Catching Turtles in a Jar

Just as Xia Tianming was about to kill Spencer, a grotesque giant hand suddenly appeared, stopping the Blacklight Whip-Blade in its tracks!

A moment later, a massive silhouette emerged from the darkness behind Spencer.

One half of his body was normal, while the other was covered in horrifying tumors. They had spread across his entire right arm, turning it into a grotesque limb thicker and longer than his body. Most bizarrely, a gigantic eyeball had grown on the tumor-ridden arm, sending a chill down anyone's spine!

It was this grotesque giant hand that had seized the incoming Blacklight Whip-Blade!

Seeing this, Xia Tianming realized that someone had intercepted his attack for the first time. He was just about to yank the Whip-Blade and shred the monstrous hand that dared to grab it.

But his opponent struck first. Gripping the Whip-Blade tightly, he swung it with tremendous force, hurling Xia Tianming through the air. Xia Tianming slammed into the wall with a crash, kicking up a cloud of dust!

Then the owner of the grotesque giant hand emerged fully from the shadows behind Spencer.

Short blond hair parted down the middle, bloodshot eyes, and a sinister grin brimming with evil.

The Leech Man in the fish tank stared at the man in shock. "William?!"

William Birkin, creator of the G-Virus, had once been Marcus the Leech Man's star pupil. Later, in order to steal the T-Virus research from his mentor, he had joined forces with Wesker to murder him, condemning Marcus to a living hell.

But eventually, William created the far more promising G-Virus, and refused to share his work with the Umbrella Corporation, which had hired him.

So Umbrella Corporation sent a covert U.S.S. unit to seize the G-Virus by force and shoot him dead.

As he lay dying, William injected himself with the last dose of G-Virus he had secretly hidden away. That was how he became the terrifying creature he was now, and how he set off the series of biohazard outbreaks that later struck Raccoon City.

He had followed in his mentor Marcus's footsteps—or perhaps it was simply a case of what goes around comes around.

So when Marcus saw the disciple who had killed him, fury filled his expression. "You bastard! You're still alive?"

"No. William is dead. This is just his clone, and he's much more obedient. As expected, only the virus's creator is truly suited to it." Spencer turned his wheelchair and smiled as he stroked William's grotesque arm.

Clones again.

With its nearly perfect cloning technology, Umbrella Corporation could create and modify puppets that obeyed its every command.

The half-man, half-monster who looked like William was a clone, too.

At that moment, Xia Tianming climbed out of the hole G-William had smashed him into, his expression cold. He dusted himself off as if nothing had happened.

"Did you really think I hadn't prepared for this?" Spencer said coldly, pressing the red button on his desk.

Suddenly, the sound of many footsteps—chaotic yet orderly—came from behind them.

A large number of fully armed soldiers carrying all kinds of heavy weapons appeared in the reception hall, blocking their way!

Even standing still, the soldiers radiated a powerful aura of bloodlust!

Nearly all of them were close to two meters tall, with exceptionally muscular builds and cold, rigid faces devoid of expression, like robots.

They were all Spencer's personal guards—and every one of them was a virus-enhanced clone!

These Gene-Enhanced Soldiers were eight times stronger than ordinary people and three times as agile. Their capacity to feel pain had been almost entirely stripped away, turning them into killing machines that existed solely for battle!

With G-William blocking the way ahead and the Gene-Enhanced Soldiers cutting off their retreat, was Spencer trying to catch them like turtles in a jar?

"You old bastard, still as devious as ever. Kid, find me a pool and toss me in. I'll give you a hand!" Marcus shouted to Xia Tianming from inside the fish tank.

As long as he had access to a large source of water, the Leech Queen Virus could rapidly reproduce and multiply. The amount of water available determined the virus's strength.

"Hmph. You think that pile of worms can turn the tables? Go smash it!"

At Spencer's command, the Gene-Enhanced Soldiers sprang into action, heading into the room to deal with Marcus, the leech-headed creature in the fish tank.

Suddenly!

A flash of darkness swept across Xia Tianming's eyes, and a near-mad roar erupted from the hole in the wall he had smashed through earlier!

The Blacklight Virus in the bodies of the hundred or so patrolmen Xia Tianming had infected along the way activated in an instant. Almost simultaneously, they transformed into frenzied Blacklight Puppets!

They charged out through the hole Xia Tianming had made and collided with the Gene-Enhanced Soldiers in the reception hall, then began slaughtering one another in a frenzy!

Roars, snarls, and the sound of tearing flesh erupted throughout the reception hall. In an instant, the scene became brutally bloody!

Behind his desk, Spencer stared at the sight with wide, disbelieving, cloudy eyes.

When had Xia Tianming infected those soldiers?

How had they still been patrolling normally on the surveillance feeds just a moment ago, only to turn into Zombies the next?

Ignoring the two groups of soldiers slaughtering each other in the bloody chaos outside, Xia Tianming suddenly released a mass of viral tendrils from his palm. They quickly spread over the doorway to Spencer's office, engulfing it until, moments later, they had formed a highly resilient Blacklight wall, sealing off the only exit!

Then, with a calm expression, he walked toward Spencer.

Now, it was hard to tell who was trapped like a turtle in a jar...

Watching the scene, Marcus's head spun excitedly around the fish tank. He couldn't help exclaiming, "Damn, that's some Haki! You've got the makings of me in my prime."

Spencer's expression darkened. He coldly ordered G-William beside him, "You're the company's last trump card. Don't let me down."

At his master's command, G-William dragged his grotesquely oversized right arm forward, heavy footsteps carrying him toward Xia Tianming.

The battle was about to begin!

Xia Tianming drove off the floor with his feet and shot forward like an arrow from a bow, moving so fast that only a blur remained!

But the giant eyeball on G-William's grotesque arm was extraordinarily sensitive. It seemed to catch Xia Tianming's approaching blur, and his enormous, misshapen palm slammed down ahead of time!

Just as it was about to hit him, Xia Tianming moved even faster, transforming his arm into a Blacklight Blade and slashing in one fluid motion!

Splurt!

Half of the grotesque palm flew into the air, virus-laden blood spraying in every direction.

The attack had happened in the blink of an eye. Half of G-William's grotesque arm had already been severed by the Blacklight Blade!

Before it could even hit the ground, Xia Tianming devoured it in one smooth motion.

And this claw, packed with G-Virus, tasted even better than Wesker?