The mechanism was indeed activated.
Javier quickly jumped down from the railing, and with a rumbling sound, the stone wall door slowly rose, revealing a dark underground staircase tunnel before Javier and Rebecca.
However, it wasn't particularly dark inside; flickering oil lamps illuminated the way, subtly revealing an ominous aura.
Seeing this, Javier and Rebecca exchanged glances.
Without hesitation, they nodded and slowly descended.
The two tacitly entered the underground staircase tunnel, maintaining a front-and-back defensive posture, back-to-back.
Rebecca handled the rear with her shotgun, while Javier, armed with his Desert Eagle and Holy Flame of Exorcism, took point.
This approach effectively prevented sudden ambushes from both front and rear.
Furthermore, with the enhancement of Gun Kata, even if Javier encountered a Zombie lurking in a corner attempting a sneak attack, he could eliminate them all with his bullet-bending technique.
After all, it now seemed that while Gun Kata was peculiar, its ability was quite remarkable.
Moreover, Javier discovered that Gun Kata was not merely a simple firearm skill; strictly speaking, it was a law.
The law of bullets bending severely impacted the laws of physics established by our great Newton.
Therefore, Gun Kata itself was the existence of a law.
So, when you begin to believe, or even subconsciously accept, that bullets can bend as a truth, then all your thrown objects can also bend.
This is the change brought about by believing in this law.
After all, physics has changed many things in the world, so Gun Kata, which defies physics, can naturally change many things as well.
During times of feudal superstition, science was considered heresy, but now science is accepted by the world as truth; so how can the metaphysics of feudal superstition not become a heresy?
Therefore, this is a very simple law of belief and disbelief.
Thus, the change it brought was that when Javier believed in Gun Kata and that bullets could bend, not only did bullets truly bend when fired, but even the throwing knives and stones Javier threw, and even RPGs he fired, could bend.
This was the miraculous Gun Kata!
It now seemed that the initial 300 points were well spent, because Javier never expected this thing could even be upgraded?!
…
Getting back to the point—
"Thump, thump, thump…"
"Thump, thump, thump…"
With some doubt, Javier and Rebecca slowly entered the basement.
Along the way, besides the flickering oil lamps, only the silent sound of their footsteps remained.
However, the deeper they went, whether it was an illusion or not, Javier and Rebecca seemed to hear some kind of metallic clanging sound?
Yes…it was the harsh clanging sound produced by heavy iron chains shaking wildly.
It seemed there was some terrifying monster trapped in this basement!
"Shh…"
"There's something inside; let's enter slowly!"
Javier and Rebecca both heard the sound.
They exchanged glances, and Javier made a quiet gesture, whispering softly.
Then, the two crouched down and quietly entered the basement.
"Clank… clank… clank…!!!"
"Clang, clang, clang—!!!"
The deeper they went, the louder the chains became.
Upon reaching the basement, Javier quickly scanned the entire space with his peripheral vision and found no Zombies.
Even the lights on the surrounding walls were not oil lamps, but fireplaces embedded in the walls.
The source of the sound came from above.
A thick chain was tightly binding a huge iron coffin.
With silver patterns and a dark coffin body, it looked like the giant coffin a Vampire would sleep in from movies.
It likely held a terrifying monster.
And this monster was not dead; on the contrary, it was struggling forcefully inside the coffin, attempting to break free from its confinement.
But the coffin was too sturdy; no matter how it struggled, it couldn't break free.
Instead, the heavy chains attached to the coffin occasionally emitted piercing sounds.
Coupled with the surrounding wall fireplaces and the shaking coffin, the entire basement exuded a terrifying atmosphere, sending shivers down one's spine.
It made one wonder what kind of monster was imprisoned here, to be treated so seriously by the Umbrella Corporation?
A Tyrant—?
That seemed unlikely.
Tyrants were larger, and given a Tyrant's strength, escaping this coffin wouldn't be difficult.
Also, Tyrants were usually kept in nutrient solution glass tanks, rarely in coffins.
Around the basement, there were also four stone statues.
Each statue was a bust, and their faces were incredibly grotesque and terrifying, with buckles present.
There should be some items that could be worn on the faces of these statues; these were more puzzle clues.
Of course, what most attracted Javier and Rebecca's attention was a purple book next to the statues.
Its textured cover, inlaid silver patterns, and a central design of shackles and a skeletal bone indicated it was not a good book.
The title written on it was: "The Book of Curses."
It was similar to the Book of Evil and Book of Good from the Cadre Training Institute, but the only difference was that on the back of the book, Javier also found a golden, rhomboid-ended key.
Upon opening the book, it contained the following passage:
"Four masks, one mask cannot speak of the demon, one mask cannot smell the demon, one mask sees the demon, one mask cannot speak, cannot smell, and cannot see the demon… When the four masks are gathered, the demon will awaken…!"
PS: It's time for another boring puzzle-solving session.
Let's quickly finish this chapter and then move on to the Raccoon City map.
Chapter 8: Shooting a Gun and Subordinate Kissing the Boss
A bunch of incomprehensible text…
Although Javier knew this was a hint for solving the puzzle, for Javier, whose brain capacity was as small as a mouse dropping, he really couldn't make sense of it.
He was too lazy to think; he would just try it out later.
After obtaining the Book of Curses and the rhomboid golden key from its back, Javier originally intended to call Rebecca to leave this oppressive basement.
But looking at the chained coffin still struggling and shaking above, a sudden idea struck him.
He wanted to try something.
He had Rebecca retreat to the entrance of the basement tunnel.
Without hesitation, Javier quickly pulled out the M500 Revolver from his pants pocket.
He aimed the long barrel at the chain above and fiercely pulled the trigger—!
"Boom—Boom—!!!"
Two gunshots.
A huge flash of fire filled the entire dim basement.
The thumb-thick bullet spun at high speed and shot out.
The power of a.50 caliber bullet was not to be underestimated; in an instant, it hit the suspended coffin above with a "thump," and the immense force directly sent the entire coffin flying to crash against the basement ceiling, sending sparks everywhere.
But even so, the entire outer shell of the coffin had no dents.
Only faint bullet marks were left on the sturdy steel casing.
It seemed the coffin's material was extraordinary, and attempting to break it by force was impossible.
As for the chains, they were as thick as an arm, making it difficult to break them with handgun bullets.
Seeing this, Javier could only give up reluctantly.
He prepared to call Rebecca to leave this place together.
It seemed they would only be able to fully solve the mystery here after finding the four cursed masks.
However, at this moment, a scream suddenly echoed throughout the Mansion:
"Barry! Help me, I'm trapped in the room, I can't open the door now—!!!"
The voice was very familiar; it was Jill's cry for help.
"Rumble…",
And at this moment, it was as if some mechanism had been triggered within the Mansion.
A roaring sound erupted, and violent tremors swept through the area.
Hearing Jill's cry for help, Javier and Rebecca didn't hesitate.
They quickly left the oppressive basement and rushed towards the source of the sound!
…
In a room within the Mansion, our beautiful Jill accidentally triggered a mechanism while searching for items, causing the room's ceiling to slowly descend.
Even the walls on the other three sides began to slowly close in.
There was only one door to escape through, but sadly, that door was locked and couldn't be opened.
Watching the ceiling gradually descend and dust falling, Jill felt immense panic, so she could only shout for help to the others outside the Mansion.
Otherwise, once the descending mechanism fully dropped, she would become a "Jill Sandwich"—!!!
"Thump, thump, thump…!!!"
"Thump, thump, thump…!!!"
Urgent footsteps echoed.
Hearing the shouts, Barry, Javier, and Rebecca quickly arrived outside Jill's trapped room.
As for Chris and Wesker, they were too far away to make it.
After all, Wesker was trying to lure Chris, planning to take him to the Tyrant's nutrient tank in the Laboratory.
Wesker wanted Chris to first demonstrate his ability to solo a Zombie…
"Hey!"
"Jill, are you trapped inside?!"
Barry, Javier, and Rebecca met.
The three simply nodded to each other, without unnecessary chatter, and began to rescue Jill.
Jill, trapped in the mechanism room, also loudly responded:
"Yes! I'm inside, the mechanism is coming down fast, there's not much time left, can you open the door from the outside and get me out?! I don't want to die here!"
Pounding on the door, Jill responded.
She had just experimented with her 9mm pistol, but it couldn't break the lock; instead, it completely jammed it.
Therefore, Jill could only hope that Barry's Colt.44 Revolver had enough power.
"Alright!"
"But you need to step back a little…"
After confirming Jill was trapped inside, Barry quickly pulled out his beloved Colt.44 Revolver.
This gun was much more stylish in appearance, but when it came to power, Javier, standing nearby, was not convinced.
Looks couldn't feed you; being big and good was the real deal.
"I'll help too.
I also have a large-caliber, powerful handgun.
We can break this door open faster."
With that, Javier, standing nearby, once again pulled out a stun gun from his pants pocket… cough, Pooh!
It was the M500 Revolver from before.
Its silver body, long barrel, and the compensator usually only found on rifle machine guns at the front made this handgun look very unconventional.
But when it came to power, performance, and practicality, few members of the handgun family could compare to it.
After all, this fellow was thick, big, long, and hard, and it had a silver color scheme, not the black politically correct color scheme of the black banana RPG.
The silver color scheme was trendy and stylish, deeply loved by female players.
Its power was also not to be underestimated.
Although they were all.50 caliber bullets, the M500's power was much stronger than other handguns, thanks to the M500's design itself.
And if left idle for too long, it could also be used as a self-defense stick.
Hmm… it's for self-defense, not what you're imagining.
After all, with such a large and long gun body, it's very suitable for both smashing and "stabbing" people.
If it felt too disgusting, you could also fire a few rounds first before using it, which would heat up the barrel.
A comfortable temperature is more in line with human physiological needs, because who could refuse a self-defense stick that can heat up, right—!
"…"
"What a big fellow!"
Barry, standing nearby, looked at the big fellow Javier pulled out of his pants pocket, then turned to look at his own item.
Comparing the two, his own paled in comparison, and he couldn't help but sigh and murmur.
It seemed he was getting old and couldn't keep up with the younger generation anymore.