"Saving and destroying evil?"
The Holy Light Cross had changed twice. The first time was when he killed Marvin, which was considered saving a righteous soul from being corrupted by evil forces. This caused some alterations in the Holy Light.
"It should also be related to my thoughts at the time."
The Holy Light Ethan controlled was similar in effect to the Holy Light of Azeroth, but its core had many differences. Because it was rooted in human faith, many of its 'moral views' and 'values' leaned more toward human concepts.
If Marvin's case wasn't enough to illustrate this, then purifying William's damaged and corrupted evil soul certainly was.
Because the monster William had become posed a major threat to humans, most ordinary people saw the creature as evil and wished for its destruction. This 'thought' influenced some of the Holy Light's attributes, granting it a certain restraining effect on the G-virus.
Furthermore, just because Ethan's Holy Light originated from another universe didn't mean it would be ineffective against monsters from other universes. Any evil being that posed a threat to humans would be targeted by this Holy Light.
"Once I do something that aligns with its 'expectations', it undergoes growth?"
Some of Ethan's actions acted as nutrients, allowing the Holy Light to grow gradually and even undergo evolution. Whether that evolution would be beneficial or harmful to Ethan was still uncertain.
What was clear now was that this change in Holy Light energy made it harder to fully control. Because the energy had become more complex and was now mixed with too much information, Ethan worried that by the time the Holy Light finished evolving, it might begin to influence his own thoughts.
"That possibility isn't out of the question."
He would continue monitoring the Holy Light's changes, and if he saw any negative signs, he would decisively destroy it.
Having made up his mind, he turned his attention back to the corpse in front of him. He couldn't leave it behind, or he might end up being chased all over by monsters.
He transformed the Holy Light energy into flames and ignited the entire corpse. Under these flames, no matter how tenacious the G-virus's vitality was, it was completely useless. In the end, it was eradicated from the world.
Without William, Sherry wouldn't have had the G-virus embryo implanted in her, nor would she have become the only special human to benefit from the G-virus. She wouldn't have been placed under house arrest for over a decade, let alone become a lab rat.
If Sherry wanted to be a superhero, Ethan could, at most, modify the G-virus before leaving and give the little girl an injection.
Watching the golden flames burn William until not even ash remained, some people breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that only by eliminating such a monster in this way could they feel truly at ease. Others focused more on Ethan. His abilities were simply too miraculous.
Everyone prepared to move forward. Although they felt that with Ethan's strength, even walking on the surface probably wouldn't be an issue, the smarter ones didn't say this out loud.
At this point, even Robert realized that Ethan had probably been targeting Umbrella's secret research facility from the beginning. Otherwise, with his strength, there was no need for him to follow Leon to the police station.
Considering Ethan had remained friendly toward them, and now that they had found the entrance to Umbrella's secret research facility via the underground drainage system beneath the police station, and Ethan still hadn't shown any intention of silencing them, it was better to stay quiet and obediently follow along.
Only Ada's expression was unpleasant. She felt her objective conflicted with Ethan's. In the current situation, obtaining a sample of the G-virus would likely require more effort.
Everyone had their own thoughts. Although Leon still walked ahead with Ethan, he said nothing, and everyone remained silent.
Only Selene occasionally exchanged a few words with Ethan. If someone unfamiliar with the situation were to see the serious expressions on everyone's faces, they might assume the situation was quite grim.
"Did the Holy Light change when you killed that monster?"
"No. The Holy Light can only be strengthened through devout faith and persistent training. Maybe because my faith isn't devout enough, my Holy Light has always grown very slowly."
Ethan believed that Selene's slow Holy Light growth was not only due to faith but also related to the plane of existence. The Holy Light was closely connected to the world of Azeroth, but that didn't mean Holy Light energy could be freely used in every world. Perhaps the world they currently inhabited was too distant from the plane where the Holy Light originated.
Or maybe the barriers between worlds made it difficult for the Holy Light to enter the one Selene was in. Simply put, the signal was weak.
Slow growth wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Selene was a vampire, after all. Although she had received Corvinus's blood and her physique had changed somewhat, she still belonged to the category of dark creatures.
A gradually growing Holy Light could slowly transform her physique. This was much better than injecting a massive amount of Holy Light at once, which would cause extreme pain and might even lead to annihilation by the Holy Light.
If Selene could persevere, her vampire traits—inclined toward darkness—would slowly become more neutral. At that point, Holy Light and shadow would coexist in balance within her, possibly creating some unique changes.
Ethan was also considering whether to apply the same principle to his own cross to create a balance and prevent the Holy Light from continuously leaning toward extreme attributes.
At that moment, a woman suddenly appeared in front of them.
She wore a white lab coat typically seen on researchers, but what she held in her hand wasn't a research instrument—it was a pistol.
"Don't move!"
The woman blocked their path, pointing the weapon at them.
Leon reacted swiftly. The moment the woman appeared with the gun, he had already raised his own weapon and spoke up to reassure her. "Don't be nervous. We're humans, not those monsters."
He thought the woman had mistaken them for zombies, but her reply was not what he expected.
"Of course I know you're not those zombies. Who are you people?"
She gripped the gun tighter and showed no sign of relaxing just because they weren't zombies. Ethan could tell from her expression that she actually looked more nervous.
Clearly, she feared ordinary humans more than zombies.
Ethan understood why. This woman was William Birkin's wife, Sherry's mother. She was nervous because she didn't know who they were. After all, it had been humans who previously tried to steal the virus and had fatally wounded William, forcing him to inject himself with the G-virus and transform into a monster just to survive.
"Mommy!"
Just as the atmosphere grew tense, Sherry's cry caught everyone's attention. The woman, who had been holding the gun with trembling hands, immediately removed her finger from the trigger and opened her arms to embrace Sherry, who was running toward her.
Everything happened very quickly. From the moment the woman appeared and questioned their identities to Sherry rushing out, it took no more than ten seconds. After seeing her daughter, the woman also learned from Sherry what had happened—like how Claire and the others had been protecting her.
"Thank you for protecting my daughter all this time. I am Annette Birkin, Sherry's mother."
The misunderstanding seemed to be resolved. Leon also let out a small sigh of relief. While they introduced themselves, Annette explained what had happened, including why William had turned into a monster and why she had been so hostile toward humans.
William Birkin had been researching the G-virus in this hidden research facility. Just when he succeeded, Umbrella sent agents to seize his research.
William was gravely injured, and in his final moments, he injected himself with the G-virus, transforming into a monster and killing all the soldiers who had come to steal the virus (only one survived).
During the conflict, countless virus test tubes were broken. The virus spread through creatures like rats in the sewers and eventually throughout Raccoon City. This was the main cause of the biological outbreak in the city.
By now, with all the scattered information pieced together, everyone finally understood what had happened in Raccoon City.
In simple terms: Umbrella was rotten.
In fact, even the Annette Birkin standing before them wasn't a good person. On the surface, it seemed like she hadn't done anything, but she had always been William Birkin's assistant and had helped develop the G-virus. When everyone thought about this, they didn't know how to respond to her.
From a moral standpoint, should they just fill her with bullets?
"I'll take you out of this city, and then hand you over to federal agents. As for what judgment you'll face... that'll be up to a federal judge."
Leon was a righteous police officer. Even if Annette was a criminal, he would rescue her first and then hand her over for a lawful trial.
"Now I want to know, is there a way out of Raccoon City from here?"
"Wait."
Ethan had been silent the entire time. Only after Annette finished explaining did he step forward. "Before that, I need to handle something."
Annette hadn't paid much attention to Ethan before. She thought Leon, the officer, was the team's leader. But judging by everyone's reaction after Ethan stepped forward, it was clear this man held high status within the group.
"I need all the virus samples you have. I know this research facility contains many. I want you to take me to retrieve them."
As he spoke, Ethan casually hooked his finger, and the pendant around Sherry's neck broke off and flew into his hand.
(To be continued.)
***
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