Regressed with Omnipotent AI on Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 197: Going Crazy

Zombies fell in droves, their bodies disintegrating under the sheer heat and force of the energy blasts. Against normal zombies, Apex Mk2's weapons were absolute overkill. Unlike the previous encounter with a high-tier mutant, where the palm cannon had struggled to burn through thick biological armor, this was pure slaughter. And Zack? He was loving every second of it.

The air reeked of burnt flesh and scorched metal. The aftermath of the palm rays was eerily clean—too clean. Every zombie caught in the blast had been charred instantly, their bodies sliced apart like brittle wood. No blood. No viscera. Just blackened corpses stacked atop one another in grotesque piles. The roundabout had become a graveyard of smoldering husks. Some of the bisected zombies, still half-alive, crawled weakly, their jaws snapping at nothing.

Zack didn't even spare them a glance. "Good... much cleaner than missiles."

Satisfied, he deactivated the palm rays and stepped forward, maneuvering over the heaps of scorched limbs. His destination: the burning doomsday truck. By now, the truck was fully engulfed in flames. The black smoke had dissipated, replaced by roaring orange fire that devoured every inch of metal and fabric.

Sixteen towering Fearless Warriors stood exactly as they had in the satellite images. Frozen in time. Each one had their chain sword raised, caught mid-swing, as if about to deliver a final strike. Zack approached cautiously, his fingers brushing against the armor of the nearest warrior. No dents. No slashes. No visible damage at all. And yet—they were all dead. Instantaneously.

This wasn't normal freezing. The kind of cold that had killed them wasn't something even liquid nitrogen could achieve. Zack exhaled sharply. "Who the hell did this?" Then, his gaze fell on the only other body among them.

A young man, dressed in scavenger gear, lying motionless beside the warriors. His skin was burnt and blackened, yet his flesh and organs were frozen solid. The same as the Fearless Warriors. "Ego, switch to thermal imaging. I need to see the temperature spread."

"Understood, Sir." Instantly, Zack's visor shifted to thermal mode, colors shifting into a spectrum of reds and blues. The bodies of the Fearless Warriors glowed in deep dark blue—a stark indication that their internal temperature was still far below freezing. But what caught Zack's attention wasn't just the corpses. It was the trail.

A faint, dark blue path ran between the warriors, weaving through their ranks before continuing forward and disappearing into a building's exterior wall. Zack narrowed his eyes. "It's moving."He followed the path, stepping forward until he reached the wall where the frozen trail ended.

Lifting his armored hand, he placed his palm flat against it. Instantly, the chill seeped through. Even through the reinforced Apex Mk2, Zack felt it—like touching the void itself. A cold so deep it felt unnatural. And then— A scream.

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"Someone's still alive," Zack muttered. Without hesitation, he turned and entered the building. Inside, his thermal visor revealed the same blue trajectory, cutting straight through walls and floors—as if whatever left it had phased through matter itself. "Sir, the temperature along the trail is dropping further," Ego warned.

Zack noticed it too. The deeper he went, the colder it became. Frost coated the walls. Ice crystals had formed on the windows and metal surfaces. Even the air itself felt thick, like breathing in shards of glass. This thing—whatever it was—had just passed through here.

Then, another shout. "HELP!!" The voice came from the second floor. Zack moved fast, taking the stairs two at a time. As he ascended, his visor tracked the freezing trail—it ran straight through the ceiling and out the opposite side of the building. It had already left. "Gone?" Zack muttered.

Through the second-floor window, his thermal vision picked up the lingering trail—floating between buildings, before fading out of range. "Like a goddamn ghost..." he cursed. Shaking his head, he turned toward the end of the hallway. The source of the screams.

At the end of the corridor, a bathroom door was slightly ajar. Inside, someone was hiding. Zack pushed the door open—quietly. The room was empty... except for a single occupied stall in the far corner. From inside, he could hear shallow, panicked breathing. A muffled whimper.

Whoever was in there was trying desperately not to make a sound. Zack knocked against the wall, his voice calm but firm. "Come out."

BANG!

The sound sent the person inside into hysteria.

"AHHHH! GHOST!"

"IT'S THE GHOST! IT'S COMING BACK!!"

"DON'T KILL ME! PLEASE!!"

The stall shook violently as the survivor slammed against the walls, screaming in sheer terror. Zack's expression hardened. This wasn't just fear. This was pure, primal horror. Whatever that thing was—it had left this man broken. He exhaled, then calmly raised his right hand. Lowering the power output to the minimum, he fired a low-energy palm blast directly at the stall door.

BOOM.

The stall burst open. The force sent shattered pieces flying, revealing the terrified young man curled up in the corner of the grimy toilet. Hank. The only survivor from the hospital massacre. Back in the doomsday truck, there had been three people. Leo—frozen to death in an instant, his body turned into a lifeless statue. Griffin—the driver, managed to open the door, only to collapse and freeze solid beside the Fearless Warriors. Only Hank, a mutant, had managed to escape, using his hardened skin to plow through the zombie horde and disappear into the city. But now? He was broken.

Curled into himself, muttering over and over, his voice trembling— "Ghost... don't kill me... don't kill me..." His entire body shook, his eyes darting wildly as if the thing that had wiped out his companions was still watching him.

Ego's voice echoed through the armor's comms.

"Sir, subject's neurological readings indicate severe distress—he's lost touch with reality."