The Sanctuary, having detached from the Ishimura, tore through Earth's orbit at incredible speed. It quickly pierced the atmosphere, a fiery streak aimed directly at its target: Raccoon City. Thanks to the Shield Intelligent System's timely paralysis of nearby satellite surveillance, the American government remained blissfully unaware of the shuttle's approach. Yet, as the Sanctuary carved its path through the atmosphere, the fiery friction it generated was briefly glimpsed by a few observers in the areas surrounding Raccoon City. Of course, given America's "efficient" bureaucratic processes, by the time this news reached the President's ears, several hours would have already passed. By then, Marcus would be long gone, his objectives in Raccoon City accomplished without a trace.
Roughly ten minutes later, the Sanctuary settled softly in the suburbs of Raccoon City. Marcus transmitted the Raccoon City map data to Isaac's RIG System, then jumped out of the spaceship with him. Marcus gestured to the pilot, instructing him to return to the Ishimura. The pilot, with the implanted Fleshworm ensuring his obedience, immediately started the spacecraft and ascended back into the sky.
Marcus retracted his gaze and scanned his immediate surroundings. He quickly spotted an abandoned sports car by the roadside. As Marcus approached and opened the car door, a zombie lunged out with a guttural roar. Dodging swiftly, Marcus signaled Isaac to act. Isaac raised the Plasma Cutter in his hand, aiming squarely at the zombie's head. A jet of superheated plasma erupted, instantly boring through the creature's fragile skull. The red and white brain matter inside instantly boiled, emitting a faint, sickening aroma of cooked meat. Looking at the collapsed zombie, Isaac was somewhat incredulous. "That's it?" The fragility of the zombie clearly exceeded his expectations.
"Alright, get in the car." Marcus pushed the corpse aside and slid into the driver's seat, with Isaac following closely into the passenger seat. After starting the ignition, Marcus pressed the accelerator, and the car sped towards Raccoon City. Under his superhuman vision and reflexes, even with the car hurtling at over a hundred kilometers per hour, Marcus maintained steady control.
Soon, the two officially drove into Raccoon City proper. Both sides of the road were choked with burning vehicles, and countless zombies crawled amidst the wreckage, gnawing on already bloody and mangled corpses. Soon after, these bodies would inevitably rise to join the horde. Their path was quickly blocked by an exploding, burning tanker truck.
"Alright, this is far enough." Marcus shook his head and exited the car with Isaac. According to the map, they were still some distance from the Raccoon City Police Department. However, Marcus wasn't concerned. He directly opened his system panel and summoned various Tyranid Warbeasts. Aside from the Tyranid Hive Tyrant, which was still on cooldown, and the zoanthrope that Marcus needed to keep at his side, all other Tyranid Warbeasts materialized. Finally, Marcus summoned the Tyrant Xenomorph, a towering, ten-meter-tall behemoth, easily three stories high. As it was night in Raccoon City, the pitch-black Tyrant Xenomorph blended seamlessly into the darkness, moving like a silent grim reaper. Looking at the Tyrant Xenomorph that had suddenly appeared before him, Isaac, despite knowing it obeyed Marcus, still felt the primal terror of being targeted by a top predator. Under his engineer's helmet, a significant amount of cold sweat had already broken out.
"Disperse. Hunt zombies, rescue survivors, and send them to the Raccoon City Police Department." Marcus issued a concise command to the Tyranid Warbeasts. Then, he looked at Isaac. "Your mission is to follow behind them; once you find survivors, show yourself, persuade them, and send them to the Raccoon City Police Department to gather." Marcus emphasized Isaac's objective once more. Isaac nodded, indicating his understanding.
"By the way, this city doesn't just have fragile zombies," Marcus added. "There are also some artificially created biological weapons. If you encounter them, be sure to keep your distance and call my Warbeasts to deal with them." As Marcus spoke, he transmitted images of Lickers, Tyrants, Hunters, and Stalkers to Isaac's RIG. After that, Marcus took out a communicator and handed it to Isaac. With this, even without a RIG device of his own, Marcus could still communicate with Isaac in a timely manner.
Completing all preparations, Marcus vanished in a series of blurs, leaping over the wall of fire before him. The Tyranid Warbeasts immediately dispersed as well, commencing their efficient hunt for the surrounding zombies. Even the lowest-level Neurothrope could easily tear open the rotten bodies of the zombies with its sharp claws. The Tyranid Warriors teamed up with Grenade Worms, forming coordinated groups, dividing labor, and swiftly beginning the task of clearing out the undead. As for the higher-level special units and BOSS-level creatures, they had already rapidly spread out, seeking the most densely populated areas with zombies, initiating a super-efficient slaughter. Looking at these ferocious Tyranid Warbeasts, Isaac instinctively chose to follow the most formidable and powerful-looking Tyrant Xenomorph.
On the rooftop of a tall building not far away, Marcus stood at the edge, overlooking the Tyranid Warbeasts scattering below. "I wonder if I'll encounter a Tyrant this time. It would be good to test my current close-combat abilities," Marcus muttered softly. The Umbrella Corporation had deployed more than one T-103 model Tyrant into Raccoon City, and Marcus intended to use them to test his close-combat capabilities after his three layers of physical enhancement.
Standing at the edge of the rooftop, Marcus looked in the direction of the Raccoon City Police Department, then flashed downstairs, rapidly rushing towards his target destination. Soon, Marcus arrived at the main entrance of the Raccoon City Police Department, which was crowded with zombies. His Psychic Flying Knife unsheathed, and in just over ten seconds, it pierced through the heads of nearly a hundred zombies. Marcus kicked open the tightly shut iron gate and entered. Psychic Flying Knives circled around Marcus, continuously harvesting the surrounding zombies dressed in various attire.
Soon, Marcus arrived at the entrance of the police station lobby. At this time, the main door was completely blocked by a large amount of debris. Opening his system panel, Marcus took out the Predator Shoulder Cannon. He donned his mask and fired a shot. High-temperature Plasma instantly destroyed everything in the target's path. After the smoke dissipated, Marcus stepped through the doorway.
"Bang! Bang!"
As soon as he entered the police station lobby, two bullets struck Marcus's upper body. "Clang." The bullets impacted his Kasrkin Carapace Armor, leaving only a tiny mark before being deflected.
"Hey! Hey! Elliot, stop!" A Black police officer immediately pressed down his companion's gun barrel.
"Your welcome ceremony is truly unique," Marcus stated, lifting his Predator mask and looking at Officer Marvin and Officer Elliot on the second floor. Realizing he had not shot a zombie but a rational living person, Elliot and Marvin immediately descended from the second floor and approached Marcus. Elliot promptly apologized, but Marcus didn't pay it much mind. Subsequently, the three exchanged brief self-introductions. Marcus vaguely stated that he came from outside Raccoon City, without elaborating.
"Are you two the only living people left in the police station?" Marcus asked, looking at them.
Marvin and Elliot exchanged glances, and the former spoke. "Not long ago, we had gathered a group of survivors in the police station, but in the end, it was still breached. Someone sacrificed their life to lure most of the zombies elsewhere, and that's how we survived." Marcus didn't press for details, instead stating that he would clear out all the zombies inside the police station.