Queen Leech

This humanoid silhouette, formed from countless leeches, actually opened its mouth to speak?!

It was hard to tell if it should even be called human. The leech-amalgam stood upright on the surface of the water with its hands behind its back, possessing a rather gentlemanly air, while a massive number of black leeches constantly gathered beneath its feet to maintain this form.

What was eerie was that the ferocious zombie piranhas in the pool did not attack these leeches; instead, they seemed to avoid them as if they were death itself.

The leech-man lacked facial features, yet it seemed capable of perceiving everything in the outside world. When it spoke, only the leeches forming its lips moved rhythmically to produce the sound.

The scene was exceptionally horrifying, causing even Xia Tianming to widen his eyes.

Could it be that besides being a Resident Evil world, there was also some sort of supernatural resurgence here???

Yet, in the memories he had consumed from Wesker and those shareholders, there was no record of such a monster's existence.

However, in his own memories, he recalled a bizarre bio-organic monster amalgam from the early Resident Evil games—something called... the Leech Queen Virus?

The leech-man, standing steadily on the water, turned its featureless head as if scanning its surroundings. Seeing that the bio-garden environment here had been nearly leveled, it wondered if this man on the shore was responsible for it all.

Thus, it spoke again in a very gentlemanly tone: "May I ask, are you..."

Swish!

Before it could finish, a sudden gust of wind struck, instantly shattering its head!

It was Xia Tianming, who had transformed his arm into the Whip-fist Form to launch an attack from afar!

Since he didn't know what kind of creature this was, he would finish it first and ask questions later; only dead things were safe.

However, after the leech-man's head was destroyed, the leeches from other parts of its body crawled up rapidly to form a new head, completely unaffected!

Even the leeches at the severed neck that came into contact with the Blacklight Virus automatically detached and separated from the main body, preventing the virus from spreading further.

The leech-man lowered its head to look at the leech corpses that were gradually turning into black liquid, and said in a tone of surprise: "What kind of virus is this? Did that old bastard Spencer develop a new one?"

"Spencer?"

Hearing this strange leech-man utter the name, Xia Tianming subconsciously blurted out the name of the final boss he was about to face.

Seeing the young man calm down, the leech-man continued in a friendly tone: "Are you going up to find him? You can't get up there from here."

Xia Tianming was stunned upon hearing this. He couldn't get up?

But according to the memories provided by Wesker, he usually reached Spencer through that door behind the pool.

Could this man-or-ghost creature be trying to deceive him?

Actually, Xia Tianming himself was already a man-or-ghost existence...

Seeing his disbelief, the leech-man curled its leech-lips into a smile and said: "Seeing how you've destroyed his life's work like this, you must be looking for trouble with him. That old thing is extremely cunning; he has set multiple routes for this elevator. If you just rashly take the elevator up, you might be sent straight into the earth's core to the magma. Only those he wants to see can reach his location via the normal route."

Hearing this, he hadn't expected Spencer to be so insidious. It seemed Xia Tianming had underestimated him; he had almost taken the elevator straight there.

Seeing this leech-man refer to Spencer as an "old bastard" and an "old thing," could it be that it also held a grudge against him?

Thus, Xia Tianming asked: "Who... or what are you..."

"Apologies, I've said so much I forgot to introduce myself. My name is James Marcus. Like Spencer, I am one of the three founders of the Umbrella Corporation. The bio-monsters you see here were all created by me in my spare time to keep me company, though it seems you've finished them off. By the way, why don't I see their corpses?" the leech-man named Marcus asked in confusion.

Xia Tianming coughed dryly to change the subject and continued: "You are a founder of this company? Then why are you here, and why have you become like this?"

Upon hearing this question, Marcus's body began to tremble violently. The leeches composing his torso writhed even more intensely, constantly peeling off and falling into the water; it seemed the mere thought of this topic made him furious.

After a long while, he stabilized and replied to Xia Tianming: "Decades ago, at the inception of the Umbrella Corporation, I had a conflict of philosophy with Spencer, and on top of that, he wanted to seize the viral research I had conducted personally..."

"Enough, stop talking. Just tell me if you have a way for me to go up and find him."

Xia Tianming interrupted the leech-man's rambling, cutting straight to the point.

Start from the founding of the Umbrella Corporation?

By the time it finished recounting these decades of love and hate, Spencer would probably have died of old age upstairs...

Moreover, the moment the leech-man said his name was Marcus, Xia Tianming immediately recalled the game's plot.

In short, it was an internal power struggle within the company. Marcus lost and was purged, but just before dying, he was accidentally infected by the Leech Queen Virus he had developed, resulting in his current ghostly state.

Furthermore, this Marcus was no saint; the infamous Raccoon City incident was entirely his doing.

As for why he was here now, it was likely Spencer's twisted sense of humor in this world—wanting to occasionally admire the state of his former rival, thus imprisoning the leech-man in this ecological garden.

However, Xia Tianming had no interest in any of that; he only wanted to complete the mission of purifying the world as quickly as possible.

Marcus, interrupted mid-sentence, choked for a moment. He thought to himself that this brat was so rude; he hadn't had anyone to talk to for so long, and now that someone finally came, they were so cold.

Was his story not interesting enough?

Marcus sighed and said directly: "I participated in the construction blueprints of this underground base. I know other routes to the office where Spencer is currently located..."

Before he could finish, Xia Tianming suddenly cast a web of virus, instantly wrapping around the leech-man Marcus, who was exposed above the water. He then twisted it, shredding and consuming the leeches trapped within until nothing remained!

He wanted to obtain the hidden route to Spencer's location directly through the other's memories, rather than worrying about the truthfulness of his words.

However, after consuming these viral leeches, apart from the normal nutrients provided, he didn't receive any memories at all???

Could it be that he had to consume every single leech without exception to obtain its memories?

But the leeches were so scattered; it was inevitable there would be stragglers. How could it be so simple to eat every single one?

Forget it, he would just have to keep listening.

After being partially wiped out by Xia Tianming, the dense mass of viral leeches under the water gathered once more, quickly reforming into a human shape.

The newly reformed Marcus roared with uncontrollable anger: "What were you doing just now?!"

Xia Tianming replied with a calm tone: "Apologies, please continue."

Marcus...