"Right, Mr. Chris, who are they…?"
After both sides introduced themselves,
Sheva and the other members of the West Africa BSAA anti-bioweapon organization finally noticed Javier and the two women behind them.
These three individuals were strangely dressed in casual clothes, without any vests or even weapons, looking completely out of place for combat personnel.
Thus, Sheva, Josh, and the others were very confused about the identities of Javier and the two women.
After all, they were about to infiltrate a vicious town filled mostly with ruthless terrorists.
Although they needed to minimize their presence for infiltration, their outfits—trench coats, lab coats, and even formal wear—made them look like tourists.
Even if they were personnel dispatched by BSAA Headquarters,
this was too much of a game. Their combat personnel didn't have the time or energy to babysit some rich young masters and princesses.
Of course, if the other party was just there to watch, then it didn't matter, as long as they didn't cause trouble.
"This…?"
"They are…"
Even Chris,
when faced with questions from Sheva, Josh, and the others, showed a troubled expression, as he apparently hadn't prepared an excuse for the identities of Javier and the two women.
After all, these three were temporarily informed by Jill.
Now that he was being questioned, Chris didn't know how to answer and could only awkwardly scratch his head. He couldn't possibly tell them that these three were also combat personnel who would infiltrate with them, could he?
But Javier and the two women's attire was truly too bizarre.
It was almost like attending a party. Africa is such a dangerous place, and infiltrating a small town full of terrorist organizations is undoubtedly a very dangerous undertaking.
The personnel of the West Africa BSAA,
would not allow Javier and the two women to act recklessly. They didn't care about their safety,
but they feared that Javier and the two women might endanger the lives of the West Africa BSAA squad members. Therefore, Javier and the two women absolutely could not be involved in the mission.
"Sheva, Josh,"
"They are special operations personnel dispatched by BSAA Headquarters. They have a very familiar understanding of bioweapons and can help us identify the types of bioweapons being traded in the town."
"Additionally… they possess means of self-preservation, so please don't worry. Likewise, they will not cause trouble or endanger the lives of other West Africa BSAA personnel. You just need to not obstruct their freedom of action."
Looking at the hesitant Chris,
Jill shook her head helplessly. Leaving such a lie to Chris was indeed unreliable, so Jill ultimately spoke up decisively to explain, lying.
Anyway, without batting an eye,
she spoke nonsense with a straight face. She and Chris were among the eleven founders of the BSAA, so what she said held some credibility.
In short, Jill just needed to ensure that the West Africa BSAA personnel didn't stop Javier and the two women. She knew that these three were the biggest helpers for this mission, and it would be a huge problem if they were driven away due to attitude issues.
What's more, Javier's temper was notoriously unpredictable,
and he could quit at any moment. So Jill still tried her best to speak up for Javier, so that he wouldn't be treated like some random person.
"Special operations personnel…?"
"Bioweapon research experts?"
Hearing Jill's explanation, Sheva and Josh were stunned, subconsciously thinking of the so-called special operations personnel as helpless researchers.
In any case, they were useless except for their intelligence, and they would cause trouble. But after confirming from Jill that Javier and the two women would not cause them trouble,
Sheva, Josh, and the others didn't care. No matter where they came from, as long as they didn't affect their mission progress, it was fine.
Soon…
Ten minutes later,
everyone immediately finalized the plan.
Sheva would lead Jill and Chris into the town to meet with Fisher, the informant who had been lurking for a long time.
Fisher would provide them with equipment and weapons, and then they would collect clues in the town to apprehend Black Market Dealer Ervin.
If an emergency occurred, they could request support.
The stationed camp had two Humvee armored vehicles and one helicopter, enough to quickly provide fire support in the town.
But this was a last resort.
Before that, they still needed to apprehend Black Market Dealer Ervin as discreetly as possible, as armed conflict between an outside force and the local government would have a very negative impact on the reputation of the West Africa BSAA.
As for Javier and the two women, the so-called special operations personnel, they were to remain at the camp and wait for Black Market Dealer Ervin to be apprehended.
The virus samples obtained at that time could be handed over to these research personnel for examination. Josh and Dan, as team leaders, would not allow Javier and the two women to disrupt the mission.
And facing such obvious discriminatory treatment,
Javier and the two women had no objections,
and expressed their full agreement. Anyway, their orders were their business; it had nothing to do with Javier and the two women. Javier and the two women would still infiltrate as they intended.
Saying that…
Javier led Lisa and Alexia back to the Humvee. Josh and Dan, the squad leaders, seeing this, thought Javier and the two women were being sensible and decided not to bother them further.
Meanwhile, Jill, seeing this scene,
wanted to say something… but due to the mission, she very reluctantly followed Sheva's lead and slowly infiltrated towards the town.
Jill hoped that this infiltration and apprehension mission would be simple and easy, without too many troubles or unforeseen circumstances. After all, with Javier, her strong support, not by her side, Jill's heart was truly a little flustered.
However,
what Jill and the West Africa BSAA members did not know was that after Javier and the two women returned to the Humvee, they secretly slipped away from the other side, taking a long detour, and also headed towards the town below.
"Thump, thump, thump…"
The town in the Kijuju Autonomous Region was larger than Javier had imagined. It was not a barren village but a very decent "town."
At least it had walls,
and was not just a town built with mud bricks. There were many reinforced concrete buildings, as well as some iconic tin houses, and dedicated power cables.
But due to the simple folk customs,
at this moment, black smoke was billowing from these high-voltage power lines, likely caused by short circuits and spontaneous combustion from electricity theft. The black smoke billowed, and the town's environment was dirty, with a bit of a post-apocalyptic wasteland feel.
But compared to other impoverished areas in Africa,
the facilities in this town were already quite advanced, likely built due to the economic development brought by the Umbrella Corporation previously.
Otherwise, such a town in the African region would be considered a development scale only found near the capital city of a country…
There were basically no fences around the town, only scattered tin sheets serving as fences, allowing for free entry and exit.
The environment inside was as dirty, chaotic, and poor as imagined, with garbage and sewage everywhere. Most importantly, there was the public security situation.
Every few tens of meters in the town, black smoke billowed, whether from high-voltage power line short circuits and spontaneous combustion, or from the town's residents burning garbage.
Or perhaps some conflict had occurred.
The walls of many multi-story houses were covered with messy graffiti, like a chaotic city of sin.
Among them were some passing town residents whose mental states seemed very strange. Javier and the two women, dressed so oddly, walked on the town streets,
but were not stared at by too many town residents.
Instead, these residents went about their own business, not even glancing at Javier and the two women, as if they were puppets performing daily mechanical and rigid work.
This peculiar situation
immediately reminded Javier of the villagers in Wolf's Valley Village in Spain a few years ago, who also had the same posture.
They would act like puppets given orders,
rigidly doing their own things, trying to create an illusion of peaceful village life to deceive outsiders. This small town in the Kijuju Autonomous Region was no exception.
It was as if they were all carved from the same mold.
So Javier could basically confirm that almost ninety percent or more of the population in this town had been infected by the Plaga parasite. He just didn't know who the mastermind behind this was.
As for the remaining ten percent…
Javier glanced around and quickly spotted ordinary residents secretly observing them, the outsiders, from the surrounding houses.
Upon realizing they had been discovered,
they quickly closed their windows to avoid unnecessary trouble. Undoubtedly… these residents hiding indoors were the normal residents who had not yet been infected.
Presumably, they didn't know what had happened,
but they could clearly sense the difference in the people around them. To avoid becoming mechanical and rigid puppets like them,
these residents could only adopt a defensive approach,
hiding in their rooms and not going out to survive, avoiding being assimilated and turned into those terrifying things.
There were rumors in the town,
that some people had turned into monsters and were pretending to hide among the living. Once they caught someone alone, they would force a strange thing into the living person's mouth, and whoever was caught would become one of them…
The rumors were terrifying,
but thinking of the increasingly strange behavior of the surrounding residents,
the surviving ordinary residents had no choice but to believe them, and could only try to hide in their houses and not go out, to avoid being caught.
And upon seeing Javier and the other outsiders enter, they dared not speak up to warn them, to avoid bringing trouble upon themselves. After all, humans are always self-interested and afraid of trouble—!
"Lisa, Alexia,"
"Do you feel something is off with these people? Over ninety percent of the population here should be infected by the Plaga parasite. Remember to be careful, this is a Plaga town."
After a slight pause,
Javier suddenly reminded Lisa and Alexia beside him, while looking at the local town residents who were busy fighting nearby.
A group of dark-skinned men were furiously beating a lively burlap sack, making him sigh that this place truly had simple folk customs.
But still, the same old saying,
a prominent white woman, an actress-level Alexia, entering such a place was like a saint entering a goblin cave, a plump little lamb accidentally falling into a wolf's den.
Based on Javier's preconceived notions,
there should have been many rude local thugs coming up to cause trouble and harass them. This was a necessary plot point.
But unfortunately…
there wasn't a single person around to cause trouble, which made Javier feel very uneasy. Not wanting the plump little lamb delivered to their mouths further confirmed the possibility that these people around them were infected by the Plaga parasite!
"It's not just off, it's very off,"
"All these people emit strange life energy. Simply put… they are the food I used to love, very rich in protein, crunchy."
"They're simply the best food for hatching queen ant insects, and ordinary humans don't have such life energy. Even a fool could see that there's something wrong with these things."
Hearing Javier's words,
Alexia, beside him, pouted and retorted disdainfully. She had already noticed this long ago and didn't need Javier to remind her.
At the same time, Alexia hated such dirty places, full of dust, and grimy people.
Alexia, who had a cleanliness fetish, just wanted to leave quickly.
If any rude fellow dared to touch her with their dirty hands later, Alexia guaranteed she would burn this wretched place to ashes!
Listening to Alexia's complaints,
Javier shook his head helplessly.
This woman's temper and personality were as annoying as ever. Too lazy to bother with Alexia's provocations, Javier continued walking forward.
Soon, at the end of the street, he spotted Chris, Jill, and Sheva. The three entered a butcher shop at the end of the street. Seeing this, Javier didn't hesitate and quickly followed them inside, ready to meet up.