"…"
"Its heart has been damaged and it's bleeding heavily. Don't worry about its upper body now; focus fire on this monster's legs! No matter how fast it is or how powerful, if it can't hit anyone, it's useless!"
Still adopting the control-flow combat strategy,
Rebecca, wielding her trench shotgun, the M1897, and the 1887 Demon-Slaying Holy Flame, fired furiously. Shotgun shells clinked and clattered to the ground, and she didn't stop even as the barrel grew hot and emitted billows of white smoke. At the same time, she commanded the other members of S.T.A.R.S around her.
Rebecca had completely learned this combat strategy after Javier and Billy Coen successfully used it against the Hunter.
Because whether it was a berserk Zombie, a Hunter, or even a Tyrant, they all shared a common trait: they were fast and powerful, but their intelligence was low. They never dodged, only took damage head-on, essentially no different from wild beasts.
And the best way for a Hunter to hunt prey,
is undoubtedly to bleed them out and pursue them.
When a one-shot kill isn't possible, Hunters often aim their bows or hunting rifles at the prey's lungs or other vital areas. This way... they won't face a furious counterattack from the prey, and they can safely track the prey by the bloodstains left by the wound.
After all, the lung area—
Once hit, survival is almost impossible. Foamy blood will continuously flow from the lung wound, and the prey will slowly feel shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, eventually becoming weak all over, and due to difficult breathing and massive hemorrhage, they will faint to the ground, awaiting the Hunter's arbitrary slaughter!
And Rebecca's strategy of concentrating fire to disable the T-002 Tyrant first followed the same principle. Although this guy was hard to kill, if its legs were broken first, then no matter how fast or powerful it was, if it couldn't exert its abilities, it would all be useless!
Seeing this,
Jill, Barry, and Chris,
also obediently concentrated their firepower on the T-002 Tyrant's legs. Chris's M500 Revolver was the first to fire, unleashing large-caliber.50 bullets. Closely following was Barry's Colt.44 Revolver, and the modified shotgun Jill had obtained from the deceased Richard.
Coupled with Rebecca's M1897 and 1887 Demon-Slaying Holy Flame,
it was almost full firepower.
For a moment, a dense network of firepower formed, which even the T-002 Tyrant couldn't break through. It could only cross its arms to protect its head, temporarily avoiding the brunt of the storm of bullets, but it still left one point exposed: its legs!
What's more,
Rebecca and the others never intended to attack its head in the first place...
The next second,
"Bang—Bang—Bang—Bang—!!!"
"Splat…!"
In the T-002 Tyrant's astonished gaze,
all the bullets poured onto its thighs, and the dense firepower instantly tore the T-002 Tyrant's thighs into a bloody mess, directly penetrating the muscle armor, exposing even the pale white bones inside. By the time the T-002 Tyrant reacted and prepared to squat down to protect its legs, it was already too late.
"Crack—!"
The hard leg bone instantly snapped.
The flesh and blood of the entire thick thigh were instantly destroyed by the bullets, completely breaking and falling to the ground. And the T-002 Tyrant, losing its balance, directly crashed to the ground.
"Roar roar roar—!!!"
The T-002 Tyrant, with one leg broken, immediately let out a furious roar, attempting to struggle to its feet and counterattack. But how could Rebecca and the others give it that chance? Naturally, they took advantage of its weakened state. The four of them swarmed forward, directly surrounding the T-002 Tyrant.
Firepower was once again fiercely suppressed,
causing the T-002 Tyrant, which wanted to get up and resist, to lose its ability to move again.
At this moment,
Barry, meanwhile, seized the opportunity to dismantle equipment inside the Laboratory, pulling out a thick electrical cable and throwing it entirely onto the T-002 Tyrant. Then, he shot the cable, exposing the conductive copper wires inside. Chris, seeing the opportune moment, then yanked down the power switch!
"Splat…"
"Zzzzzzzz—!!!"
Immediately, sparks flew with lightning,
smoke billowed from the wires, and a powerful electric current surged through the T-002 Tyrant's entire body. Its massive frame began to tremble violently, and azure currents raged. A foul, burnt smell continuously permeated the air, and the T-002 Tyrant's body, unable to withstand the high-voltage current, slowly began to spontaneously combust. Flames quickly spread across its flesh.
And the T-002 Tyrant immediately lost all sound,
as if it had completely died—!
"Cease fire…!"
"Is it dead…?"
"It's charred all over and has started to spontaneously combust. If it weren't dead, this monster should be unable to endure the burning flames and would be struggling in pain. This should be truly dead."
After a while,
Chris pulled the power switch back up, and the Laboratory became dim again. Looking at the T-002 Tyrant burning on the ground, Rebecca and the others exchanged uncertain glances, murmuring in doubt, unsure if the T-002 Tyrant in front of them was truly dead.
But the burning flames were not an illusion.
If the T-002 Tyrant was faking its death, it certainly wouldn't be able to endure the burning flames and should be struggling in pain, but now... it should be dead.
However,
Soon,
Rebecca and the others had no time to consider whether the T-002 Tyrant was dead or not, because at that moment, an extremely familiar danger alarm sounded from within the underground tunnel Laboratory. Red lights flashed frantically, and an air-raid-like siren blared.
"Beep beep beep…!!!"
"Beep beep beep…!!!"
"Beep beep beep…!!!"
"Attention, attention, attention, all personnel of the underground tunnel Institute, please be advised that the base has activated its self-destruct sequence. The self-destruct sequence will initiate its countdown in 5 minutes. All research personnel are requested to evacuate in an orderly manner. Repeating, the base will self-destruct in 5 minutes. All research personnel are requested to evacuate in an orderly manner!"
It was the familiar electronic mechanical female voice again.
Upon hearing this sentence,
Rebecca and the others completely had no time to concern themselves with whether the T-002 Tyrant was dead or not. They exchanged glances, and Rebecca and the others all chose to evacuate. After taking the evidence of Umbrella Corporation's Bio-weapon research, Rebecca and Jill led the way, while Barry and Chris behind them carried the unconscious old captain, Enrico, and followed suit.
Just like that,
the remaining members of S.T.A.R.S all began to evacuate the Mansion Villa—
At the end of the underground tunnel Laboratory,
Rebecca and the others found a working elevator. Using this elevator, they could successfully return to the surface. And perhaps as the elevator gradually ascended, the previously malfunctioning radio suddenly began to regain signal.
"Static…."
"Static…."
"Hello! Can anyone hear me? Whoever it is, please answer me! This is Brad, Alpha Team pilot Brad of S.T.A.R.S. Can anyone hear my voice? Captain Wesker, Chris, Barry, Jill, Joseph, are you still alive? Please, if you hear my voice, answer!"
Just as the group was riding the elevator, a male voice suddenly came from the walkie-talkie on Jill's shoulder. It was the pilot Brad Vickers, who had fled earlier. Being too timid, he had been so scared at the sight of the Doberman Zombie Dogs at the very beginning that he immediately drove his vehicle away.
And halfway through his flight,
Brad, the coward, felt that his actions were too extreme and cowardly, abandoning his teammates. Therefore, to make up for his mistake, Brad flew his helicopter back to the Raccoon City Police Department to retrieve more weapons for support.
But now…
Brad was anxious because he couldn't contact the other members of Alpha Team. He didn't want his cowardice to cause the death of all Alpha Team members. If that happened... Brad would probably live a lifetime of guilt and shame.
However,
For Jill and the others, who were busy escaping,
it was undoubtedly a tremendous help, like a timely snowfall in winter.
"Brad! You're alive…!!!"
"This is Jill, this is Jill, listen to me… We're still alive. Barry, Chris, and several members of Bravo Team are still alive. The situation is urgent; this Mansion Villa is about to explode. We're trapped inside and must find a way to escape quickly. We're currently taking the elevator to the roof of the Mansion Villa."
"It's very spacious up there, no dense trees to interfere, suitable for aerial pickup. Can you fly the helicopter over the Mansion Villa to pick us up—?!"
Jill, clutching at a straw, quickly shouted into the walkie-talkie on her shoulder. The pilot Brad, receiving the response, was also very excited. He hadn't expected that someone from S.T.A.R.S was actually still alive. This way, he wouldn't be burdened with the guilt of being a coward and a deserter.
"No… No problem!!!"
"Hey, that's great! You're actually all still alive. I'll land the helicopter above the Mansion Villa right now. When you reach the roof, remember to fire a signal to alert me. I'll safely get all of you out of this hellhole!"
Having given the instructions,
Jill, Barry, and Chris's eyes all sparkled with excitement. This was great; they were finally saved! They hadn't expected that Brad, the coward, would actually fly the helicopter back. So, this way… they could truly leave this hellhole before the Mansion Villa self-destructed.
However…
Among the few people,
Only Rebecca's expression was rather grave.
Because they had all forgotten one person. So far… Rebecca hadn't seen Javier return. Although the Mansion Villa's self-destruct alarm blared through every corner, Javier, upon hearing it, could also take the opportunity to escape, but Rebecca was still very worried whether Javier had encountered any problems while pursuing Wesker, or if he was injured in the battle with Wesker.
This made Rebecca feel quite uneasy,
Therefore, when escaping the underground tunnel Institute, Rebecca's steps were somewhat hesitant…
"Buzz—!"
After dozens of seconds,
the tunnel elevator successfully took Jill and the others to the top floor. After climbing the last flight of stairs, looking at the rooftop passage within reach, Jill, who was at the very front, didn't hesitate at all and kicked open the rusty iron door with a fierce blow.
"Bang!"
"Clang—!!!"
The iron door was kicked open and fell to the ground.
A faint morning sun slowly shone upon the group. Although there were still clouds covering it, it still couldn't block the gradually penetrating light of dawn. Yes… it was morning. After a full 10 hours of rescue time, they finally escaped the confinement of the Mansion Villa.
"We're saved…!"
"Yes, we're saved. I never thought seeing tomorrow's sun would be such a wonderful thing."
Looking at the faint morning sunlight spilling onto the roof of the Mansion Villa, the members of S.T.A.R.S couldn't help but exclaim. Undoubtedly, this mission was the most dangerous, most thrilling, and most unforgettable memory of their lives.
But…
A warm happy ending often doesn't come so timely—
Just as Jill and the others were still busy marveling at the complexity of this experience, a huge roar suddenly erupted, as if a bomb had suddenly exploded. The penetrating sound spread directly to the roof of the Mansion Villa, right beneath Jill and the others' feet.
"Boom—!!!"
"Boom boom boom boom boom—!!!"
The rooftop floor suddenly exploded into a huge hole.
Countless dust and debris erupted. Looking down, the huge hole was incredibly dark, not just simple floor erosion and cracks, but layer after layer, starting from the underground tunnel Institute, directly through the Mansion Villa's main hall, second floor, third floor, and even the top floor, forming a giant, continuous hole. This was simply terrifying. Who could possess such immense power?
to punch through four or five layers of thick, solid floor structures at once…?
"Bang…!"
And the next second,
A huge, dark shadow suddenly leaped out from the exploded hole. Its speed was incredibly fast; by the time they reacted, the massive black shadow had already arrived in front of Jill and the others. Looking up… it was none other than the T-002 Tyrant, not dead yet!!!
How is this possible?
Shouldn't this monster be dead?
This was probably the question in the minds of Jill and the other S.T.A.R.S members. In fact, the T-002 Tyrant did not completely die after being executed by the high-voltage current. Instead, it directly triggered the hidden power limiter within the T-002 Tyrant. After the suppression and confinement were lifted, it naturally erupted and transformed into this appearance.
Its muscles all over its body had almost doubled in size, forming a thick armor. Its skin was steaming hot, turning a blood-red color. The T-002 Tyrant had undoubtedly entered a berserk state—!
Chapter 40: Surviving a Catastrophe
Looking at the T-002 Tyrant in its berserk state, Jill and Rebecca's expressions froze. They hadn't expected the T-002 Tyrant to still be alive. Barry and Chris had already subjected it to high-voltage electrocution in the Laboratory, and the T-002 Tyrant's own flesh and blood had even begun to spontaneously combust.
But now…
it was still as lively as ever.
Especially the grotesque blood-red muscle armor covering the T-002 Tyrant's outer layer was even more preposterous. Its entire body had almost expanded by nearly double its original size, and its thick arms were as exaggerated as inflated balloons, with veins bulging and even emitting billows of white steam.
Could this be the ultimate power the T-002 Tyrant gained after unlocking its power limiter—?