The pnt was eerily silent, pletely devoid of any human presence, yet the number of zombies here was staggering—almost like a densely poputed city. Something was drawing them in. As Zack moved deeper into the pnt, a shog sight unfolded before him. He turned a er into a dimly lit corridor, which opened inte hall—likely the trol room, given the soles and monitors along the walls. But the maery was nothing pared to the se at the heart of the room.

  Hundreds of zombies were packed into the hall, all fag the same dire, their empty eyes locked on something at the ter. Among them were various mutated types: Hunters, Bloaters, and even a t giant zombie over four meters tall. Its gray skin stretched tight over bulging muscles, making it look like an undead colossus.

  “Lord,” Zack muttered, his expression tightening at the sight of the massive zombie standing above the others. Acc to Ego’s data, this monstrous creature was known as the Lord—a powerful mutation capable of destroying a fortified base single-handedly.

  “What are they all gathered around?” Zack wondered aloud, taking in the odd se. Surprisingly, none of the zombies had noticed him yet—not even the Hunters, who usually reacted instantly to movement.

  Zack squirying to make sense of it. He finally focused on the object that had all their attention. At the ter of the room stood a grotesque mass, resembling a twisted tree trunk. It pulsed rhythmically, like a livi, and long, root-like tendrils snaked out from its base, disappearing into the walls and floors, eg to who knew where.

  With every pulse, a flower-like bud on top opened briefly, releasing a dense cloud of murky gas that drifted through the air. As the gas spread, the zombies grew mitated, shuffling forward and reag toward it like worshippers at some kind of altar.

  “What in the world...?” Zack muttered, eyes wide in disbelief. This was unlike anything he had ever seen. Even Ego’s database didn’t have any records of such a thing.

  “Analyzing target,” Ego's voice cut through Zack’s stunned silence.

  “Go ahead,” Zack replied, his eyes never leaving the bizarre formation, staying on guard.

  “Preliminary analysis suggests that this 'tree' is posed rgely of pathogen matter with active biological responses,” Ego expined.

  Zack frowned. “So... it’s alive?”

  “Analysis plete!” Ego’s voice came through more urgently. “Tentative designation: Sara. This appears to be the rval form of a viral life form. During its growth, it releases pheromoo attrabies, who protect it.”

  Zack's suspis deepened, but more questions flooded his mind. “But zombies are humans ied by a virus... how could there be something like this?”

  “Sir, I ot determis final form, but based on energy readings, the adult version is likely to be extremely powerful,” Ego replied.

  Zack’s heart skipped a beat. The rva was already strohan him. He could only imagine how powerful it might bee. A determined fire burned inside him as he made his decision. 'This thing has to be destroyed now.'

  He turo Ego. “ we use a graphetery to make a psma bomb?”

  “Certainly, Sir,” Ego responded immediately. “However, grapheteries will slightly alter the bst pared to the psma core.”

  “Will it reduce the power?”

  “Minimal impact, Sir.”

  “Good enough.”

  Without wasting time, Zack popped opetery partment on his MV-02 armor and pulled out two fully charged grapheteries. Instantly, his armor’s power dropped from 90% to a low 67%.

  Ego’s sing began, pinpointing every material Zack would need for the bomb. Step by step, Ego guided him through the process.

  First, he found high-voltage transformers nearby, stripping thick copper wires from them. These wires would help el the necessary energy into the bomb. , he found ay pressure der in a ste area—perfect for taining the psma long enough to trate its energy. He also tapped into the geors and gathered enough hydrogen gas from the fuel cells to load into the der. Hydrogen, wheed, bees psma, aremely hot and energy-rich state of matter.

  Fnition, Zack sged tungsten fiments from some discarded lightbulbs. Tungsten could withstand high temperatures, making it ideal for sparking the hydrogen into psma. He carefully wired the fiment into the tai der and ected it to the copper wires.

  With most of the materials gathered, Zack hooked one of the grapheteries directly to the copper wires. The battery would surge a powerful charge, igniting the hydrogen and creating a superheated psma bst.

  When Zack returo the hall, he was holding the makeshift bomb. It didn’t look like much—just a jumble of exposed wires and twrapheteries strapped together. It looked like something that could fall apart at any sed.

  “Sir, I’ve seen scrap metal put together better than this,” Ego remarked, a rare note of sarcasm in its tone.

  “As long as it gets the job done, Ego,” Zack muttered under his breath.

  Without another word, Zack stepped bato the hall full of zombies, stopping just before the writhing horde. Taking a steady breath, he pulled a red wire to arm the bomb and hurled it into the crowd before sprinting away.

  The bomb sailed through the air and struck a swollen zombie iomach, boung to the ground. The g of the graphetery cracked open, releasing a violeric charge. A loud hum filled the room as arcs of electricity danced across the flrounding themselves on the nearby metal surfaces.

  Then, the explosion came.

  A blinding white fsh erupted, followed by the deafening roar of superheated psma bursting outward. The bst tore through the zombies, burning everything in its path and lighting up the entire hall. Sparks leapt from metal to metal, amplifying the destru as the energy raked through the horde.

  BOOM!

  Zack was already running down the corridor when the shockwave hit. The building quaked violently, and outside, one of the cooling towers colpsed in a cloud of smoke and debris. Shards of graphite rained down, scattering like shotgus.

  “Is this whole pce going to colpse?” Zack muttered, sprinting toward the exit as debris rained around him.

  But theremors stopped, fading as quickly as they had started. “Ego, structural s,” Zack ordered, slowing his pace.

  “Signifit damage detected, Sir, but the main structure remains intact. Colpse risk is minimal,” Ego responded.

  Zack breathed a sigh of relief. 'Good. Ohing to worry about.'

  He made his way back to the bsted hall, but the damage was massive. The explosion had left a huge hole in the room, with smoke, fallen rubble, and twisted beams filling the space. The room was barely reizable.

  “Ego, overy navigation,” he said, trying to make sense of the chaos.