"That beast won't get far, after it...!!!"
Having regained his senses, Chris rubbed his dizzy head. Seeing that the Strelats had already fled, he didn't hesitate for a moment.
He hurriedly scrambled up from the ground and issued orders to the surrounding BSAA Squad Members, then immediately gave chase with his assault rifle in hand.
Seeing this, the rest of the squad members...
...shook their heads helplessly one after another.
They wanted to dissuade him but had no way to do so; they could only quickly follow. After all, as a captain, Chris was pushing himself too hard—was this truly what it meant to be a legendary hero?
Unfortunately, however...
...this residential building didn't just house one bio-organic monster, but three or four. A group of Compound Eye Demons had been carrying out a massacre here earlier.
They had already fought a fierce battle with the surrounding police. Once their ammunition was exhausted, they had all entered a chrysalis state to mutate.
At this moment, it wasn't just the Strelats inside the building; there were even Rasklapanjes and even Neopterans—troublesome bio-monsters that made the situation extremely dangerous.
"..."
"Have no monsters been driven down yet...?"
Meanwhile...
...the second-in-command, Piers, who was stationed at Position B, looked at the stairwell exit before him with a worried expression, unable to stop himself from muttering under his breath.
He had heard the gunfire and the monsters' roars from Captain Chris and the others on the third floor clearly. Piers was very worried that Captain Chris might encounter some danger.
He was already very eager to see the c-virus monsters driven toward the stairwell exit so that he could help kill them and share some of the pressure.
Currently, Piers was holding a fully automatic shotgun, intended to kill any emerging bio-monsters at close range as quickly as possible.
The other two BSAA Squad Members, hearing Piers' worried muttering, exchanged glances and gave helpless, bitter smiles.
As Captain Chris's second-in-command...
...sometimes Piers was simply too worried about Captain Chris. The two didn't seem like superior and subordinate, but rather like biological brothers where one was dedicated to cleaning up the other's messes.
Piers was the older brother doing the cleaning, while Chris was the younger brother causing trouble. This relationship was very subtle.
After all, from a certain perspective...
...Piers was indeed a bit more mature than Chris.
Rather than mature, it was more accurate to say he was calmer—the kind of calmness a soldier maintains toward any emergency—whereas Chris was more prone to acting on impulse.
However...
...Piers' concern was justified.
Because right now, on the fourth floor of the residential building, Chris and the BSAA Squad Members had indeed run into trouble—and quite a thorny problem at that...
"Buzz buzz buzz...!!!"
"Roar roar roar—!!!"
Just as expected...
...Chris and his team on the fourth floor encountered two additional c-virus mutants: a Rasklapanje and a Neopteran.
The wounded Strelats was hiding at the very back.
Sandwiched in the middle was a Compound Eye Demon with a mutated arm; its left arm was no different from a freely extending blood-red pincer, hanging loosely on the ground, ready to launch a sneak attack at any moment!
Chris was very familiar with the Rasklapanje.
Because back in the Edonia Republic, the monsters Finn and the others had mutated into were Rasklapanjes. As for the Neopteran, that buzzing army of black killer bees looked like something that was best left unprovoked.
"..."
"Who has a Molotov cocktail...?!"
Seeing that buzzing black army of killer bees, Chris, facing off in the hallway, subconsciously swallowed his saliva and hurriedly asked the squad members behind him.
Bees were the things that feared fire the most.
But unfortunately...
...the standard-issue throwables for the BSAA Squad did not include Molotov cocktails.
Because they were too troublesome to carry. They had High-explosive grenades, fragmentation grenades, flashbangs, and even flares, but no Molotovs.
"Damn it..."
Seeing that the squad behind him remained silent, Chris knew things were troublesome. No one would carry a cumbersome throwable like a Molotov cocktail.
Thinking of this...
...Chris could only reach for the flashbang at his waist, hoping the magnesium flame from the flashbang would have at least a slight effect on the killer bees.
Naturally, a flashbang couldn't kill a Neopteran, but it would be enough if it could just stall their progress for a moment.
Because besides the flashbang...
...they also had High-explosive grenades, the power of which was sufficient to kill all the killer bees.
But they needed to stun the bees for a certain amount of time; otherwise, with the bees' speed, they could easily escape the blast radius.
"Buzz buzz buzz...!!!"
However...
...while Chris was still thinking...
...the Neopteran took the initiative to attack, directly commanding the surrounding army of killer bees to rapidly swarm toward the BSAA Squad Members.
The narrow hallway was perfectly suited for them; once targeted by these killer bees, there was almost nowhere to hide.
Click—!
But Chris reacted quickly as well.
He threw a flashbang with all his might.
It flew in a graceful arc toward the Neopteran, the Rasklapanje, and the other c-virus monsters. At the same time, he hurriedly signaled the BSAA Squad Members beside him to take cover.
Bang—!!!
With a dull thud...
...the flashbang detonated instantly. The burning magnesium light spread through the narrow corridor, appearing exceptionally blinding and conspicuous, accompanied by a powerful sonic boom.
The intense white light and sonic boom directly dazed and stunned the Neopteran, the Rasklapanje, and the other c-virus bio-monsters in front of them for a moment.
In the instant he turned to hide...
...Chris also took the opportunity to prime a second High-explosive grenade, planning to use this brief window for a secondary blast.
Boom...!
BOOM——————————!!!!!!
But very quickly...
...a deafening gunshot pierced through the entire residential building corridor, forcing its way through the sonic boom of the flashbang.
Taking advantage of the few seconds Chris's flashbang had stunned the c-virus monsters, bullets with red flames trailing from their tails violently shot out.
They passed straight through the building's security railings and struck the c-virus monsters directly.
Not just the physically strong and massive Rasklapanje...
...but even the fist-sized Neopteran queen hiding in the back was instantly blown apart. The previously buzzing army of killer bees immediately grew listless and fell to the ground in heaps.
In almost the blink of an eye...
...with the violent discharge of three or four incendiary bullets, the c-virus monsters before them fell one after another, each killed by a headshot.
This caused Chris, who was about to use the High-explosive grenade for a second blast, to freeze slightly. Everyone looked toward the source of the gunshots.
It was none other than Javier and Sherry, who had been stationed on the rooftop of the adjacent residential building for a long time. The V-shaped muzzle brake of that Barrett was still emitting billowing white smoke...!
Volume 9 Resident Evil 6: Chapter 34 Old Man, Is It Safe to Park My Ghostfire Under Your Building?
"Javier...?!"
Upon seeing the familiar figure...
...Chris's expression blanked for a moment. He clearly hadn't expected Javier to be here, and to have just perfectly coordinated with the flashbang he threw.
Taking out the c-virus mutant monsters with just three or four Barrett sniper rifle rounds was a very surprising turn of events.
At the same time...
...seeing Javier's appearance...
...Chris also realized one thing: after three years of not seeing each other, the man was still a trustworthy comrade-in-arms.
Although the man's identity was that of a neutral party who was neither strictly good nor evil, since Javier dared to step in and support them, it meant Javier's heart was still on the side of justice.
This was something that made Chris feel quite gratified.
After all, this was just like the Mansion Villa over ten years ago, when their S.T.A.R.S team went to the Arklay Mountains in Raccoon City to investigate the missing Zodiac Train and the Bravo Team they had lost contact with.
When they were besieged by dozens of Zombie Dogs in the pitch-black forest, Javier had acted just like he did now, saving the Alpha Team from a dire situation.
Except...
...the Alpha Team of those years had almost entirely vanished.
Now replaced by the BSAA Squad, this familiar scene made Chris feel quite gratified and happy.
"Long time no see, Chris...!"
"You've become much more haggard again. Well, do you want to try accepting my previous proposal? My promise remains valid at all times..."
On the rooftop of the opposite residential building...
...Javier slowly put away the Barrett sniper rifle. Looking down at Chris, whose sideburns and beard already showed signs of turning white, he called out a greeting somewhat jokingly.
At this moment, Javier was actually nearly forty years old, but his face still looked no different from when he was just thirty.
His hair was still as jet-black as ever. This was the life-extending effect brought by the bio-virus. Javier, who had fused the T-Virus and G-Virus...
...had in a certain sense already stepped onto the ladder of immortality.
Relying on the power of the T-Virus and G-Virus, a span of two or three hundred years would be an easy matter for Javier.
If he were a bit greedier...
...and were to absorb the life energy of other organisms to supplement himself...
...then four or five hundred years wouldn't be impossible. Therefore, if Javier stopped here, it could be considered a guaranteed win in terms of mutative evolution.
But unfortunately...
...his ambition was great, and he still wanted to keep trying for that final step. After all, how could one be satisfied without walking a path to its very end?
"Heh..."
"Forget it. I feel like things are fine as they are now; it lets me feel my own true existence. After all, aging is a natural law, there's no need to stop it."
"Cough, alright, let's stop talking about that. Come down quickly; I still have some things to ask you about this bio-virus outbreak."
Hearing Javier's temptation...
...without any hesitation, Chris decisively shook his head and refused.
Extending one's life was very tempting, but Chris didn't want to become an anomaly—an anomaly who remained alive while everyone else had died.
Furthermore, something like extending one's lifespan...
...could absolutely not be hidden from his sister Claire, nor from the BSAA organization behind him, the US Government, or even the International Alliance.
After these years of development...
...Chris admitted Javier was right: the BSAA was not as pure as he had imagined.
No... to be more accurate...
...no massive organization in the world was that pure. Although the BSAA's duty was still to eliminate bio-viruses...
...most of the power within it had already been infiltrated by high-level officials from the US Government and other national governments.
Simply put... the BSAA was no longer that pure.