Wasted Efforts

Bang!

The resurrected soldier fell on the floor. Blood oozed from his forehead, as I held my neck. I couldn't stop myself from squirming. My back was drenched with sweat every time I thought about it. I... I was bitten.

[Could you calm down, Sir?]

Or so was I thought.

"It touches me... I feel... dirty!"

One of the soldiers suddenly turned into a zombie and then attacked me. I was caught off-guard by it and allowed him to approach me. Thank God I already Reinforce my equipment.

When I bought the black Military suit, plus the helmet. I asked Stark Industries to send along descriptions or simple manufacturing handbooks of these items beforehand. Although they agreed, they only sent the basic handbook. But, it still allowed them to get a Moderate buff at least.

The best thing about them was that the whole equipment was made to complement each other, and they counted as set equipment. Aside from an increase in durability, defense, hardness, and single item abilities, they gave me two special buffs as a set effect. Minimize presence in darkness and immunity to surprise attack.

That last buff really saved my life. It was so OP because it was a set equipment, not a single item like my white trenchcoat. If only I could reach the next stage, the High-level buff, I might have gotten another OP buff. I have to ask Stark Industries for their manufacturing design. Without that buff, I would have turned into a zombie before the outbreak even started.

With a single shot to his forehead, the zombie simply collapsed on the floor, but I still couldn't shrug the experience off. We were basically playing in Hardcore mode, there was no turning back.

I immediately reach into my pocket and turned on the communication device Nick Fury gave me.

"Nick! I couldn't prevent it! At this rate, the virus would infect the whole city!" I was practically yelling in the intercom.

"Calm down, Killswitch. Tell me the details," replied Nick. I began to narrate the whole story to him. I purposely add some bits from the games, saying that I saw it from the command center.

"So you say that the rats somehow ingested the virus and flee to the sewer system?"

"Yes. And what makes it even worse is that the NEST facility was connected to Victory lake where the Water Treatment Plant was built. If... somehow it got contaminated..." I didn't dare to continue my words, and let Nick imagine it himself.

"Then the whole city would be turned upside down in a single night." Nick pinched the root of his nose and started thinking immediately. "Your main task, for now, is to turn off the water pipes connected to the city. I'll send Black Widow and Hawkeye to assist you, but you have to move alone immediately. I will ask the mayor to make an announcement for the citizens to stop consuming the water supply."

"Got it!" I answered. I wanted to go straight into the sewer system, but there's not enough space for me to move inside. So, I decided to find the NEST's main entrance instead.

A moment later, I heard another roar and gunshots, a signal for another fight somewhere inside. I traced the source of the sounds and run toward it. Once I was almost at the corner, black smoke covered my body as I vanished into Stealth.

There was a group of soldiers in front of me, which I recognized instantly from their futuristic equipment. The U.S.S. Delta team. The most ordinary-looking one seemed to be HUNK because only he could survive attacks from B.O.W.s. He also looked out of place among these psychopaths, the Wolfpack. In the game, Wolfpack was portrayed as a ruthless and crazy group of soldiers, but still one of the best teams, Umbrella ever had.

While they were busy engaging the mutated William, I keep observing the fight without revealing myself. I don't want them to know me yet nor do I want to have anything to do with them. I was only interested in their ability and equipment. Although they could keep up, for now, I could see that they were slowly being pushed to the edge.

As the battle keep tilting toward William's side, they were forced to fall back. They withdrew toward a nearby elevator. However, HUNK didn't take the elevator for himself. He chose to stay behind to look for the dropped G-Virus. Too bad, it was all destroyed.

He might have been an elite soldier, worthy of the name Grim Reaper or Death, but his decision making was so bad. He could have fled for now until William moved out of his way, but he just had to follow the so-called orders immediately. Not knowing that they were already abandoned by the Corporation. He also didn't think of the possibility that the sample might have been destroyed.

Well, not now, but when the outbreak commenced, Umbrella would give them the last order and simply abandon them to their demise.

[Watch carefully, Sir. You might learn one or two things.]

"You seemed to be interested, Regina." The Stealth ability also nullified my voice, but I could still communicate with Regina just fine.

Soon after, I heard the last word HUNK said, "Let me show you my Perfect Run."

I was startled, but not by his words. His bearings changed as well as his aura, "it... was not just a simple gibberish. Is it his ability?"

[To be exact, one of his abilities. It was the advanced form of his basic ability.] explained Regina.

"Basic? Do you know him, Regina?" I asked.

[It's just a simple guess, Sir. Don't mind it.] replied Regina. But I didn't think it was just a simple guess though.

Damn it. How many secrets did my Assistant hold? Should I use the absolute question to ask everything out of her later?

As I was contemplating, HUNK started to move. William forcefully yanked a metal plating on the floor and hurled it toward him, but the latter just lightly jumped and the plate passed under him. The metal plating bounced back and land near his feet, prompting HUNK to grab it as he simply ran straight toward William.

"What is he doing? He's going to get struck by William if he didn't change his course." I commented.

However, HUNK immediately answered my doubt with his action. When the pipe William struck him with, fell in front of him, HUNK perfectly timed it with his evasion. With a single rotation, he evaded both the pipe and William's huge body with less than 1 cm gap between them, almost grazing him.

Once he was behind William, HUNK jumped forward and shot his AR-15 to his left. Aiming for the hydrogen pipes. The gas instantly ignited and exploded, sending shockwaves around it. HUNK lightly jumped and put the metal sheet on his back to use the shockwave as a propeller to move him far away.

Although his armor could protect him from the fire, the shockwave could still hurt him. The plate worked both as protection and his rides. He flew a few meters further while William was thrown back, widening the distance between them.

My jaw dropped as I watch HUNK bending physics and common senses.

"Ahh... I think I was really bitten by the zombie and it made me hallucinated." I chuckled and clap my hands as I try to dismiss everything that I saw earlier.

While I was escaping reality, the thrown rose and threw the pipe in his hand. But HUNK didn't even look back. He just lowers his body as if he had another pair of eyes at the back of his head. The rotation of the pipe was perfectly timed with his crouching as it rotated over his shoulder without it even touching him.

Without waiting for me to process any of that, HUNK used the same move again. He shot the pipe and flew further. By utilizing the pushing force, he started running once he landed. He traveled the 100-meter distance only using explosions.

'Is this how speedrunners act in real life?'

But it makes sense. In the game, HUNK was created to move as fast as possible with a countdown on top of the screen. Pushing the player to move as effectively as possible like speedrunners.

Now that he was gone, I was left alone with William. Should I try to kill it or leave it alone? I need to prioritize my main task though, but the elevator still needs some time until it arrived again.

I put them at the back of my head and decided to face William instead. This was the best time to end him once and for all, as he hadn't evolved to the second stage yet.

William still couldn't see me yet. If it was those Genma Nemesis, they might have instantly attacked me because of my beacon-like gauntlet.

Black smoke started to surround me as I appeared behind him.

BAM! BOOM BOOM BOOM...!

I didn't waste my chance as I summoned Blackbeard in my hand. I also used its ability, Dark Blast. The chain of explosion smashed him to the wall, impaling him to a protruding pipe that was caused by explosions from HUNK's speedrun.

His back started disintegrating like dust, showing the organs, but his body started to regenerate much faster than I expected. In a matter of seconds, thos missing parts were healed, even if it looked much grotesque.

As I prepared to shoot another Dark Blast, Regina spoke, [You need to stop, Sir. You're just hastening his evolution.]

"What do you mean?" I asked.

[Your gauntlet was crafted solely to fight against Genma and demonic creatures. Even if William was human no more, he wasn't a demonic creature. It won't be effective as much as a normal weapon.]

Realizing my mistake, I desummon Blackbeard and asked, "Then, what do I have to do?"

[The G-Virus gave its host regenerative cells that resembled a copy machine. The virus-made cells would scan its host' cells and made a replica of it, restoring body parts whether it was bones, muscle tissue, or flesh. The more it was damaged, the more it will regenerate and improve.]

[But the cells weren't capable of forming proper tissues, hence it formed a cancerous-like flesh. And it wouldn't stop regenerating as the cancerous-like cells were counted as defect and damaged, thus forming the nonstop cycles. If you try to eliminate them without using an anti-B.O.W. stimulant, it wouldn't stop. Unless you could completely eliminate it down right into the last cell.]

"That is impossible." I need a nuclear sized bomb to eliminate him completely. Damn it. I didn't think it through.

William keeps regenerating, doubling his size. Now there was a big stump on his shoulder. They accidentally accelerate him into his second stage, the G2. But it still needs more time for him to perfect his form.

[As long as he was locked down inside the facility, he wouldn't be a threat for now.]

"How long do you think this facility could hold him back?" I asked, genuinely concerned.

[Without human intervention, 24 hours.]

"Still too short... and risky."

[We could take the time later to find the Anti-gen, Sir. For now, let's focus on stopping the contamination.]

Yes, preventing the spreading of the virus was far more important than a single mutated monster. I could come back later when everything ended.

The elevator finally arrived. Before William could fully regain himself, I escaped into the elevator.

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Meanwhile, HUNK found the perished Alpha team along with the broken briefcase and samples.

"It's not here... Damn it!" he yelled while punching the wall.

Once his mind was calmer, he decided to escape the NEST and reported to the Headquarters about the mishaps. His radio was jammed when he fought William earlier. He needed to go back to his place to find a communication device. He could have used the one in NEST, but the threat called William was still lurking inside. He couldn't risk anything more than this.

He traced his way back to the main entrance where he came from. There was no UBCS member left inside the facility. He didn't need to engage in another tiring fight.

Once he arrived inside his room, HUNK turned on a laptop and sent a call. He was still in his uniform, complete with the filter mask or gas mask. He remained to hide his identity from everyone and Umbrella respected it as it was a part of the clause in his contract.

The call then got connected. A man appeared on the screen. He was an old man with a mustache and cigar on his mouth. He was the Vice President of Umbrella, the one in charge of the US branch, Joel Allman.

"We failed. Doctor William Birkin injected a sample of G-Virus on himself and mutated. He singlehandedly slaughtered the Alpha team, no one left alive. The Delta team and I decided to fall back. It was impossible to fight him without further assistance." HUNK was ready to be berated for his duty. No matter what he would say, a failure was a failure.

"Hmm... Okay then, stay on stand by and find a way to get another sample."

'Huh?' it was odd. The Vice-President simply dismissed him without saying anything. If it was the usual him, then there would be no end of complaint. Even using punishment as one of the resorts to calm his mind. It was like... it was planned to fail.

"Is that all?" asked Joel.

"Huh? Ah... Yes, Sir." answered HUNK.

The call then ended abruptly. Everything was too weird and suspicious. The Umbrella's response was too passive and calm.

On the other side of the line. Joel Allman was inside his office.

"What are you planning, Doctor Alex?" he asked. Next to him was a short-haired blond woman, Alex Wesker.

"Something fun, of course." chuckled Alex Wesker.

"It was the livelihood of our Corporation. What you were doing was treason!"

"Treason? Umbrella would fall sooner or later. SHIELD was on our tail. The T-Virus was too unstable to be used. You know as well how long this company would last. It would be a miracle if it could hold on for another year without a problem."

"Still, it doesn't give you a right to pay the U.S.S. member to do your deed." Joel knew everything from the start. The raid for William's G-Virus was just a cover for her. She purposely ordered a few alpha teams to force William into insanity. Her real target was to cause a ruckus, so huge Umbrella would be forced on edge.

She couldn't see any future in Umbrella anymore. The company was too focused on developing B.O.W.s that they forgot their root. That is to create a perfect human for a new civilization. She needs to remind them of their holy mission.

------

Back inside HUNKs room. He finally removed the last equipment on his body, the gas mask. He threw it on top of the bed and walked into the showers. He washed his sweaty body clean.

Although everything was messed up, at least it ended for now.

He walked on the mirror wiped it clean. In front of him was his familiar face. Long black hair, and the unshaved beard.

"It seemed I have to stay for a few more days. I wonder what I should teach Edward next."