RE - Chapter 358: No Sooner Is One Problem Solved Than Another Arises (Patreon)

“Even though I exposed what I can do, the payoff was still worth it. Besides, I already prepared a backup plan. I had Sherry copy the antibody production data and hide it away.” Halfway through speaking, Annette helplessly rubbed Carla’s head. “Carla, are you listening?”

“Ah... yeah.”

“Finding out that the person you used to like is the kind of man who wants to clone the woman he idolized just to satisfy his own desires has to hurt.” Annette showed absolutely no mercy with the comment and nearly made Carla cry.

Still, the warmth of the hand on her head helped Carla suppress the resentment rising inside her.

“Relax. Cloning a person isn’t that easy... Right now, all I’ve done is show him that it’s possible. I didn’t expect that alone to make him trust me completely.” Annette laughed coldly, then reconsidered. Perhaps the lingering scent of Umbrella around her made Simmons instinctively see her as the same kind of person.

Carla sighed. God only knew how she had survived these past few days. If Annette had not been there, she really might have gone off the deep end.

Her entire worldview had collapsed.

“It’s useful when a bad guy is bad enough. Sherry already contacted me. All the relevant information has been sent to Leon and Alan.”

“...Will they really get involved? Strictly speaking, cloning a person violates ethics, but it doesn’t necessarily endanger society.”

A barely visible trace of amusement appeared in Annette’s eyes. Carla might not know, but how could Annette not?

She would never forget that woman’s face. The female agent who had tried to steal the G-Virus, who had wrapped an inexperienced Leon around her finger, and who had eventually fallen from NEST.

Even then, Annette had never believed a woman like that would die so easily.

Just watch.

Watch the butterfly’s wings beat and see how large a storm they create.

Maybe the day would come when she met that old acquaintance again. And this time, perhaps they would even be allies.

Countless thoughts crossed Annette’s mind, but in the end, she left the decision to Alan and Leon.

If she met Ada again, Annette still would not trust her in the slightest. But she trusted the two federal agents now. In a way, she had watched them grow up.

“If those two manage to contact her and even work with her, then I really will have to reevaluate that woman.”

“Huh? What did you say?” Carla looked at Annette in confusion and was met with a concerned gaze.

“Nothing. Just thinking. Come on, we still have work to do. Pull yourself together. You remember your character, right?”

“...Dr. Carla, the brainless, innocent, adorably stupid workaholic who can’t express herself, is hopelessly in love with Simmons, and has no idea what’s really going on.” Carla counted each description off on her fingers, tears in her eyes as she recited every last one.

“Good. You finally didn’t miss anything.”

“Ugh... Am I really that pathetic?”

“Well...” Annette smiled. “Liking your work isn’t a bad thing.”

...

While Simmons was feeling a chill down his back, Wesker was having a bad time of his own.

He had looted Tricell headquarters and obtained an enormous amount of experimental data. Some of it contained conclusions that would have required extensive testing to reach, which was certainly useful to him.

But the worst possible thing had still happened.

The Uroboros Virus research data, the final sample, every possible clue, even the test subjects. Not a single one had been left for him.

Wesker still remembered the theory behind the Uroboros Virus perfectly. He had been a researcher himself, after all. But restarting development from scratch and spreading the virus before the United Nations established countermeasures was now almost impossible.

For once, Wesker felt genuinely frustrated. A nameless anger rose rapidly inside him.

So when he saw someone attempting to develop Project W on his own, someone who even resembled him slightly...

A black blur solidified into a figure.

That was the last thing Zeno saw before his throat began to close.

“You think you can become me?”

Zeno struggled wildly, but it was useless. Wesker’s hand clamped around him like an iron vise. No matter how much force Zeno used, he could not make it move even an inch.

Victor, standing nearby, broke out in a cold sweat. The sight instantly reminded him of what Alan had done to him not long ago, and his feet instinctively began edging toward the door.

“Take off the mask. Don’t make me repeat myself.” Wesker’s blood-red, snake-like eyes stared emotionlessly through his sunglasses. The threat in his voice was so overwhelming that Victor genuinely did not dare take another step.

Victor removed the mask with trembling hands and forced himself to sound calm. “Wesker. Long time no see.”

“Heh. I was wondering who would imitate Spencer and try to restart Project W. So it’s you, Victor. The little follower finally learned how to make decisions on his own?”

Wesker threw Zeno into the wall without caring about the groans and cries of pain that followed.

“Project W was the Professor’s pride, so I wanted to...”

“That old man only told me about it when he was dying, yet among you people it seems to have become common knowledge.” Wesker gave a few cold laughs. In the end, though, he did nothing more. He simply pulled off his gloves in disgust and tossed them onto the floor.

Zeno sucked in cold breaths as he slowly pushed himself upright against the wall. He had badly underestimated Wesker. After Victor’s experiments, he had thought he was strong enough to hold his own against Wesker.

He had been far too arrogant.

With death staring him in the face, Zeno had no interest in showing off.

“Mr. Wesker, I apologize.”

“Don’t say something like that while wearing that face.”

“...”

Only after Zeno fell silent did Wesker return to the main seat and sit down. “The Connections may keep a low profile, but do you really think everything you do is flawless?” He shook his head and gave his judgment. “You’re full of holes.”

“Then why...”

“If nothing unexpected had happened, all of you would have been part of Project Uroboros. Why would I concern myself with the struggles of ants?”

Wesker’s merciless dismissal made anger burn inside Zeno, but outwardly he could only remain calm and restrained.

Victor watched Wesker and silently analyzed the information hidden in his words. Wesker had been beside their teacher when he died, which meant...

The truth suddenly seemed much more significant, even if Victor could not fully make sense of it.

But right now, Victor was no different from Zeno. Under Wesker’s gaze, both men could only behave like obedient prisoners.

Time passed second by second. Wesker easily saw through their superficial submission and finally spoke again. “Of course, I do appreciate you. At least you’re not like Tricell. They make a spectacle of everything, yet even the people managing their operations are incompetent. In that respect, you’ve done well.”

Zeno straightened slightly at the praise. He might be arrogant, but when it came to management and organization, he was genuinely capable. Otherwise, The Connections could never have grown quietly into such a massive force.

Wesker looked at Zeno’s face, which bore a slight resemblance to his own, and a hint of amusement appeared in his eyes.

“I don’t need to explain why I came here, do I?”

“Mm... But I will not hand The Connections over to you.”

“That isn’t what I want.” Wesker waved one hand. In a rare gesture, he removed his sunglasses and looked at Zeno almost gently.

“You may continue running The Connections. Do whatever you want. You only need to obey my orders and remain completely loyal.”

Then his voice hardened.

“Come here.”

Hearing the first part, Zeno had just begun to think he had escaped disaster. Once Victor’s experiments succeeded, he could always turn the tables later and become the master again.

But Wesker’s final command immediately filled him with danger.

Even so, he had no right to refuse.

The moment Zeno stepped close enough, Wesker drove a fist into his abdomen. As Zeno doubled over and screamed, Wesker forced a pill into his mouth while simultaneously injecting a thin stream of liquid into his neck.

Zeno instantly felt every organ in his body convulse. His face turned a sickly blue-purple, veins bulged beneath his skin, and he collapsed to the floor unconscious.

Victor saw every trace of cruelty in Wesker’s snake-like eyes.

For a time, the only sound in the office was Zeno’s screaming. It continued until his consciousness finally faded and he passed out.

Wesker put his sunglasses back on and looked toward Victor.

“Didn’t he want to become me? Then make his dream come true. Take him downstairs to rest and inform me when he wakes up.”

With that, Wesker leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.

“I can’t wait for the show to begin.”