"Beep beep beep…"
"Beep beep beep…"
"The Cadre Training Institute's self-destruct sequence has been activated. The system will self-destruct in 4 minutes. Please evacuate immediately. Repeating, the Cadre Training Institute's self-destruct sequence has been activated. The system will self-destruct in 4 minutes. Please evacuate immediately…"
The moment William pressed the self-destruct button,
the entire Institute's broadcast system blared. No matter which corner, whether it was the above-ground Institute or the underground Institute, or the Bio-factory where Javier and his two companions were, the broadcast announcing the self-destruct sequence activation echoed everywhere. Countless lights flashed red.
This left Javier and his two companions, who were busy confronting Leech Queen Marcus, utterly bewildered.
What…
What the heck? It's self-destructing already?!
While it was a traditional trope in Resident Evil for the base to self-destruct after defeating the boss, the problem was… they hadn't even finished fighting the boss yet! Why was it already self-destructing? Which traitor was pulling a sneak attack? Did they want them to die in the Institute base?
"Ho…"
"Hiss…?!",
Not only that,
even the Leech Queen Marcus in front of them was utterly baffled. She hadn't expected the Institute to self-destruct at this time. But what made the Leech Queen even angrier was that only a select few knew the central control location and unlock password for the entire Institute's self-destruct system.
Besides her, only William, Wesker, and Spencer knew.
If she was here now,
then at this very moment, the ones who activated the self-destruct sequence were most likely her two rebellious disciples. As for why it wasn't Spencer, that old geezer couldn't possibly travel such a long distance to visit the Akeley Mountains in Raccoon City. If he were to do that, he'd probably die of exhaustion!
Therefore,
Leech Queen Marcus was extremely furious—!
Those two hateful, rebellious disciples,
not only did they betray her, but they also had people assassinate her. And now that she had revived, they actually wanted to blow her up?!
This made the Leech Queen wish she could strangle William and Wesker. But unfortunately… she was currently trapped by Javier and his two companions and couldn't escape for the time being. If she really left the Cadre Training Institute, the Leech Queen swore that she would immediately kill those two hateful, rebellious disciples once she got out—!
Chapter 56: R—P—G—!!!
After activating the Cadre Training Institute's self-destruct sequence, William decisively fled. He didn't want to be caught by Marcus. After all, just as Marcus had said earlier, only a handful of people knew the control center and authorization password for the entire Cadre Training Institute.
If it wasn't Marcus herself who activated it,
then without a doubt, it could only be him and Wesker. Therefore, if he didn't escape fast enough, William could very likely be caught by Marcus halfway.
So, William, having done the dirty deed, didn't hesitate.
He immediately chose to flee, greasing his feet.
There was a dedicated escape passage in the control center, and his escape speed was much faster than Javier and the others—
…
Meanwhile, on the other side,
Javier and his two companions and the Leech Queen looked at each other in dismay.
At this moment, they didn't know whether to continue fighting or choose to escape. After all, if they didn't fight, the Leech Queen in front of them could ambush them at any time. But if they chose to continue fighting, they would all likely be buried in this godforsaken, dilapidated Institute.
They wanted to uphold justice, and there was nothing wrong with that,
but the premise of upholding justice was not to die.
No one would foolishly gamble with their lives, and Javier couldn't either. He still had a long and bright future ahead of him; how could he die here? He hadn't even met the naive Leon and the cunning Wang Auntie yet!
"What should we do…?"
"Javier, the Institute's self-destruct sequence has already been activated. There are still over three minutes left. There's no way we can defeat this Leech Queen monster in three minutes. If we don't escape now, we might truly not be able to get out later."
Rebecca looked at the watch on her wrist,
her small face filled with tension as she spoke.
Four minutes was a tight window. Even a slight delay could prevent them from escaping the Institute. If they really ended up trapped here, it would be a huge loss, completely not worth it.
"Buzz…"
"Gurgle… gurgle… gurgle…"
And on the other side,
just as Javier was still hesitating, the Leech Queen on the other side first emitted a series of strange sounds. The hideous, disgusting tumors all over her body began to writhe, her tentacles retracted, her sharp proboscis disappeared, and her shoulder-length flaxen hair slowly grew back, including the white robe she had worn before.
Clothes, hair, pale arms, a handsome and effeminate face, and sky-blue eyes—Marcus's previous human form gradually emerged.
At this moment,
the Leech Queen once again possessed Marcus's intelligence.
Looking at Javier and his two companions, Marcus, though he also wanted to strangle these three, time was of the essence. He didn't want to die here so soon. He still had a deep-seated vendetta to avenge. Therefore, Marcus decided to negotiate with Javier and his two companions.
Let's part on good terms.
Whatever grudges and animosity they had just now, they could put aside for the moment. Escaping and saving their lives was paramount. After all, as the saying goes, make a mountain out of a molehill, and a molehill out of a mountain. A moment's patience brings calm, and a step back opens up a vast sky. As a genius biologist, he was at least correct in discerning the priority of matters.
"Ahem…"
"Uh, three smelly rats… No! S.T.A.R.S members, right? You've seen the current situation. Now is not the time for us to fight to the death. If we continue to fight at this point, we are destined to be buried in the Institute."
"Therefore, why don't we agree to a truce? After all, it's good to leave a way out so we can meet again in the future. Your goal is to expose the Umbrella Corporation's ugly deeds, and my goal is to take revenge on the Umbrella Corporation. In a sense, our goals are the same."
"Therefore, I suggest that we each go our separate ways to escape. You take the lift platform to leave the Institute, and I'll head to another escape passage. How about we don't interfere with each other? Time is running out, I hope you don't make a foolish decision!"
The Leech Queen, having reverted to Marcus's human form,
cleared her throat slightly, the mockery completely gone from her face. Instead, she spoke to Javier and his two companions in a negotiating, neither humble nor arrogant tone.
As a higher life form,
the Leech Queen was undoubtedly extremely arrogant.
But the current situation… didn't allow her to continue being arrogant. So, very reluctantly, she could only put away her arrogant expression and adopt a less condescending, neither humble nor arrogant tone when speaking to Javier and his two companions.
After all, she was also very afraid that Javier and his two companions would trip her up. If these three lunatics really didn't intend to live and wanted to drag her down with them in their dying moments, then no matter how hard the Leech Queen fought, she wouldn't be able to escape the Institute.
Therefore,
negotiation… negotiation was the best option.
Of course,
Javier, from a distance, had the same idea.
He had just glanced at Rebecca's watch; out of the 4 minutes, only 2 minutes and 50 seconds remained. If they didn't run now, it would truly be too late.
Therefore, facing the Leech Queen's eloquent speech,
Javier didn't even bother to respond. He didn't need this guy to blabber; Javier also didn't intend to foolishly wait for death.
Therefore,
without waiting to answer the Leech Queen,
Javier ran directly to a nearby electrical box, forcefully pushed the lever, and immediately chose to activate the lift platform, saying to Rebecca and Billy Coen:
"Hurry!"
"Don't mind this stinky Leech! Let's run first!"
Waving his hand vigorously,
Javier hastily reminded Rebecca and Billy Coen. Neither of them hesitated, leaping onto the platform. Although they both really wanted to kill the Leech Queen, that menace, if it meant sacrificing their lives,
it would be somewhat unworthy.
Because Billy Coen and Rebecca were not fools. They naturally understood the pros and cons. If they died, there would truly be no one left to expose the Umbrella Corporation's evil deeds, not to mention Billy himself… he was currently an international criminal.
His grievances hadn't even been cleared yet, and now he was going to die in this godforsaken, dilapidated Institute. Wasn't that going to make him bear the stigma of indiscriminate killing for the rest of his life?
Therefore…
they wanted to live even more!
"Heh heh…"
"A smart choice. It seems that even rats, when faced with a crisis, can still make the most correct decision. Is this what they call biological instinct? This is far superior to that old fool Spencer."
Watching Javier and his two companions make the decisive choice to retreat,
Marcus praised them. He greatly admired such pragmatic behavior, and even before leaving, he didn't forget to mock his arch-nemesis, Spencer. At the same time, seeing that Javier and his two companions had already boarded the lift platform,
Marcus no longer had any desire to linger.
He decisively turned to leave, his human form at this moment reverting to the Leech Queen's monster mode. Because in this state, her speed could become even faster, which meant… even if only a minute remained, she could perfectly escape the Institute's self-destruction.
However,
just as Marcus was happily preparing to leave,
he didn't notice that
Javier, who had just jumped onto the lift platform, slowly took out two greenish objects from his tactical backpack. Javier had said before… this was a crushing victory!
Damn it—
The Leech Queen Marcus had just beaten them up so comfortably. How could Javier not retaliate and trip her up now?
Moreover,
this was something Javier had specially prepared for Leech Queen Marcus ever since he started at the Raccoon City Police Department.
"Click-clack, click-clack…"
After assembling a few sections of the rocket launcher, Javier shoved the massive green banana into the barrel. Billy Coen, seeing Javier's actions, was also shocked. This guy actually carried an RPG with him! Good heavens… this was too insane!
After all, from the very beginning,
Billy Coen had never searched Javier's tactical backpack, so he naturally didn't know that Javier would carry such a heavy weapon. As a former Lieutenant of the Marine Corps, and an American soldier who frequently participated in wars, Billy Coen naturally knew the power of an RPG.
This thing…
was practically the signature weapon of some terrorists.
It was a long-range heavy weapon with low cost, decent power, ease of use, and portability, highly effective against various vehicles. It could also be affectionately called a "Vehicle Buster"!
From terrorists and ordinary civilians to boy scouts and children who hadn't even grown hair yet, anyone could use this weapon with ease; just aim the sight at the target.
In addition, rocket launcher warheads come in various types: armor-piercing, enhanced explosive power, accelerated types. Therefore, whether facing a rock-solid tank or a helicopter soaring in the sky, it can easily deal with them.
This is why American soldiers like Billy Coen greatly feared this weapon, even developing a psychological shadow from it.
So, when he saw Javier pull out an RPG, his expression couldn't help but be startled, because he was just too familiar with that thing—!
"…"
"You finally pulled that thing out. I thought you were going to hold onto it forever. But who are you going to blow up now, Javier? The base is about to self-destruct… Hey! Wait… you're going to hit that bastard with that thing!"
"Heh heh, hurry! Or let me fire it! I want to backstab that monster—!"
Rebecca, on the other hand, was different from Billy Coen.
She had known that Javier had a rocket launcher for a long time, but she just didn't know when Javier would use it. And now… seeing that the base was about to explode, Javier only took it out, which was a bit too late.
However, on second thought,
if Javier were to hit Leech Queen Marcus with a rocket at this moment, wouldn't it just happen to delay her? That way, she wouldn't be able to escape the Institute base. Then, with the Institute's self-destruction, it would be very difficult for Marcus, the Leech Queen, not to die!
After all, the Institute base, contained most of the Umbrella Corporation's evil experimental records, so it absolutely could not be discovered by others. Therefore, the amount of explosive… naturally goes without saying, it would be best if it turned into a pile of ashes.
Javier didn't even doubt whether there were several ballistic missiles' worth of explosives hidden inside.