After that, Duanmu Huai and the others took the cable car and arrived at Umbrella's underground research base.
However, to their surprise, when they entered the facility, Sherry's mother was nowhere to be found—and she hadn't left a single note behind.
"Hmm… something feels off."
Duanmu Huai stared at the eerily quiet research lab, speaking in a low tone. Claire raised her gun, scanning the shadows around them cautiously.
"Sherry, do you know where your mother's office is?"
"I've heard her talk about it before, but… I don't know where it is."
"Alright, then I guess we'll have to search slowly."
The entire facility was shrouded in darkness, and everywhere they went were zombies and twisted abominations. Clearly, even Umbrella's so-called "underground secret base" hadn't escaped the viral outbreak.
"To be honest, I don't feel sorry for these idiots at all."
As Duanmu Huai spoke, he stomped down hard on the head of a struggling Licker, crushing it underfoot before kicking the corpse aside.
"There's always some self-righteous fool who thinks they can control everything. But that's never true. Hmm… I can appreciate their spirit of exploration, but their actions? Absolutely unforgivable."
By Inquisition standards, Duanmu Huai thought, every one of these people would count as potential followers of a plague god—they'd all be executed without question. Still, researching viruses and bacteria wasn't inherently evil. If one could use the enemy's own tools against them, that was something to be commended.
Unfortunately, in this universe, most biologists were the sort easily swayed by the "Benevolent Father." They convinced themselves that sacrificing a few for humanity's "bright future" was acceptable—that everything was under control. But in reality, everything had long since spiraled out of it. Many times, Duanmu Huai couldn't even cleanse such places anymore—only issue extermination orders, erasing entire planets from existence.
Claire and Sherry followed behind him silently. Sherry's face had gone pale. She had no idea what her parents were truly researching—she'd only been told they worked on medicine. But what she saw now was nothing short of horrifying. There was no way this could be "just medicine," not when the glass tanks around them held mutated, writhing specimens suspended in fluid.
"Wait!"
Just as they passed through a hallway, Claire suddenly stopped.
"There's a smell—blood."
"There's blood everywhere here."
Duanmu Huai gestured around them. How many zombies have I already plastered across these walls?
"No, this one's different… this way!"
Claire grabbed Sherry's hand and ran toward another corridor. Duanmu Huai sighed and followed. They passed through a security door and emerged onto an open platform. There, slumped against the wall, was a blond woman in a bloodstained lab coat, lying in a pool of red. Beside her was a strange-looking gun.
"Mom!!"
Seeing the woman, Sherry screamed and rushed to her side. Duanmu Huai and Claire followed close behind. The woman's body was riddled with wounds—holes clean through her torso, bleeding profusely. Even without hitting vital organs, she clearly didn't have long to live.
"…Oh, Sherry…"
Hearing her daughter's voice, the woman slowly opened her eyes, looking at her with a mixture of pain and regret.
"I'm sorry… Sherry… I messed up. I didn't expect William to…"
She suddenly coughed violently, blood spilling from her mouth. Sherry panicked, clutching her hand.
"Mom, stay with me! We'll get you help—"
"It's no use, Sherry."
The woman weakly shook her head.
"I know my condition. I'm sorry… I should've seen you sooner, but…"
She turned to Claire, struggling to reach into her pocket. After a moment, she pulled out a small data chip.
"Take my daughter… get her out of here. William is still alive. This city… it's finished. Below, there's a train—you can use it to escape. Please… save my daughter…"
"I will."
Claire accepted the chip and nodded firmly. The woman then looked back at Sherry.
"I'm sorry, Sherry. For everything… I truly am. But none of that matters now. What matters is that you must live. Go—take the elevator and leave this place… he's not dead… he's not dead…"
Her eyes turned toward Duanmu Huai.
"I beg you… save my daughter…"
Before she could say another word, her eyes suddenly went wide. Blood gushed from her lips, and her head fell limply to the side.
"Mom!! No—!!"
Watching her mother die before her eyes, Sherry collapsed over her body, crying uncontrollably. Claire knelt beside her, tears in her eyes as she whispered comfort.
Duanmu Huai, however, turned away, his expression hard.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we don't have time to grieve."
"Wait, big guy—at least give her a moment…"
"Oh, that's not up to me."
He gestured ahead.
"It's up to that."
"Huh?"
Claire turned—and froze.
A massive, hulking silhouette was climbing up onto the platform. Its swollen muscles stretched its mutated frame to nearly match Duanmu Huai's height. Claire recognized it instantly—it was the same monster Duanmu Huai had defeated twice before. But this time, it looked even more ferocious. Its head had twisted into something beast-like, and both arms had grown into huge, clawed limbs that glistened like blades.
"How… how is that possible? I thought it was—"
"Guess this bastard's hard to kill."
Duanmu Huai cracked his knuckles, glaring at it.
"What are you going to do, big guy?"
"I'll keep it busy. You two, head for the train. I'll finish this thing."
"…Alright. Be careful, big guy."
Claire nodded, then turned to Sherry.
"Come on, Sherry. We have to go. Listen—your mom loved you very much. She wanted you to live, you understand?"
"…Yeah."
Wiping her tears, Sherry nodded. She kissed her mother's cheek one last time before letting Claire pull her away. Together, they ran toward the central elevator.
"ROOOOOAAARRR!!"
As the two fled, the creature let out an enraged bellow and charged after them—but Duanmu Huai stepped into its path.
"Hey, monster. You want them? You'll have to go through me first… Damn it, did I just set up a death flag?"
"HRRRRHHHH!!"
Before he could finish muttering, the mutant lashed out, its claws swinging for him. Duanmu Huai met it head-on, punching its incoming arm—but this time, the creature had gotten smarter. It spread both of its claws wide, grabbing hold of Duanmu Huai's arms, locking him in place. Then, from its back, two more massive arms erupted, slamming down toward his head!
Oh, you sneaky bastard. You really can evolve, huh?
A normal person would've been doomed—but Duanmu Huai was far from normal. With a roar, his muscles bulged, and he lunged forward, slamming his head straight into the creature's skull. The impact made the mutant shriek in pain. Taking advantage of its brief paralysis, Duanmu Huai lifted one leg and kicked straight between its legs, sending the creature flying backward.
Boom!!!
The mutant slammed into the wall, but quickly stood again, its four arms flailing wildly in challenge.
"Heh… you know the saying—two fists can't beat four hands. Let's see how many you can grow, then! Garrick had dozens of arms, and he still couldn't beat me. You think you're stronger than him?!"
"ROOOAAARR!!"
The mutant clearly didn't care about his taunting. It lunged again, claws flashing. Duanmu Huai didn't budge. When it closed the distance, he raised his arms to guard. The creature swung down hard—
But—
"Now's my turn! Die!!"
As its claws came down, Duanmu Huai kicked off the floor, rushing inside its reach. He grabbed both of its front arms in his massive hands and drove his knee into its shin.
Crack!!
The mutant's leg snapped backward at an impossible angle, and it stumbled, losing balance. Duanmu Huai didn't hesitate—he pivoted behind it, seizing its two extra arms. With a thunderous roar, he ripped both mutated limbs clean off its back!
"Raaahhhhhh!!!"
Even for a creature like this, the pain was unbearable. It screamed and swung wildly, trying to claw at him. But Duanmu Huai sidestepped behind it and kicked its remaining leg. With another crack!, the lower leg snapped completely, spinning through the air like a broken toy part.
Now legless, the mutant collapsed to the ground. Duanmu Huai grabbed its massive right claw—the largest of them all—and twisted hard.
Crunch!!!
Even after its second mutation, the claw couldn't withstand his strength. It bent, crumpling uselessly. But Duanmu Huai wasn't finished.
"Still not dead? Fine—let's see if you can live through this!"
With a furious roar, he drove both hands into the creature's torso. His steel-hard fingers punched through bone, muscle, and organs, plunging deep inside. Then—
"DIE!!!"
He tore his arms apart in opposite directions, ripping the creature cleanly in half.
Blood exploded across the floor. The bisected corpse twitched for a few moments before going completely still.
"Hmph. Trash."
Duanmu Huai tossed the remains aside, stomped on its twitching eye, and glared down coldly.
This time… it shouldn't be getting back up again.
(End of Chapter)