Data Plunder and the Prelude to Escape

The team carried the Red Queen's motherboard and began retracing their route. Although access control had been restored, there were clearly more zombies wandering through The Hive, and some stronger variants seemed to have appeared.

As they passed through a core data exchange center, Li Wei suddenly stopped.

"Wait a moment," he said to Shade. "I need to retrieve something from here."

Ignoring the team's puzzled stares, he walked over to a large server that was still intact. The Startrail arm bracer connected to its interface, combining telekinesis with faint magical energy to force its way through the Umbrella Corporation's internal firewall like an elite hacker.

[System-assisted intrusion in progress... Advanced encrypted data stream detected... Decrypting...]

[Obtained complete T-virus research data (including original strain, mutant strains, antidote formulas, and human experiment data)...]

[Obtained biological weapon design blueprints and cultivation materials for Lickers, the Nemesis Program, and more...]

[Obtained preliminary files on the Alice Project...]

[Obtained the core architecture code and learning database of the artificial intelligence Red Queen...]

[Obtained distribution maps of Umbrella Corporation facilities worldwide (including Raccoon City) and summaries of core secrets...]

A massive amount of technological data—information the Umbrella Corporation regarded as its highest-level secrets—was forcibly downloaded, copied, and stored within Startrail's spatially expanded storage unit like a flood bursting through a dam. The process lasted roughly three minutes. During that time, zombies continuously tried to approach, only to be driven back by the team.

"What are you doing?" Matt could not help asking. He was disgusted by anything connected to the Umbrella Corporation.

"Gathering evidence, and... power," Li Wei replied without looking back. "Only by understanding the enemy can we defeat them. This data is the key to bringing down Umbrella, and it may also be the hope of saving more people in the future."

Once the data plunder was complete, Li Wei withdrew his arm. He glanced at Alice. The information concerning the Alice Project had given him a deeper understanding of her fate, but he did not intend to tell her yet.

"Alright, it's time to leave," Li Wei said. "Although the Red Queen has been shut down, The Hive's self-destruct sequence may already have been triggered—or Umbrella's upper management may have sent... a cleanup team."

His words made everyone's hearts tighten, and they immediately quickened their retreat.

On the way back, they ran into more zombies and scattered Licker attacks. But with Li Wei, the "human mobile artillery platform," and Alice, whose combat ability was gradually returning, assisting them, the team survived several close calls without suffering any further losses. At the most critical moments, Li Wei always defused fatal crises with his uncanny marksmanship or invisible telekinesis.

The team's reliance on and gratitude toward him grew day by day, and they had nearly come to see him as the team's backbone and spiritual leader. Alice fought beside him as well, their coordination steadily improving as a special bond forged through life-and-death trials quietly began to take root.

When they finally returned to the train platform, they discovered that the train could still be started!

"Quick! Get on!" Shade urged.

Everyone swiftly boarded the train, and Kaplan started the engine. The train slowly pulled away from the platform, heading toward the mansion on the surface.

However, just as the train reached the middle of the tunnel, several roaring Lickers—deliberately released—appeared on the tracks ahead! Behind the train, heavy footsteps rang out. An even larger figure appeared, carrying a massive rotary machine gun—it was Nemesis! One of Umbrella Corporation's ultimate biological weapons, sent to "clean up" all survivors!

With wolves ahead and tigers behind, the train had become a cage of death!