At this moment, Chris, Claire, and Natasha had joined forces to knock Jill unconscious, but none of them dared to tamper with the external device on her chest.
"Wesker got away," Bella said softly.
Chris nodded. His old friend and rival had always been known for being cunning and slippery, quick to flee when things went south. This wasn't the first time he'd abandoned ship mid-battle. It would be normal for him to escape—if he'd been dragged back like a dead dog, that would've been surprising.
Bella's overwhelming power left Chris somewhat confused. That speed, that strength—she didn't seem human at all. But thinking of her 'CIA' identity, he wisely chose not to ask questions.
With the refinery's leaders either escaped, dead, or captured, the remaining soldiers and hired guns instantly lost their will to fight. They were mercenaries working for money, not ancient warriors pledged to die for their lord. Seeing things go badly, the quick-witted ones turned and ran. Those who reacted a beat slower saw their colleagues fleeing and followed suit.
The die-hard loyalists tried to resist but were picked off one by one under the guns of Chris, Bella, and the others.
By the next morning, the battle at the refinery was completely over.
Though it seemed like they'd fought all night, the actual death toll wasn't that high.
Veteran S.H.I.E.L.D. agent John Garrett also came to rendezvous with them. They'd captured the arms dealer Ricardo Irving, and combined with Chris's team's achievements, it could be called a major victory.
Next, the BSAA would destroy and seal away the bioweapons here. With international treaties signed by various governments as a legal foundation, everything would be done by the book.
As for prosecuting and sanctioning Tricell, that would be much more difficult. This kind of international corporation had an extremely vast network of connections, with many interest groups involved behind the scenes. They could push all the blame onto the dead. The already deceased Excella Gionne was the perfect scapegoat.
"Let's head back too..." With her enemy dead—regardless of who killed her—those comrades who'd died in the spiders' jaws were finally avenged. For Natasha, this West African trip was a complete success. Prosperity Town was now a closed chapter in her life.
"Yeah, let's go," Bella equally had no desire to stay longer.
How they dealt with the bioweapons at the scene, how they rescued Jill Valentine—none of that concerned them. They said goodbye to everyone. Bella also bid farewell to Jacob privately, then they boarded a plane to Italy.
They'd used an Italian vacation as their cover story for this trip, so they had to buy some things to prove they'd actually been there.
The two of them spent a wild week in Italy without any incidents, then returned to the United States.
Bella didn't go back to Los Angeles but instead spent two days in Phoenix.
Her birth mother and current husband had originally gone to California to run a sporting goods business, but it had failed spectacularly. Now the two had returned to Phoenix, planning to restart some small business.
Due to her predecessor's personality issues and unfamiliarity after transmigrating, Bella's relationship with her birth mother had always been lukewarm. She didn't want to reach out, and her mother didn't want to see her either.
Now, with no other options, her mother finally remembered she had a daughter—a wealthy daughter.
Her birth mother didn't need much money, just fifty thousand dollars.
This amount was nothing to Bella. She was indeed short on cash right now, but not that desperate. After some consideration, she gave them the money without requiring repayment. They could use it as they pleased.
Her birth mother's suggestion that she stay for Christmas was declined. The home in Los Angeles felt warmer.
Bella returned to Stanford first.
The discovery of the Sea of Galilee site and the Galilee Iron Codex had boosted her reputation even higher.
Was this useful? Compared to technological products and inventions that could change people's lifestyles, her archaeological discovery of a site and iron codex wasn't particularly practical.
But even those professors and experts who couldn't go a day without criticizing Bella in the newspapers could only question its authenticity—they absolutely couldn't say it was useless.
In public, everyone wore expressions of 'Oh, how wonderful, truly wonderful.'
Stanford certainly wouldn't say it was useless. They specially arranged a venue for Bella to give a lecture.
Before numerous professors and students, Bella once again boasted about her glorious achievements.
The audience listened with stirred emotions, and she felt a full measure of satisfaction.
Now it wasn't just male students madly sending her love letters—even many junior and senior female students were attracted by her charisma.
When she described climbing a rock cave over twenty meters high by herself, a senior girl suddenly stood up and shouted, "Bella! I love you!"
While saying this, she even lifted her shirt!
With her excellent eyesight, Bella nearly spat out blood...
Stanford's motto was "The wind of freedom blows"—lifting one's shirt was personal freedom. No one stopped her; everyone was seriously stealing glances...
Despite this wonderful little interlude, her lecture was successfully completed.
The event continued to gain traction. Bella had already begun fantasizing about when this news reached the top headline spot, how much attention she'd attract and how much praise she'd receive.
Headlines! She absolutely had to make the headlines at least once!
Not giving her the headlines would be disrespectful to God, would be impious!
The Christmas holiday was approaching. Heather and the others weren't on campus, so Bella returned to Los Angeles that same day.
"Hahahaha—" As soon as she pushed open the door, bag still in hand, she heard Natasha's laughter. She was completely confused. What was so hilarious?
Bella secretly beckoned, calling the house's little ghost Violet Harmon over to inquire.
"Hehehehe... you should just go see for yourself. It's especially interesting." The little ghost was also laughing uncontrollably, which made Bella very curious. Logically, the biggest news right now should be the Sea of Galilee site and Galilee Iron Codex, right?
She felt this kind of discovery of the century should have no problem claiming the headlines. After all, this was a nation where everyone believed in God. But was this kind of thing funny?
Both of them laughing like this—you're not being devout!
Natasha saw her come in and beckoned to her while laughing.
From Bella's perspective, the beautiful girl was laughing so hard her body was shaking, tears streaming from her eyes...
That funny? She also looked at the TV.
First, she froze for a second, discovering that what the TV was talking about wasn't the Galilee Iron Codex at all.
On TV, a famous talk show host was vividly describing the exploits of someone named 'Mr. Sperm.' What had this 'Mr. Sperm' done?
The host was animated, talking and laughing. According to his description, this 'Mr. Sperm' had, over roughly 990 days between 1991 and 1994, frantically donated sperm a total of 693 times! An average of once every day and a half, earning a total of $24,255 in compensation.
Next to the host appeared an image representing Mr. Sperm, completely composed of a black silhouette with a large question mark in the center. The small text below read: Who is Mr. Sperm?