"Damn it…"
Watching Ashley suddenly run away, blaming herself, Leon wanted to say something, but he didn't even have time to open his mouth before Ashley quickly disappeared from his sight.
Leon could only curse a few times in the end; it was always at these crucial moments. It had to be said that Sadler had indeed made a good move.
Helplessly,
Looking at Ashley, who had already vanished,
Leon could only give up on investigating the central courtyard and chased in the direction Ashley had frantically fled, hoping to find the self-reproaching and willful girl quickly. No matter how ashamed Ashley was, she shouldn't have disappeared right under his nose.
…
Meanwhile—
Javier had already arrived inside Salazar Castle first, frantically scavenging for antiques and treasures with White Wolf. Even the mechanism that required Leon to solve a puzzle to obtain the three golden head statues—Lion, Goat, and Snake—the Chimera beast's clones in the original plot, was easily solved by Javier.
Those three golden head sculptures were pocketed by Javier.
A golden block weighing several kilograms and the size of a football to sell… Javier couldn't even imagine how rich he would be. And because the mechanism was solved in advance, the iron cage that was supposed to drop from the sky and trap Leon never appeared.
In fact, it had already been destroyed by Javier. After tidying everything up, Javier intended to continue forward, heading towards the basement of the castle library.
In the original plot,
Ashley, to rescue Leon who was trapped in the iron cage, embarked on her solo adventure. She needed to go to the library, carrying the only purple lantern, and find the key in the library's basement.
However, the dark library harbored a gloomy haze, guarded by the Parasite Armor Knights personally designed by the castle lord, Raymond.
The fully developed Plaga parasites, bred and nurtured, were extracted and placed on the empty armor shells.
This way… these Plaga parasites would curl their weakened bodies into the armor like hermit crabs, and when they encountered prey, these parasites could control the Armor Knights to attack!
This was a very novel type of Plaga parasite—
Because they parasitized armor,
Their defense was incredibly astonishing.
Except for shotguns, it was impossible to repel the Parasite Armor Knights. Their only weakness was the parasite's main body exposed at the neck.
When controlling the Armor Knights to attack, the Plaga parasite would inadvertently expose the fleshy gap of its main body at the neck. At this point, they could be easily killed with a sniper rifle.
Of course,
If one was wealthy enough,
They could also be wiped out directly with flashbangs. Because they possessed the Armor Knights, these Plaga parasites were even more afraid of light than when they parasitized humans.
Just being illuminated by a purple lantern would freeze them, rendering them unable to move, much like frogs caught in a flashlight beam.
Therefore,
Let alone flashbangs, which had a much stronger light. As long as their main body was exposed, these Parasite Armor Knights would all die.
This was originally a new plot design in the remake, and coupled with the fact that the controlled character was Ashley, a defenseless and delicate protagonist, she had no ability to resist when encountering these Parasite Armor Knights, only the option to flee. This created an immense sense of oppression—
Weaponless adventure
Is also the essence of horror games. The deep sense of powerlessness and contrasting stimulation are the most appealing aspects. This level was also the one that Javier, as a novice player back then, found most oppressive, especially when the lights went out and he was surrounded by dozens of Armor Knights, causing his adrenaline to surge.
However,
There were indeed quite a few treasure chests and treasures hidden in the library's basement, and the achievement quest also contained a golden Parasite Armor Knight, which made Javier very greedy. That was real gold, and a large chunk of it.
Ahem… now it's time to avenge myself!
I'm coming,
Parasite Armor Knights—!
"Awooo…!!!"
And White Wolf seemed to have sensed Javier's excitement and high fighting spirit as the Wolf King. Although somewhat confused, he still very sensibly joined in with low growls. Anyway, their Wolf King was so powerful, as long as he followed the boss, there was definitely no mistake; he would surely eat well and live comfortably.
However,
Before completely entering the library, Javier still needed to prepare a few more items, namely purple lanterns. These purple lanterns were ultraviolet lamps and had a very strong restraining effect on Plaga parasites.
Merchants would usually place one of these lamps at their stalls to prevent some short-sighted parasitic villagers from approaching them.
But unfortunately,
Javier did not have the ability to make such lamps.
So he could only steal the oil lamps from the castle corridor and casually put a transparent purple film over them, making the light they emitted purple. As for whether it would be effective, Javier didn't know and didn't care. As long as it could illuminate the way, it was fine.
After all, this was just a little trick he used to deceive.
The entire library only had one portable purple lantern, and at the most crucial moment, that lantern was needed as a tool to be placed on the mechanism in the library's basement to illuminate the pattern of the sun, moon, and stars to get the key. Javier using this fake one to cope seemed to work…
And besides the lamp,
The most important thing was the weapon.
The Parasite Armor Knights had astonishing defense. Those armors were heavy knight armors made of pure iron from the Middle Ages. If Ashley wore them, even the castle servants and cultists couldn't lift her, showing their weight and thickness. So, ordinary weapons couldn't penetrate their defense.
But coincidentally,
Javier had a very unusual weapon in his hand, a semi-automatic anti-materiel M82A1 sniper rifle, specifically designed to strike objects with heavy armor. With its built-in armor-piercing bullets, it could easily penetrate the so-called knight armor.
With this thing,
He could basically ignore the Armor Knights and directly kill the Plaga parasites hidden inside, and he didn't even need to aim at the parasite's weakness behind the Armor Knight's neck. The difficulty was greatly reduced.
Previously, due to the presence of Ada and Leon, Javier dared not take out this powerful weapon, but now it was different; he could use it very easily and freely.
Even if asked later,
Javier could lie that he found it in a hidden armory within the castle, or that the Merchant personally sold it to him. After all, no one could prove the truthfulness of his words, right?
"Alright, fully prepared, it's time to set off!"
He patted the large black sniper rifle he pulled out of his storage ring. Its huge scope could easily lock onto enemies a thousand meters away. The entire gun body, to reduce recoil, was like a massive steel pipe, with a steady black bipod.
The massive black magazine held only five bullets, but each bullet was thicker than a thumb. What was even more unique was the long, narrow black circular barrel, with a muzzle brake at the front, typically used only on high-firepower machine guns, reducing the barrel's heat burden while also greatly suppressing the muzzle flash and recoil.
Every design aspect of the M82A1 anti-materiel sniper rifle was born to reduce recoil, because the designer understood
How terrifyingly powerful this weapon was. The bullets it fired had a caliber of 12.7 millimeters, or 0.5 inches. Coupled with the sniper rifle's inherent powerful shooting capability, as long as it could be fired, it could destroy many vehicles.
And if it hit a human body,
A single head would be instantly pulverized, like a bursting watermelon, bloody and cruel. If it hit a body part, it would leave a gaping, bloody hole larger than a fist. The residual power could string together four or five people like candied hawthorn.
Paired with specialized armor-piercing warheads,
Even a 2.5-centimeter stainless steel plate could be easily penetrated, and very easily at that. With this powerful weapon, Javier and White Wolf embarked on the path to the library.
"Thump, thump, thump…"
"Thump, thump, thump…"
Silent footsteps echoed in the library corridor.
Because Parasite Armor Knights were stationed inside, there weren't many Plaga Parasite Servants and cultists nearby. If they gathered, they could easily be cut down by the Parasite Armor Knights with a single strike.
After all, even though both were the same species,
In reality, both had severe intellectual deficiencies.
Plaga parasites gained excellent intelligence by parasitizing humans, because human brains are inherently smart. They could learn behavior by observing memories in the human brain.
But if they parasitized things like wolves, cattle, or armor, their intelligence would drop a level. After all, they didn't have a brain to learn and grow from, so they would naturally become dumber.
The most typical example is the Plaga parasite of the Exploding Bug. In the original game, the un-bursting castle Plaga Parasite Servants and cultists would rely on commands to abduct Ashley.
As long as they hadn't burst,
Then these Plaga Parasite Servants and cultists would not harm Ashley; they would only forcibly abduct her. But once they burst, these servants and cultists would harm Ashley and kill her.
So,
Aside from the Parasite Armor Knights, there were no other creatures in the library. Even if there were… they would be cut down with a single strike—!
And the only design bug of the Parasite Armor Knights was probably their source of life sustenance. They were clearly attached inside the knight's armor like hermit crabs, yet they still had strong mobility. But what was their food source while being trapped inside?
This was never explained.
One could only speculate that Ramon Salazar would throw a few corpses into the library each month for them to gnaw on, providing just enough food to survive, not to be full. This was more conducive to stimulating the brutal aggressiveness of the Parasite Armor Knights!
"Creak…"
The old wooden door was slowly pushed open.
Javier and White Wolf completely entered the library. Salazar Castle's library was enormous, even larger than Chief Brian's antique office in Raccoon City.
And the level of luxury was also considerably higher. It truly lived up to its reputation as the heritage of a noble family; it was indeed far superior to Chief Brian, who was a parvenu.
The entire library was shrouded in darkness.
By the faint moonlight, the entire library could be seen to be divided into two levels, upper and lower. Rows of bookshelves stood upright, each several meters high. It was estimated that tens of thousands of books were preserved here, making it a veritable treasure trove of knowledge, an ocean of learning.
And many of them were famous books well-preserved from the Middle Ages to the present day, handwritten manuscripts, etc. Various out-of-print collections by famous authors were all inside.
In a sense,
These books could also be sold for a lot of money, even more expensive than ordinary gold, silver, and jewels, especially for those authors who had already passed away. The most typical case is the well-known Dutch painter Van Gogh.
He was impoverished during his lifetime, but his works became valuable after his death. Now, it is even more difficult to obtain Van Gogh's original works, with auctions selling for a guaranteed price of hundreds of millions or more.
Although it is said to be a conspiracy of Merchant speculation,
It doesn't prevent it from being valuable.
After all, being hyped by capital also depends on the target. And the impoverished Van Gogh during his lifetime was the best target. Other impoverished painters haven't been chosen yet…
And in Spain…
It is very possible that the original works of Miguel de Cervantes, Spain's most famous literary giant, are hidden here, which is the well-known novel "Don Quixote" among the Spanish people, and also the one Luis loved to read most when he was a child.
However,
The biggest difference is that
What Luis read was a copied and translated version, while this was the first published original, and it was already out of print. After all, with the Salazar Family's heritage at that time, collecting such a book was an easy task.
So it's very likely to be inside. If possible… Javier still wanted to spend some time finding it.
After all, if this dungeon mission ended,
Javier wanted to hire Luis. Money… would probably make it very difficult for Luis to compromise. And the original novel "Don Quixote" by the famous Spanish literary writer was undoubtedly the most attractive priceless treasure for Luis. He would probably even sell himself for it—
"Buzz…"
In addition,
There was also a lantern emitting a purple light in the entire library.
It was quietly placed on the desk. That was the only item that could restrain the Parasite Armor Knights. Thinking of this… Javier glanced at the fake oil lamp in his hand, which simply couldn't compare to the bright purple lamp. It was simply shoddily made, but it didn't matter; as long as it worked.
Thinking of this,
Javier smiled slightly,
And decisively walked into the library. And due to the intrusion of biological aura, the Parasite Armor Knights, who had been dormant in the library for a long time, gradually woke up. To prevent starvation, they spent most of their time in dormancy to reduce energy consumption, but now… with prey at their doorstep, they had to start moving.
Therefore,
Strange noises also began to emanate from within the library…
Chapter 47: Soul of the Knight
"Here they come…"
Hearing the strange noise,
Javier said nothing, just muttered to himself in his heart. Then he continued to walk to the desk, picked up the purple lantern, and completely ignored the various strange sounds coming from the library, leisurely starting to wander around the library.
To play Red Light, Green Light,
This was his forte.
As long as he had the purple lantern in hand, these Parasite Armor Knights generally couldn't do anything to him. So Javier didn't care at all and continued to search the library, trying to find that "Don Quixote" novel collection that Luis dreamed of…