"Avery, can we also participate in this operation?"
Takashi Komuro and the others, along with Alicia, wanted to take part in the infiltration of the Noah's Ark factory, scheduled for three days later. Only those under the age of twenty were eligible to join.
Jing Haoyong, Takashi Komuro, and the rest expressed their desire to participate, but they were all firmly rejected by Yuriko Takashiro. She knew that her daughter's childhood friends were passionate and motivated—but the risk was simply too great.
This operation was of critical importance. Aside from Saeko Busujima, the other seven members involved were elite fighters personally selected by the Sawamura and Takashiro families, known not only for their skills but for their unwavering loyalty.
Saeko Busujima was allowed to join because of her exceptional combat abilities—capable of defeating four or five elite soldiers in close-quarters kendo combat—as well as other reasons.
"No. This operation has been meticulously prepared. If you join, it'll only complicate things."
Although Alicia secretly hoped Takashi Komuro could participate—knowing that without him, the plan might not succeed—she still showed reluctance on the surface.
Takashi Komuro pleaded, unwilling to back down.
"Please, Alicia. We won't cause any problems. Didn't we agree to see this through together before we even set off? Now that we're here in Washington, it feels like we've been sidelined. This isn't what the Truth Society intended."
What an idiot. Still trying to sound noble even when you're begging.
Though Alicia looked down on Takashi Komuro inwardly, she still treated them as allies on the surface. After all, they were on the same side. Eventually, she pretended to hesitate for a long while before reluctantly agreeing.
"Fine. There's a backup plan. If Senior Busujima and the others run into trouble, we'll activate it."
She then revealed the details of the backup plan to Komuro and his group, sternly warning them not to share it with anyone. She had them memorize the key details and personally took them to the Noah's Ark factory to familiarize themselves with the terrain.
In truth, the backup plan had been specially designed by Alicia with Takashi Komuro in mind—he was the insurance policy, and also the scapegoat. Once she was sure he'd follow through with at least 90% of her instructions, she let out a quiet sigh of relief.
After sending Komuro and the others off, Alicia happily pulled out a lollipop, popped it in her mouth, and muttered with a smirk,
"When the world's facing extinction, the Godfather will never truly leave. After all, Umbrella still needs him to make things."
"It's all Takashi Komuro's fault. If he hadn't unintentionally released those non-chip-embedded zombies from the Noah Bioweapons base, this crisis wouldn't have happened. And with so many enemies targeting Umbrella, it's no surprise we're under fire."
After a moment of reflection, Alicia tapped her watch and contacted the Red Queen.
"Red Queen, prioritize the Godfather's affairs above all else. You are authorized to divert 95% of total computational power to this mission. There must be no mistakes."
"Understood, Alicia."
As the Red Queen's projection disappeared, Alicia leaned back with a sigh.
"It should be safe now."
Though she had lost her father at a young age, Alicia quickly came under the Godfather's protection. Since then, it was as if the Earth itself had become her playground—everything she wanted, she received. She even possessed things others could only dream of.
No one dared to yell at her. If anyone offended her, even the President of the United States would be forced to apologize. Alicia seemed to be the most precious person on the planet—and Umbrella its unquestioned ruler.
But despite the Godfather's protection, Alicia only saw him once every one or two years, and the visits were always brief. She never truly understood his power or mystery.
When she heard rumors that the Godfather might leave for good, Alicia devised a plan. Umbrella could survive without him—but if the world or Umbrella itself faced a global crisis, there was a chance he would choose to stay behind.
This was the only method she could come up with.
Though she wanted to beg him directly, or even manipulate him some other way, she realized after much thought that the chances of success were slim. Even if he agreed, she would be back to those brief visits—two or three times at most, maybe once a year.
"I hope this works."
Silently, Alicia monitored Yuriko Takashiro's team through the Red Queen. She thought to herself: if she hadn't quietly rerouted 90% of Umbrella's resources for this plan, a mere branch office would've been more than enough to erase those people from existence.
"The Godfather really is amazing. Just a few visits and Umbrella's power increased more than tenfold. He truly is the Godfather!"
Meanwhile, protests intensified across the globe. Europe had become the loudest voice of opposition to Umbrella. The British royal family and government had even announced plans to reopen investigations into the company's controversial drug recall from years past.
This trend intensified—even the United States began stirring up trouble. But since this was Umbrella's headquarters, there was no significant reaction from the upper echelons, no matter how outraged the common people were.
That is, until a video appeared online.
Within a very short span of time, it spread through media outlets and TV stations across Eurasia, Australia, and South America. The footage was graphic, horrifying, and bloody—uncensored and revolting to everyone who saw it.
It was like pouring oil on a pile of dry firewood—the flame exploded into a raging inferno.
At the same time, Saeko Busujima and her team infiltrated the Noah Factory according to their pre-planned schedule, while Takashi Komuro and his group approached from a different route.
This was the Primary Biochemical Experimental Factory, a top-secret facility conducting experiments on T-virus variants. Due to its confidentiality, only a few people—including a limited number of guards—were aware of its existence.
Alicia observed both groups' movements through Red Queen's monitoring system. Despite all her preparations, her heart still tensed as the operation reached its critical stage.
She hesitated—just for a moment.
Destroying the world... just for a chance to keep the Godfather with her a little longer.
But the hesitation didn't last.
"Yong, run! Run!"
Takashi Komuro shouted frantically to Jing Haoyong. His face was pale with terror as he ran toward the exit in a panic.
It was terrifying—he never should've come here so recklessly. He definitely shouldn't have shut off the power without understanding the consequences. He should've called the authorities the moment he sensed trouble, and left the rest to them.
Jing Haoyong was also running back, his face twisted in fear, his mind blank. All he knew was that he had to escape.
Weren't they just supposed to be backup?
How did they end up inside the factory just because of something Komuro said? And now… such a catastrophic mess.
The only difference between Komuro and Haoyong was that the latter remembered Saeko Busujima, who was still inside the factory. But now that the zombies had been released from their cages, he had no idea what would happen to her or the others.
First, run. Get out—then figure it out.
"Aaaahhh!!"
Jing Haoyong didn't make it far. The zombies quickly caught up to him—his arms, legs, and throat were torn apart in just a few seconds. Then he was swallowed by the horde, disappearing from sight. His screams vanished soon after.
Komuro, further ahead, didn't dare look back. He ran with everything he had. Haoyong and the two others behind him had managed to delay the zombies just enough for him to slip away. Moments later, he burst out of the factory.
The first thing he did was try to shut the door—but when he frantically pressed the button, nothing happened.
The power had been cut.
By him.
"Damn it!"
Seeing the zombies closing in, Komuro let out a panicked scream and sprinted away without looking back.
The variant of the T-virus being studied here enhanced human speed and agility—making these zombie specimens terrifyingly fast and dangerous. Now that they were loose, all of Washington was in grave danger.
If the U.S. government responded too slowly, America itself could fall.
At the same time, other nations—those with the most aggressive stances against Umbrella—were already preparing to raid what they believed were Umbrella's hidden labs. However, these locations had been leaked on purpose—not by Alicia this time, but by her enemies.
They had seen what happened to Eric, the president of Umbrella's American branch. None of them wanted to be controlled by a little girl who decided their fate on a whim. Now that a rare opportunity had presented itself, they were determined to take advantage of it.
Some within the government even acquired 'evidence'—which they accidentally leaked to the public.
Zombies were now being released across five continents. The situation was spiraling out of control.
And while the T-virus had undergone several rounds of evolution, it still retained one devastating characteristic: airborne transmission.
"What happened?! Why did a large number of zombies escape from the Noah Factory? What did you do?"
Yuriko Takashiro demanded, her voice laced with panic. She had infiltrated the Noah Factory herself to gather evidence that would help bring down Umbrella. But now, the entire world faced the threat of a global outbreak.
The news on television showed disturbing reports from Washington, London, Berlin, Tokyo, and other cities. Within a single day, zombie attacks had broken out worldwide.
And the virus was highly contagious. If a corpse wasn't properly treated, the virus in the evaporated blood would linger in the air—for up to seven days.
That was more than enough time to devastate humanity.
Saeko Busujima suddenly asked, "Komuro-kun… don't you have something to say? Where's Haoyong-kun?"
The room fell silent. Everyone turned to Takashi Komuro. His face was pale. His eyes unfocused. His hands were clenched tightly together. If it were just fear, it wouldn't show this way.
And Haoyong... never returned.
"Komuro-kun, is the incident at the Noah Factory connected to you? Tell the truth!"
Yuriko Takashiro stared at him with icy eyes. Her voice was stern and sharp. She couldn't believe he was uninvolved. He knew far too much, and something in the factory had definitely gone wrong.
Surrounded by accusing stares and the overwhelming presence of Yuriko and Sayuri Sawamura, Komuro finally cracked.
"It wasn't me—I didn't mean to!" he blurted out.
Sayuri Sawamura stepped forward, her tone unforgiving:
"Explain. Now."
"Haoyong and I… we wanted to help. So we went to Avery—"
Under the weight of everyone's gaze, Takashi Komuro confessed the whole story.
He left out only one thing: that he hadn't saved Jing Haoyong or the two others.
But apart from that, he hid nothing.
When Yuriko Takashiro and Sayuri Sawamura heard what Takashi Komuro had done, they were so furious that their subordinates nearly drew their guns on him. Sayuri Sawamura seriously considered letting them do it—this idiot had ruined a perfectly good plan.
She regretted ever allowing these students to participate.
Just because they were friends with Eiri and the others, she'd gone soft for a moment—and now they were paying the price.
Saeko Busujima pressed on.
"Where's Ellie now?"
Takagi Saya responded weakly,
"She went back earlier… but now I can't reach her. Both her phone and the Internet signal are down."
The outside world had become too dangerous. They were safe for now only because of the remote location and strong defenses. But even during the day, zombies had started gathering in large numbers.
If they were in the city center, stepping outside would be suicide—even with an AK-47.
"What's going on, Master?"
Medea casually smashed a zombie rushing at her, clearly annoyed.
Her long-awaited vacation had barely begun, and now this.
Kain flew into the air to get a view of the city—and what he saw was chaos. The city was crumbling. A frown crossed his face as a dark thought formed. He tapped his watch.
"Red Queen, report all data on the current zombie outbreak. Now."
In the next second, the Red Queen projected a series of holographic news reports.
Panic was erupting everywhere, and the crisis was escalating by the minute.
"How did this turn into Resident Evil?"
"Searching for cause..."
Moments later, the Red Queen completed her analysis. It turned out that two coinciding events had triggered the outbreak, both contributing to the uncontrolled spread of the T-virus.
Kain's frown deepened.
It all led back to Alicia.
On the surface, she didn't seem directly involved—but her total lack of response made things suspicious.
What is that goddaughter of mine doing?
Kain sighed and shook his head. Then he returned to Medea and said apologetically,
"I'm afraid the vacation's on hold. I have to deal with this first."
Medea just smiled.
"It's okay, Master. In that case, send me to the Fate world for now. I haven't said hello to Tohsaka in a while—I miss her~ Hehehe~"
Seeing Medea's mischievous grin, Kain couldn't help but warn,
"Don't make her cry."
After that, Kain brought Medea to Medusa, explained the situation to them, and sent both back to the Fate world.
Just before she left, Medusa handed Kain a watch.
She didn't say anything—but her eyes conveyed a silent message of caution.
Once they were gone, Kain locked on to Alicia's coordinates.
With a crack of Apparition, he appeared directly in front of her.
His voice was sharp, his tone ice-cold—
"Alicia. What are you doing?"
…
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