Chapter 128
Yellow sand, smoke, gravel, shell casings, scattered corpses, burning vehicles, ruined stone houses, the dry wind howling and whistling, and after intermittent, muffled gunshots, the cries of people could be faintly heard in this mountain village.
"Shit, Sam and his crew are finished."
In a dark, cramped, and rough mud-brick house on higher ground, several U. S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) soldiers, dressed in desert camouflage combat uniforms, Kevlar bulletproof vests, and carrying large and small bags, peered out through a low window with lingering fear.
The sound of automatic weapons firing in rapid succession came from the nearby streets and alleys.
The noise was so loud that it quickly evoked a chilling growl and several fierce roars that shook the village.
"It's still in the village, damn it!"
"Keep your voice down, Mike."
The soldiers exchanged glances. With the help of the last rays of the setting sun shining through the window, they could see that their comrades' faces, painted with brown camouflage paint, were somewhat pale, and their lips were dry and bloodless.
"That thing, BOW, Tyrant, I guess... Damn, I saw it in the biohazard protection manual issued by the higher-ups during the Raccoon City crisis in '98. I thought it had been completely destroyed. I really don't know how the BSAA, who deal with them every day, managed to survive..."
"Isn't Redfield the best example? Half-human, half-machine, he's practically RoboCop..."
Leaning against the corner of the wall, the group slowly slid down to the ground, panting heavily. They joked with each other to ease their tense nerves, while giving their equipment a final check and covering any exposed skin.
"Sergeant, we'd better take this opportunity to get out of here quickly."
"Okay, everyone in position..."
"Hey, Joe? Damn it, Joe's dying."
Suddenly, a voice from inside the room made them turn around immediately.
Behind the wall, Joe, who was sitting on the ground leaning against it, suddenly began to cough violently, spitting out mouthfuls of bloody saliva. "Sergeant... kill me, I'm changing..."
Joe lifted his battered, sunken, and dark face and struggled to speak.
"Damn it, Joe, didn't you get the military's virus vaccine?"
"Cough... maybe the virus has evolved... the medication has worn off, I should have gotten a few more injections... ugh—"
Qiao forced a joke to stay alert, then his body leaned forward uncontrollably and he began to vomit, his stomach acid churning, a jumble of things mixed with blood and foam.
"Joe needs a suppressant, we have to get out of this hellhole. Otherwise we're all going to die sooner or later! What are those bastards Afghanistan Ram doing? Dereliction of duty! Where are the reinforcements..."
Meanwhile, the gunshots, shouts, and loud crashes of heavy objects hitting the walls outside gradually subsided.
"Shh..."
The soldier, who was constantly observing the situation outside, looked anxious and kept making 'shush' gestures.
Bang. A dull sound. Outside, a deformed monster the size of a sidecar motorcycle, like a wild beast pouncing on its prey, landed on a flat-roofed house not far away, its barbed maw wrapped around a bloody, mangled corpse.
Its appearance is just like a large green clam that has been skinned, with its whole body covered in bulging muscles, no skull, and its brain swollen and exposed.
With a hiss, it used its large, keratinized claws to dismember the bulletproof vest and camouflage uniform on the corpse. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, and the gruesome scene made one want to vomit.
Just as everyone in the bungalow held their breath, exchanging glances and gestures, preparing to retreat through the back door, the monster seemed to smell something, sniffing around, and its head, which had clearly lost its eyes, suddenly turned towards them.
Damn it!
"Roar."
The monster turned in an instant, its powerful hind legs pushing off forcefully, and its entire body shot out, carrying a strong wind. Like Yamori, it leaped left and right between the narrow stone houses, and in the blink of an eye, it was in front of them. With a crack, it smashed through the wooden door and pounced on the special forces soldiers inside the house.
They were special forces soldiers after all, and their foundation was not bad. The sergeant in charge was quick-witted and nimble-fingered. He raised his D2a1 Copperhead 5.56mm caliber fully automatic rifle and pulled the trigger all the way. The other special forces soldiers were not to be outdone and opened fire almost at the same time. The burst of bullets shattered the exposed head of the eyeless deformed BOW.
BOW's body fell while his head was still splattering thick blood.
However, there was not a trace of joy on the faces of the soldiers present.
Are they afraid of this vulnerable BOW?
"Roar--!"
Thump... thump...
The sudden, muffled thuds seemed to come from all directions, accompanied by increasingly close growls and stumbling, noisy footsteps.
A group of lizardmen, who looked as if they were standing up, with their bodies forcibly widened and enlarged, and without tails, were the first to emerge. They were dark green, covered with thick, reptilian-like scales, and had large forelimbs with sharp claws.
Boom! About thirty meters away from the house, a clay bungalow shattered with a series of loud crashes, and two huge figures stepped out.
Its pale, bluish-black skin was covered in swollen, red flesh that had burst through the skin and was writhing as if repairing its damaged tissues. Blood and bits of flesh flowed from its massive, scythe-like bone claws...
Tyrant, a tyrant who has lifted the restrictions.
A chill instantly spread throughout the soldiers present.
"Fuck."
He kept firing at the heads of the Licker corpses to prevent them from coming back to life until he ran out of bullets. Only then did the sergeant curse as he tore off the empty magazine, replaced it with a new one, and looked at the BOWs arriving in droves outside, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
"Guys, it looks like we'll have to donate this time..."
Taking a deep breath, he raised the D2a1 Copperhead, aiming at the Tyrant that was leaning forward and starting to run. He felt the superior craftsmanship of the military-grade technology and the ergonomic features brought by the new materials, while simultaneously observing the 5.56mm water pipe...
Bullets clattered against the Tyrant and the Hunter's layers of dark green scales. Watching the BOW explode with sparks and blood, yet still lingering for half a day, the sergeant cursed the Pentagon's shortsightedness in his heart.
The caliber is too small when the fighting begins.
The original D2 design from the military science department was much better—larger caliber, new ammunition type, and new propellant—but the result was...
When have those bastards in the Pentagon ever been so frugal? Using the large stockpile of 5.56 NATO and 7.62 NATO ammunition as an excuse, they forcibly demanded that the Military Science Department censor the D2 Copperhead and add the A1 specification required by the military.
Although the stripped-down version of the bare rifle still has better ergonomics, accuracy, weight, reliability, and modularity than the currently deployed M16 and M4.
If I manage to get back alive, I might as well just retire on the spot and join the military academy...
Putting aside his anger at the Pentagon's insane behavior, the sergeant saw the gap in the wall created by the tyrant, the Zombies village zombies emerging, and... several mutilated figures in camouflage combat uniforms.
Even if I die, I don't want to become like them.
Gritting his teeth, he raised the muzzle of his gun and aimed the 40mm grenade launcher at the tyrant who was charging forward like a bulldozer. The sergeant's other hand gripped the high-explosive grenade, thermite grenade, in the grenade pouch at his waist.
Just as a flash of madness appeared in his eyes, a buzzing sound rang out—
The roar of engines grew louder as they approached, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
In the afterglow of the setting sun, several guided rockets, trailing zigzag trajectories, fell with a piercing roar.
"Hidden!"
Realizing what it was, the sergeant gave a shout and lunged towards the sturdiest corner pillar of the house.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thick smoke and dust rose from the ground, and plumes of blazing orange-red fireballs, accompanied by the shockwaves of the explosions, engulfed the narrow alleyways in front of the earthen and stone houses.
At the edge, dozens of Zombies, lickers, and Hunter were thrown into the air by the impact, some even disintegrating in mid-air.
Splash!
Gravel and clods of earth rained down from the sky.
After a long while, "Pah!"
As the sergeant brushed the debris off his body, he took a deep breath of the hot, smoky air and coughed as he looked up and around. He saw that the stone house walls had collapsed and cracked, and the street buildings were twisted and deformed.
Just seconds ago, the tyrant was all that remained, only a few charred vertebrae and bits of flesh from his lower limbs, baked dry by the high temperature and with carbonized edges.
Buzzing—
The sergeant looked up and followed the sound.
A hundred meters away, at low altitude, a new type of heavily armed, heavily armored helicopter with sharp angles and no propellers roared in, accompanied by several flat, high-speed, multi-purpose helicopters.
The black background with yellow stripes of the Militech product logo and the BSAA global logo tell the story of their identity.
The next moment, a fierce burst of automatic firepower roared out.
The flames spewed from the aircraft's belly-mounted ground cannons lashed the ground like whips of light, and a storm of scorching metal swept through the village, leaving splattered chisel marks on the riddled stone buildings, with the constant sound of flesh and tissue exploding and shattering.
A sudden noise startled the sergeant, who looked towards the other end of the village, near the valley. Four streaks of fire shot into the sky, trailing long, reddish-white smoke. "RPG!"
He roared at his BSAA allies.
But, bang bang bang!
On the upper part of the armed heavy-armored helicopter, the mechanical structure of the weapon module and automatic missile launcher engaged with a series of whooshing sounds. One after another, miniature guided missiles locked onto the incoming RPGs and flew out, detonating in mid-air. Specially programmed fragments spread outward in a spiral shape, and three RPGs were hit by the fragments and exploded in mid-air.
Another shot, whoosh whoosh whoosh—! It was a miniature Phalanx CIWS on the nose of the heavy-armored helicopter. The muzzle of the rotary cannon spat out arcs of fire that were particularly conspicuous in the darkening sky, and it exploded.
Then, the sergeant saw a flash of light inside the side door of the cabin, followed by a loud bang—BOOM! White-hot light erupted from the spot where the RPG had sprung from the edge of the village. A recoilless rifle? Before he could think further, the heavily armored helicopter roared away, and an Armored Figure jumped out.
Jump?
Wait, he didn't see the rope being thrown down and sliding down.
The sergeant's eyes widened.
Could it be that man?
At this moment, he said, "Hey buddy, this is Brad from BSAA North American Headquarters. I bet you love me to death right now."
The sound from the loudspeaker interrupted his thoughts.
The searchlights illuminated his location in a blinding white light.
A flat-bottomed helicopter with a matte black paint job hovered directly above him, slowly descending.
Swish, swish.
Three BSAA agents, dressed in the same combat uniforms as the US military, but with a camouflage patchwork that looked better, and wearing metal skeletal support structures with pistons, micro motors and hydraulic systems, and holding unmodified versions of the D2 Copperhead assault rifle, jumped down.
Exoskeleton!
The sergeant's eyes couldn't help but linger on the exoskeleton support structure, which possessed a striking, violent metallic aesthetic.
"Dude, has anyone been scratched or bitten?"
As the surviving sergeant was pushed onto the helicopter, a BSAA operator, while picking off BOW who was not quite dead yet not quite, asked a question.
"Joe, Joe's been bitten!"
The sergeant hurriedly said.
Soon, the other special forces soldiers in the partially collapsed house were rescued, and none of them were seriously injured.
Only Joe, who appeared somewhat delirious, was in the most serious condition. The BSAA medic examined him and asked seriously:
"Has he been vaccinated? You know what I mean, not some other second-tier military personnel, but someone from the military science department."
After the Raccoon City Resident Evil was exposed in 1998, in the face of public panic, the serum vaccine that Vera absorbed from the old Umbrella team, which was specially prepared for high-ranking officials and dignitaries, naturally had to be made available to the general public.
Such a large market was beyond Vera's reach at the time. Some congressmen and behind-the-scenes financiers coveted this opportunity and demanded that the Militech disclose its technology. Vera countered by arguing that leaks could lead to malicious individuals using the technology to improve the virus. With the help of close allies like Simmons, and through various wrangling and buck-passing, a model similar to "Coca-Cola concentrate" was finally established, where the Militech provided the main materials and some of the technology, and some shell companies that made money under false pretenses were set up.
Whether their products are effective or not depends on their character; in any case, the BSAA Organization, which is heavily sponsored by Vera, has never been a fan.
Why use a second-tier brand when there's a first-tier one available? If you anger the rich woman, will you take responsibility?
"It's from the Military Science Department."
The sergeant said repeatedly.
"That's good. No wonder he's been able to hold on until now. We've already given him an injection of the enhancement inhibitor. His condition is temporarily stable, but we'll need to go to a hospital with specialized equipment for further examination. Oh, just to be on the safe side, all of you will receive a booster shot of serum."
As they spoke, the BSAA medics took out several disposable micro-dose pneumatic syringes from a box marked with anti-biochemical symbols and distributed them to the few soldiers who were still able to move.
During their subcutaneous injection of T-Virus serum, the helicopter hummed and climbed. As it rejoined the BSAA formation, the sergeant could clearly see that the spot where the dark figure had jumped and crashed was now littered with mangled corpses.
The Zombies and Lickers need no introduction. There was also a headless corpse of a Tyrant, still wearing a straitjacket, which looked like it hadn't even had time to be untied before its head was blown off.
"Roar--"
The howling came from a deformed giant, taller and stronger than the tyrant, carrying a multi-barreled rocket launcher on its shoulder. That was the RPG it had just fired.
However, it is in very poor condition at the moment.
His heavy coat was torn, and his body was covered in thick blood and black, gooey bits of flesh, revealing his stark white bones.
Upon seeing this, the sergeant and the surviving special forces soldiers looked delighted. It was these BOWs with basic intelligence and the ability to operate human weapons that had caught them off guard and caused them to suffer a silent loss. Their Humvees, armored vehicles, and Chinook helicopters were destroyed in this way.
The Armored Figure stood directly in front of BOW, holding an enormous, jet-black shotgun.
The sergeant recognized him.
He had seen the trailer for the upcoming first Militech Exhibition Hall Strategic Expo. This big gun seemed to be called 'Slaughter'. According to the military science and technology introduction, it was a weapon with recoil that could dislocate your shoulder. Only specific people who were confident in their own strength could use it.