Simmons, dressed in an elegant suit with a touch of Middle Ages aristocratic flair, slowly entered the President's office.
He clutched a set of confidential documents wrapped in yellow kraft paper, a satisfied smile on his face, his upturned mustache practically preening.
His proposal had succeeded, and Raccoon City had completely vanished.
Society was peaceful, and Simmons was very pleased with this outcome.
And so,
Simmons calmly reported to the old President before him:
"As you wished…",
"The crisis in Raccoon City has been resolved.
Three hours ago, the military launched a small nuclear bomb that reached Raccoon City, successfully destroying it.
Additionally, the military has dispatched a large number of soldiers to investigate the areas surrounding Raccoon City, and there is no possibility of a biological virus leak, which proves that this strategy was absolutely correct and perfect."
"As long as you, Mr. President, silence the news media in Colorado and block other states' channels of information, and then declare to the outside world that the military is testing new nuclear weapons, then within a few months, this catastrophe and scandal born on American soil will completely disappear."
"This is the detailed report, please review it…"
Simmons respectfully handed the confidential documents he was holding to the old President, but the old President merely glanced at them and ignored them, not even bothering to unwrap them.
The deed was done… even if he was old and foolish, he understood that the Raccoon City incident was irreversible.
He had privately investigated the number of residents, large and small, in Raccoon City, and not counting people with other special professional identities, the population of Raccoon City was as high as 100,000.
That was 100,000 living people!
Even if the biological virus spread quickly, 100,000 people… it would take at least several days and nights to infect them all, and Simmons said that over eighty percent of the population had already been infected… The old President decided not to bring this up again; he already understood what was going on.
And now, no matter how many people were infected,
Those 100,000 living people had all vanished.
The old President understood that this was something that could never be completely covered up.
100,000 dead people couldn't speak, but their relatives would… Therefore, the old President decided to shift his focus to the mastermind behind this Resident Evil.
The deaths of 100,000 people in Raccoon City could not be borne by him alone as President, by the United States Government, and by the military.
They simply couldn't bear the blame; the mastermind had to be found to divert the public's hatred onto him.
This way, the old President would not be subjected to a torrent of curses before leaving office…
"…"
And the moment Simmons saw the old President's attitude,
He also realized his little trick had been seen through, and his triumphant smile immediately turned awkward.
But more than that… it was sympathy for Umbrella Corporation.
Now… Umbrella Corporation, which was being used as toilet paper by the United States Government, was probably truly doomed.
He had to quickly make sure his family organization behind him distanced itself from this pharmaceutical company…
Chapter 48: One Hour After the Nuclear Blast
Rewind the camera to four hours before the small nuclear bomb strike—
Inside the Raccoon City subway station,
"Roar, roar, roar—!!!"
The Nemesis-α Parasite Ultimate Form roared madly, its massive body emerging from the subway station entrance and beginning to relentlessly destroy buildings on the street.
Although slow, it deliberately crawled towards the Raccoon City power station factory.
After this colossal creature had completely left,
Carlos, who was hiding in a nearby apartment, slowly poked his head out the window for a glance.
The Nemesis-α Parasite Ultimate Form was no longer a monster they could deal with, so Carlos did not rashly use the four-barreled rocket launcher to blast the Nemesis-α Parasite Ultimate Form to attract its aggro.
He was not that foolish.
"It seems to have left…"
"But how did such a giant fellow appear, and where is Jill…? Where did she go after entering the subway tunnel?"
After muttering to himself with these questions, Carlos slowly climbed out of the apartment window.
A few zombies nearby noticed him, but these zombies were no match for Carlos.
He pulled out the tactical dagger from his waist and cleanly stabbed it into the heads of these zombies.
In just a few rounds, Carlos silently dealt with these zombies.
He had a gun in his hand,
But to avoid attracting more zombies,
Carlos still chose to fight with cold weapons.
After easily clearing the path ahead, Carlos continued walking towards the subway station.
He planned to go there to see how many survivors were still alive and whether the trains inside the subway station could still be used.
"Thump-thump-thump…"
However,
When he re-entered the subway station,
He was still shocked by the scene before him.
It was truly a mess inside; a large number of facilities were completely crushed and damaged, and a huge gully was forcibly squeezed out of the central passage, with a lot of soil and rubble piled up.
Those who knew would recognize it as a subway station, but those who didn't might think it was a vegetable field.
Many of the train tracks below were also damaged, and many routes simply couldn't be activated.
The most fatal blow was to the subway trains; two or three of them had already been crushed into soda cans by the Nemesis-α Parasite Ultimate Form, leaving only the smallest train in a secluded corner.
That was a train purely for sightseeing, not a high-speed passenger train.
It could be said to be unfortunate,
But also a blessing in disguise—
The entire subway station could truly be called a scrap yard without exaggeration.
Scattered parts and crushed, bent facilities were piled up haphazardly, almost becoming ruins.
The lingering dust and debris inside made Carlos sigh, realizing it was almost completely beyond repair.
However,
Just as Carlos was about to enter the subway station to search for survivors, a sinister gaze first fixed on Carlos.
Before he could react, a rush of footsteps came from amidst the swirling dust, and a dark figure rapidly approached, delivering a fierce punch to Carlos's face!
"Bang—!"
A dull thud sounded.
Carlos was caught off guard and knocked to the ground by a punch.
Feeling the stinging pain on his face and the half-broken, bleeding tooth, Carlos's anger slowly rose, and he intended to see which bastard dared to ambush him.
Unfortunately,
Just as Carlos was about to get up, an enraged face rushed forward, and two muscular hands tightly gripped Carlos's collar.
Immediately, an extremely angry torrent of curses erupted in his ear:
"Bastard! You have the nerve to come back?!"
"Look what you've done?
I said that woman was a jinx, don't bring her here.
Those monsters are all after her; wouldn't it be better to just let her fend for herself?
And now… the entire subway station is destroyed.
Are you trying to get all of us trapped and die in this hellish city?"
Silver-white short hair,
Sinister eyes,
His face showed an indescribable fury.
The person who came was Nikolai, known as the cunning Silver Wolf.
Because he had managed to hide in a safe place in time, he was neither killed by the T-103 Tyrant nor affected by the large-scale attack of the Nemesis-α Parasite Ultimate Form.
He was still one of the last people remaining.
And now he was furiously questioning Carlos, gripping his collar tightly.
Nikolai was incredibly angry with this bastard, Carlos.
Because he knew Jill's identity: a member of S.T.A.R.S.
And as an inspector secretly ordered by Umbrella Corporation, Nikolai was also very clear that whether it was the T-103 Tyrant or the Pursuer, all those monsters were sent by Umbrella Corporation to hunt Jill.
But what had Carlos, that bastard, done?
He actually led Jill, that jinx, towards them.
And now… the entire subway station had been destroyed by that colossal monster.
They had no way to leave Raccoon City.
What good was so-called combat data to Nikolai now?
"…"
"What about the other survivors?"
Facing the questioning from Nikolai, the B team leader, Carlos knew that arguing was useless, so he simply asked about the number of survivors in the subway station first.
But Nikolai didn't care about that.
Whether the survivors were alive or not was none of his business; he only cared if he could escape.
"I don't know,"
"Most of them are already dead.
If you want to save them, go save them yourself…!"
Seeing Carlos being unyielding,
Nikolai didn't want to bother with this fool Carlos anymore.
He violently slammed him to the ground and then rushed to check various facilities and corners within the subway station, looking for any vehicle that could get him out of this hellish city of Raccoon City.
Carlos didn't get angry either.
He spat out some blood and slowly got up from the ground.
He was different from Nikolai, that inhumane fellow; he still held onto a sense of justice in his heart.
During his time in U.B.C.S., Carlos had already understood the cunning Silver Wolf Nikolai's ways.
Everyone knew about his notorious acts of abandoning teammates to complete missions by any means necessary, but no one had truly spoken out to stop him.
However…
Just as Carlos was busy searching for survivors,
"Buzz…"
"Sizzle sizzle—!!!"
A sudden electrical sound interrupted Carlos and Nikolai's thoughts.
Both of them lifted their heads to look up.
The subway station, which should have been a ruined scrap yard, was now emitting light.
Although some facilities were sparking, this still proved one thing: the Raccoon City subway station had its power restored!
"What the hell?"
"The power suddenly came back…?!"
Watching the flickering lights above, Nikolai's expression changed, and he muttered in disbelief.
But more than that… it was extreme excitement after the change.
He found it incredibly hard to imagine why the paralyzed Raccoon City subway station would suddenly have its power restored.
Was it a blessing from Heaven?
No…
Nikolai was a staunch materialist.
He would rather believe that he had overpaid his electricity bill or that the power station factory's equipment had suddenly gone haywire than believe it was a blessing from Heaven.
However, Carlos, who was beside him, had a different opinion:
"It's Jill! Jill restored the power,"
"There's no one else besides her.
She had already planned to go to the power station factory to restore power, but she was suddenly blocked by that massive monster."
Undoubtedly,
Carlos was Jill's number one fan, completely infatuated.
Nikolai, upon hearing Jill's name, immediately showed an expression of disgust and contempt, pointing at Carlos and cursing loudly:
"Shut up! Carlos!"
"I don't want to hear that name.
The power restoration in the subway station was definitely not done by that bitch.
But it doesn't matter anymore.
If you want to come with me and take the train to leave this damned Raccoon City, then control your mouth and don't mention that bitch in front of me."
After warning Carlos,
Nikolai had no intention of lingering further.
Instead, he ran directly to the only remaining sightseeing train, opened the door, and pulled the power switch.
The button lights on the train equipment suddenly lit up, indicating that this train could still be used normally.
This made Nikolai's joy evident; he was too excited.
He could finally leave this terrible place!
And just as Nikolai was about to start the train and leave immediately…
Carlos, from behind, resolutely stopped him and said seriously and earnestly:
"Wait, Nikolai…"
"There are still many survivors trapped in Raccoon City, including those in the subway station.
We must take them with us; we cannot selfishly leave alone!"
Yes,
During this time,
Carlos had already seen several survivors painstakingly crawl out of the subway station ruins.
Although they were seriously injured, they were not dead.
As a U.B.C.S. soldier, Carlos felt it was his duty to rescue these stranded survivors.
Nikolai looked at Carlos before him,
With an expression as if he were looking at a madman.
He really couldn't understand when such a big fool had gotten into U.B.C.S.
And as a U.B.C.S. soldier, was saving people his duty?
Heh heh… As an inspector, he knew all too well what U.B.C.S. was like: wearing the skin of a devil, yet proclaiming themselves as helpful knights to others.
Nikolai couldn't help but want to laugh.
The United States Government was going to launch a small nuclear bomb to bomb Raccoon City in an hour.
Instead of rushing to escape, you're still thinking about saving people.
In Nikolai's eyes, Carlos was a complete and utter fool, perfectly matched with his instant noodle hair.
"Bang—!"
"Get lost! If you want to save people, stay here and save them yourself!"
Without any hesitation,
Facing Carlos, who was acting like an idiot, Nikolai, taking him by surprise, swung another fierce punch, heavily striking Carlos's left cheek.
This time, a powerful blow directly sent Carlos flying from the train head to the outside, rolling several meters on the ground.
Looking at Carlos coughing blood on the ground, Nikolai nodded with satisfaction, preparing to start the train again and leave the subway station.
However,
Nikolai had still underestimated Carlos's stubbornness.
Carlos slowly propped himself up from the ground.
Looking at Nikolai, who was starting the train, a fierce glint flashed in Carlos's eyes.
Gritting his teeth, he lunged forward, and in an instant, pressed down on Nikolai's hand, which was starting the train.
At the same time, he quickly pulled out the pistol from his thigh, pressed it hard against Nikolai's back, and threatened in a low, serious tone:
"Don't make me say it a second time…"
"Nikolai, we cannot leave like this, or our consciences will condemn us endlessly afterward.
Raise your hands and come save people with me!"
Feeling the cold touch on his back,
Nikolai was agitated, anxious, and furious.
He wished he could twist off Carlos's head and kick it like a ball.
Since when could the honest, instant-noodle-haired guy from U.B.C.S. ride on his head and show off?
And his conscience would be condemned?
If he still had such a thing as a conscience, he wouldn't have played with so many people as cannon fodder earlier.
Wolves have no kindness!
Undoubtedly,
Carlos was the biggest idiot Nikolai had ever met in his life.
However, due to the threat of the pistol at his back, no matter how furious Nikolai was, he had no choice but to slowly raise his hands and turn his head.
Nikolai's sinister eyes narrowed slightly, as if he were thinking about how to counter-kill this simpleton Carlos later.