Man Is the Weapon

Man Is the Weapon

In the end, Evenson still came to the underground laboratory. Howitzer had sent one of his bodyguards to test the strength of the enhanced Rome, and the result was that the bodyguard's head was punched straight into his stomach. Evenson explained that Rome had just completed the enhancement and had yet to adapt to his newfound strength, so they had to come to the laboratory and use professional instruments to examine him.

Evenson was not worried about the test results at all. He was certain that Rome's enhancement would surpass the boost the orcs had gained from drinking Mannoroth's blood. This was not because the humans of this world were more compatible with the Pit Lord's blood, nor because Hailmondas was stronger than Mannoroth. In truth, the gap between the two was enormous.

The reason was simple: purity. Back then, Mannoroth had needed to enhance all the orc clans. If he had used only pure blood, even draining him dry would not have been enough. Thus, aside from the clan Chieftains, who received pure-blood enhancements, the blood drunk by the other orcs had been severely diluted.

The blood Evenson had produced this time had a purity of over fifty percent. The cost of doing so was that these humans would probably have only about a year left to live. After all, the physical strength of humans here was far inferior to that of orcs. But none of that mattered. They did not need to live for a whole year anyway. In Evenson's plan, they were meant to die early and reincarnate early—it was just that the place where they would die was somewhat special.

Evenson and Howitzer sat in the laboratory's lounge, watching Rome undergo testing through the television. After watching several tests, Howitzer sighed. "This is truly a miraculous serum."

The abilities Rome displayed after being enhanced had already exceeded Howitzer's expectations. In terms of strength, he could easily flip over a car. As for defense, ordinary small-caliber pistols could only scrape his skin; only automatic rifles could injure him, but the bullets would lodge in his muscles before reaching his internal organs. In terms of endurance, he could sprint at twenty kilometers per hour for four hours.

"But one alone won't be enough," Howitzer said with some concern. With such a superhuman at his side, he felt he was one step closer to the Obelisk, but having just one still did not feel secure enough.

"So, I plan to give you a squad." Evenson swept both hands across the table, and twenty small bottles filled with green liquid appeared.

However, Howitzer paid no attention to Evenson's magician-like trick. Instead, he stared fixedly at the serums on the table. Only after a long while did he ask, "Have they already entered mass production?"

The appearance of these serums sent shockwaves through Howitzer's heart. Being able to produce so many at once meant that this so-called Umbrella Corporation could at least manufacture this T-serum on a small scale. He glanced up at Rome, who was still undergoing tests, and felt that the company's strength was likely even more unfathomable than he had imagined.

"You could say that. The output just isn't very high." Of course, Evenson would not deny it. The more unfathomable the other man found him, the more advantageous it was for him.

"Since your company possesses such strength, why not take the Obelisk for yourselves?" Howitzer was puzzled. The Obelisk was a valuable thing. If they had this kind of power, why not simply take it themselves?

"Our directions of development differ." Evenson had long anticipated this question. "You have always believed that certain miraculous objects could be developed into the most powerful weapons. But we at Umbrella Corporation believe that humanity itself is the most miraculous thing. Man himself is the most powerful weapon."

Biological weapons research? Hearing Evenson's explanation, that term naturally came to Howitzer's mind. He had already suspected as much when the other man brought out the enhancement serum, but... he looked again at Rome on the television, preparing for his next test. "Your company's achievements are truly remarkable."

"They're not such great achievements. The T-series is merely one of the things we research." Evenson waved a hand, wearing an expression that seemed to say, Oh, this? It's nothing special. Cheap as cabbages.

"There are others?" Howitzer was stunned again. This thing was already incredible, and they actually had more? That was utterly insane.

"Yes. T, C, X, G, Veronica, Las Plagas. But at present, only the T-series is relatively stable. The others cannot yet be mass-produced." Ignoring the Howitzer beside him, who was so shocked he was practically struck out, Evenson continued spouting nonsense with a straight face. Then again, it was not entirely nonsense. Those things really were Umbrella Corporation products; they simply had nothing whatsoever to do with Evenson.

"Unimaginable." Howitzer stood frozen for a long time before squeezing out those words. Super Soldiers were already difficult enough, yet they had not only succeeded, but were even making all sorts of variations. That was simply too much.

"It's nothing to be so surprised about. Once one enhancement serum succeeds, it isn't too difficult to derive other variants from it." What Evenson said sounded somewhat reasonable, and Howitzer finally let out a breath. But just as he relaxed, Evenson's next words made him suck that breath right back in. "The truly difficult things are rapid clone maturation and one-time memory implantation."

"What? What did you say?" The terms Evenson mentioned immediately gave Howitzer an idea, but he still hoped Evenson would offer a different explanation.

"Think about it. Let a fertilized egg grow into an adult human within a day, then implant twenty years' worth of memories into him within five seconds—memories of absolute loyalty to Umbrella Corporation. Don't you think that's a brilliant idea?" Evenson continued speaking of these shocking concepts.

Howitzer had already gone pale. At last, he understood what the other man meant by saying that humans were the best weapons. Evenson's words made him think of an assembly line, except it did not produce AK-47s, but humans. An image immediately appeared in his mind: adult bodies lying one after another on a conveyor belt, then a hood like a hair-curler lowering over their heads for five seconds. A warrior utterly loyal to Umbrella Corporation would be born. No, there was still one more step. He looked at the bottles on the table and added, "They would also need superhuman enhancement."

"Has it succeeded?" Howitzer asked with difficulty. If it had not succeeded, that was one thing. But if it had, the other side could practically assemble an army of Super Soldiers in a single day.

"Of course not." Evenson had nearly boasted that it had succeeded long ago. "Otherwise, why would I still be here helping you?"