They all began to focus intently on devouring the delicacies before them, completely forgetting that they were still very likely to face an assassination attempt tonight.
"Mmm..."
"Javier, the lobster here tastes pretty good, you should try some...!"
With her mouth stuffed with lobster meat, Rebecca noticed Javier was just slowly sipping red wine on the side.
She immediately stuffed a piece of peeled lobster into Javier's mouth to recommend it, fearing that Javier, as the host, wouldn't eat anything.
"It's fine, you two can just take your time eating."
"No one is going to steal your food. If it's not enough, you can call the waiter for more. I won't eat for now because the people are almost here. Once everyone is gathered and we've finished talking business, I'll start eating."
Looking at the lobster Rebecca held to his mouth, her blinking, cute large eyes, and her bulging cheeks, Javier couldn't help but give a helpless smile as he declined.
This girl's ability to act cute was truly top-tier.
What difference was there between a dignified female doctor and a hamster hoarding food right now? After turning Rebecca down, Javier looked behind the two of them.
In the dining area corridor of the five-star hotel,
he saw two familiar figures walking slowly towards them; those were the people Javier was waiting for.
"People..."
"Waiting for what people...?"
Hearing Javier's cryptic words, Rebecca, busy stuffing things into her mouth, muttered to herself in a daze of confusion.
By the time she turned her head,
she realized that, at some point, people from the BSAA had already arrived at the dining area of the five-star hotel they were in.
Although they were in civilian clothes,
without bulletproof vests or combat suits, the BSAA armbands on their sleeves were still clearly visible at a glance.
"Long time no see..."
"Piers, Jake. How is that guy Chris doing these days?"
Raising his eyes,
Javier looked at those two familiar figures and raised his wine glass in greeting.
That's right...
The people sent by the BSAA were none other than Piers and Jake.
With familiar faces, Piers still had his handsome pompadour hairstyle.
His face was handsome and solemn; dressed in a simple formal black jacket and white T-shirt, he looked even more stylish, like a male model.
In contrast, Jake beside him was much more unconventional.
He still had a buzz cut, a scar on his face, wore black sunglasses, and those same old suspenders.
He looked very much like some gang hoodlum.
The expression he had while wearing sunglasses did have a bit of Wesker's aura, but the buzz cut lacked the villainous vibe of a golden slicked-back look.
He was still a bit inferior. If not for their BSAA identification, these two might not have even been able to enter the hotel doors.
After Chris announced his retirement to the logistics department,
the positions of successors were taken up by Piers and Jake. The duo's cooperation was quite good. Piers, coming from a military family,
had good connections and background, with many supporters, while Jake Rose quickly through his ruthless and decisive methods.
The two worked together with very high efficiency.
After all, Piers handled matters on the surface, while Jake only needed to do the fighting. Because of their high mission completion rate and leadership abilities, Piers and Jake successfully Rose to the top,
inheriting Chris's position.
Currently, they were captains of a field squad, with about twenty squad members under their command, which was considered a very good prospect.
But the status of these two would definitely not stop there.
Carrying Chris's hopes, they were bound to climb to higher positions. Their ultimate goal was the high-level management of the BSAA, or even becoming the head of the BSAA.
So their current positions as squad captains
were just a transition for them; they couldn't stay in these positions forever.
And as it happened,
the handling of the New York outbreak incident was handed over to Piers and Jake, which was the real reason why everyone was meeting here!
"I didn't expect to run into you during this incident, Mr. Javier. Captain Chris was right; whenever something related to a bio-virus happens, your shadow is there nine times out of ten."
"This is our second meeting. My name is Piers Nivans, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am currently in charge of this incident. Mr. Javier, if you know the cause of the matter, please be sure to tell us!"
The moment he saw Javier,
Piers was indeed stunned. He hadn't expected Javier to appear here.
Thinking back to the words his captain, Chris, had once told him, Piers immediately snapped out of it.
At the same time, he was surprised by this pattern.
But surprise aside, Piers still maintained a great deal of respect when facing Javier. After all, this was a comrade-in-arms from the same era as his captain, Chris.
Having already served as a member of S.T.A.R.S in Raccoon City fifteen years ago, he could indeed be called their senior.
Addressing him with such respect was truly not an exaggeration.
After all, one must realize that fifteen years ago, he hadn't even enlisted yet;
he was still in school, a green kid. However, what made Piers feel confused was that,
compared to his own captain, Chris,
the Javier before him seemed a bit too young.
This made him unable to help but recall another rumor his captain Chris had mentioned, which was the rumor about the bio-virus.
"You were the ones who notified us at the BSAA, right?"
"Which one is Rebecca Chambers? If it's convenient, explain the attack on the Institute to us in detail."
"That place has currently been temporarily brought under control by our BSAA Squad members. They were all low-level zombies and have all been cleared out."
"But the most important thing right now is to find the mastermind, so we need to gather the information you know."
On the other side,
compared to the respect shown by his partner Piers,
Jake's tone here was very much in line with the law enforcement style of a BSAA member—a serious interrogation mode.
After all, his personality wasn't as rigid as Piers's, who was respectful to all leaders and superiors.
Jake was mostly casual and irreverent.
After all, he came from a background as a hoodlum. Of course... the main reason for this behavior was that Jake held quite a grudge against his old acquaintance, Javier.
Back in Lanshiang City,
Javier had made fun of his father and even sowed discord between him and Captain Chris.
The most frustrating part was,
Javier had ordered Sherry, his adopted daughter, to give him a severe beating.
And Jake himself couldn't win the fight, so the first impression was ruined. Now Jake always found Javier an eyesore, hence his very irritable temper.
Of course,
in reality, Javier also found Jake quite an eyesore.
Although Jake was the chosen son of the Resident Evil world and, like Rose, belonged to the top-tier combat power of the future Resident Evil universe,
even so,
it still couldn't hide the fact that this guy was a punk hoodlum. As a father figure, Javier would not allow a punk to ride in and snatch away the "cabbage" of his family,
only to turn around and call him an "old fogey". This was perhaps the real reason why the two found each other so distasteful!
"No need to search..."
"The mastermind this time is a bio-weapon smuggling Arms Dealer named Glenn Arias. Three years ago, during his wedding, he was attacked by a US Government drone strike, which killed his fiancée."
"But as the person involved, he luckily survived and intends to take revenge on the US Government and society, which is why he meticulously planned and designed this New York biohazard incident."
"The virus he deployed is called the animality virus, also known as the a-virus. It is divided into three strains: a latent strain, a trigger-berserk strain, and an inactivation strain. It works like a reactive poison."
"Infection with the first or second strain alone is fine, but sequential infection with both will turn one into a zombie. It's like how eating persimmons and crabs together causes an upset stomach; the a-virus utilizes this same principle."
"To deploy the a-virus, Glenn Arias specifically created a bottled water company to spread the virus through water sales. He also contaminated the water supply."
"Currently, about eighty percent of civilians in all of New York have already been infected with the first strain, and they are just waiting for the second strain to trigger it."
"Therefore, I suggest you start investigating the bottled water companies that have recently emerged in New York City over the last few years, and then follow the trail to find Glenn Arias."
"Additionally, there is a vaccine cure for this virus, which is the third inactivation strain I mentioned. The recently developed vaccine cure is currently with Rebecca."
"You can take it back to the BSAA for research. If it can reverse the zombie state, then mass-produce it and spray it into the air via planes."
"Also... Glenn Arias already knows about the existence of the cure. He plans to take Rebecca, the researcher of the cure, so I hope you can send some BSAA personnel to protect her safety."
Seeing Jake's displeased expression,
Javier shook his head slightly, not minding it.
He had rejected Jake before because of Sherry, but now that the two could no longer come into contact, Javier didn't care about those things anymore.
Thus, in the face of the inquiry, Javier didn't hold back,
divulging all the information. This didn't just surprise Piers and Jake,
even Rebecca, who was busy eating on the side, showed a shocked expression, as if saying, "What the... so you knew where those guys came from, Javier?!"
Of course, shock aside,
Piers quickly took down this information. After all, these intelligence reports were extremely important.
They could probably rival the results of half a month of investigation by their BSAA organization. This once again made Piers marvel at Javier's mystery.
At the same time, he finally understood what his old captain Chris meant when he told him:
"Javier is a miraculous guy; he knows more than you can imagine."
Simultaneously,
the snapped-to-reality Piers also realized the gravity of the situation.
A reactive virus, where it only takes effect when the first and second strains come into contact. If what Javier said was true,
at this very moment, tens of thousands of people in all of New York had already become carriers of the a-virus, just waiting for the second virus to be deployed.
At that time, tens of thousands of people in New York would all become zombies.
This was simply too terrifying. The severity of this matter was not small at all;
on the contrary, it was horrifying. They had to act quickly and spread the vaccine cure before the second strain was released!
Volume 10: Resident Evil Village, Vendetta: Chapter 11 - Civilized Progress
Half an hour later—
"Thank you for the information you provided, Mr. Javier."
"But I'm sorry, I'm afraid Jake and I won't have time to stay and protect you and Miss Rebecca."
"Because we need to take the vaccine cure to headquarters to confirm its feasibility. However, please rest assured."
"Next, I will have other members of the BSAA Squad take responsibility for protecting you. Investigation complete, thank you for your cooperation. Jake, let's go!"
After nearly half an hour had passed,
Piers finally got everything arranged. After collecting the information, he ordered the BSAA intelligence investigators to gather information on Glenn Arias,
and simultaneously investigate all bottled water companies established in New York City within the last three years.
He even ordered them to investigate the nearby tap water sources to see if there were any virus strains. Only after doing all this did Piers have time to thank Javier.