Leon idly picked at his ear with his pinky, then blew a light breath towards the pile of still-smoking Leaper remains.
Ada, on the other hand, was meticulously and elegantly wiping down her two tmp submachine guns, which were stained with monster slime, her movements focused and graceful.
Claire and Noah were even more oblivious to their surroundings.
Claire was looking up at Noah, her bright blue eyes sparkling with flecks of starlight.
Her fingers lightly traced the sleek body of the MAC-10 in Noah's hand as she asked curiously, "Is the rate of fire on this gun really that fast? That burst just now felt like a chainsaw cutting through butter."
Noah smiled and handed the gun to her. "Why don't you try it yourself and find out?"
Steve stood awkwardly in place, his outstretched hand still frozen mid-air.
His somewhat boyish face flushed bright red; he felt like a clumsy clown who had stumbled into an exclusive party.
Everyone here exuded a kind of strength and composure he couldn't comprehend, as if the bloody battle just now—enough to break an ordinary person's spirit—was merely a trivial warm-up exercise for them.
Just as he wished he could find a hole to crawl into...
"BOOOOOOM—"
A deep, thunderous roar that shook the entire space violently erupted without warning from beneath their feet.
The entire warehouse floor suddenly sank downwards!
"Careful!" Noah reacted the fastest. He pulled Claire into his arms and instantly stabilized his stance with his legs.
Leon and Ada also lowered their centers of gravity almost simultaneously, standing back-to-back, their weapons raised once more, aimed warily into the pitch-black darkness surrounding them.
Only poor Steve, startled by the sudden turn of events, let out a short, sharp cry of alarm.
He stumbled, nearly falling, and frantically grabbed onto a cold shipping container beside him to barely steady himself.
This vast expanse of concrete floor beneath their feet was actually a massive elevator platform!
Accompanied by the sound of huge gears meshing and heavy chains dragging, the entire platform began to descend at a slow, steady, and uniform speed.
The towering stacks of shipping containers and warehouse walls around them rose slowly before their eyes, like a tightening steel noose, trapping them completely within this moving cage.
The single dim yellow searchlight above their heads grew increasingly distant and small, until it finally vanished completely into the darkness.
At that moment...
"Zzzzt—"
After a burst of harsh static, the warehouse loudspeaker crackled to life again with Alfred Ashford's nauseatingly shrill, androgynous voice.
"Haha... hahahahahahaha!!"
The laughter was even more maniacal and twisted than before, brimming with a sickening sense of triumphant glee.
"Finally, you're all here! My dear, filthy little mice! You've kept me waiting!"
"Welcome! Welcome aboard the Hell Express, specially prepared just for you!"
"This maniac!" Claire wrinkled her nose in disgust.
Steve, meanwhile, spun around like a frightened rabbit, looking everywhere, trying to locate the source of the voice.
"Don't bother, kid," Leon's lazy voice came from behind him.
"Even if you find it and smash it, that lunatic will just continue his third-rate stage performance from another speaker."
The moment Steve turned around, Leon's pupils contracted slightly.
He saw, on the back of Steve's denim jacket with its exaggerated graffiti, near the collar, three dark red Arabic numerals.
267
The numbers looked like some kind of prisoner identification code.
Leon frowned slightly but didn't say anything immediately.
The elevator platform continued its silent descent.
An eerie silence enveloped them, broken only by Alfred's maniacal laughter echoing in the vast, dark space.
"Go to Hell together! Hahahahaha!!"
...Meanwhile, deep within the mansion, in that Secret Study filled with the scent of cedarwood and old books...
Alfred Ashford stood with his arms spread wide, eyes closed, reveling in his own crazed monologue.
On the dozen or so large surveillance screens before him, every corner of the elevator platform was displayed clearly.
He saw those hated intruders, trapped like sardines in a can, completely under his control.
He saw the wary, grave expressions on their faces.
He saw the unconcealed terror and panic on that brown-haired boy's face.
The thought of their fear of the unknown, of death, in this moment, made Alfred's lips curl into a cruel, satisfied smile.
"Yes... yes... that's the expression..." he whispered to himself, his voice dripping with perverse pleasure.
"Fear is the best seasoning... it makes the feast of death all the more... delicious..."
His fingers tapped lightly on the cold edge of the control console, as if keeping time.
Then, he suddenly remembered something.
A long-buried childhood memory, filled with sweetness and blood, surfaced in his mind.
It was a rainy afternoon.
A... creative little trick he and his dearest, most flawless sister, Alexia, had used to deal with that annoying guard.
That trick was so elegant, so artistic.
A childlike, innocent, yet utterly evil smile spread across Alfred's face.
He decided to play it again... Atlantic.
Eastern Rockfort Island.
Night hung over the churning sea like a heavy, viscous black curtain.
A pitch-black, specially modified high-speed boat cut through the water, leaving a white wake.
Chris Redfield stood firm on the heaving deck.
The sea wind, carrying salty, icy spray, tousled his reddish-brown short hair.
His face was etched with anxiety and grim determination.
His sharp eyes, now bloodshot, were fixed unwaveringly on the massive black silhouette looming faintly against the horizon in the darkness.
Ever since receiving that encrypted emergency message, even breathing felt like a painful, suppressed sting.
Claire... his only sister... At that moment...
A series of light, steady footsteps sounded from inside the cabin.
A tall figure, also clad in BSAA tactical gear, emerged from the darkness.
She had neat, chestnut-brown short hair and a face so exquisite it could make the night itself pale in comparison.
Her clear, resolute eyes shone with intelligence and calm under the faint light.
"Chris," her voice was clear and pleasant, like a gentle breeze that slightly dispersed the gloom in Chris's heart.
"You've been standing here for an hour."
She walked to Chris's side and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him, her gaze also fixed on the terrifying island lying dormant on the sea.
"Jill, you really..." Chris's voice was hoarse. He turned to look at Jill's perfect profile, his eyes filled with a mix of apology and inner conflict.
"...didn't have to come along."
Jill responded with a soft laugh.
She turned her head, meeting Chris's gaze directly. Her clear eyes held no hesitation or retreat.
"We're partners, aren't we?" she countered.
Her gaze returned to the island, now filled with a deathly aura, and her tone softened slightly.
"Besides, I'm worried about that little red-headed sister too."
Hearing this, the tight line of Chris's mouth finally relaxed a fraction.
Looking at this woman who stood firmly by his side when he needed it most, a genuine, heartfelt smile finally appeared on his face.
"Yeah," he said softly. "Partners." (Sigma Male!)
...The speedboat, like a black ghost, glided silently up to a ruined military base dock on Rockfort Island.
Chris and Jill jumped off the boat, one after the other.
Their tactical boots made soft crunching sounds on the concrete dock, littered with rubble and shell fragments.
The air was thick with the acrid smell of gunpowder and the distinctive charred scent of burnt metal.
Giant skeletal remains of buildings, as if gnawed by a colossal beast, thrust menacingly towards the blood-red night sky.
Twisted steel girders, burnt-out vehicles, scattered weapons and ammunition... "This should be Umbrella's military training facility," Jill crouched down, picking up a still-warm large-caliber bullet casing from the ground and giving it a light sniff.
"Looks like they ran into some serious trouble themselves."
Chris didn't speak.
He just remained vigilant, holding his M4A1 Carbine at the ready, his sharp eyes scanning every inch of the massive shadows around them that could conceal danger.
Just as they were about to pass through a narrow passage formed by toppled shipping containers...
Chris's footsteps suddenly halted.
He raised his hand, giving the signal to stop.
Jill's heart leaped into her throat.
An indescribable, intensely dangerous, terrifying aura began to seep quietly from the other end of the passageway.
The feeling was as if a prehistoric Vicious Beast from the depths of Hell was staring intently at them from the darkness.
"Thud... thud... thud..."
A series of heavy footsteps, so heavy they caused the ground to tremble slightly, slowly emerged from the darkness.
The sound didn't seem like anything a creature of flesh and blood could make.
It was more like a massive piece of construction machinery weighing dozens of tons, advancing towards them step by step.
Chris and Jill stood back-to-back, their breaths instinctively held.
The next second.
A terrifying figure, so massive that anyone who saw it would instantly have their sanity plummet, slowly walked out from the darkness at the end of the corridor.
It stood over four meters tall, almost touching the twisted steel beams of the corridor ceiling.
Its body was a nauseating grayish-white, its skin looking as if it had been soaked in formaldehyde for centuries, gleaming with a greasy, corpse-wax-like luster.
Countless thick, python-like black sinews coiled around its body, pulsating and extending with a terrifying vitality, as if they were alive.
Its head was a grotesquely disproportionate fleshy mass, with no eyes or nose, only a huge mouth split open to the ears.
Its right arm had mutated into a massive bony tentacle, three meters long and covered in barbs and bone blades. It dragged along the ground, leaving a deep, terrifying trench... T-078 Modified Tyrant (Prototype of the Cursed Tyrant, non-Rockfort Island Training Model)
Wesker saw the footage of Chris and Jill landing on the island through the remaining surveillance System.
He smiled.
Then, like playing a prank, he casually opened a cage holding one of his 'pets'.
He wanted to see what kind of despairing and amusing expression his old rivals would make when facing his latest masterpiece.
"ROAR—!!!"
The Tyrant let out a terrifying roar.
The sound waves almost solidified into substance, violently crashing against Chris and Jill's eardrums.
Its massive body charged towards the two with a terrifying speed completely at odds with its size!
"Scatter!" Chris roared.
The two dove in opposite directions.
"BOOM—!!"
The instant they left their original positions, the Tyrant's massive bony tentacle smashed down onto the concrete floor where they had just been standing.
The hard concrete was instantly pulverized into a huge crater over half a meter in diameter!
Shattered stones shot out in all directions like cannonballs!
"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!"
While rolling, Jill had already raised her ump9 submachine gun, a long stream of fire accurately sweeping across the Tyrant's massive, tumorous head.
However, the bullets, powerful enough to shred steel plates, only sparked a series of insignificant tiny sparks upon impact.
"Damn it! Its defenses are this strong?!" A flash of horror crossed Jill's face.
"Aim for its heart!" Chris's voice rang out timely.
He saw that in the center of the Tyrant's massive chest, there was a huge, ugly, exposed heart, beating violently like a second head!
That was its only weak point!
Missing its strike, the Tyrant let out another furious roar. Its massive tentacle traced a deadly arc through the air, sweeping towards Jill, who was closer.
The speed was so fast there was simply no time to dodge!
"Jill!!" Chris's eyes widened in fury.
At this critical moment.
"BOOM!!"
A deafening gunshot overpowered all the noise on the scene.
A massive.50 Caliber Bullet whistled in from an unexpected angle, precisely hitting the massive bony tentacle that was about to crush Jill!
"Squelch—!!"
A washbasin-sized penetrating wound was instantly blasted through the tentacle!
Foul-smelling, dark green fluid sprayed out!
The unstoppable tentacle jerked to a sudden halt mid-air!
That less-than-a-second pause gave Jill a chance for a desperate escape.
She threw herself into an extreme backward bend. The tentacle, carrying a foul-smelling wind, almost grazed the tip of her nose as it roared past!
Chris, still shaken, looked towards the direction the bullet had come from.
He saw a black figure, kneeling on one knee atop a pile of collapsed building ruins not far away, who had appeared at some unknown time.
He was holding an exaggeratedly styled Anti-material Sniper Rifle.
A wisp of faint blue smoke still curled from the muzzle.
"Do you... need, some help?"
A slightly hoarse, low male voice came from the darkness, vaguely tinged with a hint of pain.
Chris couldn't make out the man's face.
But he knew he was a friend, not a foe.
"ROAR AHHHH—!!!"
Having its attack interrupted by some bug that came out of nowhere sent the Cursed Tyrant into a complete frenzy.
It abandoned Jill in front of it, abruptly turned around, and its unseen eyes fixedly'stared' at the minuscule figure atop the ruins who dared to challenge its authority.
Its thick legs powerfully kicked off the ground!
Its entire body charged towards that pile of ruins like an out-of-control heavy-duty truck!
"It's coming!" Jill shouted.
A sharp glint flashed in Chris's eyes.
He saw that behind those ruins was a row of massive, twisted and warped fuel tanks!
That was the entire military base's Fuel Depot!
A plan instantly formed in his mind.
"Lure it to the Fuel Depot!" he roared towards Jill and the mysterious sniper.
The Tyrant, blinded by rage, plunged headlong into that death trap filled with flammable and explosive materials, completely off-guard!
Jill didn't hesitate for a second.
Her Grenade Launcher was already aimed at one of the massive fuel tanks, still leaking High-grade Aviation Fuel!
"BOOM— BOOM— BOOM—!!!"
A series of cataclysmic explosions instantly engulfed the entire Fuel Depot!
The terrifying flames, like a small sun rising from the ground, lit up half the night sky with a ghastly white light!
A violent shockwave, mixed with countless red-hot metal fragments, swept outwards in all directions!
The once arrogant Cursed Tyrant let out an agonized shriek of utter misery and was instantly swallowed by the sea of fire.
The massive explosion triggered a chain reaction.
The entire military base ruins began to shake violently and collapse!
Chris was thrown back by a powerful blast wave, crashing heavily to the ground.
The ground beneath Jill's feet suddenly and without warning gave way!
"Ah—!!"
With a short, sharp cry, her figure instantly vanished into the collapsing ruins shrouded in thick smoke and raging flames.
"Jill!!!"
Chris let out a furious roar.
He struggled to get up from the ground, desperately wanting to charge into the sea of fire that was still collapsing... Jill felt herself falling rapidly.
The feeling of weightlessness made her dizzy.
Finally, with a soft 'thump,' she landed on a soft carpet.
She struggled to her feet and found herself in an indescribably strange space.
It was a huge, circular hall.
The walls and ceiling all around were made of spotless, massive mirrors.
Countless soft lights hidden behind the mirrors illuminated the entire space as bright as day.
She saw thousands upon thousands of herself.
Each one looked so tiny, so lonely... "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it—!!!"
In the Secret Study, Alfred stared at the surveillance screen showing the chestnut-haired woman who had suddenly intruded and let out a hysterical, crazed roar.
That was the secret 'theater' Alfred had personally built for his dearest sister, Alexia.
"Who is that woman?! How dare she?! How dare she enter my sister's most precious Secret Garden?!"
He felt as if his most beloved, flawless work of art had been defiled by a filthy, lowly outsider!
An unprecedented rage and madness overwhelmed him.
He took deep breaths, one after another, forcibly calming his emotions that were about to explode.
After a while.
A cold, twisted, perverted smile crept back onto his face.
"This is good too..."
He murmured softly to himself.
"I will gift my dear sister another, brand new, unique collectible..."
"When she sees the surprise I've prepared for her, she will be very, very, very happy..."
"Haha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
The perverted, twisted, and insane laughter echoed for a long time in the empty Secret Study.
—————————
Chris: BSAA Combat Suit Set, M4A1 Carbine, Remington M870 Shotgun, samurai edge (Chris model).
Jill Valentine: BSAA Combat Suit Set, samurai edge (Jill model), ump9 submachine gun, Single-shot Grenade Launcher.