RE - Chapter 330: The Boss Is Furious. Deal With It (Patreon)

“You sent people to Africa?”

“No doubt about it. I planted a bug in the conference room.”

“...Understood. Stay undercover. Unless it’s necessary, maintain radio silence.”

Jessica watched the waiter leave after delivering his report, then leisurely went back to enjoying the food on the table.

Africa was one of Tricell’s key strongholds, after all. There was no way she could keep something like this to herself.

Jessica’s intelligence was quickly relayed to Tricell headquarters, which then passed the warning down to the Africa branch.

It wasn’t long before Excella received some very “warm regards” from one of her old superiors at headquarters.

As the person in charge of the Africa branch, she was naturally the first one called to account.

The biggest problem was that the research and experiments involving the Plaga parasite were being conducted in secret. On top of that, it was a major joint project with HCF.

So how the hell had it been discovered?

Excella could have racked her brain all day and still never guessed what had happened. Two people with too much time on their hands had found the black-market liquor deal suspicious, come all this way to investigate, and stumbled into Irving’s hideout in the process.

She had even less idea how the information had reached the head of the BSAA so quickly.

But none of that mattered now.

What mattered was finding a way to shift the blame.

Once she looked at it that way, things became much simpler.

Irving, I warned you.

Excella sold Irving out without the slightest hesitation, even revealing what he had done just a few days earlier.

“...Where did you say he conducted the experiment?!”

“Uh... at a remote African tribal settlement.”

“Send me the location. Right now!”

“Understood! I’ll send it immediately!”

“...Damn it. It really is the Ndipaya tribe.”

“Wh... what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? Good question.”

The man at headquarters practically rolled his eyes, though he also felt a pang of regret.

Back then, after realizing that aside from her talent for business, Excella could basically be summed up as all looks and no brains, he had deliberately kept the secret beneath the tribal settlement from her.

Having her work with Wesker this time had served two purposes. One was to test Wesker, and the other was to test Excella.

Well, that had worked out beautifully.

The test on Wesker had revealed nothing, while Excella’s test had created an entirely new problem.

If the “Stairway to the Sun” inside those ruins was discovered, along with the laboratory that had already been built into the cavern...

God.

He couldn’t even imagine how he would die.

Wesker: Probably something involving a bath in magma.

“Listen carefully, Excella. There’s a massive ruin beneath that tribe. It’s an extremely important Tricell research base.”

“...No. No way. Then doesn’t that mean...!”

Cold sweat slowly began to bead across Excella’s forehead.

In other words, hadn’t she basically allowed her subordinate to take a dump right on top of her own bosses’ research base?

“Hah. At least you understand now. The most important thing is keeping that place from being exposed, understand?! The BSAA already knows about Plaga, so let them keep investigating. Just make sure you steer them somewhere else. You’re going to have to take the initiative.”

“Right, right! I understand!... Uh, what exactly should I do?”

The man slapped a hand to his forehead, suddenly feeling like life had lost all meaning.

“Forget it!... Tell that subordinate of yours to get as far away from there as possible. And preferably, have him show himself before he leaves so the BSAA follows him instead. Understand?”

“Got it.”

“Mm... What is it? Can’t you see I’m busy?!... What did you say?...”

The moment he heard the news, he was so furious he could practically feel his hair standing on end.

“Goddamn it, Excella!! Who the hell did your subordinate sell the virus to?! Shit! Why did this have to happen now?!”

“I... uh...”

“Ha... No. No, calm down... Excella, your subordinate’s quite the ambitious one, huh? He’s even doing business at the national level now? Do you have any idea how the BSAA will react if BOWs start appearing on a battlefield?”

“...More or less.”

The man took a moment to calm himself, thoroughly disappointed in her.

Who the hell had let this woman climb so high in the company?

Had everyone been blinded by money?

At this point, their only choice was to have that guy handle it...

He would probably agree.

They were still cooperating on an even more important project, after all.

With that thought, the man drew a deep breath and gave Excella one final warning.

“Keep your dog on a leash and don’t let him cause any more trouble. Otherwise, we won’t mind teaching him what it means to disappear. Remember this. Making money doesn’t mean you’re smart. Knowing how to read the situation does. Understand?”

“Yes, yes! I understand! I’ll contact him right away.”

Before Excella could squeeze in a few more flattering words, the other side hung up.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it... Irving.”

Just as Excella, barely containing her anger, called Irving, Alan and Leon also received a transmission from China.

“The target has reportedly appeared five kilometers east of the city.”

“Copy.”

Alan clipped the satellite phone to the left side of his backpack, then formed a ring with the index finger and thumb of his right hand, brought them to his mouth, and whistled.

After several birdlike calls, a faint reply came back a few seconds later.

It was quiet, but Alan heard it clearly enough.

Knowing Leon had received the message, he immediately set off.

Meanwhile, Leon had already been lying in wait among the ruins on the eastern side of the city. After answering the signal, he grabbed his gear and quickly ran toward the tallest nearby building to get a better view.

He pushed off the ground, kicking up dust, grabbed the edge of a wall with both hands, and hauled himself over in one smooth motion. Using the surrounding debris as footholds, he quickly climbed onto a tower where half the earthen wall had already collapsed.

He set his gun beside him, slowly pulled out his binoculars, and scanned the distant main road under the moonlight.

“...Found you.”

Through the binoculars, he saw several vehicles heading toward the city, trailing clouds of dust behind them. The light was poor, but the plume they were kicking up was impossible to miss.

They looked to be about three kilometers away.

“Need to get closer.”

Leon climbed down from the tower and moved to a single-story building closer to the edge of the city, where he quietly waited for the convoy to arrive.

As the minutes passed, the rumble of engines gradually reached his ears.

Leon kept his right hand on the pistol grip and his left against the stock, watching the approaching vehicles as he lined up his sights on their tires.

But he didn’t fire.

He was waiting for the right moment.

Taking out only one vehicle wouldn’t be enough. He needed to disable all of them. Otherwise, if the others got away, it would defeat the whole purpose.

That had been the plan.

Then the convoy suddenly stopped.

Leon frowned and rested his finger on the trigger.

Not far away, inside the third vehicle, Irving was listening with a scowl as Excella cursed him out over the phone.

At first, he had been fully prepared to curse her right back.

But the longer he listened, the more something started to feel off.

Had he gotten himself into a little trouble?

“You call this a little trouble?!”

“Okay, okay. Keep your voice down.”

“Is that seriously what you’re worried about right now?!”

“It already happened. What do you expect me to do? I’m not Superman. Besides, we got all the money. Isn’t that what you wanted? Everything else has nothing to do with me. You’re the one who never explained things properly.”

“You!!”

“Enough. What are you, some kind of shrew?! Hah. Your boss chewed you out, so now you’re turning around and taking it out on me? Sorry, I can’t be bothered. Still, thanks for the warning.”

Irving hung up and tossed the phone aside, then began rubbing his forehead.

“Boss, we...”

Irving looked at the convoy ahead, then thought back to the conversation he had just had.

“The BSAA, huh? Honestly, how much better can they really be than the INTERPOL? Dealing with zombies and dealing with people are two completely different things. Which one takes more skill should be obvious.”

His assistant watched Irving start talking to himself through the rearview mirror and could only think, Boss, please don’t do this... I have no idea what you’re talking about.

“All right, relax. Here’s what we’ll do. Tell the convoy that everyone except the armored vehicle is going into the city first. The armored vehicle stays with me.”

“...What for?”

“They’ll be bait. That’s all. They’re just a bunch of unruly bastards anyway.”

“...Understood.”

The assistant sighed inwardly and raised his walkie-talkie.

“Team One, Team Two, head into the city first. The Boss is taking Team Three on a mission. We’ll be back soon.”

“Okay! I’ve been dying to get back to my room and blow off some steam!”

“Let’s deal with those idiots who can barely tell friend from foe first!”

“Relax. Sibia’s with us.”

The assistant quickly cut off the two team leaders before they could keep talking and told them to carry out the order.

“Roger.” x2

Just like that, the two lead vehicles slowly continued toward the main road, gradually moving into the ideal angle Leon had been waiting for.

He pulled the trigger without hesitation.

The tires on both vehicles blew out almost instantly.

Gunshots cracked across the road, which immediately erupted in a chorus of colorful curses.

Irving instantly barked an order at his assistant.

“Turn around! We’re getting out of here!!”