The group sat together and, after just a few words, everything was laid out clearly. In short, these less than ten people were the final survivors of Scar. Led by the Scar commander, they avoided the super soldiers, trekked through mountains and rivers, found a cave to hide in, and eventually heard Sophie Chow's voice and came to check it out. Jonathan Black also gave a brief introduction, exposing Donald Zade's scheme to blood-sacrifice the mercenaries and emphasizing their united front against a common enemy.
Then came the main event: interrogating Donald Zade. In the darkness of the cave, more than ten people surrounded him with murderous intent—none intended to show mercy, and no one was coming to his rescue. Completely isolated, Donald Zade confessed everything without the need for torture.
The big question on everyone's mind: super soldiers and the Old Veteran. Yeah, the freak show was just getting started.
Super soldiers originated from the super serum developed at Tiberia Laboratory, which was first created by Susan Soo as a super healing agent. After Susan Soo's death, for twenty-six years, Tiberia Laboratory failed to develop a more advanced serum. For his own future, Donald Zade decided to shift from cutting-edge science to profit, spending a long time to create a simplified, cheap, and flawed version—the later super serum.
To turn the super soldiers into military meat, Donald Zade imported a control chip system from another Zade Family lab. Like the super serum, this control system was more like a half-baked prototype. Biggest flaw? Whoever grabbed it could use it—no fancy security checks or anything.
Super soldiers were Tiberia Laboratory’s crowning achievement—maybe even the world’s top biotech. But Old Veteran? He blew past super soldiers and had zilch to do with that project. He wasn’t cooked up in Tiberia’s labs; he was just the guinea pig.
Right after buying 'zombies' from the SD Syndicate, in mid-May, California got a taste of crazy. Some grown dude went full psycho in a small town, bare-handedly mowing down dozens of locals—who, by the way, were packing heat. After the bloodbath, the guy bolted for the wilds and vanished.
According to the few surviving witnesses, the man was entirely green, covered in bone spurs and armor—like an alien monster or a mutant straight out of a low-budget sci-fi flick.
Local police immediately launched a massive manhunt, but came up empty-handed. While the authorities were roasted for incompetence, what the public didn’t know was that the killer had already been secretly nabbed by the SD Syndicate. After a quick backroom deal, Tiberia Laboratory bought him for a king’s ransom—today’s Old Veteran.
During research, scientists discovered that the Old Veteran had two forms: the normal human "First Form" and the all-green "Second Form." Because of its color, the second form was called Green Mode. In Green Mode, Old Veteran showed extreme aggression, unstable emotions, strong resistance to damage, and a rapid healing ability beyond ordinary humans.
Old Veteran was basically impossible to control—even if you jammed a chip in with a crowbar, his body would spit it right back out. Anything not his own got booted, hard. His cell samples were so freaky, the scientists just gave up trying to figure him out. Research hit a brick wall.
Then one day, chaos broke loose. Old Veteran snapped out of anesthesia, flipped into Green Mode, and went absolutely berserk. In the mayhem, he even smashed open the cage of a zombie in the specimen vault. The zombie lunged at Old Veteran, but in the end, Old Veteran shredded the zombie to bits—though he got bitten in the process.
That’s when things got weird. The zombie virus, which had never done squat to any other living thing, went full throttle in Old Veteran’s body. It spread like wildfire and took over—except, thanks to his freaky genetics, he didn’t go full zombie. He just turned half-zombie, half-human. Go figure.
After going half-zombie, Old Veteran’s brain turned to mush. He rampaged like a lunatic, then collapsed, and that’s when they finally managed to jam in the chip and get some control. From then on, Old Veteran was Donald Zade’s secret weapon, his ace in the hole—until today, when Old Veteran busted loose again.
To this day, nobody’s got a clue why the zombie virus only cares about Old Veteran’s cells. Science shrugs.
One of the Scar mercs piped up with the million-dollar question: "Any way to phone home?"
"Yeah, there’s a special room in the fortress with its own signal that hooks up to the wide-area network. All the shady money transfers go down in there." Everyone’s eyes lit up; the room that could reach the outside world was their golden ticket.
Jonathan Black threw out the final curveball: "You mentioned First Form and Second Form. Anything else? Like, is there a Third Form?" Every time Old Veteran powered up, he got scarier—like a Super Saiyan with road rage. If he’s got a next-level transformation, we’re toast.
Donald Zade’s eyes went all glassy and smug as he dropped the bomb nobody wanted to hear: "Yeah, there’s a Third Form. It showed up once—the very first time he got hit with the zombie virus. Just once, but I’ll never forget it. It was an unstoppable force, the kind of monster you only see in sci-fi movies or video games. We called it—the Green Tyrant."
The cave went dead silent. Everyone just stared at each other, like, what now? Finally, the Scar commander broke the ice: "Never met the guy, but Old Veteran sounds like a walking disaster. Our weapons barely tickle super soldiers—against Old Veteran, we might as well throw rocks. We need some serious boomsticks!"
This chapter’s not done yet, folks~.~ Hit next page to catch the rest of the wild ride!
"Speaking of boomsticks," Jonathan Black suddenly remembered those giant crates in Old Veteran’s personal armory. He grinned, "I think I’ve got just the thing…"
Up on the fortress rooftop, Old Veteran was stumbling around, looking rough. Sure, he was stronger than Jack Young, but right now he was getting his butt kicked. Super soldiers sprayed bullets everywhere, but Jack Young just slipped behind a giant electrical box and made them look silly. Meanwhile, every punch and kick left Old Veteran with new dents.
Slash! His left arm split open, bone armor flying everywhere. Old Veteran tried to back off, but Jack Young whipped out a katana—the very one Donald Zade had shown off in the ring. Swish! The blade flashed, green blood went flying, and Old Veteran felt a sudden chill in his left arm as a huge gash appeared. Before he could react, Jack Young flicked the blade and popped out the super soldier control core from the wound.
"Well, now let's see what tricks you've got left!" Jack Young shook the control core off his sword, stomped it into the ground, and smashed it to bits. "No—!" Old Veteran's face twisted in agony, but it was no use. As the core was destroyed, the super soldiers in the distance suddenly glitched and dropped like puppets with their strings cut.
"You better worry about yourself!" Jack Young slammed his left palm into Old Veteran’s chest, bone armor shattering like peeling old paint. Underneath was just skin. "Take your weird grudge and your totally bonkers ambition—and go straight to hell!" With a flash, his right hand drove the sword right through Old Veteran’s chest.
Splat! A burst of green blood shot out from Old Veteran’s back, the blade poking through like a flower’s stamen. Brutal.
"Master of the world?" Jack Young stomped on Old Veteran’s chest. "Dream on, buddy!"
Blade out, spin, slash again!
The cold blade swept across Old Veteran’s throat. He clutched his neck, eyes bugged out, stumbling backward, green blood dripping everywhere until he finally went down for the count—flat on his back.