"Ahhhhhh!!!"
Rini screamed as the door burst open, and the others trembled in fear. Claire rolled aside in a desperate dodge, grabbing an umbrella from the corner. She had no idea how much use it would be, but at this point, all she could do was fight for her life!
Bang! Thud!
Under Claire's terrified gaze, the shattered door was smashed completely open, and a massive figure stepped inside, head lowered. When she saw the bald head and that fierce, terrifying face, Claire froze.
"Big guy?"
"Claire?"
Hearing her voice, Duanmu Huai looked up in surprise. He hadn't expected to see Claire here of all places. Could this be because of a hidden mission?
"Phew… it's you. Scared me half to death."
Seeing Duanmu Huai, Claire lowered the umbrella and sighed in relief.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm working."
Duanmu Huai nodded slightly.
"And you?"
"It's a long story… I'm not here for work, though…"
Seeing the two of them talk so casually, the other three survivors finally peeked out nervously. Rini called softly, "Claire? Who is he…?"
"He's not a bad person, Rini."
Claire quickly turned to explain to the others.
"This big guy is someone I know. He's strong — and a good person. He's helped me before…"
Then she looked back at Duanmu Huai.
"But what are you doing here? Work? The zombies outside…"
"They've been dealt with. I just came to check for any stragglers. Looks like you're the only ones left."
"Are there any other survivors?"
"No one else alive here…"
Duanmu Huai snorted coldly.
"No dead ones either."
"Uh…"
Claire couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Somehow, hearing him sound just like before made her feel much safer.
Meanwhile, Leon had arrived at the top floor of the airport with two elite special-forces operatives in a helicopter. Their mission was to ensure the safety of the senator trapped in the VIP lounge — and to escort him out.
The three opened the door cautiously and swept the area, descending into the corridor — only to stop dead in their tracks at the sight before them.
Under the harsh lights, the corridor was a river of blood. Corpses littered the floor in heaps; heads and bodies were crushed to pulp, and the air reeked of iron and rot.
"Jesus… what the hell?"
One of the agents muttered in horror.
"Was this the zombie attack?"
"No…"
Leon knelt beside a corpse and examined it carefully, frowning.
"They were beaten to death."
"Beaten to death?"
"Look there."
He raised his pistol flashlight toward the wall ahead. There sat a headless body, slumped against the wall, blood splattered everywhere. And right next to it was a fist-shaped crater the size of a cooking pot. One look at that wall told the story — someone had literally punched that person's head off.
"Goddamn… a human did this?"
An agent compared his own hand to the crater — the mark was easily twice the size of his fist.
"Stay sharp. Something's not right."
Leon swallowed hard. The scene brought back bad memories. He knew that sound… that kind of power. He had seen it before — in that nightmare city. Could that monster have followed them here? Was Umbrella still alive and pulling the strings again?
But before he could think more, they reached the VIP lounge — and froze.
The door was completely smashed apart, and the room was empty.
"What the hell happened here?"
"No idea. But we'd better keep looking. Maybe they ran somewhere else to hide."
Leon's unease deepened as he stared at the destroyed doorframe. Could Umbrella have been targeting the senator? Did they plan all this — crash the plane, release the virus — just to eliminate him? But Umbrella was supposed to be long gone… what would they gain from this?
Thud… thud… thud…
His thoughts shattered as heavy footsteps echoed from down the hall. Leon's blood ran cold — that sound was burned into his memory. He had once been hunted endlessly by the owner of that sound, chased until there was nowhere left to run. And now… it was back.
This time, he didn't even have a rocket launcher.
"Shit."
Leon gritted his teeth and raised his gun. He signaled his teammates to follow and crept forward, closing in on the sound. As he reached a corner, he held his breath and peeked around — only for a massive hand to shoot out and grab him by the neck, lifting him off the ground!
"Mmmgh—!!"
Caught off guard, Leon dropped his weapon as the grip tightened. He struggled, drawing his combat knife, but before he could strike, a familiar voice called out—
"Hey! Big guy, stop! He's not our enemy!"
"I can see that."
The moment he heard the voice, Leon was thrown to the floor. Luckily, the thick carpet softened the impact. He rolled, snatched up his gun, and aimed it forward — and froze.
What kind of monster was that?!
In the flashlight beam stood a towering, bald giant — almost tall enough to brush the ceiling. His heavy coat was splattered with blood, and his brutal, scarred face radiated pure menace. The sight made Leon's hands tremble.
This guy was even scarier than the Tyrant!
Just as Leon was deciding whether to shoot or run, a familiar figure appeared behind the giant.
"Hey, Leon!"
"Claire?"
Seeing her, Leon exhaled shakily. He lowered his weapon slightly but kept his eyes on the giant. Then, behind Claire, he saw a little girl, a flight attendant, and… the fat senator — his mission target.
"What the…?"
Leon was completely dumbfounded.
Soon, the two groups joined up, and after exchanging information, they made their way out of the airport together.
But as Leon and Claire exited the building, Duanmu Huai had quietly disappeared again.
"Claire, who the hell is that man?"
Leon turned to her, his tone urgent. He was almost certain this mysterious figure was the same man he'd heard about before. After escorting Ashley back home, he had asked her about her rescuer — and now he was sure this was him.
After all, that outfit, that build, that face — there couldn't possibly be another like him.
Leon had planned to speak with the man after leaving the airport, but somehow, as soon as they stepped outside, Duanmu Huai was gone.
A man that massive… how did he just vanish? How did no one see him leave?
"I don't actually know much about him…"
Normally Claire might have brushed off the question, but Leon was someone she trusted, so she shared what little she knew. The big guy was strong, kind, and ridiculously tough — bullets didn't hurt him, he'd fought a Tyrant hand-to-hand and won. Leon could only stare.
Ashley had said the same — that the man was invincible, shrugging off bullets and blades like they were nothing. Leon had assumed she was exaggerating. Even Tyrants took damage, but this guy? He'd tanked entire mobs of villagers with guns and pitchforks without a scratch. That wasn't human — that was a damn Terminator.
Now, hearing Claire say he'd trained in something called Golden Bell Shield Kung Fu, well… Leon decided that explained it enough.
After all, in Western minds, "kung fu" meant people who could dodge bullets and run up walls — so why not shrug off gunfire too?
But that wasn't the point.
"Do you know why he came here?"
"He said it was for work."
"Work…"
Leon frowned. He remembered Ashley mentioning the same thing — that Duanmu Huai had gone to that village for work… and that "work" had involved exterminating every last cultist there. Thousands dead.
Not one survivor.
Not even a chicken left alive.
And now he was here again — for "work"?
He couldn't possibly mean to wipe out this entire city… right?
"Phew…"
Just then, Claire noticed a convoy pulling up outside the camp. She ran forward.
"Claire!"
Leon followed quickly. They approached as a group of people in white coats unloaded crates from trucks. Claire's eyes widened when she saw the TriUnion Pharmaceuticals logo printed on the containers.
"Why are TriUnion's drugs here?"
"Because they're vaccines."
A calm male voice answered her question. She turned to see a man in a gray suit and glasses watching them with a polite smile.
"Who are you?"
Claire frowned. Before the man could reply, the senator waddled over.
"He's TriUnion's chief researcher. Let me introduce — this is Frederick Doin. He's the one who developed the virus vaccine—"
But before the senator could finish, another voice cut in coldly.
"And he's also the one who released the virus on the flight and at the airport. This man is the culprit behind it all."
Duanmu Huai stepped out from behind the tents like a shadow. With one motion, he grabbed both the senator and the researcher by their throats and lifted them into the air.
"Hey! Stop!"
Leon immediately aimed his gun, while Claire stood frozen in shock.
"What are you saying? Is that true?"
"Of course. I found a TriUnion corpse in the wreckage — along with a note."
Duanmu Huai's voice was flat and cold.
"TriUnion's stock plummeted after the protests. Fearing they'd follow in Umbrella's footsteps, they orchestrated this disaster — unleashing a bioweapon to spread fear, so that people would rush to buy their vaccine, driving profits and stock prices back up. Capitalists — the same scum wherever you go."
"W-wait! Even if that's true, the senator—"
"He's a TriUnion shareholder. That's all you need to know."
Claire went silent. That explained everything. If the senator had investments in TriUnion, then of course he'd want to stop the stock from falling…
"You—you're insane! Let me go!"
The senator thrashed, screaming, but Duanmu Huai's grip only tightened until his voice dwindled to a feeble squeak. The researcher struggled too, gasping.
"You're lying! You have no proof we're guilty—!"
"Proof?"
Duanmu Huai arched a brow.
"The Inquisition does not waste time on trials. Nor do we recognize the innocence of the guilty."
"Wa—wait—"
Before Claire could say another word, Duanmu Huai clenched both fists. In an instant, the heads of both men burst apart, showering blood across the ground.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
The researchers screamed and fled. Leon tightened his grip on his weapon, aiming squarely at Duanmu Huai.
"Do you even realize what you've done? He was a senator!"
"Anyone who threatens the survival of humanity will be purged by the Inquisition — senator, president, it makes no difference."
Duanmu Huai's eyes flicked toward Leon, cold and merciless. Then he nodded to Claire.
"Well, this farce is over. Time for me to get back to work. Let's hope we never meet again."
With that, Duanmu Huai turned and vanished into the shadows. By the time heavily armed soldiers stormed the camp, he was already gone.
The murder of a senator caused immediate chaos; soldiers began scouring the area. But by then, Duanmu Huai had disappeared from the airport like a ghost.
Didn't expect the Raven Guard gene to be this useful.
Moving silently through the shadows, Duanmu Huai mused to himself. In the game, he had never played the assassin archetype, preferring head-on battles. It wasn't that he disliked stealth — on the contrary, he admired the idea of charging through armies to take a commander's head. Unfortunately, stealth builds didn't like him.
The reason was simple — one of the assassin quests required a hundred long-range sniper headshots.
And Duanmu Huai's marksmanship… well, it was about as hopeless as his poker face.
Besides, he had originally started with the Blood Angel Primarch gene in the game — full charisma stats. Whenever trouble appeared, he could just talk his way through it. Even boss fights could be solved with sheer persuasion, summoning hordes of NPCs he'd "charmed" to gang up on the enemy. After that, he'd never bothered with stealth again.
But now, after acquiring the Raven Guard Primarch gene, he found he rather enjoyed this style of movement.
The Raven Guard's stealth was nearly undetectable in darkness, and its Silent Movement specialty completely erased all footsteps, allowing Duanmu Huai to move unseen and unheard.
Of course, it depended on the terrain — he could sneak fine in open areas, but if he ever tried to crawl through a ventilation shaft like in spy movies… he'd get stuck halfway.
Still, the skill was undeniably useful.
Once hidden in the shadows, even if he stood right under someone's nose, they'd never see him.
Just like a certain "box-hiding" stealth operative…
Hmm, though in Duanmu Huai's case, the box would probably have to be a shipping container.
While he mused idly, the headquarters of TriUnion Pharmaceuticals came into view ahead.
Alright. Bonus mission complete. Now…
Duanmu Huai drew a bomb from under his coat, inspecting it calmly.
Time to get to work.
(End of chapter)