Antonny and his team hadn’t fallen to the zombie tide but had beerayed—killed by their own people because of greed. Zack’s expression darkened as his frustration simmered beh the surface. “What about the helicopter that got away? Who’s on board?” he asked.

  Ego responded promptly. “Satellite footage shows only one oct, a female pilot. Based on her profile, she matches Ms. Ava—the student who piloted a fighter during the st zombie wave. Her aircraft is moving southwest from the Imperial Capital, but she’s been ging dire frequently. Her destination is currently unclear.”

  Zack frowned slightly. “Ava… I remember her.” The boldness of the pilot student during the previous zombie attack had left an impression.

  “Keep an eye on her. Let me know if anything ges,” he ordered. Then his tone hardened. “Also, focus on the Caribbean base. I waailed information owo bastards.”

  “Uood, Sir,” Ego replied.

  Two hours ter, Zaded the Avalon in the open spa front of the steel pnt. The aircraft touched down smoothly, its loaded to capacity.“Mr. Zack!”“Mr. Zack!”

  A small group led by Charles approached, their excitement evident. Many of them carried a glint of admiration—or perhaps fanaticism—in their eyes. They had been briefed ahead of time that Zack, the man in the nanosuit, was arriving. “Charles, have your men unload the cargo from the . Be careful when handling it,” Zastructed, his voice steady but anding as he jumped down from the pne.

  “Uood! Er, get some people to help unload!” Charles called out to a lean man standing nearby.

  Er quickly gathered a group of workers—men who had previously been prisoners but were now reformed uhe order of the steel pnt. With guaranteed food, safety, and shelter, these men were far more disciplihan before. “Move carefully,” Charles remihem. “Don’t mess this up.”

  “Got it, Charles!” Er replied as he led the group to the Avalon’s rear. The hatch opened with a soft hiss. As it did, something rge and grotesque tumbled out—a severed tiger’s head, its size massive, its blood-soaked features frozen in a snarl. The stench of death and iron filled the air.

  “Ah!” “A tiger?!” Er and the others recoiled, stumbling ba shock. The sight of the monstrous head left some trembling, their faces pale.

  “What’s the panic for?” Zack’s calm voice cut through the otion as he kicked the tiger’s head aside nontly. “It’s already dead.” Swallowing their fear, Er’s group slowly returo their feet, wiping sweat from their brows before proceeding to unload the rest of the cargo.

  “Mr. Zack, the factory building you requested has been prepared and cleared out,” Charles reported as Zack oversaw the unloading. He hesitated for a moment before asking, “But… you mentioned no workers would be needed. How will it operate?”

  “Maes will ha,” Zack replied pinly. “Your job is to supply the necessary materials—copper, iron, tungsten, and other pos—on time. The Armory is now a restricted area. No one is allowed near it without my permission.”

  Though Zack’s tone remained calm, it carried an air of authority that left no room for debate. “Uood,” Charles said quickly. He was nothing if not loyal. Ieel pnt, his devotion to Zack was unmatched, and his leadership ensured no one dared challenge his position as Zack’s closest ally.

  As the cargo was moved, Ego remotely piloted the Avalon to shuttle betweeeel pnt and the mountain Armory, transp produ lines, meical Ants, and vast quantities of military supplies. On-site, the meical Ants got to work immediately, harvesting local materials to struct robotic arms and automated maery.

  By dusk, the Armory roared to life. Materials were fed into fully automated maes, processed, and transferred onto assembly lines. Robotic arms worked tirelessly, loading tungsten-alloy armor-pierg bullets and indiary warheads into tainers. Each time a tainer was filled, meical Ants rolled a new oo pce to keep produ flowing seamlessly. “How’s the efficy?” Zack asked, examining a handful of freshly-made armor-pierg rounds.

  “With suffit materials, roduce 80,000 tungsten-core armor-pierg rounds and 50,000 indiary rounds daily,” Ego reported. “Output may vary slightly depending on the caliber of the bullets, but it should remain sistent overall.”

  “Eighty thousand rounds?” Zack raised an eyebrow, impressed. “Looks like we’ve solved the bullet she. , we’ll o get the miissile produ line up and running.” He thahe project that Zack has tasked them oing a new ingot from his blueprint. “Let me take a look,” Zack said, taking the ingot from his hands. He tur over, iing its surface as Ego’s sing module activated, emitting a faint blue light that washed over the alloy.

  “Material detected,” Ego reported in its calm, meical tone. “Ultralium, position: 60% Gold, 32.7% Titanium, 7.3% graphene infusion.”

  Zack raised an eyebrow. “Ultralium? That’s a new one. What’s the verdict?”

  Ego tinued, “Hardness is 23 times that of standard steel. Exceptional toughness, high thermal ductivity, areme resistao acids, alkalis, and radiation. However, ductility is slightly lower than optimal, and microfractures may form under repeated high-impact stress.”

  Zack rubbed his thoughtfully. “In short?”

  “It’s a robust material with signifit potential for reinfort but not ideal for applications requiriensive flexibility,” Ego cluded.

  Zack let out a low whistle, impressed despite the noted limitations. "Not bad for something produced in this wastend. Twenty-three times harder than steel—now we’re talking."

  The wiry man, Er, watched nervously as Zaspected the metal further. “How many of these ingots have you mao produce so far?” Zack asked, his tone sharp.

  "Is there a problem?" Zack pressed.

  Er nodded hesitantly. "Actually, two problems, Mr. Zack. First, smelting Ultralium alloy is incredibly difficult. Even with the method you provided, the workers just aren’t effit enough."

  "And the sed problem?" Zack asked.

  Er scratched his head, clearly embarrassed. "The material’s, uh… mostly gold. Sixty pert, to be exact. We’re running out of Gold."

  Zack sighed, realizing the issue. "How much gold do we have left in the factory?"

  Er answered quickly, "Less than two hundred pounds."

  That wasn’t much, sidering the sheer amount they’d started with. Zack had previously deployed meical dogs to sge preetals from abandoned jewelry stores and banks throughout NYC City. They’d found a det haul, but it was clearly dwindling fast. "Two hundred pounds isn’t nearly enough," Zack said thoughtfully. After a moment, he added, "Take a few people and some meical dogs out on another run. I’ll supply you with thermite grenades and a ser cutter."

  Er blinked in fusion. "Thermite grenades? Laser cutter?"

  Zack smirked. "Banks. Specifically, vaults."

  Er’s eyes lit up, uanding immediately. Few people could resist the allure of a bank’s vault. Leaving the steel pnt behind, Zack returo his Mansion. The first thing he did after shedding his nanosuit was o to ramp up produ. "Start produg more meical Ants. And keep building Avalons—we’re going to least three, if not more. Meical dogs and spiders? Keep those ing. No cap on he more, the better," Zastructed in one breath.