After taking care of Spence, James and the others finished gearing up. Even Matt and Alice each took two pistols and several magazines.
"Ready? First, go plant these explosives on the containment tanks so the Lickers don't get out." Hao Shuai pulled out a pile of explosives and addressed James and the others.
Once everyone had planted the explosives and detonators, Hao Shuai led the way, with James and the others following in a combat formation. They headed toward the laboratory, planning to retrace their route.
When they reached the laboratory entrance, JD instinctively stepped forward to open the door. Hao Shuai grabbed him and pulled him back. "Do you want to die? Have you forgotten where we are? You're just going to open the door like that?" Hao Shuai scolded him.
JD realized he'd been reckless. He could only give Hao Shuai an awkward smile before returning to the group.
Hao Shuai told James and the others to get ready, then used his telekinesis to pull the door open. The instant it swung wide, countless zombies surged out from behind it and lunged at them.
JD's face turned deathly pale. He looked at Hao Shuai gratefully.
"Open fire!"
Bang! Hao Shuai's shot blew the head off the leading zombie.
Bang! Bang! Bang!...
The mercenaries reacted quickly and opened fire, but instinctively aimed at the zombies' bodies.
Hao Shuai shouted, "What are you idiots doing? I just told you their weakness! Aim for the head, and conserve your ammo!"
Hao Shuai knew that even after they left The Hive, they would still have to face Umbrella Corporation's pursuit, so he reminded them to conserve ammunition.
After their initial panic, the mercenaries finally came to their senses at Hao Shuai's shout. They aimed at the zombies' heads and unleashed a furious barrage.
The zombies fell in droves, but more kept charging toward them. By the time they killed the last one, a mound of corpses had piled up at the doorway.
"Wait here. I'll go check ahead." After speaking to James and the others, Hao Shuai circled the mound of bodies, passed through the doorway, and entered the laboratory.
He searched the laboratory and confirmed it was safe before signaling for the others to come in.
Once inside, they saw that not a single zombie remained in the laboratory. They hurried across it to the stairway they had used earlier, then climbed back up.
There were a few zombies along the way, but they were scattered, and the team's overwhelming firepower dealt with them without a hitch.
When they safely reached the stairwell leading back to the train, Hao Shuai pulled out the detonator and set off the explosives in Restaurant B.
Boom! Boom! Boom!...
A series of explosions rang out, and the group felt the entire Hive shake.
The tremors lasted less than a minute before subsiding. Hao Shuai figured the Lickers must all be dead now.
They safely reached the first-floor lobby and went through the entrance to the platform.
"Kaplan, start the train. Everyone else, stay alert," Hao Shuai ordered.
"Yes, sir."
Once Kaplan got the train running, everyone climbed aboard. The train left The Hive and sped up the track toward the surface.
Everyone slumped down on the floor. After being on edge for so long, even battle-hardened mercenaries were exhausted. Hao Shuai let out a deep breath, thinking they probably wouldn't be as unlucky as the people in the movie and run into a Licker. Their biggest threat now was Umbrella Corporation outside the mansion.
Just as everyone thought they were safe, a sharp whoosh sounded above Hao Shuai's head.
Thwip!
A Licker's tongue shot straight at him.
At the last second, Hao Shuai rolled aside and dodged it. He turned to look at the roof and saw a gaping hole that hadn't been there before. A Licker—an evolved one—was crawling on top of the train.
Hao Shuai remembered Spence, who had been killed in Restaurant B. The Licker must have evolved by feeding on his corpse!
Damn!
No wonder it hadn't attacked anyone else and had singled him out. Spence was still trying to get revenge on him, even after dying! Hao Shuai wasn't sure whether he'd been lucky or Spence had been unlucky.
Seeing that Hao Shuai had dodged its ambush, the Licker shot out its tongue again.
James and the others reacted, too, and opened fire on the Licker. Their shots were useless.
In the end, Hao Shuai simply raised his hand toward the Licker and clenched his fist.
Thwip!
The Licker instantly became a heap of mangled flesh, its tongue going limp and dangling from the roof.
Seeing Hao Shuai crush the Licker into pulp, everyone finally relaxed.
When the train reached its starting point, James checked his watch. They had arrived half an hour earlier than they'd planned.
When they returned to the mansion, Hao Shuai got straight to the point. "I've gotten you safely out of The Hive. Umbrella Corporation is probably already outside, ready to capture you. You can either trust me and fight your way out with me—I'll take you somewhere safe—or let Umbrella Corporation take you. No one knows what they'll do with you."
After hearing Hao Shuai, James and the others peered out from beside the windows. They saw that the area was crawling with armed Umbrella Corporation personnel, confirming that Hao Shuai hadn't lied. They fell silent, lost in thought.
Alice walked up to Hao Shuai, her expression conflicted. "Can I trust you?"
From Alice's expression, Hao Shuai knew she'd regained all her memories—and that there was no hiding the fact that he'd deceived her into sleeping with him.
Awkwardly rubbing his nose, Hao Shuai said, "You're better off trusting me than trusting Umbrella Corporation's morals. I'm sure you know what they do."
"Fine. I'll go with you." Alice was decisive.
Matt, who was at odds with Umbrella Corporation, had no choice either. He could only go with Hao Shuai.
That left James and the other mercenaries, who were huddled together discussing what to do.
After a brief discussion, James walked over to Hao Shuai. "We'll go with you, too."
"Oh! You trust me that much?" Hao Shuai asked curiously.
"You have no reason to hurt us. Besides, Umbrella Corporation is conducting such evil human experiments. We have a duty to expose them," James replied.
"Good. Rest up and replenish your ammo. We'll make a break for it soon." Hao Shuai took more firearms and ammunition out of his storage space.
Once everyone had recovered, Hao Shuai led them to the broken floor-to-ceiling window that Rain and the others had kicked in. Outside the window was a stretch of woods, where Umbrella Corporation's security was weakest.
Before Umbrella Corporation could react, Hao Shuai charged ahead, taking out anyone who tried to stop them with a single shot.
After breaking through the encirclement, Hao Shuai led everyone two streets away and into a church.
"All right, you're safe for now. I have to leave, too. Until we meet again. A word of advice: leave Raccoon City as soon as you can." After giving them another batch of ammunition, Hao Shuai said goodbye.
"Will we meet again?" Looking at Alice standing in his way, Hao Shuai didn't know how to answer. Alice wasn't his type, so he hadn't planned to add her to his harem.
"We will. Take care of yourself." Hao Shuai stepped forward and embraced Alice. He didn't know if he would ever return to the Resident Evil World.
After saying goodbye to everyone, Hao Shuai went to an empty alley. Although he'd used his telekinesis to protect himself the whole time, he threw away everything he was wearing, including his underwear, just to be safe. After changing into fresh clothes, Hao Shuai vanished from the Resident Evil World.
At the mansion in the Night Shift World
Hao Shuai appeared in the living room, then drove straight to St. Julianna Hospital for a thorough disinfection and examination to make sure he hadn't brought back the T-Virus. Otherwise, he might have to give up the Night Shift World.
That was why Hao Shuai hadn't gone straight back to the real world: he was afraid he might accidentally bring the T-Virus with him.
After leaving the hospital, Hao Shuai returned to the mansion and lay down on the sofa. He took Red Queen's motherboard out of his storage space and wondered where he could find a computer expert to modify its settings.
He didn't dare consider the real world, and he probably wouldn't find anyone there anyway. Red Queen was a fictional, high-tech artificial intelligence—nothing like the so-called artificial dumbness in the real world.
It seemed he could only go to a world with advanced artificial intelligence. For example, he could look for Stark in the Marvel World. He'd invented J.A.R.V.I.S., so he should be able to handle Red Queen. But Hao Shuai wasn't sure Stark would help him.
Dr. Alfred Lanning from I, Robot should also be able to modify Red Queen. But by the time Hao Shuai got there, the doctor would probably already be dead.
After thinking it over for a long time, Hao Shuai finally thought of someone who could help him sort out Red Queen. That world was valuable in its own right, too. Its power ceiling was absurdly high, but if he kept a low profile at first and didn't take unnecessary risks, he should still be safe.
Once he'd decided on his next destination, Hao Shuai spent his time in the Night Shift World resting and relaxing while he waited for the Chaos Bead to connect to the world. A month later, one morning, he knew the connection had been made, and his figure vanished.
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