Tassed in a blur. Zack’s world narrowed to refining aing, his focus unshakee the monotony. Meanwhile, the meical Ants in the unity tiheir relentless work, their numbers swelling to over fifty. They scurried about, fortifying defenses and strug the prototype for the Sky Defense System. The Air Fortress’s mainframe was also nearing pletion, adding another yer ress to the bustling activity.

  In stark trast, the six captives in the biological b were spiraling into despair. Despite being provided with luxurious meals—plete with fish, meat, and even milk noodles—their paranoia ed them. To them, these feasts were nothing more tha meals of ned prisoners.

  Every bite was apanied by dread, but they ate anyway. Hurikes were met with immediate sedation and forutrient iions. Their physical activity was monitored just as rigorously. Ea tained a treadmill, and they were required to jog five kilometers and sprint one kilometer daily. Refusal brought swift punishment in the form of Zack’s meical spiders, which delivered painful but nohal stings to stimute their muscles.

  Zack was meticulous, ensuring their physical health at any cost. Oernoon of the third day, Zack finally pleted the element figuration for the serum. Most elements had near-perfect repts, but five remained unstable, leaving him with 120 possible arras.

  Zack leaned ba his chair, rubbing his temples. “Five unstable elements. Great. That’s 120 different binations… and I only have six test subjects.”

  His eyes flicked toward the breeding tanks filled with white mice. “We’ll start with the mice.” He prepared the first serum with precise movements arieved a mouse, seg it in a miniature iion chamber. “Super Serum, test one, beginning now,” he announced, pressing the start button.

  The chamber lit up as the serum was ied, followed by targeted radiation. Pop!The mouse exploded. “Experiment failed,” Zack muttered, already reag for the arra.

  One by ohe tests tinued, eading in failure. Bang! Pop! BOOM!!!

  Hours bled into days. Zack worked tirelessly, refining serums, adjusting variables, and rec results. He no longer swore or pined, his mind wholly absorbed in the grueling process. This was his work, his future. Mistakes weren’t an option. After nearly thirty hours of tinuous effort, Zack paused, staring at the test result. “Still unstable,” he murmured.

  Exhaling deeply, he stood, stretg his stiff limbs. The serum wasn’t ready—not yet. But he wouldn’t stop until it was. After tless failures, the b was littered with shattered hopes and shattered mice—quite literally. Oer ahe test subjects exploded in horrifying dispys of serum instability. Zack, who had spent sleepless nights in the basement, was close to believing his goal of transformation was a lost cause. But then, the 94th experiment proved different.

  Beep! Hiss! The iion chamber whirred to life and slowly opened. Out stepped a white mouse, now nearly twice its inal size. Its movements were sharp, its eyes gleaming with a straensity.

  "Squeak!" The mouse's demeanor quickly turned violent. Trapped within a gss enclosure, it rammed the walls with relentless fury. Crack! A jagged line appeared on the bulletproof gss.

  Zack raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Strength enha firmed. Aggressive tendencies noted," he muttered while scribbling in his log. His excitement, however, was short-lived. Without hesitation, he pressed a red button.

  Zzzap! A ser beam pierced through the mouse’s head, dropping it lifeless. “Noted. Let’s move on to the 95th experiment.” Zack’s tone was calm, almost ical. Fueled by the success of the 94th iteration, he rigorously tested remaining serum variations. By the end of the night, three formus—94, 101, and 112—were firmed as successful, at least for the mice.

  “Time for human trials,” he decred, his gaze shifting toward a small, isoted room nearby. Inside, six captives—oty criminals, now unwilling partits—cowered in terror. Days of witnessing gruesome experiments had left them paralyzed with fear. The mere thought of bei sent chills down their spines.

  The oldest among them, niamed Old Dog, was the first to break the silence. "You bastard!" he spat, voice shaking but defiant. "You think I'll let you—" Before he could finish, a faint hiss filled the room. Ahetic gas poured in, cutting him off mid-sentence. One by ohe six slumped to the floor.

  “Bring three of them over,” Zastructed coldly. His meical ants dragged three unscious subjects into crude iion chambers. The maes looked cobbled together—exposed wires dangled dangerously, and the metallic frames bore hasty welds. But the fun was the same. “Ihe serum.”

  Three different variations—94, 101, and 112—were loaded into the maes. With a press of a button, the process began. Bright beams of light engulfed the subjects, the iy far greater than what was used on the mice. The rays surged through the chambers, seeping out through every gap. Uhis pressure, the serums began their work.

  “Ahhhhh!” The three captives woke up in agonizing pain, screaming and thrashing against their restraints. Zack igheir cries, his focus glued to the monitor. “Increase power,” he ordered.

  The light intensified further, illuminating the basement like a miniature sun. “Subjee: cardiac arrest, brain wave failure, multiple an colpse…” Ego, Zack’s AI assistant, reported meically.

  “Serum 94 deemed unfit for humans,” Zack cluded, shutting down the first chamber without so much as a blink. The subject slumped lifelessly, smoke curling from the edges of the mae.

  The other two chambers, however, remaiable. Zack’s hope flickered.“Subject Three: neural damage detected. Brain activity is deteriorating rapidly,” Ego warned. A guttural roar erupted from the third chamber, shaking the room. Zack’s eyes narrowed. “If I’m not mistaken, the active po in Serum 101 is… the Zeta virus.”His hand instinctively reached for the emergency protocol. “Ego, deploy the MV-02W to this location. Now.”

  “Uood.” In the distance, one of Zack’s unmanned war maes powered up, its heavy metallic frame humming as it sprioward the b. Alongside it, five robotic spiders armed with poison darts scuttled into defensive positions, surrounding the still-closed chamber.

  Meanwhile, Zack’s attention shifted back to the sed chamber. “All vitals normal,” Ego firmed.

  Zack allowed himself a small smile. “Finally… success.” The third chamber tio rumble ominously, but Zack ig for now. The seae hissed open, revealing a transformed figure. The subject was well-built, his muscles taut like coiled steel, exuding raw power. Before Zack could even savor the moment, the metal restraints binding the man’s wrists and ankles snapped with a deafening g.

  “Kill you! Everything you have is mine!” roared the man—her than Old Dog, who had been ied with Serum 112. Zack’s eyes widened in disbelief. The subject who was deemed “normal” had already turned hostile, blinded by his newfound strength. Old Dog’s every step cracked the crete beh him as he charged at Zack with murderous i.

  “Ego, activate defense mode!” Zack barked.