While Alex and his group, now joined by Claire and Rebecca Chambers, were entering the facility, the other squads hurried to reach him as soon as possible to provide support.

Everyone understood perfectly: Alex had already managed to eliminate one of the key opponents who could have stood in their way. And what was most remarkable — that enemy turned out to be Saeko’s father, who had switched sides. However, he was defeated by Alex and was now aboard the aircraft carrier, receiving medical attention.

Saeko’s father was highly respected among martial arts masters. So when the people on the beach saw Michikatsu being carried on a stretcher, accompanied by members of the Sun-Woo clan, many of the masters sighed heavily, realizing that even one of their best allies had ended up on the other side of the barricade.

Nevertheless, now was not the time to dwell on it. Everyone was awaiting further orders from Alex to begin the evacuation operation for the survivors in the laboratory — if any were still alive at all.

They all knew well the terrible fate that awaited anyone who fell into the hands of the Evil Corporation’s scientists.

In Alex’s absence, with Yuriko, Brunhilde, and Coco also away, the main burden of organization fell on Saya’s shoulders.

She coordinated the squads’ movements, fully aware of the responsibility on her shoulders. One wrong decision, and the lives of dozens of people fighting to destroy the bloody nests — and prevent the appearance of new demons on the island — could be at risk.

Saya received real-time information from drones hovering in the sky and monitored the squads’ movements through her technological glasses. She sat inside an improvised command tent at a long table, surrounded by allies: Seol from the Sun-Woo clan, Svetlana, Balalaika, Mister Chang, and Hayato — all of them tensely awaiting her orders.

“Saya, we have one wounded. We need assistance,” came a voice through the communicator.

“I see you. Sending help, hold on,” she immediately replied.

Saya glanced at Seol. She nodded silently, and a group of fighters from her clan immediately moved out to provide support. Those who had long been involved in training and commanding fighters couldn’t help but note how quickly and efficiently Saya reacted.

Barely a minute later, another urgent signal came in: one of the groups had been surrounded by demons and could not move forward.

“My brother and I will go. Let’s see if these demons are much different from the ones we dealt with in Korea,” said Sogetsu, standing up from the table, casually holding a bottle of alcohol.

“Your help won’t be necessary. I’ll get there faster,” Kensai interrupted with a grin, quickly leaving the tent.

Sogetsu chuckled, watching his younger brother dart away. He nodded to Lady Ma before leaving himself. Lady Ma just sighed heavily, wearily rubbing her forehead. Ever since Alex had managed to save Sogetsu, he and Kensai hadn’t stopped arguing. If it weren’t for her constant interventions, they might have been fighting every day.

Still, there was a silver lining: because of their constant quarrels, Kensai no longer had time for his usual antics, like peeking at girls in the showers — something Lady Ma secretly felt quite pleased about.

“I don’t like this,” Svetlana muttered, watching the drone footage.

“Agreed. Everything is going too smoothly. Considering what we’re dealing with, it’s suspicious,” Balalaika said, lighting a thin cigar.

“No, everything is going as planned,” Saya said calmly, adjusting her glasses and glancing at the women. “We’re moving faster than the bloody nests can react. They haven’t yet sensed the danger and started spawning even more abominations. We know there are those who can control the horde. Most likely, Wesker is one of them. Right now, all his attention is focused on Alex, who has entered the facility. Wesker has no time for us. If he knew we were destroying the nests… the situation would be much worse.”

Both women involuntarily nodded in response to Saya’s words, impressed by how clearly and competently she had laid out the current situation. Svetlana and Balalaika were still amazed that someone her age could take on such responsibility and coordinate actions so effectively in the midst of battle.

Saya herself didn’t allow any distractions — she understood perfectly well that even the slightest mistake or delay could lead to unforeseen consequences that would ruin the entire carefully planned operation.

Meanwhile, requests for support were becoming more frequent, and Saya was directing reinforcements to different areas of the island: delivering ammunition and explosives, evacuating the wounded, and fortifying positions. Fortunately, they had a vaccine against the zombie virus, so there was no longer a risk that someone would hide an infection out of fear of being eliminated.

“Pinkie, we’re done here. Where’s my cupcake?” Rebecca’s voice came through the communicator.

“I’ve told you a hundred times, stop calling me that, Greenie!” Saya responded irritably. “Alex is already descending into the lab, I’m tracking him through GIR.”

“Kay. We’re heading to the complex then, we’ll try to catch up to him before he wrecks everything,” Rebecca answered and immediately cut the connection.

Saya was about to say something else, but, as always, Rebecca ended the conversation too quickly. Gritting her teeth in frustration, Saya decided not to waste time arguing and simply sent the girls Alex’s coordinates.

The other squads were also slowly moving toward the complex, while the number of blood nests on the island was rapidly decreasing. However, the fewer nests remained, the fiercer the demons’ resistance became.

At first, they could destroy them without much trouble, but now the demons were acting more aggressively, launching attacks and hindering the squads’ advance.

“Saya, we’re done. We’re moving to the complex too. Where’s Alex now?” Chun-Li’s voice came through the general channel.

“I already sent the coordinates. He’s gone down into the labs,” Saya replied.

“Got it. Talk to you soon,” Chun-Li said, ending the call.

Meanwhile, Alex, along with GIR, MIMI, Stitch, Red, White, Claire, and Rebecca, was descending in an elevator leading straight into the underground laboratories.

Alex already knew nothing good awaited them down there. Back in Okinawa, he had ripped memories from one of the Evil Corporation’s mercenaries and learned that people were being transported to the island for experiments. At that time, he hadn’t yet known that Wesker was behind it all — the mercenary’s memory only mentioned a scientist giving the orders.

At that moment, Saya contacted Alex and informed him that reinforcements were heading his way — the girls were coming to support him. Alex looked at those already with him in the elevator and smirked. He wasn’t alone, but an extra pair of hands definitely wouldn’t hurt.

According to the map, the laboratories sprawled across a vast area, and it would take a lot of time to comb through everything by hand, especially considering that at the end of the path, Wesker himself was waiting, holed up at the very top of the complex like the final boss in a video game’s last chapter.

Alex doubted Wesker would have the patience to wait, so just in case, he asked Red to monitor his movements through the network, to prevent any escape attempt or surprise attack.

“I wonder who’ll greet us down there?” Claire asked, glancing at Alex.

“They’ll greet us for sure. They’re already prepared,” Alex replied calmly, showing her his phone.

Claire and Rebecca leaned closer to peer at the screen. The surveillance footage showed a squad of armed soldiers taking combat positions and aiming at the elevator doors.

“Maybe we should get out through the elevator shaft? So we don’t get shot like targets?” Claire suggested, turning to Alex.

“You can try. But I’m too lazy. They won’t have time to do anything anyway,” Alex shrugged.

“You’re too confident if you think you can handle them under a hail of bullets,” Rebecca remarked, giving him a stern look.

“You’ll see soon enough,” Alex smirked. “For now, step back against the walls so you don’t get accidentally grazed, just in case someone manages to pull the trigger.”

Claire and Rebecca were still not entirely convinced by Alex’s words, but seeing his carefree expression, they decided to trust him. After all, Alex had single-handedly destroyed an entire city while fighting off a horde of undead, so dealing with armed soldiers should be even easier.

As Claire and Rebecca moved to the sides to avoid being accidentally hit by a stray bullet, Alex looked at Red and White, checking if they were ready. Both android girls confirmed their readiness once again. Alex didn’t ask GIR, MIMI, Stitch, or Wolf, because he knew these companions were always ready for anything — just give them a reason.

The elevator was approaching the correct floor and finally stopped. Alex realized they had arrived and smirked. The elevator doors began to slowly open, and the first thing he saw was rows of soldiers, lined up and aiming their guns at them.

“Target in sight, fire…” shouted the leader of the soldier group.

However, his voice was cut off at the end — he never managed to finish. The entire corridor fell into an eerie silence. Claire and Rebecca had been expecting a barrage of bullets, but, cautiously peeking out from their cover, they saw that Alex had disappeared.

Peering around the wall, they noticed Alex already standing behind the soldiers. All the fighters stood frozen, unable to move, while the leader still held his hand up, as if still trying to give the order to open fire.

Alex slowly sheathed Yamato, and the familiar click echoed in the corridor. After that, the soldiers’ bodies began to slowly fall apart into neatly cut pieces. With dull thuds, the body parts hit the white floor, and thick crimson blood quickly stained it a deep red.

Claire and Rebecca looked in surprise at Alex’s calm face, then shifted their gaze to the soldiers’ bodies, now reduced to unrecognizable pieces.

Red and White, ignoring the shocked girls, calmly walked towards Alex on their heels, stepping over the blood without a second thought. GIR, MIMI, and Stitch deftly jumped onto Wolf’s back and followed them.

“Are you two going to stand there for long? Or should I move you so your shoes don’t get stained with blood?” Alex asked lazily, glancing at the girls.

“No… It’s just that everything ended so quickly, I’m kind of impressed,” Claire said, still shaking her head in shock.

“You killed those people so quickly… It’s kind of scary,” Rebecca added, looking at him warily.

“Who said they were people?” Alex raised an eyebrow, looking at her in surprise.

“Then who were they?” Claire asked, pointing at the soldiers’ bodies.

Alex approached the nearest decapitated body, lifted the severed head, and pulled off the mask so the girls could see for themselves.

Beneath the mask was something horrifying: gray skin crossed by black veins, sharp deformed teeth, and bloodshot eyes that still seemed to burn with fury even after death.

Both girls understood what Alex meant: these were not people.

Cautiously stepping over the floor, trying not to step into the blood, Claire and Rebecca moved closer to him. They drew their weapons and began scanning their surroundings.

“So, where to next? According to the map, we’ll be wandering here for a while,” Rebecca asked, glancing down the long corridor.

“We’ll find some unlucky guy and ask for directions,” Alex smirked, lighting a cigarette.

“Doesn’t your Red know the way?” Claire asked, nodding at Red, who was standing motionless with a cold expression.

“She does. But it’s easier to ask someone. After all, maybe the unlucky one has the information we need,” Alex said, placing his hand on Red’s head and gently stroking her hair.

Red felt Alex’s hand on her hair, and a faint smile appeared on her cold face. She glanced at her sister, White. When White met her gaze, she immediately understood that Red, in her own way, was asserting her superiority — just like the girls around Alex usually did.

Alex, however, didn’t notice the silent exchange of looks between the two android girls. He was focused on something else — they needed to find a scientist and extract all the necessary information from his head to avoid wasting time on a lengthy search.

Once he stopped stroking Red’s hair, Alex moved first. Wolf walked beside him, with GIR, MIMI, and Stitch comfortably perched on his back — the whole team was ready to cause some serious chaos in the underground lab.

As they walked through the corridors, Alex peeked around corners, trying to avoid potential ambushes. His main interest was in the office spaces of the scientists on this underground level. However, it seemed like all the scientists had huddled in one corner and didn’t even dare to poke their heads out of their hiding spots.

“Where did everyone go? It feels like there’s no one here except that group of soldiers,” Rebecca said, scanning the empty laboratory rooms.

“Be careful,” Alex warned and abruptly pulled Rebecca back.

Before Rebecca could understand what was happening, a bullet whizzed past her face. It struck the wall and exploded. Alex was slightly surprised — he didn’t often come across such powerful explosive rounds.

Quickly peeking around the corner, he noticed a new ambush of soldiers. But the most interesting part was that behind them stood an old man in a white lab coat, whose face literally begged to be struck. Before the next bullet could reach his face, Alex ducked behind the wall again.

“What’s going on?” Claire asked, still holding the stunned Rebecca by the shoulders.

“I almost got shot. Thanks, Alex,” Rebecca breathed, regaining her composure.

“You’re welcome,” Alex replied lazily. “We ran into an ambush. And at the head of the soldiers is a scientist.”

“A scientist?” Claire asked for clarification.

“Have no idea. But his face made me want to hit him immediately,” Alex shrugged, leaning against the wall.

“From your description, only one person fits,” Red interjected. “The lead scientist from the Africa branch. His name is Liam Baker. Fifty-three years old, single, devoted his whole life to genetic engineering. He worked under Oswell E. Spencer, then was hired by Live Corporation. After the discovery of the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ flower in Africa, he conducted experiments on the local population.”

Alex raised an eyebrow as he listened to the information. After thinking for a moment, he peeked around the corner again.

Their gazes met — Alex and Liam Baker. The scientist frowned, and at his command, the soldiers opened fire on the wall behind which Alex and his group were hiding. Alex ducked again as gunshots rang out.

“Liam Baker! Surrender! I promise it won’t hurt when I get to you!” Alex yelled from behind the wall.

“Go to hell! You’ll never defeat my greatest creations!” came the response.

Alex smirked, amused by the scientist’s pompous words. He suspected that the “greatest creations” were the soldiers, clad in heavy armor like real tanks. He even had the thought that these might be some kind of Uber-Soldiers who had escaped from another universe.

“Well, if he doesn’t want to surrender the easy way, I’ll make him,” Alex said lazily.

“And how are you going to reach him?” Claire asked, showing Alex the footage from the cameras. “They’re at the far end of the long corridor. I don’t want to downplay your abilities, but this won’t be easy.”

“Wolf, attack. Kill everyone except the scientist,” Alex commanded, looking at his faithful companion.

A metallic growl came from Wolf. His steel claws dug into the floor with a loud crash, and a mechanical mask dropped over his face. Before anyone could react, Wolf lunged forward, and the corridor was filled with the screams of Liam Baker and the sounds of chaotic gunfire. A second later, the sound of a chainsaw screeching, Stitch’s manic laughter, and GIR and MIMI’s fanatic shouts about “purging the heretics” joined in.

The sounds of flesh being cleaved and the roar of chainsaws echoed throughout the corridor. Claire and Rebecca, driven by curiosity, cautiously peered around the corner and saw a real bloodbath: GIR, MIMI, Stitch, and Wolf were tearing the armored soldiers apart. Those who had once looked like living tanks were now nothing more than bloody wreckage. Blood flowed in rivers across the floor, staining the walls and even the ceiling.

Leaning lazily against the wall, Alex calmly watched the carnage. At that moment, he smirked, thinking that soon he might not even have to intervene — his little helpers would do all the dirty work for him. All that would be left was to kill the final boss and move on. The thought made Alex smile involuntarily.

A few seconds later, the bloodbath subsided. Only the wet scraping sound remained — something was being dragged across the floor. Alex put his phone back in his pocket and saw his loyal helpers dragging the bound Liam Baker by his leg. The scientist’s mouth was carefully gagged to prevent him from making noise.

“Dad, we’re done,” GIR proudly announced, letting go of Liam.

“All the villains have been purified of corruption!” MIMI joyfully added.

Alex smiled and patted all four on the heads, praising them for the excellent work. Once done, he turned his attention to Liam, who, despite being bound, shot him a look full of rage. Alex smirked, squatted next to him, and coldly spoke:

“Didn’t expect this, did you? My little ones are way better than the trash you dared to call your ‘greatest creation.’ A trash scientist with trash results. And that’s all you’ll ever be — in the past, present, and future.”

“Ugh, even I felt a pain in my heart from your words, Alex,” Rebecca said, clutching her chest with feigned hurt.

Alex gave a quick smile, glancing at Rebecca, then at Claire, who was barely holding back a smirk. He shook his head. He still couldn’t understand why people around him quickly started behaving so carefree. Maybe it had something to do with him… or with Hestia’s blessing, the goddess of family and home.

“Alright,” Alex drawled, “let’s chat. And keep in mind: if you start yelling, I’ll make sure you stay quiet again.”

With that, he removed the gag from Liam’s mouth.

“You think you’ve won already?” Liam hissed through gritted teeth. “These soldiers were my greatest masterpiece for a reason. You can’t destroy them by simply ripping apart their bodies! They’re much more than you can imagine!”

Alex raised an eyebrow, intrigued. Rebecca and Claire exchanged tense glances. Without another word, Alex shoved the gag back into the scientist’s mouth and stood up. He walked toward the corner with the girls, and they cautiously peered around it.

What they saw made Alex frown.

From the torn bodies of the slain soldiers, black tendrils began to emerge, dripping with a thick, viscous liquid that resembled tar. Alex immediately understood what he was up against: it was the Ouroboros virus. Liam, who had discovered the “Stairway to Heaven” flower, had obviously experimented with it and created these monsters.

“What the hell…” Claire whispered, watching the tendrils coil around the corpses.

“It’s the Ouroboros virus,” Alex explained calmly. “Created from the Stairway to Heaven. Very nasty stuff.”

“And how do we deal with it?” Rebecca asked, looking to Alex for orders. “Liam said they’re not so easy to kill…”

Alex smirked and pointed at GIR.

“Simple. GIR, burn them all to hell.”

GIR saluted, pulled a flamethrower from behind his back, and with shouts about purging heresy, charged down the corridor, chanting fanatic slogans. Within seconds, the corridor was lit up by bursts of flames and the howls of a creature infected with the Ouroboros virus.

Liam, lying on the floor, watched in horror as his masterpiece was so easily destroyed. Alex caught the look of shock on his face and gave the scientist a smirk.

While Claire and Rebecca were occupied watching the strange mutated creature burn in the fire, Alex crouched down in front of Liam. Without wasting time on words, he grabbed the scientist by the head.

Fear gripped Liam — true, primal fear that surged from the depths of his soul. But he didn’t have time to react: in the next moment, an agonizing pain pierced him, causing his whole body to seize in spasms and veins to bulge on his face. The pain was so unbearable that Liam’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Meanwhile, Alex silently sifted through his memories. The more he saw, the stronger the fury in his heart grew.

What unfolded before him was enraging.

He knew that the kidnapped people would be experimented on. But knowing and seeing it with his own eyes were two completely different things.

Now Alex was completely convinced: people like these scientists didn’t deserve a chance at redemption or mercy. Those who could conduct inhumane experiments on children deserved neither forgiveness nor compassion.

Holding back the rising rage, Alex loosened his grip. Liam’s head hit the floor with a dull thud. His face froze in an expression of unbearable pain, his eyes wide open as if he had endured unimaginable suffering until his death.

Alex remembered the faces of all the scientists involved in these atrocities and made a firm decision: none of them would leave this underground lab alive.

However, within Liam’s memory, Alex saw something else: a recollection related to prisoners who were still somewhere deep within the complex.

“What’s with him? He was fine just a moment ago…” Claire muttered, noticing that Liam had died.

“Maybe his fragile heart couldn’t handle the fact that his so-called masterpiece turned out to be just a burning pile of trash,” Alex replied calmly, shrugging. “You know, on paper, he’s a genius, but in reality, he’s nothing. When their egos collide with reality, people like him break quickly.”

“Tell me about it!” Rebecca nodded. “There was an old weirdo at the institute where I taught. Thought he was incredibly smart. I outdid him — and the next day, he quit. Haven’t heard from him since.”

“Poor guy. Imagine: a girl barely over twenty outshines you, and your whole life falls apart. If I were in his place, I’d probably burn your house down too,” Alex smirked.

“Are you serious right now?!” Rebecca asked, horrified, staring at his face.

“Rebecca, your house, like the institute, is already gone. So what should I burn? Your bunk in the cabin? Or your underwear?” Alex raised an innocent eyebrow.

“Hey! Not my underwear! Where am I supposed to find new sets of bras and panties, if there’s a zombie apocalypse going on with a hint of Armageddon?!” Rebecca protested, wagging her finger at him.

Alex smirked and touched his communicator to relay the situation in the lab to the others. Everything was just beginning, and their group had already encountered the first serious obstacles. What awaited them deeper in the complex — traps, monstrous experiments, or something worse — was still anyone’s guess.

Alex briefly reported that the path to the elevator was cleared, except for the dismembered bodies of soldiers, but warned everyone to be extremely cautious when descending.

“Are there any survivors?” Valmet asked over the general channel. “I mean, besides the scientists and soldiers?”

“There are,” Alex replied briskly. “In the depths of the lab. Prisoners who were subjected to experiments. One scientist let it slip about them… just before his fragile little heart couldn’t handle it.”

“I knew you were so scary that a single look could frighten anyone,” Soap’s laughter came through the channel.

“Shut up and hurry up,” Alex grumbled, rolling his eyes. “The lab is huge, and God knows how many people need to be evacuated from here.”

“We’re close,” Cammy responded. “We’re approaching that huge door you kicked down. We’ll be there soon.”

“Cupcake, we’re on our way too,” Rebecca added, laughing cheerfully. “So don’t kill everyone without us. I want to see these ‘masterpieces’ you mentioned for myself.”

“No problem. We’ll move slowly. Just follow our tracks,” Alex replied with a grin.

“You mean the blood trails?” Chikita clarified.

“Pretty much,” Alex responded carelessly, ending the conversation.

Alex looked at his group, checking if everyone was ready. Just then, G.I.R. ran out of the corridor, slightly covered in ash from burning Liam’s “greatest creation.” Everyone was ready to move on. Their path led deeper into the lab, where, according to the memories extracted from Liam’s mind, the kidnapped people were waiting to become test subjects for the mad scientists.

This time, Alex walked at the front of the group, so no one would accidentally get caught in crossfire in case of an ambush.

As they moved through the corridors, Alex noticed the light around them suddenly turning an unsettling red — a bad sign.

“Red, what’s going on?” he asked, looking at the android girl.

“Wesker managed to take control of the security system. I’m trying to regain control,” Red quickly replied.

“And that’s bad… I don’t even want to know what kind of security system we’re dealing with,” Claire muttered with a slight sigh.

“Laser traps, turrets, gas, failed experiments…” White began listing off.

“Alright, got it. There’s too many of them,” Claire interrupted her. “But the point is — now all of this will be directed at us.”

Alex frowned, realizing the gravity of the situation. The main thing was that the rest of the infrastructure was still under Red’s control. He asked Wolf to help her regain full control.

Wolf approached the nearest terminal; his tail transformed into a cable, and he connected to the system, starting to provide support.

“I’ve regained control, but unfortunately not completely,” Red reported. “Wesker managed to release the failed experiments. They’re now under his command.”

“Well, that’s not the worst part,” Alex stroked his chin thoughtfully. “The main thing is, let’s hope the rooms with laser traps don’t suddenly activate.”

“Can’t rule that out,” Red added seriously.

Alex sighed heavily and asked Red to warn them when approaching rooms with possible traps — lasers or turrets. Even though part of the system was under their control, Wesker could still try to take command at the most inconvenient moment.

Moving deeper into the lab and fending off ambushes from mutated soldiers, the group pressed on.

“There’s a corridor ahead, equipped with lasers,” Red warned.

“So, what now? Are we looking for a way around?” Claire asked, glancing at Alex.

“Nope. That’ll take too long. I prefer to go straight,” Alex replied, shaking his head.

Alex slapped his hand against the wall, and the entire corridor instantly cracked, sparks of electricity shooting from the fissures. Giving a thumbs-up, he signaled to the others that the way was clear and confidently moved forward. Claire and Rebecca even clapped at Alex’s actions.

“If you deal with all the traps like that, we’ll get to the destination in no time,” Claire said, stopping her applause.

“I told you, I don’t like taking detours,” Alex replied with a smirk.

But before he could take another step, something monstrous fell from above — a creature seemingly made from multiple bodies, resembling a terrifying Frankenstein monster.

Without any difficulty, Alex grabbed the creature by its face — if it could even be called a face, given how distorted it was from numerous experiments. Wasting no time, he slammed the monster into the wall with all his strength. The wall cracked even more, but the creature didn’t die — it kept writhing, trying to reach Alex.

Alex raised an eyebrow in surprise. Releasing the creature, he let it fall to the floor. He wanted to check something.

When the creature hit the ground, Alex focused, using his spatial manipulation abilities. Taking a step forward, he watched as the creature’s body slowly began to sink into the wall. Realizing the experiment had worked, Alex calmly approached, closing the distance and increasing the pressure with each step. The creature was pressed harder and harder into the cracking wall, until, with a loud pop, its body exploded, splattering blood everywhere.

Claire and Rebecca stared wide-eyed at Alex, who had effortlessly dealt with the monster.

“How did you do that?” Claire asked in shock, not taking her eyes off him.

“Hard to explain,” Alex replied with a slight grin, scratching his chin. “But to sum it up: I created an invisible wall in front of me and crushed the creature like a press.”

Claire and Rebecca simply nodded in silence. To them, Alex’s abilities were still a mystery, shrouded in fog.

Alex smirked and continued on, looking forward to what other interesting abilities he could “borrow” to fight enemies.

He briefly glanced at G.I.R., who gave him a thumbs-up, showing that everything had been recorded from the best angle. Alex easily smiled back and nodded.

One day, he’d show his family in Orario what he had to face in this strange world. After all, it’s better to see it once than to hear about it a hundred times.

To be continued…

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep