He couldn't kill Sadler at all; he just wanted to threaten Sadler's life, because then the Exploding Bug infected surrounding them would turn back and retreat.
With the encirclement thinly spread, the survivors garrisoned in the fortress could seize the opportunity to break out.
It was very likely that this was Javier's true plan, but he feared Leon and Ada would not agree to a self-sacrificing idea like that.
So, he lied, saying he could kill Sadler, but in reality, it was to allow them to escape and attract as many Exploding Bug infected as possible to clear the way for them.
This train of thought, to be honest, even Luis was moved.
Although Javier was a scoundrel, this scoundrel always made the greatest sacrifice at critical moments, and Luis truly admired him.
It was just like his beloved Knight Don Quixote, who would always bravely stride towards the windmill, facing fear head-on, which was the bravest trial!
Unfortunately, facing Luis's elaborate thoughts, Javier shrugged helplessly.
What was all this? This was the third time he had used his self-sacrificing tactic in this Spain instance.
As the saying goes, 'things do not go beyond three times,' so why did these people still believe him?
He really wasn't that great—he only went to kill Sadler because he was confident.
These people would rather believe that he went to fight Sadler alone to buy them time to escape and break out, rather than imagine that Javier actually had a way to kill Sadler.
Words could no longer describe Javier's helplessness at this moment.
"That's great!"
"While these Exploding Bug infected don't have time to bother us, we can take this opportunity to break out.
If the pursuers are few, we can reach the Island's strait in one go and escape the Isolated Island Base by speedboat."
Seeing the situation suddenly improve, the Merchant, who had come to his senses, said eagerly.
If this plan was impossible before, it was completely different now.
With only a few dozen scattered infected, they could easily break out and escape, fully implementing the previous plan.
However, facing this suggestion, Leon and Ada, who were leading, still refused without hesitation.
Precisely because they had imagined Javier's suicidal act was to create an escape opportunity for them, Leon and Ada would be even less likely to choose to flee.
The two of them would not let Javier seek his own death; instead, they intended to assist Javier in killing Sadler.
This was Leon's stubborn nature—he would not allow anyone to lose their life to save him.
If they were to leave… they would all leave together, leaving no one behind.
As for Ada, who was originally cold-hearted, she would have accepted the Merchant's plan.
But now… she gave up.
She also didn't want this foolish man to die in vain because of her.
If they were to leave, they would all leave together.
As for Luis, he smiled with an 'as expected' expression.
Although this group of people had different temperaments, if they truly united, their thoughts were very consistent.
After all, the great Knight Don Quixote was willing to face the windmill for them, so how could these villagers under his protection just run away?
It was important to remember that in novels and fairy tales, the ending usually involved the power of unity overcoming everything.
The old Luis was unwilling to believe such a childish plot, but now… Luis felt that this was a miracle that could happen.
They would all unite and try!
"Woof woof woof—!!!"
At this moment, even the White Wolf, which had been ignored, abandoned, and forgotten, suddenly howled excitedly, indicating its agreement with the proposal.
After all, if it didn't cry out now, everyone would truly forget about this husky.
"Alas…"
Facing everyone's stubborn decision, the Merchant could only swallow his bitterness, unable to speak of his suffering.
He could only sigh deeply and helplessly.
Since they had already decided, and with one vote unable to pass five, he could only risk his life and accompany them.
After all, these people had also helped him clear the Plaga parasite from his body; no matter what, he couldn't continue to be a coward and run away on his own.
What?
What about Ashley—!
No, facing Leon's decision, Ashley had already tightly gripped Leon's arm.
Ashley had only unconditional trust in this bodyguard who risked his life to save her.
After all, without Leon and the others' rescue, she would probably have already become a terrifying and ugly Plaga parasite puppet.
She also wanted a perfect fairy tale ending to leave this cursed place, not to leave with regret and remorse.
Javier… they must be saved—!
However… just as everyone reached the final agreement and began to break out, rushing towards the direction of Javier and Sadler's battle, they were astonished to discover an even stranger scene.
Because they had not advanced much distance when they found the surrounding Exploding Bug infected gradually falling one by one, convulsing wildly on the ground, as if they had epilepsy.
If the previous phenomenon, where these Exploding Bug infected stopped besieging them, was already strange, now that these Exploding Bug infected couldn't even attack, it felt even more bizarre to Leon and Ada and the others.
After all, the monsters that were just fighting them were now convulsing and struggling on the ground as if they had some strange disease; the contrast was incredibly odd.
However, Luis, as a Plaga parasite expert, seemed to have discovered something again, and his face instantly turned ugly.
In his research, he had once found that Plaga parasites had another characteristic: they would disappear with the death of their dominator.
It was like what was said before about a beehive: once the queen bee died, the other bees would abandon the hive and scatter.
And before, Javier had also mentioned this.
He wanted to personally kill Sadler, and if he did, the surrounding Exploding Bug infected would also lose their combat effectiveness and die along with Sadler, their dominator.
And now… the situation before them was so similar that Luis couldn't help but begin to suspect a shocking truth: could it be… that Javier really killed Sadler, the Plaga parasite dominator?!
"This is too incredible…"
"Quick, never mind these infected, let's go find Javier.
Do you remember what he said before? Once Sadler, as the dominator, dies, then the subordinate infected will also die.
And the current phenomenon is exactly this; it's very likely that Javier has really killed Sadler!"
With a tone of considerable shock, Luis quickly grabbed Leon and Ada's arms, urging them on with great urgency.
And when Leon and Ada heard Luis's words, they also showed expressions of disbelief.
Sadler was dead? How could that be!
But the current situation… these Exploding Bug infected falling one by one, and their strange convulsions and struggles, forced them to believe the truth of the matter!
"Thump-thump-thump…"
"Thump-thump-thump…"
Thinking of this, everyone didn't hesitate, picking up their pace and hurrying deeper into the military base.
The further they went, the more likely they were to find traces of Sadler and Javier.
And sure enough, after walking for only a short while, everyone discovered a massive corpse in the distance, near the military base's air raid shelter.
It was like a small hill, a full four meters high, as large as two stories, an incredibly hideous and terrifying giant monster sprawled beside it.
Its entire body was charred by a large amount of flames, like a stiff, giant piece of charcoal, with an extremely ugly face, still emitting a foul odor.
Its four giant feet were trying to burrow into the entrance of the air raid shelter, as if it wanted to escape inside before dying, but unfortunately, its body was too large, and it ultimately failed!
"Is this a Plaga parasite—?!"
Looking at the giant charred monster before him, Luis quickly saw through the anomaly.
Because if one observed carefully, the giant monster's appearance was actually exactly like an enlarged Plaga.
Was this what Sadler's true monstrous form looked like?
The corpse before them had suffered extensive high-temperature scorching, and multiple parts of its body had sustained explosion injuries.
It must have been continuously bombarded with shells to cause its ultimate death.
Seeing this, Luis seemed to recall the image of Javier shouldering an RPG and blasting Sadler to death.
"..."
"Sadler is indeed dead, there's no mistake, but where… where did Javier go?"
Not only that, Luis also found a familiar scepter on the battlefield.
That was the Plaga parasite scepter Sadler usually carried, used to control the minds of some infected.
Luis had been by Sadler's side for so many years; he wouldn't mistake this.
And this scepter had now returned to its ordinary appearance; all the Plaga parasites attached to it had dissipated.
Luis could also confirm that the giant charred monster before them was Sadler, and Sadler was confirmed dead, but where was Javier?
Where did Javier go?
Carrying this question, everyone began to search for Javier in the ruins of the military base, which were billowing with black smoke and flames.
They considered one possibility: that Javier had also died in this brutal battle, but even so, they had to find his body!
If alive, they wanted to see him; if dead, they wanted to see his corpse.
And very quickly, Ada discovered Javier's figure in a corner of the ruins.
Ada quickly rushed forward to check.
His bulletproof vest had several bullet holes, his clothes were torn, a large amount of dried blood stained his entire body, his face was covered in soot marks from the smoke, looking extremely disheveled, and beside him lay a tattered RPG launcher.
It was unimaginable what kind of brutal battle Javier had experienced before this…
But thankfully, he was not dead.
Ada could feel Javier's body temperature; this foolish man had only collapsed from exhaustion and had not died.
This was the most fortunate thing.
Gently wiping the blood from Javier's face with her fingers, Ada inexplicably felt a pang of heartache.
It was just a pity… that this was another trick by that scoundrel.
The previous situation, where Luis and the others had imagined him making a heroic sacrifice, with Javier buying them time to break out and escape, was already dramatic enough.
But this time was even more absurd, because this time Javier actively put on a show.
Because he didn't want Leon and Ada and the others to know that he had killed Sadler so easily, solving it with just seven or eight RPG shots; that would be too lacking in ceremony.
There was no tragic emotion of a final boss battle at all.
Therefore… Javier deliberately shot his own bulletproof vest with a Desert Eagle, then put it back on, cut his clothes a few times with a Dog Leg Knife, and smeared some tomato juice from the ground on himself.
His whole body was covered in disgusting, foul-smelling blood, but in reality, none of it was his own.
He also smeared charcoal ash on his face to appear dirty, and finally, he pretended to faint and lay on the ground.
And to make it even more realistic, Javier smashed the RPG with a stone, presenting a heroic posture of fighting to the death in the final battle.
And to prevent any surprise attacks from infected who weren't convulsing like they had epilepsy, Javier specifically found a corner of the ruins without any infected corpses to lie down in.
And so… the plan succeeded.