RE - Chapter 329: There’s Always a Way (Patreon)

“Oh, who’s this?”

“...Ha... Give me a hand.”

“Okay... Damn, you really got wrecked this time.”

Alan stepped forward, helped Leon up, and guided him into the shelter to sit down.

Once Leon had caught his breath, he brushed the bits of flesh stuck to his collar away, then delivered a vicious declaration with the most exhausted expression imaginable.

“Those bastards are dead. I mean it.”

“Now I’m curious about what happened.”

Leon took the water from Alan and drank before launching into a three-minute tirade.

The whole thing was practically a movie in itself.

For the sake of the victim’s privacy, we’ve decided not to broadcast that part. Just kidding.

Once Leon had recovered some strength, he looked at Alan, who was barely holding back his laughter, and asked suspiciously, “What are you laughing at?”

“...Nothing. Ahem. I just thought of something funny.”

“Really?”

“I’ve been through rigorous training. I don’t laugh that easily!”

“Okay, I believe you...”

“Hahahaha!”

“...”

Leon stared wordlessly at Alan’s gloating face, calmly wiping away the droplets of water that had accidentally sprayed onto him.

“You bastard.”

“Ahem... Sorry. Looks like they focused all their hatred on you. No wonder I had such an easy time. Thanks. I owe you one.”

Putting aside Leon’s miserable appearance, judging from what he had described, the fact that he had managed to escape on his own was practically a miracle.

Leon forgave Alan’s rudeness, and the two began discussing what to do next.

“The merchant will come back, but the whole place is a complete mess now. He’s bound to realize something happened. But if we leave like this, who knows how long it’ll take us to find another lead on him.”

“Time is life... Too bad we didn’t find out what route the merchant would take on his way back. If we want to keep going, we’re probably going to need outside help.”

“BSAA.”

They gave the same answer at exactly the same time.

“All right. Hopefully Kyle has already passed the information on to Chris.”

“But I think we might be running out of time.”

Leon raised his wrist to show Alan his watch. It was already afternoon, with only a few hours left until nightfall.

“In that case, how about we call in our allies?”

“...Isn’t that a little sudden? Will they agree?”

Alan pulled the satellite phone from his backpack and shrugged. “If we were inside someone else’s territory, maybe not. But where are we right now?”

“Abandoned land, with an entire city full of disgusting zombies.”

“Exactly. So they don’t really have a reason to refuse, do they?”

After several steady beeps, the satellite phone connected.

“...I didn’t expect you to contact us again so soon, Mr. Han.”

Alan looked down at his own battered appearance, then glanced at Leon.

“Yeah. Maybe it hasn’t been as quick as you think.”

“It sounds like you’ve run into some trouble.”

“That’s why we need your help.”

“...It would be our pleasure.”

“You should be able to pinpoint our current position through the satellite phone. Southeast of us, there’s a city crawling with zombies.”

“Understood. You’re correct.”

“Good. We need to borrow your satellite and check the area around the city to see whether any groups have entered.”

“...That isn’t something I can decide on my own.”

“Understood. Take some time to consider it, but we don’t have much.”

Alan lowered the satellite phone for the moment and went over to help Leon load some ammunition.

“...Mr. Han.”

“Hm? You’ve made your decision already? That was much faster than I expected.”

Alan picked up the phone again, sounding slightly surprised.

“Yes, but before we begin, we need to know the reason.”

“It’s simple. We may have found one of the people responsible for turning this city into a zombie stronghold. He’s supposed to return to the base here sometime today. But we’ve already thrown the city into complete chaos. The moment he gets back, he’ll know something is wrong and run.”

“...Understood. We’ll monitor the area in real time and contact you immediately if we notice anything unusual.”

“Thanks.”

“We have the same goal...”

The call ended.

Leon, standing nearby, couldn’t help commenting, “This partner of ours actually seems pretty reliable.”

Alan inserted a loaded magazine into his gun and chuckled at the remark. “Our Chinese contacts won’t let you down.”

“All right...”

Alan stood up and tossed Leon the prepared weapon and magazines. At the same time, he moved the undamaged ballistic plate around to protect the front of his torso.

Once they had adjusted their gear, the two stood facing each other.

“This merchant is only the beginning. Don’t forget what we came here for in the first place.”

“Of course... We still can’t be sure, but if Wesker really is behind all this, we’re not letting him escape again.”

“Though I have to admit, his abilities are pretty damn useful when it comes to running away.”

Leon nodded, then added dryly, “Too bad he’s an arrogant bastard.”

...

6:00 a.m., U.S. time. BSAA North American Division Airport.

“Guys, ready to move?”

“As you wish.” xN

Price nodded, then slapped the side of the aircraft three times.

“Everything’s ready. Prepare for takeoff!”

“Copy. Tower standing by!”

“Runway confirmed. Moving into position!”

Seeing that everything was in order, Price returned to his seat.

“The Africa branch is getting one hell of a haul this time.”

Soap looked at the crates of supplies in front of him, shaking his head as he spoke.

“But it won’t last long. Things over there are worse than we expected.”

Ghost picked up where Soap left off. “Three bullets per zombie. This is only enough for one full day of nonstop fighting.”

“Come on. Africa might be a mess, but it’s not like there are zombies covering every inch of the place.”

“It was a figure of speech.”

Price stared at the supplies. For once, he wasn’t sitting around leisurely smoking.

“Someone always has to carry the burden.”

“...You’re right.”

The cabin fell quiet for a while as everyone cleaned their gear and checked their ammunition.

Even though they had no ground operation scheduled, they remained ready at all times in case something unexpected happened.

A transmission came through Price’s headset. He answered immediately.

“HQ calling Bravo 6.”

“Bravo 6, standing by.”

Chris’s voice suddenly came over the channel.

“...Price, our inside source in Africa just sent intelligence. Several countries appear to be preparing for hostilities. Stay alert at all times.”

“Perfect timing... Copy that. We’ll keep our eyes open.”

“I suspect these conflicts have something to do with the virus. If circumstances allow, I’m adding another objective to your mission.”

“Copy that.”

When Price ended the transmission, everyone turned toward him.

He didn’t hesitate and told them exactly what Chris had said.

“Damn it. What the hell is wrong with this world? Wars just break out without warning now?”

“And it’s always the civilians who suffer in the end. Those self-important bastards.”

“...You think it’s connected to the virus?”

Price took a deep breath. “Don’t worry. Once we get there, we’ll find out what’s really going on.”

“And if it really is connected to the virus?”

“Then that’s great. It gives us a legitimate reason to intervene.”

“Yeah. I’d love to kick those politicians’ asses.”

“Now you’ve got me looking forward to it.”