The male members of his family all had experience serving in the military. From the time Piers began to form memories, he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and become an outstanding soldier.
And Piers was indeed an excellent soldier, demonstrating exceptional talent during his time in the service.
Whether it was basic firearm marksmanship or close-quarters combat, including on-the-spot reactions and command capabilities, he was incomparably excellent; he was also a sniping genius. Seeing this, Chris transferred Piers to his side.
Upon learning of Chris's deeds, Piers also deeply respected and admired this legendary hero of the BSAA.
He hoped to one day become Chris's successor, and Chris himself thought very highly of Piers, grooming him as his heir.
At the same time,
Piers was also a 'true man' in Resident Evil 6.
He injected the c-virus and mutated to save his captain, Chris, and ultimately sacrificed himself to give Chris a chance to survive. He was both Chris's pride and a lifelong pain in Chris's heart.
...
On the other side—
In the Republic of Edonia,
In a city torn by civil war, a group of mercenaries was waiting for the distribution of equipment from their employer, the Revolutionary Army.
Wherever there is war, there are bound to be mercenaries. Whether it's a chaotic skirmish, a national conflict, or a civil war, as long as there is fighting, mercenaries will be there.
And mercenaries were born for this very purpose.
They risk their lives for money, joining various countries and military factions during wartime, regardless of who the enemy is.
As long as the price offered is high enough, they can be hired. The profession of a Mercenary is to rely on war to make a living.
Mercenaries often join weaker nations to serve as part of their military force because weaker nations will offer higher payment amounts.
As long as they can survive on the battlefield, they've made a profit.
Although joining a weaker nation means they might be annihilated by a powerful one, wealth is found in danger—that is their way of survival.
Moreover... unless the sides are evenly matched or a power is weak,
A nation generally won't hire them. After all, a powerful nation's strength is already sufficient; with their own regular army, why would they hire other private armies to help them fight?
Just like Russia and Ukraine, the only destination for mercenaries is the weak Ukraine; a powerful Russia has no need for such things as mercenaries!
Therefore,
Within the Republic of Edonia,
The ones who spent money to hire this group of mercenaries were precisely the Revolutionary Army.
For the sake of their rebellion, they could even afford to buy BOWs, let alone these even cheaper mercenaries.
Step, step, step...
Step, step, step...
"Hurry up, everyone come here to collect your equipment. The Government Forces have sent more and more troops to suppress us. I need you to infiltrate the city for urban combat and eliminate as many Government Forces as possible. These are your weapons and gear."
"Additionally... these are nutritional supplements provided by the Revolutionary Army, which are also stimulants. Everyone must inject them before heading to the battlefield, otherwise, don't even think about leaving here."
A series of hurried footsteps rang out.
A group of fully armed Revolutionary Army soldiers burst into the abandoned, unfinished building. Seeing the lazy mercenaries inside who lacked any sense of execution or discipline, they immediately fired shots into the air and shouted.
These mercenaries came from all over the world, so a lack of discipline was perfectly normal.
After all, they were just a bunch of riff-raff; it was good enough that they could serve as cannon fodder.
So the Revolutionary Army didn't care too much. They ordered a group of soldiers to bring out all the prepared equipment. In addition to basic bulletproof vests and firearms, there was an extra white needle syringe.
Injecting stimulants is a common trick used in war.
It can soothe the soldiers' fears, thereby achieving the effect of a cannon fodder charge. But most of these stimulants were neurostimulants like marijuana or morphine, not legitimate stimulants.
The mercenaries present didn't care about this, as they were all used to it.
Only one handsome young man among the mercenaries, with a buzz cut and a look closely resembling a young Wesker, frowned slightly as he watched everything. His name was Jake Muller, and he was also a Mercenary!
Volume 9 Resident Evil 6: Chapter 6 Compound Eye Demon
Jake Muller—
One of the mercenaries in the Far Eastern Republic of Edonia. Living on this land, the only thing he could do was be a Mercenary, helping people kill to earn commissions.
Jake Muller came from a single-parent family without a father. He didn't know who his father was, and since his mother suffered from a chronic illness, he had to shoulder the responsibility of caring for her.
Jake's family was not wealthy.
They could only maintain a basic livelihood, and because of this, his mother could never receive thorough treatment and was unable to recover.
However,
Mrs. Muller had done her best to support her family and nurture Jake as he grew up. Jake loved his mother dearly, but he couldn't understand why she was obsessed with the man who had abandoned them.
To say Jake disliked his father would be an understatement.
When Jake grew up, he became an anti-government Mercenary fighter. He wasn't interested in the anti-Government Forces' political demands.
The reason he risked his life for the anti-Government Forces was so his mother could receive better treatment. Unfortunately, shortly after Jake became a Mercenary, Mrs. Muller passed away due to her illness.
Afterward, Jake drifted through the world alone. He began to become numb and indifferent; all he considered was money, even though he didn't seem to be that short of it...
There was once a Mercenary who taught Jake various firearm techniques and combat, making him feel a father's warmth.
But unfortunately,
That Mercenary was actually just a double agent. Having been betrayed, Jake became unwilling to trust anyone; he only trusted money. Only money could give him a sense of security.
Money was the only remaining belief he had in the world.
If there ever came a day when he didn't believe in money, it would either be because he had a new faith and goal, or because he had been betrayed again!
Regarding Jake's mother,
There wasn't much information on Mrs. Muller, other than that she was born in Edonia, had moved to the United States for a while, then became pregnant with Wesker's child, and later gave birth to Jake in secret.
But because of this, Muller developed a chronic illness.
This was likely due to the progenitor virus. For an ordinary human woman to give birth to an infant with such powerful genes, there would inevitably be a degree of backlash, making the mother's body weak...
However, Javier was even more curious about what kind of beauty Jake's mother must have been to actually conceive Wesker's child.
It was simply incredible.
And if Wesker were still alive, one wondered what his expression would be if he knew he had an illegitimate son.
Had he known earlier, back on the ocean freighter in West Africa,
Javier would have first told Wesker that he had an illegitimate son still living, and then let Chris destroy him with the satellite laser beam...!
At the same time,
Jake had indeed inherited Wesker's excellent genes.
That handsome, cold face was very similar, especially those ruthless eyes. It was just a pity Jake kept a clean buzz cut; if he had slicked-back hair and a pair of pitch-black sunglasses, it would probably look like Wesker had been reborn...
"What the hell is this?"
"It's completely different from common stimulants."
At this moment,
Jake collected the equipment provided by the Revolutionary Army.
He put on the bulletproof vest, followed by an assault rifle, a pistol, and a dagger; these were his entire kit.
It was very crude, without even a helmet, but Jake didn't seem surprised; on the contrary, he was very much used to it.
After all,
Many people might misunderstand the profession of a Mercenary.
Thinking that mercenaries are all those well-equipped foreign corporate soldier types who only use their own gear and have excellent tactical command.
Such mercenaries do exist,
But not all mercenaries are like that. There are also some riff-raff mercenaries, such as the group Jake was in.
They were more like a mix of local thugs and hooligans.
They had no organizational discipline, and serving as mercenaries was just to make a living. Therefore, they didn't have much sophisticated equipment; going to the battlefield relied entirely on scavenging and being ruthless.
If you captured an enemy's weapon, then it became your wealth.
Other than that, the Revolutionary Army would only provide some of the most basic weapons. Having an assault rifle was already considered good; it was lucky they didn't pull out a Type 38 Arisaka from the World War II era for you to use.
Furthermore,
The Revolutionary Army was still just the Revolutionary Army. They were only a group of troops organized by civilian forces. Even if they had the backing of some big financial conglomerate, they couldn't be compared with the regular Government Forces.
Not to mention their main weapon strength was BOWs,
Not humans. Human weaponry didn't need to be too sophisticated.
Mercenary weapons were even more of a casual afterthought. After all, the Revolutionary Army only treated these mercenaries as cannon fodder.
It was just like the Yellow Turban Rebellion in ancient times.
They tied a yellow cloth and went to the battlefield. Their weapons were all farm tools like hoes, shovels, pitchforks, sickles, billhooks, and kitchen knives.
Moreover, they would sharpen bamboo to use as spears and head to battle. There was no armor at all, only plain cloth clothes. Such equipment covered almost eighty percent of the Yellow Turban Army.
Did you think every soldier wore iron armor to the battlefield? How could that be... with a hundred thousand people and a hundred thousand sets of armor, who could afford to maintain that!
Therefore,
The Mercenary group Jake and the others were in often received this kind of treatment. Jake, who had been knocking around the Mercenary industry for many years, was long familiar with this situation.
The only thing that made him feel puzzled was that white needle syringe. It was actually different from other stimulants; he had never seen that model before.
Jake had also injected stimulants before.
Most contained some kind of drugs, but strangely,
He had never become addicted to those things, not even once.
So even though he knew drugs were bad, Jake had never refused them, because they were indeed good for sharpening the mind.
Similarly,
"Hehe..."
"This is some good stuff. It just so happens I've been holding back for a long time."
The rest of the Mercenary group was also very interested in this thing, because these thugs and hooligans more or less had a history of drug use.
Furthermore, some lunatics became mercenaries specifically to inject this stuff. After all, employers would mostly distribute it; it was as common as military rations.
Therefore,
Without any hesitation,
Under the watchful eyes of the Revolutionary Army, many mercenaries around also picked up the white needle syringes and jabbed them into their wrists.
Some bolder ones jabbed them into their necks. Compared to the wrist, the absorption speed in the neck was faster, and the rush was more intense.
Psh...
Jake didn't refuse either.
He picked up the syringe and immediately jabbed it into his neck. Along with the slow injection of the liquid, Jake didn't feel the expected rush.
Instead, nothing happened at all, which made Jake unable to help but frown. Could this stimulant be a fake!
After all, Jake could still distinguish the feeling of stimulants from the past.
Even the lowest-quality stimulant would give a jolt to the spirit, but this thing was like glucose; it had no flavor at all.
However,
Just as Jake was wondering if this thing might be a fake, the other mercenaries nearby underwent a mutation.
"Heh, heh, heh..."
"Hahaha... Ah...!!!!"
Just after the white needle syringes were jabbed into their necks for injection, the expressions of this group of mercenaries, who were still craving the tingling sensation of drugs, immediately changed.
One after another, their bodies stiffened as they dropped the syringes in their hands, their entire bodies shivering incessantly as they panted in low, ragged breaths.