The explosion forced the giant worms out of the ground, their bodies torn open and full of holes.
"Shoot them! Throw your grenades!" Kevin shouted, giving the command. Gunfire and explosions echoed once again. Some of the officers even brought containers of fuel and poured them into the holes, setting the remaining worms on fire. The agonized screams of the monsters could be heard as they were roasted alive below.
"I don't think I'll be able to eat grilled meat after this…" Kevin said, feeling a bit nauseous from the smell.
"Yeah, same here," Leon replied, covering his nose. He couldn't stand the stench either.
"Well, that's a shame. I was planning to invite you guys for a BBQ once this mission was over," Allen said.
"Nah, I'll pass this time. At least let me recover from the trauma first," Kevin answered.
He then looked at Leon, who simply shook his head.
"I think I'm gonna need some rest after this too," he said.
Meanwhile, Svetlana simply looked around, observing everything that was happening while protecting her boss—and lover. Instead of being disturbed, she found herself wondering whether these monsters could actually be controlled. If bio-weapon creatures like these could be tamed, they would be perfect assets for civil wars or any kind of military operation.
But she knew Allen would never allow that so easily. If anything, it was clear that he really disliked B.O.W.s.
Bang!... Bang!... Bang!...
After the giant worms were finally dead, the R.P.D. officers moved forward again into the facility to wipe out the remaining zombies and monsters still inside.
But shortly after the officers entered, a new team arrived—soldiers in military gear with the Umbrella logo on their uniforms. They were Umbrella's private military unit, currently commanded by a man named Nicolai Zinoviev.
Nicolai walked straight toward Marvin, followed by several soldiers behind him.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nicolai Zinoviev. We're here under Umbrella's orders to assist you in clearing the waste-management facility," Nicolai said to Marvin.
Marvin, still confused why Umbrella personnel were suddenly involved, could only choose to confirm things with Brian first.
"Sorry, but could you wait a moment? I need to report this to my superior first," Marvin said as he took out his phone to call Brian.
Meanwhile, Rebecca stayed close to Marvin, saying nothing as she focused on treating the injured officers—injecting them with the vaccine so they wouldn't turn into zombies. Even so, she remained on high alert. There was no way she would trust Umbrella that easily; they were definitely here with their own agenda.
"Of course, go ahead," Nicolai replied casually, then began surveying the waste-facility grounds. In his eyes, the area was filled with signs of intense combat between monsters and police officers—battle data that would be extremely profitable to sell later. To him, the scene in front of him was a treasure trove that could make him rich.
"All right, you've been granted permission to enter, but I hope you won't interfere with our operation," Marvin said curtly.
"Don't worry. Our job is just to clean up these monsters," Nicolai replied. He then ordered his men to move into the disposal area and begin the cleanup—dragging zombies and monster corpses and dumping them into large tanks filled with sulfuric acid.
"Why the hell is Umbrella even here?" Kevin asked, sounding confused—especially since a few Umbrella operatives were securing the corpses and dumping them into the sulfuric acid tanks.
"Looks like they're here to 'clean up' the place," Allen replied.
Leon couldn't help but feel curious too. Whoever these people were, they clearly knew exactly what they were doing.
Meanwhile, Svetlana was watching Nicolai from a distance and finally commented, "So the Silver Wolf is working for Umbrella this time."
"Silver Wolf? What do you mean?" Allen asked.
Svetlana pointed toward Nicolai.
"Oh… you mean Nicolai. Why are you calling him Silver Wolf? Did you two know each other?" Allen asked again.
"Yeah, I know him well enough. He used to be a special agent in the Soviet Union's special forces—before the Soviet Union fell apart," Svetlana explained. "Back then, he worked as an assassin who eliminated high-value political targets and anyone considered a threat."
"So… were you two close?" Allen asked, a bit curious.
Svetlana smirked and shook her head. "No. We just ended up on the same team for a few missions."
Then she leaned in, bringing her lips close to Allen's ear.
"And don't worry—I've never been interested in that man. So you don't have to get jealous, okay?"
Allen nodded. "Okay."
Honestly, part of him wanted to kiss her right now—but her entire body was still filthy, covered in dried Licker blood from earlier.
On the other side, Nicolai glanced at Svetlana, and his expression turned slightly gloomy. His military career had often been overshadowed by that woman. Svetlana had always been the better agent—a tall wall he could never climb over in the past. And if he knew that Svetlana's abilities had improved even further thanks to Allen's serum, he would probably fall into an even deeper depression.
"Alright, you all better move out. Don't hesitate to shoot or use grenades if you encounter those monsters," Nicolai ordered, clearly wanting to leave the area as soon as possible. He felt uneasy being under Svetlana's gaze.
Allen then whispered to Svetlana, "He looks a little scared of you."
"Hehe, of course. Maybe it's because he used to challenge me to fights back then—but he never won," Svetlana replied confidently.
"Well, I almost feel bad for the guy. If he tried picking a fight with you now, he'd be lights-out before he even finished the sentence," Allen said, remembering just how many upgrades Svetlana had gotten thanks to his serum.
Meanwhile, Svetlana just gave a small smile at her lover's joke.
Meanwhile, they continued moving deeper into the facility to finish clearing it out. The place was massive—easily the size of seven football fields. Every monster they encountered was immediately gunned down, and the Umbrella personnel either burned the corpses or dissolved them in vats of acid.
"This place is huge," Leon said, genuinely impressed by the size of the water treatment facility.
"Well, of course it is. It's built to handle the entire city's water supply. But now… just look at it," Allen replied. "Honestly, I don't think I'm ever going to take a shower or drink anything that comes from this place again. Who knows what could happen if the water here got contaminated."
Allen purposely dropped that hint for Leon and Kevin, who were walking near him.
Leon quickly turned toward Allen, wanting to confirm what he suspected.
"Allen, are you saying the virus can spread through water?"
"As far as I know, the fastest way it spreads is through bites," Allen answered while shooting a zombie that rushed toward them. "As for water? I'm not completely sure. But we should stay careful, just in case."
Allen deliberately kept his answer vague. If he told Leon outright that the virus could spread through contaminated water, Leon's sense of justice might drive him to act recklessly—and Allen wasn't about to let that happen, not with everything else going on.
And while they were still talking and taking a moment to breathe, suddenly the sound of several officers screaming echoed through the facility.
"AHHH!! … HELP! … NOOO!!—"
Allen and the others immediately stood up.
"Come on, we should check it out," Allen said, and the rest agreed.
When they reached the source of the screams, they found several police officers' bodies torn apart—ripped and sliced into pieces.
"What the hell happened here…?" Leon muttered, completely baffled by what kind of creature could do something like this.
Suddenly, a surviving officer sprinted toward them.
"RUN—!" he shouted, but before he could reach them, his body was split clean in half.
"AHHH—!"
"Alex! Nooo!" Kevin yelled, recognizing the officer who had just been killed.
From behind the bisected corpse, the creature finally revealed itself—a massive reptilian monster, about two meters tall, with razor-sharp claws capable of cutting through steel and scaled armor tough enough to deflect small-caliber bullets.
Kevin and Leon swallowed hard at the sheer brutality of it.
But Allen and Svetlana didn't hesitate for even a second—they immediately opened fire on the creature. If they didn't kill it now, more officers would die within minutes.
Bang! … Bang! … Bang!
"Hey! What are you two doing?! Don't just stand there!" Allen shouted.
That snapped Kevin and Leon back to reality, and they quickly joined in, firing at the monster.
This, of course, made the zombie hunter furious, and it leaped straight at Allen.
"Allen, watch out!" Kevin and Leon shouted.
But Allen reacted instantly, kicking the creature and sending it flying toward the door, crashing it into another room. Bruakk!!
Svetlana immediately hurled two grenades through the doorway.
"Take cover!" she shouted as she grabbed Allen and pulled him down.
Leon and Kevin quickly followed and took cover as well.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion shook the hallway, followed by the monster's agonized scream. The blast tore apart part of the room—glass scattered everywhere, debris littered the floor, and sections of the wall were scorched black.
"That was really close," Kevin said, a bit impressed by Allen and Svetlana's combat reflexes.
Meanwhile, Leon was still stunned by what had just happened. It felt like he had just stepped into a horror movie—except with a bit more action.
"Looks like it's safe now," Allen said as he stood up and moved to check the room.
And of course, inside the room, he found the corpse of the zombie hunter. Allen took the chance to collect a sample from the creature.
"Allen, what are you doing?" Leon asked, a bit curious.
"Oh, I just want to take a sample from this thing. I'm a little interested in what caused them to mutate like this," Allen replied casually.
"Ah… is that really okay? I don't think that's a good idea," Leon said, feeling Allen probably shouldn't be messing around with something like this.
"Well, don't worry. I'll be careful. Besides, we need to find a way to stop this weird virus from spreading. As a scientist, of course we need to figure out an effective vaccine to deal with it," Allen said.
"Allen has a point, Leon. We at least need to investigate this and find a way to prevent it from happening again," Kevin added, supporting Allen because he felt he could trust him with the research.
"Well, Leon, if you're still unsure, you can always come to my place later and see how I examine the sample or how I run my tests," Allen said calmly.
"I don't think that's necessary. I trust you. You're a good guy—I'm just worried something might happen to you while you're working on it," Leon replied.
Allen simply shook his head without saying much, a small smile forming from Leon's concern.
"Oh yeah, speaking of which—what kind of mutation happened to this thing? Why are there so many weird monsters showing up in this place?" Kevin asked, genuinely curious about the situation. Leon, hearing Kevin's question, also fell silent, waiting to hear Allen's explanation.
"I'm not entirely sure, but it seems like this creature was formed after undergoing a whole series of unnatural mutations," Allen said.
"English, please," Kevin replied, not understanding the scientific terms.
"Haha, alright. Simply put, this monster was created through multiple mutations done by someone," Allen said.
"You mean this thing is man-made?" Leon asked, quickly understanding what Allen meant.
"Yup. But we shouldn't talk about this here," Allen replied after noticing several Umbrella personnel entering the room to clean up the area.
Allen had also secured the T-Virus sample he'd collected. He was a bit curious about this particular strain, since it was the upgraded version William himself had created. Of course, Allen already knew that this entire outbreak was William's doing—his way of keeping Umbrella busy and throwing the city into chaos so he could slip away unnoticed.
Yeah, unfortunately for him, surviving won't be easy—especially once he's up against Umbrella.
******
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