Leon then noticed pictures of a lake and a windmill on the wall, so he opened his satellite emergency communication and contacted Hunnigan, his good partner for this mission.
She was a beautiful mixed-race woman of Black descent, decisive and efficient, a true career woman, but occasionally she would worry about Leon's safety, so her personality wasn't entirely overbearing.
As a special intelligence officer for the American CIA, she was responsible for Leon's communication support. They had worked together many times, making them an excellent team.
Without further ado, Leon wanted Hunnigan to use the satellite to survey the terrain near Wolf's Valley and help him find a place similar to a lake and a windmill. That location was very likely where the President's daughter, Ashley, was being held.
At that moment, the other villagers from the cabin who heard the commotion gathered around, about five or six of them.
Leon knew he couldn't fight so many alone, so he decisively climbed out the window and fled.
He immediately ran down a small path. These villagers were too strange, as if controlled by someone, like string puppets.
What surprised Leon even more was their formidable vitality.
Although they weren't as vicious as zombies, their vitality was no less. They could still move even after having their necks kicked and broken.
If these villagers were a branch of zombie creatures, capable of perfectly hiding among people and infecting others through special means...
Ugh, Leon couldn't even imagine the seriousness of the situation.
It seemed he would have to go all out to investigate this mission. He absolutely couldn't allow such an organization to continue lurking and plotting some conspiracy.
After finding a temporary shelter in a small house along the escape path, Leon began to prepare and plan.
The difficulty of this mission exceeded his imagination, but he didn't have many weapons or ammunition: a tactical dagger, a USP9 agent pistol, two magazines, over thirty bullets, one flashbang, and one High-explosive grenade, along with a simple medical kit. He had almost no other equipment.
And tomorrow, he would likely face dozens of these vicious villagers.
He had to plan carefully, even reducing his pistol usage. Until he found more ammunition, every shot he fired was one less.
Leon could only hope that the villagers' homes had a few hunting rifles and some bullets; that would at least allow him to breathe a sigh of relief.
For now, he needed to quietly wait for Hunnigan's terrain intelligence on Wolf's Valley.
This valley was very large, with a primitive and harsh environment, overgrown with weeds and dense dead trees. It was still nighttime, and wandering around would easily lead to getting lost, so Leon decided to wait for the map before acting.
But who knew...
The wait stretched until almost dawn.
The morning sunlight slowly filtered through the trees, and a drop of dew fell from the leaky, broken roof, landing on Leon's handsome face as he rested with his eyes closed. This made him slowly open his eyes.
Hunnigan had put in a lot of effort to pinpoint Leon's location and found buildings resembling a lake and a windmill nearby. Only then did she send the intelligence to Leon.
Leon, now awake, realized he had wasted a lot of time. After rubbing his eyes, he decisively set off in the direction of the windmill building.
...Meanwhile...
[Ding--!]
[Dungeon: Resident Evil 4 officially activated. Main Quest: Destroy the Plaga parasite Mother Nest. Side Quest 1: Rescue Luis. Side Quest 2: Obtain an Amber Sample. Side Quest 3: Annihilate all Plaga parasite hosts.]
[Completing the Main Quest rewards 300 points. Completing each Side Quest rewards 100 points. Eliminating one normal Plaga parasite host rewards 1 point. Eliminating one mutated Plaga parasite host rewards 2 points. Eliminating a stage boss rewards 50 points. Completing all quests grants 1 hidden reward * 1]
The next day, as dawn broke, Javier was woken by the alert from his golden finger.
He opened his eyes to the faint light of dawn in the east, a hint of morning glow just emerging.
The villagers, given mechanical orders by the Plaga parasite, slowly awoke from their sleep and began to go about their business as if nothing were wrong, like actors rehearsing their parts in a play.
Some swept, others prepared fodder for livestock, some fetched water. Some villagers even took up farming tools, intending to head out for work.
However, in the center of the village square, where the harvest festival bonfire used to be held each year, a cross in the shape of a Plaga parasite was impaled.
A police officer who had already died and a struggling young police officer wearing glasses were tied to it, their pleas ignored.
Until a villager threw a torch onto the pile, and with a 'boom,' the flames instantly ignited. Horrific screams echoed throughout the village.
Countless passing villagers showed no fear on their faces; instead, they were excited, cheering as if they had dealt with thieves who were a threat to the village...
Chapter 8: Hundred-Man Slaying Mission in Progress...
"..."
"Bandits are entering the village..."
Javier, startled awake by the golden finger's alert, slowly stood up on the bell tower.
Looking at the morning glow in the distance and the sudden clamor and disturbance in the village, he couldn't help but murmur to himself.
At the same time, he took out his binoculars and began to observe the situation in the village.
"Pfft..."
"Boom...!"
The dry firewood had been doused with gasoline, making it exceptionally easy to ignite. The raging flames instantly engulfed the bodies of the two police officers.
In a short while, they were completely surrounded by fire, like Joan of Arc being executed in France. The crowd, chanting slogans of punishing devils, pushed innocent people into the abyss of hell, their faces even showing enjoyment.
Undoubtedly, these villagers had been controlled by the Plaga parasite and lost their minds.
At this very moment, Leon, who had stealthily reached the village gate, also watched the scene before him in shock.
He carefully pushed open the gap in the iron gate, bent low, and moved slowly forward, with several sharpened, deadly wooden stakes strapped to his back.
When his gaze fell upon the two police officers being burned in the village, Leon could no longer hold back. What had happened to these villagers? Had they been deluded by a cult?
To burn two living people to death, their faces radiating excitement—it was an unspeakable horror.
However, the enemy was numerous.
Looking at the villagers gathered in the central village square, Leon casually scanned them. There were about a dozen or so, plus other villagers busy working throughout the village, meaning at least thirty to forty people were his enemies.
Even if Leon became a sharpshooter, taking down one enemy with each shot, his bullets still wouldn't be enough.
Thinking of this, Leon decisively reached out and took down a sharpened wooden stake. It was as sharp as a spear.
Although it couldn't penetrate thick clothing, it should be more than enough to pierce a person's temple. With six or seven of them, Leon, carrying these stakes, moved slowly and stealthily on the ground like a hedgehog.
Originally, he had wanted to prepare a bow and arrows, but in this remote and impoverished place, there were no such materials.
Everywhere were dead trees and dry vines, lacking flexibility; they would snap if pulled. However, the dry, hardened wood was more than sufficient for making spears.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."
Bypassing the villagers gathered in the central village square, Leon slowly crept along a side path, keeping his body as low as possible to avoid detection.
After all, villagers infected by the Plaga parasite were somewhat slow in their reactions, including their vision.
A Plaga parasite is still a Plaga parasite, and a puppeteer is still a puppeteer. It cannot fully utilize all of the human body's organs, nor can it make the controlled puppets show various expressions.
The side path led to a two-story wooden cowshed. Inside, an old woman dressed in cloth seemed to be using a rake to clear scattered hay from the ground.
Although cows are livestock, the cowshed needed to be kept dry to prevent the cattle from getting sick.
As Leon looked at the old woman mechanically working before him, his eyes sharpened without hesitation. He grabbed the wooden spear and charged forward fiercely, his steps short and urgent.
"Thump-thump-thump---!!!"
This made the old woman, who was busy with her mechanical work, sense something amiss. She stiffly turned her head.
But what greeted her was Leon's fierce face and an incredibly sharp wooden spear.
"Whoosh!"
"Splurt----!!!"
Without surprise, the sharp wooden spear accurately struck the soft spot of the old woman's temple.
Flesh and blood were easily pierced, and the sharp tip emerged from the other side, stained with thick, mixed blood.
The old woman instantly lost her senses, her mouth hanging open as if to speak, but no sound came out. She then collapsed to the ground.
Leon stepped on her head and pulled out the wooden spear, his hand trembling slightly.
This was the first time he had struck down these monsters that resembled humans.
While zombies were terrifying, even including vulnerable groups like children, daughters, and the elderly, their ferocious appearance allowed Leon to kill them without any psychological burden.
But this time was different.
These villagers were too human-like.
People might say Leon's methods were too cruel, but in reality, it was unavoidable.
On the way to this village, Leon had encountered some wandering villagers and witnessed firsthand how they transformed into monsters.
Therefore, when facing the old woman, Leon had acted so ruthlessly.
After all, mercy to an enemy is cruelty to oneself. Leon didn't want to be struck hard in the face by the old woman's rake because of pity or hesitation if she reacted.
Having dealt with the old woman, Leon continued to stealthily move, clutching the wooden spear.
He slowly climbed the ladder to the second floor of the cowshed, quietly approaching the window, and cautiously observed the activities of the villagers in the square below with his peripheral vision.
He certainly didn't want to run into a 'herd' of villagers head-on as soon as he went down.
However, accidents are either on their way or already preparing to arrive.
Just as Leon was contemplating how to break the deadlock, a young man, who resembled the old woman's son, discovered his mother's body in the cowshed below.
His routine was to visit his old mother daily and help her tidy the hay in the cowshed.
He hadn't expected to stumble upon his mother's death this time, especially with her entire head pierced through.
At the same time, his gaze also noticed Leon peeking from the cowshed's upper floor, holding a spear stained with fresh blood.
Before Leon could react, the infected young man threw an axe fiercely towards Leon's head.
A projectile weapon is extremely dangerous. Without the protection of an arrow-proof shield, one could easily be ambushed. And once injured, a barrage of farming tools would follow.
"Bang--!"
With a dull thud, the thrown axe landed just three centimeters from Leon, causing the entire wooden wall to shake.
The sharp axe head was firmly embedded in the wood, shaving off a few of Leon's handsome strands of hair.
This made Leon, who had just reacted, feel his heart pound. He spun his head around sharply, his gaze fixed on the young man below, who had a vacant stare but a fierce expression.
A furious urge to curse welled up inside him.
Just a little bit, just a tiny bit more, and his head would have been left there.
It seemed Leon could completely abandon that last trace of hesitation in his heart. If he didn't thoroughly slaughter these villagers, they would thoroughly slaughter him.
As for why the axe didn't hit Leon's head just now? Was it plot armor?
This reason could be said to be both yes and no.
As mentioned before, the Plaga parasite is merely a puppeteer controlling puppets; it cannot perfectly control all of the human body's muscles and organs.
Therefore... when it came to the axe's aim, the Plaga parasite basically threw it by luck.
After all, it's very difficult for a normal living person to hit a target with an axe throw with 100% accuracy unless they've trained. There have even been cases of people throwing axes that bounced back and killed them, so it's not unheard of.
Thus, if even normal people find it hard to hit a target with an axe throw, how much more so for something like the Plaga parasite?
It can only make approximate axe throws.
So, it cannot be said that Leon relied on plot armor to dodge this attack. However... this kind of axe ambush, where the aim is completely unknown, is actually harder to defend against, because no move is better than a move.
"There's a stranger here (Hay un forastero aquí.)!"
"He's over there (I know him, Ah í está.)!"