He desded quickly, nding carefully to serve the st of his power, which ticked down to just 7%—barely enough battery life for aended use.

  "Flyis up way too muergy," Zack muttered, shaking his head. "But once I get my hands on that Cold Fusioor, flying will be smooth sailing from here on."

  Ego's voice cut through his thoughts. "Sir, that maneuver was incredibly risky, though it worked out this time."

  Zack grinned. "Ego, sometimes we have no choice but to take a risk. If I waited for your simution, I'd be dead already." He turoward the wreckage. "Now, let's sge for reaaterials."

  As he flew back, he sed for the sara, spotting the rge, tree-trunk-like k of flesh. With his knife, he pierced it, and a strange, guttural noise bubbled from within. The flesh twitched as he stabbed it repeatedly, only stopping when it y pletely still.

  "Ego?"

  "No vital siged."

  Zack stabbed a few more times just to be sure. "With these freaks, you 't be too careful."

  Satisfied, he ed his knife and tinued gathering the materials. As the su and the nuclear pnt faded into darkness, Zack loaded his loot into his escort vehicle. But the journey back was anything but peaceful. The darkness of night made the zombies mgressive, more violent than the ones he’d entered during the day. Growls and snarls surrounded him, but the reinforced vehicle easily plowed through them, crushing anything in its path.

  Finally, Zack arrived ba Tribeca, though the trip had taken ara hour. He noticed the bckout as he approached—no streetlights, the area submerged in darkness.

  "Sir, power to this area was interrupted two ho," Ego informed him.

  "Any messages from Sophia and the others?"

  "None."

  "Good." Zack had left instrus with Ao tact him only in case of emergeno news meant the defenses were holding, even with the power outage. The tall, nano-coated walls surrounding the unity were enough to keep most zombies out. Their smooth surfaces made it nearly impossible for anything to climb over.

  As he he entrance, a small horde of zombies caught the sound of his engine and charged toward him. Zack didn’t hesitate, plowing through them, clearing the path. After making sure norailing him, he drove inside and parked at the mansion.

  Looking at the blood and limbs caked onto the vehicle, Zack sighed. "Guess I’ll have to wash this tomorrow... or maybe just retire the whole thing," he muttered, shaking his head at the mess.

  He opehe carriage and began unloading the materials. Each piece acked in oversized bck taio block radiatioe the rge load, only a small portion actually tained reaaterial.

  "Enough to build four or five reactors," Zack said, eyeing the tainers with satisfa.

  "Sir, I reend taking a rest before starting the build," Ego suggested.

  "Alright, you win this time. Tomorrow, it’s." Zack didn’t argue. He’d been exhausted, cooped up in the MV-02 most of the day. Even with the suit’s air filtration, it couldn't fully mask the unpleasant smell ging to him.

  Just then, he heard quiet footsteps oairs. "Annie, I'm a little scared..." a voice murmured.

  "It’s okay, Sis, I’ll protect you," Annie replied fidently.

  "Bah, how I let you protect me? Give me the gun, and I’ll protect you!" Sophia huffed back, though her tone was more pyful than serious.

  The whispering wasn’t loud, but in the plete silence caused by the power outage, it was easy for Zack to hear every word. "Ahem!" Zack cleared his throat loudly, cutting through their versation.

  The two girls froze, their heads turning his way. "If I were a zombie or some bad guy, you two would’ve been gone a huimes over!" Zack scolded, rolling his eyes.

  There was a moment of stunned silehen, two familiar figures emerged from the dim stairwell—oall, one small.

  "Zack!"

  "Big brother!"

  They shouted different names, but their relief was the same. They rushed over with bright smiles. "There was a sudden power outage! We were so scared, we almost called you," Sophia excimed, throwing herself at him, pressing against the etal of his MV-02 armor. Annie, following close behind, grabbed hold of one of Zack's fingers.

  "Ahem, before you two say anything else, I have to tell you…" Zack stifled a ugh, gng at Annie, who was standing nearby with an amused expression. "The armor you're holding now? Yeah, it just had a very... close enter with some zombies. Ohat were, shall we say, a little more enthusiastic than you are."

  "Wait, what?" Sophia’s face drained of color, and she stumbled back, letting go instantly as if she’d touched something hot. She ran to the side, coughing and gagging.

  ‘No wo smells like blood!’ she thought, while she asked, "Why didn’t you tell me earlier?"

  "How was I supposed to know you’d e at me like this?" Zack chuckled, shaking his head. "Alright, Annie, help me out of this thing."

  Annie nodded and obediently helped him dismahe suit, breaking it down piece by pied pg it on the workbench for repairs. Ohe MV-02 was safely off, Zack let out a relieved sigh.

  "Everyone, get some rest," he said, rolling his shoulders to loosen them up. "The pce is safe."

  With that, he turned and headed upstairs for a shower. Sophia and Annie, reassured, followed suit, no longer worried about zombies sneaking up on them in the night.

  Early the m, Zack woke up feeling refreshed and more alert than he had in days.

  "Sir," Ego's voice chimed in, "your body's indicators have improved by approximately 5% pared to yesterday."

  "Aive effects?"

  "ected."

  "Good," Zack murmured, feeling a surge of energy. "Today’s the day. Time to finish building the reactor."

  After washing up and grabbing a quick breakfast, Zack went down to the basement. Power was still out, and eveer supply was dwindling because of the outage. Luckily, Sophia had thought ahead and stored several buckets of water, so they were managing.

  "Power, water, everything—all of it be solved with a reactor," Zack muttered to himself as he put on protective gear and opehe bck box he’d brought back st night.

  Inside, he pced a small amount of paldium—exactly 1.9 grams. Taking a steady breath, he wiped the sweat from his brow and asked, "Ego, what’s the risk if something goes wrong at this stage?"

  "If the power test fails, the explosion would be equal to 176,000 tons of TNT," Ego replied calmly. "Approximately eleven times the power of the Neon nation's st est."

  Zack blinked, slightly stuhen chuckled. "But we’re going to succeed, right? Alright, Ego—let’s start."

  First, he carefully pced the small ring of paldium at the ter. This would act as the catalyst—paldium had the unique ability to absorb hydrogen atoms, which was essential for the fusioion to begin.

  , he prepared the fuel. Zack filled the inner chamber with two special types of hydrogeerium and tritium. Whewo bihey would release a massive amount of energy—enough to fuel the reactor.

  Around the paldium core, he tightly wound copper coils. Once powered, these coils would create a strong magic field, holding and pressing the rea. This magic field was crucial; it would help trol the intense energy from the fusion.

  Then came the power source. Zack ected the copper coils to a graphetery, one he’d pulled from his MV-02 suit. This battery could deliver the high voltage o kickstart the fusion and keep it going.

  Finally, he sealed everything inside a makeshift vacuum chamber. By removing the air and impurities, he reduced any interference, making it easier to trol the process o started. With everything in pce, Zack took a deep breath, mentally running through each step o time. Satisfied, he pressed the activation button.