"Insufficient Firepower Syndrome"

The Training Facility looked like a large vacation villa. Its exterior resembled Spencer Mansion's, but it was considerably larger.

The group arrived at the building's main entrance.

Hunk led three Alpha squads into the building first, followed by Sui Bian, then STARS Bravo Team and SWAT.

The Training Facility's lobby.

It was spacious and dimly lit, with a classically styled interior. A portrait of Marcus hung in the center, much like in the remastered version of Resident Evil 0.

"Uh... ngh..."

As soon as everyone entered the lobby, they heard hollow groans.

The "corpses" that had been lying in corners and other rooms heard the commotion as the group poured into the lobby. They staggered to their feet, raised their arms, and began approaching.

These corpses...

Or perhaps they should be called zombies.

They were dressed in rags, their skin rotten and their eyes milky white. Some were missing chunks of flesh, exposing their bones and internal organs.

"Ugh... blegh!!"

Richard Aiken, the youngest member of STARS Bravo Team, finally threw up when he saw a zombie dragging its intestines as it walked toward them.

"."

Aiken's retching made the other members of STARS Bravo Team and the SWAT officers feel sick, too.

Zombie Dogs were one thing, but even with mental preparation, the sight of zombies was still a powerful shock.

The uncanny valley effect had reached its peak.

Hunk and Alpha, however, showed no signs of panic.

After all, during their training on Rockfort Island, USS personnel had practiced fighting all kinds of B.O.W.s. Zombies were the easiest targets to deal with and eliminate.

"Alpha." Hunk raised his left hand and waved it to issue an order. His voice sounded muffled through his mask. "Eliminate the mutated targets in the aboveground buildings."

"Yes." Alpha responded in the same muffled voices.

"Crack! Crack, crack!" Precise shots rang out through the entire building.

"Thwip... splat!" Heads were pierced and blown apart by bullets.

The zombies couldn't even let out a dying groan before dying a second time.

"Everyone! Pair off in groups of four and help our allies take care of these poor bastards!"

STARS Bravo Team's captain, Enrico Marini, issued an order as well. He raised his Remington M970 and pulled the trigger at a zombie.

"Yes!"

The STARS Bravo Team members and SWAT officers answered in unison, then began sweeping the building's rooms.

Sui Bian stood in the middle of the lobby with his arms crossed, listening to the gunfire from every direction as he waited for everyone to clear the entire building.

12:43.

Thirteen minutes into the sweep, the aboveground buildings at both Spencer Mansion and the Training Facility had been cleared.

In the game, players never felt safe while exploring the two buildings. They were always terrified of what might be waiting in the next room.

The reason was simple—

"Insufficient firepower syndrome."

The characters controlled by players had limited ammunition, and had to explore unfamiliar places alone. That was enough to breed an intense sense of fear.

But once players beat the game and got weapons with infinite ammunition...

Every B.O.W. and boss was nothing but a floating cloud.

There were sixty-two of them in total—Alpha, STARS, SWAT, and Sui Bian—dealing with the abnormal creatures at the two facilities.

They had the advantage in both numbers and firepower. There was no reason to fear anything.

The greatest threat B.O.W.s posed to combat personnel was the risk of infection and transformation. Fortunately, everyone had been injected with the T-Virus Vaccine, greatly increasing their margin for error.

So, compared to armed thugs and terrorists with guns and heavy weapons, the "unarmed" B.O.W.s were actually easier to deal with.

12:44.

Training Facility.

Everyone who had cleared the building regrouped in the lobby, ready to head into the underground facility and put an end to Marcus, the abnormal presence disturbing the peace of the mountains.

Suddenly.

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

The report came through the Bluetooth earpiece on Sui Bian's left ear. It was from an Alpha lieutenant, who was in charge of the two squads operating at Spencer Mansion.

Split up?

At that, Sui Bian furrowed his brow.

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

"Yes, sir."

After ending the call with the lieutenant, Sui Bian turned to Marini, standing on his left, and said gravely, "Captain Marini, we're about to enter the underground research facility.

"The layout is a maze. To avoid major casualties, I need your RPD team to follow our lead."

Marini agreed without the slightest hesitation. "Of course."

Marini had been a police officer for over twenty years. He knew the gap between RPD and Alpha, so he readily accepted Sui Bian's request.

"Thank you." Sui Bian gave Marini a slight nod.

After ensuring neither side would split up, Sui Bian used his earpiece to speak directly with the Red Queen, asking her to guide both groups.

The Red Queen had also tracked down James Marcus. He was currently in the control room of the Training Facility's underground complex.

When Sui Bian and the others entered the underground facility, Marcus tried to use the control room's systems to obstruct them.

But the Red Queen, who had higher access privileges, stopped all of Marcus's attempts and completely sealed off the control room.

With the Red Queen's help, Sui Bian and the others systematically swept the rooms, laboratories, and levels of the underground facility to make sure no threats remained.

The underground facility's layout was similar to the one in the game, but it was more spacious, which helped Sui Bian and the others clear it more efficiently.

Throughout the operation, they casually mowed down the mutated employees and B.O.W.s in the underground facility.

13:16.

Forty-six minutes had passed since the two teams arrived in the mountains to carry out the sweep.

The Arklay Laboratory, under the command of the lieutenant, Chris, Barry, and others, had been cleared. The Tyrant T-002, the final boss of Resident Evil 1, was now well and truly dead.

Before it "died," it had endured a barrage of gunfire from more than thirty people, along with armor-piercing incendiary rounds, Frag Grenades, grenades, and even a four-shot salvo from an M202 66 mm rocket launcher.

In short, it had died a horrible death.

Meanwhile, Sui Bian had also encountered James Marcus.

13:17.

The underground facility of the Training Facility.

The lobby outside the control room.

It resembled a small underground plaza. Screens displaying virtual scenery and ventilation equipment lined both sides. The area was meant to give the employees a place to relax and rest.

The control room's security gate stood at the far end of the lobby, right in the middle.

At that moment.

Three Alpha squads led by Hunk, Marini's six-member STARS Bravo Team, and ten SWAT officers stood more than ten meters from the gate. They formed a fan-shaped line, their guns aimed at it.