14 Chapter 14 - End of Ansel Town

(Yes, I ripped off Resident Evil)

"Shit shit shit! Those Atlesian bastards caught up to us!"

"What should we do now? Our project had barely matured! The virus strain is still too volatile to be used by humans. We would turn into mindless beasts if we did." Another researcher spoked with a worried look as he frantically ran his eyes over the research papers in his hands.

The gathering of men in white coats silenced as they looked at each other before they lay their eyes on their leader, knowing what would come out of his mouth next. Yet, none of them are ready for such sacrifices. But their passion for revenge and hate ran deeper than their fear.

"We have no choice but to accelerate our work. We have at most few hours, five if the cannon fodders are proven to be useful." The leader spoke and the others shuddered. "We have run out of test subjects and I hope all of you are willing to sacrifice for our justice."

"For our justice!" The assembly of researchers shouted in great fervor and passion.

They wasted most of their lives slaving away for the Atlesian future yet they were discarded the moment they became useless. None of them are willing to let their effort become vain due to those useless politicians and military officers that are ignorant to the field of science and what they can do for the future of humanity. They will show those who look down on their sweat and blood how wrong they were.

"Let me be first." Someone stood up and volunteered himself.

The others clap their hands and praise their comrade while the leader smiles enigmatically.

————

Four hours later, in the makeshift research lab. Only two of the original 8 researchers left.

"We did it! We perfected the virus strain! With this we will become the new human! The new master of Remnant!" The excited researcher shouted with joy while marveling at the artificial incubation pod filled with green fluid and inside is a human that looks too muscular and tall with a grayed skin that looks like it's made of metal rather than flesh.

"Of course! I did it."

*Bang!*

The leader shot the researcher dead with a pistol to his head while his guard was down.

"After all, there can only be one Alpha. I will be the new god of the world. Hahahahahahaha!" He laughed maniacally while he tapped a button that injects a red solution into the incubation pod and dissolved the perfected specimen.

He walked to the terminal and rapidly tapped the keyboard before a vial of blue serum inside a cartridge popped out.

"The progenitor virus finally is completed." He suppressed his chuckle as he took the cartridge before he produced a syringe gun from under his coat and loaded up the cartridge. "I don't care if you are a god or a devil. But my soul is a small price for my revenge… my sweet sweet revenge."

He placed the gun on his arm before injecting himself with the virus. He look as the serum emptied into his arm which immediately popped dense blue veins as his body rapidly mutated.

"Wait for me, Lily, Anne, Henry. The world shall pay for their sin and I will make sure of it even if I have to sell my soul to the devil." He grit his teeth tightly, remembering his loved one as he gathered his willpower to survive his transformation.

———

Back at the cavern, Adam looks at the giant red pod, yet to burst and attack them like he assumed.

No, it just steadily pulsates.

"Is it not yet fully incubated?" Adam wondered as he helped the Atlesian Specialists and Winter with his First Aid skill to heal their injury.

"Whatever the reason is, it's good news for us if what's inside never gets out." Winter said as she looked curiously at the blue mist that surrounded her wound and made it rapidly close up.

"But we still have to destroy it." Adam sighed. "Can you all set the dynamite?" He turned to the Specialists.

The Specialists aren't keen on taking orders from someone else even if the person is possibly Winter's missing brother. They turn to Winter for her order and receive a nod from her.

"We will." They said and left to set the charges.

Seeing that Winter is alright, he let her rest aside and turn to his companions.

"How did I do, Master?" Alice gazed at him with her big glowing eyes filled to the brim with cuteness.

"You did great, Alice." He smiled and pet her head. Making her blushes and melt under his arm.

"Here, Master. Your mask." Alice took out his mask that was removed by Agent previously. It was cleaned although clumsily as there is still some faint bloodstain.

"Thanks, Alice. You did great." He pet her more which made her giggle in joy until someone coughed and made Alice immediately glare at the offender for ruining her happy time.

"Ahem. I think our job is not yet done, Master. You can indulge her as much as you want after we are out of here." Agent said and handed Adam the shotgun she is using because no more ammunition is appearing to reload the gun.

Adam took it and saw it's out of ammunition. He quickly buys two thousand bullets and gives it back to her as he does the same to Alice's gun, the Sub-light COM2 which is also quite low, only two hundred left of the ten thousand he had before he gave her the gun.

After he finished buying ammunition for all guns including the one he lent to Winter, the Specialists already laid down all the dynamite in such a way that they could detonate it all in one go.

Obviously, everyone retreated back to the elevator. The farthest away from the explosion and Winter even suggests creating a shield because this explosion is gonna be very powerful.

Then.

*BOOOOMM!*

An earthshaking explosion destroyed the giant red pod.

After the explosion ended, what remained was a crater and a black charred, unrecognizable corpse.

"We did it!" One of the Specialists cheered which gained a glare from Adam.

But before he could scold that bastard for jinxing. The corpse opened its eye. It was a one eyed cyclops with a bloodshot eye. Its body moved and twitched before starting to stitch its wound and reconnect the separated limbs.

"Don't you know it's common sense not to tempt fate?" Adam hissed and quickly raised his gun and opened fire at the giant Grimm that's probably 5 meters tall and very muscular too like the Armored Titan.

His bullets look like BBs compared to its body.

Everyone joined in the battle and Winter summoned a Manticore again and sent it to pin down the monster but it simply caught the Manticore by its jaw and threw it to a wall like nothing, ripping the jaw and using it to throw it at Alice and Agent shooting at the back.

Winter and her Specialists engaged in frontal combat, making use of their greater physical prowess to dodge the monster that thankfully isn't too agile or else they are fucked.

"Hey, can you lock it in place for a moment?" Adam shouted to Winter.

"I try." Winter nods and guesses he will use the Artillery Strike again.

Winter creates a large white glyph under the monster which immediately bursts out with ice and locks its lower limbs.

*Boom!* x3

The Artillery shell hit the monster head on and exploded a big part of its flesh but it immediately started regenerating again which left everyone but Adam in dismay because he, an veteran RPG gamer, didn't believe an enemy had no weakness at all.

And surely, the monster is now smaller than it previously was. Perhaps destroying its flesh again and again will eventually make it run out of vitality? biomass? Whatever it is that it needs to regenerate. But the problem is his Artillery Strike has a long cooldown.

"Don't stop! Keep destroying its flesh!" Adam shouted to everyone.

Agent finally got her cue, lift up her skirt which attracted a few confused gaze but quickly disappeared when four laser cannons popped up and started blasting the monster into charred corpses again.

This time, everyone saw the monster indeed getting thinner as its flesh kept getting burnt away by the lasers.

Adam got up close and blasted its legs with his shotgun and assault rifle to cripple its leg, forcing it to its knee and making its head easier to aim with its limited agility to evade. One of the Specialists with a warhammer smashes its head with a powerful strike, causing it to crack open like a watermelon and another somehow able to conjure lightning to cover her sword which electrocuted the monster and stunned it.

Everyone ganged on the monster and kept smashing, slashing, stabbing and shooting it until it stopped moving and regenerating. Even then, Adam and a few continue attacking for a little longer to make sure it stays dead.

"We-"

"Don't you dare!"

The guy that jinxed the monster is about to do it one more time but with the blade and gun aimed at him, he respectfully holds himself back and stays silent.

Everyone awkwardly looked at the now shriveled corpse and at each other not knowing what came next.

"We should take a short rest before searching for the traitors." The exhausted Winter said to her subordinates who nodded and took a quick rest but Adam remained dazed as he looked a little shocked. In a bad way.

[Objective completed.]

[Prologue of the Disaster]

-You have found out the proof that Infected are present in the mining town, Ansel. However, you didn't expect to find an entire incubation nest inside the mine. Destroy all the nests.

Reward

- 75,000 XP

- 150,000 $

- 1 Nantonium Strongbox

- 2 Thulium Strongboxes

[New Objective]

[Prologue of the Disaster]

-The Progenitor Virus had been perfected and the first Awakener had been born. An Awakener is a human mutated by the zombie virus but still retained his intelligence and gained superhuman power. His goal is to turn all humans into zombies which will obey his order as the Alpha in his pursuit to end all injustice, war and conflict of Remnant.

Objective

Main: Survive the encounter.

Optional: Defeat the Awakened Human.

Reward

- Unlock, Recruit Operators

- Reward depending on Performing Grade

'Definitely not ominous…' Adam thought in his mind also, isn't Progenitor Virus from Resident Evil? Is the enemy going to be Mr X? Albert Wesker 2.0? He is too afraid to ask.

Adam looks at Winter and her subordinates' state. They look very ragged and exhausted. Their body didn't have many injuries with their convenient Aura that provides accelerated regeneration. But their white clothes are ripped here and there and filthy with dirt and stains. However, being an equivalent of a special force, they show great mental fortitude to lose grip of themselves no matter how tired they feel.

As for Adam. He is just a normal human with limited stamina. He is sure of that unless there is something that his System modified and he is not aware of. But he honestly didn't feel any exhaustion. He chalks off the possibility that his body's previous owner trained very religiously as Whitley is anything but that. His bet is the cocktail of stimulants he keel injecting himself that lingers in his body. That's his most logical explanation.

Adam spends what little time he has on Augmenting his shotgun with the money he just got which is shown to be quite reliable and packed great firepower. He would definitely need this if there will be a difficult battle.

Suddenly, Winter approaches him with her group of Specialists, ready to continue their mission. Agent already did what was asked of her and revealed there is indeed a hollow space below this place but she didn't manage to find the entrance after scanning it multiple times.

"Where is it?" Winter asked and Agent kindly pointed out the location at a corner and Winter immediately loaded a special ammunition into her sword and blasted the ground open like it's nothing.

At that moment, Adam hesitated if he should follow because his objective stated his main objective is to survive and killing the Awakened Human is optional. Usually if something like that is mentioned in a game, it would mean the target is very difficult to kill, it would take considerable skill to achieve it thus killing the target isn't the main objective.

But he wondered why? Why would surviving be the main objective while killing the culprit of the soon to happen Zombie Outbreak be optional? Wouldn't stopping the culprit be more important? Unless killing the culprit wouldn't stop the outbreak as it will happen regardless.

Logically speaking, someone smart would definitely create a backup plan in case something went south. If he were the culprit, Adam would create a failsafe that would ensure his plan went as wished in case he failed on his own.

'No, wait. The description said the goal of this place is to perfect the Progenitor Virus that will turn him into Awakener. Then the one used on the Grimm is the imperfect ones…' Adam came into a realization.

The Grimm had already been infected way earlier. From the moment he entered Ansel and fought the first Mutated Beowolf. The Virus already been used and succeeded. What if the abnormal Grimm activities back at Reach are also caused by the Mutated Grimms? It would explain a lot. Wouldn't that mean the virus already spread long before he arrived at Ansel?

Stopping the Awakened Human will not stop the outbreak that had already spread. It would make sense no one noticed it yet because people rarely leave their settlement due to the Grimm. No one will know what happened outside their settlement and the outbreak had infected the Grimm first.

Adam immediately snapped out from his daze to a few worried faces looking at his face that no doubt had shown quite a colorful reaction.

"What's wrong Master? Did something happen?" Agent narrowed her eyes and hinted about his System which she and Alice are well aware of.

"Sort of." Adam nodded off and looked at Winter who was staring at him and Agent with a confused look.

"What happened?" Winter asks with well hidden displeasure on how close Adam is with Agent. Who she suspected is someone from the nonexistent organization sent to reign in Adam. She dismissed Alice as one because of how simple-minded she looked and acted.

"What would you do if I tell you the traitor you are looking for is not something we can defeat even when working together?"

"I would still try my best to arrest him and bring him back to Atlas to be judged for his crime." Winter answered with a frown. "Although I doubt a group of researchers would be difficult to arrest."

"About that… what if he had already mutated by the virus and became stronger than the cyclop we just fought against?"

"That's…" Winter paused for a moment instead of answering immediately. Her confidence fell apart because the last fight had taken a lot from them and none of them are capable of fighting another similar battle, much less so if the enemy is even stronger.

Instead of answering, Winter narrowed her eyes at Adam with suspicion. "How would you know? Is it that SAS group of yours informing you?" She asked.

"Yes and my objective now is to leave here as soon as possible. The outbreak had happened outside of Ansel, the Mutated Grimms are spreading the infection outside as we speak."

"As soon as I did, I will collapse the mine with the dynamite charges." Adam holds back the sentence that hope it would be enough to kill the Awakened Human.

It came with no surprise that Winter and her Specialists didn't take what Adam said kindly. He literally said come with him or get buried alive in the mine. But they also understand that is their only way to kill the traitors because none of them are capable of taking on another fight of such level.

"Fine then. But we will have a talk about this later." Winter begrudgingly accept it as she herself know that if what Adam said is true, then going down into the lab is nothing but suicidal.

"Good. Let's leave quickly." Adam turned to his back and ran to the elevator with Winter and the Specialists.

It's a tight fit with their numbers and the small elevator cab. But everyone fit in after Adam send Alice and Agent into his inventory which earn him some stares for magically making people vanish like how he made his guns appear.

Just as the elevator reached half way up.

*ROOOAAARRRR!*

The loud roar sent intense vibrations all over the place and even affected the people. If Adam were to guess what it was, his best guess would be that the Boss finally finished his transformation.

With a smug look, he stares at Winter and her pale subordinates. Winter caught his smug look and simply turned her face away with a huff. Her subordinates are surprised how the usually cold Winter would act like this. Then again, rumor said her soft side is her family, except her father.

When they reached above the hole, they all stepped out and Winter destroyed the elevator before they quickly ran all the way back to the town above. However, it looks like their way out wouldn't be smooth.

"I was wondering what that shout was for…" Adam took out his guns and summoned operators and he spearheaded the group, gunning down the Mutated Grimms blocking their path with firepower.

Winter and the Specialists wanted to help but Adam discouraged them.

"Leave the small fries to me. You all help when there is powerful Grimm. Conserve your energy." Adam said.

"Alright." Winter agreed.

It take Adam quite some effort to kill the larger ones but Beowolves which is the most numerous are easier to kill because those idiots always open their jaw wide to bite him when they get close but they also exposed their softer flesh inside their mouth instead which his Ronson 5x5 and Raptor shred through easily compared to the Ursai and Beringals

After running and fighting for god knows how long, they finally reached the upper section of the mine. His breaths are long and deep, hungrily taken in air while his entire body is already sore that not even Adrenaline Shot can help stave off after taking more than a dozen of them. He even wonders when he will feel the withdrawal symptoms. Maybe he already did with his heart beating like a drum in his chest cavity like it's going to burst at any moment.

"You guys have your Bullhead outside right?" Adam asks while they are running up the tunnel leading back to Ansel.

"Yes. We have a team securing the Bullhead outside. Hopefully nothing happened to them." Winter replied with a tinge of worry after looking at the relentless stream of Mutated Grimms pouring in.

"Alright… one last push then." Adam mutters with his face turning very pale and signs of fatigue are becoming more and more obvious.

Overclocking his performance isn't without price. To keep up with Winter and the Specialist, Adam burns off too much energy and his constant regeneration too has taken a toll on him as his body is burning more fuel. But when the fuel ran out, his body was slowly being cannibalized by the nanites to maintain his physical performance.

Internally, he mused at the thought of fattening himself up a little to have spare fuel to burn during an emergency is probably something he needed to look into later.

"Ansel is just ahead." Someone informed and Adam looked grimly at the endless stream of black creatures pouring in which meant they were surrounded once they went out.

"It's infested by Grimms we will be surrounded the moment we leave the tunnel."

"I have a plan." Adam suddenly slowed and said. "Let me go out and thin down the Grimm first. Then you all leave after I give the signal."

"What signal? Winter interjected for a moment.

Adam turned to her with an odd stare and said, "You know it when you hear it." Then he summoned Reinforcement again before he pushed through the horde of Grimms while relying on his durability that came from his skill and armor to soak up the damage.

Gritting his teeth, Adam pushes himself out of the tunnel with his summoned operators forming a human shield in front of him. He just needed to have a line of sight outside the tunnel to call an Artillery Strike. His Health Bar slowly trickles down from green to yellow.

The moment he saw the square outside, he used his skills to call for the Artillery Strike and use Die Another Day to overcharge his barrier.

*Thump!*

*Boom!* x2

The Artillery Strike devastated the square with shells larger than a person and the explosion following its impact reduced the life expectancy of anything in its radius, down six feet under.

Winter knows this is the signal. Together with her Specialists, she pushes themselves out from the tunnel and she immediately summons a Manticore with what energy remaining that she could muster. She couldn't summon it in the tunnel previously because it's a cramped space. But in the town square, it's a large open space.

"I got him, Ma'am!" Someone caught Adam that is at the verge of passing out and trying to give something to his rescuer.

"Good, let's leave this hellhole." Winter sighed tiredly and urged the Manticore to fly out to the landing pad.

However when they arrived, The Bullhead was nowhere to be seen and Mutated Grimms overran the place. From the base of the mountain, an endless stream of black, red and white crawling up the mountain in hordes like an ocean of black tar trying to engulf the mountain.

*Bzzt*

"Ma'am! This is the pilot speaking." A radio transmission interrupted the despairing Winter and her subordinates.

"Where is the Bullhead?" Winter asked with a hopeful voice.

"On your left, Ma'am. I will open the hatch, please board immediately."

Winter turned to her left and saw the Bullhead was descending from above, probably trying to evade any aerial Grimm. Without any more delay, she fly the Manticore to the Bullhead and quickly boards it with her passengers before she dismisses her summons.

The Bullhead is closing its hatch when she remembers they hadn't blown up the mine.

"Ma'am, I think this is what you are looking for?" The Specialist that carried Adam handed Winter a device that looked like a detonator with a single red button.

Winter tapped the button and after a few seconds, a loud bang was heard. The explosion was so powerful that half of it collapsed and caved in, taking Ansel together with it.

After that, she was too tired to even speak anymore as she took a seat and immediately caught up by her exhaustion. Not just her but most of them that are a part of Winter's team did while the four that are tasked to guard the Bullhead wonder what the hell happened for them to immediately pass out from exhaustion after they are out of danger.

—————

(I rushed a lot at the end… but it's alright, right?

Anyway, any ideas or suggestions are welcomed.)

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