"Where the hell are those intruders now?" Dr. Isaacs, covered in filth, yelled at the White Queen, furious beyond reason.
For a man with a slight obsession for cleanliness, this was utterly impossible—but right now, he didn't even care to change his clothes.
After Li Qingyuan and his team blasted open the passage, they had disappeared inside. Twenty minutes had passed, and heaven only knew where they were now.
"No response. They're currently in a blind spot. We can't track their movements at all!" The White Queen shook her head with a nearly human-like sigh.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
Isaacs smashed everything on his desk. He had been planning to relax at home, playing tower defense, yet the enemy just stormed in like some unstoppable force—completely shattering his expectations.
The entire base was loaded with surveillance cameras—so much so that not even a mouse could sneak in unnoticed. But for intruders walking within the maze of inner layers, even the latest technology was useless.
After all, when the base was built, no one had considered the possibility that someone might break through and reach the outer sections.
"Immediately administer high-intensity viral injections to those Alice clones in the lab!" Isaacs was on the verge of madness. His once-perfect plan had devolved into utter chaos.
"SIR, if we do that, ninety-nine percent of the Alice clones will collapse and die. The Alice project will suffer irreversible losses."
"Now's not the time for excuses! Do as I say!" As the project's head, Isaacs knew the consequences—but without this, he had no sense of security.
Sure, the base had hundreds of elite special forces—but right now, they might as well have been walking targets.
"Boom—!"
Two consecutive explosions tore a hole in the solid outer wall.
"SIR, intruders spotted on the second floor exterior."
"Deploy all special forces immediately!" Isaacs was nearly deranged. The second floor exterior was only a few hundred meters from the control center. If they reached it… everything would be over.
"Do we need to pull up the surveillance feed?" The White Queen asked slowly, unfazed.
Though it carried the AI label, it lacked true emotional responses. Anxiety and fear? Completely foreign to it.
"Of course, pull it up!"
Isaacs almost wanted to pick up the small projection and smash it—but thankfully, he hadn't gone completely insane; he knew the White Queen was just a computer projection.
"Ptooey! Ptooey!"
From the second-floor corridor, a group of figures emerged, covered in dust.
Though there were gaps in the cliffside layers that allowed sideways passage, the designers hadn't accounted for the outside environment. Dust and debris coated everyone head to toe.
"The Umbrella Corp soldiers should be arriving soon. Stay alert," Li Qingyuan instructed after brushing dust off Jill.
Of course, it wasn't really necessary. Everyone present had been carefully selected by Claire—each already on edge, scanning the surroundings.
"Someone's coming!" Jill's ears twitched, and she dropped to the ground. Claire followed, crouching in the same direction.
Once both women were battle-ready, Carlos finally caught on.
See? The difference when the protagonist aura is on full display—they were prepared, while the minor characters, AB, were still confused about where the enemy came from.
Though honestly, with or without them, it didn't matter. The Umbrella Corp special forces squad, running straight toward them, was eliminated before they could even fire.
A twenty-plus-person team—Jill took out half, Claire a third, and Carlos cleaned up the rest.
Li Qingyuan watched the spectacle, staying out of the fight. Shooting guns didn't fit his character, after all.
Besides, with his mediocre aim, he couldn't compete with these overpowered allies. Who had ever seen a pistol fire faster than a submachine gun?
Jill kept thinking his technique was illogical, but honestly, the hail of bullets she just unleashed was the real absurdity!
"How should we proceed?" After eliminating the first wave, Claire asked Li Qingyuan.
He had stayed on the sidelines the whole time, which Claire interpreted as complete control of the situation. His mysterious powers, revealed briefly, had earned her instant respect and trust in his leadership.
"You two decide." He glanced around. They were in a circular passageway; either direction was possible.
With their protagonist aura, the two of them choosing a direction guaranteed it was the correct one.
"This way!" The women quickly determined the path and headed forward without hesitation.
"What about the Alice experiments?"
Seeing the intruders slaughter half the base's defenders in mere minutes, Dr. Isaacs asked anxiously.
Did they have an inside man? How could they know the exact path to the central control room without error?
"Eight hundred twenty-three Alice experiments dead, sixty-seven genetic collapses, only one unstable composite remains!" The White Queen pulled up the incubator feed. Once-thriving Alice clones were now shredded flesh, some tearing at themselves in madness—a scene enough to drive anyone insane.
"Throw the unstable composite into the corridor! Now! Quick!"
Seeing his life's work reduced to this, Isaacs felt like his heart was bleeding—but for the sake of his life, he decided defeating the intruders was more important.
"Releasing the unstable composite could cause uncontrollable damage inside the base. Are you sure?" The White Queen asked slowly.
Deploying such a powerful creature internally could backfire and massacre the base—it required authorization.
"Yes! Yes! Just throw it into the corridor!"
With the intruders nearly at his door, Isaacs didn't care about consequences. Anything to stop them.