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The gunfire grew increasingly dense, and a thin layer of shell casings covered the ground beneath the trio's feet. The air was thick with the pungent stench of gunpowder mixed with rot.
"We're about to be boxed in!" Krauser roared. He kicked away a zombie trying to grab his calf and, with a backhand shot, precisely blasted another rotting corpse's head into fragments.
They had been pushed to the edge of the village. Behind them was a rough wall over two meters high, built from a mixture of mud and stone.
In the alleyway ahead, more and more figures squeezed out from the shadows. They were no longer merely shuffling; stimulated by the scent of living humans, they began to stumble into a jog.
The encirclement was shrinking at a visible rate, leaving almost no room to maneuver.
Beads of sweat rolled down Leon S. Kennedy's forehead. He quickly swapped magazines and said urgently, "We're burning through ammo too fast! We have to get out of here right now!"
Just then, Noah's voice rang out calmly, cutting through all the growls and gunfire.
"It's temporarily safe behind the wall."
The moment he spoke, Krauser witnessed a scene that made his brain stall.
Noah, carrying that incredibly heavy-looking tactical backpack, crouched slightly.
In the next second, the ground beneath his feet suddenly sank, and he shot upward. Without the aid of any tools or climbing movements, he flew straight toward the wall that was over two meters high.
His body traced a powerful arc in the air. With a light push of one hand on the top of the wall, his entire body flipped over gracefully, landing silently on the wall.
The entire process was so fast it left only an afterimage on Leon S. Kennedy and Krauser's retinas.
Krauser's mouth hung open slightly, and he even forgot to keep firing the gun in his hand.
What had he just seen? A man, carrying a backpack weighing at least fifty kilograms, jumping onto a two-meter-high wall from a standstill? Was this something a human could do?
"Krauser! What are you dazing for!" Leon S. Kennedy's roar pulled him back to reality.
Noah's voice came from atop the wall: "Leon, give me your hand!"
Without hesitation, Leon S. Kennedy kicked off the ground and leaped up. One of his hands was firmly caught by Noah reaching down. A massive force pulled him up, easily hoisting him over the wall.
"Come on, hurry!" Leon S. Kennedy landed on the wall and immediately reached out to Krauser, who was still fighting outside.
Krauser grit his teeth, no longer thinking about things beyond his understanding.
He blew the head off the last zombie that rushed him, used the recoil to step back twice, then took a running start, kicked hard against the wall with his right foot, and propelled himself upward.
Leon S. Kennedy and Noah, one on each side, grabbed his arms simultaneously and together hauled the burly man up.
The three of them landed inside the wall, leaning against the cold stone and panting heavily.
Outside the wall, the "he-he" growls of countless crowded zombies and the sound of frantic scratching could be heard as stone chips and dirt fell away.
"Damn it..." Krauser cursed under his breath, sliding down the wall to sit on the ground.
Noah took off the tactical backpack and unzipped it, revealing neatly arranged magazines and boxes of ammunition inside.
"Replenish your ammo," he said succinctly.
The three of them silently began pressing the golden bullets back into their empty magazines.
The crisp clinking of metal shells was the only sound in this brief safe zone.
Leon S. Kennedy unscrewed his canteen and took a large gulp. Water ran down the corner of his mouth, soaking his collar.
Krauser also took his canteen and drank, but his gaze never left Noah.
He watched Noah calmly organizing the backpack, his mind still replaying that unbelievable jump from moments ago.
That weight... that height... it simply didn't conform to the laws of physics.
Krauser finally couldn't help himself. He put down his canteen, looked at Noah, then compared his own arms—which were a size thicker than Noah's—his face full of confusion and inquiry.
"You... are you fucking kidding me?" His voice was dry with shock. "How did you do that?"
Seeing Krauser's "seen-a-ghost" expression, Leon S. Kennedy couldn't help but laugh and patted him on the shoulder.
"I told you, he's an outlier," Leon S. Kennedy's smile held a hint of helplessness and acceptance. "Don't ask, haha. You'll get used to it."
Noah simply looked up, gave Krauser a gentle smile, and then shrugged without explaining.
Some things were too troublesome to explain; it was much better to let the facts speak for themselves.
After a brief rest, the three had recovered much of their stamina.
They crossed the abandoned backyard and found a rusted iron door leading to another area.
Krauser stepped forward to check it. Although the hinges were severely corroded, the latch was still sturdy.
Together, they pushed the heavy iron door shut and bolted it firmly from the inside with a thick bar.
With a "clank," they were isolated from the world of death behind them.
They could finally truly catch their breath.
"Alright." Krauser leaned against the iron door, wiping sweat and grime from his face. His gaze swept between Leon S. Kennedy and Noah. "Now, can someone explain to me what the hell is going on with those things? This virus you mentioned, what exactly is it?"
Leon S. Kennedy was about to speak.
A very faint, scalp-tingling "rustling" sound suddenly came from the roof of the wooden cabin above them.
The sound was very light, like countless small feet scuttling quickly across decaying wooden boards.
The three men's expressions changed. Almost simultaneously, they looked up and tightened their grip on their guns.
"Let's talk later," Leon S. Kennedy's voice grew somber. "It looks like we have to deal with what's in front of us first."
Before he finished speaking, several large dark shapes suddenly dropped from the shadows of the roof!
"Thud! Thud!"
Amidst the heavy landing sounds, several giant spiders, the size of dining tables, appeared before them.
Their dark green carapaces were covered in nauseating yellow spots. Eight long legs covered in black bristles spread out, and their pale white mouthparts opened and closed rhythmically, making a "click-clack" sound.
Their dozen or so crimson compound eyes were locked onto the three living things before them.
The three needed no communication; they instantly formed a crossfire.
Leon S. Kennedy aimed at the head of the leftmost spider and pulled the trigger repeatedly.
Krauser used his large-caliber handgun to pour fire into the abdomen of the middle spider.
Noah's desert eagle let out a deafening roar. Every bullet slammed into the carapace of the spider on the right, bursting into clouds of yellow-green fluid.
The giant spiders let out shrill shrieks. They didn't die immediately; instead, they were enraged.
One spider suddenly raised two front legs, slashing at Leon S. Kennedy like sabers. Leon S. Kennedy rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. The spider's legs slammed into the ground, cracking the stone tiles.
Another opened its mouth and spat out a large mass of thick white webbing. Krauser reacted quickly, rolling on the spot. The webbing stuck to the wall behind him, making a "sizzle" of corrosion.
The ground was soon splattered with the yellow-green, foul-smelling slime from inside the spiders. The smell was even more disgusting than the rot of the zombies.
After a struggle, the three finally managed to gun down the monsters completely.
Krauser stood up and kicked a still-twitching spider leg with his combat boot, his face full of loathing.
"So this is what you call a B.O.W... a Bio-Organic Weapon?" He snorted. "Truly a disgusting 'product'."
"It's not over yet!"
Noah's cold voice was like a bucket of cold water poured over the slight relaxation Krauser had just felt.
As soon as he spoke, several new figures suddenly rushed out from the corner of the alley ahead.
They were different from the previous villager zombies; they wore tattered tactical vests and camo pants. Their movements were noticeably faster and more aggressive.
Krauser's gaze locked onto the bare arm of one of the zombies.
On the rotting skin, the outline of a snake tattoo was still clearly visible.
"That tattoo..." Krauser's voice dropped low. "It's the Sacred Snake! They're Javier's men!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The three quickly raised their guns, firing precise shots.
Although these "soldier" zombies were faster, they were still no match for three top-tier warriors.
In the blink of an eye, they were all taken down with headshots.
Krauser and Leon S. Kennedy immediately stepped forward, crouching down to carefully inspect the tattoos and equipment on the corpses.
"It's them, no doubt about it." Krauser's face was grim.
Leon S. Kennedy stood up and looked at Noah, his eyes full of worry and confusion. "Has something like the Raccoon City incident happened here too? That madman Javier, what exactly does he want to do with the virus!"
Noah nodded, his expression equally serious. "Perhaps it will become clear once we find our informant. I just don't know if he's still alive."
The situation was becoming increasingly complex.
What was originally just a mission to take down a drug lord now involved a biological virus, and it looked like Javier had already applied the virus to his own troops.
The three dared not delay any longer. They followed a small path made of temporary wooden boards suspended over the water, continuing their search deeper into the village.
They hadn't gone far when Krauser, who had been maintaining his vigilance, suddenly stopped.
He crouched down and pointed his finger at the murky river water slowly rising through the gaps in the wooden boards.
"The water level is rising rapidly." His voice carried a hint of alarm. "Someone has opened the floodgates upstream. Does Javier already know about our operation and wants to trap us here?"
"We'll take it one step at a time," Leon S. Kennedy replied, his grip on his gun tightening further.
The road ahead would only get more dangerous.
They walked cautiously on the slippery wooden bridge. The water was about to overflow the surface, and the boards beneath their feet groaned with a "creak."
According to the map, they had finally arrived at the meeting point agreed upon with the informant—a dilapidated wooden shack by the water that looked like it was about to collapse.
The door of the shack was slightly ajar, and a heavy scent of blood wafted from inside.
The three exchanged glances. Noah took the lead, kicked open the wooden door, and rushed inside.
The scene inside made their hearts sink to the bottom.
A middle-aged man dressed in local teacher's attire and wearing glasses was leaning against a pile of wooden crates, covered in blood.
His abdomen had a massive and horrific puncture wound. Blood had soaked through his shirt and was still steadily seeping out.
Noah immediately rushed over and crouched down to quickly check his injuries.
When his fingers touched the edge of the wound, his heart went cold.
The wound was too large; his internal organs were surely severely damaged. Not even a god could save him now.
Krauser followed close behind, crouching before him and asking anxiously, "Hey! What happened here? Where is Javier?"
The informant seemed to hear the voice. He used all his strength to slowly lift his head.
His glasses were half-broken, the lenses stained with blood, and his gaze was beginning to wander.
He opened his mouth, a wheezing "he-he" sound coming from his throat as he struggled to spit out a few broken words.
"...That girl..."
"She... she brought the devil... here..."
"This village... she escaped from... Javier's... castle... I... I helped her... but..."
His voice grew weaker and weaker. At the very end, he just let out a long breath, his head slumped powerlessly to the side, and he went completely silent.
"Hey! Where is Javier's castle? What girl! Hey!"
Krauser grabbed his shoulders and shook him, but the body no longer had any response.
Krauser extended two fingers, feeling for the informant's carotid artery.
After a moment, he suddenly withdrew his hand and punched a nearby wooden crate.
"Shit!" he growled. "He's dead!"
Leon S. Kennedy's expression was very grim. "The girl he mentioned escaped from Javier's castle... I suspect she might be one of those missing girls."
Noah stood up, his gaze sweeping across the simple wooden shack. He said in a low voice, "Let's find the girl he mentioned first. It's our only clue right now..."
He hadn't finished his sentence.
"BOOM!!!"
With a loud bang, the wooden floor beneath their feet suddenly exploded without warning!
A giant tentacle covered in slimy scales, as thick as a water bucket, shot out like lightning from the murky river water below!
Its target was the corpse of the informant who had just died.
The tip of the tentacle wrapped around the corpse and then yanked it down violently!
To the trio's horror, the informant's corpse was instantly dragged into the dark, deep water beneath the floorboards and vanished.
All that remained was a rapidly expanding bloody whirlpool and the jagged hole in the torn floorboards.