The st brother, Joey, struggled to rise, terror dawning on his face. “No, please—”

  “Oh, I almost fot you,” Zack murmured with a cold smile before firing one final shot. Joey dropped, his pathetic wails sile st. With the three brothers dead, an eerie calm settled over the blood-soaked room, the metallic st filling the air.

  Zack picked up the shotgun the brothers had. To his disappoi, it was nothing more than a crudely made on, hand-polished and barely funal. He dropped it bato the floor, unimpressed.

  He reached into his backpad pulled out a Molotov cocktail he had prepared earlier. With a flick of his lighter, he set it abze and tossed it onto the floor among the corpses. Fmes quickly engulfed the Mansion, flickering against the blood-stained walls and spreading fast.

  Without looking back, Zack left, his face calm as he walked away from the burning building. Despite this being his first time killing a human, he showed no signs of hesitation or remorse. He know he o be decisive or dead is what await him. Only when he was some distance away did he gnce back at the burning Mansion, a plicated look in his eyes.

  A sudden, long howl pierced the night air, sending chills down his spine. Out of the darkness, four or five shadowy figures—fast, humanoid, and ghastly—emerged, rushing toward the Mansion in respoo the fmes.

  Zack’s heart skipped as he spotted the strange, shadowy figures in the distance. "What... are those?" he murmured, dug behind an abandoned car for cover.

  “Target is too far for a s. Switg to satellite view,” Ego reported. Within seds, images from the LSI satellite appeared before Zack’s eyes. Although the night view was dim, he could make out four or five humanoid shapes rag across the ground with inhuman speed. Uhe moonlight, their unnaturally long limbs and pale, hairless bodies stood out starkly. They were anything but human.

  “Sir, parison analysis indicates these creatures are newly identified mutant zombies, only called Night Stalkers,” Ego informed him. “Data shows Night Stalkers primarily emerge at night. During the day, they remain dormant in dark spaces like basements, entering a state simir to hibernation…”

  As Ego spoke, Zack’s expression turned grave. He was witnessing something strahese Night Stalkers dispyed an uling degree of intelligence. When they neared Mansion No. 4, they didn’t recklessly charge in like typical zombies. Instead, they fanned out, positioning themselves to surround the burning building.

  Then a rger Night Stalker emerged, r in a guttural tohat seemed to and the others. At ohe ht Stalkers surged forward, fearlessly diving into the fmes. Within moments, they dragged out the charred bodies of the three brothers and id them before the rger Night Stalker, who seemed to be their leader.

  The leader crouched over the bodies, tearing them open and dev the fresh ans. The ht Stalkers waited their turn until the leader fihen joined in, leaving nothing but scattered, scorched bones behind.

  Watg from a distance, Zack felt a chill creep down his spine. Ohe Night Stalkers had feasted, the leader let out another anding roar, and the creatures disappeared into the darkness. Ego tracked them as they retreated toward an industrial park miles away, only then did Zack release a tense breath.

  “These Night Stalkers have some level of intelligence,” Zack said, frowning. “They behave like a pack of wolves—they’re dangerous.”

  It firmed his fears: zombies ied by the Zeta virus were no longer just mindless undead. They had evolved into a new, more dangerous species.

  “The power Armor o be ready as soon as possible,” Zack murmured, his gaze steely.

  For the five days, Zack immersed himself in his basement workshop, fiuning his armor relentlessly. Only occasionally did he leave the Mansion to sge for tools and materials. Sophia, though curious, refrained from asking questions. She dutifully brought meals to the elevator, letting it desd on its own, never catg so much as a glimpse of the basement.

  She sat in the living room, staring bnkly at the TV, her mind far from the cartoons pying on the s. Her mother’s fate remained uain, and though she wanted desperately to beg Zack for help, she held back, knowing her request was unreasonable. Sophia also felt Zack already had enough on his shoulders with her, and even though he’d told her he wanted her as his woman, he’d never once pressured her into anything she didn’t want to do.

  Suddenly, a series of heavy thuds sounded from below, like footsteps from something massive. The floor vibrated slightly, causing the water in a gss on the coffee table to ripple. Startled, Sophia quickly turned off the TV. After a moment of hesitation, she picked up the inter.

  “Zack, are you okay down there?”

  “Fine,” came Zack’s curt response, his voice slightly muffled.

  “Oh, uh, be careful then,” she replied, setting dower with a sigh. She sat there in silence, uo focus oV anymore.

  In the basement, Zack took a deep breath, wiping sweat from his brow as he stepped out of the bulky armo promptly began a diagnostic report:

  “Type 1 Armor MV-01, initial wear test plete. Energy transfer is normal. Power unit operational... Warning: nerve du devices experieng signifit g. Solution: recalibration required.”

  The g in the nerve du was a major setback. It rehe armor almost useless, as it couldn’t respond to his movements iime, leaving him struggling to maneuver uhe weight of the massive suit.

  After a brief sigh, Zack got back to work, adjusting the nerve du device. In these five days, his V-01 Armor had evolved from cept to testing stage. His armor was imposing, heavy—an iron behemoth.

  The base was an authentic set of medieval European pte armor he’d found in the Mansion, which he reinforced arofitted to bear the MV-01 pos. He’d even thied the metal to withstand ventional rifle fire, resulting in a suit that weighed nearly a ton. The armor’s weight also meant that Ego’s grapheteries were drained faster, redug its battery life from three hours to just two. But to Zack, this added bulk was worth the trade-off.

  After pleting the adjustments, Zack stepped baire his work. This armor was not sleek or sophisticated; it was a mobile fortress.

  “Ego, start the sed test,” he anded, uo hold back his excitement. This time, Zack climbed into the armor with renewed fidence.

  The momeivated the suit, he noticed the difference. Every movement he made was mirrored perfectly by the armor. When he raised his hand, the suit’s massive arm followed without dey, moving smoothly, and even his fingers respoo his ands with surprising precision.

  “Test eng... Nerve du device recalibrated. All systems operational,” Ego announced.

  Zack flexed his armored fingers, feeling a thrill of satisfa. For the first time, he truly felt the power of his creation, a onized extension of his own body.