RE - Chapter 333: The Reinforcements Arrive (Patreon)

“Oh... That was fast.”

“Hello, Mr. Han.”

The newcomer wore desert-camouflage tactical gear. Aside from the handgun at his waist, he surprisingly carried no other weapons.

Seeing this, Alan commented, “That seems... a little unsafe.”

“It’s a gesture of good faith. If you’re worried about my safety, there’s no need.”

Leon caught the confidence in the man’s voice and understood that he was only saying it to put them at ease. As for outside, there were obviously plenty more people securing the surrounding area.

“I have to say, internationally, you rarely see your people involved in biohazard incidents.”

After confirming the man’s identity, Alan handed him the voice recorder from earlier along with the reagents they had first collected.

Before the man could respond, Leon added, “Aside from Fong Ling, the woman Bruce ran into once...”

Ada probably didn’t count.

She might have been Asian, but she clearly had little connection to China.

The man showed little reaction at the mention of Fong Ling. He simply accepted the items with a serious expression.

“We’ll remember this cooperation.”

“Actually, from our perspective, it’d probably be better if you didn’t.”

Alan’s veiled remark made the man realize his wording had been a little off. He laughed and handed the two of them a bag of supplies.

“Obviously, now that things have reached this point, continuing to work together probably won’t be possible. Consider this a small token of appreciation.”

Leon took the bag and pulled out several satellite images.

“This shows the merchant’s escape route. We’ve already marked it, along with the route we believe he’s most likely to take next.”

Once Leon put the maps away, Alan turned back to thank the man.

“No need. I just hope the next time we meet, we won’t be enemies.”

“Well... not to put it too harshly, but as long as you’re not secretly developing viruses or conducting inhumane experiments, there’s no reason we’d ever become enemies.”

“...Damn, this brat really says whatever’s on his mind! Must’ve picked up some bad habits from hanging around the wrong crowd.”

The man’s radio was linked directly to the Chinese command center. After hearing the conversation between the three, one of the senior officers couldn’t help grumbling.

“He’s not wrong. But he doesn’t need to worry about that. If something like that ever did happen, we’d deal with it ourselves before anyone else could.”

“Improving public awareness and preparedness against viruses is important too.”

“All right, enough. That’s the soft approach. What we need right now is the muscle to deal with the virus itself!”

The senior officers immediately started arguing, while Shen May, who had been assigned to take the meeting notes, sat quietly in a corner and tried to hide her face behind her computer.

“Shen May, stop taking notes. It’s just us old-timers here anyway. Come on, tell us. Which matters more, the soft approach or the hard approach?”

“Hey, don’t put the girl on the spot.”

“Put her on the spot? What are you talking about? I’m being perfectly friendly!”

She barely dared to breathe as she watched the senior officers on the verge of another argument.

How had she even ended up working alongside people this high up?

When it came down to it, this was all Alan and the others’ fault. They had somehow ended up cooperating with the Chinese side, and as a result, she had somehow gotten “promoted.”

Still, she was happy enough with how things had turned out.

She just wasn’t very comfortable with senior officials suddenly putting her on the spot like this.

Maybe she had simply spent too much time in America. Dealing with leaders like these felt strangely unfamiliar now.

Meanwhile, Alan and Leon watched the man leave, then started thinking about their next move.

“What do we do with those useless bastards?”

Alan knew Leon meant the mercenaries they had tied up and dumped in the cellar to fend for themselves.

“We can’t hand them over to the BSAA.”

“Yeah. Too many people would see them. If word about us gets out, that’ll cause problems.”

After saying that, Leon couldn’t think of any good solution either.

Keeping them locked up indefinitely would be inhumane.

Letting them go was out of the question. They were dangerous men who had already harmed plenty of people. Who knew how many more would die if they were released?

In the end, Alan gave the answer.

“We’re not saints, and this isn’t exactly a place ruled by law. What happens to them is our decision.”

Leon raised an eyebrow, immediately understanding what Alan meant.

Truthfully, he had been thinking the same thing.

Alan drew his dagger and looked at the dried blood staining the blade.

“Letting them die without pain is the last mercy we can give them.”

In a city crawling with zombies, no one cared about a few more corpses.

...

Wesker reclined in his chair, staring at the person in charge on the screen. His sunglasses concealed any hint of expression.

“...Are you listening?”

“I have been the entire time.”

“All right. I admit this was our mistake. I hope you can help us.”

Wesker slowly raised an index finger and waved it from side to side.

“Why? I have no obligation to clean up your mess.”

“We’re not merely business partners, Wesker. Even if you don’t care about the Stairway to the Sun, aren’t you concerned about Uroboros?!”

“Are you threatening me?”

Wesker sat upright, the faintest smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

“No. I’m simply telling you the reality of the situation.”

“Oh, reality... The reality is that you hired an inexperienced little girl to handle things with me, and now she’s made a complete mess of everything.”

“...Yes.”

At that, Wesker rose from his seat, finally showing something resembling the attitude of a cooperative partner.

“I’ll help you. But in return...”

“We’ll immediately move forward with the final stage of Project Uroboros!”

“And the testing.”

“That... Where are we supposed to test it? There’s no way we can find enough viable test subjects in such a short time.”

Wesker clasped his hands behind his back and slowly approached the screen.

Cold light washed over his face, sharply outlining his jaw.

“Take advantage of the chaos. Acquire the subjects locally, right here in Africa. Things are already unstable. We may as well make them a little worse.”

“Isn’t that going a little far...?”

“Once Uroboros is complete, what will any of this matter?”

Wesker returned to his seat and gave the Tricell executive on the screen one final warning.

“Don’t disappoint me. I hate waiting for nothing.”

The screen went dark, and the room fell silent once more.

Wesker’s serpentine eyes remained fixed on the spotless white ceiling overhead.

“Trying to play cat and mouse with me? Chris, you really have gotten rusty.”

Chris: ? What did I even do? Why are you blaming me?

...

BSAA Africa Branch Base.

“You’re the man in charge?”

“So you must be Price. You’re every bit as easy to recognize as the rumors say.”

“That’s hardly good news.”

“This way. We’ll talk inside. Just call me Joel.”

Price nodded and motioned for the others behind him to follow.

Soap looked around at the facilities and couldn’t help commenting, “This place is a lot more run-down than I expected.”

Joel could only give a bitter smile.

“There’s no point building much here at headquarters. This place is basically just a liaison station. Most of our equipment is kept at defensive camps throughout the different regions.”

“Putting everything into fighting the virus?”

“Exactly... The situation here is worse than you think.”

Joel pushed open the conference room door and gestured for them to enter.

The screen inside was already on, and several people were scattered around the seats.

“Different parts of Africa were already plagued by constant conflict. Territorial disputes between countries, governments changing hands over and over. The arrival of the virus has turned this place into hell.”

“They’re using the virus in their wars?”

Joel nodded, then shook his head.

“They want to, but they don’t dare. The United Nations may not directly interfere in another country’s internal power struggles, but if someone crosses the line into crimes against humanity, international forces will step in and suppress them.”

“Looks like those African politicians have some brains. Just not much.”

Everyone in the room agreed with Soap.

After all, if they were completely right in the head, who would spend every day thinking about seizing power through violence?