Chapter 495

Leave the elevator.

First to come into view was a minimalist-style lobby with marble flooring so clean it could serve as a mirror, and guarded by four armed security personnel (equipped with powered armor and plasma rifles).

At the same time, there was also a pair of double doors, and the holographic screen displayed the words 'Bioweapon Cold Storage'.

Seeing that the arrivals were Zax Redfield and twelve auxiliary troops, the four armed security personnel hastily raised their hands in a salute.

Zax also raised her right hand in response; by the time she lowered it, she had already reached the right side of the gate.

After reading biometric data via the terminal and completing the unlock operation, the tightly sealed gate finally opened successfully.

And as the gate opened, the air inside the cold storage, averaging about -20°C, upon meeting the lobby's room-temperature air, rapidly condensed into tiny water droplets, creating a 'white mist' scene.

Zax did not wait for the mist to dissipate, but led six of the auxiliary troops onward.

Upon entering the cold storage, one could see a straight corridor, with tightly sealed gates on either side serving as isolation chambers storing various strains of viruses, bacteria, or parasites.

But Zax headed straight for the destination.

Soon, they arrived at the middle section of the corridor and looked toward the isolation chamber on the right marked '0733'.

Following Zax's hand signal, one auxiliary troop unlocked the isolation chamber, causing the gate to slide upward; then, together with another comrade, they passed through the decontamination passage and jointly retrieved a device resembling a gray coffin, equipped with a levitation mechanism, from within.

When the two auxiliary troops pushed the freezer to Zax's front, the stern-faced intelligence department head lowered her head slightly and, through the observation window, looked inside the freezer.

Inside the freezer lay a naked man with a full beard and long male hair…

"Human."

However, in the lower right corner of the freezer's observation window, the holographic screen displayed the text: 'Product of Universe 06 / Mature Compound V Experiment / Codename: Soldier Boy'.

Thus it can be known that the male 'human' lying in the freezer is the pseudo-superhero from Universe 06 ('Black Robe'), Soldier Boy.

Ten years ago, after Luo Jia occupied Earth in Universe 06, they seized large amounts of Compound V, along with related data and experimental subjects, which included Soldier Boy.

And Luo Jia, in order to completely eliminate 'superheroes,' as well as 'theism' and 'the Bible' etc religious products' influence on Universe 06's Earth, transported large quantities of Compound V and experimental subjects back to the company in the main universe for research.

As for Soldier Boy, Umbrella used nanotechnology to erase all his memories, injected him with a specific vaccine, and kept him in a 'frozen' state for storage.

Through internal company channels, Chris learned of this, and in order to give his granddaughter an extra margin of safety, he employed 'some' personal means to transfer Soldier Boy and forty undead to Tai Luo Ke Er.

The undead had already been activated by Zax when Tai Luo Ke Er carried out large-scale transfer and evacuation, and were equipped with powered armor and various weapons, then assigned and deployed to each defensive sector.

But given the dire situation, Zax had no choice but to also put this 'Soldier Boy' into use.

Take out the freezer.

Close the isolation chamber.

The group quickly left the cold storage and took the elevator down to the equipment room on the underground level.

Here, several technicians who had undergone considerable cybernetic surgery, habitually called 'mechs' by the auxiliary troops and combat units, skillfully opened the freezer and began the 'thawing' procedure on Soldier Boy.

First, using the special-model nanobots inside his body, they 'programmed' Soldier Boy's brain, implanting a reconstructed 'false' memory that felt utterly 'real' to him.

Next, the technicians performed three comprehensive checks on him, ensuring no errors before waking him up.

"Um…"

Clad in a blue hospital gown, Soldier Boy lay on the multi-functional operating table, his brows furrowed as he slowly opened his eyes, then weakly sat up.

Seeing the technicians with prosthetic eyes, prosthetic limbs, and mechanical tentacles gathered around the operating table, as well as Zax standing not far away with arms crossed over her chest, and a full complement of armed auxiliary troops, Soldier Boy felt no great surprise or shock; instead, he raised his left hand to his gently throbbing temple and asked:

"Where are those demons? And where is Chris?"

The fact that the technicians, who identify as 'mechs,' do not object and can utter the words 'demon' and 'Chris' is because the memories implanted in Soldier Boy by the technicians make him likewise a member of the Dark Crow Guard regiment, or originally belonging to the UBCS under Sui Bian's faction.

Furthermore, in his memories, Soldier Boy a century ago was still in the colony star system of the Dark Crow Guard, participating in the company's top-secret experiment, thereby gaining steel bones and iron flesh, and the ability to release radiation pulses, among others.

However, shortly after completing the experimental surgery, the main universe was hit by an interspatial storm from a century ago; thereafter, Soldier Boy and his comrades jointly faced a high-ranking demon that launched a sudden ambush and possessed great strength.

Moreover, although Soldier Boy's physique was indeed at its peak, he was powerless against the lascivious great demon wielding formidable Spiritual Energy.

Therefore, after all his comrades had fallen, Soldier Boy chose to carry the sole remaining plasma bomb and, when engaging the high-ranking demon in close combat once more, manually detonated it.

After the blue light flashed and faded, upon opening his eyes again, Soldier Boy found himself lying back on the operating table.

"Commander." At that moment, Zax stepped forward, fully playing along by addressing Soldier Boy as 'Commander,' and added: 'The ravages of the interspatial storm are already a thing of the past, a century ago.'

?!

Hearing those words, Soldier Boy finally showed a hint of astonishment.

And Zax, ignoring his reaction, said: 'Furthermore, Commander, I am Zax Redfield, granddaughter of Chris Redfield.'

"Wow? He actually has a granddaughter?" Soldier Boy exclaimed in astonishment, as if this news were more shocking than having slept a hundred years.

"Yes, Commander. Since you manually detonated the plasma bomb, the regiment has subjected your body to an extremely lengthy cryogenic treatment and placed it in the remote colony where I am stationed, hoping that one day you might return to the battlefield, but now…"

Saying this, Zax put on a feigned expression of distress: 'And now, we have no choice but to accelerate the process, waking you ahead of schedule, because we…'

"All right, kid." Having fully regained consciousness, Soldier Boy interrupted Zax's narration, twisting his neck and wrist joints, and said directly: "I roughly figured out what's going on; give me a combat uniform and a handy weapon."

"Hey, right, preferably a shield-type melee weapon; the heavier the better, something I can wield easily."

"Of course, Commander." Zax naturally had no objection, and glanced at the auxiliary troops not far behind her.

Having received the visual cue, the auxiliary troop nodded in understanding, then directly pushed an equipment box to the side of the operating table.

"Click~!"

Accompanied by the crisp sound of the fastener, the equipment box sprang open its protective cover, revealing to everyone the combat uniform and 'shield' inside.

"Not bad."

Soldier Boy gave a brief assessment, then, barefoot, flipped off the operating table, and with the technicians' help changed into a combat uniform whose main body was dark green, made of composite titanium fiber, with hull-grade armor added only at a few key spots.

Given that Soldier Boy's own strength far surpasses that of ordinary people, and his physique can even directly withstand a hydrogen bomb, Zax did not prepare powered armor for him.

However, the chest of the combat uniform was specially designed to allow Soldier Boy to release high-energy, high-radiation pulse waves, or pulse bombardments.

Having changed into the combat uniform.

Soldier Boy lowered his gaze to the round, curved-surface black metal shield, which looked heavy, but when he reached out to pick it up and gave it a heft, he couldn't help but frown slightly and say:

"A bit light."

"Commander." Zax explained with a smile: 'This is a vibranium shield from another universe; it can absorb kinetic energy, is nearly indestructible, and therefore is far more useful than you imagine.'

This vibranium shield was likewise obtained by Chris using some means, acquiring nearly thirty thousand tons of vibranium from the Zero-Five Universe, and then having the Foundry Star Sector craft a batch of new-model powered armor and melee weapons for the Dark Crow Guard.

It is worth noting that the Zero-Five Universe, under Leon's temporary acting governorship, has already discovered the source planet of vibranium veins beyond Zero-Five Earth.

Afterwards, the Engineering Department conducted analysis and decryption, and then, using the planet terraforming device, first replicated twelve planets containing vibranium veins in the Zero-Five Universe.

Thus, after the Engineering Department's work, vibranium is no longer a scarce metal resource, and Chris also allocated a portion of vibranium to his granddaughter to arm the Intelligence Department of Tai Luo Ke Er.

"Vibranium..."

This time, Soldier Boy didn't complain, he attached the vibranium shield to the outside of his left arm, then walked out with Zacks and the auxiliary forces, and said:

"Alright, kid, tell me what kind of enemy this is that forced you to wake me up ahead of time."

"It's the bug swarm," Zacks said in a low voice.

"Bugs? Hmm, I haven't properly dealt with bugs for a while."

Soldier Boy remained as calm as ever.

Mainly, the memories implanted by the technicians also included skirmishes with the Raiders' scout fleet, and after battling the Covenant Empire, further contact with the Flood bug swarm.

The group entered the elevator, heading toward the mid-level docking bay of the Intelligence Department building, and Zacks continued explaining: "This bug swarm attack came too suddenly; at least three hours remain before reinforcements arrive, and moreover the metropolitan area has lost its barrier…

"Therefore, Commander, we need you to create as big a disturbance as possible to draw the bug swarm's attention, buying us time to evacuate civilians."

"Don't worry, I'm good at this; as long as those bugs aren't skilled in Spiritual Energy, few can do anything to me." Soldier Boy said from the passageway.

Speaking, the elevator had already brought everyone to the mid-level docking bay.

Here, Zacks and the auxiliary forces no longer accompanied Soldier Boy; instead, Soldier Boy alone boarded a flight craft belonging to the Intelligence Department, whose appearance resembled a black two-door coupe.

Immediately afterward.

The flight craft then engaged autopilot, swiftly carrying Soldier Boy away from the docking bay, crossing Metropolis District 01, and flying straight to the most severely affected District 08.

In contrast, Zacks standing at the edge of the docking bay, letting the breeze ruffle his bangs, no longer showed the former junior's respect for his senior; he returned to a blank expression, watching the flight craft gradually recede.

"Supervisor, after reinforcements arrive, how should we handle that Soldier Boy?" an auxiliary asked.

"First upload the relevant data to the OriginalBody of the Thirteenth Legion; since we're putting on an act, we might as well go all out." Zacks gave the order, and added: "Furthermore, my grandfather once taught me that anyone can realize their maximum value."

As for Chris's lesson on "maximum value" for her, it stems from Sui Bian's early reign, when he conducted various dark operations through Brian Ellison, chief of the Raccoon City Police Department.

Although this Ellison was a pervert, after Sui Bian took power he never dared to cause trouble again; used properly, he brought great early convenience to Umbrella.

Even without entering Umbrella's core or obtaining the life-prolonging potion made from blood mandrake flower, Ellison, who lived through the early days of nanotechnology, lived a total of 126 years, certainly qualifying as a peaceful death.

Meanwhile, after reviewing Soldier Boy's file, Zacks knew this individual, the first batch of fake superheroes created by Vought International, had a private character and conduct no different from scum.

But current memory-altering technology is sufficient to "replace" Soldier Boy with another person.

Therefore, Zacks plans to first use Soldier Boy against the unknown bug swarm, while observing his stability, and then make other plans after reinforcements arrive.

After all, Soldier Boy's body contains custom nanobots; whether one wants to eliminate him or "shut him down" lies solely in the thoughts of Zacks and the Intelligence Department.

———————

At this moment.

Soldier Boy sitting inside the flight craft was completely unaware that Zacks and the auxiliary forces were contemplating how to arrange his "future."

And Soldier Boy, looking beyond the energy shield at the sky‑covering swarm of bugs blocking out the sun, couldn't help but grow solemn.

Soon, the flight craft carried him downward into a ground tunnel.

Within three minutes he arrived at the most chaotic and fiercely fought‑over Metropolis District 08.

Seeing countless soldiers and Kreigs desperately blocking the bug swarm's advance, shielding civilians as they retreated via tunnels, overpasses, and the like toward Metropolis District 01, he could no longer hold back and kicked open the left side door.

He leapt forth.

At kilometer‑high altitude, adopting a free‑fall manner, he plunged toward the central area of Metropolis District 12; the moment Soldier Boy stomped and exploded a serpent bug, he also fell straight into the bug sea.

"Howl!!"

Sensing "food" delivered to their doorstep, the soldier bugs and serpent bugs eagerly swarmed forward, opening their bloody maws to tear the "food" apart.

However…

Only hearing a crisp "Bang~!" was seen as Soldier Boy swung his left hand, wielding the vibranium shield with ease, swatting the oncoming horde of bugs away.

Then swinging his right fist, he hammer‑blasted another overconfident soldier bug; moreover, a red light rose from dark to bright on Soldier Boy's chest, and then…

"Boom!!!"

A shockwave and mushroom cloud emitting blinding red light rapidly rose, centered on Soldier Boy.

"Roar!!"

At the same time, this maneuver also let the bugs catch a whiff of an even more "delicious" Soldier Boy, prompting them to surge forward in wave after wave toward the central zone of Metropolis District 08.

(End of chapter)