"Javier, Billy Coen, come over here! There's an old elevator here that isn't powered by the main grid, but by a separate power source. I knew the battery pack I brought would be useful, and it fits perfectly!"
Rebecca's eyes lit up as she looked at the elevator with the dangerous yellow and black stripes in the corner, her voice slightly excited. Her intuition was right again!
The three of them ran outside the Institute.
They breathed in the fresh air, and although the outside of the Institute was still blocked by heavy steel fences, and everything around them remained desolate, covered in moss and weeds, it didn't affect Javier and the other two's mood.
After all, being outside was much more comfortable than being inside the Institute, which was too oppressive…
The elevator Rebecca discovered also surprised Javier and Billy Coen. They had previously wondered why Rebecca was carrying such a heavy battery pack, and now it turned out to be useful. They didn't know if it was a coincidence or if it was an intentionally designed mechanism.
"Click…"
With a clear sound,
The battery pack was successfully installed into the elevator's power supply. Although the elevator here was old, it didn't affect its use. There was still plenty of power in the battery, and the moment it was installed, the red light indicating the elevator's operation began to flash, showing it was running and could be used normally.
Without hesitation,
Rebecca pulled down the switch,
The entire elevator suddenly began to operate. In a short while, the elevator's entrance had reached the ground where the three of them were, and a wooden container was blocking the top.
This seemed to be another hint.
Javier and Billy Coen worked together to push aside the wooden container, then let Rebecca ride the elevator, planning to have her see what was on the top floor of the elevator.
"Buzz…"
The elevator restarted,
In a short while,
Rebecca successfully reached the top floor by elevator. However, the elevator did not lead to a floor within the Institute, only to the rooftop of the Institute. This seemed to be just an elevator device workers used to repair the Institute's roof, with nothing special about it—
"What the…?"
"So there's nothing here?"
Upon reaching the top floor, Rebecca activated her sharp vision and scanned the area, finding nothing special. Her small face immediately fell, and she complained with a look of discomfort and helplessness. It seemed she had guessed wrong?
This was just an ordinary elevator,
Not some mechanism clue?
Just as Rebecca was thinking this,
Her eyes involuntarily glanced towards the corner of the Institute's rooftop eaves, where a silvery-white stone slab seemed to be placed. It stood out remarkably on the empty rooftop eaves. Clearly… this was the last stone slab Javier and the other two were looking for, the Discipline Stone Slab!
"Hey!"
"Javier, Billy Coen, I found it! I found it! The last stone slab is hidden here! I knew this elevator had to be important, but are the people at the Institute so bored? To hide the last stone slab here, aren't they afraid it'll be blown away by the wind?"
The moment she found the Discipline Stone Slab, a look of joy couldn't help but appear on Rebecca's face. She excitedly shouted to Javier and Billy Coen below. It seemed she wasn't entirely useless; at least, the credit for finding this stone slab was entirely hers!
Thinking of this,
Rebecca's small face was full of smugness and pride.
Below, Javier and Billy Coen were naturally very surprised. They exchanged glances, their eyes full of confusion. Indeed… who knew the last stone slab would actually be hidden here, and found by Rebecca herself—
(Note: In the original work, the last Discipline Stone Slab was hidden on top of a stone pillar next to the elevator. You needed to lower the elevator, then play a box-pushing game with the wooden container, pushing it next to the stone pillar, and then stepping on it to reach the stone slab.
It's even more confusing than hiding the stone slab at the top of the elevator. If it weren't for the items having a glowing hint, probably no one would notice it, let alone the fixed camera angles of the old Resident Evil 0 and 1 games, which made it even more frustrating…)
"Is this the last Discipline Stone Slab…?"
"You're really lucky, girl. I didn't expect you to find it so easily. That's amazing! All the credit this time is yours, Rebecca."
Looking at the last silvery-white stone slab in his hand,
Javier couldn't help but exclaim. The previous two stone slabs required solving puzzles or killing Hunters to obtain. He didn't expect Rebecca to find this one so easily. She truly was the king of lucky finds, worthy of the protagonist's halo? Her luck was almost impossible for Javier and Billy Coen to match.
And upon hearing Javier's praise,
Rebecca again lifted her proud neck, feeling very pleased!
"That's true,"
"But where do these stone slabs go? The previous good and evil statues had a place on the Lady of Justice statue. So where are the corresponding mechanisms for these three stone slabs? We've searched all over, and it seems we haven't found any display devices similar to the three stone slabs."
Joy was joy,
The quiet Billy Coen, however, shrewdly pointed out the final problem. After all, it seemed they really didn't know how to use these three stone slabs. At least they should be given another hint! If there was no mechanism to place them, then what was the difference between the stone slabs they carried and ordinary broken rocks?
They were completely useless—!
However,
Javier, who was good at identifying omissions, quickly considered this point. If Rebecca was the lucky finder, and Billy Coen was good at pinpointing the core of problems, hitting the nail on the head with keen insight, then Javier was the type who adapted quickly.
Quickly searching his often-lazy memory, Javier soon found a place they hadn't visited yet.
"Snap!"
"I got it! Did you forget? We still have one last Knight's Gate that hasn't been opened, on the second floor, where the wastewater pit was. There's still a Knight's Gate there. Previously, we couldn't open it because we didn't have the Institute's key, but now we can open it completely."
Snapping his fingers,
Javier, with a flash of inspiration, spoke directly. This reminder indeed made Billy Coen and Rebecca realize. The giant centipede in the wastewater pit was the first boss they encountered, and at that time, they didn't know the Knight's Gate could be opened, so they naturally overlooked it. Now they remembered.
"Let's go, let's go…"
"Let's go see the last mechanism. I have a feeling… this time we should be able to leave this area."
Without further ado,
Having obtained the final Discipline Stone Slab and guessing the location where the stone slabs would be placed, Javier and the other two quickly rushed to the second floor, to the location of the wastewater pit. As expected, there was indeed a Knight's Gate there. The iron sword stuck in the knight on the door had been moved, meaning they could successfully open the Knight's Gate here!
"Buzz…"
"Clang—!"
Without any hesitation,
Looking at the rusty green iron door in front of him, Javier pushed hard and opened the Knight's Gate. What greeted the three of them was a steel fortress. Yes… it wasn't a room inside,
But the internal control room of a steel gun tower. Numerous sturdy steel bars reinforced the surroundings, and in the center stood a massive, pitch-black cannon with a terrifying caliber. Javier estimated this thing could likely blow up a hill. Below the gun tower was a control instrument platform, with three grooves carved into it, precisely for the three stone slabs Javier and the other two had collected earlier.
Undoubtedly,
These three stone slabs were the keys to controlling the gun tower. To use a weapon, it required three stones to unlock the key. It was truly hard to say if the person who designed the Institute's mechanisms was hardcore enough or old-fashioned enough.
Obedience, Discipline, Unity,
The three stone slabs were placed into the grooves in order.
Javier reached out his hand and slowly pressed the button. Although he didn't know what would happen next, he could only brace himself and take a gamble.
"Click!"
"Boom… Rumble…!!!"
As the button was pressed,
The gun tower's mechanism restarted, and violent rumbling sounds continuously echoed, as if an earthquake had struck. The steel beneath their feet vibrated, and the entire gun tower began to shake incessantly, as if some mechanism had been activated.
And in reality, it was so.
Javier and the other two, inside the gun tower, didn't know what was happening outside,
But at this moment, outside… the gun tower they were in was a tall steel fortress, surrounded by a lake, with the fortress standing in the center of the lake. As the mechanism operated, this tall steel fortress slowly lowered, causing the surrounding lake water to surge, and the fortress began to approach the water's surface.
"…"
After an unknown amount of time,
The intense trembling slowly stopped, as if it had ended, causing Javier and the other two's expressions to freeze slightly. They then walked to another iron door of the gun tower fortress. This was the exit, but they didn't know what was outside. However, at this point, they didn't need to care so much.
"Hoo…"
Taking a deep breath,
It was still Javier leading the way. He gripped the iron door handle with both hands and pushed hard, and the iron door of the entire gun tower fortress was opened again.
"Clang!"
Another clear sound,
However, this time, what greeted Javier and the other two was not some ambush, but fortunately, a cool evening breeze. Looking out, the gun tower fortress was connected to a stone bridge, located above the lake. With this bridge, Javier and the other two could reach a new place!
Javier's premonition was indeed correct.
They could indeed leave the old Institute Hall area and arrive at a new region. This was what Javier had been looking forward to for a long time, as they couldn't possibly remain trapped in that place forever. Too much time had been wasted!
"Hmm…?"
"Is it a church…? Or what…?"
And as the three of them were exclaiming,
Javier's eyes narrowed slightly. He looked closely and soon caught sight of the huge building standing at the front end of the stone bridge. It was indeed a church that was still emitting a warm yellow light. However… it was quite bizarre and strange that the Institute had even set up a church!
A group of scientists specializing in virus research, materialists, believing in science, believing in themselves. In ancient times… these would be a group of blasphemous rebels who didn't believe in gods.
And now,
These scientists had set up a church next to the Institute. Tsk! How to put it… can you imagine a group of materialistic scientists suddenly believing in ghosts and spirits, in metaphysics, praying to God and Jesus and Buddha for protection?
It's truly laughable.
Was it because they had killed many innocent people by researching viruses, and thus intended to pray to God and Jesus, begging for the Lord's forgiveness? That would be too ironic—!
PS: Plot transition… so it's a bit watered down.
Chapter 40: Lost Lambs
Church—
That's right,
This was a church,
And it was a church of no small scale, capable of accommodating around a hundred people. The style of the church was the famous Gothic architecture. Since ancient times… church styles generally only fell into four main categories: Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, and Modernist.
Modernist style churches lacked the sacredness of ritual, so they were not common; they were considered a relatively new thing. It's like asking a group of old-fashioned people to accept new things? Is that possible?
Moreover, the church belongs to religious belief.
For followers of religious belief to accept new modernistic things, it is actually no different from being a faithless blasphemer, just like metaphysics believing in science; both are relative paradoxes.
Therefore, the more popular ones were Romanesque and Gothic churches. Romanesque churches had a long history, making them classic, while Gothic churches were built with pointed spires, symbolizing reaching the heavens. Their overall design possessed a mysterious and sacred feel, coupled with beautiful and elegant designs, making Gothic churches one of the most numerous and popular church architectures in existence.
The most famous representative of Gothic churches is the current Notre Dame de Paris. Its Gothic tall, slender, pointed, and mysterious style has earned it widespread praise.
As for Baroque, it became popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, with its dome style, which was favored by countries near the Middle East. Although it also existed in Europe, it was not common or widespread, and it did not emphasize external appearance. The interior also significantly reduced the amount of relief paintings, being too simplistic and not perfect—
And the church before them,
Was the most typical Gothic style.
Its exterior was lavish and mysterious, and its overall structure was slender and tall, with pointed spires soaring into the clouds. The surrounding stained-glass windows were colorful, both beautiful and mysterious, imbued with a sense of sacredness, as if entering some divine miracle. It could indeed make praying believers believe that what the church preached could truly reach the heavens.
"Tap, tap, tap…"
"Tap, tap, tap…"
"Tap, tap, tap…"
Footsteps echoed,
Javier and the other two arrived at their destination, looking up at the church before them, couldn't help but exclaim at its beauty, but quickly realized something was amiss.
This dilapidated place actually had a church. They really didn't know if Umbrella people had done too many bad deeds and feared divine retribution, begging for the Lord's forgiveness, or if it was simply a cover-up.
"No,"
"This door won't open. Has another mechanism been set up?"
Just as Javier and the other two were about to enter, Javier then realized… the church's main door simply wouldn't open. No matter how hard he pushed or pulled the metal hall doorknob, it wouldn't budge, as if it were locked.