"Raccoon City, Upper District, Fox Street, Apartment 202."
"Good. I know where you live, and I know where you work."
"Don't even think about skipping your payment today, or..."
The three of them exchanged brief introductions. Before leaving, Mero obtained Rebecca's home address and, just in case, recorded a short video of her. Of course, it was fully clothed Mero never did anything truly illegal. Well, almost never.
Satisfied, Mero put away the camera. "As the old saying goes in my homeland: 'To hear the Way in the morning and die in the evening is acceptable.'"
"Wait, you mean… if you find my address in the morning, you could kill me by night?" Rebecca froze, taken aback. People from Eastern lands could be so ruthless killing over debts without a second thought. Yet, the thought lingered: if Mero didn't come to her that day, would she already be doomed?
"Smart… that's roughly the idea," Mero said, joking.
Rebecca hesitated, then replied, "Then… then you should come sooner."
Billy remained silent. He remembered that Rebecca had mentioned Mero was a direct agent under the National Security Council, yet somehow, he didn't exactly feel reassured. Still, he knew Mero had saved Rebecca's life, so he didn't aim his gun at the mysterious agent.
"All right, stop standing there. Let's get on the freight elevator. If we're lucky, a car will be waiting for us at the top."
"And if not, we'll still reach the surface directly. Freedom and hope are just ahead."
Mero's words had a casual air, as if the earlier photo and video recording were the work of a petty illegal loan officer, not him.
Finally, the indicator lights flickered, and the three of them activated the freight elevator. Rebecca and Billy exhaled deeply. Relief, not joy more like surviving a brush with death. No one wanted to linger in this cursed place for even a second longer.
As she reached to press the switch…
"Where are you going? I was just about to welcome you. Why the rush?"
A man in a white robe appeared atop the elevated walkway, his sudden presence startling everyone. The escape route was right below them, yet this unexpected development made Rebecca and Billy hesitate. Even Mero was slightly surprised. He was surprised that the hidden mastermind would dare show himself.
The long-haired man glanced at Mero with a smile.
"Ah, look who we have here… Mero Wesker! Spencer's little puppet, your performance has exceeded my expectations."
He looked genuinely delighted, showing no trace of hostility or lethal intent. His demeanor even made Rebecca feel a little intrigued. Mero's name was genuine, but the surname differed. Or rather, the name he had shared seemed more authentic, fitting his Eastern appearance.
"Welcome, young guests. I'm pleased you could join this slightly insane party."
"You are my distinguished visitors. I hope you'll stay awhile it will be your farewell."
Mero didn't respond. The middle-aged man, however, continued speaking, strolling with an elegant gait.
"Who are you?" Rebecca couldn't help but ask.
In that instant, the man's hair and eyebrows turned gray. The young-looking thirty-something transformed into an elderly figure in the blink of an eye.
"Dr. Marcus?" Billy exclaimed. Recognition struck him immediately. The building was filled with portraits and photographs of an older Marcus.
"No… impossible," Rebecca murmured, disbelief etched on her face. "What's going on?"
Marcus sneered. "Ten years ago, Spencer sent assassins after me while I was in the middle of an experiment. Bullets shattered the lab equipment, and the Queen Leech happened to enter my body."
"Then, something extraordinary happened. The T-virus inside the Queen Leech took years, but it gave me new life."
"I survived, and I became stronger. Now, I will take my revenge on Umbrella. This world will burn in the fire of my hatred."
The more Marcus spoke, the wilder his gestures became. His hands flailed, his body twisted, as if the weight of his hatred or the T-virus itself had unhinged his mind.
Mero remained silent, not out of embarrassment at being discovered, but because he simply didn't care about this old lunatic a mutated leech creature. Strength or no, he was insignificant. After all, Mero had a Barrett M82A2 sniper rifle on his back.
The M82A2 the kind of firepower that could pierce a blue whale from a kilometer away. For ordinary people, superhuman strength or speed might make a monster formidable. But in Mero's hands, even the strongest flesh-and-blood creatures were trash.
Billy raised his pistol and aimed at Marcus.
"So all of this… it's your doing. You created the T-virus, deliberately unleashed it, and turned innocent people into zombies! You will pay for what you've done."
Mero trusted Rebecca's words.
"Then let's see who dies first."
Marcus laughed maniacally, vomiting a torrent of murky fluid. His muscles twisted and writhed as if breaking out of his skin like a chrysalis.
At the same time, alarms blared, red lights flashing in the corners of the ceiling.
"The self-destruct system has been activated! The self-destruct system has been activated!"
The shrill electronic tone filled the lab. Rebecca's eyes widened.
"Self-destruct?"
Bang!
A thunderous explosion echoed beside her as Marcus's head erupted, splattering crimson across the floor. The floor became a canvas of jagged, grotesque wounds. The red light reflected off his corpse, blood pooling everywhere.
The freight elevator activated simultaneously. Alarms reverberated, yet the rapid ascent made time feel like it was speeding up.
Rebecca glanced back and saw Mero standing at the console, shrugging as he held the Barrett. Only this heavy sniper rifle could produce such thunderous force. Regardless of what monstrous form Marcus had taken, in front of this weapon, he was fragile.
Rebecca and Billy were momentarily frozen, stunned by Mero's decisive and efficient action.
Is this what a National Security Council super agent looks like?
"Not waiting for the final boss transformation, I see?" Mero put the Barrett away.
It wasn't that he didn't want combat data from Marcus. It was simply that the self-destruct countdown gave them only five minutes. Any prolonged battle with a mutated Marcus would greatly increase the risk.