The distance wasn't far—just a half-circle around the perimeter of the Police Station. After exiting the Parking lot, Lear quickly arrived back at the police station main gate. Just as he raised his hand to push the door open, he heard the crack of gunfire and a deafening roar coming from inside.
Lear froze for a split second before drawing his pistol and charging inside. As soon as he entered the Main Hall, he saw a Parasite behind Claire, preparing for a sneak attack. Without hesitation, he lunged forward and crushed the Parasite under his boot. Foul-smelling, yellowish-brown fluid instantly splattered all over his trousers.
"Officer Lear! You're back!" Claire cried out in pleasant surprise, spinning around the moment she heard the commotion behind her.
Lear gave a slight nod of acknowledgment and immediately raised his gun to fire at the monster not far away. At the same time, he thought to himself: Isn't this a G-Adult? Why is it here!
Lear didn't panic. Since he knew it was a G-Adult, he knew exactly how to handle it. He fired several shots to successfully draw the G-Adult's attention, then shouted to Leon behind it.
"Its weakness is the eye on its back! Blow it out!"
Leon didn't reply but fired several consecutive shots at the eye on the G-Adult's back. Then, taking advantage of the creature curling up in pain, he pulled out a dagger and sprinted toward it, plunging the blade deep into the eye on its back.
Wracked with agony, the G-Adult shook its body violently. Leon endured the intense thrashing while clinging to its back, stabbing it several more times. Finally, with a powerful flick of his wrist, he sliced through the eye on the G-Adult's back, causing thick, foul-smelling yellowish-brown liquid to spray out.
The creature, which had been struggling violently, instantly went rigid and fell straight to the floor. Leon tumbled off its back and slid several meters across the ground before performing a roll and standing upright.
Watching Leon's clean and decisive performance, Lear couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration in his heart. As expected of Leon S. Kennedy—even his juvenile form is formidable. Beside him, however, Claire was once again left in a state of utter bewilderment.
"Is this normal? Is this the standard for Raccoon City Police Department recruitment?"
"Huh?" Lear was stunned for a moment before explaining with a smile, "Leon is an outlier. There aren't many in the department as capable as him."
"Is that so..." Claire turned her head silently, looking at the Tyrant's corpse still lying on the floor in the corner.
"That... that was only possible because of an adrenaline rush at the time..." Lear scratched his head, his tone inevitably sounding a bit awkward.
He had just remembered that even if you didn't count the S.T.A.R.S. protagonists and Wesker, the Raccoon City Police Department patrol officers like Marvin, Elliot, and David were far more capable than police officers elsewhere.
Faced with Lear's forced explanation, the corner of Claire's mouth couldn't help but twitch. She looked at him with a speechless expression. "Fine, I'll take your word for it..."
At that moment, Leon ran over, his tone filled with excitement. "Senior! How was that? Did I do okay? I didn't embarrass the department, did I?"
"Quite impressive. Among rookie cops, there are very few with skills like yours."
Lear smiled and joined in the praise. Watching this scene, Claire wore an expression that clearly said, I knew it. As the group chatted, Alyssa, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.
"Have any of you thought about where this thing came from? As far as I know, the police station isn't in the habit of keeping things like this."
Prompted by Alyssa's reminder, Leon and Claire immediately reacted, telling Lear about the strange zombie they had seen in the Darkroom.
Hearing their description, Lear's heart sank: William had been here!
That zombie with its chest and abdomen torn open had certainly been injected with a G-Young by William while it was still alive. The fact that the parasite eventually burst from the chest proved that the Infected lacked compatibility with the G-Virus. This G-Adult before them, however, must have possessed some level of compatibility with the virus, allowing it to survive.
Furthermore, it had been no more than two days since he and Jill's group left this place, which meant this thing had transformed into this state within forty-eight hours.
Thinking of this, Lear couldn't help but frown deeply. The mutation speed of G-Virus hosts far exceeded the original timeline. Combined with the previously encountered Nemesis, which had shown a completely different evolutionary form, Lear felt as though things were spiraling out of his control.
Leon and the others were unaware of the thoughts churning in Lear's mind. Seeing him frown, Leon asked tentatively.
"Senior, have you seen this kind of monster before?"
"What? Oh, no, I haven't. I was just wondering how this thing got in. When we were holding the police station two days ago, we didn't see any monsters like this."
Lear couldn't explain the properties of the G-Virus or William's existence, so he could only offer that explanation. Leon and the others didn't give it much further thought.
Just as everyone was wondering where the creature came from, the doors to the Police Station Lobby were pushed open. Wearing a trench coat and high heels, Ada stepped inside.
Her gaze immediately fell upon the corpse of the G-Adult on the floor, and a mysterious glint flashed in her eyes. Then, her attention shifted to the group.
"Ada Wong, FBI senior agent." She pulled out her ID Card again and flashed it before Leon and the others. "I'm looking for a journalist named Ben Bertolucci. He has evidence of the Umbrella Corporation's crimes in his possession. Have any of you seen him?"
Ada exuded an aura of professional competence that momentarily stunned Claire and the others, leaving them silent for a moment.
After a brief pause, Leon spoke up with a slightly nervous tone: "Um... I found his journalist license, but I haven't seen the man himself."
Ada's eyes lit up instantly. "Where?"
"You might not need to look for him anymore, Ms. Ada." Just as Leon was about to explain, Lear, who had been crouching by the G-Adult to examine it, suddenly interrupted.
He stood up, picked some tattered scraps of clothing from the monster's mangled body, and held them out to Ada. "If I'm not mistaken, this monster is Ben Bertolucci."
Ada took the fragments, gave them a cursory glance, and tossed them aside. Her expression instantly turned somber, her voice tinged with regret: "It seems Mr. Bertolucci's luck ran out. If only I had arrived a step sooner, perhaps he wouldn't have ended up like this."
Ada's acting was superb. While she didn't fool Lear, Leon and Claire failed to see through her. Both wore heavy expressions, though Alyssa, standing to the side, watched Ada with a wary gaze.
"Miss Ada, don't worry, Mr. Bertolucci's sacrifice won't be in vain. The Umbrella Corporation will definitely be brought to justice!" Leon said with righteous conviction.
Ada narrowed her eyes slightly, a faint smile playing on her lips. "Thank you, officer. And your name is?"
Leon blinked, then quickly replied: "Leon S. Kennedy, I just started today. I'm a rookie cop."
"Oh, Officer Leon." Ada nodded slightly, then shook her head. "I'm heading to the Umbrella Corporation research facility next. It's very dangerous and not suitable for an ordinary police officer, but I appreciate your help nonetheless."
"No! Miss Ada, I'm a Raccoon City police officer. No matter how dangerous it is, we're going. It's our duty," Leon interrupted firmly.
"Wait! We?!" Lear, who had been a mere spectator until now, was suddenly caught in the crossfire. He looked bewildered. "When you say 'we,' does that include me?"
"Of course, Senior. You're not going?"
Seeing the inscrutable smile on Ada's face, Lear nodded silently. "I'm going. We'll go together." At the same time, he secretly missed Jill. Jill was so much better—sincere and kind!
At that moment, Claire also declared she was going. As she put it:
"Now that I know, I can't just stand by and do nothing."
Alyssa, who had remained silent, saw that everyone was determined to head to the Umbrella laboratory and could only nod in agreement. And so, the party of four made their brief preparations and set out toward the sewer, bound for the Umbrella Corporation research facility.
(Translated by yourtl.app)