Boys Need to Protect Themselves When They Go Out [Seeking Reads, Seeking Collections]

Ren Ze watched James and the others make goofy faces at him, wiggling their eyebrows and giving him thumbs-ups. He gently patted Alice on the back and comforted her. "All right, all right, I'm fine. You can hug me again later."

"A few big ones are coming. Everyone, be careful."

Ren Ze gently pushed Alice away and stared seriously at the ceiling in the direction they had come from.

Only then did everyone stop gawking at Ren Ze and Alice. Turning around, they quickly spotted two uninvited guests drawn over by the gunfire—Lickers.

Hiss, hiss, hiss...

A faint rustling sounded. At the top of the platform wall, two lean, panther-like monsters stared down at them, their entire bodies grotesque and terrifying.

These were Lickers!

"Monster, die!"

At last, under the intimidation of the two Lickers, the hot-tempered Rain was the first to lose her patience. She raised her gun, no longer firing at Zombies with her previous calm precision, and unleashed a full burst at the Lickers on the ceiling, emptying the last of her ammunition.

As Rain opened fire, the other team members naturally fired as well, instantly unleashing a storm of metal.

Whoosh!

The two Lickers on the ceiling were absurdly fast. They dodged every sweeping volley of bullets, and even when a few rounds occasionally struck their bodies, it barely affected them.

At the same time, Ren Ze moved. He kicked off the ground and charged toward the Lickers.

As a Licker slashed at him with its claws, Ren Ze's figure flickered to the side, and he brought his blade down.

It looked dangerous, but Ren Ze was actually less tense than he had been when dealing with the horde of corpses.

The Lickers' advantage lay in their elusive movements and incredible speed, but that was precisely the advantage Ren Ze completely overwhelmed.

To ordinary people, the Lickers were swift. Compared to a high-level beast general-class Shadow Cat, though, they were pathetically inferior.

"Watch out!"

Everyone shouted in unison.

From the perspective of the team behind him, they only saw Ren Ze kill one Licker before the other lunged at him, its claws seemingly piercing straight through his body.

Before they could fire, Ren Ze and the Licker passed through one another in the next instant. What they had seen just now had only been an afterimage.

Ren Ze turned to look at them, while the Licker collapsed before their eyes, its ugly head slowly sliding away.

"Let's go. We need to get out of here first."

After saying that, Ren Ze took out a green Anti-toxin Serum and tucked it into his backpack just in case, then told James to take the case.

Only after Ren Ze spoke did Alice and James's team snap out of their earlier panic.

For the time being, Ren Ze had no interest in the T-Virus. That stuff was far too dangerous. Without absolute certainty, he would not touch it.

On the train, Alice leaned against Ren Ze's shoulder. She had clearly grown accustomed to relying on him along the way. Even with her memories restored, she had not become some lone-wolf queen.

Everyone else remained silent. Although the assault team had ultimately failed to complete their mission of retrieving the Red Queen's mainboard, they had survived several near-death situations. Escaping alive was already a blessing. None of them had expected the company to be secretly researching something as horrifying as the T-Virus.

Matt was in a terrible mood as well. He had entered The Hive to find his younger sister, but now, it was obvious that there were no survivors left in The Hive. Or had they all turned into those monsters known as Zombies?

Ren Ze clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention, then said, "Umbrella Corporation's follow-up personnel have probably sealed off the entrance to the mansion. But I can't leave with you. Once we reach the mansion, I'll break through on my own. When you return to the company, you can report the entire operation truthfully, including my presence."

After speaking, Ren Ze gave Matt an apologetic glance. Good luck, kid. You weren't injured or mutated this time. Hopefully Umbrella Corporation won't turn you into Nemesis.

The others looked at one another. Though they did not understand why Ren Ze wanted to do this, after everything they had experienced with him along the way, no one spoke up to object.

A wise man did not stand beneath a crumbling wall. Though his personal strength far surpassed that of ordinary people, open attacks were easy to evade while hidden ones were hard to guard against. If Umbrella Corporation truly got hold of him, he could not bear the consequences. What if Dr. Isaacs and the others took an interest in him and insisted on giving him an injection? Who could he reason with then?

Ren Ze had not yet figured out how to deal with Umbrella Corporation. Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to place his life and safety in someone else's hands.

Just after getting off the train, Ren Ze pulled Alice aside. Staring into her eyes, he said seriously, "There isn't much time, so I'll keep it brief. I'm not with Umbrella Corporation, so I'll force my way out shortly. I'm confident I can get you out with me. Your physique is very special. If you don't come with me, there's a high chance Umbrella Corporation will take control of you and forcibly inject you with the T-Virus to modify you. If you successfully merge with the T-Virus, you won't become a monster like a Zombie. Instead, you'll become stronger and faster, and you might even awaken an ability. You could even become stronger than I am now."

"Alice, tell me your choice. Will you come with me?"

"Mm..."

Ren Ze's breathing suddenly grew heavier. Boys really did need to protect themselves when they were out and about.

Uh, her lip balm tasted pretty good.

"Be careful. I don't want to always be protected by you, so wait until I become stronger!"

As expected of Alice. She ran off right after kissing him, catching up with Captain James and the others.

As the group returned to the mansion, before anyone could leave, a group of people suddenly rushed inside. Besides mercenaries, there were also many doctors, scientists, and others wearing protective suits. The moment they appeared, they surrounded the captain and his team.

Umbrella Corporation's people had arrived...

Taking advantage of that instant of chaos, Ren Ze used Lingbo Micro-steps and passed straight through the crowd. His figure flew like the wind, his footwork impossibly light. The Umbrella Corporation personnel in protective suits tried to seize him, but with a turn here and a dodge there, he slipped past them all. Just as several mercenaries raised their guns to fire, Ren Ze burst out of the crowd and vanished into the night after a few swift leaps.

Raccoon City, inside a café.

Ren Ze sat alone at a table, sipping his coffee as he watched the pedestrians on the street gradually descend into disorder.

Ever since leaving The Hive that day, Ren Ze had thought things over carefully. In truth, he had very few options left.

Joining Umbrella Corporation was out of the question. Putting aside morality and his own bottom line, he could not stomach Umbrella Corporation's habit of modifying people, even its higher-ups. If he joined them, he would truly become meat on the chopping block. They could take him down at any time just by slipping anesthetics into his food.

Being a lone hero was not easy either. In three months, this world would probably no longer have any safe ground left. Was he supposed to stay on edge forever without ever resting?

In the Devouring World, he had never been afraid because there were only so many monsters in the county town, and he could easily carve his way out of any encirclement. Although the Zombies here were weaker, the viruses on them were the real problem. If he got even a little on himself, wouldn't he be finished?

That left only one path.

He had to thoroughly bind Alice to his chariot. Then, wouldn't it be easy to seize any Umbrella Corporation base they pleased?

So, even though Ren Ze knew there was a high chance that something would happen in Raccoon City and trigger the plot where it was nuked in Resident Evil 2, he still chose to stay.

In order to avoid attracting the attention of the Umbrella Corporation and the local gangs from whom he had "borrowed" small loans, Ren Ze found a remote motel. He hid by day and moved by night, practicing and resting in his room during the day while going out to gather information at night. Sure enough, Alice had been secretly placed in Raccoon City City Hospital for T-Virus modification.

It was worth mentioning that although the Resident Evil World did not prevent Ren Ze from cultivating Genetic Origin Energy, the efficiency was outrageously low—better than nothing, at least.

Meanwhile, although the Umbrella Corporation executives saw that the advance team had failed to retrieve the Red Queen's mainboard, after hearing the full account of the Hive incident, the mysterious Eastern man named Ren Ze mentioned by the squad members had also caught Umbrella Corporation's interest.

Not a single member of the advance team had died. Combined with the fact that the so-called Zombies moved slowly and died from a headshot, Umbrella Corporation still underestimated the danger of the Hive.

Whether it was the complete surveillance records of the Hive's underground laboratory incident or those Licker bio-weapons, everything made Umbrella Corporation eager to restart the Hive, completely opening Pandora's box.

"Since this morning, inexplicable killings have appeared on the streets of our city. Authorities still have no explanation for this sudden slaughter that has swept across the entire city."

A live broadcast was playing on the television in the café.

Before the female field reporter could finish speaking, waves of police sirens and continuous gunfire rang out beside her.

Many Zombies roared as they lunged at ordinary people. The terrified screams and fleeing crowds plunged the once-peaceful Raccoon City into chaos.

"It's time to go."

Ren Ze drained the coffee in his cup in one gulp, strode out the door, mounted his motorcycle, and sped toward City Hospital.

He saw quite a few Zombies mindlessly wreaking havoc in the streets along the way, but Ren Ze ignored them. Before long, he arrived at the entrance to City Hospital and quietly waited for Alice to appear.

After waiting for a while, he casually dealt with several wandering Zombies that had mindlessly approached. Just as Ren Ze was considering whether to go inside and search for her directly, Alice—barefoot and dressed in a white lab coat—pushed open the doors of City Hospital. She stared blankly at the empty street around her, where only abandoned cars remained.

Looking at the graveyard-like silence around her, Alice felt slightly panicked. Then, the next second, she heard a voice beside her that made her feel incomparably safe.

"Alice, long time no see!"