Chapter 132: Showdown
Jake and Alice were the last to exit the helicopter.
However, when he saw two massive figures standing no more than thirty feet in front of him, he was completely stunned.
There were two Nemesis units!
One was Matt, but who was the other?
He thought carefully. It seemed that because he had altered events, the people who escaped from the Hive weren't only Alice and Matt, but also the computer expert Kaplan!
Could this be Kaplan after mutation? The two weren't even remotely similar!
Jake looked the two Nemesis units up and down. They were virtually identical!
"This is problematic," he muttered.
However, Umbrella Corporation had prepared quite a reception for them. The guards that Alice and Jake had neutralized had been instantly replaced with fresh personnel in even greater numbers.
The captured Jake and Alice were pulled aside, while Angela ran to her father in his wheelchair at his calls and threw herself into his arms.
Suddenly, stadium lights blazed to life, illuminating the City Hall rooftop in the darkness as if it were daytime.
"Discard your primary weapons," Major Cain suddenly commanded.
The two Nemesis units immediately dropped their heavy weapons, obeying without hesitation!
The sight of the two bio-weapons poised to attack stunned Jake.
Even if Alice was incredibly powerful, she couldn't possibly defeat two Nemesis units simultaneously. If this were the third film's timeline, he wouldn't be surprised if Alice fought ten at once, but now, it was definitely beyond her current capabilities.
If this commander was truly testing which evolution was superior, he wouldn't have made such an obvious tactical error.
"You two have shown me two wonderful prospects, but actions speak louder than potential," he said, walking up to Alice and examining her with a smile.
His gaze was like someone appraising a rare specimen, best described as a collector admiring a prized possession.
"Your performance was particularly outstanding. You're like parallel experiments in our research, possessing the same extraordinary speed, strength, agility, and combat instincts."
"And now, let's see which one is superior." Cain finally stated what he wanted Alice to do: "Fight them."
"No!" Alice shook her head; her nature dictated that she would never easily comply.
"Fight them, or everyone dies!" The commander's expression became menacing.
Alice raised an eyebrow slightly. "What makes you think I care?"
Cain licked his lips, then shrugged, abruptly turning and firing a shot at Dr. Ashford!
Bang!
The shot came without warning.
While everyone reacted in shock, Dr. Ashford did not die, because a dark figure had already stepped in front of him, intercepting the bullet with his own body.
It was Jake. "If you hadn't said this suit could stop bullets, I would never have taken that hit,"
he muttered to himself, as if talking to the Red Queen. "At worst, I could've just let him get shot and then saved him afterward."
He had deliberately positioned himself closer to Dr. Ashford after exiting the helicopter, precisely to ensure his safety, which is how he managed to intercept the bullet.
"But that shot really hurt," he said, rubbing his chest with his right hand. It felt compressed there; clearly, getting shot didn't feel pleasant even with armor.
"Dr. Ashford, we're about to make a deal, so you can't die yet," Jake said, addressing Dr. Ashford before quickly turning back to the somewhat irritated Umbrella commander. "I'm declaring right now—this man is under my protection!"
"I know about you," Cain frowned, scrutinizing Jake. "A mysterious operative who suddenly appeared in the underground Hive and somehow stole the Red Queen's mainframe."
"You have the ability to fight Lickers single-handedly. Although you appear to have superhuman abilities like Alice, your power comes from the suit you're wearing, correct?"
"Oh?" Jake raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected the commander to be so perceptive. That's right—if judged purely by his natural abilities, his displays of power would seem inconsistent.
Seeing that Jake didn't deny it, Cain continued. "People like you who rely on external technology can never truly evolve. Only those who enhance themselves internally, like Alice, represent perfection!"
He was about to continue when Jake suddenly moved.
Two pistols instantly dropped from his sleeves and were caught mid-fall. He unleashed a barrage of gunfire, and the dozen guards present were eliminated before they could even raise their weapons!
In a single exchange, the security team lay dead on the ground!
"Damn!" L.J. whistled loudly, though his enthusiasm seemed awkward given the situation.
Jake made his move, and Alice naturally wouldn't stand idle. She suddenly attacked, trying to subdue Cain, but he dodged her strikes in a panicked manner.
"If you want to leave, you must fight them," Cain said, pointing to the waiting Nemesis units.
He then turned to Jake and said, "Don't worry, I've prepared one for you too! Let me show you whether external enhancement is superior, or whether internal evolution is more powerful!" He seemed to have an obsessive fixation on biological evolution.
Alice abandoned her attack on Cain, not because she didn't want to kill him, but because at that moment, one Nemesis had already engaged her!
The two products of the T-virus instantly clashed.
It was still unknown who was stronger.
On Jake's side, the second Nemesis strode heavily toward him.
This was a formidable opponent, and even before the fight began, Jake knew he was outmatched in raw strength and durability.
Therefore, he decided to strike first.
"Analyze its weaknesses," Jake said to the Red Queen. With the micro-computer integrated into his suit, she had basic tactical analysis functions.
Jake quickly built momentum and delivered a powerful flying kick at Nemesis!
His kick carried tremendous force, over two hundred pounds of impact—enough to dent even a metal railing.
Nemesis took the kick and immediately staggered back two steps, but only two.
Casually brushing its chest, Nemesis slowly approached Jake again. The previous attack hadn't caused any real damage!
Against such a resilient enemy, technique alone was somewhat ineffective.
Jake lunged forward, employing grappling techniques, but Nemesis easily broke free. He then attempted joint locks, but aside from causing Nemesis to slightly bend at the knees, it had no other effect.
The bio-weapon finally swung its massive fist and struck Jake, sending him flying instantly!
This demonstrated the truth of the saying: overwhelming force defeats technique!
He stumbled back four or five steps before recovering, rubbing his chest and feeling extremely constricted. He took a deep breath to steady himself.
Just then, another devastating punch came flying at him!
Author's Note ✍️
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