'Insufficient firepower syndrome'

The exterior of the Training Facility resembled a large vacation villa; it looked similar to the mansion, though it was significantly larger.

The group arrived before the main entrance of the building.

Hunk led the three Alpha teams in first, followed by Sui Bian, and then the STARS Bravo Team and the SWAT units.

The lobby of the Training Facility.

The space was vast and dimly lit, with a classical interior design. In the center hung a portrait of Marcus, appearing much the same as it did in the Resident Evil 0 remake.

"Ugh... urgh..."

No sooner had they entered the lobby than they heard hollow, low moans.

The "corpses" that had been lying in corners or other rooms, alerted by the commotion of the group flooding into the lobby, began to stagger to their feet, raising their arms as they approached.

These corpses...

Or perhaps they should be called zombies.

They were dressed in rags, their skin rotting, their eyes a ghastly white. Some were missing chunks of flesh, their bones and internal organs exposed to the air.

"Ugh... blegh!!"

Richard Aiken, the youngest member of the STARS Bravo Team, finally couldn't hold it back and vomited after seeing a zombie dragging its own intestines toward them.

"..."

Aiken's retching triggered a wave of nausea among the other STARS Bravo Team members and the SWAT officers present.

Zombie dogs were one thing, but seeing human zombies—even with mental preparation—still delivered a powerful visual shock.

The uncanny valley effect had reached its peak.

However, Hunk and the Alpha teams showed no signs of panic.

After all, during their training on Rockfort Island, the USS had undergone drills for countering various B.O.W.s, and zombies were the easiest targets to handle and eliminate.

"Alpha." Hunk raised his left hand and gave the order, his voice muffled by his mask. "Eliminate the mutated targets in the surface building."

"Yes." The Alpha members replied in equally muffled tones.

"Pop! Pop-pop!" Immediately, the sound of precise, controlled gunfire echoed throughout the entire building.

"Pfft... squelch!" Heads were pierced and exploded by the bullets.

The zombies couldn't even let out a wail before their second death.

"Guys! Four-man teams, assist our allies in taking care of these poor bastards!"

At this moment, Enrico Marini, captain of the STARS Bravo Team, issued his own orders, then raised his Remington M970 and pulled the trigger on a zombie.

"Yes!"

The STARS Bravo Team members and the SWAT officers responded in turn and began sweeping the various rooms within the building.

Sui Bian stood in the center of the lobby with his arms crossed over his chest, listening to the gunfire coming from all directions, waiting for the group to clear the entire building.

12:43.

Thirteen minutes after the clearing operation began, the surface buildings of both the mansion and the Training Facility had been emptied.

In the game, players felt no sense of security while exploring these two buildings, always filled with dread for the next room.

The reason was simple—

"Insufficient Firepower Syndrome."

The character controlled by the player was short on ammunition and exploring an unfamiliar environment alone, which naturally gave birth to an intense sense of fear.

However, once the player cleared the game and obtained infinite-ammo weapons...

All B.O.W.s and bosses became nothing more than clouds.

With the Alpha teams, STARS, SWAT, and Sui Bian, there were sixty-two people in total to deal with the abnormal creatures at the two facilities.

With the advantage in both numbers and firepower, there was no room for fear.

The greatest threat B.O.W.s posed to combat personnel was viral infection and assimilation, but unfortunately for them, everyone had been injected with the T-Virus Vaccine, which greatly increased their margin for error.

Therefore, compared to thugs or terrorists armed with guns and heavy weaponry, these "unarmed" B.O.W.s were actually much easier to deal with.

12:44.

Training Facility.

The group that had cleared the building regrouped in the lobby, preparing to head deep into the underground facility to thoroughly resolve the abnormal phenomena caused by Marcus that had disturbed the peace of the mountains.

Suddenly.

"Sir, the RPD says it would be best to split up and enter the Arklay Laboratory."

A report came through the Bluetooth earpiece Sui Bian wore on his left ear from an Alpha second lieutenant, who was responsible for commanding the two teams operating at the mansion.

Split up?

Sui Bian frowned upon hearing this.

He immediately raised his left hand to press his earpiece and replied, "Tell those people at the RPD that if they don't want to suffer any casualties, they should follow your commands."

"Yes, sir."

Ending the conversation with the second lieutenant, Sui Bian turned his head toward Marini, who was standing to his left, and said in a deep voice, "Captain Marini, we are about to head deep into the underground research facility. The routes inside are complex and intricate; to avoid any major casualties, please ensure your RPD team follows our lead."

Marini answered without the slightest hesitation, "Of course."

Having been a police officer for over twenty years, Marini naturally understood the gap between his RPD team and Alpha, so he readily agreed to Sui Bian's request.

"Many thanks." Sui Bian gave Marini a slight nod.

Ensuring that neither side would split up, Sui Bian used his earpiece to communicate directly with the Red Queen, having her act as a 'tour guide' to direct both parties.

The Red Queen had also locked onto James Marcus's location, who was currently in the master control room of the training facility's underground complex.

When Sui Bian, Hunk, and the others entered the underground facility, Marcus had attempted to use the master control room's access privileges to create obstacles for them.

However, the Red Queen, possessing higher-level authority, blocked all of Marcus's operations and incidentally locked down the master control room entirely.

With the assistance of the Red Queen, Sui Bian and his team swept through every room, laboratory, and level as they entered the underground facility to ensure no hidden dangers remained.

The layout of the underground facility was similar to that in the game, but the spaces were much more spacious, which improved the clearing efficiency for Sui Bian and his team.

During this time, they simply steamrolled through the mutated staff and B.O.W.s within the underground facility.

13:16.

Forty-six minutes had passed since the two teams arrived in the mountainous area to carry out the clearing operation.

The Arklay Laboratory, handled by the second lieutenant, Chris, Barry, and the others, had been cleared, and the Tyrant T-002, the final boss of Resident Evil 1, was dead beyond any doubt.

Before its 'death,' it had been subjected to a concentrated barrage of gunfire from over thirty people, armor-piercing incendiary rounds, fragmentation grenades, grenade launchers, and even a four-shot volley from an M202 66mm rocket launcher.

In short, its state of death was miserable.

Meanwhile, on Sui Bian's side, they had also encountered James Marcus.

13:17.

The underground facility of the training center.

In the hall outside the master control room.

This place resembled a small underground plaza, with screens displaying virtual scenery and ventilation facilities built on both sides, originally intended for the staff here to relax and rest.

The blast door of the master control room was located at the center of the far end of this hall.

At this moment.

Hunk, leading three Alpha teams, Marini's six-man STARS-B team, and ten SWAT members maintained a distance of over ten meters from the blast door, standing in a fan formation with their muzzles aimed at the gate.