Frowning slightly, Krauser turned his head and, without a shred of respect for the towering Raymond in front of him, asked in a flat tone, his eyes full of disdain.
The two of them had no master-servant relationship whatsoever, and Krauser particularly looked down on this dwarven goblin; since neither of them had subservient Plaga parasites within them, why should a dwarven goblin control him?
It was this confidence that allowed Krauser to show no respect for Raymond.
Moreover, as a typical redneck American, he inherently submitted to no one…
"…"
"Damn it…!"
Noticing Krauser's disdainful gaze and disrespectful tone, Raymond instantly gnashed his teeth in anger.
These ill-mannered white monkeys, Raymond truly didn't understand why Lord Sadler brought these American outsiders in; they were simply barbaric, crude, despicable, and lacked all etiquette.
Not only Krauser, but even that damned Leon was American; these guys were the barbarians Raymond detested the most.
If it weren't for the fact that Krauser had the latest high-grade Plaga implanted in him, not the lowest-grade subservient Plaga, making him difficult for Raymond, who possessed a Dominant Plaga, to control, Raymond would have long since beaten this ill-tempered Krauser to death.
This high-grade Plaga could grant the host extraordinary strength, serving as an intermediate between the Dominant Plaga and the subservient Plaga.
Moreover, it didn't cause the host to lose their sanity, making it very difficult to control without the enhancement of Sadler's Plaga Scepter.
A pure Dominant Plaga, like Raymond's, was very difficult to control; even if controlled, it would quickly break free.
To avoid a complete falling out, Raymond hadn't easily attempted it, but Krauser's current attitude easily made Raymond murderous!
"The people Lord Sadler mentioned are about to attack…"
"They are the group planning to rescue Ashley Graham, the President of the United States's daughter.
There are five of them in total, a mixed bag, no idea where these stinking rats scurried out from."
"You go deal with them.
After you capture all of them, I can put in a good word for you with Lord Sadler.
Perhaps Sadler will bestow upon you an even more powerful Dominant Plaga.
You only have a high-grade Plaga now; don't you wish for greater power?"
Since Krauser's tone lacked any respect, Raymond naturally reciprocated.
He coldly and calmly explained, but when he mentioned capturing Ashley, the important hostage, Raymond still appropriately tempted Krauser.
If Ashley could be brought back, he would ask Lord Sadler to bestow a Dominant Plaga parasite upon Krauser.
And sure enough, the moment he heard this, Krauser's eyes instantly lit up, his pupils dilating and narrowing, seemingly very excited and satisfied with this reward.
But soon… a cold sneer appeared on the calm Krauser's lips.
He almost lost his sanity due to the power—Krauser, you are still too impulsive!
Without a doubt, Krauser indeed wanted to obtain a Dominant Plaga.
After all, with just the high-grade Plaga, Krauser could clearly feel his nearly forty-year-old physical condition gradually returning to its peak.
He felt full of power.
If he obtained a Dominant Plaga, he might even surpass Wesker and become a truly extraordinary human!
But soon, the calm Krauser noticed Raymond's odd behavior.
How could this disgusting dwarven goblin be so kind as to reward him?
Perhaps… this dwarven goblin simply wanted to wait for an opportunity to steal the credit.
He probably… after he captured Ashley, Raymond himself would take Ashley to Sadler, then praise himself and claim credit, without mentioning Krauser's efforts at all.
This was most in line with Raymond, the insidious and cunning dwarven goblin's character—Chapter 54: The Executioner.
"Hmph, just a bunch of rats," Krauser said, looking up at Raymond on the high platform.
"I will deal with them! And then I will return the hostage to your hands.
I hope Lord Raymond will not go back on his word…"
Although he already knew the dwarven goblin Raymond's scheme, Krauser still played along and accepted the task.
His tone was slightly more respectful than before, which surprised Raymond.
And soon, having said this, Krauser turned and left alone, walking towards the corridor, slowly drawing the serpentine dagger from his thigh.
From an unseen angle, the mockery on Krauser's face was very obvious.
Tens of minutes ago, he had already received Wesker's order that the annoying woman Ada had obtained the Plaga parasite amber sample, making his Plan B unnecessary.
Krauser's original mission was to infiltrate Sadler's side and seize the Plaga parasite sample opportunistically.
However, that bastard Sadler was too vigilant and cautious, preventing Krauser from staying by Sadler's side for long.
Now, due to Ashley's escape, Krauser was even being treated as Sadler's minion, sent to assist the dwarven goblin Raymond in capturing Ashley.
This situation was vastly different from Krauser's expectations.
But fortunately, Ada had now obtained the Plaga parasite amber sample.
This godforsaken place was no longer of any use to them.
Therefore, Wesker also gave Krauser an order: to backstab and kill Sadler and Raymond as much as possible, and to destroy the Island Institute base.
The extent of this was entirely up to Krauser's ability.
This gave Krauser a great deal of operational freedom—
His agreement to capture Ashley for Raymond was merely an excuse for Krauser to leave and act alone.
Raymond and Sadler possessed Dominant Plaga parasites; these were readily available, so why would Krauser be foolish enough to beg for them?
By killing Raymond or Sadler, he could still obtain a Dominant Plaga parasite.
Therefore, Krauser, the double-crosser, was also preparing to betray them.
Like Ada, Krauser never served anyone, including Wesker.
Although he was grateful to Wesker for healing his arm, it didn't mean Krauser would be Wesker's minion.
And ever since the United States Government abandoned him, Krauser had lost all trust in everyone.
He only served himself, and he served power!
Now, with an opportunity to gain greater power right in front of him, Krauser naturally wouldn't give up.
Before the support helicopter arrived, he had to quickly seize the Dominant Plaga parasite; this was his true plan!
As for capturing the hostage Ashley… that was a very boring task.
But when he thought that his long-unseen old friends Leon and Javier were hidden in the rat's nest, Krauser immediately became interested.
From the information investigated by Lord Raymond, he already knew the team coming to rescue Ashley.
And meeting old acquaintances was the scene Krauser wanted.
After their separation in the Amazon Rainforest, both Javier and Leon had performed much better than him.
He was the most disgraced one, and now that he had gained greater power, Krauser was eager to show off in front of these two—
"Heh heh…"
"Let you two witness some unprecedented power…"
Krauser, the chuunibyou uncle seduced by power, murmured in a low voice, feeling the boundless power filling his entire body.
A cold sneer couldn't help but curl at the corner of his mouth.
He was almost unable to suppress the primordial power within him.
The true jungle law was just beginning—!
"…"
"Foolish white monkey!"
As Krauser's back slowly disappeared around the corner of the grand hall corridor, Raymond, who had been watching for a long time, shook his head and muttered.
Although he didn't know why Krauser accepted the task so easily, Raymond didn't care at all, because no matter what scheme this outsider Krauser had, he had a backup plan!
"Hmph…"
"My loyal servant, Executioner Verdugo, go and eliminate all those stinking rats causing havoc throughout the castle, then bring back the hostage Ashley Graham.
If that white monkey, Jack Krauser, dares to play any tricks, you eliminate him as well…!"
"Outsiders are always unpredictable; they will only interfere with Lord Sadler's and my great salvation plan—!"
Snapping his fingers, Raymond cast his cloudy eyes towards the tall red-robed figure beside him, directly ordering his most loyal subordinate, his right-hand man, Executioner Verdugo, in a calm voice.
And the moment the order was given, the tall figure in the red robe slowly nodded, assumed a kneeling posture to receive the command, and then slowly disappeared within the hall.
Executioner Verdugo—also known as the Right Hand.
Hidden beneath the red robe was a giant black-armored scorpion monster.
Its entire body, due to being covered in hard carapaces, was relatively slender, with an insect-like form, save for its human-like head.
It possessed a pair of crimson eyes, and its mouth could split into four steel jaws, allowing it to swallow and cut its targets whole.
Its slender arms ended in three sharp, bifurcated fingers, resembling arthropod limbs with barbs, capable of easily gripping prey.
The most striking feature was its tail, composed of segmented black armored barbs, which could attack in any direction with extreme flexibility, ending in a sharp blade, like a scorpion's stinger.
Although Verdugo's tail blade had no venom, it was exceptionally sharp, capable of easily cutting through steel plates, like a flexible scalpel.
Its favorite method of slaughter was to use the tail blade to sever the victim's head, hence its name, the Executioner.
Extremely fast, quick to react, agile, and while its strength was not as terrifying as a Tyrant, it could easily flick targets several meters away with its tail.
Coupled with its hard carapace, Verdugo was an overpowered boss with high attack, high defense, and high speed.
The most remarkable aspect was its considerable intelligence—its original form was the brilliant biologist Isidro Uriarte Talavera, who invented Blackwater.
And the black-robed left hand next to him was the butler who had accompanied Raymond since childhood, Pesanta the Houndsman.
When he first developed Blackwater and successfully hatched the Invisible Worm U2, Isidro wondered what would happen if Blackwater was perfectly and thoroughly injected into human blood vessels, or even every corner of the body, through an apparatus.
Would it lead to an even more perfect evolution—?
After all, if merely human infant embryos infected with Blackwater could transform into Invisible Worm U2, then complete infection might rewrite all human physical genes.
Thinking this, Isidro immediately put his idea into action.
During the Blackwater human experiments, he also incorporated insect genes.
Before the experiment, fully prepared, they still lacked an excellent test subject.
And Raymond, understanding gratitude, to repay his personal butler's lifelong care, sent his female personal butler to the experimental table.
That's right… Pesanta the Houndsman was actually a female butler, as detailed in later remake documents, and the item dropped after defeating the left-hand Pesanta the Houndsman U3 was a golden silk patterned hair clip.
The item dropped by the right-hand Executioner Verdugo, on the other hand, was a gold-rimmed monocle.
Around the 17th century, after Western Europeans discovered that the concave and convex lenses of telescopes could adjust for near and far vision, they invented the portable monocle.
Often seen carried on the chests of upper-class nobles in various films and TV shows, it was once very popular, symbolizing taste and status.
It was worn over the eye when needed, held in place by the nose and facial muscles, typically used to magnify text and object details.
This dropped item perfectly suited Isidro's character as a biologist—
During the first human experiment with Blackwater, Isidro encountered many problems, such as uncontrollable cell gene expansion, etc.
The female butler, as the test subject, could explode at any moment.
To stabilize the test subject butler's life, Isidro mixed in more insect genes.
This resulted in the first-generation U3 product being somewhat incongruous.
Pesanta the Houndsman possessed an exceptionally long tongue, incredibly strong muscles throughout its body, and insect-like three sharp claws for fingers.
Its legs were thick and monstrous like those of a crocodile or dinosaur, and it had a huge tail behind it, like a digging scarab beetle with a second mouth.
Sharp pincer-like blades on both sides could easily dig holes and burrow out of the ground.
Pesanta the Houndsman's entire body bore traces of various biological genes, making it appear somewhat incongruous.
Consequently, its intelligence was not as strong, allowing only simple command control.
The only fortunate thing was that Pesanta, due to the fusion of a large number of insect genes, had an unusually diverse range of attack methods.
It possessed a poisonous sting that could cause hallucinations in prey, burrowing, tail pincer blades, tongue thrusts, and so on…
And after completing the creation of Pesanta, Isidro soon personally immersed himself in the Blackwater modification experiment, because Lord Raymond couldn't have just a left arm; he also needed him as a right arm.
Having learned from the first failure, Isidro's Blackwater modification experiment was much more proficient this time, carefully proportioning the Blackwater injection amount, including selecting suitable insect genes.
Not long after, Isidro completed the Blackwater modification experiment, becoming Executioner Verdugo.
And compared to Pesanta, because Isidro's completion was very high, both in terms of ability and intelligence, he was stronger than Pesanta—
This was also why Raymond sent Verdugo, the Executioner, to deal with Javier, Leon, and the others…
…On the other side—
Before the palace where Ramon Salazar resided, there was an even larger castle hall, known as the Mosquito Room, or the Invisible Bug Room.
Large numbers of Invisible Worm U2 resided here; they were the guards of this place.
They hid in every corner of the vast, empty castle hall; they could see you, but you could not see them.