Gonzalez slammed an angry fist onto the shelf. The violent crash made the hostages lying on the floor tremble, and a little girl hiding in her mother's arms even let out a shriek.
At the same time, a black figure on the gentle slopes of the distant Acre Mountains deftly removed the SIM card from a phone, snapped it in half, and casually tossed it into the depths of the cliff before turning and leaving without another glance at the scene.
From the moment some idiot chose this convenience store, any thought of making a deal had vanished.
How to extricate himself from this mess was what needed to be considered first. After all, that thing was in high demand. As long as he could get away safely, buyers were everywhere.
After all, the world had never lacked battlefields choked with smoke or schemers who rose to power through bloodshed.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! An irritable Gonzalez fumed in annoyance as things spiraled in an even worse direction, making his top priority to get away as fast as possible.
Otherwise, he would be riddled with bullets by the RPD police before his boss even had a chance to deal with him.
"Celesto, get down here. We're leaving."
The robber's expression shifted uncertainly. After hesitating for half a minute, he took a deep drag from his lit cigarette, tossed it to the ground, crushed the butt beneath his foot, then raised his head and shouted in Mexican Spanish toward the roof.
At that moment, a short but sturdy man carrying an old-fashioned SVD sniper rifle jumped down through the skylight.
Kevin's pupils contracted. Now he finally understood why even a humanoid tyrannosaurus like Alice had obediently stayed on the ground without daring to move.
There was not one robber, but two. One of them was even a sniper.
Judging from the way they looked, they had at least received fairly professional firearms and combat training. Trying to subdue both of them at once earlier would have been far too risky.
This is bad! They're... leaving? Kevin grew nervous, cold sweat forming on his forehead. The people around him seemed to sense the threat of death as well, and unease spread among them.
Just as Kevin's nerves tightened, a gleaming silver dinner knife that had fallen beneath a shelf gave him a bold idea: if there was no opportunity, then he could only create one!
Kevin's right foot shifted without a trace, and the pair of emerald-green eyes behind him immediately flashed with a strange light.
The instant the ponytailed gunman met up with the short sniper, they nodded to each other and slowly backed toward the entrance, one in front and one behind. They did not seem to intend to slaughter the witnesses.
I knew it. How could I be that unlucky? They're pretty professional after all. Kevin let out a long breath.
"Surprise, motherfucker!"
However, a thick, hairy arm reached in through the half-open door. From its outstretched palm, an oval black sphere was thrown into the convenience store.
Fuck, a grenade! Everyone cursed and screamed inwardly as they scrambled behind the shelves in panic.
Compared to simply killing people, leaving the arriving Raccoon City police with wounded victims all over the floor and tying up their manpower would make the robbers' escape much easier.
At that moment, a beautiful scarlet figure dashed forward and, with lightning speed, kicked the grenade whose safety had already been removed through the glass window.
"Boom!" With so little time left, the grenade exploded in midair just after smashing through the window. Shrapnel mixed with shattered glass flew in every direction, and the whistling of the air rang without end.
"Damn it!" The two Mexicans outside, dizzy and deafened by the ringing in their ears, crawled to their feet covered in dust.
Leaning against each other, they wore dark expressions as they prepared to teach these ungrateful Americans an unforgettable lesson.
The instant Gonzalez pushed open the shattered door, his body froze.
As the former Mexican professional wrestler trembled and fell backward, Celesto instinctively raised his gun and fired, sending sniper rounds flying wildly.
"Pfft! Pfft!" Two dull sounds of flesh tearing echoed around them. Celesto, with a silver dinner knife lodged in his throat, collapsed weakly to the ground, his limbs twitching nonstop. The hand gripping the M1911 at close range curled up, and his finger even reflexively pulled the trigger.
The beauty in the red dress, who had instinctively evaded after throwing the knife from the doorway, was naturally unharmed. Before that, she had even casually slit the throat of the ponytailed Mexican wrestler.
But when she turned around, she discovered that the mixed-race boy who had secretly passed the dinner knife to her was sitting limply on the ground, his face pale as he clutched his blood-soaked right chest.
His expression seemed halfway between tears and laughter, as though he were silently mocking her.
Because of Alice's precise evasion, someone hiding beside the shelves had somehow been shot while lying down!
I Live Next Door, My Surname Is Li
In the distant suburbs, there stood a gloomy old castle.
Amid the screech of brakes, the brown-haired, blue-eyed beauty in a red dress and knee-high boots made a beautiful drift and parked the blue Beetle in front of the gates.
She immediately leaped out of the car and rushed into the aged castle, taking three steps in two.
Crisp footsteps soon rang across the polished marble floor. After looking around, the woman in red slipped into a bedroom, crouched before a cabinet, and searched through it. Beneath a row of firearms on the lowest shelf, she pulled out a white medical kit.
The woman in red carefully returned everything to its original place. Just as she was about to turn and leave, Alice saw a familiar figure reflected in her eyes.
"What happened? Are you hurt?"
Spence Parks, the security colleague who had entered into a fake marriage with her to conceal their identities, wore a bathrobe as though he had just come out of the shower. When he noticed the medical kit in Alice's hands, concern appeared on his face.
Alice smiled faintly. "I'm fine. There was just an accident at the convenience store. A robbery took place, and the robbers had guns, so people were injured. I want to go over and help."
Spence frowned slightly. "You know the company's rules. We need to minimize contact with the outside world and protect the secret behind us."
The tough Female Supervisor, full of righteousness and compassion, remained unchanged in expression as she gently spread her hands.
"I was caught up in this robbery too. Even if the company can pull strings from top to bottom, it can't avoid every flaw. Helping these injured people now and making them psychologically inclined to cover up anything unusual about me is also protecting myself."
"Then be careful." Spence's brow relaxed. He stepped aside and watched Alice leave.
Just as the Female Supervisor reached the door, she seemed to remember something and turned back with an apologetic smile.
"I already unloaded the wine and ingredients into the hall. Sorry, but it looks like tonight's date is ruined. If you don't mind, we can make it up next time."
"I'll be waiting, ma'am." The corners of Spence's lips rose in a gentlemanly smile as he bowed to his "nominal wife," who was already walking away.
After calming down from the tension of bloodshed and killing, Alice could not help letting out a relieved chuckle while seated in the car.
Spence, the "Contract Husband" the company had arranged to conceal her identity, had short brown hair, sharply defined features, and a hard jawline. Aside from being somewhat calculating, he was not an unpleasant person.
As time passed, they had developed mutual affection. Only the final step between them remained unspoken.
Even though Spence had been the one to suggest this candlelit dinner, Alice had not rejected it in her heart.
Once she finished this big job, perhaps she could return to the countryside with Spence, get married, have children, and no longer concern herself with Umbrella Corporation's filthy internal experiments.
But there was clearly no time to indulge in such impending romance. The urgent matter was treating that person's injury first.
Alice steadied herself, stepped on the Beetle's accelerator, and the Blue Mini Car sped away in a cloud of dust.
At the same time, Spence sat on the bed with his brows tightly furrowed and his head lowered in silence. A Black Voice Changer slid deftly between his fingers.
Was this really just a coincidence?
The man's expression darkened and brightened unpredictably. The T-Virus was not merely a weapon; it was also a symbol of wealth. But before he could hold it in his hands, he first needed to be able to handle it.
Otherwise, if he spent the rest of his life fleeing Umbrella Corporation's pursuit, he would not live long enough to enjoy any amount of wealth and glory.
For now, he should wait and watch. It would not be too late to profit from the chaos once the time was right.
Besides, there was also a tempting beauty about to fall into his hands. It would be such a waste not to enjoy her...
Thinking of the Female Supervisor's heroic face, the corners of the man's lips lifted. His fingers slowly slid over the cold pistol, as though touching skin that was equally hard and resolute.
Deep within the jungle-covered Acre Mountains, there was a Simple Treehouse.
Kevin lay on a bare wooden bed, his neck propped on spare clothes taken from the blue Beetle. His face was pale and sickly, and blood slowly seeped through the bandages around his right chest.
Although the bullet had not punctured his lung and given him a direct game-over, the through-and-through wound in his chest was still enough to put Kevin through hell.
After all, there was not much time left before the crisis arrived.
Still, what reassured him somewhat was that the Umbrella Corporation executive named Alice was carefully examining his wound.
Not only was the medical kit in her hands fully stocked, but this Umbrella Corporation executive was also highly skilled at treating gunshot wounds. After all, people like them were the ones who lived alongside gunfire and war.
Alice, the undisputed female protagonist of the Biohazard Crisis film series, was kind, calm, sharp, and bold. She possessed an unbelievably perfect compatibility with the T-Virus that would nearly drive humanity to extinction in the future.
Thus, by chance, she would gain unparalleled speed, healing, strength, reflexes, and even the ability to manipulate Mental Power.
Therefore, not only would she earn the title of "Zombie Terminator," she could also be called the key to ending the T-Virus crisis.
To be fair, such a powerful and reliable lawful-good person was practically a god-tier teammate, the sort one could search for with a lantern and never find. Building a good relationship with her seemed to bring no harm whatsoever.
But the headache-inducing problem for Kevin was that this woman carried an almost cursed "teammate-killer buff." She was practically the type to get at least half the survivors killed every installment.
Aside from the three tough survivors, Claire, Chris, and Jill, Alice's apparent teammates had died in batch after batch.
For example, in Biohazard Crisis 1: Evil Castle, there were eight people in total who went with this woman into The Hive to investigate. Other than her, all six of them went to heaven.
Some might ask, Weren't there two left? Heh... don't forget that one of them was Alice herself.
And Matt, the sole survivor, was transformed into a bioweapon monster before dying in Biohazard Crisis 2: Apocalypse while saving Alice.
In Biohazard Crisis 3: Extinction, it was a textbook case of killing acquaintances. Her teammates died in every imaginable explosive fashion, spiraling straight to heaven.
It was a survivor group that had struggled through the apocalypse for years, packed with elite members. It even included remnants of Raccoon City who had somehow survived a nuclear blast.
Yet even though they had painstakingly kept their heads down and struggled their way into the third installment, once they encountered Alice, this "Causality Weapon," their team was nearly wiped out and sent straight back to square one. Even the ill-fated pair L.J. and Carlos went to heaven one after another.
From the first through sixth Biohazard Crisis films, it was practically a tragic team battle story where Alice became a lone god while every other teammate ascended to heaven in waves.
Basically, the beginning of each new installment was a brutal purge of the old teammates.
At that thought, even Kevin shuddered. He even regretted getting involved with Alice so early and boarding this pirate ship that was bound to capsize sooner or later.
"Hiss!" A violent cramp tore through his muscles, instantly jolting Kevin out of his listless state as though he had been injected with adrenaline. His face flushed red, and veins bulged on his forehead.
Alice withdrew the Silver Injection Gun, removed the Spiral Gene Glass Tube, then carefully placed it back into the hidden compartment of the medical kit.
Fuck? The T-Virus? Kevin's eyes widened, and he nearly jumped up on the spot.
It could not be helped. The symbol on those Spiral Gene Glass Tubes was far too memorable. Cold sweat streamed down his body, and even the waves of pain in his muscles and chest were drowned by the fear crashing over him like mountains collapsing and seas roaring.
"It's a special medicine for muscle damage. It promotes cell division and wound healing. You could call it a byproduct of that thing." However, a trace of mockery appeared on the Umbrella Corporation executive's face.
The numbness around his wound and the painful twitching in his muscles left Kevin no choice but to believe her.
After all, Dr. Charles had originally developed the T-Virus only to activate cells and treat his daughter Angela's hereditary paralysis of the lower limbs.
But everything was inevitably a double-edged sword. Humanity's desire to control destruction and annihilation far exceeded its longing for creation. It was an irredeemable flaw of living creatures.
"I have verified the encrypted information you sent inside The Hive. Those scum are indeed conducting inhumane genetic weapon experiments, and they have already entered the final testing phase."
Alice stood at the entrance of the hidden wooden house, gazing at the faintly visible Virgin Mary Statue on the plain below the mountain. Determination filled her eyes.
"I agree to cooperate. I will obtain the T-Virus sample and research data as soon as possible, but you must do one thing—bring down Umbrella!"
Alice clenched her fists, then slowly relaxed her whitened knuckles. As she turned sharply around, her gaze was as hard as steel.
Kevin's facial muscles stiffened. He nodded faintly, but a storm raged in his heart. What the hell? This isn't how the script goes!
According to the normal course of history, Alice should only have developed the idea of bringing down Umbrella Corporation after coming into contact with Lisa, an employee who had infiltrated The Hive.
Could it be that even before the key figure Lisa infiltrated Umbrella Corporation, the "we" Matt had mentioned had already begun making contact with Alice?
And he himself had accidentally been mistaken by this "Zombie Terminator" for a contact person?
Kevin entering the convenience store alone had originally been nothing unusual, but during the crisis, he had recklessly passed a weapon in secret to Alice, whose appearance did not match her overwhelming combat power.
Other than already knowing she was an Umbrella executive, there was no other explanation.
Alice had even found information about his identity in his car: the tutor of the T-Virus developer's daughter.
That position overlapped once again with the mysterious person gradually making contact with Alice.
Under all these coincidences, the future savior instinctively imagined special identities and missions for Kevin, who had shown goodwill in the convenience store.
Of course, Kevin now had two paths before him. First, he could go along with the misunderstanding and cling tightly to Alice. At the very least, he would have a bit more security for now, but the downsides were equally obvious.
Leaving aside Alice's nearly perverse "teammate-killer" curse, impersonating another identity meant he would not only have to bear the risk of being exposed, but would also reveal himself to Umbrella Corporation too early.
Second, he could honestly admit that everything had been a coincidence, continue keeping his head down, and wait for an opportunity brought by historical turning points.
With such an obvious answer, did he even need to ask?
"Inside The Hive, we will have other informants to assist your work. But be careful of those around you." Kevin's thoughts raced, and his chaotic ideas finally came together into a half-true, half-false answer.
Bullshit! If he denied his identity, there would be no way to explain the trust and goodwill he had inexplicably shown at the convenience store.
Under the threat of exposure, even if Alice's saintly heart overflowed, there was a ninety-percent chance she would make a dangerous person disappear for a while for the sake of her own safety.
Even if he somehow survived, he would still have no chance to quietly build himself up. When the Raccoon City crisis erupted, or when nuclear bombs carpeted the area, he might end up squeezing onto the train to heaven together with the countless residents here.
Therefore, to put an extra layer of insurance on his life, Kevin could only force himself into the role and embark early on the journey of bringing down the black-hearted Umbrella Corporation in Greenpeace's name.
However, Kevin kept a card up his sleeve. He neither denied nor completely admitted his identity, and he even paved the way for Lisa's eventual appearance.
Furthermore, his subtle warning pointed out the potential threat beside Alice.
But blood was thicker than water, and Kevin, who had only just established a relationship with Alice, naturally would not be stupid enough to directly name Spence Parks.
That fellow, who wanted to fish in troubled waters and secretly steal the T-Virus and antidote for profit, was the only ruthless man capable of getting the "Zombie Terminator" in front of him into bed.
Before you continue