They arrived at the stadium through a secret passage nearly a kilometer long. It was early morning, and there were no spectators in the stadium, only a few sporadic players practicing. After all, there's that famous saying, 'Have you seen Raccoon City at three in the morning? I have!'
"Alright, Moira, take them back first. You all need to be equipped with a gun and a tactical dagger. Things might get a bit chaotic recently, so you must be careful. I haven't even started collecting my interest yet!" Eddie waved them off and started walking back.
"Wait, Eddie, you be careful too," Katherine said with some concern.
Moira gave a thumbs-up. "Don't worry, leave it to me. You better not die either; we'll be waiting for you to come back."
After seeing Moira and her group off, Eddie and Svetlana returned to the research institute the same way they came. By then, the institute was already a scene of carnage. The Hunters, controlled by William, were still relentlessly attacking any staff member bearing the Umbrella logo. With the main server stolen, these Hunters could no longer change commands and could only be destroyed on the spot.
Sergei grabbed a Hunter's head and crushed it with force. His right eye was always closed due to a scar, while his left eye gleamed ferociously. He was very displeased by the messy research lab. "Kill them all!"
As Sergei advanced, he noticed that many laboratory doors were closed. After opening them, he found many surviving researchers. "Take them to the General Hospital; they need manpower there."
He arrived at a laboratory specifically for studying Hunters. This one was also closed. Just as Sergei was about to open the door, it opened automatically.
"Oh, it's quite lively out here," Eddie said with a smile, walking out with Jessica and other female bodyguards behind him.
"What are you doing here?" Sergei frowned.
"Helping Ms. Alex complete some small tests. Things seem to be going well." Eddie didn't hide the fact that having a good wife had its perks. A high-ranking wife allowed him to use her influence as he pleased.
Chapter 177: Sergei Beats William
"William escaped, did you know? A man shot dozens of times and still not dead, actually running away—it's incredible." As Sergei said this, his eyes were fixed on Eddie, as if the other party held some unspeakable secret.
"Is that so? I had already anticipated it. It's obvious that a madman like him would either continue working here or defect," Eddie said indifferently, lighting a cigarette.
Sergei frowned; smoking wasn't a good habit. "How did you know? Have you had contact with him? You know about the G-Virus, right? Have you collected any virus samples?"
Eddie held up his index finger and wagged it. "I'm not familiar with William, but I'm quite familiar with his wife. Besides, the so-called virus is just a semi-finished product; I'm not interested in semi-finished products. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving. Let's have tea together sometime; my treat."
Sergei reached out to stop him, gesturing with a knife in his right hand. "Things here aren't over yet; no one can leave."
"Do you want me to stay and watch you fight monsters? I'm not interested in that. Rather than fighting monsters, I'd rather go back and play with those hot little kittens," Eddie chuckled, completely disregarding his image, as it was just a disguise anyway.
Sergei frowned. He decided to teach the other party a lesson. Just as he was about to act, he heard someone report, "Report, Minister! We found a monster in the sewers, it seems to be Dr. William. He's leading monsters to attack our research institute, and we can't hold out much longer!"
"Hmph, even if you can't hold out, you will hold out! Useless things, get out!" Sergei snorted, kicking away the reporting soldier, and walked towards the heavily affected area.
The northern area had become a disaster zone, with a large number of G-Monsters appearing like piles of dog feces. Special forces had to use heavy firepower to shatter them, but the soldiers on the G-Virus retrieval mission didn't have much heavy firepower, relying only on a limited number of grenades for bombardment.
Eddie followed Sergei, wanting to see what was happening.
As soon as they arrived in the northern area, special forces members, as if all their bones had been broken, were thrown out, hitting steel walls with undiminished force before collapsing to the ground.
Sergei found the large number of leeches and mutated cockroaches here very troublesome. This kind of situation had actually occurred! And he also saw Dr. William, who had already transformed into a monster, still holding an iron rod, with a huge red eye on his right arm, staring intensely.
"Umbrella!" When William saw the Umbrella logo on Sergei's shoulder, it further activated his few remaining vestiges of consciousness. Even as a clone, he still harbored a tiny spark of hatred for Umbrella.
Sergei snorted, delivering a hand chop to William's arm, neutralizing William's wild swing. At the same time, he unleashed a flying kick to William's heart, sending William flying. His movements were fluid and seamless, reacting and counterattacking in a very short time. He was indeed a seasoned veteran of the battlefield!
However, while William was sent flying, Sergei himself also retreated a few steps. Clearly, William in front of him was not as simple as he appeared on the surface; he must have undergone some degree of mutation, though his hair had thinned a bit. It seemed the flames hadn't burned much of his hair.
An Ivan-type Tyrant immediately shouldered a rocket launcher and fired a rocket at the monsters in the northern area. With the explosion of the shell, the scorching high temperature blew up many G-Monsters and mutated cockroaches. The other monsters affected by the blast also trembled, seemingly in a state of dizziness.
"Is this the effect of the G-Virus?" Sergei seemed to realize something. It was his first encounter with a G-Monster, and its strength was considerable, at least reaching eight hundred jin, or even a ton. The mutated right arm was a notable feature.
Bang bang bang! The special forces behind him immediately opened fire. This time, they brought battlefield submachine guns stored in the laboratory. The long barrels facilitated bullet acceleration and increased power, but they were not very convenient to carry.
"Hmph! Initiate the self-destruct sequence for the northern area." Sergei didn't even think about it before preparing for self-destruction. He still had a second form, but there was no need to transform into that grotesque appearance. He still needed to assist Spencer in achieving immortality, and he also yearned for further evolution. Transforming now would be destroying his own path; he wasn't that foolish.
Eddie watched from behind, nodding repeatedly. "Uncle Sergei, if I'm not mistaken, William must have used the G-Virus to become like this. It seems to be good experimental data. I'll leave this data to you; I won't steal your credit. I'll be leaving now."
"Hmph!" Sergei didn't answer. He also didn't want Eddie watching. Although he never trusted Eddie, he had to tolerate the brat's rudeness and arrogance out of consideration for Alex. Everything was for Spencer's immortality!
The G-Virus had no practical combat data research value unless it was modified. Otherwise, the virus would develop self-awareness and gradually devour the host's consciousness, which wouldn't be immortality, but rather courting death!
Furthermore, the G-Virus's unique multi-eyed monster attribute also made Eddie very uncomfortable. He could accept all kinds of beauties, but he couldn't accept multi-eyed monsters—they weren't even human.
He exited through the main entrance, pulling up his cloak's hood to hide his face, preventing reporters from taking pictures.
Back at the apartment, Moira and the others were already resting. January, Suzuki Yoko, and the caretaker Becca had already gone to the outskirts to deal with the Scarlet Witch's main computer issues on the large truck. Only professionals could determine if these things were damaged.
"Get ready, we need to leave. Raccoon City isn't safe these days," Eddie instructed.
"What's wrong, dear? Barry called earlier to suggest we get together tomorrow at Jack's Bar. We're leaving in such a hurry; can you leave Raccoon City now?" Jill walked over in high heels, setting down the coffee she had been drinking.
"I just said 'get ready.' It'll probably be in the next few days. Of course, I can leave, but I need to wait for the right moment. Don't worry, I'll handle it." Eddie looked at the rising sun outside the window, estimating that from now on, it would be Raccoon City's'sunset' period.
Chapter 178: Sewer Anomaly
As everyone knows, sewers are the dirtiest places, breeding large numbers of bacteria and many disgusting animals. Rats, cockroaches, mosquitoes, and even alligators can be found there.
Various animals are not uncommon here. In the Western Federation, many domestic pets, if they need to be discarded, are usually flushed directly down the toilet into the sewers, left to fend for themselves. After all, there's feces to eat and urine to drink in the sewers, so most pets can live quite comfortably.
The T-Virus that the William clone tried to take with him was privately enhanced by him, making it significantly more potent than ordinary serum. The price of increased power was a faster infection rate and a higher likelihood of activation. If it were dumped into a water source, it could cause incalculable consequences.
In just eight short hours, the sewer ecosystem had undergone a massive transformation. The original rats had grown to the size of small calves, and tiny cockroaches had become as large as small dogs. These infected creatures had grown significantly due to rapid metabolism and had become extremely ferocious and bloodthirsty.
The two sides, using the sewers as a battlefield, began to constantly slaughter and devour each other. Cockroaches gained the upper hand in this battle, pushing some rats out of the sewers, who reluctantly entered human kitchens.
The infected cockroaches lost their ability to reproduce, their numbers significantly reduced. While they normally would lay dozens, now they could only produce one or two.
Furthermore, these giant cockroaches also became prey for other creatures in the sewers. Giant spiders, the Weavers, that escaped from the Arklay Mountains lab, came to the sewers to hunt, retaining their web-spinning ability, and their silk was even stronger. Cockroaches that hit the spider silk could only wait to die.
And hidden in the sewers of Raccoon City were over a dozen alligators. These alligators became even more ferocious under the influence of the T-Virus. Although they hadn't mutated, the smallest ones had already reached ten meters in length. Such a terrifying sight could scare anyone who saw it to death.
These alligators directly devoured large numbers of cockroaches. Driven by hunger, the alligators had added cockroaches, rats, and even spiders to their diet.
It was thanks to these alligators that the cockroach population didn't reach terrifying numbers. Otherwise, given more time, even with a ninety percent reduction in reproductive capacity, the sheer number of these disgusting animals would have been overwhelming.
Soon, the Raccoon City branch received reports that workers who went for regular sewer maintenance had disappeared, lost contact, and couldn't be seen. Furthermore, the lights in the sewers had been damaged.
At the same time, an increasing number of citizens were visiting the Raccoon City General Hospital, all seemingly experiencing varying degrees of fever and coughing. As a result, even cold medicines in pharmacies were sold out.
Ironically, the pharmacies still displayed numerous Umbrella Corporation slogans: "All for you and your family"!
To turn customers into zombies? A bit ironic.
Eddie's apartment had stored large quantities of mineral water long ago, no longer drinking water from Raccoon City. God knows if those water sources were problematic. Not afraid of infection, but drinking problematic water sources would still feel very strange.
"Riot in North District, Cadostan Street! Requesting backup! Requesting backup!"
"Cannibalism patients in North District Lumber Mill! Requesting backup, requesting backup!"
"Riot at North District Football Stadium! Agents injured, requesting backup!"