"No, this thing cannot survive in the air. So there's no need to worry, but the water here is undrinkable." Eddi reminded them. Other viruses might, but T-Virus couldn't.
In the first half, Eddi and the others encountered zombies along with various mutated and infected monsters. But in the latter half, nearing the sulfuric acid pool, the area was still filled with scarred Hunters.
These Hunters, similar to lizards, were bipedal biological weapons that seemed to have gone mad. Except for not attacking their own kind, even if zombies stood in their way, they would be smashed to pieces by their sharp claws.
Eddi frowned. These things were very difficult to deal with. Their skin was covered in scales, which could effectively deflect bullet attacks. Unless it was a large-caliber machine gun, ordinary pistol bullets would only tickle them.
"Ah!" An agent, not paying attention, was directly split in half by a Hunter hiding on the roof.
The surrounding team members immediately opened fire. The Hunter's speed was very fast, but facing a storm of metal, at close range and against multiple submachine guns, it was riddled with holes!
"Damn it, Dale. Oh, God, we've lost another man." Kevin took off the other party's medal, a mark of identification.
"No time for grief. Pick up your guns. There are still plenty of monsters. Let their lives pay the price." Eddi reprimanded. He felt no sorrow for the deaths of the others; he wasn't close to them, so what was there to be sad about?
Everyone continued to advance. Just as Eddi passed a door, it opened, and surprisingly, it was a Hunter that opened it, twisting the doorknob with its claws, clearly showing some intelligence!
Eddi was startled. As the Hunter launched its attack, he delivered a kick!
Faster than Eddi was Jessica! Constantly watching over Eddi's safety, the moment the Hunter appeared, she had already kicked it, sending it flying out.
Svetlana's eyes flickered. This woman seemed to be extremely loyal in her mission to protect Eddi, having made it an instinct.
"You all continue forward. I'll collect some samples." Eddi waved his hand, signaling the others not to follow.
Entering the room, it was a dormitory with several corpses lying on the floor. As Eddi walked in, these corpses quickly stood up, their scarlet skin indicating their identity as Raging Zombies.
Jessica and Lisa simultaneously grabbed a zombie each, lifted them up, extracted samples, then twisted forcefully, severing the zombies' heads.
The Hunter, having been kicked and embedded in the wall, was still struggling. It wanted to get up and continue fighting, as if the serum had given it strength while also making it exceptionally berserk.
"Jessica, how much force was in that kick?" Eddi was very curious. Was the effect of the Progenitor Virus that incredible? If Jessica were a bit smarter, she might even catch up to Wesker.
"I don't know." Jessica replied simply, seemingly unaccustomed to speaking.
"You'd know if you took a kick." Svetlana sneered.
"Woman, don't get too cocky, or I'll have Lisa and Jessica grab you, and you'll be in a lot of trouble. You know what the inspection report shows." Eddi felt he had to curb this woman's arrogance, otherwise, how could he be the boss later?
Svetlana turned her head and said nothing. She didn't believe she could escape the combined efforts of Lisa and Jessica. These two women were more powerful, especially Lisa. She had always suppressed her strength, and if she unleashed it, a punch from her could genuinely be fatal.
Chapter 165: Moira, Not Panicking in the Slightest
Eddi picked up a test tube gun and jabbed a needle into the Hunter's head to extract a sample. "These serums have undergone very severe mutations. It seems experiments cannot often stagnate, otherwise, we might be eliminated."
"That's your business. Don't you enjoy doing research? With Rebecca and Christine Yamata helping you, isn't that what you want? You can even do whatever you want, I think they wouldn't refuse." Svetlana sneered.
"Come on, I'm a respectable person! It's just that all the geniuses I've met are women, so I recruited them." Eddi defended himself righteously.
Svetlana, however, was unimpressed, clearly knowing what kind of person he was. It was no exaggeration to say that with just one movement, she could tell if he wanted to go to the restroom or fart.
The Hunter, after having its sample extracted, became very weak and was stomped to death, its head crushed under Lisa's high heel.
Eddi looked at his full samples. These were all mutated T-Virus. If he could find some data on the enhanced T-Virus developed by William, that would be even better, giving him more confidence for a second enhancement.
Kevin's team, supported by heavy firepower, advanced all the way to the sulfuric acid pool. Nikolai's mercenary squad did the same, and both sides suffered casualties.
Besides ordinary zombies, there were also Raging Zombies. These zombies would lie on the ground playing dead, then suddenly stand up and bite when prey walked by. Such sudden attacks caught the unprepared off guard, and a bite meant certain death.
The original sulfuric acid pool was used to immerse treated experimental subjects for complete destruction. The new gas solution had already been put into use. To continue the destruction work, the monsters here had to be cleared first.
When Eddi arrived at the sulfuric acid pool, he found everyone attacking a giant vine plant. The thick bark was shredded by bullets but remained incredibly tough.
The vine seemed to have a unique hunting habit. A sweeping whip of a vine would send any team member who didn't dodge flying. The immense force could even shatter bones and cause internal bleeding.
Kevin, with Leon, was using flamethrowers to burn these vines, but the efficiency was low. The vines would constantly wave, reducing the time they were exposed to fire.
"Damn it, these things are so hard to burn to death!" Kevin shouted.
"There must be some special way to get rid of it!" Leon responded.
Nikolai had a miniature camera on his shoulder to record the combat situation. "Try various weapons. We haven't encountered anything like this either."
No one knew he was an overseer, responsible for collecting combat data on biological weapons for Umbrella in exchange for money.
And mercenaries were very unreliable. For money, they could betray their employer in a flash, showing no regard.
"Didn't we see this thing last time in the Arklay Mountains?" Svetlana frowned. It was the plant seen in the abandoned sanatorium, an infected cannibalistic vine that supported the sanatorium from collapsing.
"It doesn't seem to have a core here! Retreat!" Eddi frowned. The next moment, he suddenly pulled Svetlana backward. The ground suddenly cracked open, and below, a large number of vines were waiting for bait to fall.
Svetlana raised her delicate eyebrows. "I know it's dangerous, but can you take your hand off me? You bastard!"
"In such a moment of life and death, words are pale. Quick action is what matters; there's no time to dawdle." Eddi retorted with a serious expression.
This annoyed Svetlana a bit. This man really wouldn't miss any opportunity. "Hmph, you'd better think about how to deal with that big monster."
"You're overthinking it. That's their business, not mine. Just watch the show!" Eddi shook his head. This was indeed not his business. It was better to observe more. Being eager to help others? That was Chris, not Eddi.
The flamethrower's effect was mediocre and couldn't harm the core. Grenades and explosives could only break off some vines. The plant's defense was too hard; it was very difficult to hit the core.
Monsters infected with T-Virus didn't have very obvious weaknesses. If they were humans, a headshot could solve it. But plant-type biological weapons were more difficult to deal with, as their cores were underground.
"Kevin, I see a bottle of herbicide nearby. I wonder if it will work." Leon found a bottle of an agent in a nearby storage room.
Kevin frowned, also doubting its effectiveness. He took the agent and looked at it. "Hmm, this seems to be a special herbicide, different from other brands. It's specially produced by Umbrella. Let's try it, but we need to find the roots."
A rocket launcher shell flew out, hitting one of the uppermost buds. In an instant, the ground seemed to tremble a few times.
"That must be the core!" Marvin pointed at the four-story-high bud and said.
"Why don't we call in helicopters for aerial bombardment? If there are enough bullets, it should be able to kill it!" Eddi suggested.
"Alright." Marvin nodded, picked up the walkie-talkie, and said, "Brian, it's your time to shine."
Was this pilot actually Brad, who had fled the scene? Fearing accountability from Umbrella, he had consistently distanced himself from the former S.T.A.R.S. members, not even attending their farewell party.
At this moment, Moira carried a rocket launcher, looked through the scope with one eye, and pulled the trigger with her delicate finger. The shell, with its fiery tail, flew out and accurately hit the plant's bud.
The attacked bud immediately began to rage, and the ground trembled a few times. Clearly, it was enraged from being hit in a sensitive spot. Even without making a sound, the vibrating ground made people feel extremely panicked.
Splat! A vine directly smashed a mercenary who couldn't dodge into a pulp. The previously docile vines began to wildly lash out, leaving no safe place within a twenty-meter radius.
In the sky, two helicopters aimed at the giant plant, and their mounted large-caliber machine guns began to rotate. Tat-tat-tat! Two metal storms of bullets continuously attacked the plant bud that had been bombarded by the rocket launcher. Even obscuring it with vines was useless.