"If you fools want to try and stop me, go right ahead. But you'd better hurry, because once I'm finished packing up all the experimental data,"
"This Institute base is going to blow. The ouroboros virus will be dispersed into the stratosphere, spreading across the skies of the entire world. You'd better move fast,'saviors'...!"
Facing the interrogation from Chris—the 'original spouse' and her romantic rival—
Excella showed no fear at all, introducing her identity with poise. As the 'mistress' about to take the throne, she was acting incredibly arrogant right now.
After all, she expected to be wed with great pomp and ceremony soon, so naturally, she had to broadcast it. Unfortunately, Wesker had no intention of marrying this mistress; in fact, he was about to sell her out to mountain bandits. Truly tragic!
Looking at Chris and the others, Excella mocked them wantonly. In her eyes, Chris and his group were like rats in a cage.
No matter how much they scurried, they couldn't escape. Thus, she had no reservations; she could say anything regarding herself and the ouroboros virus.
*Click—!*
Having finished her final words,
Excella's projection immediately flickered and vanished. She had left...
Faced with such an arrogant mistress, Chris could do nothing but fume in impotent rage. Moreover, her threat was lethal; they really had to move fast,
Otherwise, they truly might die in the self-destruction of this Institute base. After all, when it came to the self-destruct systems of Umbrella Corporation facilities,
Chris had experienced them many times before.
Umbrella was the most annoying company; it seemed like every single one of their buildings, no matter what it was, had a self-destruct system. So, Chris didn't dare doubt the truth of what Excella had just said.
"..."
"The lab door from before can't be opened. If we open it, a swarm of Wire Spiders will pour in. Is there any other way, Chris?"
At that moment,
Javier, who hadn't spoken for a while, stepped forward decisively and asked Chris. Javier admitted... he had also been a bit panicked just now.
The Institute base self-destructing...
It was a familiar script, but Javier had no choice but to guard against it. This 'mutual destruction' tactic ignored friend or foe, and Javier couldn't simply dodge it. Now, he could only help Chris and the others clear the area and find Wesker as quickly as possible.
"There is another way,"
"Besides the lab door we used to block the Wire Spiders, there's another passage that can be opened. But I suspect this might be a trap Wesker designed for us."
"Two paths. One is the lab door where the Wire Spiders are gathered; once opened, we'll be swallowed by a swarm of those monsters. The other is a specifically designed trap route, where there are likely even more monsters than Wire Spiders waiting for us."
Hearing Javier's inquiry,
Chris hesitated for a moment but ultimately answered,
While simultaneously projecting a cutaway view of the Institute base onto the computer screen. Besides the lab door in front of them, there was an escape passage designed off to the side.
But Chris guessed that this path was likely one Wesker had specifically left open to lure them—the 'lab rats'—to their deaths.
"..."
"But we don't have any other choice, do we?"
Facing Chris's concerns, Javier shook his head with a helpless smile.
They had come here prepared for the worst from the start. Stopping Wesker was always going to involve wiping out a ton of bio-monsters; this was just part of the job. Besides, they had nowhere else to go!
Hearing Javier's words,
Chris and the others nodded in agreement; indeed, there was no other choice. After the PDA handheld computer finished copying the data, Chris gave everyone a warning,
Then pressed the button on the main computer to open the escape passage. Inside this laboratory filled with densely packed pods,
A section of the fully sealed white wall in the corner suddenly recessed, revealing a hidden escape passage before them.
"..."
"I don't sense any biological presence inside; it's safe to pass. But I can't guarantee whether other monsters exist beyond the passage."
Looking at the pitch-black escape passage,
The group felt a bit apprehensive. However, Lisa once again acted as a biological radar. After sensing the situation inside the dark tunnel for a moment, Lisa immediately explained.
Because they had entered the interior of the lab,
The enclosed environment significantly hindered Lisa's sensing abilities. Consequently, she could only sense within a range of several dozen meters. Even so, it was a massive help to Javier and the others!
"That's enough."
"Stick to the original formation. Chris, let's go!"
Hearing Lisa's words, everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief. Javier then instructed Chris to organize the team to continue their advance.
The formation remained as before:
Chris took the lead, with Jill and Sheva providing cover fire. Javier and his two companions stayed tucked in the back, looking a bit like a 'four-protect-one' setup.
Though such a formation appeared selfish,
In reality, it was 'one-protecting-four.' Chris and the other two were merely 'lab rat' decoys to draw attention. When real danger was encountered, Javier's trio would be the ones to step in and handle it.
*Tap, tap, tap...*
*Tap, tap, tap...*
Stepping into the dark escape passage,
The sound of their footsteps echoed in the silent space. Chris and the others should have been very familiar with this kind of situation,
As they had walked through countless identical escape passages before. Unfortunately... there is no such thing as 'proficiency' when it comes to fear.
Each instance of fear feels fresh; even similar scenes remain spine-chilling. Thus, Chris and the other two still acted with extreme caution in this environment.
Fortunately,
Just as Lisa had sensed,
There were no signs of any biological presence within the escape passage. They reached the end of the tunnel without discovering anything unusual.
But...
Their good luck ended there!
"Wait..."
"There are signs of life on the ceiling ten meters ahead to the right outside the passage, and the life energy reaction is very intense."
"Besides that, there are biological energies moving in many other directions. Get ready; combat is likely to start immediately."
Just as they reached the exit,
Lisa didn't hesitate to reach out and stop everyone, calmly reporting the news. This sudden intel made everyone's hearts sink.
Although they knew they would face a fierce battle,
When it actually arrived, they couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness. Humans subconsciously try to avoid cruel reality, even when they are mentally prepared.
However,
Just as Javier had said before,
They had no choice. After confirming there were a large number of bio-monsters outside the escape passage, Chris was still the first to step out of the door,
Locking his gaze onto the object on the right ceiling. That was the high-energy lifeform Lisa mentioned—an incredibly powerful bio-monster. Such things had to be focused down and eliminated first.
Yet,
When Chris actually stepped out of the escape passage,
He found the situation was even worse than he had imagined. The environment before him wasn't a pure white lab smelling of disinfectant, nor was it a hall of unobstructed white walls.
Instead, it was a warehouse infested with bio-monsters.
The surrounding facilities were all rusted, and the environment was exceptionally filthy. And on the ceiling to the right that Lisa had mentioned,
There hung a massive, tumor-like fleshy cocoon.
The object gestating inside was constantly writhing. Like the suckers of an octopus, this fleshy tumor clung tightly to the warehouse ceiling, while a pool of transparent white slime constantly dripped down from above, looking incredibly disgusting!
Not only that,
Looking around,
Chris even saw several figures darting through the corners of the warehouse. They were a few Wire Spiders; he hadn't expected to see traces of them here after they had blocked off such a massive army of them earlier.
"Shh—!"
"Jill, use your Barrett sniper rifle to shoot down that fleshy tumor above. Sheva... concentrate all fire on the cocoon on the ceiling. There's a high-energy lifeform hidden inside; we have to deal with it first."
Turning around,
Chris whispered instructions to Jill and Sheva, while pointing to the massive fleshy cocoon on the ceiling not far away.
It hung there firmly like a giant web built by a spider, and the faintly visible writhing thing inside was one of their enemies. If they could eliminate it now, it would undoubtedly reduce a lot of pressure.
"No problem!"
Seeing this,
Jill didn't say another word,
Immediately hoisting the heavy barrett heavy sniper rifle. After checking the two remaining rounds in the magazine, she didn't hesitate to bolt the gun and chamber a round,
Aiming the crosshairs at the giant fleshy cocoon overhead. Beside her, Sheva also quickly raised her handgun.
Her primary weapon was a shotgun,
Which dealt limited damage to distant targets, so using her compact and efficient handgun was more effective at this time.
"..."
"That fleshy cocoon... if I remember correctly, it looks like... a Reaper's cocoon?"
Watching the cocoon Chris and the others were preparing to attack, Javier rubbed his chin and thought for a moment, unable to help muttering to himself. If he remembered correctly... this was the Reaper, a derivative monster of the ouroboros virus.
Reaper—
An insectoid monster formed when cockroaches were infected by an accidental leak of the ouroboros virus. Under the influence of the virus, the Reaper can secrete a special chemical substance that affects the prey's optic nerves, blurring their vision and making them easier to catch.
The Reaper's carapace is incredibly hard, impenetrable by most firearms. Its weakness lies in the yellowish-white pustules grown on its abdomen and back, catalyzed by the ouroboros virus...
It's a hybrid monster somewhere between a mantis and a cockroach, possessing sharp, scythe-like forelimbs like a mantis.
It has two pairs of these sharp scythe-like limbs—four in total—while its hind legs are incredibly thick. Its head is hard and small.
Possessing extreme predatory capabilities, high speed, high attack frequency, strong defense, and terrifying strength, it is undoubtedly a powerful 'all-rounder' warrior.
It was also the only satisfactory product released by Tricell. They had always been overshadowed by Umbrella Corporation's BOWs, but now they finally had a masterpiece of their own, and that masterpiece was the Reaper!
At the same time,
This creature also foreshadowed the final outcome of the Ouroboros Virus Project—!
Because the Reaper was just a common cockroach that mutated after being infected by the leaked ouroboros virus, evolving to its current massive size. Aside from still lacking an advanced, intelligent brain, it could be called a perfect evolution.
Looking at all of Tricell's experimental data, so far, not a single human had managed to complete a fusion with the ouroboros virus.
Not even a partial fusion. Such suffocatingly failure-ridden data had somehow achieved success in an insect.
This was enough to prove the truth of what Javier had said before: the ultimate beneficiary of Wesker's Ouroboros Virus Project might not be humanity,
But rather the other organisms on Earth.
In the future... humans might go extinct, only to be occupied and replaced by other, more resilient creatures. That was the end game—!
*Crack...!*