Wesker, standing nearby, had a glint in his dark sunglasses. This was troublesome; S.T.A.R.S and the others had once again obtained crucial evidence. It seemed that once the combat data was acquired, he would have to eliminate everyone. Not a single person could be spared.
"Alright…"
"Since you all believe what I've said, let's begin our operation now. The Mansion is surely infested with more bio-organic monsters. We must find important evidence and eliminate these monsters while searching for the rest of Bravo Team. Otherwise… if these monsters escape and harm innocent people, it will be a disaster."
"Therefore, my suggestion is to split up… This method is dangerous, but it's also highly efficient. To speed up the search and ensure safety, I propose searching in pairs. Rebecca and I will be partners, Jill and Barry will be partners, and Chris and Captain Wesker will be partners. What do you think, Captain Wesker?"
Ready.
Without the slightest hesitation, Javier once again took charge, snatching the command authority from Wesker. There was no particular reason, he just wanted to annoy Wesker and draw animosity, which is why he took the lead in assigning investigation partners.
Meanwhile, Wesker, standing nearby,
listening to Javier's unauthorized assignment of partner combinations, a clear hint of displeasure surfaced on his cold face. However, he couldn't refute this split-up partner assignment because it was very reasonable; if it were him, he would most likely assign it this way too.
It was just the choice of partner.
It might change from Chris to Javier, because he hated this annoying rat. If he could… he would have shot and killed this annoying rat from the start. But for now… it didn't matter. Since they were already splitting up, killing anyone was fine, it would just take a bit longer.
"You are very capable of commanding, Operative Javier!"
"Your task assignment is excellent. It seems you'll soon be able to replace me and become the new S.T.A.R.S Captain. I look forward to your efforts!"
Word for word,
Wesker praised Javier directly, but no matter how it sounded, his gritted words didn't seem like praise; rather, they were more like disdain and sarcasm. But looking at Wesker's usual poker face, Javier didn't care. "Your expression barely changes when you're angry, so do as you please—"
Of course, Javier also had his own considerations in this assignment.
With Rebecca as his partner, Javier could ensure Rebecca's safety. Although Barry was a double agent controlled by Wesker, he definitely wouldn't lay a hand on Jill, a mere woman. His kindness and sense of justice wouldn't allow it! Thus, Jill was also safe.
As for Chris… *cough cough*, although this guy was very green right now, like a tender and sour green apple, he had the protagonist's halo and the passive ability to debuff teammates. Putting him next to Wesker would only have a debuffing effect on Wesker, while Chris himself would be completely fine.
Therefore, Chris was perfectly fine for annoying Wesker. Anyway, Chris definitely wouldn't kick the bucket, so he was perfect for monitoring Wesker!
And so…
Partners assigned, no objections from anyone,
they quickly headed to various parts of the Mansion Villa. Facing this place… Javier and Rebecca could be said to be very familiar with it. They quickly searched for clues inside the Mansion Villa, completely carefree and without any vigilance, as if they were playing in their own home.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side—
Not long after separating,
Jill and Barry, as partners, entered a room. Barry looked at Jill's back in front of him, his expression a bit helpless. To be honest, Javier's partner assignment was truly brilliant. He was being threatened and controlled by Wesker, and had to constantly monitor S.T.A.R.S members, even eliminating them at crucial moments.
Against such a threat,
Barry had no choice.
Because his wife and daughter were captured and threatened by Wesker, even with his sense of justice, he was helpless. After all, loyalty and filial piety are difficult to balance. Between upholding his inner justice and considering the lives of his wife and daughter, Barry chose his wife and daughter, because outsiders, no matter how close, cannot compare to family.
But now…
Barry was in a bit of a predicament.
Jill was a woman and got along well with them. Barry truly couldn't bring himself to harm Jill. After all, looking at Jill's back, Barry thought of his wife at home. She was in the prime of her life and absolutely couldn't be ruined by him.
That's why Barry felt that Javier's assignment was truly brilliant, tightly gripping his weakness. Among the entire S.T.A.R.S, Barry couldn't lay a hand on Rebecca and Jill, as they were women. As for the men, there was only Chris, because Barry had once cared for Chris and Claire as if they were his own children, so their bond was still deep…
"Rustle… rustle…"
"Hiss…"
At this very moment,
Jill didn't notice Barry's fluctuating expression behind her. Her attention was drawn by a strange sound. In front of her, there was a peculiar noise coming from inside the room. Perhaps something was hidden inside.
"Barry, come and take a look. There's a sound inside this room. I'll open the door, and you get ready to shoot!"
Without hesitation,
Jill turned around and spoke directly to Barry behind her. Then, she slowly reached out and grasped the doorknob, tightly gripping a small handgun, constantly guarding against Doberman Zombie Dogs or similar creatures rushing out.
Barry, behind her, reacted after a moment of stunned silence, tossing aside the jumbled thoughts in his mind. Barry held his Colt.44 Revolver and moved to the left side of the door, ready to provide suppressive fire at any moment!
"Click…"
"Bang—!"
As the doorknob was twisted,
the wooden door of the room slowly opened.
The flashlight's beam shone inside, revealing a bald man with ragged clothes facing away from them. His entire body emitted a putrid stench, and the skin on his bald head was ulcerated. He was half-crouching on the ground, seemingly gnawing on something.
On the ground,
a pool of crimson blood was spreading, like the corpse of a recently hunted prey. The smell of blood was overwhelmingly pungent.
"Who are you—?!"
A sharp cry,
Jill quickly shouted to stop him, while her pistol was aimed directly at the back of the man's head, ready to fire at any moment. And for some reason, an ominous premonition arose in Jill's heart.
"Ho ho… ho ho…"
A low hiss sounded.
Jill's shout and the flashlight's beam attracted the attention of the man with his back turned. He slowly began to turn his head, revealing the ulcerated skin on his bald head. Even more horrifying was that half of his cheek seemed to have been gnawed off by something. Half of his face was rotten, especially one eyeball, which was half-hanging in its socket, barely connected by a thread of flesh.
His mouth opened,
emitting a strong foul odor.
His teeth were yellow, his gums full of blood, and blood dripped continuously from the corners of his mouth. Shredded meat and intestines, seemingly scavenged from somewhere, were stuck in the crevices. Without a doubt… he was feeding!
However…
The moment it noticed Jill and Barry, this Zombie slowly pulled at the corners of its mouth, revealing a stiff smile, as if it had discovered even fresher, more delicious prey. Was this… a backward glance and a smile—?!
Chapter 7: The Man in the Coffin
"This… This is the monster that killed Sullivan?!!"
Looking at the face of the smiling Zombie, Jill seemed to remember something and quickly shouted loudly, simultaneously raising her pistol high and furiously firing at the chest of the smiling Zombie!
"Bang bang bang—!!!"
9mm handgun bullets poured out,
several orange-yellow bullet tips clearly hit the Zombie's chest, near its heart. Blood splattered with the bullet holes, but the smiling Zombie did not stop. Instead, due to the damage, its movements suddenly became more urgent, extending its arms and lunging towards Jill!
Clearly,
Jill had forgotten the previous lesson.
If a Zombie is not shot in the head, it is generally very difficult to kill. A gunshot wound to the chest, unless its entire chest is blown apart, simply cannot achieve a kill. Seeing the Zombie getting closer and closer to Jill, Barry behind her couldn't sit still.
A determined look appeared on his face as he quickly raised his Colt.44 Revolver. The large-caliber muzzle instantly erupted, and a thumb-sized bullet shot out, easily hitting the Zombie's chest.
"Pfft…!"
This time, the power was immense,
instantly creating a fist-sized hole in the Zombie's chest. But the Zombie still didn't die; it only paused for a moment before continuing to charge. This made Barry's expression change slightly. It was the first time he had seen a creature withstand the power of his beloved gun's bullets.
"Bang bang—!!"
Barry quickly pulled the trigger again. This time, the Colt.44 Revolver's accuracy was very high. Two bullets consecutively hit the Zombie's neck and head. The overwhelming power directly broke the Zombie's neck, and its head splattered onto the ground like a smashed watermelon. At this point, the Zombie lost its ability to move and fell to the ground.
Jill, standing nearby, had a slightly pale face from fright.
No wonder Sullivan was killed by these monsters; it turned out these monsters were so difficult to deal with. If Barry hadn't shot and saved her life just now, Jill, unable to react, might have followed in Sullivan's footsteps and become Zombie fodder.
After all, it's still the same saying,
when people encounter extremely terrifying and dangerous situations,
if not handled properly, it can lead to a brain freeze, as if losing control of the body and standing still, because the brain doesn't know what commands to issue for unknown things, thus stagnating.
Jill was in such a state just now, but now… her brain has started to get used to creatures like Zombies. It's very likely that next time Jill will have a sense of caution and preparedness.
Of course—
Our smiling Zombie's durability is indeed quite high.
Despite being just an ordinary Zombie, it withstood three Magnum bullets from the Colt.44 Revolver. This is not the treatment ordinary Zombies receive. It truly lives up to its reputation as a classic scene in Resident Evil history, the legendary opening Zombie that created the Resident Evil IP, truly well-deserved!
"Phew… Jill, how are you feeling? Are you alright?"
"I've found that these monsters can't be killed by shooting their bodies with a handgun; you have to accurately hit their heads. Next time, you can try shooting their heads."
Looking at Jill's pale face, Barry walked forward and asked with concern, while explaining the Zombie's weakness. The previous shooting made Barry notice a slight trick: if this monster was hit in the head, it would most likely be a one-shot kill.
"The head…?"
"I understand!"
Jill nodded slightly, her slightly recovered face gaining some color. Headshot, huh…? Indeed… generally, living beings are centered around the brain. Although hitting the heart can still lead to death, it's not as quick as eliminating the brain.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side—
Just as Jill and Barry were marveling at the terror of these bio-virus infected monsters, the familiar Javier and Rebecca had already found an item: a golden arrowhead. The arrow shaft was made of gold, and although its surface was covered with many impurities, the gold purity was still very high.
The tip of the arrowhead was inlaid with a rare mineral resembling jade, or perhaps a gemstone or agate. It looked quite valuable and could probably fetch a good sum of money if sold.
But these were not the crucial issues.
The crucial issue was that after Javier and Rebecca obtained this arrow item, they discovered a special wall painting on the second floor of the Mansion Villa. It was located at the end of the second-floor balcony corridor of the Mansion Villa, where a huge stone wall was set up.
Although it was covered with cracks and entwined with some vines, it was still not difficult to see that the wall painting carved on it was Cupid, the god of love. The childlike Cupid was drawing his bowstring, ready to shoot his arrow at any moment!
However,
Javier and Rebecca were not fools.
On the wall with the Cupid carving, there was a clear recessed gap. Without a doubt, this heavy stone wall door could be opened, but it required a specific item.
Because at the tip of Cupid's arrow, the so-called Cupid's arrow, there was a recessed arrowhead, seemingly indicating that placing a certain item into it would activate the mechanism.
"…"
"Looks like we found the right item. The arrowhead on the arrow fits perfectly into the groove. There must be some unknown secret hidden behind the stone door, and compared to the Institute… the Mansion Villa is indeed much smaller, making the search very quick."
Javier looked at the emerald-gold arrowhead in his hand, then at the groove on the wall, and couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile. The Mansion dungeon might be repetitive, but with their experience, they were indeed very familiar with this kind of place.
They were much faster than the other S.T.A.R.S members. While Jill and Barry were still marveling at the horror of the Zombies, and Chris and Wesker were still guarding against each other, only Javier and Rebecca were rapidly advancing the plot.
"What will be inside?"
"It won't be like the Cadre Training Institute, where it's a dungeon used to imprison virus experiment subjects, will it? Or… is it the nest of the mutated spiders from before? I remember those things liked to stay underground the most."
Listening to Javier's words,
Rebecca quickly loaded her M1897 shotgun. While aiming the muzzle at the stone wall entrance, a puzzled expression couldn't help but appear on her small face. She clearly remembered the horror of the Cadre Training Institute's dungeon, which was filled with blood-stained torture instruments, foul-smelling and disgusting. It was hard to imagine what kind of torment the people inside had suffered.
Therefore, Rebecca also suspected,
that inside this stone wall,
there might also be a hidden dungeon in the Mansion Villa used for torturing people—
However,
in fact, Rebecca was indeed right, but only halfway. Because behind the stone wall was indeed a place used for torturing people, but it couldn't be considered a so-called dungeon. What was imprisoned inside was a decades-old vengeful spirit!
"I don't know…"
"But we'll know once we open it. I'll place the item; Rebecca, you just cover me."
Shaking his head,
Javier answered lightly. Then he quickly jumped, stepping on the nearby railing and climbing to the front of the Cupid statue. He removed the emerald-gold arrowhead and installed it into the groove of the statue's arrow.
"Click—!"
A loud noise.