As the last note from Ada's fingertips, like pearls from a broken string, gently fell into the dusty air.
The beautiful melody, imbued with lingering sorrow, that filled the entire room, abruptly ceased.
All was silent.
Just as Leon was about to speak, breaking the silence.
"Click... clack... creak..."
An extremely faint, yet incredibly clear sound of metal gears turning, abruptly echoed from the other side of the room.
The gazes of the four, like iron filings drawn by a magnet, were instantly drawn to the slot machine emitting the strange noise.
Below the machine, the metal base, originally integrated with the body, now slowly opened outwards, revealing a square recess only the size of a palm.
The inside of the recess was lined with a layer of dark red velvet, faded and darkened from years of storage.
And on that soft velvet, lay a lifelike ant, entirely inlaid with blue gemstones.
The craftsmanship of that ant was identical to the one seen on the music box earlier.
"It seems this is the 'blue king' then."
Noah stepped forward, extended two fingers, and carefully picked up the cool gemstone ant from the recess.
He placed this blue ant side-by-side with the previous red one in his palm.
One blue, one red; one king, one queen.
The two gemstones shimmered under the dim light, reflecting a mesmerizing and eerie glow.
"Done."
Leon's cynical smile returned to his face.
"Now, let's go back and put these two little things where they belong, and see what that lunatic is up to now."
The four wasted no more time, turning to leave the entertainment room, filled with an atmosphere of luxury and decadence.
They retraced their steps, passing through the gloomy and oppressive main hall again, heading towards the castle's heavy, decaying oak door.
Outside the ancient castle, the night grew deeper.
The cold night wind, carrying salty mist, swept through the empty valley like invisible ghostly hands, letting out mournful, wailing howls.
Just as Noah's foot was about to step out of the castle gate.
His body suddenly stiffened without warning!
He froze in place.
"What's wrong?"
Leon, walking behind him, nearly bumped into his back due to the sudden stop.
Noah didn't answer.
He immediately raised his head.
His sharp eyes pierced through the thick night fog, locking onto the towering, pitch-black roof of the ancient castle.
"Up there..."
He murmured softly, in a voice only he could hear.
"There's someone up there."
Leon, Claire, and Ada followed his gaze, simultaneously looking towards the roof, which was completely swallowed by the night and thick fog.
There was nothing there.
Only a few grotesque gargoyles, like loyal guardians, crouched silently on the edge of the eaves, their hollow stone eyes coldly overlooking the silent world below.
"Noah, are you mistaken?"
Claire frowned, a hint of confusion on her face.
"There's nothing but stone up there."
Noah still stared intently at the roof, his vigilance unwavering.
In that instant.
He clearly felt a fleeting gaze, full of aggression and danger, directed at him from that direction.
The feeling was like being targeted by a top predator lurking in the dark.
Cold, sticky, and chilling.
But that gaze only appeared for a moment, then vanished without a trace, as if it were an illusion.
As if it had never appeared... Meanwhile.
In the deep shadows of the roof, where Noah's gaze had been fixed.
A tall and slender black figure, like a ghost, silently retreated along the sloping roof.
His movements were extremely light.
The tiles under his feet did not make even the slightest sound as he moved.
He was like a giant bat walking in the night, perfectly blending with the deep darkness.
A pair of dark tactical glasses covered most of his face, concealing his cold eyes that showed no human emotion.
Albert Wesker.
Just now, the specially encrypted satellite phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated ever so slightly.
He answered the call.
A cold and authoritative male voice came through the earpiece.
The owner of that voice called himself Mr. C.
"Wesker."
Mr. C's voice was devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
"That woman has betrayed me."
Wesker said nothing, just listened quietly.
"Bring her to me, alive."
The commanding tone greatly displeased Wesker.
After the call ended, Wesker was silent for a moment, then a cold, mocking, and disdainful curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Follow orders?
How laughable.
He, Albert Wesker, had never been anyone's dog.
His cooperation with Mr. C was merely mutual exploitation.
The woman known as Ada Wong was an extremely useful chess piece.
She was like a double-edged sword steeped in poison; dangerous, yet incredibly sharp.
Wesker had no intention of handing her over so easily before her usefulness was completely exhausted.
Furthermore, offending the three seemingly formidable individuals below for a woman, especially that Eastern man who even made him feel a hint of pressure... this deal, no matter how he calculated it, wasn't worth it.
However... Wesker cast his gaze downwards again.
His sight passed over Noah, over Leon, and over Ada.
Finally, it landed on the young woman with the neat red hair.
Claire Redfield.
Chris Redfield's own sister.
Thinking of that damned bastard, Chris, who had repeatedly ruined his perfect plans.
An uncontrollable, brutal killing intent surged within Wesker's heart.
If... if he could personally snap this woman's neck here, in front of so many people... what kind of wonderfully expressive face would Chris make when he learned that his only kin had died tragically at the hands of his sworn enemy?
Would it be pain?
Despair?
Or hysterical madness?
Just imagining that scene in his mind.
Wesker felt an extreme pleasure and exhilaration, emanating from the depths of his Soul!
However.
When his cold gaze swept over Noah, Leon, and Ada, who stood beside Claire, once more.
The surge of mad killing intent that had just arisen rapidly cooled down, as if doused by a bucket of ice water.
One against four.
Moreover, one of them was Noah, whose depths even he couldn't fathom.
His previous failure was still fresh in his memory; the odds were too low.
"Hmph."
Wesker let out an ambiguous cold snort.
He took a deep look at the back of the Eastern man below, who made him feel a hint of threat.
Then, his entire body, like melting ice and snow, silently vanished into the dense darkness... "Maybe it was my imagination."
Noah withdrew his gaze, shaking his head slightly.
Although the feeling of being watched still lingered faintly.
In such a perilous environment, maintaining high vigilance was never a bad thing.
The four no longer hesitated, turning back into the ancient castle, filled with an eerie and ominous aura.
They familiarized themselves with the path, once again arriving at Alfred's luxurious bedroom on the second floor.
Noah walked to the classically designed music box placed on the bedside table.
He reached out and pressed the red gemstone ant into the reserved slot on the lid.
"Click."
A crisp, light sound.
The ant fit perfectly, becoming one with the lid.
However.
The anticipated sound of a mechanism opening did not ring out.
The entire room remained silent.
"What's going on?"
Leon stepped forward, somewhat impatiently tapping the unresponsive music box with his finger.
"Did we get it wrong?"
"No."
Ada shook her head, her deep almond eyes rapidly scanning the room.
"The riddle says: 'When the Red Queen and the blue king return together to the promised land, the path will be opened.'"
Her voice paused, then she continued.
"This might just be the 'King's' promised land. The 'Queen's' should be somewhere else."
"Queen?"
Claire's mind immediately recalled the conversation she had overheard outside the door.
"Alexia!"
"Precisely."
A knowing curve appeared at the corner of Ada's mouth.
"The true master of this castle isn't Alfred, that good-for-nothing who only hides under women's skirts."
The four immediately understood.
They searched the entire castle again.
Soon, on the third floor, in a more secluded room with an even more luxurious, almost pathologically beautiful, queen-like decor, they found another identical music box.
This room was undoubtedly the bedroom of the mysterious Alexia.
Noah gently pressed the blue gemstone ant, symbolizing the 'blue king,' onto the lid of this new music box.
"Boom-boom-boom-boom—!!!"
This time.
The moment the blue gemstone ant was pressed down.
A dull yet enormous, thunder-like sound of machinery turning suddenly erupted from the center of the room!
The huge princess bed, covered with luxurious lace sheets, began to slowly descend!
A dark, square opening, leading who knew where, appeared where the bed had once been.
A cold, metal ladder, leading vertically upwards, stood silently in the center of the opening.
"…"
Claire looked at the exaggerated scene before her, comparable to a Hollywood blockbuster, and couldn't help but twitch her lips fiercely.
"Going to such great lengths to create a mechanism like this..."
She supported her forehead, somewhat speechless.
"What's the point of doing this?"
"Perhaps..."
Leon's face showed a thoughtful expression.
"The people of this Family are all very bored, and they particularly enjoy playing these kind of mysterious puzzle games."
The four stopped complaining and climbed up the cold metal ladder one by one.
The end of the ladder led to a narrow corridor, whose style was completely different from the classical and luxurious ancient castle below.
The corridor walls were made of cold, metallic-sheen alloy panels.
Above, a row of long, strip-shaped lights emitted a pale white glow.
The entire space was filled with a rich perfume scent.
At the end of the corridor was a magnificent wooden door.
(In the game, this is a carousel, and after solving the puzzle, you get the seaplane's activation emblem.)
Just as the four approached the door.
A cold female voice, with the crispness unique to a young girl yet full of queen-like arrogance and indifference, suddenly faintly emanated from behind the door.
The voice seemed to come through some kind of amplification device, carrying a slight static hum.
"I am Alexia."
"Congratulations, you have overcome the boring games set by my incompetent brother."
"As a reward, you are about to become one of my most precious collections."
Collections?
Claire's heart sank sharply!
Her brother Chris's familiar face instantly flashed in her mind!
Could it be... that her brother was also here?!
An indescribable fear and anger, like a bursting dam, instantly overwhelmed Claire's reason!
"Chris!!"
She let out a scream filled with worry and urgency.
She lunged forward like a mad leopard!
Then, with all her might, she slammed into the closed, ornate wooden door!
"Bang—!!!"
A loud crash!
The seemingly indestructible wooden door was directly shattered by her furious and explosive impact!
The scene behind the door was thus revealed without reservation to the four.
However.
The nauseating sight before them made everyone's pupils contract to the extreme in an instant!
Each person's face showed unconcealable shock and disgust!