"What do you mean, 'surprise'!"

Shortly after.

The two wounded men received basic first aid, and an Alpha team remained in the castle's front courtyard to look after them.

The two sniper teams occupying the high ground shifted positions, maintaining a distance of four to six hundred meters from the castle to continue monitoring movements inside and out.

Sui Bian, who had also arrived at the castle, prepared to have the USS advance further to eliminate the company's "traitors" once and for all.

That was right; in the eyes of Hunk, the Lieutenant, and the rest of the USS, this mission was to wipe out Umbrella's traitors.

After all, the USS of the past had no understanding of Umbrella's upper management, and even if they did, they only knew of a figure named Spencer.

Moreover, after nearly three months of working together, the USS had developed a strong fondness for Sui Bian, a "Director" who stood on no ceremony, raised every employee's salary, and was even open to receiving guidance and training from his subordinates.

More importantly, Sui Bian had prioritized equipping the USS with the latest individual gear and weaponry.

Even if the USS discovered at the end of the mission that Sui Bian's ultimate goal was to eliminate Spencer, they would execute the order without hesitation.

In any case, the USS was loyal to the company, and since Director Sui Bian was set to take the reins of Umbrella, being loyal to him was synonymous with being loyal to the company; there was no conflict.

12:45.

Just as Sui Bian and his team in the castle courtyard were about to enter the building...

"BOOM!" With a thunderous sound, the metal doors leading into the castle's interior were smashed open by some sort of brute force.

The two massive metal doors were sent flying, hurtling toward the position of Sui Bian's group.

Without needing a shout of warning, everyone rolled to the left and right to dodge. The two metal doors, their momentum undiminished, swept over the group and slammed directly into the entrance leading to the outside.

"CRASH!" With two heavy thuds, the metal doors temporarily sealed the exit.

"Thump, thump." Heavy, rhythmic footsteps followed, reaching everyone's ears.

They looked toward the sound.

They saw two "giants," roughly 2.6 meters tall, wearing grey-white trench coats, their skin a deep grey, and sporting unconventional sunglasses, entering their line of sight.

These two "giants" were improved versions of the T-103 Tyrant: the Ivan Tyrant.

Compared to the T-103, the Ivan Tyrant possessed superior stability, controllability, and interactivity, and could even operate weapons to attack. However, its flaws were equally obvious: the production cost was exorbitant, making mass production impossible.

Sui Bian and his team, having dodged the giant doors, immediately stood up and spread out, weapons raised in alert. Even the two wounded men stopped resting and aimed their guns at the two Ivan Tyrants.

At this moment, another, shorter "giant" appeared in their field of vision.

It was Sergei Vladimir, dressed in a dark grey military trench coat, with rare silver-white hair and a hideous scar over his right eye.

As a combat hero of the former Soviet Union, Sergei stood at about two meters tall, making him a giant among normal humans.

[Abnormal phenomenon detected.

Subject: Sergei Vladimir.

Description:
The subject is a perfect specimen of T-Virus mutation-adaptive genes. Consequently, he can choose whether or not to fuse with the virus at will, becoming an alternative species that retains full consciousness, intelligence, and memory.

If the Host, or the forces under the Host's command, can control or eliminate this subject, this system will reward the Host with 100 points.]

"Oh?"

Sui Bian, standing not far behind Hunk, glanced at the blocked exit behind him and then back at Sergei and the two Ivan Tyrants.

This scene, combined with the system's prompt, gave him a distinct sense of a boss fight.

"Clap, clap."

Just then, Sergei, standing between the two Ivan Tyrants, began to applaud. He spoke in a tone of disdain, "praising" them:

"To have made it this far, I must say, your courage is commendable..."

"BANG, BANG, BANG!" The rapid-fire sound of the MA5B once again interrupted a "villain's" pre-battle monologue.

"Pfft! Splat!" FMJ rounds tore into Sergei's body, tumbling violently, and his left forearm was ripped clean off.

The colonel, having been raked by the MA5B's fire, fell heavily to the ground, his body beyond his control.

The one who had pulled the trigger was none other than Sui Bian.

He shifted his aim toward the Ivan Tyrant on the left and ordered, "Fire."

"Yes!" the USS members responded in unison.

Dozens of guns were leveled at the two Ivan Tyrants and the motionless Sergei, who appeared to be dead on the ground.

Then...

"BANG, BANG, BANG!"

"PONG! PONG!"

The gunfire erupted.

The heads of the two Ivan Tyrants were struck by snipers. Their skin and bone were indeed tougher than a human's, but they were still a notch below .50 caliber armor-piercing incendiary rounds.

The Tyrants' heads didn't explode into a fine mist, but fist-sized holes appeared, destroying their brain tissue and implanted chips, forcing them into a "system crash" state.

To ensure these two Tyrants were completely finished and wouldn't trigger some sort of uncontrolled "liberation mode," four Omicron members equipped with under-barrel grenade launchers fired cheap 40mm grenades at the expensive Ivan Tyrants.

"Boom! Boom!" A few explosions completely blasted the two Tyrants into shreds.

Meanwhile.

Lying on the ground, Sergei was convulsing from the continuous fire of the MA5B, his body mutating at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Seeing this.

Several members of Omicron ceased fire and unclipped Thermite Grenades from their waists.

Pulling the pins and releasing the safety levers, they tossed them directly at Sergei, who was on the verge of a perfect fusion with the T-Virus.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" The flames from the Thermite Grenades instantly engulfed Sergei's entire body.

"Ah--!" Sergei's echoing scream filled the front courtyard of the ancient castle.

Half a minute later, Sergei's screams gradually faded, eventually leaving behind a charred corpse as the flames burned out.

[Abnormal phenomenon detected: Sergei Vladimir is dead.

Congratulations to the Host for receiving 100 points from this system. The Host's current point total is 160.]

At the same time, hearing the system's notification, Sui Bian confirmed that the corpse before him was truly dead, with no need to waste ammunition on follow-up shots.

From the appearance of Sergei and the Tyrants to the elimination of these three "bosses," less than five minutes had passed in total.

In the game, they could be bosses because of the existence of "health bars," and since players were restricted to controlling Wesker, who only used firearms, the situation appeared tense and deadlocked.

In reality, when faced with absolute firepower, these B.O.W.s, which still fell within the realm of biology, could only meet their end.

Therefore...

Sui Bian could not fathom where Sergei found the courage to clamor against him and the USS.

Having dealt with Sergei and the Ivan Tyrants, Sui Bian led Alpha and Omicron deeper into the castle. Although there were still many surviving bodyguards putting up a stubborn resistance inside, it was all in vain against Sui Bian and his team.