A/N: For those who want to read ahead of the Webnovel schedule, you can read up to Chapter 117 on my Patreon.
š patreon.com/cw/Universal_Peace
*****
"Alice, before we reach our destination, there's something important you need to know," said Luke, his tone suddenly serious.
Alice glanced at him from the pilot's seat. "What is it?" she asked.
Luke hesitated for a moment. He wanted to tell her now ā before they landed, before she saw it with her own eyes.
"Umbrella has been using your clones for human experiments," he said finally.
Alice's hands froze on the controls. Her expression shifted ā confusion first, then disbelief. "What? My clones? Why?" she asked, her voice sharp.
Luke nodded slowly. "Yes. They wanted to understand why the T-Virus bonded with your body perfectly ā without any side effects. That's why they've been using your clones in their research. They're trying to replicate your results."
Alice's face hardened, her shock giving way to anger. "Those sick bastardsā¦"
"Is there a line they won't cross?" Jill asked from behind, her tone full of disgust.
"They're the ones who caused the end of the world," Luke said quietly, looking out the window. "I don't think they care about lines anymore."
He leaned back in his seat, his gaze distant. "Everyone in Umbrella is the same ā monsters wearing human faces. They'll do anything to get what they want. It doesn't matter who they hurt in the process."
The cockpit fell silent. Only the low hum of the helicopter filled the air.
Alice clenched her jaw, her grip on the controls tightening. She looked like she was on the edge of snapping ā every muscle tense, her breath uneven ā but she forced herself to hold it in.
Her voice came out cold. "Then we end this. No more experiments. No more Umbrella."
Luke watched her for a moment, then gave a small nod. "That's the plan."
***
After an hour, the helicopter finally descended over the barren wastelands near the Death Valley mountains.
They touched down beside a small, weathered structure ā a lone wooden house standing awkwardly in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a iron fence.
A few zombies were already pressed against it, their hands clawing at the metal, banging weakly as the chopper's noise drew their attention.
The rotors slowed, and the three of them stepped out. A gust of dry wind swept past, carrying the faint smell of metal and ash.
Luke adjusted his jacket and scanned the area. "Soā¦ this is it," he muttered. "Umbrella's desert hideout."
Alice didn't respond. She was already walking forward, her eyes fixed on something in the sand a few meters away.
She slowed down as she reached the edge and looked down.
Her breath hitched.
The small pit was filled with bodies ā her bodies. Women who looked exactly like her, wearing the same clothes she had worn when trapped in the Hive facility. Their skin was pale, lifeless, half-covered in dust and blood.
Alice just stared, her expression blank at first, then tightening as realization sank in. "My clonesā¦"
Jill came up behind her and froze when she saw it. "Godā¦ these Umbrella bastards," she spat, anger flaring in her tone.
Luke didn't look angry ā not even surprised. Instead, his eyes calmly swept across the pit, quietly counting. There were only fiveā¦ maybe six bodies.
"Not that many," he muttered under his breath.
It made sense. They had come early.
In the original plot, Alice reached this place four years later. At that time, this pit was filled with dozens of corpses.
Then, suddenly, from the wooden house, something was launched ā a volley of small canisters arced through the air and slammed into the ground around them.
They burst open on impact and a thick cloud of smoke rushed out, curling across the sand and swallowing the three of them.
Pfft ā pfft ā hiss.
Within seconds the air around Alice, Luke, and Jill went heavy and white. The smell was acrid and clinical.
Figures suddenly burst out of the cottage.
Soldiers wearing black combat suits and full-face gas masks stepped out, rifles raised.
"Target is hit with nerve gas."
A voice crackled in his earpiece. "Then capture Project Alice and Project X. Dispose of the other person."
Inside the underground facility,
Dr. Isaacs stood before the main console, hands clasped behind his back, a faint smile forming on his face.
Their radar system had picked up the helicopter long before it reached the perimeter, giving him plenty of time to prepare.
He had expected intruders ā scavengers or desperate survivors. What he didn't expect were them.
The display flickered, showing two figures he recognized instantly: Project Alice and Project X ā Umbrella's highest-priority subjects.
"Switch to a nerve agent instead of lethal rounds," Isaacs ordered. "We need them alive, at least the priority subjects."
He leaned closer to the screen. "Project Xā¦ the one with unimaginable strength. If I can get my hands on him, I can rewrite human DNA." His voice was almost casual, but there was hunger in it.
***
Above ground,
Soldiers advanced through the gas in tight formation.
Thenā
Bang! Bang!
Gunfire erupted suddenly from inside the smoke. The soldiers barely had time to react.
"What theā?" one shouted before a bullet tore through his chest, sending him crashing to the ground.
Another tried to return fire, but a round hit his arm, spinning him sideways. "They're still awakeā!" he yelled, but was cut off by another shot to the head.
The rest panicked, firing blindly into the fog. Ratatatābang! Sparks flashed, bullets hitting nothing.
Then silence.
One by one, their bodies dropped, blood soaking into the sand.
Luke's voice came out strangely clear from inside the gas, low and steady. "Nerve gas? They still use this cheap thing?"
Because Luke had set a barrier around them before the canisters hit, the nerve agent couldn't touch them.
"These guys really never learn," Jill said between breaths.
"Their experiments ended the world, yet even now they try the same thing."
Luke gave a faint smirk. "Then let's remind them why that was a bad idea."