With a hostage on each side, the situation instantly became complicated.
Even with internal energy supporting them, prolonged combat left both physically and mentally exhausted.
Bella used the Assassin Brotherhood's breathing techniques to slowly recover her stamina.
Sweat covered her forehead, strands of hair plastered to her face. She hadn't anticipated such high-intensity combat beforehand. Her hair alone slowed her down. No time to fuss about it now—she quickly tied it back into a ponytail.
Wesker, at a disadvantage, was in even worse shape. He hadn't prepared for fierce combat either.
The virus provided massive energy to his cells while also generating tremendous heat. He was now drenched in sweat, looking like he'd just been pulled from water.
His black trench coat looked stylish normally, but now it was pure dead weight—cumbersome and suffocating. He hurriedly shed it, then ripped off his shirt as well, bare-chested and breathing heavily.
Bella glanced at the captured Claire, then looked at Chris speechlessly. Your sister! Your sister's not pulling her weight!
"Jill?! You're not dead?" It was hard to say whether Chris first saw his sister or his old comrade. His face showed a mix of panic and excitement.
"She's being controlled! Hit the red gem on her chest and she'll return to normal!" Claire had fought Jill for quite a while. Though captured, she still had keen observation skills and called out a reminder.
"Hehehehe... You can try. The external device is connected to her heart. You have a 10% chance of saving your old friend. I very much look forward to that scene..." Excella showed no awareness of being a prisoner, only cold laughter.
Bella and Natasha exchanged glances and nodded in unspoken agreement.
"Mr. Wesker, this woman is important to you, isn't she? Let's exchange hostages!" Bella pointed her gun at Excella Gionne while secretly preparing a Mind Blast with her other hand behind her back.
"Of course."
Wesker placed his hand on Claire's shoulder, smiling without warmth.
But the next second, he suddenly drew his pistol. Bella thought he was attacking Natasha and, with concern overriding reason, moved to intercept. Who knew the bullet would drill into Excella Gionne's skull instead?
"We're leaving!" Wesker commanded Jill Valentine, who was holding Claire hostage.
His action was decisive and ruthless. He killed his loyal subordinate—someone who even harbored feelings for him—without hesitation. It caught both the inexperienced Bella and Natasha completely off guard.
No matter their two lifetimes of experience, no matter that one was the future famous Black Widow—neither had anticipated this twist. Seeing Excella Gionne fall into a pool of blood, murmuring Albert Wesker's name as she died, they both froze for a full second.
Chris, as Wesker's old friend and old enemy, had anticipated this. Now he charged at Wesker like a madman, swinging his fists.
Bella had no time to think. She threw her prepared Mind Blast at Jill, then rushed over to help.
Catching sight of her in his peripheral vision, Wesker had to be extremely careful again.
But this time Bella played a trick. While accelerating, she suddenly veered to the side, grabbed Jill Valentine's gun hand lightning-fast, then used all her strength to fling the woman—somewhat dazed from the Mind Blast—away.
Natasha and the freed Claire attacked Jill simultaneously.
Bella turned back to help Chris, but this time she was a step too late.
Wesker knocked Chris down with three punches and two kicks. Seeing Jill surrounded and unable to break free immediately, in his urgency, he gave Jill Valentine—his tool—a command to fight to the death and not retreat, then turned and ran.
His form shot forward like an arrow. Intimately familiar with the terrain, he bounded up the stairs leading out of the fourth basement level in a few leaps.
Initially, Bella was fifty meters behind him. The terrain was complex, but with Eagle Vision active, she could still track him. But as they ran, the distance kept growing—eighty meters, one hundred meters. Many blind spots and structures blocked her line of sight.
"Damn it!" Seeing no one around, she didn't hesitate. She summoned Jason and pointed forward.
Jason locked onto the target, then appeared behind Wesker like a phantom. His machete whistled through the air, slashing down viciously.
What the hell is that? A big man suddenly appearing behind him?!
Wesker was truly startled. Seeing that gleaming machete about to fall on his neck, he didn't dare bet that his neck was harder than the blade. In this critical moment, he exploded with all his potential. His speed inexplicably increased by another ten percent, narrowly dodging the strike.
His head dodged, but his body didn't.
Jason's monstrous strength combined with the machete's sharpness severed Wesker's right arm completely from the shoulder. Enduring the intense pain, he accelerated again and rushed into an area resembling a ventilation duct.
This place had passages in all directions and even more complex terrain. Bella followed the blood trail for another fifty meters, then the trail vanished. She couldn't see him either.
Had he led her in the wrong direction, stopped the bleeding in time, or were there hidden passages she didn't know about? She had no answer.
"Damn it!" She furiously punched the wall, creating spiderweb cracks. Looking around, she decided not to continue pursuing.
Wesker was in terrible condition—heavily injured, his combat strength less than thirty percent of his peak. Bella wasn't injured, but her entire body ached. She wasn't fit for continued combat either.
If dozens of gunmen plus Wesker surrounded her, she'd be in danger.
At least she hadn't exposed her true identity. Otherwise, with such a cunning and powerful boss escaping, that would be truly troublesome.
Wesker's severed arm—she picked it up. This guy could fight her for eighty rounds. His cells and the biavirus were perfectly fused.
He wasn't the protagonist of this world. This perfect fusion wasn't innate—it definitely came from extensive experimentation and constant adjustment until reaching perfection before he modified his own body.
Bella planned to take it back for research. Frost formed on her palm as she froze the entire arm.
The flowers still displayed in the cultivation room on the third basement level—she took those too. Undoubtedly, these were the source of all viruses: the Progenitor Virus, the so-called Stairway to the Sun!
She quickly drew a magic circle on site, then used psionic energy to connect with the pre-drawn circle at her Texas farm, using it as a wormhole-like conduit—in one end, out the other.
Wesker's arm and the Stairway to the Sun were sent back to the Texas farm for later research.
After erasing traces of the magic circle and using Eagle Vision to scan the surroundings to confirm she'd left no critical clues, she retraced her steps.