Chapter 120: Monster
"I'm leaving before that guy shows up. Without the train, you might have to walk out of here."
"Also, you'd better work for him; it might be your only chance to leave."
He looked at Alice, and amidst her somewhat bewildered gaze, said, "I'm already starting to miss you."
With a mischievous grin, Spence opened the door behind him and ran inside.
The moment the gun was removed from her head, Rain instantly raised her weapon, only to find the door slammed shut from the other side!
No matter how hard she pulled, she couldn't open it.
"Son of a bitch!" Rain cursed again, angrily raising her gun and firing fiercely at the infected that had already entered the laser corridor.
At this point, everyone knew that the culprit was Spence, and that he knew how to leave!
But it was too late. Alice hadn't regained her memories, and even if she did, she probably couldn't lead them away.
The only way out was through Jake, the self-proclaimed priest with abilities far beyond what ordinary people could comprehend.
Kaplan sat back down at the computer, frantically typing away, deleting line after line of data and rewriting command after command.
The four remained silent for nearly two minutes.
During those two minutes, apart from the sounds of Rain firing her gun, Kaplan's keyboard clicking, and the howls of the infected, nothing else could be heard.
Just as Rain was about to run out of ammunition, suddenly an object appeared before them!
Their eyes widened in shock!
A huge blue shipping container had suddenly materialized before them!
Fortunately, the ceiling height of the Hive was sufficient to accommodate it.
Jake was standing there, his left hand gripping the container.
The massive container squeezed into the narrow laboratory, instantly blocking the infected's path.
The howls and the sound of fingernails scratching at the metal assaulted their ears, but the group breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sorry, traffic was a nightmare,"
Jake said, removing his hand from the container and turning around.
But what greeted him was a terrifying, grotesque, mangled face!
Jake's eye twitched; this scene had genuinely startled him.
However, he instinctively raised his left arm to block the attack, and grabbed the infected's head with his right hand, twisting it sharply!
Crack!
The infected's head was spun around, and as Jake released it, it collapsed to the ground.
Two or three more infected were also shot down one by one by Rain.
"How's the progress?" he asked Kaplan.
"Final data deletion stage."
"Good." Nodding, Jake wasn't worried that the mercenary would deceive him.
He wouldn't dare deploy an AI without testing it; if something went wrong, he had enough contingency plans to deal with it.
"Where...did you go just now?" Alice approached and asked Jake.
"Uh...I went to a shipping yard," Jake said vaguely. "But this stuff isn't easy to acquire."
Looking at the huge shipping container, Alice's eyes widened. How did he manage to get this?
However, she could tell that Jake didn't want to elaborate.
By now, everyone was certain that Jake could definitely lead them away, because the container couldn't possibly be within two kilometers of the Hive's entrance.
Kaplan was even more meticulous in his modifications. Although it was just a few command changes and data deletion, he dared not make any mistakes.
Could this priest really have divine connections? Given his methods, if anything went wrong, there would definitely be hell to pay.
In fact, this container was borrowed by Jake from another reality. He wasn't sure how many ways the T-virus could transmit, so he absolutely couldn't return to his home world before it was completely sterilized.
After a while, Kaplan finally finished the modifications.
And throughout, Jake never asked where Spence had gone. It was obvious that he had either regained his memories and escaped, or been killed by infected. Neither would affect him.
The huge container formed a wall, perfectly blocking the infected influx. However, dozens of hands reached through the gaps in the not-quite-sealed doorway, scratching frantically.
Taking the Red Queen's mainframe from Kaplan, Jake placed it into the massive computer housing.
A second later,
Red Queen restarted.
"Red Queen?" he tried calling out.
The next second, a holographic image of a little girl was projected in front of Jake. Because only the core program had been modified, some unimportant aspects, such as her appearance, remained unchanged.
"Yes," Red Queen nodded stiffly.
"Who is your highest-level user?"
"Not yet bound..."
Jake turned to Kaplan, who immediately explained, "Red Queen's access settings include multiple authentication methods like DNA, fingerprints, retinal scans, voice, and facial recognition. I deleted and modified her core while she was offline, but to reset it, you need to follow the proper protocols."
"Okay," Jake nodded, shutting down Red Queen. This process was naturally troublesome, so he didn't intend to complete it here.
"Now follow me, let's move out." Taking Kaplan's bag, placing the Red Queen's mainframe inside, and slinging the backpack over his shoulder, Jake led the three away.
"Spence locked that door from the other side," Alice reminded him.
"We have another route."
He remembered an underground maintenance tunnel from the facility schematics, but didn't know its exact location.
Fortunately, he found it quickly.
"What is this place?" The four of them climbed down one by one, Alice being the last, asking Jake.
"Utility maintenance tunnel, runs underneath the Hive, carries water lines, gas, and electrical conduits."
Under Jake's leadership, the group moved quickly.
"Don't think the maintenance tunnel is safe," he warned, holding his pistols ready. "There are way more infected down here than upstairs, but if we move fast, we might be able to get out sooner."
Sure enough, just as they climbed into the pipes, the infected horde arrived behind them. Because of Jake's deliberate route choices, they didn't encounter any Cerberus hounds, and their movement speed was significantly faster than expected...
......
...
Spence had remembered everything. He had opened an alternate path and quickly bypassed the horde of infected to reach the train platform.
"T-virus, developed for medical purposes, but its military applications are even more valuable," he thought, picking up the case with a smug smile. "Just get out of here, then sell this stuff..." He was already fantasizing about a comfortable future.
However, when he opened the case, he discovered that the T-virus samples and antivirus serum were nowhere to be found!
A surge of rage instantly rushed to his head. "What the hell!"
Tap-tap—
Light footsteps sounded overhead, and Spence instinctively looked up.
In his line of sight, a humanoid creature was perched on the ceiling, like a spider.
When the creature turned its exposed, brain-visible head toward him, he knew he was screwed.
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