New Enemy

Xia Tianming turned his head to follow the direction of those disgusting tongues, and sure enough, they were Lickers!

Lickers are one of the classic monsters from Resident Evil; they have no skin at all, exposing raw, blood-red muscle tissue. The upper half of their skulls is missing, leaving their pink brains exposed to the air—a truly terrifying sight!

The eyes of a Licker have completely degenerated, with even the eye sockets gone. They rely entirely on their extraordinary hearing and sense of smell; not even the sound of a heartbeat can escape their ears!

They cannot walk upright, but they possess sickle-like claws that allow them to climb vertical walls as if they were flat ground, or even hang upside down from ceilings, launching surprise attacks on creatures passing by!

Their most signature feature is their extremely long tongues, which can lash out over a dozen meters to entangle prey. As long as one is licked by the barbs covering their tongues, one is guaranteed to be flayed open on the spot!

Xia Tianming was currently pinned to the ground in a spread-eagle position, entangled by these disgusting elite-level mutants.

If he were an ordinary person, he would have been torn limb from limb long ago.

But Xia Tianming was not their prey; he was a hunter who fed specifically on zombies!

He clenched his right hand into a fist and exerted a sudden burst of strength, forcibly dragging the Licker that had entangled his right wrist toward him!

The Licker was shocked, never expecting this prey to possess such immense power. It desperately tried to anchor itself by hooking its sickle-like claws into the ground, the sharp tips gouging deep into the concrete.

However, this was not enough to stop him. The claws left shocking furrows in the concrete floor, shifting the Licker from the aggressor to the victim, from hunter to prey!

Awoo!!!

The Licker let out a roar. As the distance between them closed, it simply raised its sickle-like claw and slashed directly at the human.

Clang!!

A crisp sound of collision rang out, and the Licker discovered that the human's right hand had transformed into Blacklight Claws even more savage than its own...

The two types of claws collided violently, sparking as they scraped against each other. Xia Tianming's Blacklight Claws remained unscathed, but the Licker's sickle-like blade snapped on the spot—the difference in strength was immediately apparent!

Before the Licker could react, Xia Tianming swung his Blacklight Claws again, slicing the barbed tongue wrapped around his wrist into several segments before consuming and absorbing them!

After the Blacklight Virus devoured and assimilated the genes from that tongue, the tongue inside Xia Tianming's own mouth underwent an instantaneous transformation!

It became slender, powerful, flexible, and covered in barbs; it was unlikely that anyone could withstand it.

Xia Tianming opened his mouth, and his barbed tongue shot out, coiling back around the opponent's neck before he exerted a slight force!

Snap!

The Licker's neck was instantly twisted and broken. Its ugly head was wrenched to the back of its neck, and it died on the spot!

Following this, Xia Tianming swung his sharp barbed tongue once more...

Any ability obtained through Blacklight Virus consumption would be stronger than it was in the original holder, a true "Blacklight Enhanced Version."

The people in the safe house couldn't suppress their exclamations as they watched that guy learn yet another new ability.

"Does our T/G-Virus have this kind of mimicry and learning capability?"

"It does not. Even the G-Virus only possesses a strong ability to adapt to the environment, allowing it to change its own form based on the conditions it encounters."

"This guy... is he really a mutant infected by the T/G-Virus, or has some new kind of mutation occurred..."

The shareholders began to discuss, feeling extremely puzzled by the bizarre situation unfolding with Xia Tianming.

This kind of ability was simply outside the scope of Earth's biology. They had heard this guy had appeared out of thin air, falling from the sky—could he really be an alien or a god???

Seeing their surprised expressions, Wesker smiled and said, "Do you want to know his composition? It just so happens that I had some people collect some fragments of that guy from the battle site at the time. Is anyone interested in studying them?"

The fanatical researchers here became excited upon hearing this, calling out eagerly, "Why didn't you say so earlier! Where is that stuff? Let us see it quickly!"

"It's not safe to bring it directly here. The fragments are currently in the temporary laboratory next door. Please, feel free to go take a look yourselves."

No sooner had Wesker finished speaking than the white-coated researchers ran out impatiently.

They had likely all gone to the adjacent lab to study the body fragments of that kid, hoping to crack and extract the powerful and bizarre abilities from the enemy's fragmented genes.

Only a group of shareholders in suits and leather shoes remained in the safe house, observing the situation in the arena with great interest.

"Wesker, it seems you're trying to curry favor with every department of ours. What, are you preparing for the next company chairman election?" one shareholder said with a smile.

Wesker replied with a smile, "Not at all. I have always been indifferent to fame and fortune; I simply wish to contribute more to the company. Very well, let's proceed to the next stage of testing."

He changed the subject and took out the remote control again, pressing a button shaped like a skull.

By this time, the infected creatures in the center of the arena had been mostly consumed by Xia Tianming, contributing a total of over 600 points of viral energy to him.

Eliminating those dozen or so Lickers alone had provided over three hundred points, showing that the energy provided by enemies was linked to their strength.

Xia Tianming's current viral threshold was: 1423/3000.

He was still halfway to breaking through the threshold and achieving his next evolution!

But no matter how many evolutions he achieved, it would be useless if he remained trapped in this impenetrable cage, destined to become a plaything for those people.

His primary task was to escape this Colosseum first!

Boom!

Suddenly, the lifting platform in the center of the arena sank again, clearly indicating that something else was about to be sent out to fight him.

And this was the opportunity Xia Tianming had been waiting for!

He channeled his viral power into his leg muscles and sprinted toward the central lifting platform, intending to jump into the next level before the platform closed, and escape this place!

Accelerating to full speed in under three seconds, Xia Tianming finally approached the closing lift platform and took a desperate leap downward!

He had made it!

However, after falling for barely two seconds, Xia Tianming suddenly felt his throat tighten, as if gripped by the hand of fate, and his entire body ceased its descent!

He widened his eyes to see a massive, deathly gray face covered in wrinkles looming right before him; the pupils within those giant eyes were devoid of any light, the expression as numb as a robot draped in human skin.

The creature stood a full three meters tall, clad in a black leather trench coat and a leather hat, its palms larger than Xia Tianming's entire head!

This is... the Tyrant T-103?!