Chapter 106: Chloe's Clones

The corridors of NEST were like an endless white coffin. Chloe leaned against the alloy door, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the edge of her blade-claws. The side effects of suppressing the G-Embryo were still spreading; her temples throbbed, and flashes of crimson flickered across her vision.

"We'll split up," she said, breaking the silence first, her voice kept very low. "It'll be more efficient this way."

Claire frowned and instinctively gripped her revolver tighter. "No, it's too dangerous. There are monsters everywhere; we can't separate."

"I'm more familiar with this place than you are." Chloe looked up at her, the crimson in her eyes vanishing in a flash. "William's private lab is in the East Wing; only I can find it. The G-Virus Prototype Inhibitor is only kept there, and it's the only thing that can completely cure Sherry."

She paused, avoiding Claire's worried gaze, and added, "The security room has a map of the supply storage area. The Universal Anti-viral Agent should be in the West Wing lab. Once you find it, head straight back to the observation room. I'll meet you there after I get the S01 Inhibitor."

"But..."

"No buts," Chloe interrupted her, her tone leaving no room for argument. "Sherry won't last much longer. Every minute we waste is another minute of danger for the G-Embryo inside her."

Claire looked at her pale face, a faint sense of unease stirring in her heart. She felt like Chloe was hiding something from her, but seeing the determination in her eyes, she finally nodded. "Alright. Just... be careful. If you run into danger, run. Don't try to force your way through."

"You too." Chloe nodded and turned toward the East Wing corridor. Her long silver-white hair shimmered coldly under the red lights, her figure looking frail yet resolute.

Claire watched her figure disappear around the corner, took a deep breath, gripped her handgun, and walked in the opposite direction.

The central elevator platform was even more cavernous than she had imagined. Below was a pitch-black abyss. Claire cautiously stepped over a corpse wearing a black tactical suit, her heart skipping a beat.

More USS personnel.

She knelt down and rifled through the corpse's pockets, finding a cold metal recorder. She pressed the play button, and after a burst of static, a raspy male voice came through:

"Unit 1 calling Ghost. Target is heading to the West Wing. Must be going for the G-Virus and the antiviral..."

"This is Ghost, copy that. Converging at W-3..."

"Copy... This is Unit 1, I've reached the destination..."

"Understood. Waiting for target to appear..."

The recording cut off, leaving only the harsh sound of static. Claire turned off the recorder and tucked it into her pocket.

"So, the antiviral I need is in the West Wing?"

She gripped her handgun and hurried toward the West Wing.

The door to the P-4 Level Testing Laboratory had been blown open, the twisted metal plating lying on the floor amidst a scene of utter chaos. Lab benches were overturned, shards of test tubes and petri dishes were scattered everywhere, and green culture fluid pooled on the ground like a stream, emitting a pungent odor.

Claire scanned her surroundings warily. After confirming there were no monsters, she walked straight to a low-temperature storage locker in the corner. The locker was entirely black, its surface coated in a thin layer of frost, with an exquisite rose-shaped keyhole on the front.

She tried pulling the door, but it didn't budge.

"Damn it," Claire cursed under her breath, searching the lab anxiously. No keys, no keycards, nothing that could open the locker. Just as she was about to despair, her hand accidentally brushed against the Golden Rose Pendant in her pocket.

She froze for a moment, then pulled out the pendant and held it up. The golden rose petals shimmered softly under the lights, matching the pattern of the keyhole on the storage locker perfectly.

Claire's heart pounded as she carefully inserted the pendant into the keyhole.

"Click."

The crisp sound of the lock disengaging rang out, and the door to the low-temperature storage locker slowly opened, a blast of bone-chilling air hitting her face.

Inside the locker, a row of sealed vials was neatly arranged, filled with a pale green transparent liquid. The label read: Universal Anti-viral Agent.

Overjoyed, Claire quickly stowed the antivirals into her backpack.

"Great, Sherry, we're saved," she murmured to herself, a long-absent smile appearing on her face. Not daring to linger, she immediately turned and left the lab, running back toward the observation room.

Meanwhile, in the East Wing corridor...

Chloe stood before a shattered alloy door, her footsteps halting.

This was where she and Jill had fought G1 William.

The walls were covered in massive claw marks, and the floor still bore the dried, dark-red bloodstains. A few empty shell casings were scattered in the corner, and several corpses from the Umbrella Cleanup Unit lay on the ground. Chloe's gaze fell upon a deep crack in the floor—the spot where she had been slammed when G1's giant claw tore through her body.

A bone-chilling cold crawled up her spine, as if she were back in that desperate night. The agonizing pain, the darkness, and Jill's heart-wrenching cries—the memories she had deliberately suppressed now came rushing back like a tide.

She bit her lip, forcing herself to calm down.

"Don't think about it," she whispered to herself. "Now is not the time."

Chloe took a deep breath, rounded two corners, and finally saw the alloy door labeled 【Dr. William Birkin's Private Lab - Maximum Clearance】.

The room was a mess; lab benches were completely overturned, glassware was shattered on the floor, and various documents and lab reports were scattered everywhere, trampled into a muddy mess. Only an encrypted terminal in the corner was still running, its screen glowing with a faint blue light that was particularly striking in the darkness.

Chloe ignored the terminal and walked straight to the incubator next to it. She reached out and pulled open the door; the biting cold air hit her, making her shiver involuntarily.

In the center of the locker, rows of sealed syringes lay quietly in a rack, filled with a pale blue transparent liquid. The label was clearly printed: G-Virus Prototype Inhibitor 1998.09.20.

There were two obvious empty spots in the rack.

Without thinking much, she pocketed all the S01 Inhibitors—eight in total. Looking at the pale blue liquid in her hand, she hesitated for a moment before pulling one out and injecting it into her arm.

The cool liquid slowly flowed into her veins, and an intense chill instantly swept through her body. Chloe could clearly feel the frantically surging G-Virus inside her being extinguished as if by ice water, quickly calming down. The bony horn on her forehead slowly receded, the blade-claws on her fingertips retracted into her skin, and the cataract in her right eye gradually faded, revealing her brown pupil.

All the mutations had vanished.

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief, but just as she was about to turn and leave, a sudden wave of dizziness hit her. She stumbled, grabbing the edge of the lab bench to steady herself.

Nausea, fatigue, cold limbs, and a bone-deep sense of weakness overwhelmed her like a tide.

What was happening?

Chloe frowned, her heart sinking. She suddenly realized a problem she had overlooked.

The G-Virus Prototype Inhibitor could only suppress the G-Virus.

But inside her body, there was also the t-epsilon virus.

All this time, the T-Virus had been countering the G-Virus, suppressing its reproduction and spread. That was why she had never shown symptoms of T-Virus infection, even gradually forgetting that she was a T-Virus test subject.

Now that the G-Virus was completely suppressed, the T-Virus, having lost its opponent, finally began its backlash.

The last time she had injected her specific T-ε inhibitor was in early September.

It had been almost a month.

Chloe gritted her teeth, forcing herself to stand straight. Cold sweat slid down her cheeks, dripping onto the freezing floor. She barely had the strength to lift her hand now, but she couldn't collapse.

Sherry was still waiting for her.

Chloe took a deep breath and dragged her heavy footsteps toward the lab exit.

Just then, a cold voice came from the doorway:

"Stop right there."

Chloe snapped her head up to see Annette Birkin standing at the door, holding a handgun, the muzzle aimed squarely at her chest.

"Hand over the S01 Inhibitor." Annette's voice carried a hint of a tremor, her eyes filled with anxiety and madness.

Chloe looked at her. Without resisting or saying a word, she silently pulled all the G-Virus inhibitors from her pocket and held them out.

Annette froze for a moment, clearly not expecting her to hand over the S01 Inhibitor so easily. She cautiously stepped forward, snatched the S01 Inhibitors, and gripped them tightly.

"Why aren't you fighting back?" she asked, staring at Chloe with a complex look in her eyes.

"Save Sherry first," Chloe said softly, her voice carrying a faint, barely perceptible weakness. "We can talk about the rest later."

Annette looked at her pale face and her slightly trembling body, her expression shifting abruptly. She finally noticed that something was wrong with Chloe.

"What's wrong with you?" She frowned, eyeing Chloe up and down. "The S01 Inhibitor didn't work on you?"

"That was a G-Virus inhibitor," Chloe said flatly. "You should know what I need."

Annette's body shuddered. She looked at Chloe, and for the first time, a look of guilt appeared in her eyes.

She gritted her teeth as if making a decision and said, "When we left the Arklay Research Facility, William took all your blood samples and genetic sequences. We created two clones of you here in NEST; they should be in the observation room on B4 of the East Wing."

Chloe's pupils constricted sharply.

"There's a full set of research facilities tailored for you there; they should have the t-epsilon inhibitor you need." Annette's voice was fast, tinged with urgency. "That's all I can tell you. Sherry is waiting for me; I have to go."

With that, she turned and ran. After a few steps, she stopped, looked back at Chloe, and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Then, her figure disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

Chloe stood there for a long time, unmoving.

Clones.

She actually had two clones.

The news exploded in her mind like a thunderclap. But quickly, she forced herself to calm down.

Now was not the time to think about this.

The priority was to find the t-epsilon inhibitor and then go back to save Sherry.

Chloe took a deep breath, pushing her nearly broken body to move one step at a time toward B4 of the East Wing.

The red lights in the corridor continued to pulse, and the low growls of monsters echoed from afar. Chloe's pace grew slower and slower, her vision beginning to blur, but her gaze remained resolute.

She had to survive.

For Jill, for Sherry, and for herself.

No matter what awaited her ahead, she had to keep going.