Since the broadcast had sounded, it meant the Leech Queen was currently in the surveillance room, observing the people who had broken into the Training Facility early through the cameras.
"Hey, Leech Queen, you're watching, aren't you?"
...
Beneath a massive mansion in the northern Arklay Mountains, Wesker, with his blonde hair slicked back, called for William.
"What happened? My research is at a critical stage!"
William arrived looking dissatisfied, but Wesker simply pointed at the monitor in front of him.
"Someone has broken into the Training Facility. Umbrella Corporation's secrets are about to be leaked!"
Neither of them looked pleased, even though they had both decided to abandon the sinking ship that was Umbrella Corporation to find a new employer.
But that was supposed to be after developing the G-Virus and testing the combat data of the B.O.W.s.
As things stood, the timing wasn't ripe yet!
"Who are they?"
William stared at the screen and asked, killing intent already rising in his heart.
"They are..."
Wesker looked at the screen. "Members of the S.T.A.R.S. Team. As for that last one..."
In the surveillance footage, the man wearing a black jacket and tactical joggers had a face covered in a patch of pixelated mosaic.
As everyone knows, videos can't be photoshopped, so he really looked like that.
Wesker said indifferently, "He must be using some kind of optical camouflage technology. It seems he has a significant background."
The man on the screen seemed to sense someone watching him through the camera. He turned around and gave the camera an internationally recognized friendly gesture—the middle finger.
The screen flickered, and all the feeds from the Training Facility turned into black-and-white static.
"The signal is gone?"
In the next second, all the screens switched to the same image.
A handsome man with shoulder-length hair appeared on the screen.
"What!?"
That man hadn't expected to be inexplicably exposed to the surveillance of his two students either, but it was just a matter of sooner or later.
"Long time no see, my dear students!"
A strange, eerie smile appeared on the face of the mysterious man in white robes with long hair, as countless leeches solidified behind him.
"Marcus!"
A moment later, the mysteriously resurrected Marcus explained his revenge plan. Wesker and William's expressions turned solemn after listening.
Having an enemy they had personally killed and who had now returned to life watching them from the shadows felt like a thorn in their backs.
"I'm leaving!"
William turned and left; the G-Virus sample process needed to be accelerated.
Wesker similarly felt the pressure of time and the weight of his tasks. He needed to obtain the B.O.W. combat data as soon as possible.
It was time for the chess pieces he had long prepared to play their part!
Opening a drawer and looking at the photo inside, Wesker sighed slightly.
...
While Jill and Barry were silently reading the inscription on Marcus's portrait, Asa took over all the surveillance in the Training Facility.
When he sensed someone observing them remotely, he unhesitatingly flipped them off and switched the feed to the Leech Queen in the surveillance room.
And next, the Leech Queen would discover that staying in the surveillance room was useless; all the screens were blocked, making her no different from a blind person in there.
He called the two of them into the main hall, where the red and Green Herbs in front of the eastern door caught their attention.
"Green Herbs, Red Herbs?"
Jill asked.
That's right, Raccoon City was famous for producing four types of herbs—red, green, blue, and yellow—and the names were very literally called Red Herb, Green Herb, Yellow Herb, and Blue Herb.
"Exactly."
Asa pulled the herbs from the flower pots. "It's said that if you mix several herbs using a certain technique, you can get a miraculous medicinal powder that restores stamina and energy at any time and quickly heals wounds."
With a dazzling display of hand movements, Asa mixed the Green Herb and Red Herb into a red-and-green powder.
"You really know quite a lot,"
Jill remarked.
"As a researcher, knowing a bit about herbal mixing is very reasonable and very logical."
He divided the herbal powder equally and handed it to Barry and Jill. Jill looked at Asa empty hands and eventually handed the powder back.
"If it's really as miraculous as you say, you should keep it yourself. You are the key witness to uncovering Umbrella Corporation's evil deeds; you must protect yourself."
"Jill, don't underestimate me. Later on, I might not necessarily have the time to protect you guys."
"What!?"
A surge of anger instantly rose in Jill. She didn't even bother to argue about Asa calling her directly by her name. Taking the herbal powder, she said irritably:
"I hope you don't piss yourself like a little kid when you encounter a monster."
"Back at you."
If I said I had a whole basket of 'Full Cure' and 'Recovery' items, would you believe me?
Asa had three goals for this trip: find the T-Virus samples left in the underground facility, grind monsters to increase experience points, and cultivate his relationship with Jill.
The progress bar was moving, monsters were everywhere in the Training Facility, so all that was left was to find the T-Virus samples.
In the game, the Training Facility was filled with various traps and bio-organic animals. From this three-story facility to the small chapel and then to the underground laboratory, almost no one could remember the specific process clearly.
Asa didn't need to follow the game's process exactly.
Taking out a map of the Training Facility, Asa spread it on the table.
"The underground laboratory is directly beneath the chapel. To get from the Training Facility to the chapel, we first need to solve a puzzle."
"What did you say? Solve a puzzle?"
Jill thought she had misheard.
"That's right. This building has many built-in mechanisms and puzzles. Only by obtaining three stone tablets in order and then placing them in the tower on the third floor can we find the path to the chapel."
"So, this is how Umbrella Corporation employees usually go to work? An intelligence test before reporting to their workstations?"
"Exactly. That's what it says in the corporate culture."
"..."
"But we don't actually have to go through all that trouble. I already prepared all the key items before coming here."
Asa coughed lightly and pulled a backpack from behind him.
Knowing Asa wouldn't tell the truth anyway, Jill didn't ask where he got the backpack from. She opened the bag, and inside were exactly three stone tablets.
"Let's go. Quickly, it's best not to delay our rest time tonight."
Just having the three stone tablets to go to the Observatory was still not enough.
That old fellow Marcus really knew how to design a maze.
Solving puzzles is a staple of Resident Evil; one simply has to experience it.