Back at Mansion No. 9, a drical aircraft roared out of the garage, tearing through the air with incredible speed. It raced toward Zack, its streamlined design slig through the sky.

  Apex es air trol system immediately upoing the Mansion. Fps deployed oher side, adjusting the flight trajectory as it zeroed in on Zack’s position. In seds, it reached him, s past him briefly before diving to match his freefall speed.

  The onboard ser locked onto the subeous positioning devices impnted in Zack’s hands a. “S plete,” Ego reported.

  With ease, Apex unfolded mid-air, its armor ptes shifting and moving like a living anism. Each segment snapped into pce, eng Zack’s body as he fell. The st piece to lo was the helmet, plunging Zato darkness for a moment before the HUD dispy lit up with a soft hum.

  50 meters above ground, Apex’s thrusters roared to life. The sudden burst of energy propelled Zack upward with a sharp turn, the maneuver so abrupt it defied normal physics. A soni echoed as Zack broke the sound barrier.

  “Yahoo!” Zack’s exhirated shout pierced through the s.The suit picked up speed rapidly.

  “Mach 2… Mach 3… Mach 4… Mach 4.5!” Ego’s calm voinounced.

  “Let’s hit Mach 5!” Zack grinned as adrenaline pumped through his veins. The HUD filled with data, the numbers climbing steadily as the suit’s boosters pushed harder.

  “4.6… 4.7… 4.8…” Ego’s updates came slower now as warnings began fshing across the dispy. High-temperature alerts lit up the HUD, warning of the strain ohrusters.

  “Activate impact beam thrusters!” Zack shouted, determio push the limits. Six additional boosters—two more than a standard MV-02W—popped open across Apex’s bad sides. Fmes erupted as they ignited, sending Zack rocketing forward.

  “Mach 5.1… Mach 5.3… Warning: Thrusters at critical levels. tinued acceleration will melt the jet nozzles,” Ego cautioned.

  Gritting his teeth, Zack dialed back the power, redug speed to a fortable Mach 4.5. “Noted. Extreme speed is possible but ’t be maintained long-term,” Zack murmured, making a mental note.

  Ba the ground, Zack returo Mansion No. 9, nding smoothly in the garage. The distance he had covered in just twenty seds was staggering—more than thirty kilometers, averaging over a kilometer per sed.

  Ihe basement, Apex automatically disengaged, its armor pieces folding back to let Zack step out. The golden sheen of the suit gleamed uhe basement lights, drawing Zack’s attention.

  “This gold’s too fshy,” he muttered, shaking his head. The Ultralium alloy, boasting a purity of 99%, gave the armor an almost ostentatious brightness. While the material made the suit nearly iructible, it also screamed wealth—a little too loudly for Zack’s taste.

  “I need a new paint job,” he said, opening the holographic proje interface. Light blue holograms flickered to life, repg the outdated 4K ss. Zaavigated through various paint schemes, simuting different colors on the armor.

  “Silver and gold’s a bit too much. Pure bck’s sleek but too pin for Power armor. Hmm… silver and bck with gold ats—perfect. Just the right mix of style and intimidation.”

  Meical arms and i-like drones got to work, spraying the suit with its new color scheme. When they fihe silver-and-bck body gleamed uhe lights, the subtle gold highlights adding a sharp, polished edge. “Now this,” Zack said, admiring the suit, “looks like it’s ready for war.”

  With the paint job plete, Zack loaded Apex with missiles and other ons. The time for testing was over. Now it was time to use the armor for its real purpose.

  Looking at the suit, Zack’s expression turned cold. His thoughts drifted back to the group that had attacked the Mansion. “Your turn is ing… Ego install on system.”

  After Zack finished speaking, the basement came alive as robotic arms and meical Ants swiftly installed ized miissiles and cluster missiles into the on slots of the Apex armor.

  Ever since experieng the raw thrill of MV-02Ws, Zack had developed an almost obsessive fixation on firepower. The Apex was a testament to that obsession—a true juggernaut among personal armors. Aside from the standard palm pulse ons, the Apex boasted a brand-new high-power impact beam emitter on the chest. It packed massive destructive force, capable of both rapid strikes and sustaitacks, though its energy ption was a major drawback.

  For added firepower, each forearm housed an anti-armor peing missile uncher, with one missile per uhe wrist-mounted ser unchers from previous models remained, but their power was signifitly boosted. Zack upgraded the batteries to a triple-surround system to hahe increased output.

  Missiles were where the Apex really stood out. Each shoulder had a honeyb-style missile bay loaded with 42 micro-trag missiles—84 in total. These were plemented by spiral ground-attack missiles located on the chest, designed for carpet bombing. Zack figured the system to drop eight missiles at once, with a total capacity of 24.For defehe Apex included a crotch-mounted decoy uncher taining 60 heat source decoy bombs to intercept ining enemy missiles. Each deployed 20 decoys, providing three uses per mission.

  In terms of melee, Zack abahe arm bdes from MV-01 and Mark 2, as well as MV-02W’s saw- sword. Instead, he introduced aromagic whip cord stored at the waist. Powered directly by the reactor, the whip geed intense heat and sparks when swung, capable of slig through most materials with ease.

  Overall, the Apex stru impressive baween portability and raw bat power, marking a signifit leap forward in personal armor design. “Only one problem,” Zack muttered as he dohe suit and pared it to the MV-02W. The Apex stood taller at 2.8 meters. Its thicker armor, o aodate the Armory, added to its size, though the sleek, aerodynamic desig it from appearing overly bulky.

  “Brother, are you going out again?” Annie asked as she walked into the basement and saw Zack testing the new armor. Her curious eyes sparkled as she leaned against the doorway.

  “Yeah,” Zack replied with a nod. “Just running some field tests.”

  “You’ll leave me in charge, right?” Annie asked fidently, her tone serious despite her youthful demeanor.

  Zack couldn’t help but smile. He reached out and ruffled her hair. “That’s right. The house is yours while I’m gone.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got this!” Annie replied with a determined nod.

  “Oh, by the way, how’s that drone projeing along?” Zack asked, remembering their earlier versation about on designs. He’d tasked her with creating a on of mass destru, and she’d proposed a swarm of bombing drohere are still a few bugs to work out, but it’s ing together. I think it’ll be finished soon,” Annie said with a grin. Designing robots and drones was her forte, and she was clearly excited about the project.

  “Good to hear,” Zack said, giving her an approving nod before heading upstairs in the Apex.

  He made his way door to Mansion No. 8, where Ava was. Zack found him crouched o a flower pot, carefully spraying water on the leaves and wiping away dust with a paper towel. The sight of the stoic Ava tending to pnts so delicately caught Zack off guard. “Let’s go,” Zack said, opening the door without preamble.

  “Alright,” Ava replied simply, standing up without a fuss. His cold demeanor didn’t ge, but Zaow knew he had a softer side.