Chapter 10

The time rewound three hours, and the head of the Umbrella Corporation's Raccoon City branch, Mike Kane, received a report that left him stunned.

"What? The entire STARS Alpha Team has returned, and they brought back the Red Queen's motherboard, along with a few survivors?" Kane was utterly confused, unable to make sense of it.

Based on his calculations, with the STARS team's capabilities, after shutting down the central computer, only 1-2 members would likely survive the zombie horde and bring back the Red Queen's motherboard. Moreover, the T-virus-infected STARS members would serve as new experimental subjects for his proposed 'Vengeance God' plan.

However, Kane had never imagined that there would be a Chinese cybersecurity manager named Chu Ci in the Hive, who managed to disconnect and eject the Red Queen's motherboard without shutting down the central computer.

After reading James' report, Kane's lips twitched. He hadn't expected such a 'dutiful' employee to interfere. Although his actions were not wrong, they completely went against Kane's wishes.

To make matters worse, the tech department reported that all data on the motherboard was intact, but the most crucial Red Queen core logic library, due to its inability to be replicated, might have been left in the central computer underground.

Kane was so frustrated that he wanted to flip the table. The T-virus data was important, but the Umbrella Corporation's only two AI systems were even more critical. In his rage, he decided to take drastic measures: "Go, arrest the entire STARS Alpha Team. Inject them with the T-virus variant. I want to use them as test subjects for the Vengeance God project. Also, who are the other survivors? Except for troublemakers, use them all for experiments."

There are many sources of T-virus infection, and zombie bites are just the most effective. It can also be transmitted through bodily fluids and respiratory infection, similar to the flu virus.

Although the STARS team seemed safe, it was because the amount of T-virus they inhaled was minimal, and their robust physiques allowed their immune systems to quickly eliminate the small amount of T-virus, preventing mutation.

If infected by a zombie bite or injection, the T-virus would rapidly multiply and fight against the human immune system. This process would produce a large amount of necrotic tissue. To repair the tissue damage and restore immune function, a large amount of food is needed for materials and energy, leading to a strong appetite in the infected. Additionally, the T-virus infects the brain, causing necrosis and repair, leading to the loss of rationality. The intense pain from the DNA-level struggle makes the infected highly aggressive. This is the origin of zombies.

Kane's ambition was even greater. He wanted to use the well-trained STARS team to cultivate superior biological weapons, leading to the 'Vengeance God' plan.

"Boss, among the survivors, only one is a relative of an important shareholder. The rest are ordinary company employees," someone reported, adding an unexpected piece of good news, "There's another piece of good news. After testing, the security guard Alice from the mansion shows perfect compatibility with the T-virus. Dr. Ashford believes that Alice can fully carry the T-virus and manifest its characteristics. He requests that we hand Alice over to him for further experiments."

"Perfect host?" Kane's expression showed surprise. He hadn't expected the host they had been searching for in the population census to be right under his nose.

"Yes, Dr. Ashford requests that you prepare a helicopter. He wants to take his daughter and Alice to headquarters for the next phase of research."

"No." Kane immediately recognized Alice's value and rejected Dr. Ashford's request.

The unexpected loss of control in the Hive had already caused Kane a major mistake in front of the board. But with Alice in his hands...

Kane smiled lightly, as if he could see money and power before him: "Transfer the other surviving employees as soon as possible, and make sure they don't have a chance to speak. Put Alice into the Vengeance God project. Yes... since she is a perfect host, let's rename the project 'Vengeance Goddess.' Also, send a team of 'cleaners' to open the Hive and let the T-virus spread. I want the board to see the power of the T-virus and secure new funding."

In a secluded meeting room in the Raccoon City government building, everyone who had come out of the Hive, except for Chu Ci, was under house arrest. Half an hour ago, the STARS team was ordered to leave and has not returned. After being examined by the cold and expressionless doctors, Alice was quickly taken away, leaving only the new recruits, Matt, and Spence.

Although they were provided with everything they needed, the new recruits were still anxious and uneasy. Being under house arrest was not a pleasant experience, especially with Spence's increasingly clear gaze.

Shang Manxue huddled in a corner of the sofa, her legs drawn up in front of her, staring at Spence through the gap in her knees, muttering to herself, "He must have recovered his memory."

Without the dramatic mental stimulation of the original plot, along with Alice, their memory recovery was much slower but had reached its limit.

Suddenly, Spence's limbs twitched, and a fleeting look of panic appeared on his face. Shang Manxue concluded that his memory had returned!

On the other side, Matt was also very uneasy. As a fake police officer, if the Umbrella Corporation discovered his true identity, he would be caught and used as an experimental subject. Fortunately, for some reason, the Umbrella Corporation had not discovered him, but it was only a matter of time. Matt's eyes darted around, looking for an opportunity.

Soon, a slender blonde woman with a curvaceous figure walked into the meeting room, smiling politely at Matt, "Officer Matt, you can leave. The company apologizes for the STARS team's rude treatment. If you are concerned, the company is willing to offer you a compensation package to make up for your loss."

In fact, to safely evacuate important figures from the Raccoon City branch, the Umbrella Corporation did not waste time verifying Matt's true identity. To the blonde woman, a small-town police officer who would soon be buried with Raccoon City, giving him some money was like a funeral fee.

Matt did not intend to argue further. His sister Lisa might have died in the Hive, and the mission had failed. The most important thing now was to leave quickly to avoid exposing his identity.

After Matt left, the blonde woman's attitude towards the remaining people was not much better. She said sternly, "You are lucky. Although the Hive incident is not your fault, the company has decided to transfer you to the South African branch. There is a flight in thirty minutes, so don't be late."

For the employees who were being demoted, the blonde woman did not even spare them a second glance. She still had to follow Kane's orders to send a team of USS elite forces into the Hive, opening this Pandora's box.

After the blonde woman left, the remaining new recruits gathered and whispered among themselves.

"Are you serious? We have to go to South Africa? What kind of place is that?" Liu Dian, a nouveau riche, found the plot increasingly confusing. The STARS team, which had not suffered any losses, was called away by an order and has not returned, while they were under house arrest. The biohazard crisis, which should have erupted, was controlled by the Umbrella Corporation, and even Angela from the second part was waiting at the parliament building for evacuation. All the plot points were in disarray, and there was no way to benefit from it. The best they could hope for was not to be caught by the Umbrella Corporation for experiments.

All of this had changed since Chu Ci first altered the plot!

Thinking about this, Gu Qingqing bit her lip, feeling a mix of frustration, "The situation is really bad. In the eyes of the Umbrella Corporation, we are just soft targets to be manipulated. We can't even resist."

Chu Ci controlled all the zombies and舔食者 in the Hive, and the T-virus spread through the air in the Hive, significantly slowing its spread. The large-scale outbreak in the original plot would likely be delayed by 6-8 hours, waiting for the T-virus to have enough carriers to form a zombie siege.

In fact, some of the new recruits were already regretting their decision. The middle-aged woman and the middle-aged laborer became increasingly anxious as time passed, regretting their choices and wishing they had stayed with Chu Ci in the Hive, regardless of the chaos outside.

Time ticked by, and Spence used the excuse of needing to use the restroom to slip past the USS soldiers guarding the door, who were ostensibly there to serve but were actually monitoring them. This made the others even more closely watched.

After the blonde woman sent the USS forces into the Hive, the helicopter on the parliament building's roof was preheated and ready.

Leave? Stay? The question was on everyone's mind!

"Leave! Better to preserve our strength for a better fight," the handsome man stood up first. The current situation was clear, and there was no room for taking risks. The priority was to survive, but the others were still hesitant.

"Let's go. Staying here is a death sentence," Shang Manxue also stood up, frustrated. She realized that once the plot changed from the beginning, all the plans and attempts to alter the plot were just empty jokes.

Gao Yuan did not move, hugging his legs and complaining on the sofa, "It's all Chu Ci's fault. If he hadn't changed the plot, we would have had plenty of zombies to score points against."

If no one had mentioned it, it would have been better. Once someone brought it up, the other new recruits immediately used it as a target for criticism, blaming Chu Ci for all their problems. Only Zhong Ziyun did not join in, coldly observing the others' complaints and feeling disappointed with those who shirked responsibility.

In the end, no one stayed. In the blonde woman's final ultimatum, Shang Manxue sensed something amiss and decisively chose to leave. Faced with a city about to be overrun by zombies, even the most boastful people did not dare to be lone heroes.

Eight hundred feet underground in the Hive, Chu Ci watched the holographic surveillance screen with a blank expression. In the three-color imaging, it was easy to distinguish the three teams of 27 people entering through the three deep shaft elevators.

The Hive and the surface office building formed the Umbrella Corporation's Raccoon City branch. There were seven elevators leading to the underground facility, three of which were VIP elevators. When the Red Queen sealed the base, she did not destroy them, but the other four elevators had their cables cut. Later, Kane ordered their destruction.

In the original plot, due to the incomplete map, Kaplan's tactical computer only showed one elevator leading to the surface, which did not meet the personnel flow needs of the Hive. When leaving, they did not use the grappling gun to escape through the elevator shaft because the Hive was too far from the surface.

However, not being able to leave through the elevator shaft did not mean they could not enter through it. For the USS elite forces, this task was a piece of cake.

Enter the Hive, shut down the central computer, and leave. The mission was simple, like eating a meal, thought Simpson, the leader of the USS Fifth Squad. Chu Ci, however, disagreed.

PS: I went to visit relatives as usual, so I updated early. Happy New Year again. By the way, last night's Spring Festival Gala was really bad, with only Hu Ge and the robots in the Guangzhou venue as highlights.