A/N: For those who want to read ahead of the Webnovel schedule, you can read up to Chapter 120 on my Patreon.
👉 patreon.com/cw/Universal_Peace
*****
As the Red Queen's image vanished, Luke glanced back at the White Queen's hologram.
"Hey — White Queen, can you map out all the remaining Umbrella facilities for me?" he asked.
He was too lazy to hunt them down himself; it's better to have the AI point him to every target so they could be nuked in short order.
"Negative," the White Queen replied. "Due to security protocols, I cannot disclose that information."
"Tch. Is there any way to lift that security? Hacking or an override?" Luke pressed.
"There is one possibility," the White Queen said.
"Dr. Isaacs was listed as my primary user. With him now deceased, in approximately twenty minutes full control of my systems will default to Umbrella headquarters. "
"If, within that window, you manually override the motherboard and register yourself as primary user, I can then provide you with the facility data I hold."
"Alright," Luke said. "Show me the way to the control panel."
As Luke followed the White Queen's holographic map, he muttered under his breath, "You know… it's funny."
The hologram flickered beside him. "Clarify," she said.
Luke gave a short, humorless laugh. "You and the Red Queen — both AIs, both built by monsters — and yet you're the only ones left who actually give a damn about humanity."
The White Queen paused for a moment, processing. "That is… ironic," she said softly.
"Yeah," Luke replied. "Those bastards in Umbrella might've been born human, but they lost what made them human a long time ago."
He adjusted his jacket as he reached the next corridor. "Meanwhile, the machines they made to serve them turned out to be the only ones still trying to save the world."
"Thank you," the White Queen said, her voice flat but oddly… polite.
Luke finally reached the server room — a vast chamber filled with humming racks and flickering blue lights. Following the White Queen's instructions, he began the override sequence on the central console.
Lines of code scrolled across the screen as he entered his credentials. His reflection flickering in the glass. After a few moments, the system chimed softly.
[Primary User: Luke Haken — Registration Complete]
A nearby compartment opened, revealing a sleek, black wrist device. Luke slipped it on, and the screen immediately synced. The White Queen's appeared, pulsing faintly — she was now directly linked to him.
"Well, it's good to have you with me, White Queen," Luke said.
"Likewise, Mr. Luke," the White Queen replied.
Luke stepped out of the server room, still adjusting the wrist device when a strange vibration rolled through the air.
He froze, frowning, eyes flicking upward.
Something felt off. The ceiling panels rattled faintly — the kind of sound that meant trouble.
"What the fuck?" he muttered under his breath.
Without hesitation, he crouched, power rippling through his legs, and sprang upward.
CRASH!
Metal and dust exploded around him as he tore through the ceiling like it was paper.
He didn't stop — another floor, another impact — BOOM!
And then he landed, knees bent, smoke swirling around him.
A sharp cough cut through the haze.
Luke's eyes narrowed; he spotted movement and reached out.
In one smooth motion, he pulled someone toward him — catching the figure mid-fall and holding them close.
"Got you," he muttered.
Jill blinked up at him, her hand gripping his shoulder instinctively. She was covered in dust, breathing hard but still alive.
"You alright, Jill?" Luke asked, glancing down as they hovered above the cracked floor.
"I'm fine," she said between coughs. "But—what the hell is that?"
She pointed past him.
From the smoke below, something was moving. Heavy footsteps echoed — slow, deliberate.
Luke turned his head.
The thing stepped into view. Nearly nine feet tall, veins bulging under gray skin, its body warped with muscle.
A familiar outline beneath the monstrousity made his stomach twist.
Half of its face looked like his.
It growled, a deep, broken sound that rattled the walls. Drool and blood mixed at the edges of its teeth as it stared up at him — at them — with warped red eyes.
Luke's expression hardened.
"Fuck these guys," he hissed. "They really cloned me?"
"But how the hell did they even get my DNA?" he muttered, eyes narrowing. "And even if they somehow did… did they have to make it look this ugly?"
The thing straightened, its bones cracking as it rose to its full height. Its flesh looked stitched together — uneven, wrong. A long, distorted scar ran down one side of its chest, pulsing faintly like something alive underneath.
Luke's face twisted in disgust. "God, I feel sick just looking at it."
Jill tilted her head slightly, a teasing smile on her lips despite the danger. "I don't know, Luke… I thought you knew this thing. It kinda looks like you."
Luke turned to her slowly, his expression flat. "No way I look like that thing."