The next second,
"Poof—!"
Without any surprise,
The harpoon pierced the zombie's head, instantly causing the monster in front of her to lose its vitality, collapsing onto the ground like a pile of mud. Seeing the monster in front of her killed, and its foul-smelling blood splattering onto her clothes, even the strongest girl would be frightened the first time she witnessed such a scene.
Manuela quickly threw away the harpoon in her hand and fled in a panic, running towards a floating church in the distance. Manuela hurried towards it, knowing that such floating churches usually had very few people, and Manuela didn't want to encounter that kind of monster again.
Unfortunately,
She didn't notice,
That her heart, due to several days of long-distance travel without proper rest, was beating slower and slower, showing signs of stopping. As a result, not long after Manuela escaped into the floating church, a wave of dizziness immediately struck her. Before Manuela could react, she fainted onto the floating planks of the church…
…
Meanwhile—
…
"Damn it, what's going on with this village? There's not a single soul!"
While Manuela was unconscious, Leon and Krauser also arrived at this village in the lower reaches of the Amazon River. The fences were covered with missing girl posters, and stranger still, there was absolutely no one around, as if it were an abandoned village.
This greatly angered Krauser,
Because during his time as a special forces soldier and mercenary, he had often run missions in vain due to incorrect intelligence, frequently suffering in insect-ridden rainforests or being chased by natives.
Therefore,
Krauser was very worried that the United States Government's intelligence was wrong again, sending him and Leon to this godforsaken place to suffer. If that were truly the case… then Krauser himself would truly not be able to bear it.
"No, something's off."
"This place is strange, Major. Do you smell it? There's a faint scent of blood and decay in the air. It's not the stench of rotting fish, but the strong, unique smell of corpses."
Looking at the village ahead, Leon didn't explode in anger like Krauser. Instead, he frowned, sniffing the unique smell in the air and speaking softly. He was too familiar with it… even after four years, it was the same. Leon was certain it was the smell emanating from the decaying bodies of zombies.
His day in Raccoon City,
Had ingrained that unique smell deep into Leon's nose.
Although Krauser had seen countless dead people, he had never seen a zombie, so he had no impression of such creatures. Therefore, he didn't believe in so-called Bio-viruses or Bio-weapon BOWs—
"What did you say…?"
Listening to Leon's words,
Krauser was bewildered, even scoffing a little.
During his time as a special forces soldier in the Red Berets and as a retired mercenary, he had experienced countless brutal missions. He had never seen any so-called zombies or Bio-weapon BOWs, and such things couldn't stand against his blades and firearms.
Therefore,
Krauser simply believed,
That they were just the corpses of ordinary people.
However,
Just as Krauser's thought had barely settled for half a second,
A strange noise suddenly came from a house in the village ahead.
"Clang, clang, clang…"
As if something was scurrying inside, the entire dilapidated thatched hut began to shake violently. This situation immediately put Leon and Krauser on high alert. Their expressions changed, and they quickly drew their pistols, aiming at the house, ready to fire at any moment.
Leon believed,
The fellow inside should be a T-Virus infected zombie.
While Krauser believed,
The fellow inside should be a fierce jaguar. After all, in places like rainforests, jaguars are the most common beasts and one of the top predators. It wouldn't be surprising for them to kill several Amazonian natives, even though Amazonian natives here often hunt jaguars as prey.
But the relationship between hunter and prey,
Can change at any time.
After all, there were quite a few Amazonian native hunters killed by jaguars—!
However…
"Hiss, hiss, hiss—"
"Clang!"
Here it came.
The familiar deep breathing sound. The fence was gradually pushed open, and walking towards them was a hideous, rotting face. Its clothes were tattered, its skin had turned pale, stiff, and extremely gray. Its limbs were covered in a large amount of blood, the skin on its face was ulcerated, and yellowed teeth still had strands of meat. One eyeball was missing, leaving an empty socket, and its hair was sparse and decaying. Its entire body emitted a foul, putrid smell.
And this,
Was a zombie infected with the T-Virus.
Leon had seen too many in Raccoon City, so he showed no expression, holding his pistol ready to fire.
Compared to Leon's composure,
Krauser, on the other hand, was quite startled.
This was his first time seeing a moving corpse. Its body was clearly rotten and emitted the stench of death. It looked utterly dead, so how could it move? This defied all scientific common sense.
Furthermore,
Krauser couldn't determine the opponent's state right now, whether it was alive or dead. Because of this situation, Krauser was stunned for several seconds, unable to make a judgment. This was unlike his usual self.
However,
It was only for a few seconds.
Because Krauser had killed his fair share of living people, so whether it was alive or dead, it made no difference to Krauser. If he couldn't determine, then just shoot and kill them all.
"Whoosh—!"
Thinking of this,
Krauser finally stopped hesitating. The serious expression returned to his face. His strong wrist flicked instantly, and a sharp dagger shot out like a flash of white light, hitting the chest of the zombie in front of him.
"Crack!"
"Bang, bang, bang—!!!"
A rapid succession of gunshots rang out.
Krauser, armed with a gun, accurately hit the body of the zombie in front of him. Three or four bullets all struck near the heart. This degree of attack should be enough to kill a person, but what Krauser had absolutely not expected was that the zombie in front of him was completely unharmed?
It merely staggered back a few steps.
Instead, because it was attacked,
Its originally sluggish speed immediately became ferocious, and it lunged directly towards Krauser. This once again shocked Krauser, a special forces veteran who had served in the Red Berets. What was going on now?
In reality,
It wasn't that Krauser couldn't aim for the head.
It was just that in conventional missions, hitting the heart with firearm bullets had a higher priority than hitting the head. Of course, this wasn't because the heart was more lethal, but because the large surface area of the chest and heart made it easier for bullets to hit, while the head was difficult to hit.
Furthermore, the head was too fragile and lacked muscle tissue. After a bullet penetrated it, it would leave an extremely gruesome wound. The scene of a head exploding and brains splattering was definitely not something ordinary people wanted to see.
The heart, on the other hand, would only leave small bullet holes, easily causing death while preserving a complete corpse, which would greatly reduce post-combat trauma for soldiers. After all… normal people probably wouldn't want to face exploded human heads every day, right?
If that were the case… they would have nightmares every day.
And unfortunately,
Zombies are not afraid of attacks to the chest or heart, unless the opponent's weapon is a heavy machine gun that can riddle them like a sieve. Otherwise, it poses no threat to a zombie.
Therefore, Krauser's fluid and cool consecutive moves just now caused absolutely no damage to the zombie!
"Bang—!"
And just as the zombie was about to lunge at Krauser,
Leon, who had been observing for a long time, finally made his move. His gun sight was fixed firmly on the zombie's head. With just one pull of the trigger, a single bullet instantly penetrated the zombie's head. The head exploded, blood and brains splattered, immediately causing it to lose its vitality and collapse to the ground.
Leon's simple, precise, and effective action stood in stark contrast to Krauser's flashy moves, and it caused the major, who had served in the Red Berets, to show his third shocked expression today…
Chapter 9: Sleeping Beauty
Seeing Leon's performance just now, and recalling his own supposedly skillful operation, Krauser, as an instructor, felt extremely embarrassed. Normally, he was the one who would scold Leon.
But now,
Just one mission had made him, an experienced Red Berets veteran, make a fool of himself. This was a fact Krauser couldn't accept. Not only was he frightened by the moving, rotting corpse, but he was also almost tackled and killed by it.
If this news got out,
Krauser would probably be too ashamed to show his face. Moreover, he was someone who cared deeply about his image, usually hiding behind a serious and stern facade. He wouldn't allow his carefully built image to collapse here.
However,
Compared to Major Krauser's wild thoughts,
Leon, standing by, didn't think that much. After all, in his opinion, Major Krauser's reaction to seeing a Bio-weapon zombie monster for the first time was similar to his own first encounter with a zombie in Raccoon City—both were surprised. And he, too, had initially shot the zombie in the chest with a pistol, completely unaware of its weakness.
Therefore, Leon had no intention of belittling Krauser. Instead, he seriously began to explain to him:
"Major, shooting these monsters in the chest with a pistol won't work. You must hit them in the head. You have to blow their heads off to stop their life functions. Also, you absolutely must not be bitten by these zombies, or even get their blood on an open wound, because their blood is infectious."
"If we accidentally come into contact with it, we'll mutate and become ugly, terrifying creatures just like them, completely turning into walking corpses."
Putting away his pistol,
Leon slowly walked forward, kicked over the zombie's body on the ground, pulled out the small dagger stuck in its chest, and handed it back to Major Krauser, explaining slowly with a serious expression.
However,
At this moment, Krauser still hadn't reacted.
He was still in a daze, but upon seeing that his former trainee, Leon, had no intention of belittling him, Krauser's expression softened slightly. It seemed Leon didn't intend to make a big deal out of what had just happened, nor did he plan to let him continue to be embarrassed.
And so,
"Wait, Leon,"
"How do you know all this? Are there really so-called Bio-weapon BOWs in the world? Does this village really contain what the United States Government wants?!"
Taking the small dagger Leon handed him, Krauser looked at the dark, murky bloodstains on it, and then recalled Leon's explanation. After a moment of hesitation, he threw the small dagger away. He didn't want the blood on it to accidentally enter his body and infect him into that ugly monster.
At the same time,
This also piqued Krauser's curiosity, and he began to press Leon for information about the Bio-virus. After all… Leon had trained under him for four years, starting as a rookie intern police officer. Aside from his adaptability, his marksmanship, combat skills, disguise, language, and tactics were all terrible.
That's why Krauser was curious how Leon, only in his twenties, knew more about these things than he, a veteran who had served in the Red Berets. After all, one should know… even a special forces soldier like him wouldn't be able to know or even touch these secrets.
After all,
Because of the ugly zombie he had just seen, Krauser also began to believe in the existence of Bio-viruses and Bio-weapon BOWs. This no longer seemed like a fantasy—
…
"That was four years ago, Major. You should still be aware of the Raccoon City incident that's still causing a stir, right? That was indeed real, and the Umbrella Corporation researching Bio-viruses was also real. Four years ago, when I had just graduated from the police academy, to contribute to urban development, I was transferred from a small rural town to work at the Raccoon City Police Department."
"The day before, I got drunk and overslept, only arriving late in the evening for my report time. But luckily, on my very first day as a rookie cop, I encountered a Bio-virus outbreak. At a gas station in Raccoon City, I encountered several zombie monsters similar to the one just now…"
Facing Major Krauser's questions,
Although Leon didn't want to recall that painful memory, seeing that Major Krauser was willing to believe in the Bio-virus, Leon patiently began to explain. The two chatted as they searched the native village in the rainforest.
In the native village,
Aside from a dozen or so mutated, infected zombies, most were dead human bodies. The number of people massacred here was actually higher than the number infected, indicating that this place was deliberately butchered, not simply a virus release.
And besides that,
Leon and Krauser also discovered a group of infected, mutated piranhas with tiger-like heads by the river. Their scales were black and hardened, and their bodies had grown several times larger. Especially their fangs, which were as hard as steel, felt like they could instantly tear through metal. If a sheep were thrown in, it would be completely disintegrated in less than ten seconds.