Guide Dog Mary

Somewhere outside Raccoon City, at the temporary camp of the Umbrella Corporation, inside the command center.

The supervisor of the Raccoon City branch of the Umbrella Corporation stood before the monitors, his pitch-black suit perfectly accentuating his cold and sinister temperament. His hawk-like eyes scanned back and forth across several screens, as if he would not allow even the slightest anomaly to slip past his gaze.

He loved this feeling of controlling everything; he found it deeply enjoyable, even obsessive. It was as addictive to him as smoking marijuana.

"Wait!" he suddenly shouted, ordering the technician at the far right, "Rewind... now!"

"Sir?" The technician didn't react immediately, turning his head to look at him, clearly not understanding why he would do such a thing.

"Do as I say." He was very dissatisfied that a low-ranking technician would dare to defy the most authoritative supervisor here.

The technician felt a chill run down his spine under the supervisor's cold, snake-like gaze and quickly lowered his head, not daring to look him in the eye. "Yes, sir. I'll do it right away."

"That's right... rewind... rewind... stop! No, no, go forward a bit more... stop!"

This must have been a traffic surveillance camera. The footage transmitted back to the monitor was somewhat blurry, but still recognizable. It was an intersection. Everything was as usual, with various vehicles overturned on the road, some with smoke and flames rising from their hoods. A fire hydrant on the side of the road had been struck and ruptured by a car, sending a jet of water high into the air.

Nothing different there?

No!!

There was a black dot!!

The technician had sharp eyes and immediately played the next second. Sure enough, the black dot had moved forward a fraction.

What was that?

"Zoom in, you idiot."

The technician's hand trembled. "Ye... yes, sir."

It wasn't until the technician skillfully zoomed in on the screen that the black dot became clear. It was, shockingly, a dog—a black dog. Looking closely, one could even see a leash trailing from its neck.

But it was just a dog, wasn't it? Was it worth the supervisor's attention?

"Switch to the next camera. Lock onto that dog."

The supervisor's irrefutable voice rang out. The technician nodded repeatedly.

In a sense, the reason Raccoon City developed at all was actually thanks to the Umbrella Corporation. By establishing a branch here, it provided numerous jobs, which attracted many people to move here for work and life. Gradually, a city of considerable size was formed.

However, even though the once-unremarkable town had grown into a city of its current scale, the logo of the Umbrella Corporation had always loomed over it, expanding along with the city's footprint. In other words, everything in Raccoon City was in the hands of the Umbrella Corporation.

Accessing traffic surveillance cameras was a piece of cake.

Soon, over a dozen cameras were trained on the black dog, following it closely.

Gradually, everyone finally discovered what was different about this dog. The dog trotted along, easily crossing various obstacles. It wasn't afraid of the zombies it encountered along the way, nor did it bark. Even more strangely, the zombies it encountered along the path actually avoided it unconsciously?! Yes, avoided! The dog was clearly nothing more than an ordinary Labrador, yet the zombies actually felt fear toward it?!

This was truly unbelievable. Zombies, with an IQ approaching zero, would swarm any living creature like bees to honey. But now, what were they seeing? A dog that even zombies feared?

Was today April Fool's Day?

Moreover, those present finally discovered the crux of the problem—it was not infected with the T-Virus!!

Was this strange? It was very strange!! Everyone present knew how powerful the T-Virus was. In particular, canines were the most susceptible to the T-Virus—because they had always used various dogs for T-Virus activity experiments, dogs had almost no resistance to the T-Virus!

Yet, what were they seeing now?

A dog that was not infected with the T-Virus!

One had to realize that at this very moment, the T-Virus had completely spread throughout Raccoon City. To put it bluntly, Raccoon City could now be called a dead city. Very, very few humans had survived. And other animals, especially dogs, had long since been infected and turned into Zombie Dogs.

But the black dog appearing before them, a perfectly ordinary Labrador, had slapped everyone in the room hard across the face!

"Could the T-Virus have failed?"

This group of scientists and technicians gathered by the Umbrella Corporation were nothing but a bunch of madmen and fanatics. They didn't care about the lives of others; they only cared about their research and their results! Therefore, when they saw that intact Labrador, their first thought was that the "T-Virus had degraded."

For them, this was a nightmare!

Of course, there were exceptions. For instance, the supervisor. He didn't bother to hide his contempt, disgust, and disdain for the shocked staff, then shifted his gaze back to the Labrador. "A Labrador capable of resisting T-Virus infection... how wonderful, how miraculous! Praise you, Almighty God, for sending this special gift to me..."

Like someone admiring a peerless beauty stripped of all her clothes, the supervisor's gleaming eyes never left the Labrador dragging its leash. "Sweetheart, come to me..."

"Order: Dispatch the Black Snake task force and bring this dog to me. Immediately, right now!"

"...Yes, sir!!"

The fully armed black man standing by the tent flap acknowledged the order and exited the tent.

Soon, the sound of helicopter rotors churning the air reached the tent...

************************************************

"What about you?"

Li Shuangmu and the others, who were still unaware that they had unknowingly placed themselves in opposition to the Umbrella Corporation's security team, ultimately chose "Yes," effectively accepting the Hidden Mission titled "Save Guide Dog Mary."

However, after the temporary four-person team, plus Zeng Fei and Qian Qianqian—who possessed the special skill "Pitiable"—had all accepted, Li Shuangmu turned to look at Liu Xiatian and asked one last time.

Liu Xiatian said, "I... I think I'll pass. I just want to get through this Entrance Exam safely; I don't want to stir up any trouble. 200 Study Points is enough for me to buy plenty of things. I'm not as greedy as you guys... contentment brings happiness, heh."

Although his smile was forced, he had clearly made up his mind.

"Fine." Li Shuangmu didn't force him, saying, "Then you can follow Xiong Ba. There shouldn't be any danger if you stay with him."

Xiong Ba gave a grunt and said, "Since you have accepted this mission, I cannot accompany you. Although I haven't accepted the mission, if I follow you, the Headmaster will assume I am also involved, which would invisibly increase the difficulty of your mission... take care of yourselves."

After saying this, his rigid face finally revealed a hint of a gentle smile, which vanished in a flash before he turned and walked away.

Liu Xiatian took one last look at Li Shuangmu and the others, his expression complex, before he stomped his foot and chased after Xiong Ba. "Senior, wait for me!"

"Senior, where are we going now?" Liu Xiatian asked, catching up to Xiong Ba with a fawning smile on his face.

Xiong Ba didn't even glance at him, but still replied, "Since I've shed a lot of dead weight, I'm naturally going to attend to my own business."

"And what is that?"

"Because of you useless rookies, I could lose the Comprehensive Evaluation I worked so hard to obtain at any moment. What do you think I should be doing? Besides, I already told you, I am only your Teaching Assistant, not your bodyguard. I don't object to you following me; that is your freedom. But if you interfere with my affairs... believe me, I will kill you first!"

The smile on Liu Xiatian's face stiffened. He hesitated for a moment, but immediately hurried to catch up again. Regardless of anything else, following behind this giant of a man always gave him a sense of security. As for anything else, he chose not to think about it.