The sickening aftertaste brought by that eerie Family home video still lingered in the cold corridor for a long time.
"Alright, let's not waste our emotions on the childhood videos of two perverts," Noah's calm and powerful voice instantly dispersed the suffocating atmosphere.
"We still have serious business to attend to."
He clapped his hands, the crisp sound echoing particularly abruptly in the empty corridor, pulling Leon and Claire back from their discomfort.
Leon took a deep breath, as if to exhale all the nausea from his lungs, and rubbed his face hard, regaining his usual, somewhat cynical expression.
"You're right, there's no point in arguing with dead people. We need to find a way to get to that so-called 'Private Residence'."
"The map shows that between the Main Hall and the Private Residence, there's an open-air courtyard."
Claire pointed at the 3D structural diagram on the laptop screen, her delicate brows furrowing slightly. "We're currently in the Main Hall; we must first find the exit leading to the courtyard."
"Then let's find it." Ada dropped her spectator stance and re-entered her most efficient combat mode.
The four of them didn't delay any further. With Noah and Leon leading, Ada bringing up the rear, and Claire in the center providing support and checking the map, they formed a diamond-shaped combat unit balanced in offense and defense, advancing quickly and cautiously along the corridor toward the mansion's Wing.
They passed through a grotesque collection room filled with various animal specimens.
Wolves, bears, and even a massive elk, stuffed and preserved in various poses, watched these intruders silently with hollow glass eyes that reflected a faint, lifelike glint in the dim light.
The air was thick with the pungent smell of formalin and preservatives.
They passed a room that appeared to be a concert hall.
A grand piano, covered in a thick layer of dust, stood quietly in the center of the room.
Large, faded tapestries hung on the walls, depicting what seemed to be hunting scenes of the Ashford Family.
But the people in those paintings—whether the hunters or the hunted—all wore an eerily similar, bizarre smile.
Finally, at the end of the corridor, they found an inconspicuous small door leading to a side hall.
Pushing the door open, a damp, cold wind mixed with the fragrance of soil and the scent of decaying plants rushed toward them.
They had arrived at the courtyard outside the mansion.
It was a massive courtyard enclosed by high walls.
Unlike the decayed luxury inside the mansion, this place was filled with a desolation forgotten by time.
Overgrown ivy cascaded like green waterfalls, covering the walls and statues.
A thick layer of damp fallen leaves covered the ground, making a soft "rustling" sound when stepped on.
Several Greek-style statues with features worn away by time were scattered throughout the courtyard; some were missing arms or heads, presenting a fragmented and eerie beauty in the night.
In the distance, the soaring flames from the military ruins reflected against half the night sky like a purgatorial twilight.
Nearby was this Gothic courtyard, so quiet it was nearly deathly still.
The two formed a bizarre and intense visual contrast.
"According to the blueprints," Claire held the laptop to her chest, the screen light illuminating her focused face,
"there should be an entrance to an underground facility in the northeast corner of the courtyard. It seems it was originally a small Pump House."
Following Claire's guidance, the four of them crossed a desolate rose garden.
The withered rose stems swayed in the night wind like countless dry claws reaching for the sky.
Soon, they found the Pump House behind a dense thicket of bushes taller than a person.
It was small, like a concrete bunker half-buried underground, with only a heavy, rust-stained iron door exposed to the outside.
A large, equally corroded padlock hung on the door.
"Easy enough." Leon stepped forward and took a small multi-tool from his tactical vest.
It took him less than ten seconds; with a crisp "click" of metal snapping, the seemingly solid padlock was easily cut by him.
He pulled open the iron door, and an even stronger cold, damp smell—a mix of rust, engine oil, and water vapor—rushed out from behind it.
Behind the door was a narrow set of concrete steps leading downward.
Every few meters on the wall, an explosion-proof lamp cast a dim yellow light, stretching their shadows into ghostly shapes.
The four entered one by one, descending the steps for about thirty or forty meters, until the view suddenly opened up.
They found themselves standing on a metal platform in a massive underground space.
This space was like a hollowed-out mountain, so high the ceiling was nearly invisible.
The platform beneath their feet extended forward, ending at a massive, bottomless circular pool.
The pool water had a murky, dark green texture, its surface as calm as a black mirror without a single ripple.
In the entire space, the only light came from the dim yellow lamps beneath their feet and a few flickering red warning lights in the distance, providing minimal illumination.
The air was cold and damp, with water droplets constantly falling from the high rock walls, making clear "drip-drop, drip-drop" echoes in the silence.
At the edge of the platform near the pool stood something that looked completely out of place—a massive ship's helm made of brass.
The surface of the helm was covered in a layer of mottled green copper rust, but the overall structure remained intact.
Leon stepped forward curiously, his hands in tactical gloves gripping the cold helm, and gave it an experimental, forceful turn.
(In games, you need to find the helm; it's actually just to waste time and take up inventory space...)
"Creeeeeak—"
A tooth-aching sound of metal grinding echoed through the empty underground space; the helm actually turned under his strength.
As he turned it, movement began to appear on the mirror-like surface of the water in the center of the pool.
A massive whirlpool slowly formed, bubbling and gurgling.
Then, with a loud "splash!"
A small submarine, entirely black and styled somewhere between a modern military sub and the "Nautilus" from Jules Verne's novels, burst out of the water!
Water splashed everywhere.
The submarine's surface was covered in a layer of slimy green algae, and painted on the hull in silver was a soaring Eagle Emblem—the crest of the Ashford Family.
It floated quietly on the water, its circular bow hatch facing the platform where they stood.
"Brilliant design." Ada Wong crossed her arms, a hint of genuine admiration flashing in her sharp almond eyes as she looked at the sudden submarine.
"Using such a massive body of water as a natural barrier. Without the specific mechanism, entry is impossible. This effectively seals off all possibilities of a forced external breach of the Main Control Computer."
"Indeed... impressive engineering." Claire also nodded in agreement.
From the perspective of a mechanical enthusiast, she appreciated the ingenuity and complexity of this interlocking device System.
This was a vast, environmentally interactive security System.
Noah stood behind the two, listening to their praise, and immediately shut the mouth he had just been about to open.
He had originally wanted to say, 'What's so brilliant about making things this complicated?'
But seeing Claire and Ada's "so impressive" expressions, he wisely chose to swallow that mood-killing complaint.
He simply gave a slight smile, putting on an "agreeable" expression that said, "Yeah, yeah, it's amazing."
Claire seemed to notice the subtle change in his expression and gave him a somewhat amused look.
Noah returned a helpless glance.
The submarine's hatch made a "hissing" sound of hydraulic decompression and opened automatically.
Soft blue emergency lights lit up inside.
The four of them didn't hesitate and boarded the submarine, which looked quite old.
The space inside the submarine was roomier than expected.
Though still a bit cramped, it was more than enough for four people.
The air was filled with a peculiar smell—a mix of ozone, engine oil, and recycled air.
The control panel was covered in various indicator lights and buttons flashing different colors, looking complex and precise.
Once the last person entered, the hatch was closed and sealed.
The entire submarine shuddered slightly and then began to slowly submerge.
Through the portholes, the dark green pool water could be seen gradually flooding their field of vision.
The light faded quickly, eventually plunging into a pitch-black darkness where one couldn't see their own hand.
Only the two high-powered searchlights at the front of the submarine shot out thick white beams, piercing the darkness and illuminating the murky underwater world ahead.
The submarine's descent wasn't fast, but it was steady.
Except for the slight hum of the engine and the sound of water flowing past the hull, there was no other noise.
These ten minutes of brief isolation became a rare moment to catch their breath.
"What we face next will likely be the core security System of this island," Leon said, leaning against the cold hull while checking his shotgun. "And that blond freak in the ridiculous British military uniform."
"Alfred Ashford," Ada corrected; she seemed to have quite a deep understanding of this Family. "The seventh-generation head of the Ashford Family. An extremely narcissistic, neurotic individual with a severe sister complex and histrionic personality disorder. He'll treat all intruders as supporting actors in his bloody stage play, and he'll enjoy every step of hunting us down."
"So, we can't follow his script," Claire concluded. "Noah, once we find the Main Control Computer, are you sure Trant's assistant can hack into the System?"
"No problem," Noah nodded confidently, patting the laptop on his lap. "This computer has been specially modified by Trant. As long as we can physically connect to that Main Control Computer, Trant's assistant can take over everything here from the other end."
Just as they were talking, the submarine suddenly jolted, and its descent stopped.
"We've arrived," Ada said.
In the darkness ahead of the submarine, a massive rectangular metal silhouette appeared.
It was an Underwater Docking Platform.
As the submarine approached, a circular interface beneath the platform, perfectly matching the size of the submarine's hatch, slowly extended.
"Clang!" A heavy sound of metal locking together rang out.
The submarine and the interface achieved a perfect, seamless connection.
Immediately after, both hatches opened simultaneously, forming a sealed metal corridor.
The four of them climbed out of the submarine and arrived at a protruding docking bay where the water had been drained.
They were already inside a massive underwater facility.
Passing through the docking bay, they saw a long, transparent underwater corridor made of reinforced glass.
On both sides of the corridor was a deep and dark underwater scene.
Countless thick metal pipes of unknown purpose crisscrossed outside the corridor like giant pythons.
Visibility in the murky water was low; only some strange-looking deep-sea plants never seen before could be seen swaying slowly in the current.
Occasionally, a massive black shadow would flash by in the distance, making it impossible to see what it was and adding a sense of unknown fear.
The entire corridor was brightly lit by a cold blue-white light.
The metal floor beneath their feet was spotless, reflecting an unsettling, pale light.
This place formed a cold and extreme contrast to the decaying Gothic Mansion above ground.
At the end of the corridor was a large Electric Sensor Door.
As they approached, the door slid open silently to both sides.
Behind the door was a small office.
The office furnishings were very ordinary: a few desks, several chairs, and some tall metal filing cabinets.
However, in this seemingly ordinary office, two "people" were swaying aimlessly inside.
They wore white shirts and trousers so stained with blood and filth that their original colors were unrecognizable.
They looked like clerical staff from this facility.
Their skin had the characteristic grayish-blue hue of the dead, and their bodies were covered in rotting wounds.
One was slumped over a desk, mechanically hitting the desktop with its head over and over, making dull "thud, thud" sounds.
The other was pacing back and forth in the narrow space with stiff arms outstretched, letting out hoarse, raspy groans from its throat.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Leon didn't even bother to say another word.
The bullets accurately struck the centers of the two zombies' foreheads.
Their heads, like watermelons hit by a sledgehammer, snapped back violently as two bursts of dark red blood blossomed.
Then they collapsed limply to the ground, silenced forever.
The whole process was clean and efficient, without even stirring up a speck of extra dust.
Claire walked over to the zombie slumped on the desk and glanced at a fallen photo frame on the table.
In the frame was a sweet-smiling young man holding a little girl who was also laughing.
The man in the photo was the very corpse that Leon had just shot in the head.
Her eyes dimmed for a moment, but she quickly regained her resolve.
She set the photo frame upright and then followed the team without looking back.
At the back of the office was a large Metal Rolling Shutter Door.
Noah stepped forward, found the control switch next to it, and pressed the up button.
Accompanied by a "clatter, clatter" sound of turning chains, the rolling door slowly rose.
Behind the door was an even larger and more vacant space.
A massive suspension bridge cast from steel spanned across a bottomless black waterway.
This bridge was not just a passage; it was itself a massive gate that could completely separate a dock inside—large enough to harbor a small freighter—from the waterway outside.
A Seaplane was docked there.
The four of them walked onto the steel bridge, their footsteps echoing in the empty space with a "clang, clang" sound.
At the other end of the bridge was a large industrial freight elevator.
They took the elevator to an even lower level of the facility.
This place looked like a massive underground warehouse.
Countless shipping containers were stacked together like small mountains of steel.
The air was thick with the smell of diesel and engine oil.
They searched around but found it to be a dead end; aside from the mountains of containers, they couldn't find any other passages or doors.
"Strange..." Claire looked at the blueprint on the computer. "The map shows that the Main Control Room should be below this level. But there's no downward passage here."
"It looks like there should be a hidden elevator." Ada looked around, scanning every suspicious corner.
Her experience told her that in places like this, designers loved to play visual deception tricks.
Noah didn't speak.
He stood in place as if recalling something.
His gaze finally locked onto a corner on the left where three containers were stacked.
The layout there looked random, but Noah felt a slight, deliberate sense of incongruity.
The angle at which that container was placed happened to block a visual blind spot.
"I think I found it." The corners of Noah's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a knowing smile.
He took a few steps back and then suddenly broke into a run.
He was like a sharp arrow leaving a bow; as he approached the container, his legs erupted with terrifying power.
He kicked off the side wall of the bottom container, using the momentum to leap into the air, and then took two more steps in succession on the vertical wall.
He flipped lightly and swiftly onto the top of the container, which was seven or eight meters high.
Leon whistled from below. "Hey! Buddy, you should go compete in gymnastics at the Olympics instead of playing a real-life version of Tomb Raider with us."
Noah smiled and nodded in agreement.
Standing on top of the container, sure enough, in that blocked visual blind spot, he saw a metal control panel embedded in the wall.
There was only one red emergency button on the panel.
He gestured to the three people below, signaling them to move back to an open space in the center of the warehouse.
Then he jumped down from the container, walked to the control panel, and pressed the button.
"Rumble—"
With a dull, massive sound, the seemingly ordinary concrete floor beneath the three of them turned out to be a massive Hidden Lift Platform.
The platform began to rise slowly.
Noah ran back quickly and leaped onto the platform just before it completely left the ground to rejoin the others.
The lift platform rose steadily upward.
However, just as the platform was about to reach floor level,
Leon's expression suddenly changed.
"Prepare for combat!" he growled, suddenly raising the shotgun in his hands.
As the platform rose slowly, a group of swaying figures appeared in their field of vision.
It was a group of zombies wearing Umbrella Security Force uniforms, numbering about seven or eight.
They seemed to have been attracted by the noise of the lift and were crowding at the entrance, letting out greedy and thirsty low growls from their throats.
"Heh heh," an excited smile appeared on Leon's face, "perfect, my hands were getting itchy."
"Boom!!"
He didn't hesitate for a second and pulled the trigger.
The shotgun let out a deafening roar.
Countless steel pellets formed a fan of death, instantly blasting the three foremost zombies into flying flesh; their upper bodies were blown into a mess of gore.
"Boom!!"
Another shot.
The remaining zombies were also sent flying by the violent impact, tumbling like ragdolls into the bottomless black waterway below, leaving only a mess of bloodstains behind.
After dealing with the trouble, the lift also came to a steady stop at the other end of the suspension bridge.
There was another downward elevator here.
This time, they didn't encounter any more obstacles.
The elevator carried them all the way down, finally stopping at the bottommost level of this underwater facility.
(In the game, a keycard is obtained after the lift rises; here, it is modified to the computer's main control System, directly opening all access points.)
The elevator doors opened.
Ahead was a massive and empty circular room.
In the center of the room was a core area encased in reinforced glass.
Inside, rows of large server cabinets were neatly arranged, with countless indicator lights flashing blue in a rhythmic pattern.
Countless thick cables hung down from the ceiling like cobwebs, connecting to every server.
The entire computer room was shrouded in a constant low temperature, and the only sound in the air was the uniform "humming" from the server fans.
This was the nerve center of the entire Rockfort Island—the Main Control Room.
Noah no longer hesitated; he stepped quickly into the glass room and placed the IBM ThinkPad laptop on the console interface, connecting the data cable.
He turned on the computer and launched the special program pre-installed on it.
After the program started, several strings of code appeared on the screen.
Claire, Leon, and Ada stood behind him, watching the dazzling flow of data on the screen, all maintaining a tacit silence.
They knew that this was the critical moment.
In less than two minutes.
"Ding."
A crisp email notification sound rang out.
The code on the screen vanished instantly, replaced by an encrypted email just received.
Noah clicked on the email.
Sender: Gibberish (Mr. T's Assistant).
The content was concise and clear:
"All access permissions unlocked.
All electronic lock passwords reset to: 0000.
Have a pleasant time on the island."
Noah looked up and shared a smile with everyone.
All obstacles leading to the Private Residence had been cleared.
The real hunting game was just beginning.