Chapter 1190: Sofia the Zero

The silence in the vault continued for a while as Shane’s team stood among the shelves of ampoules and cryogenic pods.

The air here wasn’t that great, but with their levels, they could endure it...

After all, what they were smelling wasn’t just the chemicals, but also the strange energy surrounding this building.

Shane then scanned the labels again.

’

Gray Fog Catalyst. Atmospheric Binder. Phase Transition.’

The names weren’t just ominous... they were obviously unto something. Someone had designed these strains with intent.

"Keep searching," Shane ordered.

"There has to be more than samples. Records. Logs. Something that explains who they tested this on."

He already had a bad feeling about this.

The archive chamber was vast, lined with filing cabinets, crates, and desks buried under dust.

Shane didn’t want to rely on luck... they needed to comb through everything.

"Spread out," he ordered. "Check every drawer, every folder. Don’t stop until we know how this experiment had gone."

The team moved quickly.

Shinja forced open a cabinet with his blade, revealing stacks of folders sealed in plastic.

Chaloem pried another drawer loose, pulling out bundles stamped with hazard symbols.

Natalie and Lysandra sifted through brittle papers scattered across a desk, while Tundra lifted a heavy crate and set it down with a thud, exposing binders marked with the World Government insignia.

Even Travis dug into a pile of loose sheets wedged behind a dead terminal.

They gathered their finds on a central table. Shane flipped through the first folder. The entries were indeed related to what they were experimenting on.

[ Subject 05 - Raul Mendoza.

Exposed to Mist Variant 7.

Result: infection spread through breath, chamber contaminated.

Failure.

]

[ Subject 09 - Carmen Ortega.

Exposed to Mist Variant 12.

Result: complete neural suppression, subject docile but unstable.

Failure.

]

[ Subject 11 - Diego Ramirez.

Exposed to Mist Variant 19.

Result: body dissolved into vapor, reconstituted with damage.

Failure.

]

Natalie frowned. "These names... They experimented real people as you expected."

Shane turned to another folder Chaloem had found. This one listed soldiers and civilians:

[ Marcus Hale - Former soldier.

Immune response partial.

Terminated. ]

[ Reina Kessler - Civilian volunteer.

Viral adaptation unstable.

Terminated. ]

[ Alejandro Torres - Prisoner transport.

Viral resistance noted, but the mutation is uncontrollable.

Terminated. ]

Lysandra’s jaw tightened. "They pulled subjects from everywhere. Soldiers, civilians, even prisoners. Anyone they thought might carry resistance."

Tundra opened the binder he had uncovered.

The first pages were similar... lists of subjects, results, failures.

But then, halfway through, a name stood out.

It was not just any other... It was not a terminated subject.

A name written in red ink, underlined.

[ Transferred Subject Designation: Sofia Alvarez.

Status: Patient Zero - Immune to Z-Virus.

Classification: Mist Prototype Candidate. ]

The team froze.

Shane’s breath caught. "Sofia..."

Natalie leaned closer, reading the notes aloud.

"Immune to zombification. Blood catalyzes fog-like phenomenon capable of shielding survivors. Viral spread halted. Codename: Gray Fog."

Chaloem exhaled sharply. "So she wasn’t just immune. They turned her immunity into the prototype. The fog itself."

Shane closed the folder slowly, his jaw tight.

"This confirms it. She was here. She was part of Project Mist. And the fog we’ve seen... it’s her."

The weight of the revelation stunned them.

The others also crowded closer.

Natalie leaned in, her eyes wide. "That’s her. The immune patient. The one we’ve all been trying to find."

Lysandra frowned as she continued scanning the notes.

"It’s all here. They didn’t stop at immunity. They engineered her response into an atmospheric weapon. Her blood doesn’t just resist infection... it reshapes the environment itself."

Chaloem was also unable to understand how this thing even happened... "They turned her immunity into... this fog. What kind of idea is this?"

Tundra wryly smiled...

"So the fog we saw every time we use the Recruitment Stone was her."

Shane nodded. "Yes. It’s her. Sofia isn’t just immune. She’s the Gray Fog itself."

The team fell silent, the enormity of the revelation sinking in.

Natalie broke the silence first. "But if she’s the Gray Fog, is she unconscious? Wait... But they’re hearing the void inside the fog telling them about the Foreign Survivors and such. All the recruits said the same time."

"If that’s the case... Then, she’s awake... Maybe she just couldn’t communicate with us.

Shane scanned further down the file. "It says here...

’Subject requires stasis to maintain anomaly. Extended use leads to collapse. Preservation chambers recommended.’

"

He looked up. "She’s not controlling it consciously. At the very least, not yet when she was still under observation by the nasty scientists.

Shinja pulled another folder from the cabinet. This one was thinner, but the words inside were even more damning.

[ Directive: Secure Subject Sofia Alvarez.

Transport to Eden Island Facility. Integrate with Mist Project.

Objective: Weaponize immunity into atmospheric control system. ]

Shane’s grip tightened on the paper. "They moved her here. Eden Island. This facility was built around her."

Chaloem’s voice was grim. "So she was here. Locked in this vault. Experimented on. And she became the fog itself."

The team exchanged uneasy glances. The truth was undeniable now. Sofia wasn’t just a survivor. She was the living core of Project Mist.

Shane closed the folder...

"This confirms it. It’s a pity that we didn’t get a clue to stop the Zombies... but at the very least, she became a really helpful fog for us."

"Alright... I guess nothing more to see here..." Travis muttered.

He looked back at the cryogenic pods, their frost-covered surfaces gleaming faintly.

One pod in particular caught his eye. Unlike the others, its label wasn’t just a strain designation. It bore a name.

SOFIA ALVAREZ - PRESERVATION CHAMBER.

The pod was empty.

"Whoa... So she was here. They kept her in stasis. But she’s gone now."

"Did she become a god? After all, the Gray Fog can be anywhere..."

"She might even be related to the System..."

"The Apocalypse System, huh... Maybe the Lord of the Realm?"

"Ahhh.... Lord of the Realm... It’s been a while since I heard that."

"I know right... They’re still mystical characters in my mind, but they’re getting closer. Maybe next time, we’ll discover that the Lord of the Realm was the one who really started the Zombie Apocalypse."

"I don’t think so... But anything could happen at this point."

The group of survivors couldn’t help but talk about this situation for now. Sofia’s identity had truly bothered them.

Shane closed his eyes briefly, then opened them with renewed determination.

"Anyway, we’ve confirmed it. Sofia is the Gray Fog. Project Mist was built around her. The World Government tried to weaponize her, but she became something they couldn’t control. Now, she’s the key to everything."

***

In the meantime, the dockyard at the edge of the island was quiet, save for the creak of ropes and the occasional groan of wood under the weight of the ships.

The Excellence and Providence floated steadily, guarded by the two dragons... Hunter and Winter.

Near the dockyard, a large tent had been set up, its perimeter secured by the mechanical soldiers, the Warden Units.

Their glowing optics swept the area, scanning for threats.

Inside, Akame, captain of the ruined vessel that had once carried his crew, sat with his two vice captains, Ronan and Darlene. The three of them had been waiting for Shane’s crew as they hoped for their safe return.

They remembered vividly how their ship had been torn apart... battered by storms, wyverns, and sea zombies and forced them to land on the island where the Draconic Fort stood.

It was there that they had crossed paths with Shane and his forces.

Negotiations had been tense, but Shane had offered them a chance... board his ships, help him locate Eden Island, and in return, they would be brought to the mainland.

Akame had admitted he didn’t know where Eden Island was, but he knew the seas well enough to rule out the islands that weren’t Eden.

That knowledge alone had been valuable, and his crew of twenty had agreed to assist. It was Akame himself who had suggested investigating this particular island, since little was known about it.

If it wasn’t Eden, then at least it would narrow the search.

Now, as they waited for Shane’s team to return from the ruins inland, the crew gathered in small groups around the tent.

Some sharpened blades, others checked their gear, while a few simply stared out at the sea, longing for the mainland.

Elsa and Lily moved among them, ensuring supplies were distributed...

Ronan muttered, "Feels strange, doesn’t it? We lost our ship, yet here we are, guarding someone else’s."

Darlene gave a short laugh. "Better than drifting at sea. At least now we have a secure path to the Mainland. If Shane finds Eden Island, we’ll finally get off these cursed waters."

They knew that it would happen. They just couldn’t imagine who could actually stop Shane’s crew. They were already incredibly strong, but there were still two Dragons that they had to deal with.

According to the rumors, Shane could even summon more of these mystical creatures if need be.

Akame nodded slowly. "Purpose or not, we owe him. Without Shane, we’d still be stranded. Helping him finish his work faster is the least we can do."

Just then, a sound stirred the air.

He heard a faint fluttering, and it was growing louder. The crew looked up.

From the treeline beyond the dockyard, bats began to gather...