Red Queen and the Stairway of the Sun (Part 2)

In the mountains of West Africa, a tall, ancient castle stood atop a nameless peak.

"It seems this is the place." After some preparation, Shen Fei decided to visit the sole surviving founder of the Umbrella Corporation first.

"Let's go." After carefully observing the castle's position, Shen Fei immediately opened a Portal, and the two of them appeared at the base of the castle wall.

"Let's check it out first." Shen Fei then opened the Mirror Dimension to survey the castle's layout through it.

"It looks like there was quite a mess here." Through the Mirror Dimension, he could clearly see signs of destruction in many parts of the castle—bloodstains and bullet holes were everywhere.

"Four Ivan Tyrants. The security measures are pretty good." After a thorough inspection, Shen Fei found that aside from Spencer, who was sitting in a wheelchair with an IV drip, and the four Ivan Tyrants, there were no other living people in the castle.

The Ivan Tyrant could be considered Umbrella Corporation's most successful bioweapon. It could maintain a human form and follow commands, making it the ideal bodyguard.

The only problem was the Ivan Tyrant's high cost and expensive maintenance. These two factors prevented it from becoming a mass-produced bioweapon, limiting it to serving as a bodyguard for Umbrella's High Command.

"Your turn." Shen Fei said as he opened a watermelon-sized Portal in the wall. Ada then took the Barrett Sniper Rifle she had prepared earlier, set it up on the wall Shen Fei had created, and began aiming at the Ivan Tyrants outside.

When it came to using the Mirror Dimension and Portals, Kamar-Taj's methods were too primitive—even Kaecilius was the same, using magic against magic.

But in Shen Fei's view, the combination of magic and technology was the most powerful. For example, in this situation, it made him an unstoppable assassin.

What if I opened a Portal right next to your head and shot you?

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Four consecutive shots. The four Ivan Tyrants, without ever discovering where the enemy was or who they were, all died from headshots.

After confirming all the Ivan Tyrants were dead, Shen Fei and Ada stepped out of the Portal, appearing directly in front of a somewhat panicked Spencer.

"I'll go check the surroundings." Before Shen Fei could speak, Ada said this and left.

When it came to reading the room, Ada, as a top-tier agent, was also top-tier. Her reason for leaving to check the surroundings wasn't false—after all, viewing reality from the Mirror Dimension could cause some details to be overlooked.

But the more important reason was that Ada didn't want to interrupt Shen Fei and Spencer's conversation. After all, Spencer was still the founder of Umbrella Corporation; he might know some of Umbrella's hidden secrets.

Unlike Rebecca, Ada knew what questions to ask and what not to.

"Who are you? What do you want?" As the founder of Umbrella, after his initial panic, he quickly regained his composure.

"It looks like you're about to die." Shen Fei glanced at the IV bottle beside Spencer, then activated the Op-Op Fruit's domain. He shook his head and said calmly.

Spencer's body had long since given out. He was only alive now thanks to Umbrella Corporation's years of research. Although Umbrella had repeatedly failed with biochemical viruses, the drugs derived from them had kept their performance climbing steadily.

The IV bottle contained something akin to life force. It was on this that Spencer had been barely clinging to life. For an ordinary person, a single bottle might be something they could never afford in a lifetime, but Spencer had to keep it dripping constantly.

"I won't die. I absolutely will not die." The word "die" seemed to trigger Spencer, and he instantly became frantic.

"I could have become a god. It was them, all of them, holding me back. I could have become an immortal, undying god."

"An immortal, undying god. How ridiculous." Looking at the frantic Spencer, Shen Fei shook his head helplessly. Even Odin, as powerful as he was, had died in the end.

"I came here to watch you die. Oh, and I forgot to tell you—I'm a survivor of Raccoon City." Perhaps the words "Raccoon City" brought Spencer back to his senses.

"You're here to kill me."

"That's right." Shen Fei said as he pulled out Spencer's IV.

Spencer tried to stand up to stop Shen Fei, but Shen Fei dodged. Spencer's hands grabbed at empty air, and he immediately fell to the ground. Already weak, the fall made his breathing grow fainter and fainter.

If it had been someone else—say, Rebecca, Sherry, or Coulson—seeing Spencer in this state, they would have pitied him and might even have sent him to a hospital.

But unfortunately, Shen Fei didn't have their saintly hearts.

A saintly heart, or kindness, is a good quality in itself. However, in reality, most people despise those who possess it, and Shen Fei was no exception.

Shen Fei didn't hate kindness; in fact, he deeply respected such people. But he kept his distance from those with a saintly disposition, because they were the classic type of teammate who only ends up harming their own side.

Bad people would be forgiven for anything they did, and the result was that the bad people ended up harming even more people.

So sometimes, Shen Fei couldn't understand those saintly people. Was reforming a bad person worth sacrificing more lives? In the end, so-called saintliness was just self-gratification. As long as they felt satisfied, they didn't care about anyone else's life or death.

"He's about to die. Might as well ask a few questions." Seeing Spencer's breath growing weaker, Shen Fei thought for a moment, then used the Op-Op Fruit to hypnotize him.

"What? The Super Soldier Serum used by Captain America was formulated from the Progenitor Virus?" Hearing this news from Spencer's mouth, Shen Fei was shocked.

"That actually makes some sense." But then, after a moment's thought, Shen Fei realized it was possible. The origin of the Super Soldier Serum used by Red Skull and Captain America had always been a mystery.

"Maybe I can use the Quantum Tunnel later to go back to the moment Captain America was created and see exactly how it was done." Captain America's strength wasn't just from the Super Soldier Serum, but also from the way he took it.

Red Skull's method of using the Super Soldier Serum was simple—direct injection. But Captain America's process involved many auxiliary agents and also used half of New York's entire power grid at the time as energy to catalyze the serum. No one had ever been able to replicate that.

Not even Shen Fei.

"So that's how it is. So this is the origin of the Stairway of the Sun. Truly astonishing." After obtaining the information he wanted, Shen Fei left Spencer to die on his own.

Perhaps because he was a man of that era, Spencer's residence didn't have much of a modern feel. Instead, it was filled with a classical atmosphere.

After tossing Spencer's body and the four Ivan Tyrants' bodies into the Mirror Dimension, Shen Fei walked out of the castle gate. Ada was waiting outside, holding a suitcase.

"Let's go."