However, facing Luis's strange actions, Ada still had no time to deal with him. After unstrapping the crossbow from her back, she quickly loaded an explosive bolt onto it, then turned to Luis and said coldly, "I need to go support Javier."
"Luis, you carry this man and head to the church first. We'll ditch that monster and catch up immediately. Remember... don't get caught again, and don't try any more sneaky tricks to escape. If you disappear again, don't blame me for being merciless."
"This man?"
"Do you know him...?"
Despite Ada's command, Luis, though obedient, still frowned in confusion and asked. Leon was clearly not allied with the Umbrella Corporation behind Ada. This man was here to rescue some kidnapped little girl, and Ada was even going to save an outsider, which surprised Luis.
After all, in Luis's eyes, Ada was the kind of woman who put profit above all else. He never expected her to be so kind-hearted this time; it was truly rare.
"Shut up!"
"Just do your job. Don't let me find you trying any tricks again. Go now—!"
Luis's repeated curious questions made Ada very impatient, and she gave him a cold glare to intimidate him. Faced with the angry woman, Luis dared not provoke her and could only carry the unconscious Leon on his back, running to the other side of the lake house.
After sending Luis away, Ada refocused her attention on Javier and Chief Mendez. Because Javier's short-barreled shotgun had blown off his lower jaw, Chief Mendez was now in a state of fury, his face contorted as he ran towards Javier, his large hands like iron pincers trying to grab Javier's head for a loving embrace.
After all, Chief Mendez now "loved" Javier very deeply!
No one had ever made him so disheveled before.
The disfigured Chief Mendez had to find a way to properly repay Javier, because the Plaga parasite has no regenerative ability. Remember this point: the Plaga parasite is different from a virus.
Besides strengthening the host's physical abilities, a virus can also accelerate wound healing due to its super-strong metabolism.
However, the Plaga parasite does not have this ability. It can only grant the host excellent physical enhancement abilities, but no so-called recovery ability. After all, the Plaga parasite cannot control the human body's metabolism, nor can it accelerate it.
Therefore, once a host of the Plaga parasite is disfigured, it cannot recover. Similar to Chief Mendez's third stage form, where his spinal cord is broken at the waist, leaving only his upper body crawling like a whip spider.
Asking it to reattach its spine is completely impossible. It can only continue to act in that posture, or more directly, the Plaga parasite abandons the host and seeks a better substitute. This is the Plaga parasite's way of survival.
Compared to a virus, its amplification is too weak—
"Roar, roar, roar...!"
A furious roar erupted from his mouth.
The two-meter-tall Chief Mendez chased Javier wildly through the valley, while Javier forcefully maintained his Breathing Technique state, moving with the speed of lightning-fast Usain Bolt, maneuvering around Chief Mendez.
Even if Chief Mendez was tall and fast, he couldn't catch up to Javier's speed in a short time.
After all, this was the ultimate speed of a human light...
"Sorry,"
"I've kept you waiting too long... It's time to retreat now!"
Looking at the enormous target that was Chief Mendez, Ada raised her crossbow and quietly flipped open the scope. The infrared and magnified sight simultaneously locked onto Chief Mendez.
The maximum range of an ordinary arrow is around 200 meters, with some drop but not too much. The optimal range is 50 meters, where it essentially hits where aimed with no drop whatsoever.
But because the explosive bolt was heavier due to the explosives, Ada's military crossbow only had a maximum range of 100 meters. Beyond that distance, an indescribable drop would occur. She needed to hit Chief Mendez within one hundred meters.
This was a high-difficulty test for a qualified agent.
But for Ada, it was met with a confident, disdainful smile.
Javier, you underestimated her. Ada Wong was one of the world's top female agents. A crossbow was a mere toy to her, something she could easily handle. Long before she entered this profession, she had already mastered many weapons.
Setting the timer, the estimated time was 5 seconds.
She squinted.
She concentrated.
The optical distance numbers appeared on the scope, she slightly raised the crossbow's sight, roughly estimating the distance in her mind. Ada's lips curved into a slight, confident smile, and then her finger pulled the trigger.
"Boom—!"
"Whoosh—————!!!!"
An arrow carrying a time bomb, like lightning, streaked across the dark night sky, like a thunderclap illuminating the damp earth, accurately hitting Chief Mendez's back. With a "plop," the barbed arrowhead did not penetrate the flesh but got stuck in his thick leather coat.
The next second,
"Bang!"
"Boom—!!"
A powerful explosion instantly erupted.
A ball of scorching flames suddenly bloomed from Chief Mendez's back, like a small, expanding fireball. Before Chief Mendez could react, his entire body was violently blasted against the nearby valley rock wall. His black leather coat, due to the flames, began to burn, turning into specks of ash and sparks...
Chapter Fifteen: Greased Feet
With a "whoosh..." large pieces of burning black leather coat peeled from his body. Chief Mendez stood there silently, facing the hard valley rock wall, his face extremely grim, as if water could drip from it.
Undoubtedly... being played with like a toy by a rat, Chief Mendez could no longer suppress the rage within him.
"Hoo hoo hoo..."
Low growls continuously emanated from his mouth.
And his huge back muscles suddenly began to expand and writhe strangely, as if something was about to break out of its shell.
Seeing this, Javier inwardly thought, "This is bad."
The old chief was about to go berserk. They had to run away quickly. They absolutely couldn't provoke Chief Mendez, this early-game boss, any further. If he directly transformed into a centipede-man and went crazy, grabbing people everywhere in the village, it would be troublesome. The game difficulty would simply rise by a level.
But...
Undoubtedly,
On this point,
Our Miss Ada Wong was unaware. Seeing Chief Mendez suddenly stop, she thought he had suffered a serious injury. Seeing this, Ada immediately loaded another explosive bolt onto her crossbow, this time with double the amount.
"..."
"Enjoy it, monster. This explosive bolt should be right up your alley!"
She muttered.
Ada's sharp eyes fixed on Chief Mendez in the distance. Then she aimed through the scope, pulled the trigger, and the black crossbow bolt carrying the time bomb shot out again like a released bowstring.
Moving incredibly fast, another accurate hit landed on Chief Mendez's back, accompanied by a series of "beep-beep" sounds...
Ryu ga waga teki wo kurau (Dragon, devour my enemies)—!
5...
3...
1...
"Bang—!"
"Rumble—!!!"
Another incredibly powerful explosion erupted.
Before Chief Mendez's angry roar could escape, Ada's explosive bolt with double the explosive power instantly silenced him.
His entire massive body was violently blasted and slammed against the valley rock wall again. Large amounts of flames enveloped his body, his skin charred and broken, looking especially pathetic, like an old man who had suffered endless bullying and torment.
The children of the South Village bully me in my old age and weakness...
That desolate figure slowly rose again from within the flames, trembling uncontrollably.
Javier knew,
This time, he was truly going to go berserk.
As expected,
Under Ada's two provocative explosive bolts, Chief Mendez could no longer suppress the rage within him. The power of the Plaga parasite completely erupted. His burning clothes disappeared, revealing his muscular and robust body, with only his lower half of trousers remaining.
And the next second,
"Gurgle gurgle..."
His strong flesh writhed wildly like playdough. The abdominal muscles of Chief Mendez suddenly began to contract and expand madly, like a folding spring.
"Pfft—!!!"
Something even more terrifying happened.
The flesh of his abdomen was forcefully torn apart, blood and gore flying everywhere. The spinal area of his lower body transformed into an incredibly thick centipede spine, surrounded by sharp hooks. With a sudden surge of power from his strong, massive arms, his fingers immediately grew hard, sharp claws.
The muscles of his shoulder blades also immediately burst open, and two pairs of scorpion-like giant pincers erupted from his back, covered in large amounts of mucus. The black and red pincers instantly opened, their white blades as sharp as steel knives.
They could easily sever the limbs of any creature and peel away any defense. Iron sheets would be cut like paper in front of them.
At the same time,
These two pairs of hook-like giant pincers possessed incredibly powerful strength. Even if his lower body was severed, he could completely support his upper body using the giant pincers on his back, just like Doctor Octopus, moving around with them, and his speed would even become faster!
"Hoo hoo hoo..."
"Roar roar roar—!!!"
"You... all must die here...!!!"
Chief Mendez, in his Plaga parasite attack state, roared at Javier and Ada, while his two pairs of giant pincers on his back also flailed menacingly. Undoubtedly... Chief Mendez, throwing caution to the wind, no longer intended to spare anyone.
After all,
Once this posture was adopted,
Given the flaws of the Plaga parasite,
The centipede spine that was forcefully pulled out could never be retracted, and Chief Mendez could no longer revert to human form.
So he had to completely eliminate Javier and Ada in front of him, otherwise, it wouldn't be worth his powerful self-sacrificing resolve.
Because for both the Plaga parasite and Chief Mendez, constantly exposing this posture was very troublesome. It was too conspicuous.
Chief Mendez, supported by the centipede spine, was nearly three to four meters tall. Anything he did would be noticed, and he could no longer wear human clothes.
And when it came to conspicuous things,
Plaga parasites hated them the most.
The Plaga parasite's instinct is to hide and reproduce within the host, not to become a conspicuous creature and suffer attacks from other organisms. This does not conform to the innate DNA of the Plaga parasite...
"..."
"This is truly over. I need to run quickly—"
Looking at Chief Mendez, who had entered his second stage,
Javier muttered with a very grim expression.
No choice,
Still the same saying, once Chief Mendez enters his second stage, he will definitely go berserk and try to capture them. At that time, any mission will be harassed by Chief Mendez, and even when fighting other bosses, it might turn into a double-boss fight, which is very difficult. The difficulty increases by a notch.
As for killing Chief Mendez on the spot,
That was also impossible.
Chief Mendez in his third stage abandons his lower body and becomes very fast. If he wanted to escape, Javier would find it very difficult to stop him.
Only in a decisive battle in an iron room, like Leon's, would escape be impossible. So, in a sense, provoking Chief Mendez at this point in time was not a good idea.