The group scrambled to their feet, nodding eagerly. As Zack’s armor propelled him into the air and towards the biological b, the six exged uneasy gnces.

  “Should we run?” one of them whispered nervously.“Run? Where to? That guy said a pne is ing soon. Do you want to test how far you get before he hunts you down?”“He’s strong, sure,” another said hesitantly, “but all he has is that armor. Without it, he’s nothing.”“Exactly,” a middle-aged man with a sharp look said, his tone low and calg. “Let’s follow him for now. The mome a ce, we’ll take the armor. Then we’ll be unstoppable.”

  The others heir fear giving way to greed. But they were unaware that Zaow h hundreds of meters above, had heard every word through his suit’s advanced audio sensors. His cold eyes tracked them as they ran back to the b. “Six will do,” Zack muttered, his voice calm but chilling.

  He adjusted his flight path and shot back to the biological b, entering through the gaping hole he’d bsted earlier. The thrusters roared as he he force stirring up dust and sending frightened survivors scrambling for cover. “Ah!” someone screamed, their voice filled with terrn them entirely, Zack strode toward the staircase.

  The dancer from earlier hesitated, then worked up the ce to speak. “W-what happened?”

  Zack didn’t stop. “He’s dead. I crushed his skull and burned him alive with the propeller,” he said without looking back, his tone as indifferent as if he were discussing the weather. The dancer froze, her emotions flig. Relief mixed with the urge to cry as she bent down, whispering, “Thank you... thank you...”

  Zack tinued down into the b, his expression dark. His initial pn to develop a serum here had been scrapped. The pce disgusted him now. “Ego, is the helicopter avaible?” he asked, his tone sharp.

  “Yes, sir,” the AI replied smoothly. “We just firansp supplies. It’s ready for deployment.”

  “Good. Bring it here,” Zack ordered. He grabbed a marker from the b and began making visible marks on all the equipment and materials he needed. If this b couldn’t serve his purposes, he’d move everything to one of the empty Mansions in the unity a up a new base there.

  While waiting Zack start cheg up the pce, a stack of dots on the boratory table caught Zack’s attention. He narrowed his eyes, curious. “Huh? What’s this?” He walked over, pig up the topmost file. After flipping through the pages, his expression darkened. It was Dr. Samson’s research data—detailed information on various human experiments. Among the papers was a slim, leather-bound diary with the doctor’s handwritten notes.

  [X Month XX, 20XX]Today marks the seventh day of the virus outbreak. I came down with an inexplicable fever—40 degrees. It reminded me of when I was a child, burning up at Aunt Susan’s house.Thankfully, I survived.Thank God!

  [X Month XX, 20XX]It’s the ninth day.I’ve noticed… somethiraordinary about myself. I’ve awakened a hidden power—an atavism! I transform into a werewolf within mihough the process is agonizing. But oransform... I am unstoppable!Thank God!

  Zack’s lips curled into a sneer as he read the entries. “So, the guy’s a mutant. For a sed, I thought he experimented on himself.” He tinued flipping through the diary, skipping muails of daily experiments, until he stumbled upon something that made his blood run cold.

  [X Month XX, 20XX]I’m losing my mind! These people are too frail. They ’t even survive minor enhas!

  [X Month XX, 20XX]Success at st! Experimental Subject-27 exhibits zombie-like traits while retaining human intelligeesting firms that zombies won’t attack Subject-27. I’ve do! If I pinpoint the mutation’s cause, I develop a serum that will allow humans and zombies to coexist peacefully! A Nobel Prize would surely be mine!

  Zack smmed the diary shut, his face shadowed with rage. Now he uood. Dr. Samson’s so-called “hope for mankind” was grotesque. The doctor wao transform every surviving human into a zombie—thinking, breathing zombies! For this twisted vision, at least twenty i people had died on his operating table.

  Zack exhaled slowly, his voice chillingly calm. “I regret it, Ego. I shouldn’t have killed him so quickly. I should’ve made him suffer until he begged for death.”

  Ego remained silent, sensing the weight of Zack’s fury. Zack closed the file and tucked it under his arm. He had no iion of staying in this godforsaken b a moment longer. As Zack reached the upper floor, he came across a tense se. Dr. Samson’s six surviving men were huddled together, trembling as they faced the transformed dancer.

  Though "frontation" seemed like the wrong word—it was clear the men were moments away from being torn apart. From the energy readings Ego had sed, the dancer’s transformation had elevated her strength to rival that of a Night Stalker. Against her, these six men stood no ce.

  “Don’t act rashly!” one of the men stammered, his voice crag. “We’re... we’re under Master’s prote! If you hurt us, he won’t spare you!”

  The group’s bluff ainfully obvious. They didn’t even know Zack’s name, let alone have real prote. The dancer snarled, but she paused, her sharp cws retrag slightly. It seemed she uood their feeble words.

  “Enough.” Zack’s cold voice broke the tension as he stepped into view. “You lot, head back downstairs and start moving the equipment I marked. Don’t take the wrong things—or else.” The six men froze. They exged nervous gnces before nodding furiously. “Y-yes, sir! Right away!”

  Without another word, they scrambled bato the b, eager to avoid the dancer’s wrath.Zack turo the t figure beside him. Even at 1.8 meters tall, he had to e his o look up at her. She loomed over him, more than 3 meters tall iransformed state. “Want to kill them?” he asked bluntly, his to.

  The dancer hesitated, her glowing eyes flickering. Finally, she leaned doardly to meet his gaze. “No… I don’t want to.”

  It was an obvious lie. Zack could see the hatred simmering in her expression. But she khese men were now under Zack’s and, and she couldn’t a her desires. “Don’t worry,” Zack said softly, though his words carried a sharp edge. “They won’t die easy.”The dancer’s eyes narrowed, but she said nothing further.

  Mier, a helicopter desded in front of the b’s gates. The six men worked quickly, loading crates of equipment and materials onto carts and hauling them to the aircraft. Before long, the helicopter’s cargo hold acked to the brim. “You lot, get in,” Zack ordered, standing by the loading ramp.

  The six men stared at him in fusion. “But… there’s no room, sir.”

  “Do you need me to repeat myself?” Zack’s voice dropped, cold and menag.

  “N-no, sir!” They stammered, scrambling to climb into the cramped hold. They squeezed themselves into the narros between the crates, their bodies pressed unfortably close. Every tiny movement caused ao groan in pain asp for air.

  “Close the door,” Zaanded.