"Buzz—!!!"
As Rebecca finished calibrating all the systems in the control room, the entire cable car suddenly emitted a buzzing sound. The instrument panel inside the cable car lit up, indicating that the power was successfully connected and the cable car could be used normally.
"Hello, hello?"
"Javier, Billy, did you see that? I got the cable car moving! It should be working normally. I've finished all the calibrations here. Hurry up and open the cable car door to see if it really works!"
Rebecca, excited and done with the control room calibrations, rushed out, pointing at the glowing cable car, and said proudly. As a vehicle-idiot, Rebecca was skilled in computer programming and data organization, but when it came to driving, she was a disaster.
Javier still remembered when he first joined S.T.A.R.S.
He had the misfortune of riding in a car driven by Rebecca. He remembered she had just gotten her driver's license, and as her partner, he had wanted to celebrate. Who would have thought... that whatever instructor gave Rebecca her license had caused her to achieve the feat of a ten-car pile-up at a Raccoon City intersection, leaving Javier dumbfounded and almost throwing up in the car. She also received more than a dozen traffic fines. If S.T.A.R.S hadn't also been Raccoon City police, Javier had no doubt... he and Rebecca would have had to spend more time in a police station jail, drinking hot coffee and reflecting on their lives. Fortunately, they were given enough leeway.
It was precisely because of this that Javier realized Rebecca had a strange "talent" when it came to vehicles! In this Resident Evil world, where vehicles are killers, riding in a vehicle driven by Rebecca was undoubtedly the most terrifying and dangerous thing.
So...
It was already very difficult for this girl to successfully start the cable car on her first try, after all, Rebecca's initial attempts to start a car had stalled three times, giving Javier a bumpy ride.
"Hmm...?"
The cable car door was a sliding type.
But strangely, Javier couldn't open the cable car door at all, no matter how hard he tried. And the cable car door didn't have a keyhole, which meant the door was locked from the inside. This made Javier feel a little puzzled. Could there be someone inside the cable car?
Thinking of this, Javier pulled out the Desert Eagle he had recovered from Billy, aiming the dark muzzle at the narrow gap in the cable car door handle. This type of sliding door, like a glass window, usually only had one latch lock. Although there was no keyhole, it was much easier to break than a real key cylinder.
After all, even if a key cylinder was broken, it might not open the door, but this kind of latch could be easily pushed open once it was blasted.
"Bang—!!!"
With several gunshots, Javier easily blasted a hole with the Desert Eagle, successfully breaking the cable car's lock. Then, with a gentle push, the entire cable car door slowly opened.
"Creak—!"
The cable car door slowly opened,
but what rushed out was a suffocating stench, like the putrid smell of an animal carcass that had been tied in a sack, floated down a river for a long time, and then reopened. The accumulated rotten smell all flew out.
The space inside the cable car was small, and the windows were closed. The accumulated stench had been thoroughly encountered by Javier and the others, who had opened a blind box, so naturally, the smell was unbearable.
"Ugh..."
"It stinks so bad, ugh... This is the smell of a decaying corpse."
"Cough, cough! Who is this person? Why was the body left in the cable car for so long without being dealt with?"
Javier and the other two quickly covered their noses and mouths.
On the cable car seat, a long-decayed corpse was leaning.
It wore old blue clothes, but because too much time had passed, and the body was severely decomposed, even oxidized and air-dried, only a skeletal, emaciated body remained, with thin, yellowish-black air-dried flesh covering the stark white bones. The corpse was leaning its head back, as if it had found some kind of release.
"This..."
"Was he starved to death here?"
Looking at the corpse in front of her, Rebecca murmured in confusion. Because the cable car door had been reopened and air was circulating, the stench was no longer as severe. Rebecca recalled the tightly closed cable car door earlier, and she thought this corpse had starved to death inside the cable car because he couldn't get out.
Hearing this, Javier, who was beside her, shook his head and said:
"Probably not. He likely committed suicide here."
"He's leaning his head back, and his body is casually slumped in the seat. His posture looks like he achieved some kind of release from confinement. But if you look closely at his chin, there's a clear bullet hole. Although his head is covered by hair, there's also a large bullet hole. Plus, he's still holding a gun. I'm guessing he used a handgun to end his life."
"At that time, he probably saw various experiments in the Institute or was being chased by zombies, which forced him to escape into the cable car and lock himself in. In the end, he might have realized he was running out of bullets, or that he couldn't escape at all, so he used the last bullet in his gun to end his life!"
Bending slightly, Javier looked at the bullet hole in the corpse's chin and explained calmly.
After all, in the apocalypse, when surrounded by zombies, the last bullet is often saved for oneself. This is the final dignity countless people afford themselves, because they don't want to become hideous monsters—
At the same time, Javier, without any hint of disgust, slowly pried open the corpse's stiff, withered fingers and retrieved the unique handgun.
In addition to that, Javier also found a yellow key on the man's collar, which appeared to be a key for some factory machinery.
As for the handgun...
It really wasn't that Javier was coveting the deceased's possessions.
It was because this handgun was very special.
M1911—
A large-caliber Colt handgun, an 11.43mm caliber semi-automatic handgun, also known as.45 caliber, designed by the American John Browning and produced by Colt Company.
It uses a short-recoil barrel principle. Its 11.43mm large-caliber bullet has great lethality, and its reliability, durability, and ease of maintenance have made it popular with countless people. Although its power is not as great as Javier's Desert Eagle and M500 Revolver, it is indeed much stronger than ordinary 9mm handguns and is a veritable powerful weapon. Javier wanted to use it as an additional firepower reserve, which is why he took something from a dead man's hand...
Chapter 49: Tyrant Prototype
"..."
"Billy, this gun is for you. Although it belonged to a dead man, its power is quite good. I have some.45 caliber bullets here, which I 'borrowed' from the weapon locker at the military training ground last time. I didn't expect to actually use them. This gun is much stronger than a 9mm handgun."
Javier handed the Colt M1911 Handgun to Billy, speaking calmly. Billy didn't refuse; he wouldn't reject it just because it belonged to a dead man. As a soldier... he never had qualms about such things.
Not to mention—
Now, weapon firepower was extremely important.
Whether it was the previous Plague Crawler or the Hunter, including the giant bats and giant centipedes, they all indicated that future monsters would only become stronger. His ordinary 9mm handgun was indeed no longer sufficient.
9mm caliber bullets were passable against ordinary zombies, but not against some more dangerous monsters. Therefore, this large-caliber, powerful weapon was very important.
Billy Coen weighed the Colt M1911 in his hand, then disassembled the casing to inspect the barrel. Finding no severe rust and no impact on accuracy, he nodded with satisfaction.
This M1911 Handgun developed by Colt Company was of very good quality, at least it had a good reputation in the military. It was one of the few large-caliber handguns that could be officially serviced.
As mentioned before, the main reason why the Desert Eagle and M500 Revolver were not favored by the police and military was that they were not suitable. The Desert Eagle's body weight was too heavy, and its recoil was terrifying, making it impossible to fire casually with one hand. Coupled with its extremely small 8-round capacity, no matter how powerful it was, it would be eliminated by the police and military!
The M1911, however, was completely different.
It uses.45 caliber bullets, which are more powerful than 9mm handguns, but the recoil is not as absurd as.50 caliber bullets. Moreover, the M1911's gun body design is exquisite, and its weight is not excessively heavy. Therefore, such a large-caliber handgun barely entered the eyes of the police and military, serving for decades.
"Buzz..."
"Click—!!!"
As Javier and Billy, the two grown men, were conversing, Rebecca, on the side, activated the cable car switch. After a violent shaking, the entire cable car, accompanied by the output of electricity, gradually began to move forward!
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."
The cable car's speed was not fast, leisurely, similar to a scenic cable car for tourism. But Javier and the other two wouldn't complain; having a mode of transportation in this godforsaken place was already a rare blessing. How could they be picky? It was much better than them jumping off the cable car and crawling through a pitch-black tunnel.
At this moment, the cable car had entered the underground tunnel. The surroundings were dark stone walls, and only this cable car moved forward relying on its faint light. If they had to walk on foot, they didn't know how long it would take to cross such a dark tunnel. Therefore, Javier and the other two were already very grateful.
But after an unknown amount of time, as the cable car moved slowly, Javier and the other two's tense spirits suddenly began to relax, their eyelids subtly drooping, feeling drowsy. After all, it was now three or four in the morning. They had been searching since ten last night, and were physically and mentally exhausted, barely holding on.
Now that they had a period of safety, they naturally couldn't resist the urge to take a short nap and rest for a while—
However, after only ten minutes of resting with their eyes closed, the entire cable car suddenly vibrated violently again, causing Javier and the other two to jolt awake and quickly open their eyes to observe their surroundings. Of course, it wasn't a zombie attack, because there were no zombies around. The sudden violent vibration was actually the cable car arriving at its station.
The cable car track had reached its end and could no longer proceed. With no other choice, Javier and the other two slowly opened the cable car door and exited the station.
The end of the cable car track was not an exit from the Institute. Instead, it led them to an even more secluded and confidential research factory. Similar to the previous Laboratory, the surroundings were filled with various instruments and equipment, as if they had entered some kind of military factory.
"Where... is this place again?"
"A more confidential underground Institute... or something else? I thought riding the cable car would finally get us out of this place."
Looking at the surroundings, Rebecca couldn't help but frown and say, her small face full of dissatisfaction. There was nothing she could do... She had thought they were leaving the Institute, but it turned out to be a trap. The cable car had only taken them to a deeper research and experimental factory.
"No, this place is a bit strange. I think we'd better be careful."
Compared to Rebecca's dissatisfaction, Javier observed the surroundings. Although there was no one in this underground research and experimental factory, Javier had a bad feeling. There should be some more unspeakable secret here, and they had to be careful.
If Javier's intuition was to be believed, this place was like the giant bat in the church before.
Therefore, Javier speculated that this was probably another infamous boss battle—!
However, just as Javier was still guessing at the strangeness of this research Laboratory factory, Rebecca discovered something new. On the experimental equipment on the side, the old screen was indeed glowing, and through the image transmitted from the screen, Rebecca saw a huge humanoid monster.
The image was grayscale and quite blurry, not particularly clear.
But one could still see its hideous face, a huge body over two meters tall, like a giant, suspended in a glass tank of nutrient solution, like a living specimen. And the monster giant's appearance was also extremely ugly.
A bald head, naked, with swollen blood vessels on the side of its face, its entire body covered in rotten wounds, and stark white spines breaking through the flesh and exposed. On its chest, an even larger, crimson heart was exposed, pulsating from time to time, as if it was still alive even separated from the flesh.
The monster giant's two arms were also incredibly thick, especially its right hand, which was completely black, tightly encased in some kind of dark substance. And on its five fingers, dense sharp spikes had grown, like weapons, standing upright like a white steel blade!
This was the monster giant Rebecca saw through the image...
"Wait, Javier, Billy, both of you, come and see!"
"What is this monster? Is it a giant or something? It looks incredibly massive, like two or three meters tall, but its appearance is similar to a human. Could this be a new Bio-weapon developed by Umbrella Corporation using humans?!"
Looking at the giant on the screen, Rebecca was startled and quickly called Javier and Billy over. She didn't know why... Compared to the previous Hunter or giant bats, Rebecca didn't feel terror or fear, but this monster giant, so similar to a human, yet clearly not human, gave Rebecca a strange sense of oppression and an inner chill of dread—!
She always felt that the monster giant in the screen image was much more terrifying than the other monsters she had encountered before, and it instinctively repulsed and disgusted her...
"This is..."
"Tyrant... No, nothing. This monster giant should just be an image transmitted from the screen. We don't know its exact location. We probably won't be unlucky enough to encounter it."
Looking at the monster giant in the screen image.