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The silence in the fan-shaped hall was shattered by heavy footsteps.
The Stalker known as Prometheus walked in front.
His back was like a moving wall of despair.
His black leather trench coat reflected a cold, greasy sheen under the pale light of the shadowless lamp.
The thick tubes and metal restraints made a slight, teeth-grinding friction sound with his movements.
Noah and Claire Redfield followed behind him, maintaining a safe distance.
The clean and cold smell of disinfectant mixed with the constant temperature air conditioning System in the air seemed to become oppressive due to the presence of this massive figure.
Finally, the Stalker stopped.
He didn't turn back.
He just slowly bent his massive, disproportionate body.
His movements were cautious, unbefitting his size.
As if he was afraid that one overly large movement would shatter this fragile dead silence.
He sat down on the ground.
Even so, he still resembled a small black mountain lurking in the shadows.
At nearly three meters tall, he was not much shorter than Noah when he sat down.
That invisible sense of oppression made Claire instinctively tighten her grip on her MP5.
The Stalker seemed to sense her tension.
He didn't make any unnecessary movements.
He just raised his hands again, palms open outwards.
The most primitive gesture, representing "peace".
Noah gently shook his head at Claire.
He walked a few steps forward, stopping three meters away from the "small mountain".
This distance showed basic respect while also retaining enough reaction time.
"We mean no harm."
Noah's voice broke the solidified air.
He didn't know if the other party could fully understand, but he had to state his position.
The Stalker's muddy single eye slowly turned towards him.
There was no beastly madness in that eye, nor the coldness of a machine.
Only a bottomless, weary dead sea.
Then.
He spoke.
The voice was like two rusted iron plates tormenting and rubbing against each other.
Every syllable was filled with tearing pain.
"I... know."
These three short words seemed to have exhausted all the strength he had accumulated.
He was silent for a long time.
As if he was painstakingly searching his mind for those almost forgotten "human" language modules.
"My name..."
He paused.
His single eye stared blankly at the huge shadow he cast on the ground.
As if the word "name" was too distant, too luxurious a concept for him.
"...Leo."
He finally squeezed the name out from the depths of his throat.
"Leo Dupont."
He used to be a security guard for Umbrella.
Not a core member, just an ordinary salaried employee responsible for perimeter security.
His life should have had no intersection with this Hell full of madness and viruses.
Until he met Ella.
"She..."
Mentioning this name, Leo's voice seemed to gain a trace of warmth.
"She was sick."
"A very serious illness."
"The doctor said she only had half a year left at most."
His narration was intermittent.
Between each sentence, there were long, heavy gasps.
Noah and Claire didn't rush him; they just listened quietly.
As if listening to a final testament from the depths of Hell.
"Umbrella... found me."
"They said there was a brand new, experimental medical project."
"It could cure Ella."
"The price was... I needed to participate in another top-secret enhanced soldier project."
"I agreed."
Leo's huge, deformed claw unconsciously clenched.
His knuckles made a cracking sound of dislocated bones, unable to bear the strain.
"I must have been a fool back then."
"I thought it was just some kind of super soldier serum."
"I thought I would just become stronger, faster."
"I even fantasized that after Ella recovered, I would take her away from this hellhole, go to a small town where no one knew us, and open a flower shop."
"Ella... she loved roses the most."
His voice grew lower and lower.
A thick, unresolvable self-mockery permeated his hoarse, rusty voice.
"Later..."
"They tied me to the operating table."
"I saw a Researcher walking towards me with a huge syringe containing a living creature."
"That thing... that parasite..."
"It was still wriggling in the glass tube."
"I struggled, I roared..."
"But it was useless."
"NE-Alpha Parasite..."
"That's what they called it."
"When that thing was injected into my spine..."
"I felt my Soul being gnawed away, inch by inch, alive."
"Then... when I woke up."
"I became like this."
He raised his hand and gently stroked the cold, metal and leather restraint on his face.
His movements were filled with disgust, and also with numbness.
Claire's lips were slightly parted.
Her beautiful eyes reflected Leo's vast, sorrowful figure.
She could imagine that despair.
To save a loved one, only to transform oneself into a monster more terrifying than death.
"Then... what about Ella?" Claire couldn't help but ask softly.
Leo's massive body trembled violently.
Then it collapsed like a punctured balloon.
His huge head drooped deeply.
"They... lied to me." His voice was even hoarser than before.
It was filled with crushed, desperate dust.
"There was no such thing as advanced medical technology."
"Ella..."
"She was just like me."
"She was also... an experimental subject."
"They injected her with the t-virus."
"The most primitive, most violent t-virus."
"The first time I was briefly awakened from hibernation."
"I saw her through the glass of the Cultivation Tank."
"She was suspended in the pale green liquid."
"Her long golden hair spread out like seaweed."
"Her heart was exposed, beating rhythmically."
"They... they turned my Ella into a monster."
"A... Female Tyrant."
His voice trembled.
His massive body also trembled slightly.
That wasn't because of anger.
It was a profound sorrow, originating from the depths of his Soul.
Claire's eyes instantly reddened.
She bit her lip hard, trying not to cry.
Noah's heart also felt as if it was tightly clutched by an invisible hand.
He recalled the disgusting "finished products" they had seen in the "Tyrant Exhibition Hall".
He could even imagine what Ella looked like at that time.
"Outside, those in the Cultivation Tanks..."
Noah's voice was a bit dry.
"...Is that also her?"
"Yes." Leo answered quickly.
"They are her clones."
"Durand, that madman..."
"He thought Ella's genes were the perfect 't-virus' carrier."
"So, he cloned many of them."
"Using them to create various models of Tyrants."
"Sawshark type, Bat type..."
"He treated my Ella as a part that could be arbitrarily spliced and modified."
Noah closed his eyes.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to suppress the surging anger in his heart.
He had seen too much of Umbrella's wickedness.
But each time, this ultimate blasphemy against life still made him feel a physiological discomfort.
"What happened next?" Noah reopened his eyes and asked.
"Durand released all the experimental subjects."
"How did you find her?"
Leo fell silent, seemingly sinking into some painful memory again.
After a long time, he spoke again.
"When I woke up... the entire base was empty."
"All the lights were on, all the machines were running."
"But there was no one, as if everyone had evaporated into thin air."
"I don't know how long I was confined, my mind was in chaos."
"The parasite in my body was screaming, roaring; it wanted me to kill and destroy."
"And my human consciousness was desperately resisting."
"I was like a rag doll about to be torn in half."
"Then..."
"I heard her voice."
"Not speaking."
"It was a bestial roar."
"Full of pain and frenzy."
"I followed the sound and found her in that observation testing area."
"She was like a trapped beast, frantically destroying everything inside."
"She tried to attack me, her eyes were blood-red."
"There was nothing left of Ella inside."
"Only the most primitive killing instinct remained."
"I only had one thought at the time: I couldn't let her continue like this."
"I rushed forward."
"I didn't attack her."
"I just... hugged her with all my strength."
"In my arms, she struggled and bit frantically."
"Her claws left wound after wound on my body."
Leo pointed to several obvious claw marks on his trench coat.
"But I didn't let go."
"I just held her."
"And pressed my face to her ear."
"And began... to sing."
"Singing 'la vie en rose,' her favorite song from before."
"My throat had been modified."
"The sound that came out was as horrible as a wail from Hell."
"But I kept singing."
"Again and again."
"Gradually..."
"She quieted down."
"Her struggles weakened."
"A hint of confusion appeared in her blood-red eyes."
"Then she looked at me and softly said..."
Leo's voice completely choked up here.
A line of hot, murky liquid streamed from his cloudy single eye.
"She said..."
"'Leo... I'm so tired.'"
That call, transcending virus and humanity, completely shattered Claire's last psychological defense.
She could no longer hold back, turning around to frantically wipe away the constantly flowing tears with the back of her hand.
Noah reached out and gently put his arm around her shoulder.
His gaze never left Leo.
In that gaze, there was sympathy, there was anger.
But more than that, there was a complex, ineffable understanding.
"I carried her to that bed." Leo's voice recovered a little, but the sadness in it grew heavier.
"I sat beside her, singing that song to her the whole time."
"Until she fell asleep."
"Her consciousness recovered somewhat, but it was very unstable."
"Like a candle in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment."
"Occasionally, she would suddenly become very agitated."
"Only when I was by her side, only when I sang that song, could she calm down again."
The story seemed to end here.
A love story more tragic than any horror movie.
"Then why didn't you destroy this place?" Noah asked the last question.
"To avenge her, and yourself."
"Revenge?" Leo let out a hoarse, self-mocking chuckle.
"Of course I want to."
"I want to raze this place to the ground."
"I want to tear that madman Durand to shreds."
"But..."
He raised a finger and pointed to the back of his neck.
"A chip and miniature bombs were implanted in my body."
"As long as Umbrella's people detect any signs of unusual activity from me."
"They just need to move a finger in some corner."
"And I, along with the parasites in my body, will turn into a pile of ashes."
This explanation was cold and cruel, completely extinguishing the last glimmer of hope for resistance.
"Durand should be in the deepest D-Area," Leo said slowly.
"When I woke up, only the door leading there was completely sealed."
"I don't know what he's up to in there."
"But it must be related to the so-called 'holy mother of filthy blood.'"
His huge, deformed claw gently rubbed the ground.
"I once thought about breaking in."
"However, I later realized."
"Madness, hatred, revenge... these are all meaningless."
He looked up, his cloudy single eye staring at the pale, shadowless lamp on the ceiling.
"Anyway, we can't go back to the outside world anymore."
"This world no longer has a place for us... and that's fine."
"Here, Ella can be by my side forever."
"No one can disturb us again, and no one can harm her again."
His voice was calm.
It was a deathly calm, the ashes left after all hope had burned out.
"In this living Hell."
"This, perhaps, is already the best ending, isn't it?"
This rhetorical question was like a heavy, cold hammer.
It struck hard at the hearts of Noah and Claire.
For two poor Souls completely abandoned by the world.
To have a small Hell where they could huddle together for warmth.
Perhaps, that truly was paradise.
Claire could no longer control her emotions.
She buried her face deep in Noah's embrace, her shoulders heaving violently.
Her suppressed, fragmented sobs were exceptionally clear in the empty hall.
Leo slowly stood up from the ground, patting away non-existent dust from his legs.
This mundane gesture created an extremely absurd contrast with his terrifying figure.
"I should go back." His voice was still hoarse.
"Ella's condition is fluctuating."
"Only when I'm by her side can I control her."
He turned around, preparing to walk towards the door of the observation testing area.
"I'm very sorry."
He didn't look back, only leaving behind a remark full of apology.
"I can't help you fight Durand, he can just move a finger and..."
"It's alright, brother."
Noah shook his head.
He rattled the cold purple chip in his hand.
"You've already helped us a great deal."
Leo's steps paused, but he said nothing more.
He simply took heavy strides, walking back to the metal door that separated two worlds without looking back.
"Buzz—"
The sensor door silently closed behind him.
Forever locking in that desperate tenderness and endless sorrow.
Noah and Claire stood there for a long time until Claire's sobs gradually subsided.
She lifted her head from Noah's embrace, her beautiful eyes red and swollen from crying.
But her gaze had become incredibly firm.
"Let's go," she said to Noah, enunciating each word clearly.
Noah nodded.
They silently turned around.
And returned to the central control console in the circular area.
It was a semi-circular metal console with three chip slots of different colors.
Noah took out the blue and green chips he had found earlier from his tactical backpack.
Adding the purple one Leo gave him.
All three chips were now complete.
He didn't hesitate for a moment.
He sequentially embedded the three chips into the slots on the main control panel.
"Beep, beep, beep."
Three crisp confirmation tones sounded.
The lights on the entire main control console turned from red to green.
[ACCESS GRANTED]
[ACTIVATING CENTRAL PLATFORM ELEVATOR...]
Accompanied by a low, rumbling sound of gears meshing.
The pristine metal cylinder in the deepest part of the hall slowly split open in the middle.
The elevator doors silently slid open to the sides, revealing a bottomless gloom within.
As if leading to the deepest layer of Hell.
Noah and Claire exchanged glances, seeing the same determination in each other's eyes.
"Let's go."
Noah's voice was soft, yet carried decisive strength.
"It's time to settle accounts with that madman."
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