Sophia performed pressions, then tilted Annie’s head back to give her breaths, repeating the cycle until Annie’s chest began to rise on its own, her heartbeat gradually finding a steady rhythm.

  Exhausted and drenched i, Sophia leaned bad anxiously studied Annie’s face. “e on, Annie… breathe,” she whispered.

  “Status update, Ego?” Zack asked, his voice tight with worry.

  “Annie is out of immediate danger, but her dition is still fragile. She’s weak, and the oxygen deprivation may leave her disoriented for a while,” Ego reported, pausing briefly. “There’s another issue. I detected moderate signs of paldium poisoning in her system.”

  “Paldium poisoning?” Zack’s voice sharpened with disbelief. “I’ve been using MV-01 for years without a problem. How could A poisoned after just a few hours?”

  He gently pulled down the colr of Annie’s suit, his heart sinking at what he saw. Dark, purplish-bck veins snaked from her oward her chest—clear evidence of paldium toxicity.

  “This is bad,” Zack muttered, running a hand through his hair. He kreatmeed—Ego’s database had protocols—but they were w against the clock. Relieving her symptoms had to e first.

  He ched his fists, staring at his sister, who y pale and still. “Just some chlorophyll juice… that’s what we o start with,” he muttered to himself, trying to mask his growing ay. But his mind raced: why had Annie’s body reacted so violently to paldium? What made her so different?

  In just a few hours, the paldium levels in her system had skyrocketed to levels that would take months to accumute in most people. A faint, strained voiterrupted his thoughts. “Brother…”

  Zack turned quickly to see Aruggling to open her eyes. Her voice was barely audible, her breathing shallow. “I’m sorry… I was flying, and I got so sleepy… so tired… I didn’t want to sleep… I was scared… scared I’d crash the armor…”

  Her words came out halting and broken. Zack’s chest tightened painfully. He k beside her, his voice soft but firm. “Hey, it’s okay. Don’t worry about that. If the armor breaks, we’ll fix it—or build a new one. You just o rest now, okay?”

  Sophia stepped forward at Zack’s nod aly lifted the frail thirteen-year-old into her arms. Annie felt impossibly light, almost weightless. As they ehe elevator, Zack’s expression hardened. “Ego,” he said, his tone anding, “upload the analysis results.”

  In the basement, rows of puter ss lit up, streaming data iime. Zack worked quickly, relying on his high-performaup since he didn’t have fancy holographic dispys. The data painted a grim picture. “Now add the red-haired woman’s data,” Zastructed. Another s filled with Erza’s braiivity.

  As Zapared the two datasets, his frown deepehe abnormal braiterns in Annie’s data were almost identical to Erza’s. Of all the people Zack had sed—himself included—no one else showed anything like this.

  “Ego, you see what this means, right?” Zack muttered under his breath.

  “Yes, sir,” Ego responded. “It strongly suggests that Annie has undergone a mutation.”

  “Mutation…” Zack repeated, the word feeling heavy in his mouth.

  “Ego, could her paldium poisonied to this mutation?”

  “There’s a 97% probability that the mutation is the cause,” Ego firmed.

  Zack sighed deeply. If Ego was right, it meant Annie could never use the power armain—not in its current form. He’d o pletely redesign the reactor system, avoiding any toxic elements like paldium. But without access to advanced facilities, building a zero-poior was impossible.

  “We’ll deal with it ter,” he decided. For now, Annie would have to stay on the sidelines, helping with logistics like Sophia. After unloading supplies, Zack returo the basement, now stocked with crates of ons and ammunition.

  “Good thing no one’s smoking down here…” he muttered, imagining the disaster that could unfold.

  “Sir,” Ego interrupted, “Annie is awake and stable.”

  “That’s a relief,” Zack replied, though he didn’t head upstairs. Instead, he focused on his workbench, pulling out an M134 Vul Gatling gun to begin modifications. Four robotic arms disassembled the MV-02 armor, and Zack meticulously worked on eapo.

  “Let’s start with the shoulder-mounted Gatling gu-fed, with an expanded ammo partment on the back,” he mused aloud. “Running out of bullets mid-fight isn’t an option.”

  He grabbed two F2000 assault rifles and mouhem on the arms, scrapping the outdated arm bdes. “Bdes aren’t cutting it against armored targets anymore. But I’ll still need a melee on for the zombies.”

  Aruck him, and he sketched out a saw- sword. “Hydrogen-powered, alloy-steel teeth… This’ll tear through anything, even a zombie lord.”

  , he turned his attention to area-effect ons. “Time for a miniature nine-link missile uncher,” he said with a grin.

  Satisfied, he tinued modifying the MV-02, turning it into a hulking war mae focused on raw firepower. Another idea sparked. “Lasers,” he muttered, recalling ses from his favorite movies. “A hydrogen fuel cell might work, though each shot could drain a full cell. Still worth a try.”

  As the hours passed, Zack’s vision took shape. The sleek MV-02 was now a t, battle-hardened beast. Its matte-bck finish radiated an intimidating, war-ready presence. He’d reinforced the chest, back, and shoulders with extra armor to hahe increased on load.

  The shoulder mounts held an M134 Vul mae gun and a missile uncher loaded with nine rockets. Each arm featured an F2000 assault rifle, while a ser cutter was installed at the wrist. For melee, Zack had crafted a massive saw- sword, 1.6 meters long and weighing 60 kilograms. It was strapped to the back with a magic csp, ready to swing forward in an instant. At full speed, the saw’s teeth rotated at 4,600 RPM, capable of slig through almost anything.

  Annie, meanwhile, had quietly slipped out of bed, sneaking downstairs while Sophia dozed beside her. She hid just out of sight, watg Zack work. Her small fists ched as she whispered, “I won’t hold him baymore.”

  Time ticked by as Zack poured his heart and soul into the new armor. The final result wasn’t just a suit—it was a monster of war. Yet, as he stared at his creation, Zack murmured under his breath, “This is a st resort. Let’s hope I won’t have to use it.”