Ada arched an eyebrow. "As you wish."
The two queenly beauties started fighting at the drop of a hat—Svetlana out of joy that her wish would soon be fulfilled, Ada out of boredom; only against an equal could she taste a truly exhilarating fight.
"Do they always 'befriend' each other with fists?" Jordana asked from the sofa, flipping through a magazine.
Stephanie nodded. "Aunt Karena, Aunt Christine, Aunt Michaela Schneider—they all like to throw a punch now and then."
While their mothers traded blows, the two daughters chatted in the living room. Born of the same father but different mothers, they felt closer than full sisters.
Thanks to Katherine's tutelage—no wonder she had been a teacher—she could always mingle with her girls.
The next morning Eddie watched Ye Minzhi leave—another enigmatic woman like Ada. Women like that always have stories.
In the underground mine tunnels, Leon, Alexander, and a heavyset man fled; the place swarmed with armed guerrillas whose heads had already burst open with Plaga.
They seemed turned into monsters by secondary infection. This strain of Plaga kept them prowling their former haunts, able to implant control by spawning larvae, yet unlike the Majini of Africa they no longer remembered how to live.
This Plaga parasite looked every inch a defective product—no wonder the picky Ada called them rejects.
With Kaplan's intervention as a third party, bioweapons now ran rampant: Lickers by the dozen, Hunters that slaughtered anything that moved.
As spokesman for the oligarch group, Derek had no choice but to order troops to evacuate civilians.
Luckily, clandestine channels reached TerraSave, the world's largest relief organization; Claire promised disaster supplies as well.
Fearing starvation, civilians abandoned everything and ran for their lives.
A scar-faced young mercenary with a shaved head arrived in the Eastern Slav Republic, accompanied—after a long absence—by Billy, older than when they'd met in the Arklay Mountains.
In return for helping him leave the Federation's pursuit, Billy had to look after and train Jack.
Under his mother Yasi's influence, Jack felt deep gratitude toward Eddie and loved seeing his mother with him.
This time the Mercenaries came to assist civilian evacuation.
On the border, Tsarist Russia mobilized troops, ready to intervene in the Eastern Slav Republic' civil war; the bioweapons here already threatened Russian frontier security.
But the BSAA stayed out, instead searching for the missing Chris. They found him—amnesiac; deputy Piers now stayed by his side day and night to help him recover.
Africa had its own string of lab-leak disasters; no spare manpower could be sent.
At the tunnel exit, Leon's group had barely escaped when they saw a soldier being chased.
The pursuers didn't eat him; instead a man stepped up, produced a grotesque Plaga parasite from somewhere, and forced it down the soldier's throat.
The Eastern Slav soldier dropped to his knees, threw his head back, cried "So tasty—delicious!"—then bled from every orifice and rose as a shambling undead.
"This is the price of using bioweapons! No one is spared—even civilians are infected. There's no cure—only death!" Leon raged.
Alexander shouted back, "Even so, the Regular Army struck first! A three-meter giant, impervious to bullets—we couldn't stop it!"
While they argued, the heavyset man pointed ahead, trembling. "They're coming—here they come!"
Leon cut the quarrel short, drew his pistol, and dropped the first few undead—triggering a riot as a horde poured out to surround them.
These Plaga-infected civilians couldn't even speak; they were more primitive than the Ganados found on the Iberian Peninsula—true rejects.
The three fled in panic, rounded a corner—then gunfire cracked. Leon ducked first, yanking the other two down.
Two Mercenaries expertly mowed down every pursuing Las Plagas villager with Assault Rifles, then yelled "reload" with practiced ease.
A scar-faced young man stepped up. "Refugees? Whatever you were before, a convoy's taking you to the TerraSave camp. Make trouble and I'll send you straight to heaven myself."
Billy walked over. "Move along for processing. Don't try anything—picking on honest folk is a lousy plan."
Chapter 568: Cursed Tyrant
Thanks. We're heading over now." Leon simply nodded at Billy and walked on.
Billy handed across two pistol mags. "Don't wander—this place is lethal. Behave if you want to live. Ask around the camp if you need work."
Leon pocketed the mags. "Appreciate it, mate."
Watching the trio leave, Jack frowned. "That guy's a fed, the other two are gun-hands—no fear of death."
"Quit worrying. We just hold out till mission end." Billy lifted his radio and ordered weapons and food brought in.
Inside the Parliament Building, Supreme Leader Derek issued the order, dispatching Tyrant-03 upgraded with Las Plagas. On the base Tyrant, the parasite boosts stamina while keeping control intact.
Such a Tyrant is dubbed the Cursed Tyrant.
Standing three meters tall, it towers over most Tyrants, matching any in endurance while boasting brute strength and high intelligence—its greatest asset.
Still daylight, and bioweapons are already brazenly deployed.
Tyrants and Lickers clashed in the streets; the cursed variant is a gun-hand's nightmare.
Right on schedule, an unkillable thing showed up. Even a Licker's claws that can slice car roofs barely scratched the Tyrant, unable to inflict more damage.
The scratches healed almost instantly; its straitjacket merely prevents easy awakening.
Awakening for a Cursed Tyrant equals normal rampage, usually losing control—yet the parasite keeps it human-shaped and rational, the perfect bioweapon.
Boom! A rocket slammed in; the Tyrant caught it and hurled it straight back at the gun-hands.
"Run!" a member had just shouted.
With the blast, the merc blacked out and dropped.
The Cursed Tyrant's arrival terrified the Elders, who hastily agreed to Kaplan's demand: help crush the oligarchs and they'll grant land for a base.
Nothing could stop the cursed killer—mortal, divine, or otherwise. Even light-tank shells, unless scoring a head hit, the Tyrant could shrug off.
The gun-hands were crushed—best gear they had were IFVs and captured light tanks.
Their most powerful weapons proved useless; if even the best couldn't drop the monster, was there any hope left?
Eddie watched from a rooftop with his three wives. "Las Plagas fused with a Tyrant—nice idea, but only so-so."
Svetlana smoothed her gilt bob. "Not every scientist is as smart as you. Those oligarchs aren't totally useless if they can field an upgraded Tyrant."
Meanwhile a Hunter slipped into the rich quarter, knifed the Gate Guard, and sliced the iron barrier open with its claws.
A taller Nemesis burst through the gate, shouldering a Rocket Launcher and blasting the responding soldiers sky-high.
Watching the chaos below, Svetlana frowned. "These part of your plan too?