"He hasn't realized that he's already become a zombie?" Marcus Vale asked, watching the trembling man in the white lab coat huddled on the floor.
Alex replied evenly, "No, my lord. He has no idea."
The terrified man had long since passed out, his mind shattered by whatever unspeakable experiments Alex had performed on him. Marcus quickly lost interest in the pitiful subject and turned his attention to something far more useful.
"How about the animal experiments? Any progress? What about avian transmission—can it work?"
"Yes, my lord," Alex said, straightening. "We've successfully infected several bird species. They can carry the virus across oceans. However, the infection rate among avian hosts is significantly slower than among humans. For comparison—while humans take approximately four hours to mutate into zombies, birds require at least forty-eight hours to become zombie birds. The specimens we have now were forcibly accelerated using my flesh reconstruction ability."
Marcus nodded slowly. That was no surprise. The zombie virus had been created specifically to target humans—it made sense that its effects would weaken on other species. Still, that also meant his idea of using other creatures to spread the virus across the world would be inefficient at best.
"It's not ideal," Marcus mused, "but as long as they can infect humans, it's good enough. Tell me, Alex—how long would it take for these zombie birds to reach all major nations if we released them?"
Alex paused, tapping his fingers against the air as if calculating invisible equations. "Seventeen to eighteen days, assuming there are no major obstacles."
Seventeen days. A short time for global annihilation in any normal world—but this was the Marvel Universe, filled with advanced technology, hyper-genius scientists, and entire teams of superpowered heroes. Anything could happen. The operation could easily be exposed—or worse, the vaccine could be completed before the virus spread.
Still, it was worth trying.
"Do it," Marcus ordered. "Release every zombie bird you can capture. Have them cross the oceans and hide within the world's most critical nations. In eighteen days, when I give the signal, they'll all release the virus at once. I want every major power on Earth too busy fighting their own outbreak to bother with us."
"As you command," Alex said, bowing his head.
"Good." Marcus folded his arms. "Now, tell me—besides birds, have any other animals developed particularly useful mutations?"
Alex smiled faintly, the confident look of a man with something impressive to show. "Indeed, my lord. We've made a rather… remarkable discovery."
He gestured toward a reinforced steel door at the far end of the lab. "This pharmaceutical company had a habit of using chimpanzees for drug testing. One of them… underwent an extraordinary transformation after infection."
The heavy door screeched open.
Something massive forced its way through the frame—a creature so large that even the three-meter-high doorway nearly collapsed around it. A colossal black gorilla emerged, muscles like steel cables coiling beneath its thick skin. Yet instead of roaring or charging, the creature bowed gracefully before Marcus.
"An honor to meet you, my lord," it said in a calm, deep voice.
Marcus's eyes narrowed. "You're… a sentient mutant infected?"
"Yes, my lord," the gorilla replied with almost gentlemanly courtesy. "Human experiments enhanced my brain. The virus merely awakened the rest of my potential."
Marcus's grin widened. A gift straight from this world's science-mad gods.
"Excellent. From this day forward, your codename is Winston," Marcus declared. "Let's see what my seventh mutant infected can do. These walls are far too cramped—take us outside."
"At once."
Winston turned toward the concrete wall beside the window, placed his palm against it, and pressed lightly. The reinforced structure crumpled under his touch like brittle foam, bursting outward in a cloud of dust and shattered stone. A gaping hole, wide enough for him to pass through, opened in the side of the skyscraper.
He offered his enormous hand. Marcus and Alex stepped onto it without hesitation.
Then Winston jumped.
BOOM!
He hit the ground like a meteor. The impact crushed a city bus beneath him, splitting the vehicle cleanly in two and embedding both halves deep into the asphalt. The entire street trembled, the wreckage forming a V-shaped crater around him.
Winston walked out of the wreckage as though nothing had happened, gently setting Marcus and Alex down.
Marcus looked at the damage, impressed. "Not bad at all."
Based on the force of that landing alone, Winston's strength had to be at least fifteen times greater than the human limit. "What about your special ability? Any powers beyond brute strength?"
"My ability is pure physical enhancement," Winston explained. "This isn't my limit, either. I can unleash the beast within me to increase my power even further—though it comes at the cost of losing reason."
Marcus nodded, amused. "So, you're like the Hulk—but slightly more polite."
Even if Winston couldn't match the Hulk's limitless power, he'd still be strong enough to stall him in a fight. That alone made him invaluable.
Suddenly, the ground cracked open less than ten meters away. The pavement split in jagged lines, spewing dust and smoke.
From within the haze, three figures appeared as if conjured from the shadows—a pink-haired woman with sharp, commanding eyes; a towering, muscular black man; and a small, pale young man whose nervous demeanor contrasted sharply with the others.
They knelt before Marcus in unison.
"My lord," they said in chorus. "Assault and assassination squad—reporting for duty."
Marcus recognized them immediately—his other mutant infected lieutenants. The woman was Thunder, ranked second; the brute was Earthshaker, ranked fifth; and the timid man, Mist, ranked sixth. Each possessed their own supernatural abilities, much like Alex's power of flesh reconstruction.
"Good," Marcus said with approval. "But the afternoon strike is canceled. Stand down for now. Thanks to those fools in Hydra, my third anesthesia injection is complete. Tonight, when the fourth one comes—Tony Stark will be mine."
He smiled coldly.
The chaos Hydra had unleashed that morning might have disrupted his plans… but in truth, it had only made things easier.
____
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