I headed back toward the West Wing with only Leon accompanying me, leaving the chef and the others behind to guard the main hall. The corridor's fluorescent lights still flickered intermittently, casting shifting shadows across the immaculate walls of the complex.
We quickly arrived in front of a luxurious door fitted with a circular slot.
I pulled out the red gem we had recovered earlier and inserted it into the decorative lock.
CLICK.
The door unlocked immediately with an almost theatrical mechanical sound.
Leon stared at the system for a few seconds before sighing.
"Honestly… this is a terrible key design."
I slightly turned my head toward him while he pointed at the ruby still embedded in the door.
"Seriously, it makes you want to steal the jewel more than enter the room."
I let out a faint laugh before directly ripping the ruby from its slot and tossing it to him.
He caught it midair with a satisfied grin.
"Thanks."
He immediately stored the gem inside the small tactical pouch hanging from his belt.
"It's not going to be very useful back in our world," I pointed out.
"Maybe," he replied with a shrug. "But considering we apparently end up in fantasy worlds with dragons and elves now… carrying gemstones around never hurts."
Honestly, I couldn't completely disagree with him.
We finally stepped inside the room.
And honestly…
The place looked like some bizarre imitation of a private casino.
The ceiling was lower than the rest of the building, with dim reddish lighting giving the room an almost unhealthy atmosphere. A massive roulette table stood at the center, surrounded by luxurious chairs and abandoned gaming tables. Several screens still displayed frozen numbers, and distorted background music occasionally crackled through hidden speakers before cutting off abruptly.
On the left side, four glass display cabinets were lined up against the wall, each protected by a coin-operated mechanism.
I inspected them quickly.
Inside the first one sat a reinforced tactical pouch.
Useful for a normal person.
Completely useless for me with the factory.
I moved to the next cabinet.
This one immediately caught my attention more.
A metallic injector rested inside, with a medical label still readable:
Injectable Stabilizer
I quickly read the notice attached to the side of the cabinet.
Reduction of nervous stress.Fine muscular stabilization.Temporary enhancement of dexterity and precision.
"Interesting…"
Without wasting any time, I drove my fist straight through the reinforced glass.
CRASH.
Shards scattered across the floor while Leon rolled his eyes.
"You know… sometimes puzzles exist specifically to stop people from smashing everything."
"And sometimes smashing things is much faster."
I retrieved the injector and immediately stored it inside the factory for future analysis.
The next cabinet contained something even more interesting.
A military-grade steroid injector.
The label clearly stated:
Increased bodily vitality.Temporary enhancement of biological functions.
"Jesus…" Leon muttered while reading over my shoulder. "They really keep all kinds of insane stuff in here."
I shattered the glass again without the slightest hesitation.
"At this point, nothing in this place surprises me anymore."
I collected the product as well before moving to the final cabinet.
This one contained something far less spectacular at first glance: a technical manual accompanied by a strange metallic reservoir connected to several tubes.
Blood Collector
I quickly skimmed the notes attached to the cabinet.
Reservoir capacity expansion.Biological recovery optimization.
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
"So there's definitely a main machine somewhere in this complex…"
I took the module as well.
Meanwhile, Leon was searching through the gaming tables and abandoned furniture. He eventually found several boxes of 9mm ammunition along with an additional magazine for his weapon.
"Jackpot."
I shook my head slightly at his satisfied grin before noticing a motionless zombie sitting in a dark corner of the room. The infected appeared completely inert… until I approached close enough.
I instantly captured it.
After a quick Plagas enhancement, it developed the same physical mutation as Jeff and the chef: densified musculature, reinforced skin, and an overall increase in physical capabilities.
"Perfect. Another solid guard."
I decided to keep him temporarily as an active reinforcement.
Then my gaze finally landed on a magnetic access card resting near the central roulette table.
Access Card — East Wing
Leon picked it up before looking at me.
"You're not taking it?"
I stared at the card for a few seconds.
Then at the countless locked doors.The puzzles.The absurd jewels.The ridiculous security systems.
And most of all…
The wasted time.
I let out a long sigh before turning away.
"No."
I cracked my fingers slightly as I walked toward the exit.
"From now on… I'm kicking doors down."
I quickly crossed the hallway with Leon right behind me, the adrenaline from our exploration of the West Wing still pumping through my veins. The enhanced zombie followed in heavy silence behind us.
When we returned to the main hall, I didn't even bother looking for a key or mechanism anymore.
I was done with these ridiculous puzzles.
I simply raised my leg… then slammed it violently into the double doors leading to the East Wing.
BOOOOM.
The impact was monstrous.
The two doors were literally ripped from their hinges and launched through the corridor like projectiles before smashing into another door farther down with a deafening crash of splintering wood and twisted metal.
Even Leon flinched slightly.
"Jesus Christ…" he muttered. "You really did decide to quit puzzles, huh."
But before I could even answer—
"TOO… MUCH… NOISE!!"
The voice echoed violently through the entire corridor.
A male voice.
Distorted.Filled with rage.
And immediately afterward, something slammed violently against the door on the other side of the East Wing reception desk.
The entire structure warped.
Then it literally exploded toward us.
I didn't even have time to react properly.
The entire door flew straight at me at absurd speed.
BOOM.
The impact hurled me backward all the way into the main hall. My back slammed violently against the marble floor before the chef immediately grabbed my arm to help me back up.
"Fuck…" I growled, shaking my head slightly.
I instantly looked back toward the entrance of the East Wing.
And this time…
I immediately understood that something was very wrong.
At first glance, the zombie that had appeared didn't look particularly impressive.
He was tall… but thin.
Almost emaciated.
His white patient uniform hung loosely from his dirty body, stained with dried blood. Part of his face looked burned away or torn apart, and his completely white eyes confirmed that he was blind.
In his right hand, he simply held a metal IV stand.
But something about his posture instantly put me on alert.
He didn't move like the other infected.
He was stable.Grounded.
His muscles contracted unnaturally beneath his skin despite his frail appearance.
And most importantly…
I could feel a strange pressure coming from him.
As if all of his strength had been compressed into that emaciated body.
The armored zombie I had enhanced earlier immediately charged forward to intercept him.
Mistake.
The blind infected violently turned his head toward the sound of approaching footsteps.
Then he moved.
Too fast.
The IV stand sliced through the air with a brutal whistle before smashing directly into my enhanced zombie's chest.
BAAAAM.
The impact was so violent that his entire body left the ground.
He was literally launched across the room before crashing into the opposite wall in a spray of blood and fractured concrete.
His body folded under the impact like a broken puppet.
Even Leon froze for half a second.
"…Okay," he muttered slowly. "That guy… hits way too hard."
He silently stepped backward to stand beside me.
The monster slowly tilted its head toward us.
Blind.
But perfectly aware of our presence.
Its IV stand slowly scraped across the floor.
Then it spoke again in that distorted, furious voice:
"…Silence…"
I immediately snatched the pistol from Leon's hands while the monster slowly advanced toward us, the IV stand scraping against the ground with an unbearable metallic sound.
He was strong.
Far too strong for his appearance.
But his structure was still human.
And that meant one thing:
Joints.
I raised the gun without hesitation.
BANG.
The first bullet tore straight through his left knee in a spray of blackened flesh and shattered bone. The colossus let out a growl of pain before losing his balance.
BANG.
The second bullet destroyed his other knee.
This time, the zombie collapsed heavily onto the floor with a deep crash that made the tiles of the East Wing vibrate.
His IV stand slid away across the ground.
But even on the floor…
The monster still tried to crawl toward us.
I didn't give him the chance.
BANG.BANG.
Two more shots exploded through his elbows with sickening cracks, completely deforming his arms and immediately destroying his ability to move properly.
"Jesus…" Leon muttered behind me. "Good thing he's blind…"
I didn't answer.
I walked straight toward the mutant while it still growled with rage and brutally slammed my hand against the back of its skull, forcing its face against the floor.
The tiles cracked slightly beneath its weight.
Even immobilized, I could still feel its monstrous strength struggling against me.
The capture still wasn't working.
"Seriously…"
I slightly turned my head toward the chef.
"Bring me the bench from the hall. The big solid wood one."
The chef immediately nodded before sprinting away. A few seconds later, he returned literally carrying the massive reception bench above his head.
The thing had to weigh several hundred kilos.
He violently dropped it onto the mutant's back.
BOOOOM.
The heavy wood crashed down on him with tremendous force.
This time, the creature finally remained restrained enough.
The System reacted immediately.
Degenerated mutant zombie strain of the T, G, and C viruses stabilized.Extreme strength detected.Incomplete development of other biological characteristics.Repairs in progress within the factory.The factory requests a Plagas in order to fully stabilize this mutant.
I smiled faintly.
"Now… we're talking."
Without hesitation, I immediately sent a modified Plagas into the factory to complete the process.
For a few seconds, nothing happened.
Then the mutant reappeared before us.
And this time…
Even Leon fell silent.
The skinny blind zombie had completely disappeared.
In its place stood a true mountain of muscle.
It easily stood three meters tall, with a monstrous build directly reminiscent of William Birkin's second form. Its arms had become enormous, covered with dark veins and thick bony plates. Its grayish skin looked almost armored in certain areas, while its back and shoulders had gained a completely absurd amount of muscle mass.
Even its face had changed.
Still blind.
But more stable.More controlled.
The monster slowly turned its head toward me before lowering itself into a partial kneel, perfectly obedient thanks to the Plagas.
Leon slowly looked up at it.
"…Okay. That's one guy I'm definitely not going to piss off."
I let out a satisfied laugh while observing the creature.
With a specimen like this…
I wasn't really worried anymore about locked doors or blocked passages inside this complex.
Still, considering its size, I stored it back inside the factory since it was simply too massive for some of the hallways.
(Author's note: That's all for this week. I completely invented the IV-stand zombie, but considering how absurdly strong he is in the game, I had to do something with him ^^)