Chapter 87: Experiment

Rocco gave a nod, strolled over to the control station, hit the button to kick off the experiment, and hollered at the crew to get ready.

In no time, one of the lab guys stepped into the massive glass chamber. He gingerly held the activator, slid a white crystal into its slot, and sealed it up. The injector had settings to tweak the energy dose, keeping the DNA from freaking out too much.

These steps were a piece of cake and done in a flash, making the activator good to go.

This was just the warm-up. Inside the giant glass chamber, a few techs wheeled in a Gatling six-barrel machine gun, set it up next to the activator, and hooked up the ammo belt. Normally, lugging around a Gatling gun is way too much for one guy, but the whole point here was to see if a single soldier could handle it solo after getting juiced up.

Soon enough, a beefy soldier was brought in. The techs strapped the activator to the back of his head and plugged the injector into his brain's nerve connection point.

Firing up the activator was a no-brainer; just reach back, hit the start button, and boom, you're off. Usually, you set the intensity before you start. But since crystal energy was still new territory, there wasn't a playbook for it yet. That’s what this experiment was all about.

Once everyone cleared out of the chamber, Dino gave Rocco a nod.

"Alright, folks, gear up, start collecting data. Experiment No. 1, fire up the activator, set it to 50%." As soon as Rocco gave the word, the chamber lit up like a Christmas tree. The soldier, after setting the intensity, hit the start button without a second thought.

Dino's eyes were glued to the activator. It lit up, and the white crystal inside started glowing. The visible white energy shot through the injector into the soldier's brain, spreading through his body in a flash.

"Ah... ah..." The soldier let out a gut-wrenching scream. The sudden DNA tweak was brutal, even for a tough guy. The pain had him shaking like a leaf. The energy squeezed his brain nerves, making it feel like his head was gonna pop.

Luckily, the agony only lasted a few seconds before it vanished, and a massive surge of power filled every cell in his body.

Rocco, who had been on edge, cracked a smile and told Dino, "At 50% crystal power, the boost is double the guy's strength. He's holding up well, and his mind's sharp as a tack." Without waiting for Dino to chime in, he barked another order to the crew. Soon, the crystal energy in Experiment No. 1 hit 100%. Just like Rocco figured, the strength doubled, but the soldier's mind started to go fuzzy, and his brain couldn't handle the DNA overload.

Rocco frowned but still said, "Keep going, gather all the data."

Half a minute later, the soldier, who was barely conscious, went berserk, tearing through the chamber. With double the strength, he could easily lift the heavy gear, hoist it over his head, and smash it down. A one-inch-thick iron sheet got dented with a few punches, showing off his insane power.

Soon, the soldier hefted the Gatling six-barrel machine gun and, running on pure instinct, squeezed the trigger, unleashing a storm of bullets.

Even with double the strength, he couldn't handle the beast. The massive recoil had him spraying bullets all over the place, turning the chamber into a war zone.

Dino didn't sweat the stray bullets. The glass here wasn't your run-of-the-mill stuff. The Gatling's firepower was intense, but it couldn't crack this glass. He watched Experiment No. 1, lost in thought. His job was to think about how all this would play out on the battlefield.

After three minutes, the soldier suddenly looked like he'd been hit by a truck, collapsing and dropping the machine gun, gasping for air. The side effects of the crystal hit him hard and fast.

They quickly hauled him out, and the next guy stepped in. This time, they used a blue level-2 crystal, packing even more punch.

Just like before, the new guy screamed, clutching his head and thrashing around. After a few seconds, he got it together. The blue crystal's energy, at full blast, almost made his cells split, boosting his strength to three times the norm. But the power surge also fried his brain nerves, making him go nuts, puke blood, and act like a total maniac.

"Release the zombies," Rocco ordered without missing a beat.

A wall in the massive chamber slid open, and a horde of level-2 zombies, captured by force, charged in like they hadn't eaten in weeks. They went straight for the experimenter.

The Gatling was out of ammo. The soldier, now supercharged, swung the gun barrel like a club, charging at the zombies like a berserker. His insane strength and half-crazed mind turned him into a one-man wrecking crew, smashing zombies into pulp. Each swing sent a zombie flying, splattering against the glass walls.

But the zombies got their licks in too, leaving him with nasty wounds, some so deep you could see bone. One even tore open his stomach, spilling his guts.

In under two minutes, the soldier had turned the dozen or so level-2 zombies into a bloody mess. But the crystal energy mutation hadn't worn off, and he kept swinging the machine gun like a madman.

After another minute and a half, the crystal energy finally burned out.

The soldier, now completely spent, crumpled to the ground. The injuries that seemed minor under the crystal's power became fatal once it faded. He died in seconds, just another corpse.

Dino looked pleased. He didn't give a damn about the dead soldier, just his performance. Even when mortally wounded, the guy had unleashed insane strength. This wild, brutal power was exactly what humanity needed to take on high-level zombies.

Sure, DNA mutation had its downsides, like losing your mind, but who cared? Fighting high-level zombies was a suicide mission anyway. Enhanced soldiers were the ultimate expendable warriors.

"Mr. Hightower, get this research nailed down ASAP. We need to mass-produce these activators within six months."

With that, Dino left the lab. For him, the experiment had done its job, and it was time to cook up more battle plans. The neighboring countries were getting antsy, and it was high time they got a taste of what crystal-powered soldiers could do.