In the lush tropical jungle of Planet of the Apes, the tall trees were the domain of the Apes. A grand drama was playing out in the primeval forest. Yet the protagonists were not humans, and humanity held an exceedingly low status on this planet, much like the Native Americans enslaved after America occupied the continent—perhaps even worse.
The jungle echoed with the howls of Apes. Wearing cold smiles, the Ape army captured humans one after another and threw them into cages. In this Ape homeland, brutal chases played out every day. The difference was that humans were the weak, while the Apes were the strong.
Tang Tian stood beside the pool where Leo had landed, watching the Serum Troops use a crane brought from the real world to salvage the spaceship while listening to the Apes gradually leave. "Looks like the humans outside have already been captured. It's time to begin the plan." With a light movement of his hand, a container and a satellite launcher dropped from a pitch-black spatial rift.
Several Serum Troops members climbed down the container's ropes and opened it, revealing five iron crates marked with skull symbols. Another group launched the satellite at the same time. Once that was done, they immediately activated the thawing buttons on the crates and withdrew. Minutes later, scraping sounds came from the steel crates. The Lickers were tearing them apart with their claws.
Bang!
A tremendous crash rang out, and sharp cracks instantly appeared in the iron crate. As the sound grew louder, as though slicing through butter, the Licker forcibly tore apart an alloy steel plate over twenty centimeters thick. Its terrifying face appeared before Tang Tian. The Serum Troops and Wesker likewise made no move. Watching the Licker with interest, Tang Tian wore a dangerous cold smile.
"Red Queen, control the Lickers and hunt down all Apes. Start from the perimeter. Eliminate everyone except humans." After speaking, Tang Tian used his dimensional merchant ability to have some people take the spoils—the rail electromagnetic guns and the small space cruiser—back to the real world.
Meanwhile, at Umbrella's underground high-tech weapons research facility five thousand meters beneath New York City, scientists who had waited for a long time immediately became feverishly excited upon seeing the legendary alien spaceship and electromagnetic pistols. Following the plan, they began dismantling the electromagnetic weapons and cracking the damaged small space cruiser.
"Yes, Master Brain." Following Tang Tian's orders, the Red Queen began hunting down the patrolling Apes from afar. With most of the Ape army gone, the remaining Apes could only face these immensely powerful, unkillable Lickers in terror. The Lickers from Resident Evil could easily rip apart alloy walls, while the Apes' equipment could never possess the strength of alloy.
Aaaah!
Nearly five hundred Apes roared in terror, utterly lacking the high spirits they had shown while capturing humans earlier. Whether they held blades or bows, they frantically slashed and fired at the Lickers, but it had no effect. More than a hundred Apes were so terrified they nearly lost their minds, yet their efforts were negligible. Only the sparks produced when their blades struck the Lickers proved that they were desperately resisting.
"Interesting. Keep recording the Lickers' combat data. Red Queen, use the strongest attack intensity. Let me see how many minutes they can last." Tang Tian lit a Cuban cigar and leisurely drank red wine. This trip had basically been a casual stroll. There had been no need to deploy the Serum Troops, making it incredibly easy. On the other hand, it showed just how weak the Apes truly were—though it could not be denied that someone's bioweapons were simply too powerful.
Planet of the Apes did not have many Apes, at most a million. Judging by the hundreds aboard the spaceship at the beginning of the film, their numbers could only have reached around a million after a thousand years. It was like how the Manchu nobility had only numbered a million after occupying China at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and after living prosperous lives, their population only increased by several times. By the same reasoning, the Apes numbered only around a million. Humans were suppressed by the Apes, so their numbers certainly could not exceed those of the Ape race, but they would still number around a million. After all, humans knew how to endure, and once they became strong enough, they would overthrow their rulers. Sade, commander of the Ape army, understood the power humans would possess if they developed, which was why he wanted to exterminate humanity, this dangerous race.
At another settlement, Leo had been imprisoned in an iron cage as a slave by the Apes. During that time, he came to understand that this was a planet ruled by Apes, where humans held a lowly status.
"Catch them! You stink! All you filthy humans, get lost!" All manner of insults rang out incessantly in the Ape marketplace. Ape children in particular threw stones at humans. The Apes clearly held no goodwill toward humans, considering themselves noble. Without an accident, humanity would surely have been wiped out. Perhaps there was one person—no, one Ape—who felt goodwill toward humans: Ellie, the senator's daughter. She stopped the Apes from throwing stones, greatly surprising Leo, who had only just arrived on this planet.
"Fine, keep the profits low and sell more. Wash them clean," Ellie's father, the senator, shouted. Having arrived at the slave market, Leo had no room to resist and was assigned to the men's side.
Elsewhere, "Boss, we've found him," a Serum Troops member said expressionlessly.
Tang Tian did not answer. Instead, he said to the Red Queen, "Not bad. Five hundred Apes actually held out for two minutes, a minute longer than humans. They really are excellent live test subjects for bioweapons. By the way, how has the Hunter evolution gone?"
"All one hundred Lickers have evolved into Hunters." The Red Queen added, "Their speed and strength have increased fivefold, while their defense has increased tenfold."
"Alright, Red Queen, begin monitoring the Hunters' experimental data. The slaughter begins." After speaking, Tang Tian nodded to the Serum Troops member. Before long, a Hercules transport aircraft descended into an unknown forest, where the Ape settlement lay. This time, Tang Tian intended to settle the Ape race in one stroke, then obtain its technology and turn this planet into an Umbrella colony.
"The game is over. Red Queen, exterminate every Ape in the settlement. Wesker, make your move." As the enormous, advanced Hercules transport aircraft roared overhead, a frivolous voice issued its command.
"How is that possible? Weren't all the humans already captured?" Seeing this group of clearly different, dangerous humans before them, Chief Sade and General Atar exchanged a glance, both sensing danger. The sudden elimination of five hundred Apes was shocking news Sade had wanted to suppress, but he had not expected the culprit to appear.
"Alright, you can die in peace. I will destroy every Ape on this planet. And Leo, I need your help." Tang Tian did not explain further and spoke bluntly. The Serum Troops readied their weapons, and the Hunters had already arrived. They had played long enough; it was time to end it. Next, they would aid the natives and send Umbrella mercenaries to occupy their first colony.
P.S. Don't mind if the Planet of the Apes arc is shorter, everyone. Next comes the Marvel real world, followed by films you are all familiar with, then a return to reality to fuse the Progenitor Virus, G-Virus, and Sun Staircase. Please support me.
At the request of many readers, VIP membership with an ad-free feature is now available.
Click to view