AN : Don't forget to throw your power stones, guys...
.....
The explosion forced the giant worms out of the ground, their massive bodies torn open and riddled with 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, pouring them into the holes before setting the remaining worms on fire. The agonized screeches of the monsters rang out as they were roasted alive beneath the ground.
"I don't think I'll be able to eat grilled meat after this…" Kevin muttered, feeling nauseous from the overwhelming stench—especially from the burning worm flesh mixed with rotting zombie corpses.
"Yeah, same here," Leon replied, covering his nose, clearly unable to stand the smell.
"Well, that's a shame. I was planning to invite you guys for a BBQ once this mission was over," Allen said casually.
"Nah, I'll pass this time, bud. At least let me recover from the trauma first," Kevin answered.
He then glanced at Leon, who simply shook his head.
"I think I'm gonna need some rest after this too," Leon added.
"Well, alright—your loss," Allen said with a small shrug, giving up on the idea of inviting them to a BBQ.
Meanwhile, all this time, Svetlana simply observed the battlefield, keeping a watchful eye on everything while staying close to protect her boss—and lover.
Rather than feeling disturbed, her mind wandered elsewhere. She found herself wondering if creatures like these could actually be controlled. If bio-weapon monsters like this could be tamed, they would be perfect assets for civil wars or large-scale military operations.
But she already knew the answer. Allen would never allow something like that so easily. If anything, it was obvious that he really hated B.O.W.s.
'What a shame… though maybe I should at least try bringing this up with Allen', Svetlana thought to herself.
Bang!... Bang!... Bang!...
After the last of the giant worms were finally killed, the R.P.D. officers began advancing deeper into the facility, moving in to wipe out any remaining zombies and monsters still lurking inside.
...
But shortly after the officers entered, a new team arrived—soldiers in full military gear bearing the Umbrella logo on their uniforms. They were Umbrella's private military unit, known as U.B.C.S Alpha, currently commanded by a man named Nicolai Zinoviev.
Nicolai walked straight toward Marvin, several soldiers following closely 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 calmly.
Marvin frowned slightly, clearly confused about why Umbrella personnel had suddenly become involved in this operation. Still, he chose 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.
"Go ahead," Nicolai replied with a simple nod, giving Marvin the time he needed.
Then, Nicolai began surveying the waste-facility grounds. In his eyes, the area was filled with traces of intense combat between monsters and police officers—valuable battle data that could be extremely profitable if sold later to one of Umbrella's rival companies.
To him, the scene was nothing less than a treasure trove.
After all, just because he worked for Umbrella didn't mean he was loyal to them. For someone like him, money was everything.
A few moments later, Marvin returned.
"All right, you've been granted permission to enter, but I hope you won't interfere with our operation," he 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 their work—dragging zombie and monster corpses before dumping them into massive tanks filled with sulfuric acid.
The others quickly began questioning Umbrella's sudden presence.
"Why the hell are Umbrella people even here?" Kevin asked, clearly confused—especially seeing some of them securing corpses and disposing of them so efficiently.
"Looks like they're here to 'clean up' the place," Allen replied calmly.
Leon watched them closely. Whoever these people were, they clearly knew exactly what they were doing.
But at the same time, he couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling creeping up inside him. This didn't feel like help… it felt like a cover-up.
And honestly, he wasn't entirely wrong.
While Nicolai and his unit were indeed assisting in clearing out the remaining B.O.W. waste, they had also been given another mission—secure the access routes to Umbrella's underground laboratory facility and ensure its existence never became known to the public.
Meanwhile, Rebecca—who was positioned a bit away from Allen and the others—remained silent, focusing on treating the injured officers. She carefully injected them with the vaccine to prevent infection.
Even so, she stayed on high alert. There was no way she would trust Umbrella that easily—she was certain they had their own agenda.
As for Svetlana, who had been quietly observing Nicolai from a distance, she finally spoke.
"So the Silver Wolf is working for Umbrella this time," she commented.
"Silver Wolf? What do you mean?" Allen asked when he heard that.
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 little curious.
Svetlana smirked and shook her head. "No. We just ended up on the same team for a few missions."
Then she leaned in, 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 then—but her entire body was still filthy, stained with dried Licker blood from earlier.
On the other side, Nicolai glanced toward Svetlana, his expression turning slightly gloomy.
It was only natural. Back then, his military career had often been overshadowed by that woman. Svetlana had always been the better agent—a wall he could never climb over.
And if he knew that her abilities had improved even further thanks to Allen's serum, he would probably fall into an even deeper sense of frustration.
Not long after, Nicolai shifted his focus and gave a new order.
"Alright, you all better move out. Don't hesitate to shoot or use grenades if you encounter those monsters," he said, clearly eager to leave the area as soon as possible. Being under Svetlana's gaze made him uneasy.
Allen leaned slightly toward her and whispered, "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 his sentence," Allen said, remembering that she had already been enhanced by his super-soldier serum.
Svetlana simply gave a small smile at her lover's joke.
.....
The police officers and U.B.C.S. units began moving together, advancing deeper into the water treatment facility.
Not long after, as they continued clearing the area—
"This place is huge," Leon said, clearly impressed by the scale of the facility.
The area was massive—easily the size of seven football fields. Every monster they encountered was immediately gunned down, while Umbrella personnel efficiently disposed of the bodies by either burning them or dissolving them in vats of acid.
"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 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 nearby.
Leon immediately turned toward him, wanting confirmation.
"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 calmly while shooting a zombie that rushed toward them.
Bang!
"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 strong sense of justice might push him into doing something reckless—and with everything going on, that was the last thing Allen wanted.
And while they were still talking, the atmosphere having relaxed just a little—suddenly, the sound of several officers screaming echoed through the facility.
"AHHH!! … HELP! … NOOO!!—"
Allen and the others immediately snapped to attention.
"Come on, we should check it out," Kevin said, and the rest quickly agreed.
When they reached the source of the screams, they were met with a gruesome sight—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 fallen officer.
From behind the bisected corpse, the creature finally revealed itself—a massive reptilian monster, nearly two meters tall, with razor-sharp claws capable of slicing through steel and thick, 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. Rebecca, standing nearby, joined in as well.
If they didn't kill it now, more officers would die within minutes.
Bang!… Bang!… Bang!
However, the monster kept dodging their bullets, weaving forward as it closed the distance between them.
"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 creature.
Round after round was unleashed—some bullets finally hitting their target.
That only seemed to enrage the monster further. With a furious roar, it leaped straight at Allen.
"Allen, watch out!" Kevin and Leon shouted.
But Allen reacted instantly—he kicked the creature mid-air, sending it flying backward through a doorway and crashing into another room.
Bruaakk!!
Without hesitation, Svetlana hurled two grenades through the doorway.
"Take cover!" she shouted.
Seeing that, Allen immediately grabbed Rebecca and pulled her down. Leon and Kevin quickly followed, diving for 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.
"Is it safe now?" Rebecca asked.
"Looks like it's safe," Allen replied as he stood up, helping her to her feet. Not long after, he moved toward the room to check the situation inside.
And sure enough, he found the corpse of the creature lying there.
Taking the opportunity, Allen quickly collected a sample from it.
"Allen, what are you doing?" Leon asked, a bit curious.
"Oh, I just want to take a sample from this thing. I'm interested in what caused it to mutate like this," Allen replied casually, handing the sample over to Rebecca.
Rebecca immediately secured it inside her bag.
"Ah… is that really okay? I don't think that's a good idea," Leon said, clearly uneasy about the situation.
"Well, don't worry. I'll be careful. Besides, we need to find a way to stop this virus from spreading. As scientists, we have to figure out an effective vaccine to deal with it," Allen explained.
"Allen has a point, Leon. We at least need to investigate this and find a way to prevent something like this from happening again," Kevin added, trusting Allen's judgment.
"Well, Leon, if you're still unsure, you can always come to my place later and see how I examine the sample or run my tests," Allen offered calmly.
"I don't think that's necessary. I trust you guys. I'm just worried something might happen to you while you're working on it," Leon replied.
Allen simply shook his head, a small smile forming at Leon's concern.
"Oh yeah, speaking of that—what kind of mutation happened to this thing? Why are there so many weird monsters showing up here?" Kevin asked, genuinely curious.
Leon also stayed quiet, waiting for Allen's explanation.
"I'm not entirely sure," Allen began, "but based on what I can see, this organism likely underwent rapid, forced mutagenesis at the cellular level—its DNA structure has been repeatedly destabilized and reassembled through an artificial viral vector. The virus probably triggered uncontrolled hyperplasia and hypertrophy, while also inducing genetic recombination across incompatible species traits. In simple terms, its cells are constantly evolving in a highly unstable state, which explains the abnormal growth, enhanced regeneration, and aggressive behavior."
"English, please," Kevin replied, clearly not following any of that.
Allen chuckled. "Alright. Simply put, this monster was created through multiple forced mutations—done by someone."
"You mean… this thing is man-made?" Leon asked, quickly catching on.
"Yup. But we shouldn't talk about this here," Allen said, noticing several Umbrella personnel entering the room to begin cleanup.
At the same time, Allen made sure the T-Virus sample he had collected was properly secured. He was curious about this particular strain—it seemed to be an upgraded version, most likely developed by William himself.
Of course, Allen already knew the truth behind everything. This entire outbreak was William's doing—a calculated move to keep Umbrella occupied and throw the city into chaos so he could slip away unnoticed.
Unfortunately for William… surviving wouldn't be easy—especially once he had to deal with Umbrella itself.