🎉🎉DOTM: Chapter 278/280

Chapter 278: May the Holy Light Be With You

"This place doesn't look good."

The group didn't spread out too much, circling around the hall and noting that most of the bloodstains had already dried, suggesting the place had been abandoned for some time.

"Let's check around and see if there are any survivors."

In this situation, no one expected the police station to still be a solid line of defense. All they could hope for was that a few survivors were still holding out somewhere.

They circled the area and found that two of the three doors were locked. Only one could be opened.

Leon didn't rush in recklessly. Ever since Ethan had lectured him once, he had been much more cautious. He made sure everyone was behind him, then cracked the door open. After confirming there were no zombies or other monsters inside, he opened it fully.

It was an office. As soon as they entered, they saw a police officer sitting on the floor, leaning against a cabinet. Their footsteps startled the officer, who immediately raised his weapon.

"Don't shoot."

Leon was wearing the standard Raccoon City Police Department uniform, with the large letters "RPD" clearly visible, identifying him as one of them. The officer lowered his weapon, clutching his injured side and gasping for breath.

"Are you alright?"

"I can still hold on..." The officer looked at Leon and recognized the rookie who was supposed to have reported for duty long ago. "You're the new guy, right? Sorry we couldn't throw you a welcome party."

"What exactly happened here?"

As Leon asked, the officer briefly explained what he knew. Leon and Claire finally understood what had occurred in Raccoon City.

Two months ago, there had been reports of monster attacks on the outskirts of Raccoon City. STARS, the elite unit of the Raccoon City Police Department, was sent to investigate.

During that operation, Bravo Team, one of the two STARS teams, was nearly wiped out, with only the newly recruited Rebecca Chambers surviving.

From Alpha Team, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Barry Burton, and Brad Vickers survived and managed to rescue Rebecca, who had lost contact earlier. They also brought back the truth about the monster attack: the Umbrella Corporation had established a biological research lab in Raccoon City to develop bioweapons.

The leakage of the biological virus led to the appearance of these monsters, causing the subsequent outbreak. However, Chris's report was ignored by police department management, and Chris and the others were even suspended because of it.

Many officers in the station didn't believe what Chris had said about zombies, until monsters began appearing and attacking civilians in Raccoon City. Only then did everyone realize that what Chris had said was true.

But by then, the situation had rapidly worsened. More and more monsters began appearing across the city. Eventually, Raccoon City descended into hell. At first, the police tried to establish defensive positions on the streets, but over time, they were forced to retreat, falling back step by step until they were holed up in the police station. Now, even the station had fallen. It was truly unknown if there was any safe place left.

"Where is my brother now?"

Claire had held back until now. After Officer Marvin Branagh finished explaining the situation, she finally asked about Chris's whereabouts.

"You are…?"

"I'm Claire Redfield."

"You're Chris's sister… I'm sorry, I don't know where your brother is now. But he's definitely not in the station. In fact, no one's seen him for a while. Maybe he's already left the city." Marvin gave a bitter smile, but this pulled at his wound, contorting his expression. "Even if he's still in the city, I believe he has the ability to escape. After all, he knows more about these monsters than any of us."

The Raccoon City Police Department made many mistakes in fighting the zombies. Leon and the others didn't know the full details yet, but Ethan understood part of it through the memories from his previous life.

At first, they had treated the zombies as rioting civilians or crazed individuals. So, when the police station set up its defenses, they didn't issue 'shoot to kill' orders. In the beginning, they even aimed at non-vital parts of the body, trying to suppress them like ordinary criminals.

By the time they realized something was wrong, officers were still following their standard shooting protocol and aiming at the torso. This led to massive ammo waste and did nothing to stop the zombies. Countless elite officers were overwhelmed by the onslaught of the zombie horde.

After retreating to the police station, they faced another blow from within. The police chief, long bought out by Umbrella, issued one bizarre order after another, including the relocation of firearms and ammunition, which crippled the station's last bit of combat power. This ultimately led to the total collapse of the Raccoon City Police Department in its fight against the undead.

Otherwise, if they had enough ammunition and combat personnel, they might have had a chance, even in a desperate battle. This tragic outcome was the result of multiple compounding factors.

Officer Marvin Branagh no longer had the strength to share his analysis with the rookie in front of him. He could only pass on some basic information, then handed Leon a key card.

"Use this… card… You can… unlock the doors… through the computer… in the hall."

Marvin's condition was critical. He had spoken too much and used too much energy. Ethan could tell that the T-virus infection in him had entered its final stage. Technically, he was already more than half a zombie. The only reason he hadn't lost control yet was due to his astonishing willpower, forcefully holding on.

If Ethan remembered correctly, in the Resident Evil 3 storyline, since the timeline started earlier than Resident Evil 2, Jill had arrived at the police station before Leon. At that time, Marvin had already been in a coma or a pseudo-death state, and the virus had begun spreading rapidly through his body.

If Ethan had entered during the early stages of the Resident Evil 3 timeline, this officer might still have been saved. But now, the optimal treatment window had passed.

Marvin could feel it himself. He was on the verge of losing control. So, after explaining everything, he told everyone to leave.

Just as Leon was about to say something, Ethan reached out and stopped him. Then he stood in front of Marvin. "You're about to lose control, aren't you?"

Marvin's breathing grew heavier, and a hint of madness flickered in his eyes, but he was still forcibly suppressing his primal urges, trying his best to remain sane.

"Yes, so hurry up and leave. Otherwise, I can't guarantee I won't pounce on you the next second."

Marvin didn't try to hide it. He only hoped that he wouldn't hurt them.

"My suggestion is, rather than becoming a zombie and being killed by us, shoot yourself while you're still human. If you can't do it, I can help you."

"Ethan!"

Leon couldn't believe what Ethan had just said. He absolutely couldn't accept such a decision and wanted to stop him.

"Leon, your friend is right."

Marvin dropped the weapon he was holding.

"Rather than turning into one of those monsters, I'd rather die now."

He lay on the ground, a bit of calm returning to his expression, quietly waiting for Ethan to act.

"There won't be any pain."

Ethan pushed Leon aside. Before he could get up, Selene pressed down on his shoulder.

Leon was shocked to discover he couldn't break free from Selene's grip. This seemingly frail woman possessed astonishing strength.

"No!"

"Hurry up and do it."

Marvin's face turned dark purple, and terrifying blue veins bulged on his neck. He was about to lose control of his urge to bite. A terrifying strength surged from his weak body. He felt like he could tear the young man in front of him to pieces in an instant.

His remaining rationality told him he was already dead. He had become a monster. He nearly used his last strength to shout this sentence. In everyone's ears, it already sounded like the roar of a zombie.

Even Leon, who wanted to stop Ethan, gave up struggling when he saw this. He knew the first colleague he had met since joining the force had become a man-eating monster. At this point, did he still have a reason to stop Ethan? On their way here, they had killed so many of these monsters already and hadn't thought of them as human.

The only difference now was that he had witnessed a living person transform into a monster with his own eyes.

"May the Holy Light be with you."

Ethan didn't believe in the Holy Light, but at this moment, he felt he should say something. Marvin Branagh was just an ordinary officer, but his willpower commanded respect. If possible, Ethan hoped that the Holy Light in his hand could purify the evil taint on Marvin's soul and send him to where he belonged.

"If there is a heaven in this world…"

Bang!

The sharp crack of the Beretta echoed through the office. Marvin, who had been about to lunge at Ethan, collapsed backward.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Ethan felt like there was a faint smile on Marvin's face.

Even more surprising was that the Holy Light cross under his clothes, held in his left hand, which had almost been depleted, seemed to glow faintly again.

"Ethan."

"Hmm?"

Selene's voice pulled Ethan out of his thoughts. She pointed behind him.

Ethan turned around and saw the corpses that had been lying silently on the ground slowly rising and shambling toward them.

"What should we do?"

"Clear them all out."

Ethan suddenly wanted to try—if saving these suffering souls could restore his Holy Light.

(To be continued.)

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Chapter 279: The Licker's Blood

Ethan fired the last bullet in his magazine, blowing the head off the final zombie. He recalled how, back when he first got firearms, his shooting skills had been completely outclassed by Arthur's.

After so many years of diligent practice, combined with his improved physical fitness and powerful mental strength, it had become much easier for him to "lock onto" targets. Now, landing headshots with every shot was no longer difficult.

And then there were the people beside him. Leon, a rookie police officer who had received comprehensive training. Claire, a tough girl who had been specially trained by her formidable older brother. And Robert, a gun store owner who had been playing with guns for years.

As for Selene, there was no need to mention her. She didn't even need to act. There weren't enough zombies in this room for these few people to handle.

She was curious, though. Under normal circumstances, unless facing absolute danger, Ethan wouldn't be interested in dealing with such low-level enemies. Selene didn't know that when Ethan had killed Marvin just now, the Holy Light within him had undergone an unknown change, which was why he specifically used these zombies for an experiment.

"It seems Marvin's situation was special. Do I need to find those unlucky people infected with the T-virus who are already beyond saving?"

Ethan wasn't entirely sure, and he didn't have time to carefully study the Holy Light Cross right now, so he temporarily put the matter aside, waiting to see if another opportunity would arise later.

He ejected the empty magazine, but didn't discard it. In a real battle, no one would throw away a magazine. Bullets were easy to find, but compatible magazines were not. The correct practice was to store empty magazines and reload them during downtime.

After clearing out the zombies, the group didn't continue forward. Instead, they returned to the lobby and used the card Marvin had given Leon to unlock the two locked doors.

"What should we do next?"

The door locks were undone, but no one moved forward. They didn't know what their next step should be. Previously, they had believed the police station would be the safest place in the city, but now it was clear that the station had completely fallen. Staying here was definitely not an option.

"First, let's look around for survivors."

As a police officer, Leon made his decision. He would continue to fulfill his duty and determine whether there were any survivors left in the police station.

"After that, we'll leave this town together."

Raccoon City was just a small town, not a major city. Under normal circumstances, they could have driven out of the city quickly.

But the chaos outside and the blocked roads meant they couldn't rely on vehicles.

At the same time, the densely packed zombies on the main roads made them too dangerous to use. They could only travel through small paths, which would take more time.

"We need to gather all usable supplies, including weapons, ammunition, food, and clean water." Ethan glanced around. There was some clean water scattered nearby, but no one had moved to collect it. "For the latter two, try to choose sealed ones."

No one objected. In fact, after learning that the outbreak originated from a type of bio-virus, everyone preferred not to touch any food or water if possible. However, since they didn't know how long it would take to escape the city, and strenuous activity required constant hydration, they had no choice.

"Then let's search the police station interior first."

Leon looked up. From where they stood, it was clear the police station had three floors, and there should also be underground facilities.

"Which side should we start searching from?"

No one suggested splitting up. In this environment, sticking together was the only way to ensure safety. Looking out for one another was safer. Splitting up was something only horror movie protagonists, whose intelligence was being manipulated by some mysterious force, would do.

"Any side is fine. Honestly, I don't have high hopes of finding any survivors here."

The police station was too quiet. Robert felt that even if there were survivors, they were likely immobile like Marvin. Anyone still able to move would have already found a way to escape.

"I want to find the STARS office first, to see if there are any clues."

Claire still cared most about her brother. She had learned from Marvin that Chris hadn't been at the station recently and might not even be in Raccoon City, but that was just speculation. She wanted to see if there was any message left at Chris's desk in the STARS office.

"In that case, we need to go this way, then follow the corridor all the way to the end, and take the stairs at the corner up to the second floor." Robert was very familiar with Barry from STARS and knew where their office was.

With Robert's guidance, the group chose a direction and proceeded toward the larger door.

Ethan knew a Licker was waiting for them next. Originally, he hadn't planned to warn the others, but because the group was larger this time, as the Licker climbed past the window, Robert, who was at the back, saw a fleeting red figure.

"Shit, what the hell was that!"

Startled, Robert nearly raised the shotgun in his hands and fired at the window. Fortunately, his finger wasn't on the trigger, or the startled shot would have gone off.

"What did you see?"

Leon was walking in front. He had just slightly relaxed when the area ahead appeared clear, but Robert's sudden shout put him back on alert.

"I don't know. That thing just flashed by. I feel like we're in for trouble."

Unable to get any clear description, Leon pulled the shotgun slung over his back, gripped it tightly, finger resting on the side of the trigger, and cautiously advanced.

In the original plot, they would have continued down the corridor and only encountered the Licker after turning the corner.

But perhaps Robert's shout had attracted the Licker's attention. The Licker, which relied entirely on hearing to locate prey, launched an active attack. Its extraordinarily long tongue, capable of piercing bulletproof vests, shot toward Leon at extreme speed. If nothing changed, the rookie police officer would at least end up with a hole in his body.

But with Ethan here, how could he give the Licker such a chance? He had already heard the Licker's rapid movements. So, before it could launch its sneak attack, he pushed Leon aside and reached out to grab the Licker's tongue.

At that moment, everyone clearly saw what kind of monster had attacked.

It resembled a skinned human but crouched on the ground like a beast. Its arms ended in huge claws, and just by looking, one could tell how terrifying their destructive power was.

This red monster had no eyes. Its exposed brain took up nearly half its head, and the other end of its several-meter-long tongue was firmly held in Ethan's hand.

"What kind of monster is this!"

Robert raised his weapon, and Leon, who had been shoved aside, also came to his senses, raising his gun and preparing to unload his bullets.

But before they could fire, the red monster pounced toward Ethan at incredible speed.

"Watch out!"

Leon even lunged forward, trying to knock Ethan away from the monster's path.

But the monster was too fast. Leon had just moved when the Licker had already leapt at Ethan, its massive claws raised...

Only to be instantly stabbed through the chest by the iron rod in Ethan's hand.

Uh...

Leon and Robert didn't know what kind of monster it was or what its weaknesses were, but that wasn't a problem for Ethan.

Licker. This name had been given by officers in the Raccoon City Police Department. Unlike the bioweapons specifically bred in the movies, in the game's storyline, this monster had evolved spontaneously from the T-virus.

After being infected with the T-virus, if the host's metabolism accelerated and they experienced extreme hunger but managed to consume enough "energy" in time, zombies infected by the T-virus had a certain probability of evolving.

In the early stages of this evolution, they would move more quickly and have sharper senses than ordinary zombies. As the evolution progressed, their decaying muscle tissue would regenerate and grow stronger, and their hands would gradually transform into enormous claws. Eventually, they would evolve fully into the form of a Licker.

Lickers had no vision. Due to degeneration, they completely lost their eyes and relied entirely on their enhanced hearing to locate prey.

At the same time, Lickers had few weaknesses. Ordinary weapons couldn't cause fatal damage, even if they hit. Their only two vital points were the head—no matter how resilient the creature, blowing off its head meant death—and the heart, which protruded slightly from its chest and had no protection. To shield this vulnerability, Lickers usually crouched, exposing their heart only when leaping into the air.

Ethan had been waiting for this moment. Although the Licker was fast, it wasn't so fast that he couldn't react. With his current reaction speed and strength surpassing human limits, he easily targeted its weak point.

After piercing the Licker's heart with the iron rod, Ethan used the cover of the monster's corpse to quickly extract an item from his space ring with his left hand. He drew a sample of blood from the heart area and immediately stored it away again.

He had successfully acquired the T-virus—an evolved version, no less, extracted from the Licker. Even if he couldn't obtain the original T-virus strain later, this was at least a solid starting point.

His movements had been swift and well-concealed. Aside from Selene, who noticed something, the others hadn't picked up on it at all.

They were still stunned by the sight of Ethan killing the monster with nothing more than an iron pipe.

(To be continued.)

Special thanks to random_debuff for sponsoring this extra chapter 🎉🎉🎉

Chapter 280: Sherry

After dealing with the Licker, they didn't encounter any more trouble.

Everyone searched the rooms they passed through. Besides finding many combat reports in the conference room, which gave them a rough idea of what had happened at the police station, they also learned that the red monster was called a Licker.

Ethan found the fireplace in the inner room of the conference room and specifically took down the painting hanging above it, but he didn't find anything like a ruby there.

"It seems that although this is a world based on a game's storyline, it doesn't completely follow the game's mechanics."

That made more sense. Although the Raccoon City Police Department wasn't originally built as a police station and had been converted from an existing building, the presence of so many bizarre mechanisms in the real world would be hard to justify.

In reality, many doors that block progress can be opened without a key. Even Claire could just kick the lock off.

"What are you looking for?"

Claire saw Ethan examining a wall painting and curiously walked over to look, but she couldn't see anything special about it.

"Maybe it's just a feeling. I thought there might be a safe hidden behind this painting."

"You've watched too many movies."

Ethan shrugged and tossed the painting onto the floor. He wasn't going to carry it around.

They continued searching forward, easily dealing with the zombies along the way. The group successfully reached the second floor and found the STARS office.

"This is my brother's desk."

Claire searched carefully for a while and unexpectedly found a diary.

The contents weren't extensive, only recording the events following the mansion incident. Through this diary, everyone learned that the virus causing this disaster was called the T-virus, and Umbrella was also researching a newer G-virus.

Additionally, Chris wrote in the diary about what he planned to do next: go to Europe to investigate more information about Umbrella.

Seeing this, Claire was visibly relieved. It seemed her brother wasn't in the city. Although investigating a large corporation's secret experiments in Europe was also dangerous, it was much better than the current situation in Raccoon City.

"Looks like I don't have to worry about Chris for now."

Claire thought for a moment and ultimately decided not to take the diary but to destroy it on the spot. Leon had a lighter, so burning the diary wasn't difficult.

Ethan had originally found it strange that a diary would be left in the police station, but now it seemed it might have been a safeguard Chris had set up. If something really happened to him, at least Claire would know what he had encountered.

However, Chris definitely didn't know that the Raccoon City Police Chief had been bought by Umbrella. If something happened to him in Europe, it would be difficult for this diary to ever reach Claire.

"Let's look around the police station a bit more and try to leave here as soon as possible."

There didn't seem to be anything useful in the STARS office. After searching for a long time, they didn't find much ammunition or weapons. In the end, Ethan only found a photo of Rebecca in Wesker's desk.

"..."

Ethan looked at it and confirmed it was indeed Wesker's desk. What was this guy doing collecting a photo of Rebecca? Although there was such an easter egg in the game, he hadn't expected to actually find it.

"What is this?"

"A photo."

Leon took it and turned it over, finding a line written on the back: Rebecca: A promising newcomer.

"Looks like a new member." Then he remembered Marvin had mentioned the name Rebecca before, a newly joined member of STARS and one of the surviving team members from the incident in the suburbs. "So, she's the survivor named Rebecca?"

Ethan hadn't noticed the writing on the back. Was that there originally? But it didn't matter. There was nothing valuable in Wesker's desk. After a thorough search, everyone left the office one after another.

The group continued moving forward, but this time they didn't go far before suddenly encountering a little girl ahead.

"Wait."

The little girl's first reaction upon seeing them was to turn and run, but Ethan had been focused on finding her. How could he just let her get away?

Although he knew she would keep wandering around the police station and they would eventually run into her again if they kept searching, this wasn't a game. The girl wouldn't stay in a fixed location like an NPC waiting for players. Plus, he had already caused some subtle changes, so who knew if missing her now would mean missing all subsequent encounters that were supposed to happen?

Even if Claire kept thinking about her afterward, it would only introduce more variables.

So, the safest choice was to stop her from running away upon first encounter and keep her with the group.

Seeing the little girl turn to run, Claire hadn't even had time to chase after her before Ethan dashed forward, catching up in a few large strides and grabbing her to stop her from fleeing.

"Let go of me!"

"Don't be scared. I'm not a zombie."

The little girl turned to look at Ethan and saw that although there were some bloodstains on his clothes (from the earlier Licker), his face was clean and didn't show any signs of decay.

Most importantly, Ethan could speak and communicate normally. He was clearly human.

"My name is Ethan. What's your name?"

By this time, Claire and the others had also caught up. Perhaps Claire truly had some kind of affinity aura, because when she crouched down in front of the girl and gently comforted her, the child clearly calmed down and said her name.

"My name is Sherry, Sherry Birkin."

"My name is Claire. We're all human. You don't have to be afraid of us." Claire gently stroked Sherry's head. "Are you here by yourself? Where are your parents?"

"My mom said it wasn't safe at home and told me to stay at the police station."

"Okay, your mom was right. But where is she now?"

Sherry looked around, then moved closer to Claire. "She's at Umbrella's bio-research factory."

"Umbrella?"

Everyone had heard this name more than once and knew the company was the source of all the tragedies happening around them. Still, they didn't regard Sherry's parents as enemies, just ordinary employees or something similar.

Only Ethan knew that Sherry's father, William Birkin, was the head of that research facility and had completed the new G-virus he was responsible for.

By now, that man should have already injected the virus into himself, turning into a monstrous, ever-evolving creature that had lost all reason. The monster's only remaining instinct was to reproduce, and due to the characteristics of the G-virus, it would seek out genetically similar hosts...

"The G-virus is truly evil."

The pendant Sherry wore contained a sample of the G-virus, which was Ethan's objective.

He didn't rush to snatch it because he didn't believe anyone could take it from her under his watch.

Not even that mysterious elite agent.

In short, after a conversation, Claire successfully gained Sherry's trust, and she agreed to escape the city with them. With Sherry as an example, the group continued searching the police station for any other survivors.

As expected, after such a catastrophe, it was nearly impossible for anyone without a protagonist's halo to survive. The group searched extensively but didn't find a second survivor.

Although Ethan knew that the Raccoon City Police Chief was currently hiding in his office, that guy would soon be killed by the mutated Dr. William. Ethan had no intention of saving him, so he didn't direct Leon to the chief's office.

After searching thoroughly and confirming there were no more survivors in the police station, the group began to consider how to escape.

"Downwards?"

"What do you mean?"

Ethan pointed down. "If we can't get out aboveground, what about underground?"

In reality, he knew the situation underground wasn't much better than the surface, but he still led the group toward the sewers, because beneath the Raccoon City Police Department was the underground research facility set up by Umbrella, which was where Ethan wanted to go.

"You mean, leave the city through the underground facilities?"

Claire and Leon didn't know Ethan's real goal, but they both thought it was a good idea. Even Robert agreed.

"We can give it a try. Things can't get any worse anyway."

Ethan really wanted to tell him that once they entered the underground facility, things would definitely get worse. Dr. William, who was obsessed with implanting larvae into his daughter, was currently roaming the sewers.

Just then, the entire building shook violently, as if something had slammed into the police station.

Ethan paused for a moment, then immediately understood what had happened.

After realizing that the situation in Raccoon City had become irreversible, Umbrella decided to turn the entire city into a testing ground for bioweapons. This included the previously deployed UBCS troops and all the civilians in the city, who were used as test subjects to observe the effectiveness of the biological weapons. In addition to the various monsters created by the widespread virus outbreak, Umbrella also independently deployed several bioweapons, the most important of which were the Tyrant and the Nemesis.

The Nemesis was currently targeting Jill Valentine and should be chasing her all over the city. The one deployed at the police station, however, was Umbrella's most mature product so far: the Tyrant.

Of course, in Ethan's eyes, the Tyrant posed no real threat. His first thought was that he should collect some samples to take back for research. After all, this was the most stable T-virus product to date.

(To be continued.)