Chapter 65: The End! (Just Kidding)

The air in the sewer network grew increasingly humid and foul, a mixture of rust and a faint scent of decay.

Jill and Chloe moved quickly against the wall, their footsteps light yet vigilant. Jill kept the muzzle of her rifle low, while Chloe followed half a step behind her, submachine gun in hand, her breathing steady.

“Keep the comms open,” Jill whispered through her headset. “The NEST entrance should be at the third junction ahead. Remember, if you encounter anything, observe before acting.”

“Understood.” Chloe’s voice was calm and firm. She activated the strange power from the virus within her; her perception was extremely magnified, making heartbeats, blood flow, and even distant, subtle vibrations as clear as slow-motion footage.

This gave her something like night vision in the darkness, but it also made her more deeply aware of the price of this'superhuman' body.

They crawled out of the main pipe and entered a slightly wider maintenance passage. Sporadic gunfire echoed from a distance—short, professional three-round bursts—followed by screams and the dull thuds of heavy objects hitting the ground.

Jill immediately raised her hand to signal a stop. The two crouched in the shadows, turning off their headlamps and relying only on the dim emergency lighting to observe ahead. At the corner, a gruesome scene came into view.

A monster with a twisted frame and bluish-gray skin was frantically slaughtering the two remaining USS members. That figure was none other than William Birkin in his g1 form.

The left half of his body barely retained a human silhouette, with fragments of a suit hanging off him, but the right half was completely mutated: his right arm was swollen like a gnarled tree trunk, muscles tearing through skin to reveal blood-red fibers. A massive, vein-covered eyeball bulged from his shoulder, its pupil contracting and expanding in the muzzle flash like a living creature searching for prey.

One team member fired his rifle wildly, but the bullets hitting the G1 only left shallow bloody streaks. A moment later, his chest was violently pierced by talons, and his body was flung away, slamming into an alloy wall and collapsing into a heap.

The last member tried to run, but the G1 quickly caught up. A sweep of the talons instantly separated head from body, splashing blood across the entire pristine white floor.

Chloe also saw the scene clearly and clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out. Her perception screamed warnings, reminding her that the G1’s danger far exceeded any zombie they had encountered.

The two held their breath, not daring to move, shrinking behind cover as they watched the G1 roar frantically among the corpses, searching for something—clearly looking for Hunk, who had taken the G-Virus sample.

Chloe’s heart sank. She recognized this as the initial mutation of the G-Virus, William Birkin himself.

“Chloe, back up. Don't make a sound. We’re taking a detour,” Jill whispered. Chloe nodded, and the two silently retreated against the wall, attempting to bypass the battlefield through a narrow maintenance pipe on the side.

Just as they were about to slip out of sight, a figure suddenly appeared at the entrance of the passage ahead: Hunk, the leader of the USS Alpha Team.

He wore his signature black helmet and mask, his build lean and tough, his movements swift as a ghost. He held a customized MP5 in his hands.

Hunk spotted the lurking Jill and Chloe instantly. His muzzle snapped up, pointing at them. Jill raised her gun at the same time, but neither actually fired; they just aimed at each other, forming a standoff.

Chloe’s gun also came up, but she was stopped by a look from Jill. The air seemed to freeze. In the distance, the sounds from the G1 disappeared into an eerie silence.

“Jill Valentine of S.T.A.R.S.,” Hunk’s voice sounded deep and cold, filtered through his mask. “And a little girl. You shouldn't be here.”

Jill didn't lower her gun, her voice steady and powerful: “And who are you? Umbrella Corporation’s lapdog?”

Hunk’s muzzle lowered slightly by a centimeter, his eyes scrutinizing them from behind the mask.

“Who I am doesn't matter; I'm just here to complete the mission I was given,” Hunk finally spoke, his voice devoid of emotional fluctuation. “I have no interest in killing two more irrelevant people. Take your little sidekick and get lost. Don't get in my way.”

Jill’s hand tightened on her gun, but she heard Chloe’s whispered hint. Jill nodded slowly: “Deal.”

Hunk gave a cold snort but didn't respond. He slipped sideways into another pipe, his movements clean and efficient, and soon disappeared into the darkness.

Jill and Chloe also retreated immediately, ducking into the planned maintenance shaft to avoid a direct confrontation with the G1.

“You know him? What’s his mission?” Jill asked in a low voice.

“Recovering the G-Virus,” Chloe replied. “Clearly he failed, and now he’s being hunted by William.”

Jill gave Chloe a deep look from behind; this young girl seemed to know everything.

Chloe just gave Jill a smile and continued to play dumb. Jill didn't ask anything else.

The two picked up their pace, heading deeper into the sewer network toward the NEST. The interior of the NEST was filled with guards, human security, and early B.O.W. experimental subjects.

About twenty minutes later, they reached the outer entrance of the NEST. A heavy alloy gate was halfway open, clearly a mark left by the USS raid.

Sporadic alarms and footsteps came from inside. Jill gestured, and the two slipped in one after the other. The corridor lights flickered, and the walls were covered in bloodstains and bullet holes.

They hadn't gone far before encountering the first wave of resistance. Three Umbrella Corporation security personnel, wearing tactical vests over white lab coats and holding assault rifles, were checking corpses.

“Intruders! Fire!” the lead security guard shouted. Combat erupted instantly. Jill rolled to dodge the first round of fire, using the corridor corner as cover to return precise shots.

Her shooting was calm and efficient; the first shot hit the leader's shoulder, and the second followed up to the head. The man pulled the trigger before falling, the bullet grazing Jill’s bulletproof vest.

Chloe provided cover from the other side, her physical attributes far exceeding those of a normal person, moving as swift as the wind. The superhuman perception granted by the virus allowed her to anticipate bullet trajectories.

She dodged to the side, a burst of bullets accurately hitting the second guard's leg and chest, taking him down. The third attempted to throw a flashbang, but Jill kicked his wrist directly; the flashbang exploded in mid-air, only affecting the guard himself.

Jill closed in with an elbow strike to his throat, ending the fight. “Clear,” Jill panted, checking her ammo. “Keep moving. The data should be two floors down.”

They headed down the stairs, encountering two more waves of sporadic guards on the way: once with two security guards with hounds, and once with a lone armed researcher trying to activate the alarm.

The combat was intense but brief. The smell of blood grew stronger, and the alarms became more urgent.

“It's too loud...” Chloe frowned after one skirmish. Gunfire and shouting echoed through the underground facility, spreading like a signal.

Jill nodded: “Pick up the pace. We have to find the S01 Inhibitor and the data before reinforcements arrive.”

They pushed open a door leading to the main laboratory area. The lights were brighter here, and the air was thick with the mixed stench of chemical reagents and flesh.

Several shredded corpses lay scattered on the ground, clearly the work of the G1 from earlier. Just as they were crossing the central laboratory passage, disaster struck suddenly.

Jill walked in front, checking a row of monitor screens to locate the core console. Chloe followed behind and to the side, her perception fully open, scanning the surroundings for any anomalies.

Suddenly, a low roar accompanied by wet rasping came from the overhead ventilation duct. Jill snapped her head up, but it was too late; the ceiling vent grate was violently smashed open, and the G1's massive frame plummeted down like a cannonball!

It lunged directly at Jill. Its giant arm swung, bringing a foul wind as talons aimed straight for her head. The massive eye on its shoulder glinted with a mad light in the dim lamps; William's remaining consciousness seemed to have been completely swallowed by the G-Virus, leaving only an instinctive murderous intent toward 'takers.'

Jill reacted extremely quickly, but the G1's speed and strength were far beyond expectations. She tried to retreat and raise her gun, only to find the giant arm already within reach, the whistle of torn air filling her ears.

“Jill!!” Chloe’s shout rang out. In that instant, her perception entered an extreme 'Bullet Time' state: the world seemed to slow down, and she could clearly see the contraction of every muscle fiber in the G1, the bloodstains on its talons, and even the tiny droplets splashing in the air.

Without hesitation, she lunged forward, pushing Jill away with all her might and putting herself in the path of the attack.

“Chloe! No—” Jill’s cry was drowned out by the G1's roar. Its right giant claw struck Chloe precisely in the chest and abdomen.

Although the virus gave Chloe amazing defensive power, the G1’s monstrous strength was the peak of the G-Virus's initial stage; the destructive power contained in that mutated arm could easily tear through steel plates.

Chloe’s body was pierced by the massive force like a rag doll. The talons stabbed through her chest with a horrific sound of tearing flesh and bone, exiting through her back.

She felt excruciating pain surge like a tide, yet she briefly remained conscious supported by the virus's power. Blood gushed out, staining her combat suit red.

The G1 didn't stop. It roared, its other hand grabbing Chloe’s waist and pulling with force as if tearing paper. With a'shredding' sound, Chloe’s upper and lower body were brutally torn in two. Organs, spine, and blood splattered in the air in a scene of extreme carnage. She didn't even have time to scream before her body hit the ground heavily, separated into two halves.

Her brain survived briefly; her eyes remained open, looking toward Jill, her lips moving slightly as if trying to say “Go.” Jill’s heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer. Time became incredibly long in this moment.

She watched helplessly as the girl she had just promised to leave Raccoon City with was brutally torn apart by the monster. That familiar pain of losing a teammate surged up her throat like poison; she remembered Chris’s instructions on the phone, but now she was powerless to protect this girl.

“Chloe!!!” Jill roared, raising her rifle and firing wildly. Bullets poured into the G1’s right arm and torso, creating a dense spray of blood. The giant eye was hit by several bullets, bursting with fluid, but the G1 only swayed its body, its wounds writhing and healing at a rate visible to the naked eye.