It was a simple matter.
As members of Umbrella Corporation, they were well aware of what Umbrella Corporation was doing behind closed doors.
For the sake of their future career plans, these viral evidences that could harm Umbrella Corporation really had to be completely destroyed.
Although the weather outside the train was terrible, some researchers who knew how to find joy in hardship brewed themselves a cup of hot coffee to warm themselves up, and picked up a newspaper to pass the time.
However,
Just in this pleasant moment,
A sudden strange noise came from the roof of the express train—!
"Clang…!"
It was as if something had climbed up.
This strange movement made the researchers inside the train slightly stunned, wondering what had happened. Had it been hit by some tree branches?
"…"
"Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, the noise just now should have been caused by nearby tree branches or branches blown by strong winds. There should be no problem. I'll go check immediately. Please don't panic. This train is sponsored by Umbrella Corporation, so there won't be any mechanical failures."
And at this moment,
A uniformed train attendant quickly came out and calmly explained.
Although the Akeley Mountains had become very dangerous due to frequent murder cases, they did not believe that so-called murderers or large beasts could enter the train.
As for the train's mechanical failure, it was even more absurd; after all, how could a train manufactured by the world's most advanced company possibly have a malfunction?
Saying that,
The uniformed train attendant opened the carriage door and walked towards the rear carriages…
However,
Just at this moment,
In the dark night, an even more deafening thunder suddenly sounded, and dazzling white lightning suddenly struck, flashing outside the window.
"Boom…!!!"
"Bang bang bang bang…"
"Splat… Gurgle… Splat…!!!"
Mixed with the roaring thunder,
Clusters of black objects suddenly jumped onto the train, making sounds as they slapped against the train's roof and glass windows.
At this point, everyone's attention was finally drawn to these black objects.
They all looked at the black objects outside the window with puzzled expressions, their faces blank, completely unsure what these things were.
They were densely packed, wriggling like a mass of tumors, each about the size of a fist, firmly adhering to the window glass.
They secreted disgusting white mucus, and their bodies were black on the outside and yellow on the inside, without eyes, looking extremely ugly.
These were the Mutated Leeches controlled by Marcus, using the Leech Queen within him as the mother body, allowing him to freely control these Mutated Leeches for attack.
The next second,
"Hiss—!"
While the researchers inside the train were still in a daze, the Mutated Leeches adhering to the window glass suddenly began to emit a piercing hiss.
Their tumor-like bodies started to wriggle frantically, and the mouths attached to the window glass suddenly burst open into grotesque oral appendages, revealing sharp teeth, each about the size of a finger.
If bitten, they could definitely tear off large chunks of flesh.
And as these sharp oral appendages frantically gnawed at the window glass,
Before long, dense cracks quickly appeared on the train's window glass, as if it was about to give way.
"Clang—!"
Another loud bang,
At this moment,
Not only the window glass, but even the ventilation windows on the train roof were instantly breached, violently flipping open and falling down.
Like a tide, dense, tumor-like leeches frantically poured into the carriage, attacking the researchers inside, sticking to their bodies in a rush.
Soon, one researcher was completely enveloped by the dense, tumor-like leeches.
As the sharp oral appendages of the Mutated Leech gnawed down,
"Ah… Ah!!!!"
Screams of hysteria immediately spread through the carriage.
In just a few seconds, the blood of an adult was completely sucked dry, and the person collapsed directly to the ground, their skin covered with grotesque bite wounds, a shocking sight.
"Crunch… Crunch—!!!"
At the same time,
The window glass's defense was instantly breached.
Not only from the top of the carriage, but also from both sides of the windows, dense Mutated Leeches poured in.
At this moment, the terrified researchers finally reacted, starting to scream and flee frantically inside the carriage.
Unfortunately,
These unarmed researchers were no match for the Mutated Leeches.
They were good at researching viruses, but when faced with the monsters they had created, let alone controlling them, they didn't even have the strength to fight back.
Apart from the horrific screams, there was no other sign of resistance in the carriage.
Soon, the entire train fell silent, resting deadly still on the tracks…
This was a brutal, hellish hunt—!
…
Raccoon City Police Department—
S.T.A.R.S,
"Buzz buzz buzz…"
"Buzz buzz buzz…"
"Report received: The Zodiac Train bound for the Akeley Mountains tonight met with disaster.
They were attacked by an unknown creature two hours ago, possibly a cult organization or a large beast, but undoubtedly the true perpetrator of the recent frequent murders in the Akeley Mountains."
"Contact with the Zodiac Train has been lost, and the number of survivors is unknown.
The mission issued by the Raccoon City Police Department is for S.T.A.R.S to take a helicopter to the Akeley Mountains to investigate the situation and try to rescue any survivors.
Currently, Alpha Team is understaffed, so our Bravo Team will depart first to investigate."
"Everyone… This is a rare opportunity to earn merit.
We must not let Alpha Team take the credit.
This time, we must make the Raccoon City Police Department and its residents look at us with new eyes!"
In front of the Raccoon City Police Department's helipad,
Enrico, the Bravo Team leader of S.T.A.R.S, a tough middle-aged man, was wearing standard tactical gear, holding a firearm, and speaking sternly and loudly to the team members in front of him—
Chapter 6: Big Black Rat
In front of the Raccoon City Police Department,
Enrico Marini, as the captain, spoke eloquently in front of his team members.
S.T.A.R.S seemed like one family, but in reality, it was divided into two teams, A and B, and the two teams received mixed reviews.
As the captain of Bravo Team, Enrico knew that they were constantly belittled and ranked below Alpha Team.
Therefore, for this mission,
Enrico was determined to defeat Alpha Team and make countless Raccoon City civilians and police officers look at their Beta Team with new eyes.
And at the same time,
Not only Captain Enrico himself, but the five Beta Team members standing in front of him were also full of confidence.
They had longed to challenge Alpha Team for a long time, and this was indeed a rare opportunity that could not be easily missed.
Among them, the most excited was Rebecca, the little girl; she had planned to investigate the Akeley Mountains two months ago.
Unfortunately…
She was verbally warned by that scoundrel Javier that if she was caught sneaking out, she would be grounded for a month.
This made Rebecca very frustrated, which is why she had been itching to go until now.
And within the entire Beta Team,
Including Captain Enrico himself, there were a total of seven members, many more than Alpha Team.
Captain Enrico Marini was an insightful and righteous police officer, with a tough appearance and a gentle demeanor.
Compared to the unapproachable, cold-faced Albert Wesker, the captain of Alpha Team, Enrico was a very good team leader.
As an experienced veteran police officer, Enrico had a very strong talent for solving cases; he could piece together the correct answer from incomplete clues.
Many cases were solved only through the insight of Captain Enrico.
And further back was Richard Aiken—
A thin white man with a blond buzz cut, wearing an orange tactical vest, and carrying communication equipment.
He was the Beta Team's communicator, responsible for communications, and skilled in using shotguns.
However, for this mission, he was inexplicably only equipped with a pistol, which could be said to be very suicidal.
Kenneth J. Sullivan—
The only Black police officer in Beta Team, with a green tactical vest and a dark, bald head.
His rugged face often showed a simple, honest smile.
He was skilled in chemical technology, serving as a chemical weapon protection and reconnaissance specialist in the team, acting as a forward scout.
However, due to his age, he often tired very quickly and usually liked to grow flowers, which was very inconsistent with his tough male appearance and personality…
Edward Dewey—
The strongest tough guy in Beta Team, over 190cm tall, with thick arms that inflated like balloons.
He was a man like a tough guy, skilled in rifle shooting, and held a pilot's license, serving as the team's pilot.
He wore a white shirt and a blue tactical vest, giving a very strong sense of security.
Forster Spire—
The last member of Beta Team, a young man about the same height as Javier, wearing a dark blue tactical vest, with bare arms and tattoos engraved on his biceps.
He liked to wear long rock hair and secretly loved music and playing the guitar; his tattoos and long hair were clear symbols of him as a music lover.
He was humorous and witty, with a strong sense of mission and responsibility.
Because he had perfectly completed missions multiple times, he was admired by members of the police force, belonging to the category of a star officer.
He was also the team's sharpshooter, but a sniper sharpshooter.
His pistol shooting assessment was not as strong as Javier, the shooting genius, so after learning that Javier joined S.T.A.R.S, he had always wanted to have a good spar with Javier, the shooting genius.
Unfortunately, there was simply no suitable opportunity.
He was responsible for sniping and intelligence gathering.
Before joining S.T.A.R.S, he was already good friends with Jill and Chris from Alpha Team.
He was a character with a pseudo-protagonist template, but unfortunately, he still met his end due to the Resident Evil's passive "K" curse.
These were all the members of Beta Team.
As for Rebecca and Javier, there's no need to introduce them.
One is an expert in medical potions, also with a bit of a wild girl personality, and the other is an old slacker, with no need for much introduction, after all, they are all very familiar…
However,
Just as our Captain Enrico was busy boosting his team members' morale, his expression suddenly froze slightly.
He realized that there were only five people in front of the helipad, and Javier, the remaining one, was completely missing.
He didn't know where that kid had run off to.
"Rebecca!"
"Where did that brat Javier go? Didn't I inform you that we had a special emergency investigation mission to carry out?
He's your partner… Don't tell me he skipped work again, as usual.
Damn it, can't that brat read the room?"
After yelling for a long time,
Enrico finally realized that his morale-boosting technique was missing a cannon fodder, so he quickly asked Rebecca loudly.
Rebecca was Javier's partner, and only that little girl Rebecca would know where that brat had run off to.
"Um…"
"Captain Enrico, Javier said he went to get his gear ready and might need about five minutes of waiting time.
Could everyone please wait a little longer?"
Hearing her captain's loud reprimand,
Rebecca, the little girl, awkwardly scratched her head and said, her expression a bit sheepish.
She also didn't know what kind of gear that scoundrel Javier was getting that would take so long.
Usually, their S.T.A.R.S team went lightly equipped, with the goal of rapid support and rescue.
Including their six people,
Currently, most of their equipment and weapons consisted of a pistol, a dagger, and a bulletproof vest, with a small number carrying rifles and sniper rifles.
The communicator carried communication equipment, and she, as a medic, carried medical supplies.
Beyond that, there was basically nothing else, so it was very convenient and quick.
Therefore, she completely didn't understand what Javier needed to equip himself with.
"Equipment…?"
Not only Rebecca,
Enrico, as the captain, also frowned in confusion.
What was that brat Javier preparing?
Didn't he know that time was life?
Every five minutes of waiting meant one more minute of danger for the victims in the Akeley Mountains.
This was not their S.T.A.R.S motto.
However,
Javier, who was not present at all, stated,
If you go to the Akeley Mountains to investigate with this kind of equipment, it would be a miracle if you didn't all die.
Who goes to fight zombies with just a small pistol and a dagger?
Are you really treating this as a horror game?
"Thump-thump-thump…"
"Thump-thump-thump…"
Soon,
As everyone waited with confusion and impatience,
A dull, hurried series of footsteps entered everyone's ears.
A sneaky big black rat…Pooh! A handsome dark figure slowly came into view.
Police anti-riot steel helmet, tactical goggles, military single-tube night vision device mounted on the helmet, and an S10 model green-lensed Warthog gas mask covering his face.
Aside from not having red lenses and an AC200 helmet, he was basically wearing the same skin as Hunk, the Grim Reaper.
He wore a Level III military special hard and soft composite bulletproof vest, capable of stopping 7 rifle rounds, and also included wrist, knee, and shoulder protectors.
He was dressed head to toe in a black police uniform, with two large Magnum pistols and a tactical dagger holstered on his thigh, which were the Magnum Desert Eagle and M500 Revolver previously purchased from Hock's gun shop.
In addition,
His entire waist tactical belt was also clipped with several High-explosive grenades and flashbangs, and it wasn't even over…
Even more outrageous was that Javier was carrying a multi-functional tactical backpack capable of holding 30 kilograms, standard issue for special forces.
He held an old Winchester 1887 lever-action shotgun, "Demon Slayer Flame," and its good brother, the police anti-riot shotgun Winchester M1897, "Trench Sweeper," standard police anti-riot weapons.
All the gear, big and small,
Made Javier look like a big black rat.
Compared to his lightly equipped teammates, he was clearly an anomaly.
However, Javier didn't care about the surrounding stares.
Instead, he casually whistled, even providing his own sound effects, the Imperial March from Star Wars:
"…"
"Da-da…da…da-da…da-da-da…"
"Reporting, Sir, S.T.A.R.S officer Javier Li, badge number 9527, Tactical Assault, has reported for duty.
Please instruct!"
At ease, attention, salute,
Chest out, butt out,
Javier said loudly to Captain Enrico with a playful expression, causing his other teammates to stifle their laughter.
Captain Enrico, even more helpless, pinched the bridge of his nose and couldn't help but ask angrily:
"Are you going to war?! Javier! And… did you take out all the police department's assets and put them on yourself?"
No choice,
With a steel helmet, a Level III bulletproof vest, a gas mask, and night vision goggles, plus a large backpack that jingled as he walked, Captain Enrico knew immediately that this scoundrel must have filled his backpack with countless bullets.
What was he trying to do?
They were going on an investigation mission, not to fight a war in the Middle East or Africa.
And even if it was a war, what was the meaning of carrying two shotguns?
He didn't even have a standard rifle… Was he planning to fight the enemy in close quarters?