Meanwhile, far away from NYC City, Erza sat alone in the of an unmanned helicopter. The night outside itch bck, and the only sound was the rhythmic chopping of the propellers. Her nerves were on edge. She swallowed hard, trying to shake the uneasy feeling creeping up her spine. “Is it just me, or does this feel haunted?” she whispered to herself, gng around the empty . Her voice echoed faintly in the fined space.

  “Why couldn’t I fly back with him? Leaving me alone here... What if this thing crashes? Are there even parachutes?” Erza muttered anxiously. She searched the half-heartedly, finding nothing that reassured her.

  The helicopter hit turbulence, jostling her seat. Her stomach flipped, and she g tightly to the armrests, her face pale with fear. “It’s over! I’m going to die!” she groaned dramatically, brag for the worst. Wheurbulence finally passed, Erza let out a shaky breath. “Phew… made it.” She slumped ba her seat, though her relief was short-lived. Little did she know, the flight was far from over.

  Ba NYC City, Zack quietly ehe upstairs room where Annie y sleeping. Her fever had finally broken. He pced a hand on her forehead, feeling the cool skih his palm. A sense of relief washed over him.

  “Let me know as soon as she wakes up,” Zack said to Sophia, who stood nearby.“Where are you going?” Sophia asked but quickly ged. “Never mind. Just don’t stay up too te.”

  Zaodded and headed downstairs. He moved with purpose, making his way to the basement of his Mansion. The shelves there were packed with bottles and jars filled with chemicals. After a few minutes of searg, Zack found what he was looking for—a tube of light blue liquid. He loaded it into a syringe, grabbed a bottle of coagution spray, a.He walked to Mansion No. 7, an unoccupied house nearby. Its decor was simple, a remnant of the developer’s pre-apocalypse effort to sell properties. Zatered the basement, where Tarantu stood guard over the maimed ander and the strongman. Both were still alive, though barely.

  “You should yourself up,” Zack told Tarantu without looking at her. “We don’t want to scare Annie when she wakes up.”

  Tarantu nodded a immediately, leaving Zack aloh the ttives. The basement was eerily quiet except for the shallow breathing of the two men. “Stop pretending. I know you’re awake,” Zack said coldly, addressing the ander, whose body trembled faintly from pain.

  The man’s act of unsciousness was ughably obvious. Realizing he’d been caught, the ander opened his eyes. His voice was hoarse and garbled, likely due to a broken jaw. “You… won’t get… anything… out of me…”

  Zack smirked. “Don’t waste your energy.”

  He turo ihe strongmae having his limbs sawed off, the man was still alive. Not only that, but his wounds had stopped bleeding on their own, rendering the coagution spray unnecessary. “Impressive,” Zack muttered, more to himself. The mutations had clearly enhahe man’s physical resiliehough his healing ability was far from making him immortal.

  Satisfied, Zack turned back to the ander. He held up the syringe, his smirk widening into something more menag. “Your turn.”

  The aiffened, sensing danger. “What… what are you going to do?” he stammered, his voice shaking.

  “Rex. It’s not poison,” Zack said in a mogly soothing tohis little co enhances your neural perception while suppressing your body’s natural defenses. In simple terms, it makes the pain a lot worse—and keeps you awake through all of it.”

  The devilish grin on Zack’s face made the ander’s blood run cold. "There ’t be such a thing..." Although the aried to sound disbelieving, the fear etched on his face gave him away.

  "Holy, I don’t quite believe it either. But..." Zack paused, holding up a syringe. "You’ll know soon enough."

  Before the ander could react, Zack pluhe syrio his neck. The ander flinched. "Don’t, don’t, don’t… If you have something to say, just say it! Everyone will bme you if something happens—"

  The ander’s words stumbled over his fear. His bravado faltered as the cold liquid started to push into his veins. "You’re awfully chatty for someone in your position," Zack said with a faint smirk. "But don’t worry. The night is long… we’ll take our time."

  Zack slowly ied the liquid, log eyes with the ander as he did. "Wait a bit," Zack said, pulling a chair over and sitting down. "It’ll take about three mio ki."The ander’s breathing became uneven as his pupils dited. At first, there was nothing but silehen— "Aaaaaaaahhhh!!!" A scream so sharp and pierg erupted that it triggered the motion senshts across the entire area.

  The ander vulsed, his shattered jaw trembling as veins bulged across his fad neck. Every nerve in his body, previously numbed by pain, seemed to awaken with vengeahe sensation surged through him, every fiber of his being ed by indescribable pain. His limbs spasmed untrolbly, broken bones grinding against each other, eaent sending unbearable agony ripping through him.He rolled on the ground, desperate for relief, but every touch against the cold, hard floor only amplified his suffering. The torment refused to subside. His nerves wouldn’t numb, his mind wouldn’t let him faint—it was an endless loop of anguish.

  "Ahhhhhhh!!!"

  Zack watched impassively as the man writhed and screamed. "Now," he said, holding up a pair of pliers, "are you ready to talk?"

  The ander, his face soaked i and twisted in agony, mao stammer, "You… you haven’t asked me anythi…"

  Zack blinked, as if just remembering. "ht." From a nearby table, he pulled two wires attached to a power source. Adjusting the current, he touched the ends of the wires to the ander’s skin. The shock jolted through the ander’s body. His nerves, momentarily overloaded, stopped transmitting the relentless pain. The man gasped, his body going limp for a brief, blessed moment of relief. His chest heaved as if he’d just surfaced from drowning.

  "Feelier?" Zack asked with a faint smile. He was gd preparing this serum beforehand when he have the time. How this work is a marvel on it’s own.

  The serum works by targeting the nerves in the body that send pain signals to the brain. It enhahe activity of these nerves, making them more sensitive to pain by increasing the chemicals arical signals they use to unicate. This makes every sensation feel much more painful than usual. However, when aric shock is applied, it disrupts this process. The sudden burst of electricity overwhelms the nerves, shutting down their ability to send signals for a brief moment. It also interferes with the chemicals that the serum relies on, effectively "resetting" the nerves and stopping the enhanced pain effect. This gives the person temporary relief until the nerves recover and the serum starts w again.

  "Yes… yes…" the aarted to reply, but before the words were fully out, Zack pulled the wires away. The pain came rushing back, crashing over him like a tsunami. The ander’s eyes rolled back as his mouth opened in a silent scream. His body vulsed violently, veins straining against his skin.

  Zack reattached the wires, letting the man catch his breath again. "Now, let’s get started. Answer my questions, and I’ll make sure this doesn’t st forever. Got it?"

  "Got it! Got it!" the ander blurted out, nodding frantically. Sweat dripped off his face, pooling on the floor beh him.

  "Who sent you?" Zack asked.