Chapter 216: The Long-Awaited Plague Doctor, and the Question of a Soul

Lockford Island.

Underground Level Six of the Abnormal Phenomena Containment Center, within a special unit.

"Hum~ hum~"

Accompanied by a rhythmic, cheerful humming, the plague doctor, always dressed in a hooded black robe and a beak mask, held his black little bag in his left hand and reached with his right hand to toss anything he deemed useful into the bag.

Be it sealed tubes containing unknown green or red liquids, or various bone saws and scalpels, regardless of size, that black little bag accepted everything without refusal.

Soon, the plague doctor swept away almost all items placed on the table or hanging on the wall.

"Hmm…"

At that moment, he stared at the multifunctional operating table in the center of the unit, approached, half‑crouched, and extended his right hand, apparently intending to take the large table with him.

However, when he easily lifted the table and saw the myriad cables beneath, he abandoned the thought of taking it away.

"Sigh." He muttered to himself, "Never mind, never mind, we probably won't need that side, so I won't take you."

After packing up, the plague doctor slung his black little bag on his back, looked up at the monitor in the corner, and gave his left hand a shake.

Not long after.

The metal gate of the special unit opened slowly, and several elite security personnel equipped with superior defensive and sealed solo gear, wielding Katrell-type Laser Rifles, surged into the unit.

The lead guard said to the plague doctor in a deep voice, "Doctor, please come with us."

"Lead the way."

The plague doctor followed the security team out of his living and working unit, and before exiting, he casually took a white lab coat from a rack beside the gate and put it on.

Leaving the unit, he passed through several security doors, gates, and a kill corridor, rode an elevator to the first underground level, and finally the security team escorted the plague doctor to the surface airport.

"Ah~ fresh air after a long time!"

Just after stepping out of the facility, he looked up at the deep blue sky and the glaring sunlight.

Although the plague doctor does not need to breathe, to show his current delight he pretended to take a deep breath and sighed.

Also arriving on the surface with him were a group of D‑class personnel wearing distinctive orange prison jumpsuits marked with D‑prefix numbers.

Having finished his dramatic breath, the plague doctor placed his hands behind his back and followed the escort security forward, his gaze fixed tightly on the hundreds of D‑class personnel a short distance away.

Even though his expression was unreadable, the security guards who had long dealt with the plague doctor knew he was itching to "experiment" on those scum.

Fortunately, the plague doctor only stared for a few seconds before looking away, and the security team arrived at a helipad where the Yuyou was parked.

At that moment, Jack·Claude, wearing a black beret and military uniform with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, stepped forward and said to the plague doctor:

"Doctor, the company's ship is about to arrive; it will take you to Deimos shortly."

Formerly the head of security for Level Six, Jack·Claude now serves as the chief of security and defense for the entire Lockford Island.

"What about that group?" the plague doctor turned his head to glance at the D‑class personnel behind him.

"They," Jack·Claude replied, glancing that way, "will serve as experimental material for you, Doctor, to help the company investigate this incident."

"Ah! That's perfect for me. My vaccine has made good progress lately, and these terminal patients are ideal for testing," the plague doctor's excitement surged again.

"Then I'll await your good news, Doctor. Please board and wait for now,"

"No problem!" After finishing his conversation with Jack·Claude, the plague doctor headed toward the Yuyou's cabin and said to the security guards entering with him:

"Honestly, this is my first time leaving Earth; I have no idea what Mars is like. By the way, Jiemi, have you ever been off Earth? How does it feel?"

Meanwhile, the D‑class personnel boarding the large transport ship remained silent.

Because the elite security watching them would not be as patient as with the plague doctor, and among the "members" guarding them were six T-106 Tyrants slightly shorter than an adult Astate, as well as…

"Roar…" and that unit that constantly emitted complaining roars, the T-02 Stalker that once ripped a giant centipede apart with its tentacles.

The Stalker still wore a black‑coat‑like restrainer, a massive silver ammunition box on its back, a slender chain extending from the box's bottom, connected to a rotating pulse machine gun hanging from its right hand.

Overall it felt much the same as before, but the exposed tubular tissue on its skin was noticeably reduced, and now it could perform more complex tasks.

Even the six T-106 Tyrants boarding the transport with the D‑class personnel knew how to operate sophisticated weapons, perfectly coordinating with allied soldiers on various missions.

Even if a T-106's body is heavily damaged and forced into a frenzied "Release" mode, it still retains friend‑or‑foe identification and will not threaten allied troops.

Unfortunately, the Tyrants, including the Stalker, are considered mature products with no further development potential for Umbrella.

In other words, the company will no longer allocate any resources to Tyrant‑related projects.

Currently, various models of Tyrants used for internal company service are deployed in company facilities on Earth and its colonies to assist local armed security, or stationed at Luna Base as training units for prospective Astates.

Externally, the Tyrant line is one of Umbrella's best‑selling products, with the UNSC Special Operations as its biggest client.

Of course, beyond those uses, the company also found Tyrants highly suitable as "prison guards".

!!

Hearing the Stalker's roar caused many of the D‑class personnel present to tremble uncontrollably.

After all, the Stalker once, during a D‑class private activity, publicly used its tentacles to literally "suck" a trouble‑making individual to death, and no one has dared cause trouble since.

Besides deterring D‑class personnel, they also serve as a core force to prevent control failures.

With them and the security present, the D‑class personnel cooperated fully to board the transport, forced into the sealed cabin where they could barely breathe.

Outside the cabin, an engineering ship that had deactivated its Optical Camouflage appeared over the airport.

Soon after, the Yuyou carrying the plague doctor and elite security, along with the large transport, lifted off rapidly and entered the engineering ship's hangar.

The engineering ship then re‑engaged its Optical Camouflage, departed Lockford Island, and entered near‑Earth orbit to commence a slip‑space jump.

The D‑class personnel still inside the cabin only sensed the transport pulling away from the ground with odd "push‑back" and "jolt" sensations, unaware that they had completed the slip‑space jump and arrived at Mars orbit, two hundred million kilometers from Earth.

The engineering ship then proceeded on a regular course, gradually approaching Deimos, which was blockaded by the Destroyer, and finally docked near the Destroyer, allowing the Yuyou and the transport to exit the hangar and enter Deimos's dock.

The dock now gathered tens of thousands of survivors.

Deimos's interior had long been cleared by Tutmos's Astates; the Lieutenant Colonel also dispatched the remaining UNSC forces to bring all surviving personnel to this dock.

Leon, Shirley, and that group of UNSC elites were also among them.

Technical staff from the Destroyer were carrying out "decontamination" on everyone according to procedures for dealing with anomalous spaces and demons.

In fact, before the technicians arrived, Magnus had already released Spiritual Energy to disperse demons and hellish influences on the survivors.

But in the end, except for Umbrella personnel, the survivors will have their memories altered, only "remembering" that they encountered some kind of accident on Deimos.

As for fabricating an accident that the public can accept and that seems plausible, and for contacting the victims' families, that is handled by the company's Information and Aftermath Department; the technicians are only responsible for erasing and altering memories.

And the unit that fully took over the UNSC under that Lieutenant Colonel is the Hammer Strike Team, which is permanently stationed on the ship Exterminator.

As a regiment‑level unit of Umbrella, the Hammer naturally enjoys higher‑spec benefits.

In a typical ten‑man squad, eight are "light personnel" equipped with TPS Power Armor and Katrell‑type Laser Rifles.

The two "Heavy Infantry" wear CMC Power Armor, wield Gauss Rifles that fire supersonic spike rounds, and have mechanical arms with small missile launch tubes.

Currently, the squads attached to the Hammer are stationed throughout the dock to maintain order, and many squads are patrolling inside Deimos.

Krig has long since arrived on Deimos, but they are concentrated near the secondary port, assisting two OriginalBodies and Astate in defending the Hell Gate.

At this moment, the Yuyou and a transport craft entered the dock, landing in an area away from the crowd.

The hatch opened, allowing the plague doctor, accompanying security, as well as D-level personnel and the Tyrant, to step out of the cabin.

Outside the cabin, the plague doctor and the others surveyed the dock, and what most caught their attention was the gigantic air valve that resembled a glowing membrane.

The current angle of the air valve allowed those standing on the dock to see the southern hemisphere of Mars's sunlit side, and the pitch‑black space beyond, darkened by direct solar illumination.

"Oh? So that's Mars?" the plague doctor, who saw Mars's true appearance with his own eyes, satisfied his curiosity and remarked, "Hmm… it's far more desolate than I imagined."

The D-level personnel who also witnessed Mars and space showed none of the plague doctor's enthusiasm.

Staring at the colossal Mars and the black, void, unknown‑filled universe left many D-level personnel gaping; some were so frightened they collapsed and slumped on the ground.

Some even clutched the metal floor's seams with their fingers, fearing they might be "sucked" into space.

After all, the overwhelming majority of them were arrested and imprisoned between 03, 04 for crimes such as human trafficking and premeditated murder, and only after several years were they transferred from prison to Umbrella and classified as D-level personnel.

This means their perception of the outside world still remains stuck in 03, 04.

Moreover, realizing they had suddenly left the familiar Earth environment triggered rapid panic and confusion, and a phobia of "giants" and "space" spread among the D-level personnel.

"Get up," a elite security officer said in a deep voice, "keep moving forward."

"Go… roar…" the Stalker also cooperated with a low growl.

!

Hearing the Stalker's voice, the D-level personnel forced themselves to keep moving toward the next unknown area.

Compared to the fear of Mars and space, the fear of the Stalker seemed ingrained in their bones, especially since the Stalker could inflict real harm.

Next.

The plague doctor and the others arrived at the platform beside the dock, boarded the train that had been restarted, and hurried to the secondary port.

In just a few minutes, the train took everyone to the platform nearest the secondary port, where the D-level personnel encountered the chilling Krig.

Because Krig's TPS or CMC Power Armor helmet resembled an old‑fashioned gas mask from World War I or II, and some of the waist armor even had a straight‑handed Chain Saw attached.

Although also a regiment‑level unit, Krig's benefits are clearly higher than the Hammer's.

Not only are they equipped with a small Chain Sword, but the battalion commander's sidearm is a "mortal" version of a small‑caliber explosive arrow gun.

It should be noted that the difference between Krig and the living dead lies in Krig being created through embryonic biotechnology to augment members, rather than a "copy‑paste" soulless clone.

The moment Krig's brain was formed, he was indoctrinated with loyalty to Sui Bian, to the company and humanity, and with the belief that eliminating the enemy is worth any price.

After sixteen months, Krig matures, his body receives various enhancements, and having undergone procedures such as Pain Sensation Shielding, he is indeed different from ordinary humans.

But every Krig has "parents".

For decades since Umbrella's founding, its hospitals worldwide have offered paid sperm and egg donation services, and even after Sui Bian took power, they never stopped.

Thus each Krig originates from a fertilized egg selected through optimal matching, merely accelerated by Umbrella's biotechnology.

This explains why the Krigs Shirley first saw included both males and females, with varied appearances.

Having a "soul" is the fundamental distinction between Krig and the living dead.

At this moment, the Krigs stationed at this platform halted their patrol and silently stared at the D-level personnel.

Only after all the D-level personnel left, entering the passage toward the secondary port, did the Krigs shift their gaze away.

Inside the passage.

The plague doctor, walking at the front of the line, turned his head back and muttered to himself in thought, "Those special children have indeed given me many new ideas, hmm…"

In the midst of contemplation.

"What… what is this!! Run!! They're trying to make us die!! Everyone run!!"

A D-level personnel let out a hoarse scream, interrupting the plague doctor's thoughts; they had already arrived at the secondary port.

That D-level personnel, having seen the various sights on Deimos, especially the Hell Gate displaying a hellish scene, finally broke down emotionally, shouting and breaking away from the group to flee.

But before the Stalker or other Tyrants could act…

Everyone only heard heavy footsteps going "thud, thud!", and then an OriginalBody clad in Power Armor appeared in front of that D-level personnel.

The OriginalBody carefully extended its left hand, wrapping the D-level personnel's head with its massive palm, silencing any further shouting, and loudly retorted:

"What are you babbling about?"

Then, gripping the about‑to‑collapse individual, the OriginalBody looked up and shouted to all the D-level personnel:

"Your mission is to assist us in investigating the situation on that desert! Don't be afraid! Rest assured, as long as you cooperate properly, you'll receive the company's reward!"

(End of Chapter)