The corpse at his feet beloo the man with pale, zombie-like skin—the one who had spotted Zack earlier aed to Samson from the tall building. Dr. Samson’s voice trembled with a mixture e and desperation. “I’m going to kill you!” he bellowed, his werewolf form t as he turned his bloodshot eyes toward Zack, who hovered calmly in the air. The fury in his gaze made it seem as though he wao tear Zack apart with his teeth.

  Zack, however, remained unfazed, his tone dripping with dession. “Wait... You’re saying that thing—” he gestured casually toward the corpse—“was supposed to save humanity? That’s yreat hope?”

  His words struck a nerve. Dr. Samson roared again, this time with urained savagery.On all fours like a beast, he lunged forward with astonishing speed. His cws—sharp enough to gouge through crete—sank into a nearby wall as he scaled the building, i on using it as a springboard to reach Zack. Eaent was a blur of raw power, his strength amplified by his transformation. But no matter how fast he was, flight was beyond him.

  As Dr. Samson reached the rooftop and leaped toward Zack, cws extended, Zack let out a small, almost bored sigh. “You really gave it your best, huh?”

  The Vul mae gun on Zack’s suit locked onto the airborarget. The barrel spun with a meical whir before unleashing a torrent of bullets. “No!” Dr. Samson roared in defiance, but his voice was drowned out by the deafening guhe rounds tore into his body, sending him plummeting back to the street. Blood sprayed into the air as his massive frame crashed onto the asphalt, leaving a shallow crater in the road.

  Even then, he wasn’t dead. His thick fur had absorbed some of the impact, leaving the bullets lodged in his muscles. Zack frowned slightly behind his visuess I’ll need armor-pierg rounds ime,” he muttered.

  The Vul gun swiveled again, targeting Dr. Samson as he struggled to rise. Zack had no iion of giving him another ce. The on roared for three more seds, each bullet a hammer of judgment as fmes and smoke ed the fallen werewolf. The relentless barrage left Dr. Samson lying motionless in a pool of his own blood.

  Zack’s thrusters powered down as he desded, nding with a metallic thud o Samson’s body. “Sir,” the voice of his AI assistant, Ego, crackled in his ear. “He’s still ging to life.”

  Zack raised an eyebrow. “Still alive? Damn, this guy’s stubborn.”

  Samson twitched at the sound of Zading. His massive, fur-covered frame began to shrink, reverting to his human form. Blue-gray fur faded away, leaving behind blood-soaked skin riddled with scars. “Kill... you...” Samson wheezed, his voice barely above a whisper. Even as his body y broken, his eyes bzed with hatred.

  “Hate me that much?” Zack crouched beside him, his voice mog. “Funny, when you were sneaking up on me earlier, you didn’t seem too ed about the sequences.”“You... ruined... the hope of mankind...” Samson rasped, before a violent cough wracked his body. He spat out a mouthful of blood and fragments of his own ans.

  “Hope?” Zack scoffed, flig open his visor to reveal his cold, unyielding face. “Humanity lost its hope a long time ago. And even if there’s a, it sure as hell wasn’t ing from you.” Samson’s gre didn’t waver, even as his body failed him. Zack stood and pced a boot firmly on Samson’s head.

  “Ego, activate thrusters. Five pert power.” The propellers on Zack’s suit hummed to life, spraying bright, searing fmes downward. The high temperature instantly charred Samson’s face, burning away flesh until nothing but bed bone remained.

  “AAAAAHHHHH!” Samson’s agonized screams echoed for five harrowing seds before falling silent. The fmes died down, leaving behind a carbonized skull.

  “Rest in peace, Doc.” Zack crushed the brittle remains underfoot with a siing ch, scattering charred fragments across the street.

  Not far away, a group of survivors from Samson’s team emerged from the ruins of a hospital. They had hidden in the basement during Zack’s assault, and only six out of a dozen had made it out alive. The moment they climbed out, they were greeted by the grisly sight of their leader’s mutited corpse. “Hiss—” They sucked in sharp breaths, their faces pale with fear.

  “We... we o split up and run!” one of them stammered, and the others nodded in frantic agreement. But before they could act, the heavy etal striking the ground sounded behind them.

  Swallowing hard, the group turned around, their movements stiff with dread. There stood Zack, his armlinting ominously in the dim light. Dust swirled around him as he tilted his head slightly, his tone almost pyful. “Running already? e on, guys. Your boss is gone. Shouldn’t you follow him to keep him pany?” Zack’s voice, cold and ruthless, peed his closed armor.

  “No, no, please... Begging you, I’m not with Samson! I was deceived, I swear! It’s true!”The six people standing before him reacted differently to his words. Some dropped to their knees, kowtowing and begging for mercy. Others rambled in desperation, trying to fuse or deceive him. Yet ohing uhem: their overwhelming fear of death. The method Zack had used to kill Dr. Samson had clearly left a deep impression.

  “So, you’re saying none of you worked for Dr. Samson?” Zack asked, his tone ced with mockery as his eyes sed them.

  “Yeah!”“Exactly! We’re just like those survivors, we were captured too!”“That’s right!”

  In their panic, they didn’t even realize their slip. Mentioning "those survivors" exposed them—they clearly weren’t mere victims. “Well,” Zack said, a small smile pying on his lips, “I don’t care if you were Samson’s people or not. What matters is whether you’re smart enough to help me.”

  Of course, Zack already khe truth about them. He wasn’t fooled. But rather than killing them ht, he saw a better use for them. “Wait, are you serious?” one of them asked, stunned.

  The sudden twist left the six in disbelief. Zack wasn’t going to kill them—instead, he was them a ce to work for him. After Zack gave a firm nod, their relief alpable. Faces lit up with joy as they scrambled to pledge their loyalty.

  “No problem at all!”“Boss, I’m y now! I’ll do whatever you say!”“You wao go east? I won’t even think about goi!”

  Zack watched as they dropped to their knees again, swearing their loyalty with loud decrations. “Let me guess,” Zack said, his voice icy. “You k just like this to that mad doctor, didn’t you?”

  Panic flickered across their faces, but they quickly de.“No, no, we hate him!”“Only to you, sir! You’re the only one we’ll ever ko!”To prove their loyalty, they began smming their heads against the ground in exaggerated kowtows.

  “Enough.” Zack waved a hand dismissively, his voice cold. “Go back to the b. When the pne arrives, load the equipment I’ve marked onto it.”