Javier saw Jill watering flowers in the yard. He hadn't expected to run into her here.
He stayed for a while to catch up.
Jill mentioned that the scenery in this bay was beautiful.
So, she had used her savings to make a home here, intending to start her retirement. She hadn't expected it to be such a coincidence that Javier also lived near the bay.
Javier once asked Jill about her plans for the future.
Jill said she didn't have any; she would probably rest here for a while because it had the things she liked, the scenery she liked, and the person she liked.
To this,
Javier could only respond with silence.
The two chatted and reminisced for a long time.
It wasn't until evening that Javier slowly left, mentioning that if Jill had time, she could come over to visit; he would welcome her anytime.
As he left, Jill brushed aside the sweat-soaked hair near her cheeks.
In truth, she didn't know when she had suddenly developed feelings for Javier. Perhaps it was a long time ago.
Maybe it was when Javier saved her at the Mansion Villa, or when they depended on each other during the escape from Raccoon City.
When she was first transferred to the S.T.A.R.S squad, Jill wasn't particularly interested in Javier, who seemed quite cavalier.
She preferred talking with Chris, Barry, and the others because they were friends and very familiar with each other.
Initially, Jill even had a better impression of Chris because he was a very responsible man who took everything seriously. She preferred men with such a sense of duty.
But gradually,
She realized that feeling was just the trust between friends.
Therefore, she planned to start pursuing the person her heart truly liked. After all, joking aside, she was already thirty-six; if she didn't find a boyfriend soon, it really would be too late.
After saying goodbye to Jill,
Javier returned to the bay villa to continue his C-Virus experiments. As mentioned before,
After the C-Virus incident, the Resident Evil world would enter a relatively peaceful period. No major events would happen during this time, and the long lull would inexplicably make things feel quite boring.
However,
Javier seemed to have forgotten one thing.
Before that long period of peace could truly begin, there was still an emergency to handle: the outbreak in New York City, USA...
The US Government had used drones to bomb a wedding held by a bio-organic weapon arms dealer named Glenn Arias.
Several bombers had injured the arms dealer, who was illegally selling bio-weapons, and his bride, loved ones, and family were blown beyond recognition.
To take revenge against the US Government and society, Glenn Arias developed a new strain called the A-Virus.
He planned to spread the virus over New York City. This virus was as contagious as the flu and spread very quickly, but it wasn't extremely lethal, resulting in an epidemic-like bio-crisis.
Most people in New York City turned into obedient, walking-dead zombies. BSAA Captain Chris and US Government agent Leon went to stop him.
This also involved Rebecca, who was serving as a Doctor of Biology at a US Government biological research center.
Because her appearance was similar to Glenn Arias's late wife, Glenn Arias planned to use the virus to brainwash Rebecca in an attempt to reclaim his lost love.
After the familiar antagonist met his end,
The vaccine developed by Rebecca was successfully dispersed over New York City, restoring the health of countless innocent civilians infected with the A-Virus strain.
This was the first time a vaccine cure had successfully restored humans who had turned into zombies back to their original state. This plot,
Is precisely that of the animated film Resident Evil: Vendetta.
However, Javier currently seemed to have forgotten this, because at Rebecca's invitation, he was currently a guest drinking tea in her office at the biological Institute...
...
At this very moment,
US Government Biological Institute—
"Javier, how is it?"
"Have you been doing well lately? I heard you appeared in Lanshiang City, HK, not long ago. A Resident Evil outbreak occurred there with the newest C-Virus. Are you still sticking to your goal?"
Inside the pristine white office,
Rebecca, wearing a white lab coat and red-rimmed glasses, lightly lifted a cup of coffee from the desk and took a small sip.
After glancing at the data running normally on the computer, she turned her gaze toward the man sitting in front of her, asking in a tone that was calm yet slightly concerned.
Nowadays, Rebecca had become a Doctor of Biological Research for the US Government, officially holding a stable government position.
She was currently helping the US Government study various bio-viruses and trying her best to develop vaccines. Rebecca was indeed capable.
She had developed vaccine cures for the T-Virus and various derivative versions of it, which was why she was so highly valued by the US Government.
In the field of biology today,
Rebecca could be considered a genius. After all, she had originally been Javier's partner in the Raccoon City S.T.A.R.S squad.
She had a background in pharmacology from university,
And was skilled at compounding various medicines. But in just a few short years, Rebecca had entered the field of biology to create vaccine cures for the most difficult bio-viruses.
Her progress could be described as rapid, rivaling even the likes of Umbrella Corporation founders Marcus, Spencer, and William back in the day.
As for Rebecca's appearance,
She truly seemed to have an ageless, youthful face.
Rebecca was born in 1980. When Resident Evil 0 began, she was only 18. Now it was 2013, and she was 33.
Yet the marks of time hadn't left much of an impression on her face; she was still young and cute. That baby face and her short black hair still matched perfectly.
She didn't look old at all. As long as that familiar baby face remained, Rebecca's aura would always be that cute.
Because of their differing ambitions,
The original S.T.A.R.S partners had long since gone their separate ways.
Rebecca hadn't participated in missions to combat bio-hazards for about ten years, spending all her time in the lab conducting academic research.
Javier, due to his quest for immortality, had been continuously hunting viruses. Thus, the two people who were once closest,
Had now become the friends who saw each other the least.
After all, Javier could still run into people like Chris and Jill during missions, but Rebecca... that was indeed difficult.
If it hadn't been for the mission in the Amazon Rainforest requiring Rebecca's help as a pharmacology doctor, Resident Evil 0 might have been their last time as partners.
As for the goal of immortality,
Javier had actually told Rebecca about it, so she was very clear on his objective.
However, Rebecca didn't try to stop Javier because she believed such a thing indeed had a reason to exist.
After all, humanity had evolved through bold attempts step by step. Thus, although the topic of immortality was terrifying,
If it could truly be researched and developed,
Rebecca felt it would be a good thing for humanity. As a scholar, she had her own unique insights compared to others.
"Not yet..."
"I'm still missing the last piece of the puzzle. I've gathered the T-Virus, G-Virus, T-Veronica Virus, ouroboros virus, and C-Virus, but I'm still missing the final piece: the mold. I plan to continue searching tentatively; perhaps I'll find it in the near future."
Hearing Rebecca's concerned words, Javier shook his head to indicate he was fine, while also mentioning the final key puzzle piece he was missing.
As one of the few doctors of biology,
Javier and Rebecca had actually discussed many things in this area privately. Since he trusted Rebecca, he wasn't guarded about these topics.
After all, a friend he could talk to about this field was hard to find. Sometimes Javier would even ask Rebecca academic questions to exchange insights.
"mold...?"
"What is that? Can a bio-virus also produce mold?"
Hearing Javier's words, Rebecca frowned and asked curiously. In her philosophy,
A virus was a virus—a non-cellular organism. How could it be related to mold? Was the transmission method of this virus through mold spores?
"It's not,"
"mold is just mold, like the mold you usually see. But compared to viruses, which are organisms that parasitically inhabit cells, its vitality in nature is also very tenacious."
"A mold with infectious reproduction and strong regenerative abilities—in a sense, isn't it also very much like a virus?"
Facing Rebecca's question, Javier explained calmly. mold was exactly like that; it wasn't a bio-virus, but it possessed the characteristics of one, so it actually counted as a type of evolutionary power...
Volume 10: Resident Evil Village, Vendetta: Chapter 2 Mother Miranda
1918—
A massive influenza epidemic occurred in Spain.
A large number of innocent civilians died. An ordinary mother, Miranda, also unfortunately lost her child today: her beloved daughter, Eva.
In the same year...
The grieving Miranda discovered a miraculous organism, the "Mold Lord," in a cave.
It was a super-fungus naturally formed by the condensation of mold, possessing intelligence and self-awareness. Its specific origin was very mysterious.
Before Miranda discovered it,
The mold had already existed for hundreds of years.
Because of her close contact with the Mold Lord, Miranda was also infected by it, thereby gaining the power of immortality.
Having gained the power of the Mold Lord,
Miranda thought of her deceased daughter, Eva.
Thus, she attempted to use the Mold Lord's power to find a suitable vessel to resurrect her daughter Eva. She embarked on a long, lonely life of searching. This was the origin and true purpose of Mother Miranda.
But then again,
The location was Spain again. Did this place offend someone?
Not only was the Plaga parasite found here, but the Mold Lord was also discovered here. It's practically a sacred land of bio-hazards.
Speaking of which,
In 1918 Spain,
Did Mother Miranda never run into Sadler, the leader of The Illuminados, who was out swindling people? It feels like The Illuminados, who specialized in deception, would easily trick an ignorant and pitiful woman like Mother Miranda.
And what's worth complaining about is,
Mother Miranda's obsession with her daughter Eva was too deep. It was just one child. Instead of desperately thinking about how to resurrect her dead daughter Eva,
She should have thought about how to have another daughter herself. Although her whole body had turned into mycelium by then,
It might have been possible to use her own cellular DNA to give birth to a child, right? Even if that was impossible,
In 1918 Spain,
A woman couldn't have had only one child.
In the early twentieth century, population was a dividend; a family would only want to have more children. A woman who had just lost a daughter,
Had no need to be so grief-stricken; she could just have another one. Moreover, it was just a daughter; boys were more valued because they could serve as labor.
Of course,
Complaints aside,
The reason Miranda developed the obsession to resurrect Eva was that the moment she touched the Mold Lord's body, the memories of hundreds and thousands of people rapidly merged into her mind.
And when she placed Eva's corpse near the Mold Lord,
Assimilation occurred immediately, and Eva's memories also entered the Mold Lord's body. This gave Miranda a wild idea.
She planned to take a suitable vessel and put Eva's memories into it, so she could have a daughter who possessed her own memories and a similar appearance.
Although she wouldn't be the real Eva,
An Eva with her memories could barely count as her own daughter.