Five days. Just five days to prepare for an onsught of millions. Zaew he had to turn the MV-02 into a full-fledged war mae and find additional manpower. Even with its advanced armor, fag suumbers alone would be a death wish.

  "Ego, pull up the data on drones and automatons," Zaanded.

  A dispy appeared on the s, showing various designs: cutting-edge quadcopters, spider-like robots with fs, and humanoid android models.

  "No... these are too expensive and plicated to mass-produce quickly," Zack muttered, shaking his head. Even if he had all the materials, produg enough reactors to power them would be impossible.

  "I need something simpler, something I produ bulk," Zack muttered to himself as an idea began to form. He moved over to his workbench, grabbed a pen, and started sketg.

  Sihe apocalypse, Zack's physical abilities had improved in ways he couldn’t fully expin, and his mind had sharpened as well. It allowed him to tackle challehat would have been out of reach before. Building two geions of power armor had also given him valuable knowledge and experien meical design. Though he still cked professional expertise, Ego easily filled in those gaps.

  "It doesn’t o be cutting-edge, just funal," Zack thought, his pen moving quickly over the paper. "In our situation, an animal form would be more useful."

  Zack’s mind raced. "It doesn’t even need advanced AI—just enough to tell friend from foe. A simple face reition system should do the trick," he said to himself, pausing to write down some additional notes. "Energy will be the real challenge. Cold fusioors are too expensive, and grapheteries take too long to make. Maybe something using hydrogen... it’ll be easier to produce."

  Two designs started to take shape on the drawing board. The first was a meical dog—sleek and fierce, with a long, sharp tail that could help with band double as a close-bat on. The sed was a meical spider—a smaller, lethal version inspired by a famame from 2001, ohat Zack regretted never having a true sequel. Uural spiders, which have eight legs, Zack’s desigured four strong limbs. The tips of the spider’s legs were razor-sharp, capable of pierg even steel ptes. The simpler, fged design saved on materials and improved bance, allowing the spider to move smoothly without the need for a plex stabilization system.

  For ons, Zack chose ventional firearms. The meical dog would have a more advanced AI, allowing it to patrnize allies and enemies, and adjust its tactics based on its enviro. The spider’s AI would be simpler—it could identify targets but would rely o attack patterns.

  With the final design on paper, Zack took a deep breath and, without hesitation, tore the sketches into pieces and tossed them into the wastebasket. “Ego, it’s your turn now,” he said, stepping back.

  "Uood, sir," Ego responded.

  Zack made room for his AI assistant to take over. The sound of robotic arms whirring filled the basement as the arms sprang to life. Two movable arms grabbed materials with precision, while the fixed arms, attached to the walls, picked up tools and began assembling the pos. The coordinatioween the arms was fwless, like four skilled craftsmen w in unison, produg each piece swiftly and accurately.

  "Sir, here are the blueprints for the hydrogen fuel cell," Ego announced, projeg the schematito a nearby s.

  Hydrogen fuel cells are pact, power sources that gee electricity by bining hydrogen and oxygen in a chemical rea. This process creates electricity, heat, and water as the only byproducts, making it enviroally friendly. Hydrogen fuel cells are highly effit and reliable, only used in cars, buses, and even space missions. They offer steady power and be refueled like a gas tank, making them ideal for tinuous, high-demand energy needs.

  "This should be more than enough," Zack mused, suiting up in protective gear as he ehe room where radioactive materials were stored.

  Meanwhile, at a massive military base in the mountains north of the capital, hundreds of thousands of survivors had gathered, ging to one of the st safe havens after the apocalypse. They had mao fend off multiple zombie waves and red, though resources were running low.

  In the and room, images of a zombie horde in New Rochelle filled the rge s. The writhing sea of undead stretched for miles, a terrifying sight that chilled even the most battle-hardened soldiers.

  "Holy..." a voice spoke up. "We’re doing well just holding round. It’s poio waste ammunition anywhere else."

  "Not to mention fuel," someone else added. "Flying there would burn through most of what we have left!"

  "We’re nearly out of food as it is," another soldier said. "Some people found out those egg-white pancakes are made from cockroaches…"

  "Are we seriously sidering nuking them?" came a nervous whisper.

  The room fell silent, the suggestion hanging in the air like a heavy weight. Only one man, a middle-aged officer in military uniform, remained decisive. "No nuclear bombs," he decred firmly, smming a fist oable. "As long as there are survivors, that’s not an option. We o keep our humanity!"

  Ign the murmurs of dissent, he stood tall, his gaze unwavering. "We’ll send bombers to wipe out the zombie wave in New Rochelle," he ordered before leaving the room, his back straight.

  A few remained behind, muttering, “Let him py hero if he wants. He’s not the only one running this pce," someone sneered.

  Ba his basement, Zack worked through the night, meticulously crafting eleven hydrogen fuel cells. Eait, ner than the size of his palm, had a sleek, pact design, making it vastly more practical than bulkier alternatives like grapheteries. A single unit was enough to power his meical dog for a full twenty years.

  He examined his work with a weary but satisfied grin. "Not bad... Not bad at all."

  Cradling a box of hydrogen fuel cells, Zack left the nuclear workshop and stepped into the basement, where Ego had been w tirelessly. What he saw made him gasp in surprise. Standing before him were two imposing maes: a sleek, battle-ready meical dog and a spider-like mae with folded limbs. Even in their powered-off state, they exuded an aura of enace.

  "Sir, please activate the first-geion meical dog and spider for testing," Ego said.

  Zaodded, uanding that these were prototypes and hh testing before they could be mass-produced.

  He approached the meical dog, opened a partment in its lower abdomen, and carefully ied one of the hydrogen fuel cells. The dog’s eyes flickered to life, glowing a soft blue—its peaceful mode. If those eyes turned red, this metal creature would transform into a lethal mae.

  The meical dog, now powered, responded in an uedly familiar way. It wagged its tail, eveing out a synthesized, eager bark as it looked at Zack, seemingly excited.

  "Sit," Zaaesting its obedience. Instantly, the meical dog settled down, responding to his every word as if it uood pletely.