voice sounded in his helmet.

  "I see them," Zack replied, calm and ready.

  As the horde of zombies surged forward, Zack sprang into a with surprising speed. His silver MV-02 armor blurred into motion as he sliced through the oning zombies with ease. The armor’s arms flicked out, and two folding bdes locked into his grip. With a single, sweeping ssh, he cut down zombies to his left and right, their heads flying through the air.

  Zack weaved through the ranks of undead, his armored form shining as he mowed them down like stalks of wheat. The ordinary zombies posed no challeheir g hands couldn’t even scratch his armor, and his advance was relentless. Oer ahey fell under his bdes.

  Then, a deafening roar shook the air. The Swollen Man had decided to join the fray, shaking the ground as he charged. Despite his massive bulk, his straight-line sprint was faster than Zack had expected, each step sending tremors through the ground.

  Zack didn’t flinch. He held his ground. "Ego, let’s see what MV-02 really do." With that, Zack braced himself, leaning forward to absorb the impact.

  Boom!

  The Swollen Man collided with him, sending shockwaves through the air. The force pushed Zack back, skidding across the ground for several feet, but he quickly regained his footing. MV-02’s impact buffers absorbed the worst of the hit, allowing Zack to stay on his feet without losing bance.

  The Swollen Man roared, trying to push Zack back even further, but he couldn’t budge him. "Is that all you’ve got?" Zack smirked.

  With a swift sidestep, Zack dodged, letting the Swollen Man’s momentum carry him forward. Off-bahe brute stumbled and crashed to the ground, struggling tain his footing. Before the lumbering zombie could rise, Zack’s arm bde shot out again. He drove it into the Swollen Man’s side, only for it to stop after a few inches, blocked by the thick yer of fat.

  "So you’re tougher than you look," Zack muttered, pulling the bde back. He stepped bad raised his palm, where a faint hum of energy began to build, filling his glove with a bright electric charge.

  The Swollen Man was just starting to rise when Zaleashed a particle beam from his palm. The shot sliced through the thick yer of fat, leaving a sm hole in the creature’s belly.

  "Energy ed: 5%," Ego reported.

  Zack frowned. "That’s too muergy for one shot."

  Suddenly, the Swollen Man’s body began to tremble. His bloated belly expanded as though infting from within. "Sir, energy spike detected. Be careful," Ego warned.

  Reizing the immihreat, Zack darted back, putting a safe distaween himself and the creature. Just in time—an instahe Swollen Man’s body exploded with a siing bang, sending ks of foul flesh and ans flying. A cloud of thick, green gas billowed out, filling the area with its putrid stench.

  "Disgusting," Zack muttered, averting his gaze from the grisly remains.

  But before he could rex, a hreat appeared. Without warning, a Hunter dropped from the wall, its eyes locked on Zack. It was tall, with absurdly elongated limbs that allowed it to clear obstacles in a single leap. With terrifying speed, it closed the distan an instant.

  "Sir, watch your back!" Ego's armed voice barely reached Za time.

  Before Zack could react, the Huruck, sshing its cwed hand across Zack’s armor with a screeetal. The impact sent Zack sprawling several feet backward, leaving five deep scratches on the MV-02’s surface.

  "Sir, this target has superior speed and strength. Approach with caution."

  "I know," Zack muttered, gng down at the damage. His eyes turned cold as he sized up the Hunter, who was already charging again.

  But this time, Zack was ready. As the creature lunged, Zack swung his arm bde, intercepting its razor-sharp cws with a csh that echoed across the battlefield.

  "Back off!" Zaarled, using his armor’s speed boosters to sm into the creature with full force. Like a onball, Zack’s armored form barreled into the Hunter, knog it bad sending it crashing into a nearby wall.

  The Hunter reacted instinctively, curling its limbs mid-air like a coiled spider. It nded with a heavy thud, rolling several times before finally stopping. The impact was brutal, and though the Hunter survived, the damage was clear—its ribcage had been shattered, visibly dented from where Zack's blow had nded.

  Zack's eyes lit up with realization. 'Its body is weak.' Despite the Hunter’s powerful limbs and cws—eae gleaming as if made from solid metal—its torso was vulnerable. This was its oint.

  "Groarr!" The Hunter roared, taking a step back, but only for a moment. With a fierce growl, it charged again, its aggression mindless, driven by brute strength rather than ing. It filed its elongated arms, cws slig through the air like bdes. An unlucky streetmp took the brunt of its fury, sheared off by a single swipe.

  "I’ve got to keep those cws in check," Zack muttered, formuting a pn. He raised his right arm and aimed his web shooter at the beast. With a loud 'bam', a ball of spider silk shot out, expanding into a four-meter-wide web as it hit the charging Hunter, ing it tightly.

  The Hunter screeched in fury, thrashing its limbs in an attempt to free itself. But as it tore through ses of the web, thick strands of spider silk g to its limbs, tightening with every movement. Without its cws to slice through the strands, the silk wound tighter and tighter.

  Zack didn’t hesitate—he fired another round of webbing, fully coing the creature. Bound and immobilized, the Hunter could only twitd writhe, helpless in its silken prison.

  "With how you move, this co suits you just fine," Zack said, stepping closer. He raised his arm bde and, with deadly precision, pierced the Hunter's skull, ending its struggle instantly.

  "Time to go." Zack yanked his bde free, flig the creature’s blood off before heading toward the nuclear power pnt.

  Ihe pnt, Zack felt an overwhelming sense of foreboding. The air was thick with an unnatural mist that obscured his view. An eerie silence hung in the air, broken only by faint, uling sounds eg from deep within.

  "Sir, there’s something new," Ego’s voice suddenly chimed in his earpiece.

  "Expin," Zack responded, switg on his MV-02 suit’s light. Even with the beams cutting through the darkness, visibility was limited to only a few meters.

  “During yht, I analyzed the Hunter’s body structure,” Ego tinued.

  “Anything hy?” Zack asked, keeping his focus on the shadows ahead.

  "My findings indicate that the Hunter, along with the other zombies here, resulted from natural viral mutations, uo nuclear radiation. There’s no evidehat radiation caused their ges."

  A question surfaced in Zack’s mind. 'If it’s not the radiation, then why are they all gathered here?'