A soft hum filled the room as power surged through the coils, creating a magic field that pressed the deuterium and tritium into the paldium core. The paldium absorbed the hydrogen atoms, squeezing them clether.

  The fusion began with a brilliant fsh of light, as the atoms fused and released an intense burst of energy. To ag, it would look like a strange light bulb flickering to life, filling the room with a steady, bright glow.

  “Sir, the reactor is fully operational. gratutions,” Ego announced.

  Zack reached out, his haly toug the glowior. A grin spread across his face. “Ego, how effit is it?”

  “The reactees approximately 4.5 billion joules per sed,” Ego replied. “The energy it produces in one sed could power the Mansion for a year.”

  Zack stood silent for a moment, taking in the numbers. Then his gaze shifted to the MV-02 suit, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “Let’s install it. I want to fly today.”

  He crossed the room and opehe suit’s breastpte, sliding the reactor into the prepared slot. It clicked into pce perfectly. The suit’s eyes flickered to life, and Ego’s voice filled the room. “Reactor instaltion plete. MV-02 is now operational.”

  Befo could finish the self-check, Zack’s impatie the better of him. He knew he would need help to put the suit on—its intricate design made it impossible to do alone. “Annie! e down here and give me a hand!” Zack called, already imagining himself s through the skies.

  As Annie helped him get suited up, Zack muttered to himself, “I o get some robotic arms in here. If Ego could trol the assembly, suiting up would be a breeze—and it would solve our manufacturing issues too.”

  "Ego, search fh-precision robotic arms—no limits on location!" he ordered.

  “Uood, Sir,” Ego replied, its voice steady as ever.

  With the reactor p his suit, Zack felt a surge of fidehe world might be in ruins, but now distance was no longer a problem. "Sir, the high-precision robotic arm has been located. I’ve marked the target on your map."

  A holographic map appeared in front of Zack, showing a rge building marked as the destination. It looked like a tech exhibition venue. "Perfect! Let’s go!" Zack grinned, heading for the exit ramp of the garage.

  As he picked up speed, the particle thrusters on the soles of his MV-02 armnited. In an instant, he was airborne, cutting through the sky in a brilliant silver arc. Within moments, he had reached an altitude of 1,000 meters, the ndscape shrinking rapidly below. "Woo-hoo!" Zack shouted, exhirated.

  He pushed the armor’s speed even further. With a deafening boom, he broke the sound barrier, leaving a shockwave behind that shattered the stillness of the air. "A flight route is being plotted for you," Ego informed him.

  Zack locked onto the path dispyed on his HUD and began navigating through the skies, flying over the city, his old apartment, and familiar sights now filled with destru. The remnants of human civilization y below—abareets and buildings swarming with zombies.

  As Zack lowered his altitude, the soni echoed through the city, shattering the gss of tless high-rise buildings. The shards fell like rain, catg the attention of the undead below, who began to gather in hordes beh him.

  “It would’ve been o have missiles for moments like this,” Zack muttered, watg the mass of zombies below. But for now, he would make do with what he had.

  At speeds over Mach 1, Zack reached X Pearl City ihan ten minutes. From high above, he spotted the ndmark exhibitioer. He slowed down, gradually desding, and saw a massive crowd of zombies milling around the venue. Judging by their clothing, they were likely visitors or staff from the exhibition before the virus outbreak.

  "Looks like they haven’t evolved much," he said, the hundreds of zombies below. Most seemed to be regur ied, with only a few bloated ones among them.

  H mid-air, Zack activated the ailerons and fps on his armor, stabilizing himself. He raised his hands, palms fag the undead horde.

  "Time for some ing," he said with a smirk.

  With precise targeting, particle beams shot from his palms, each bst hitting a zombie squarely and leaving scorched holes in their bodies. The regur zombies fell instantly, their bodies burhrough by the beams.

  "Roar!" The zombies let out guttural growls, beginning to pile up toward Zack.

  They swarmed together, creating a grotesque, pyramid-like tower beh him, reag higher with each passing moment. The sight of their densely packed forms climbing over one another would send chills down anyone’s spine.

  “Trying to reach me, huh?” Zack chuckled, easily asding another dozeers. The zombie pile toppled as they scrambled after him, crashing to the ground in a chaotic heap. Zack tinued repositioning himself in the air, drawing the zombies below him like he was walking a pack of dogs. Meanwhile, his pulse o firing rapidly, cutting down the horde.

  The square below soon became littered with lifeless bodies and craters. Ohere were fewer than a hundred zombies left, Zack retracted the armor’s ailerons and fps, dropping toward the ground. He nded with a heavy thud, one knee down, crag the pavemeh him in a cssic superhero nding.

  “Ouch! This nding’s tough on the knees,” he muttered, feeling the impact even through the suit’s padding.

  As he stood up, the remaining zombies roared and charged toward him, trampling over their fallen rades in their frenzy.

  "Alright, bring it on!"

  Zack extehe foldable arm bde from his armor. With a swift motion, the bde unfolded into a sharp, meter-long on. Gripping it firmly, Zached himself into the crowd, slig through the zombies like they were nothing more than targets.

  He moved with incredible speed, the bde fshing as he took down eabie with precise, swift cuts. The bloated ones he entered were quickly dealt with by bsts from his pulse on, bursting into gory explosions that scattered dark stains across the area.

  Toxic green gas spread around him, f a thick, choking cloud. His armor’s internal systems responded immediately.

  “Life support system activated... Air purification plete.”

  With an expressionless face, Zack stepped through the mist, his armored figure cutting through the eerie haze. He ehe main doors of the veepping into a se of chaos and decay. Bloodstains spttered the floor, broken clothes were scattered everywhere, and shattered gss covered every surface. Most of the dispys were destroyed, with broken cases and toppled exhibits everywhere. A few zombies remained iaggering aimlessly with missing limbs, a sad reminder of what they once were.

  “Ego, where’s the robotic arm?” Zack asked, his voice calm.

  “Exhibition Hall 07, Zone D,” Ego replied smoothly.