In a world devastated by chaos, finding individuals with the right expertise was almost impossible. “Unless…” Zack’s gaze shifted to the pile of spider parts stacked in a er of the room.

  His mind clicked into gear. An idea began to form—a way to bypass the need for skilled manpower altogether. “Ego, start rec,” Zack said, grabbing a pen and sketchpad. He began to draw feverishly.

  Before long, a design emerged on the paper: a meical bug. It resembled a ant while it size was far smaller from the spider as it tailored for precision work. Beside the sketch, Zack scrawled the -1. The first meical manufacturing bug was pleted by the robotic arms in Zack’s workshop, under Ego’s careful supervision. It sat oable before him—a sleek, fged mae about the size of a house cat. Though its shape was remi of a spider, its fun was entirely different. Instead of ons, the Ant-1 was equipped with an array of tools: welding guns, cutting maes, and fine maniputors.

  Despite its small size, it was impressively effit, powered by grapheteries. Zack had desighree sizes of these manufacturing bugs:

  Large ones, simir in size to the spiders, for building and transp heavy maery.Medium ones, like the Ant-1, for versatile tasks.Small ones, no bigger than a palm, specialized in crafting precision instruments.

  The Ant-1 was a medium-sized unit, banced in fun and capability. It carried over a dozen produ tools aured a highly advanced AI capable of rec multiple produodes simultaneously. As the first of its kind, it proudly bore the designation: 001.

  “Activate 001,” Zaanded.

  The Ant-1’s meical legs unfolded as it came to life. After a brief calibratio, it responded smoothly to Zack’s orders. “Start by assembling a spider from the parts in the er,” Zastructed.

  The Ant-1 immediately leaped from the table, scuttling over to the pile of discarded pos. Its trio of high-resolution optical lenses sed the parts, quickly identifying what could be reused. Some parts were intad ready to go, while others were damaged or missiirely. For those, the Ant-1 improvised, crafting repts using the avaible materials.

  Piece by piece, the meical bug worked tirelessly, assembling a funing spider.It took an hour and a half—impressive given most of the parts were ready for use. Zack estimated it would take twice as long to build one from scratch. “The efficy of a single unit isn’t groundbreaking,” Zack mused as he observed the Ant-1’s progress, “but it’s already better than a human worker—and it doesn’t get tired.”

  This performance exceeded Zack’s expectations. Initially, he had expected the manufacturing bugs to pensate for their low speed with sheer numbers. But even as a single unit, the Ant-1 proved incredibly effective. “Ego, scale up produ,” Zack ordered decisively.

  The cept had been proven. Now, it was time to mass-produce these manufacturing bugs.“And have the existing units assist in building more bugs,” Zack added, grinning at the self-replig efficy of his pn. “Transport materials directly from the steel mill. Use the transport pne as needed. If anything else is missing, let me know.”

  “Yes, sir,” Ego replied.

  The robotic arms in the workshop immediately began w, grabbing materials and starting produ. As Zack watched the process, he dowhe chlorophyll juice beside him in one gulp. With these manufacturing bugs, he wouldn’t just bolster the Mansion’s defenses—he’d y the groundwork for a teological empire, one piece at a time.

  Zack observed the meticulous, orderly produ in the basement with a hint of satisfa. The manufacturing bugs were operating at full efficy, and their numbers steadily increased. At this rate, as long as materials remained abundant, produ efficy would tio skyrocket. “I feel kind of useless now…” Zack muttered, scratg his head.

  Whether it was setting up air defenses or produg Air Fortress fighters, everything hinged on ramping up the produ of manufacturing bugs. Until their numbers were suffit, Zack found himself with idle hands—something that didn’t sit well with his restless nature.“Wait a sed… Superhuman Serum!” Zack suddenly excimed, recalling an idea he had toyed with the night before.

  At the time, he sidered developing a serum simir to the ohat created Captain America, but he had shelved the po the ck of a biological b. Now, however, it seemed like the perfect project. "The armrades wait. The MV-02W is more than capable of handling most enemies for now," Zack reasoned. “Maybe it’s time to focus on strengthening myself.”

  He pohe issue deeply. With his armor, Zack ractically invincible, but without it, he was only marginally strohan an average person. His physical enhas so far, though noticeable, were ial and slow. While his body seemed tthen naturally over time without side effects, Zack found the pace frustrating. Waiting years to achieve the strength he desired wasn’t an option.

  “Ego, find the biological b,” Zaanded.

  Zack sighed. “I may have all the blueprint, but those are just data. Even if the formus are plete, there are elements I’ve never heard of, let alone have access to.”

  Many of these pos were unique. Even if substitutes could be found, each variation would require exteesting to ensure safety and efficacy. This meant Zaeeded access to a b where he could experiment and refihe formu. “Mutations are risky enough,” Zack muttered. “I o make sure that if I mutate, it’s safe and trolble.”

  Ego's voiterrupted his thoughts. "Sir, I have located a biological boratory at 29th Street in South Manhattan. Satellite imagery indicates the facility is occupied by survivors ear to have tur into a base."

  “Using a b as a base?” Zack raised an eyebrow. “In the middle of the city ter? That’s zombie tral. Whoever did this is either incredibly stupid and just lucky to still be alive, or they’re highly capable.”

  Zack was ined to believe the tter. “Keep monit the area, Ego. Let me know if there’s any movement.”

  As Zack prepared to leave the basement, aruck him. He returo his workbench, grabbed a pen, and started sketg. His improved physical dition had uedly enhanced his drawing skills, and in no time, he had drafted a sleek, bd-red bat uniform with a distinctly feminine design. A while ter, Erza stood in front of him, wearing the newly designed suit. The tight-fitting outfit highlighted her figure perfectly, and the glossy surface gave it an almost gel-like texture.

  “So… this is what you came up with?” Erza asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. “Don’t tell me you’re not a pervert.”

  Zack rolled his eyes. “It’s just the inner yer! You’re supposed to wear something over it, genius.”

  The design was loosely based on modern tactical gear, but Zack had added his own enhas. It featured a high-temperature-resistant coating and a built-in temperature regution system. The suit could deteviroal ges and automatically adjust to keep the wearer warm in winter and cool in summer. It was also water-resistant and fireproof. “Wow, this feels amazing!” Erza said, running her hands over the material. “It’s breathable, too!”

  “Of course it is—” Zack began, only for Erza to interrupt with a smirk. “And it’s great because now I won’t have to worry about embarrassing bulges if I fart.”