After dealing with Mutant Plant 42, the two returned to the courtyard and found the hidden tunnel entrance behind the landscape waterfall.
"The question is, why didn't we come here in the first place?"
Ada Wong asked with doubt. This path had been there when they arrived; why did Asa take a detour to burn Plant 42 first?
"To kill those monsters, of course. Should I just sit by and watch them hurt people?"
Asa countered with a question.
Part of the reason was, in fact, that Asa wanted to gain some experience points.
Perhaps it was because it was too early; in any case, the Hexagonal Crank, the key item for the underground lab, was not on Plant 42's corpse and had been obtained by the Delta Squad in advance.
Clearing the path but leaving the boss behind—the Delta Squad were truly honest and kind people.
After entering the tunnel, everything seemed calm and peaceful.
Occasionally, they encountered the corpses of Web Spinners by the edge of the mine, torn apart by bullets.
"What are your thoughts? Are you going to look for them?"
Seeing that someone had beaten them to it, Ada Wong's mood was complicated.
Her mission objective aligned with Delta's, but Ada Wong didn't know yet that the squad was about to discover they were being used as scapegoats. This meant that in the end, a conflict between the two was inevitable.
Asa turned his head, his expression as if asking:
"Are you asking me?"
In reality, Asa knew what Ada Wong meant.
She wanted to know whose side Asa was on.
Asa didn't intend to answer this question; he wasn't on anyone's side.
The Cold Noodles Party!
And there was simply no need to choose.
In the mine, a massive Web Spinner corpse lay there, the green fluid beneath its abdomen indicating it had been dead for a long time.
Further down, the light source inside the cave vanished, and the surroundings became pitch black and silent, so dark one couldn't see their own hand.
The two turned on their tactical flashlights to inspect their surroundings.
Asa originally wanted to switch equipment but ultimately chose to give up on the idea after some thought.
One must always be on guard; although Ada Wong was a kind person at heart, the current Auntie Wong clearly hadn't realized this yet.
Asa had no qualms around Jill, but it was better to be cautious with Auntie Wong.
Suddenly, the sound of chains clinking echoed in the darkness, and the two immediately stopped to check for movement.
In the darkness, the two seemed to lock eyes.
There was someone else.
Or was it not a person?
Within the beam of the tactical flashlights, a tall figure emerged from the depths of the mine.
Its hands were bound by chains, and it wore a yellowish-white hooded "outfit" that was tattered and torn, showing that its owner had just gone through an exceptionally intense firefight.
Lisa Trevor, a subject of multiple viruses and the last remaining member of George's family.
The clothes on her body were actually made from the facial skins of female researchers.
[Important plot character "Lisa Trevor" discovered. Establishing a bond can yield rewards.]
Asa face was lined with frustration. Current Lisa only had a sliver of sanity left to find her mother; how was he supposed to establish a bond?
Pretend to be a male mother?
No time was given for Asa to think. When this monster appeared from the depths of the pit, the light from the tactical flashlights instantly drew her attention, and Lisa began walking toward them step by step.
There was no other choice; if they wanted to reach the underground laboratory, they had to pass through this mine.
"Is this that unkillable monster?"
Ada Wong whispered, her pistol pointed at Lisa, clearly recognizing the holes in the monster's hood were caused by firearms.
"She is Lisa Trevor."
Asa calmly stated the name of the final member of the Trevor family he had just told Ada Wong about.
Ada Wong's pupils suddenly constricted. She had just felt some sorrow upon hearing about George's family's plight—had they encountered the person herself so soon?
"Be careful, she prioritizes attacking female personnel."
"What?"
Lisa gradually approached. Ada Wong didn't have time to ask Asa why he said that and immediately opened fire.
No matter how tragic the situation of Lisa's family was, now was not the time for pity or sympathy!
"Bang! Bang!"
Pistol bullets hit Lisa's body, splashing open wounds as scarlet blood splattered everywhere.
Even so, Lisa continued to walk steadily toward Ada Wong as if nothing had happened; a lingering spark of instinct kept her searching for a woman as beautiful and gentle as her mother.
And when she discovered they weren't, she would peel off their faces and stitch them onto her own clothes.
"Is this thing really immortal?"
After Ada Wong finished a magazine, she looked at Lisa Trevor, whose wounds were already healing, and couldn't help but doubt her reality.
Putting away Comrades Hammer, Asa was afraid one shot would kill Lisa completely. Although Lisa was immortal, if she were blown into pieces, there would be absolutely no possibility of survival.
Perhaps with his constitution, there really would be a way to save Lisa.
Asa took out an assault rifle—it was the reward obtained from Sherry's level two favorability, the assault rifle "grizzly commander".
He hadn't expected there would be a day to use this gun, but system reward items were stored in the system warehouse, which was a separate storage system from the system space.
Since it didn't take up system space, Asa had kept it there all along.
This included the Samurai Edge from Jill's favorability reward.
"Besides the Progenitor Virus, Lisa has the T-Virus, NE-Alpha Parasite, G-Virus, and other biological weapons in her body. For clinical reactions to new viruses, Lisa is often the first victim."
Asa explained while firing.
The firepower of an assault rifle was clearly several times that of a pistol. Under the line of fire, Lisa couldn't help but let out a miserable wail.
"Mo... mother!"
Subjected to continuous damage, Lisa let out an incoherent cry. It felt as if countless things were squirming beneath her upper body, and in the blink of an eye, several flesh tentacles burst from Lisa's back.
"Watch out!"
The moment the boss entered its next phase, Asa issued a warning to Ada Wong, signaling her to stay away.
However, Lisa, with the parasite eruption, was even more agile. At the instant Asa spoke his warning, even as Ada Wong quickly prepared to roll backward, a tentacle shot out.
Based on the outcome, within the next second, the tentacle would pierce through Ada Wong's chest.
"Switch."
He instantly switched to the 2077 World equipment bar and then actively entered the time-slowing state.
For a moment, Asa felt as if the world had been put on slow motion; at the same time, he could feel a sense of mental fatigue.
Nervous system, Synaptic Accelerator.
Asa lunged forward, throwing the Flashbang in his hand before Auntie Wong could get hurt, and simultaneously pushed aside Ada Wong, who hadn't finished her roll.
Lisa's tentacle shot out rapidly along its original trajectory. Just before it could pierce Asa abdomen, Asa quickly switched back to the resident evil equipment bar.
Regeneration, give me strength!
"Pfft!"
It was the sound of Lisa's tentacle piercing through Asa abdomen.
"No! Asa!"
It was Ada Wong's scream as she saw Asa being impaled by the tentacle.
"Bang!"
It was the sound of the Flashbang exploding. Inside the mine, an intense light erupted.
Asa closed his eyes peacefully—not because he was dead, but because the system's pleasant notification sound reached his ears.
[Congratulations on establishing the bond "Companion (Trust)" with the important plot character "Ada Wong". Rewards are available for collection.]
Despite his abdomen being pierced, Asa revealed a gratified smile.
Auntie Wong's favorability is really hard to grind; he finally caught an opportunity.