"I see. It's alright, I'll be careful. If you don't want to come, then stay here. I'll come back for you after I've handled things," Eddie suggested.
"No problem, be careful on your way. Thank you very much for your rescue!" Ms. Frolay smiled.
"By the way, I wanted to ask you something. You seemed to be on guard against something just now. I'd like to know what happened? Was someone taking advantage of the situation?" Eddie frowned.
Ms. Frolay hesitated for a moment, then slowly said, "That's right, there's a gang of hooligans and ruffians in this area. They often commit crimes around here. Many hooligans are released after being caught and then continue their activities. The agents have no solution."
"Not long ago, a group of them tricked a nearby store into opening, then they murdered the male owner and did terrible things to the female owner. I was worried that you might be that group, which is why I didn't speak up. I'm sorry, I was just too scared," Ms. Frolay said apologetically.
"So that's how it is. You did nothing wrong; the environment is to blame. One must always be wary of others, and as a single lady, protecting yourself is very important," Eddie nodded. "However, it seems we have some trouble."
Four or five hooligans emerged from the elevator. They were still alive, but they were sneaky and clearly not good people, all covered in tattoos. Tattoos like these can't be washed off, and normal people wouldn't get them. In high society, there are almost no successful individuals with tattoos.
Ms. Frolay was somewhat frightened. "It's them! Let's run, they're the ones causing trouble, we need to run quickly, they'll kill people!"
"Are you very afraid of them?" Eddie's expression was playful. Even if they were alive, some people were scum and didn't deserve to live.
"Let's go quickly, or if they catch us, we'll be in trouble, and your female companion will also be humiliated." Ms. Frolay's voice trembled slightly; it was clear she was genuinely terrified.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here, you won't get hurt!" Eddie's voice was calm. He patted Ms. Frolay's shoulder and stood in front of her.
Ms. Frolay felt she was being overly nervous. Although the man in front of her wasn wasn't tall, he gave her a strong sense of security.
The thuggish leader walked forward, with his subordinates behind him carrying machetes and baseball bats, pointing a gun at Eddie. "You, get lost, leave those two women. Hehehe!"
"Do you think you're so great? Has anyone been killed by you around here?" Eddie's voice was ice-cold. He detested such despicable thugs; they were a disgrace to even hooligans.
"So what? You brat, you want to be a hero? Today, I'm in a good mood, so get lost. Flora, you stinking bitch, you finally came out. Today I'm going to make you taste my power!" the thug leader said viciously.
"Calero, I'd rather die than yield to you, you scumbag! You killed the Khan family across the street, you degenerate, you'll be shot sooner or later!" Ms. Frolay angrily cursed him. When fear reaches a certain point, it can turn into anger.
"Oh, so what? Soon you'll also experience that feeling, I guarantee you won't forget it, haha!" Calero laughed loudly.
"Don't you know it's a time of crisis now? There are man-eating zombies everywhere. You're not escaping, but still committing crimes here. Do you really think justice will be delayed?" Eddie frowned. Robbing and plundering in a situation surrounded by zombies, do they still have any humanity?
"Heh heh, it's precisely because now is the best time. Have you seen any cops around? Justice? To hell with justice, get out of my way!" Calero sneered and pulled the trigger.
Ms. Frolay, terrified, hid behind Eddie. She thought Eddie had been shot, and instinctively dodged, using Eddie as a shield.
But under Eddie's full concentration, he saw the bullet slowing down, reaching a near-still state. He wondered if he had evolved after using the serum, his genes further integrating.
He reached out and caught the bullet!
Time seemed to instantly return to its origin, and bullet time passed. Eddie's posture of catching the bullet with his bare hands, the bullet gleaming with a cold light under the lamp, shocked all the thugs in front of him!
Catching a bullet with bare hands, it seemed utterly unbelievable. Calero, after being shocked, reacted with immense shame and anger, refusing to believe it was real. "You're lying, don't be scared! This is the age of science, do you think you're in a movie? Die!"
Bang, bang, bang! A pistol magazine of fifteen bullets, all fired, and all caught by Eddie!
Eddie's eyes were bloodshot, just like Jessica's when she used the Progenitor Virus. "Heh heh, making a movie? Ignorant idiot, you will die, and then you won't leak this secret!"
Whoosh! Eddie stomped on the floor, and his entire body dashed out rapidly, like lightning. Their eyes simply couldn't keep up with his speed; he was too fast!
Chapter 220: A Hypocritical Protagonist
Eddie crushed the hearts of these scumbags, his eyes incredibly blood red. He could feel a tingling sensation in his bones and muscles. The T-Virus was invading his brain, and while enhancing his muscles, it was also corroding brain cells, which was not a good thing.
"Eddie, how are you? Do you need my help?" Jessica walked over, concerned.
Ms. Frolay stared, somewhat dazed, and kept backing away. "Are you a devil or a human?" Those blood-red eyes were terrifying. She felt her strength leaving her legs.
The serum brought immense power, but also a violent tendency to attack, making one want to tear everything in sight into pieces. To gain power, one must bear the corresponding consequences.
"Do you want to report me? Hmph, don't even think about revealing my secret!" Eddie grabbed Ms. Frolay, preventing her from escaping, and dragged her along.
Eddie and Jessica returned to the original coffee shop. Jessica was carrying an extremely weak woman, none other than Ms. Frolay, whom they had rescued earlier.
"I'm back. Sorry to have kept you waiting," Eddie said with a smile, showing no trace of the madness brought on by the serum evolution and mutation earlier.
Svetlana seemed to sense something, her expression a half-smile. "Everything's resolved? Get over here and eat."
Jessica placed Ms. Frolay on a chair, and she and Eddie began to eat continuously. Claire, meanwhile, was resting for a moment. The encounters of the night were like a nightmare for her, and no matter how strong-hearted she was, necessary rest was still needed.
Ms. Frolay also persevered, silently eating a burger to regain her strength. Without eating something, she might faint from excessive physical exertion. If Jessica hadn't carried her, she would have been almost unable to move.
When Claire woke up, the first thing she saw was Eddie eating frantically, merely gulping down food without chewing much. "Eddie, you're back? It's good to see you're alright."
"I'm fine. Did you rest well? We need to go to the orphanage. I've rescued the people, and the orphanage is very dangerous, but it's even more dangerous here. Do you want to go? If not, I'll find a safe room for you all to wait, then I'll come back for you after I'm done." Eddie asked.
Claire shook her head. "No, I want to go with you, I can help you!" She then picked up the grenade launcher beside her and gestured with it.
Heaven knows why a female college student would know how to use a grenade launcher?
"Alright, then let's go. This is Ms. Frolay. I just rescued her from a group of thugs. Luckily I arrived quickly, otherwise, a tragedy would have occurred." Eddie embellished the lie.
Ms. Frolay, meanwhile, silently lowered her head and ate her burger. She had witnessed Eddie's power and strength and dared not say much. Moreover, to leave safely now, the only thing she needed to do was keep quiet.
Claire was furious after hearing the story. "I can't believe there are such scumbags in the city, it's truly hateful!"
"So I killed them all. Threatening others in this situation, especially a woman, is worse than being a scumbag," Eddie said righteously.
Ms. Frolay lowered her head, not daring to compliment Eddie's words. He spoke as if he himself was a righteous gentleman, yet he was doing the same things. The difference was that Eddie was younger, more handsome, and much stronger than Calero and those thugs.
"I support you. If it were me, I might at most give them a slap," Claire still had some tenderness.
"When you encounter scumbags, you must kill them when necessary. If they are forced into it, that can be forgiven, but if not, then kill them directly." Eddie had no mercy whatsoever. Being a goodie-two-shoes was not his style; being a bad person was his idea.
Claire neither agreed nor disagreed. Everyone has their own standards of conduct.
Ms. Frolay was still very weak. She was supported by Jessica. If it weren't for her helping Eddie stabilize the side effects of the serum evolution, Jessica would not have supported her. It was already good enough that she didn't twist her neck.
The five found a decent SUV on the street and drove to the orphanage. This place was originally for charity, but after Brian conspired with Umbrella, it became a testing ground.
At the substation on the other side, the Echo Six Team restored the power system and added safety devices to prevent further sabotage.
Outside the substation, Nemesis had temporarily retreated, and the driver, Brad, had also disappeared; otherwise, Nemesis would not have left.
Thanatos Tyrant was covered in wounds. He was powerful, but against Nemesis, who was infected with the Alpha Parasite, he was clearly no match. The combination of various weapons alone left Thanatos Tyrant unable to raise his head.
"This is the Echo Six Team. We have restored the substation. Requesting next instructions," Jeddingham called out.
"Command received. Your next objective is to go to Spencer Memorial Hospital in Raccoon City to find the recovery fluid to repair Thanatos Tyrant. And to find the way to Umbrella's underground research facility to search for Umbrella's criminal evidence. This Raccoon City crisis is deeply related to them," the Command's communicator said.
"Echo Team received," Jeddingham responded.
"Guys, our next step is to go to Spencer Memorial Hospital to repair that thing." Jeddingham finished and then nodded towards the damaged Thanatos Tyrant.
This sounded ridiculous, but without Thanatos Tyrant, probably only the enhanced Caroline among the members of the Echo Six Team would have survived.