Inside the reinforced concrete dam was a hidden stronghold, filled with rooms and passages of all sizes, allowing Javier Hidalgo to perfectly conceal himself within it. However, in recent years, he had lost interest in his cocaine trafficking business due to his wife and daughter, which forced him to focus on biochemical viruses early on.
The white walls and the strong smell of disinfectant alcohol filled the air.
Various medical equipment was complete, and the shelves next to them were filled with bottles and jars of various medicines. Discarded scalpels littered the trash cans, indicating that surgeries were frequently performed here.
And without a doubt,
This was a sterile isolation ward, specifically for post-operative patients. On the pristine white bed lay a breathtakingly beautiful young girl, an oxygen mask covering her mouth, and a heart monitor beeping steadily. The girl, having just undergone surgery, was still in a deep, anesthetic-induced sleep.
However,
Her body was covered in shocking surgical stitches.
Her arms and chest were covered with large and small stitches, but miraculously, these wounds did not leave unsightly scars, as if they had only appeared temporarily.
However, the unremoved stitches also indicated that the beautiful girl lying on the bed had indeed undergone various surgeries, which was beyond doubt.
Her slender right arm was wrapped in white sterile gauze.
She was dressed only in a thin white slip dress, her frail body covered by white bedding. The girl's skin was a healthy wheat color, indicating she was of mixed race. Approximately sixty percent of the population in Colombia are mixed-race, with the remaining forty percent being white and black.
Wheat-colored skin can make a person appear particularly healthy and vibrant, possessing a sunny disposition, but at this moment, the girl's facial complexion had become slightly pale and weak due to the numerous surgeries she had undergone.
Like a flower about to wither, it was extremely regrettable.
She had beautiful, medium-length ash-blonde hair, with long bangs covering half of her eyes, and the hair on both sides was braided and placed on her shoulders. Her cheeks were pretty, her eye sockets deep, her nose bridge prominent, and her lips full, a standard mixed-race appearance.
It was a pity that the girl's eyes were closed; otherwise, one would surely see her beautiful gray-blue eyes, a unique pupil color that only mixed-race individuals could possess.
The girl's breathing was peaceful and even,
Making one feel much more at ease and calm.
And this breathtakingly beautiful young girl was the beloved daughter of the notorious drug lord Javier Hidalgo,
Manuela Hidalgo—
A very pleasant and beautiful name.
However,
At this moment, she could only lie in the hospital bed due to her illness. Was it the endemic disease mentioned earlier? No… that was more than two years ago. After Javier Hidalgo acquired the T-Virus and T-Veronica Virus from Wesker, he immediately experimented on his wife, Hilda, whose condition was the most severe.
But unfortunately,
Biochemical viruses were a wrong choice from the start. They could not restore Hilda's condition, nor could they revive the dead; they would only turn living people into more terrifying monsters.
After being injected with the T-Virus, Javier Hidalgo's wife, Hilda, did not improve. Instead, due to the T-Virus's erosion,
She instantly swelled and transformed into an ugly, grotesque monster, resembling a nymph (dragonfly larva) all over.
It had moist and slippery skin, no arms, and four tentacle-like appendages on both sides that could extend and violently thrust for attack.
The front of its head was protruding,
Its neck had organs resembling a wrinkled brain, and its face was a human skull-like shape with eyes, covered by a transparent membrane for protection. The lower part of its mouth was a split four-pronged barb, which could suddenly spring open to bite and grab prey like a spring.
Its abdomen was distended, as if carrying a huge water ball, but inside was actually its venom storage organ. It had a massive tail with a stinger at the back, which could subtly flick out venomous needles to hit prey, and it could also spray venom from its mouth.
At the same time, it also had webbed feet like a duck, allowing it to move through the river at an astonishing speed. This was an amphibious mutated biochemical monster, capable of unleashing powerful strength both on land and in water.
And in addition to that,
His wife, Hilda, also possessed a unique method of emotional recognition. Hilda's human-skull-like pupils were normally blue, including her skin color, and covered by a transparent membrane. In this state, Hilda's aggression was extremely low, and she generally would not attack proactively.
However, once her eyes turned red, she would fully enter attack mode, launching assaults on surrounding creatures. And when her membrane was shattered, her skin color would turn dark red, which would be Hilda's most enraged state!
Hilda was not injected with the T-Veronica Virus, but with the T-Virus. However, due to her own reasons and environmental factors, Hilda did not mutate into a zombie but directly evolved into a special T-Virus variant.
But because she still retained a tiny bit of consciousness,
Even as a monster, Hilda could still recognize her husband, Javier Hidalgo, and her daughter, Manuela. She would not attack them; instead, she would obey her husband, Javier Hidalgo, and protect her daughter, Manuela.
One can only say…
This was another miraculous phenomenon—
After his wife Hilda mutated, the drug lord Javier Hidalgo had doubted the power of the T-Virus, but before he could finish his thoughts, his daughter Manuela also contracted the endemic disease. This left Javier Hidalgo with no choice but to inject another biochemical virus, the T-Veronica Virus, into his daughter Manuela.
This time, a miracle happened.
The T-Veronica Virus did indeed repair and cure Manuela's endemic disease, but the T-Veronica Virus was extremely destructive and corrosive, and Manuela was subtly showing signs of infection, mutation, or even death.
Her arms and internal organs had begun to erode and fail. To save his daughter's life, the drug lord Javier Hidalgo began secretly abducting young girls from downstream villages, dissecting their bodies, and removing their hearts, kidneys, and other organs for transplant surgery for his daughter, Manuela.
Due to the periodic and frequent organ replacements,
This foolish method truly slowed down the erosion rate of the T-Veronica Virus, and Manuela's life was thus prolonged.
This is also why,
At this very moment, this breathtakingly beautiful young girl was lying in the hospital bed, her body covered in various surgical stitches.
However,
As the number of surgeries increased, Manuela had already realized that something was wrong. Although her father, Javier Hidalgo, always lied to her, saying it was treatment, the occasional glimpse of bloody hearts had already made the clever Manuela vaguely guess the truth.
Chapter 3: Sleeping Beauty
After all,
Manuela clearly felt that her heart and kidneys, among other organs, were replaced during each surgery. Coupled with the frequent surgeries and the whispers of her father's subordinates, the clever Manuela had already guessed the truth of the matter.
Perhaps the reason she was still alive…
It was probably due to organ transplants using others' organs.
But Manuela also clearly remembered that her surgeries were unusually frequent, basically once every one or two months. So, where did the organs that so frequently supported her transplant surgeries come from?
Her own father was a notorious drug lord, and the answer was self-evident.
Although her father, Javier Hidalgo, was a detestable drug lord, Manuela had long accepted her fate. She never distanced herself from her father because of this.
But now,
When her respected father, to prevent her from contracting the endemic disease and dying like her mother, began secretly abducting people and stealing organs to prolong her life, the kind-hearted Manuela finally could not bear it.
She could calmly accept her own fate and death, but she would absolutely not allow such harm to others' lives just for her to cling to life.
Therefore—
"Tap, tap, tap…"
Footsteps echoed in the ward.
A young male doctor, wearing a white coat, gloves, and a mask, holding a tray, slowly walked in. His name was Viya, a famous private doctor in Colombia, well-known in the city for his excellent medical skills, and his clinic's business was quite good.
Three years ago, he was working in his clinic, but on his way home, he was stopped by a group of armed drug dealers. Before Viya could understand what he had done wrong, he was knocked unconscious by a brutal rifle butt to the head.
When he woke up again,
Viya found himself near the Amazon River's primitive rainforest, where there were only backward facilities and indigenous villagers. As Viya lamented his bad luck, the notorious drug lord Javier Hidalgo emerged.
He recognized Javier Hidalgo,
Because Javier Hidalgo's face was on Colombian television news every other day. Unfortunately, the police and government had searched for years without finding any trace of him, yet it turned out Javier Hidalgo was hiding near the Amazon River's primitive rainforest.
And Javier Hidalgo wanted him to help treat his wife. At first, Viya thought it was a simple task, but he never expected that the drug lord's wife was infected with the local endemic disease.
And because of the long duration, she was already critically ill.
Simple treatment could no longer achieve a cure. Viya could only subtly tell Javier Hidalgo that his wife, Hilda, was incurable and could only receive conservative treatment to prolong her life, much like chemotherapy for cancer. The process might be painful and would not cure the disease, but it could extend her lifespan.
Given his wife Hilda's condition,
If she could receive conservative treatment, Viya estimated she could live for another five or six years…
But this result,
Without a doubt, Javier Hidalgo considered him an incompetent doctor. Viya was brutally beaten, his body almost fractured.
Subsequently,
The unresigned Javier Hidalgo ordered his subordinates to capture various famous doctors, but the results were all the same. Some doctors even directly declared his wife Hilda's death, which made Javier Hidalgo even more furious, directly throwing those incompetent doctors into the river to be eaten by piranhas.
As for what happened next, it was very clear.
The unwilling Javier Hidalgo used the T-Virus serum on his wife Hilda, which ultimately did not improve her condition but instead forced his wife Hilda to transform into a terrifying and grotesque biochemical monster.
And not long after,
The drug lord Javier Hidalgo's beloved daughter, Manuela, also contracted the endemic disease. However, at that time, there were no good doctors. Javier Hidalgo recalled that there was still a half-dead doctor in his dungeon.
And thus, Viya's life was spared.
He began to care for and treat Manuela's condition.
However, what Viya didn't expect was that Javier Hidalgo still didn't adopt the conservative treatment plan he proposed, but continued to inject the horrifying biochemical virus.
This time,
What astonished Viya even more was that a miracle occurred: Manuela's endemic disease miraculously improved. But what followed was a massive failure of heart and kidney organs. To save Manuela's life, Viya had no choice but to obey orders and perform organ transplant surgery on Manuela.
The surgery was very successful,
Manuela's life was saved.
However, the rate of heart failure replacement exceeded Viya's imagination. Generally, qualified organ transplants without rejection can have a lifespan of about 20 to 30 years, and even temporary organ transplants with severe rejection can last about 1 to 2 years.
But Manuela's situation was even more severe, as she needed an organ transplant almost every few months. This made Viya instantly realize that the biochemical virus was at fault. Manuela's entire body cells had been affected, and due to blood circulation, the virus was merely more concentrated in the heart and organ failure.
And by the time Viya realized it,
Four or five organ transplant surgeries had already been performed. As for the source of the organ transplants, Javier Hidalgo was a major drug lord, and Viya didn't need to guess to know the truth. But at this moment, the arrow was on the string, and it had to be shot.
Even Viya, who knew the truth, was helpless.
After all, if he dared to resist, he would die. Moreover, a year ago, he had personally witnessed Manuela's mother transform into an ugly monster. Therefore, Viya also did not want the beautiful girl in front of him to also become an ugly and grotesque monster.
As for those persecuted young girls,
Viya could only pray that he would go to hell to atone for his sins after death…
"Clang…"
A soft sound.
The iron tray was placed on the table.
Making the eyelashes of the beautiful girl Manuela, who was sleeping on the bed, tremble. The doctor Viya, busy checking if the electrocardiogram was normal, did not notice this. On the tray were some anti-inflammatory drugs.
In addition to the organ transplant incision on her chest,
Viya, as a private doctor, also had to help treat Manuela's arm, which was where she had been injected with the biochemical virus.
"Alas…"
Looking at the beautiful girl sleeping in front of him, just like Sleeping Beauty in a fairy tale, the young male doctor Viya couldn't help but sigh with regret. He then gently and skillfully pulled out Manuela's bandaged arm.
"Rustle, rustle…"
The gauze bandage was neatly untied,
Revealing extremely dry skin. The girl's arm was already slender, but the bandaged area appeared even thinner, with not much flesh, like skin and bones. The surrounding skin was wrinkled and dry, like old, withered vines on the verge of death, and green liquid was clearly visible flowing through the blood vessels.
And that was the T-Veronica Virus—
It was rapidly eroding Manuela's body.
However, due to blood circulation, a large amount of the virus was concentrated in the heart and kidney organs, coupled with frequent organ replacements, which had slowed down the erosion of the T-Veronica Virus. The originally shriveled and wrinkled arm had also slowly regained some nourishment.
Looking at the terrifying arm in front of him,
Doctor Viya seemed accustomed to it.