RE - Chapter 337: Turmoil on All Sides (Patreon)

“You should be grateful I’m here to clean up this mess.”

Wesker looked at Excella, making no effort to hide the coldness in his voice.

“I put myself at risk for the sake of your plan.”

Even Wesker was left speechless by that.

He genuinely had nothing to say.

If he weren’t short on scapegoats right now, he never would have chosen a woman this simple-minded.

“Where is Irving?”

“He said he’s somewhere safe.”

“Where?”

“...I don’t know. I guess maybe some kind of underground cavern?”

You guess?

Wesker was so irritated he nearly laughed.

His personality wouldn’t allow him to remain in the office with someone who knew absolutely nothing, so he simply turned and left.

If she was unreliable, then he would use his own people.

“Go. Find Irving.”

“Yes, sir!”

Wesker pulled his gloves tight again, then headed toward the heavily sealed laboratory nearby.

Uroboros was progressing far too slowly.

These people were all too hesitant and cautious.

In the end, he would have to handle things himself.

The thought brought Spencer’s final words back to mind.

Wesker gave a cold smile and walked away.

...

“Just call me Kyle.”

“Price. I heard you’re something of a hero around here. Saved a lot of lives.”

Kyle shook his head and looked down at the map in front of him.

“No matter how many I save, it’s still only a small number. Besides, this time we’re dealing with a war.”

“But maybe this time, we can stop the whole thing.”

Soap planted a hand on the table and looked Kyle directly in the eye.

Kyle fell silent for a moment before asking cautiously, “You mean the BOW?”

“Exactly. If we can prove BOWs are being used in this war, there’s a chance we can stop it.”

“And then arrest the people responsible for crimes against humanity and make the masterminds answer for it.”

Kyle looked at the four men staring at him.

He could tell they already had a plan.

“In that case, let’s hear it.”

“Knew you wouldn’t turn us down.”

Price stopped Soap before he could keep going, then turned toward the map and explained his idea.

“This is the front line. The fighting has already pushed this deep into the region. If we want to find evidence of BOWs, we have two options. First, search the remains left behind by the fighting. Second, and this is more dangerous, move deeper into contested territory.”

When he finished, Price looked around and studied everyone’s expression.

Ghost was... an exception.

What surprised him was Kyle.

There was no obvious reluctance on his face, only thoughtfulness.

That meant he wasn’t afraid of the battlefield.

And apparently, he wasn’t afraid of dying either.

Price smiled inwardly.

Looks like there are still people in the BSAA worth relying on.

“If we ignore the situation itself... I’d probably choose the first option. But people are dying every minute right now, so I’m choosing the second. We go deeper.”

“Perfect answer, Kyle.”

Ghost offered the rare compliment, then immediately went silent again.

No matter how cold someone might be, watching people die horribly on a battlefield was still hard to stomach.

“...All right. Now that we’ve settled on the objective, let’s make a plan. First, one thing needs to be clear. Until we confirm whether BOWs are actually being deployed, we cannot interfere with the political conflict.”

“Fine, but what if I see someone mowing down civilians with a gun?”

“Then you can shoot the gunman without hesitation.”

“Cool.”

“Hold on. It’s just us?”

Kyle sounded uncertain.

Including him, there were only five people in the room.

Would that really be enough?

The last thing he wanted was for them to fail the mission and lose several people in the process.

Price, however, was completely confident.

“If you trust us with your back, you’ll never need to look behind you unless we go down first.”

Kyle couldn’t help laughing.

That level of certainty...

These guys clearly trusted one another with their lives.

“Sorry. Shall we continue?”

“Of course... We’ll need disguises, cameras to record evidence, minimal weapons, and a planned extraction route.”

“As for routes, I know a few local hidden paths that might help.”

“Good. Mark them on the map. We can use those to...”

Price looked at Kyle and finished with a smile.

“Move silently and strike hard.”

...

BSAA North American Headquarters.

Chris stared at the listening device in Jill’s hand, anger steadily building inside him.

“Where did you find it?”

“In the conference room ventilation duct. I was using my phone camera to check how dry my skin had gotten from all the late nights lately, and I noticed a tiny red light flash in the corner of the image.”

As she spoke, Jill even showed Chris the selfie she had taken.

Chris barely looked at her face.

His attention immediately went to the tiny red dot in the upper-right corner of the image.

“Hah. A spy.”

“We should’ve expected something like this, shouldn’t we?”

Chris clenched his jaw and forced down his anger.

That tiny listening device could potentially lead to countless deaths.

Getting angry now wouldn’t accomplish anything.

“Can you trace it?”

“I tried. The address is garbled. It looks like it’s written in another programming language, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to crack. It’ll just take time.”

“I’m counting on you.”

Jill shook her head.

“It’s part of the job. What we really need to worry about is the situation itself. Don’t you think this has gone far beyond a few merchants trafficking viruses?”

“That’s exactly why I’m even more convinced Wesker is involved. I’ve decided I’m joining the operation in Africa this time.”

Jill frowned.

“Headquarters assigns your missions. If you insert yourself into an operation without authorization, especially as the person in charge here, you could get into serious trouble.”

“Don’t worry. We have help... Speak of the devil. Alan and the others just sent over new intel.”

Chris pulled out his phone, saw the newly updated inbox, and opened the message.

As he and Jill read through the email, their expressions gradually became more serious.

It began with information about Irving’s virus deal.

Then came Alan and the others’ theory.

The appearance of Plaga, combined with everything else that had happened.

“Jill, investigate Irving. If they’re right, he’s bound to expose himself somewhere in this war.”

“Exactly what I was thinking. Though I may have to overstep my authority.”

“I’ll take full responsibility.”

“Mm. Of course. But I’m not letting you shoulder all of it alone. All right, you wait for updates. I’m going to work.”

Chris watched Jill leave the conference room and fell into thought.

He held his phone for a while, hesitated, then finally sent Claire a message.

‘Sis, what do you do about dry skin?’

‘? You’ve started taking care of your skin? Huh...’

‘No. It’s Jill. She said hers is getting dry from working too many late nights.’

‘...?! Chris! Did you finally figure it out?!’

‘Wh-What? I’m just worried it might affect my partner’s work efficiency.’

‘I give up... Fine, fine. I have a brother who can’t be honest with himself. Wait there. I’ll send you everything you need.’