"Listen, Raccoon City is a ticking time bomb. There's a catastrophe coming in the near future that's going to swallow everyone whole—including you and Jill. Do you believe me?"
Noah lowered his voice, his eyes locked onto Katherine's in a dead-serious stare.
Katherine didn't have much of a reaction, but Jill, standing behind her, looked visibly shaken. She stepped up beside Katherine, staring at Noah with pure disbelief.
"What makes you think that?" Katherine pressed.
Noah didn't detect a hint of surprise, shock, or any other emotion in her tone. It was as if what he was saying had absolutely nothing to do with her.
"Because I know that in the Umbrella Executive Training School, right in the Raccoon City outskirts, Umbrella Pharmaceuticals is conducting secret bio-weapon experiments!"
At that, Katherine's brow twitched. It was a tiny movement, but Noah caught it. He realized instantly that this suburban banquet wasn't as simple as he had first thought.
"Keep going. Tell me everything you know," Katherine said calmly.
Beside her, Jill was floored. From the dialogue and Katherine's subtle micro-expression, Jill realized that Katherine already knew all of this. If she knew, then what was the point of hosting a banquet in the middle of a danger zone?
"That's as much as I can say for now. If I leak too much, both of you will be in serious danger."
"You don't need to worry about us," Katherine replied with that same flat calm.
Noah shot back immediately. "I don't think you are that important, but Jill is a S.T.A.R.S. member. She can't afford to be caught in the middle of a disaster right now."
"Why am I not important?"
"Because you're the Mayor's daughter. Your status, your resources, and your political standing all come from Raccoon City and your father. Once Raccoon City ceases to exist, once you lose that title... you might not be as vital as you think you are."
"So even my hacking skills and my looks are useless?"
Hacker? What? Noah looked at this composed, calculating woman in shock. This woman—the one who was supposed to end up as a taxidermy specimen—was a hacker? The original lore never mentioned anything like that.
"Uh... can your hacking skills actually get into Umbrella's internal servers?" Noah asked, sounding a bit caught off guard.
"I'll tell you that later. At the very least, I think you should tell me why you're so desperate to end this banquet early."
"Fine. I'll tell you. First, I chose to 'kidnap' you because I wanted to shut this party down. I did it because there are too many people here—adults, children—innocent people. If something goes wrong, it'll be a goddamn massacre!"
Noah paused, looking at the two women. One was still calm; the other, Jill, looked at him with a hint of newfound respect.
"Second, there are Umbrella researchers all over this banquet. Those people aren't as harmless as they look. They're psychopaths. And even worse... I saw their teacher in the crowd. A twisted man who taught those psychopaths everything they know!"
As Noah said this, he reflexively swallowed hard. The terror he felt when he spotted James Marcus earlier came rushing back like a tide.
"Put it this way: even if you're a hacker, even if you're a S.T.A.R.S. elite, the level of danger in Raccoon City is way beyond what you two can imagine!" Noah emphasized, seeing they still weren't reacting.
"Noah, how do we know you aren't just an alarmist trying to scare us?" Jill finally asked, unable to contain her suspicion.
"Because I know things you don't. That's how I convinced Barry to bring me to you. I told Barry about your father, Dick—the legendary 'Gentleman Thief.'"
In front of Katherine, Noah chose the word "Gentleman Thief" to describe Jill's father instead of just "thief," hoping it wouldn't piss Jill off.
"And Katherine, you're 5'3", 110 pounds. I know those stats. I also know that Chief Irons has a sick, perverted obsession with you, and it disgusts you, doesn't it? I know all of it."
Noah laid it all out, word by word. This time, even the ice-cold Katherine showed some emotional turbulence.
"If you don't believe me, I can tell you more. Chief Irons has a very specific hobby: collecting taxidermy specimens. His two favorites right now are a white-tailed deer he caught in the Arklay Mountains and a Siberian tiger from the Khabarovsk Krai."
"Go ahead, find a chance to ask Irons. If I'm right, then you'll know why I know so much."
"Who the hell are you?" Katherine whispered. She repeated the two facts Noah just mentioned in her head, burning them into her memory.
"I'm just a guy trying to survive in Raccoon City," Noah replied. "So, is there anything else you want to know?"
Katherine fell into deep thought. After a long silence, she finally spoke.
"Where do you work?"
"Kendo's Gun Shop!"
"What you're asking me to do—shutting down the banquet early—has no solid evidence to back it up. So, I'm sticking to the plan. The party goes until tonight."
"If it goes until tonight and people start dying, then what?!"
"They won't."
"How can you be so sure? Even if no one gets eaten tonight, it's going to happen tomorrow, the day after, or the day after that! Just like what's been in the papers and what people are whispering on the streets—people being eaten alive, sightings of hellhounds. It's coming!"
Noah was getting heated. These victims didn't really matter to him personally, but the fact that Marcus was lurking in the crowd was the real reason he acted. He couldn't let Marcus derail the timeline he knew.
"Fine. Let's make a bet," Katherine said with a calculated maturity. "If another violent attack happens, I'll hire you as my safety advisor. Whatever you say, goes. I'll follow your lead."
"But if nothing happens, you take responsibility for this stunt. You'll be handed over to the police for administrative detention. How does that sound?"
"Can I go back to work at the gun shop in the meantime?"
"Yes. But Jill will be monitoring you 24/7 until I call for you again."
"And when do you plan on calling me?"
"You just said attacks could happen as early as tonight, right? I'll give it ten days. If nothing happens by July 20th, you'll turn yourself in and accept your punishment."
"Deal," Noah said firmly.
He agreed without a second thought. He knew for a fact that on July 20th, Chief Irons would make a public speech warning the citizens that the outskirts were still dangerous and advising them to stay away.
It was essentially a slap in the face to Katherine and Umbrella, but Noah didn't care. All he needed to do was wait until the 20th.
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NOTE
I want to explain why I stopped updating daily for a while.
I had some health problems, and I also had to deal with a few work-related matters. Because of that, I couldn't keep the daily update schedule like before.
But that ends today.
Starting today, chapters will be published every day again.
Also, all the novels that were abandoned or left on hold will be coming back as well.
I'm truly sorry to everyone who kept waiting, and I want to thank all of you who still came back day after day to check for new chapters.
Really, thank you for your patience and support.