Chapter 117: Vaccine Obtained

In the darkness, the sounds of gunfire, roars, and Blade Clawss tearing through flesh intertwined.

Chloe's silver-white Blade Clawss carved out afterimages under the green light, each swing precisely slicing through the necks of zombies.

Carlos used his rifle to lock onto the Hunters in the shadows, hitting their vulnerable heads with bursts of fire.

Jill held a Shotgun, blasting approaching Lickers at close range as shell casings bounced on the ground with a crisp clinking sound;

The three coordinated flawlessly, giving the monsters no opportunity. After more than half an hour, the last Hunter fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and went completely still. The supplies storage area returned to a dead silence, with only the heavy breathing of the three echoing in the empty warehouse.

"Whew... finally dealt with them." Carlos leaned against a shipping container and wiped the blood from his face. "This Nicholai is a real madman, actually locking so many monsters in here."

Jill turned off her tactical flashlight and said breathlessly, "Don't worry about him for now. We need to find the control room quickly to see if we can contact Tyrone, and we also need to find the vaccine cold storage."

Chloe flicked the blood off her Blade Clawss and retracted them into her fingertips. She pointed her hand toward the power distribution room in the corner of the warehouse. "The power has been cut, so the elevator won't work. Let's check the power distribution room first; we should be able to find spare fuses."

The three walked through the floor covered in zombie corpses and entered the power distribution room. It was covered in dust, the door of the distribution box was wide open, and the main fuse inside had been burned black—clearly sabotaged by Nicholai. Carlos rummaged through the tool cabinet next to it for a long time and finally found a few usable spare fuses.

"Luckily, there are spares." Carlos crouched down, skillfully removed the burnt fuse, and replaced it with a new one.

With a "snap," the explosion-proof lights in the warehouse flickered back on, and the pale light dispelled the darkness. The freight elevator in the distance made a soft "ding" and resumed operation.

The three entered the elevator and pressed the button for the second floor. The elevator rose slowly; the metal cabin was terrifyingly quiet, and everyone's face bore a solemn expression. Nicholai was like a ghost hiding in the shadows, and no one knew when he would pop up again.

The elevator doors opened, and the three immediately raised their guns in caution. The control room was empty, but the control console's screen was still lit; Nicholai had clearly just left.

"He runs fast," Carlos cursed, walking to the console and starting to check the files on the computer.

He clicked on an encrypted folder named "Action Records," and the contents made his expression increasingly grim.

The screen clearly recorded everything Nicholai had done since entering Raccoon City: deliberately leading the UBCS squad into monster-dense areas, secretly destroying vaccine samples, shooting teammates in the back, leaking the subway's location to the Nemesis... every entry was stained with the blood of his comrades.

"That bastard!" Carlos slammed his fist onto the console, shattering the keyboard. "So he's the spy! He's the one who killed most of the UBCS! Platoon Leader Michelle too!"

Just then, the sound of the elevator operating came from behind them. The three immediately turned and raised their guns, aiming at the elevator doors.

The elevator doors slowly opened, and Tyrone walked out, leaning against the wall. His left arm was wrapped in thick gauze, with seeping blood already staining it a deep red, and his face was covered in dust and exhaustion.

"Tyrone!" Carlos lowered his gun and walked over quickly. "How did you get here?"

"Nicholai is a traitor; we were all fooled by him! He's the one who killed Michelle!" Carlos said angrily.

Tyrone's face darkened, and his fists clenched tightly. "I already felt something was off with him. Forget it, it's too late to talk about that now."

Jill stepped forward, looking at his wound with concern. "You're hurt? What happened?"

"It's nothing, just ran into a few monsters on the way." Tyrone waved his hand and said in a heavy tone, "I've contacted the Pentagon. They are willing to negotiate a halt to the bombing, but the conditions are harsh."

"What conditions?" Carlos asked hastily.

"They demand that we hand over a complete T-Virus vaccine sample to them before the missile launch." Tyrone took a deep breath. "It's currently 9:07 PM, and the missile launches exactly at 10:00 AM tomorrow. We have less than thirteen hours? No, wait..." He glanced at his watch, his face turning even grimmer. "They moved the launch time forward; now there's less than six hours left."

"Six hours?" Jill gasped. "How could it be so fast?"

"They're afraid of complications if they wait," Tyrone said. "If we don't produce the vaccine within six hours, the missile will fall on schedule."

"Then we can't waste a single second!" Carlos raised his rifle and walked to the front. "Let's go! We go to the vaccine cold storage now, get the vaccine, and leave the city immediately!"

The four passed through the security door behind the control room and entered the internal passages of Nest 2. The walls on both sides of the passage were covered with pipes, and the air was thick with the smell of heavy chemical reagents.

Carlos looked at Tyrone's limping gait and couldn't help but ask, "Are you okay? Should we rest for a bit?"

Tyrone chuckled and shook his head. "Rest for what? To wait for death? This little injury won't kill me."

The group walked about five hundred meters along the passage until a heavy alloy automatic door appeared ahead. Just as Carlos was about to rush over, Chloe suddenly reached out and stopped him.

"Don't go over there." Chloe's eyes became sharp. "There's something behind the door."

"What is it?" Jill immediately raised her gun in readiness.

"The presence is very similar to a Tyrant, but more violent than a Tyrant," Chloe said with a frown. "It's right above the ventilation duct."

As soon as she spoke, the ventilation duct overhead suddenly made a piercing sound of tearing metal. A massive figure broke through the duct, pouncing toward Chloe amidst a shower of debris.

"It's that bastard!" Jill shouted.

Chloe dodged the Nemesis's iron fist by sidestepping; the massive fist slammed into the ground, instantly shattering the concrete. The Nemesis turned around, its crimson eyes staring fixedly at Chloe, and let out an angry roar.

"Get through the isolation door, quickly! I'll hold it back!" Chloe shouted, throwing away the handgun in her hand and mobilizing the virus within her body. Silver-white Blade Clawss popped out from her fingertips, and sharp elbow blades grew from her elbows as she entered a semi-awakened state.

"Chloe, be careful!" Jill shouted with concern, knowing it wasn't the time for hesitation, and immediately led Carlos and Tyrone toward the isolation door not far away.

Chloe charged toward the Nemesis, her Blade Clawss clashing with the Nemesis's claws, producing a piercing metallic screech.

Relying on her extreme speed, she moved flexibly around the Nemesis, continuously leaving wounds on its body with her Blade Clawss. However, after several mutations, the Nemesis's regenerative abilities had been further enhanced.

"Close the door!" Chloe shouted toward the isolation door while still locked in combat.

Jill pressed the close button, and the heavy alloy door began to shut slowly. Chloe saw her chance and performed a slide, slipping through the closing gap. The Nemesis's claws followed closely behind, slamming heavily into the alloy door with a loud thud.

Behind the door, the Nemesis frantically rammed the alloy door, letting out angry roars. Chloe stood up and gave the door the middle finger.

Jill smiled helplessly and reached out to pat her head. "You can't take such risks next time, you know?"

Chloe narrowed her eyes, enjoying Jill's touch, and nodded obediently. "I know, Sister Jill."

The four continued deeper into Nest 2. After passing through several winding corridors, they arrived at a spacious laboratory. In the center of the lab stood a large silver-white synthesizer, looking very advanced.

Jill stepped forward and pressed the synthesizer's start button. The machine emitted a slight hum, and a line of red warning text popped up on the screen: "To begin vaccine synthesis, please place materials in the chamber first."

"What the hell? We have to synthesize it ourselves?" Jill couldn't help but complain. "I thought we could just pick up a finished product."

"It seems Dr. Bard only prepared a semi-finished product," Carlos said. "We have to find the materials."

The group discussed and decided to split up: Carlos and Tyrone in one group, Jill and Chloe in another, agreeing to meet back here in one hour.

Jill and Chloe headed west along the corridor, passing many abandoned laboratories along the way.

In an office, Jill found a project report for Nest 2, which stated that the main task here was packaging B.O.W.s for global sale while also developing new weapons to counter biological weapons.

"Umbrella is truly insane." Jill crumpled the report into a ball and stuffed it into her tactical pouch. "They are basically selling death."

The two crossed a massive assembly line workshop, with sealed biological weapon transport bags hanging from the overhead conveyor belts. Just as they were about to leave, the assembly line suddenly started. The seals on several transport bags automatically split open, and the B.O.W.s inside fell out.

These monsters had Pale Heads and slender limbs, with skin a sickly white color. Upon landing, they immediately twisted their bodies to stand up, letting out sharp screeches as they lunged at the two.

Jill raised her gun and fired. The bullets hit them, leaving holes, but the wounds healed almost instantly.

"Their regenerative ability is very strong, aim for the head!" Chloe popped out her Blade Clawss and rushed forward to engage the Pale Heads.

On the other side, Carlos and Tyrone found the body of a researcher in the eastern corridor. Next to the body lay a notebook containing the researcher's last will.

It stated that Dr. Bard had originally planned to produce a batch of T-Virus vaccines, but due to a specimen leak, he only had time to create the Antigen Base; the Adjuvant sample was still in the incubation lab. He had risked going to retrieve the Adjuvant but was killed by monsters halfway there.

The two continued forward and found an unsent letter in Dr. Bard's private office. The recipient was the project manager of the Nemesis-T Type project at Umbrella Europe's Sixth Research Institute.

In the letter, Bard congratulated the other party on the successful development of the Nemesis-T Type, while also expressing concern about parasite research, believing parasites to be far harder to control than viruses. He also mocked the other party for being just a Ph.D. in economics who knew nothing about research, claiming their breakthrough was entirely due to a newly recruited genius biology Ph.D.

"It seems the European side isn't a good place either." Carlos folded the letter and put it in his pocket.

The two found the Adjuvant sample in the cold storage of the incubation lab and then headed back the way they came.

When they returned to the central lab, Jill and Chloe were already waiting there with the Antigen Base.

"You guys ran into trouble too?" Carlos asked, looking at the blood stains on them.

"Yeah, encountered a few new types of monsters with particularly strong regenerative abilities." Jill nodded. "What about you?"

"Found the Adjuvant and a letter from Bard," Carlos said.

The four placed the Antigen Base and the Adjuvant sample into the synthesizer's chamber in order. Jill pressed the synthesis button, and the machine began to operate with a rhythmic hum.

While waiting for the synthesis, Chloe picked up the letter Carlos had placed on the table and read it. When she saw Bard mention the genius biology Ph.D. in Europe, her eyes flickered slightly. Seeing Bard's attempt to develop a universal vaccine, she couldn't help but let out a light chuckle.

elpis was the trump card that Spencer had spent an enormous amount of time and all his resources to develop. For Bard, a mere head of Nest 2, to think he could complete such era-defining research was simply a pipe dream.

Twenty minutes later, the synthesizer made a soft "ding," and the chamber door slowly opened. It revealed a pale purple vaccine injector, glowing softly under the lights.

Carlos looked at the dosage description and said excitedly, "This much dosage is enough to save all the surviving citizens!"

Jill looked at the vaccine, a glimmer of hope finally appearing in her eyes. As long as they handed these vaccines over to the government, they could stop the missile launch and save countless lives.

However, no one noticed that at the laboratory's ventilation duct, a pair of cold eyes was quietly watching them.