Chapter 65: Temple and Flowers

"Hmm, also, dispatch two more teams of technicians to the ruins; I want to fully recover that centipede's corpse."

Sui Bian, having learned the approximate arrival time, gave a brief acknowledgment and then issued the above order.

"Yes," the employee promised.

Since the system showed no response to that centipede, Sui Bian judged that the real anomalous phenomenon might reside in the temple atop the pyramid.

And that centipede is also very likely a "byproduct" of the anomalous phenomenon.

Next.

The Stalker, in an unbound state, continued carrying out orders and exploring the ruins of the Inca City before the two MTF squads arrived.

Soon, many Zombie Dogs and Hunter Alpha units arrived one after another to assist in the exploration of the ruins.

After the B. O. W. s' exploration, the Command Center preliminarily confirmed that the areas outside the pyramid and the temple held nothing noteworthy and ruled out the possibility of nearby danger.

Before the two MTF squads and two technician teams arrived, the Stalker was the first to rush to the temple atop the pyramid.

Entering.

There, on both sides and at the far end of the temple, stood stone statues in Inca style, and the walls bore numerous murals that seemed to record the era's grandeur.

Most notably, the temple's very center was an open‑air structure, allowing sparse sunlight to stream into the interior.

At the exact center of the temple there was no altar nor any grand statue, but a flowerbed blooming with vivid red flowers.

Everyone who saw this scene through the Stalker's eyes couldn't help but wonder what magical properties these flowers possessed that led the ancient Incas to build such a massive pyramid for their worship.

"So that's it—the anomalous phenomenon the system mentioned wasn't the centipede, but these flowers."

Seeing the scene before him, Sui Bian finally had an epiphany.

Blood Orchid.

Sui Bian guessed that those flowers were most likely the Blood Orchid from the "Raging Python Disaster" series.

He remembered that the Blood Orchid can extend cellular lifespan, hailed as the Immortal Flower, and the giant pythons in the film originated from the Blood Orchid.

From this analysis, it was easy to surmise that the centipede, by chance, consumed the Blood Orchid and thus grew into a nearly twenty‑meter‑long behemoth.

The centipede also made the ruins its lair, preying on any animal that dared to invade its territory, ensuring it remained the sole ruler here.

One hour later.

Two helicopter formations successively arrived over the ruins of the Inca City and deployed two MTF squads and two technician teams from their cabins.

Immediately thereafter, the MTF helped the technicians collect the severed limbs and corpses of Zombie Dogs and Hunter Alpha, and clean up the chaos—including blood—left by the Stalker's battle with the centipede.

While handling this, two technicians, escorted by four Caron guards, ascended to the temple atop the pyramid to collect Blood Orchid samples.

The moment the technicians finished collecting, the system finally spoke beside Sui Bian's ear:

【Detected that the host successfully located and controlled the anomalous phenomenon situated in Peru's Amazon Rainforest; therefore this system judges the host's mission complete.】

Rewarding the host with one lottery chance, 200 points; the host currently has 1260 points.】

"So it really was those flowers."

Hearing the system's affirmation made Sui Bian feel elated, and through the headset on his left ear he communicated with White Queen:

"White Queen, give a greeting to the engineering department in Argentina; we still aren't sure of those flowers' habits, but to be safe, have the engineering department build a new research center in the ruins of this city."

"Yes," the headset transmitted White Queen's cool reply.

"Tell Supervisor Chambos to hand the calibration of the living dead work to her deputy; later I'll need her to do the analysis, after all she's the only senior researcher in this base."

After finishing the conversation with White Queen, Sui Bian said the same sentence to the employee on his left.

"Yes, sir."

———————

…

Peru time, January 15, 1999, 21:17.

Five hours after the Stalker's battle with the giant centipede.

Northeast of the temporary base.

In the night sky, four CH-47 Chinooks carrying Umbrella personnel, as well as the recovered giant centipede carcass and flower samples, were returning.

When only a few kilometers from the base, the Chinook formation began to decelerate and gradually lower altitude.

It hovered over the base before landing on the airstrip at the base's edge.

The rear hatch opened.

Marini, Chris, Gill and other Caron members exited the cabin and headed to the nearest laboratory for decontamination and medical exams.

Twenty living dead formed a line and walked to their respective laboratories for inspection, calibration, and hibernation.

The Stalker, also an Umbrella "employee", received treatment and examination accompanied by technicians in hazmat suits.

The biggest contributors in this operation were the Zombie Dogs, Hunter Alpha, and the Stalker.

Although B. O. W. s are minor antagonists in games, in reality they have become the vanguard fighting for humanity.

Especially the Stalker.

This boss not only eliminated the giant centipede guarding the flowers, but also provided Umbrella with a "spectacular" set of combat data.

With the data, the Sixth Research Institute can further refine the Vengeance Goddess Project.

Fortunately this world has Sui Bian; otherwise the Stalker fighting for humanity today would have long been smashed into trash by Gill.

When the MTF and the Stalker left the two Chinook cabins, the two technician teams also took the carcasses and flower samples straight to a dedicated laboratory.

The moment they entered the laboratory, the technicians, together with a few researchers, began comprehensive inspection, testing, and analysis of the carcasses and flowers.

Soon after.

The central building of the temporary base.

Inside an office at the far left end of the second floor.

Wearing protective goggles, Rebecca sat behind her desk, carefully reviewing the content displayed on the computer screen.

The Red Queen first uploaded the data obtained from the laboratory to the base's local network for Rebecca to check.

!

The more Rebecca looked at the data on the screen, the more astonished she felt.

"Knock knock~!" Sui Bian outside the door politely knocked on the door.

"Click~." Then he opened the door and walked into the office.

As Sui Bian walked toward Rebecca, he asked, "How is it, Chambos?"

"Mr. Sui!" Rebecca, slightly excited, hurriedly said: "That centipede's body seems to contain a substance that can neutralize the T-virus's erosion, so it hasn't shown a secondary mutation in a short time."

Furthermore, we also found this kind of substance in the flowers collected from the temple.

Moreover, that centipede seems to have lifted some restriction, allowing its body to become so huge, which might also be related to the temple's flowers.

"Sir, the data and intuition tell me that this flower will help us stabilize the G-virus."

(End of chapter)