Chapter 687: The Damnable Leon |
After exchanging a glance with Colonel Bayer, Allen called out to the others to continue moving forward.
They hadn't walked far when Liu Xing saw another Ghoul nailed to the wall, its limbs and head still pierced by five short swords, already dead beyond recognition.
Without needing Allen to ask, Liu Xing spoke up, "This Ghoul is the same as the one we saw earlier, one of the three that escaped previously."
Allen nodded, smiling, "So, it seems we're only left with one big and one small Ghoul now. The pressure on us is finally about to be lifted."
"No mistake, I originally thought this operation would be full of trouble, but it's turning out to be surprisingly easy. We should thank those mysterious people, though. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have been able to kill these three Ghouls so easily." Colonel Bayer chimed in.
Just as Allen and Colonel Bayer were about to start boasting, Liu Xing suddenly noticed that the Ghoul's corpse seemed off, or rather, all three Ghouls seemed off.
Liu Xing furrowed his brow, suddenly thinking of a question: why were these Ghouls all pinned down with short swords, and why were they all facing forward?
Logically, Liu Xing thought that if he were the mysterious person, he would have chosen to retrieve the short swords after killing the Ghouls. After all, these swords didn't seem like one-time items and could be reused, so there was no need to leave them on the Ghouls' bodies.
Moreover, this mysterious person shouldn't be an official from England sent to hunt down these five Ghouls, and it seemed they were trying to conceal their identity, sneaking into the subway tunnel. Since the London subway station was already sealed off by the police, they wouldn't have left these swords that could prove their identity.
So, why did the mysterious person do this?
Of course, it was to cover up the Ghouls' backs!
Liu Xing had seen a ridiculous meme online where someone was dressed up nicely in the front but had nothing on their back.
So, Liu Xing thought that there must be something on the Ghouls' backs.
Thinking this, Liu Xing pulled out the short swords stuck in the Ghoul's right hand and right foot, then flipped the Ghoul's corpse to examine its back.
Indeed!
On the back of this Ghoul's corpse, there was a hole the size of a bowl, and its heart was missing.
It seemed that the previous two corpses were also like this, so the mysterious person must have been hunting these Ghouls for their hearts.
Could it be that this mysterious person was really Ithaqua?
Liu Xing's brow furrowed, and he felt a sense of unease.
Just then, Allen also noticed Liu Xing, "Chris, what are you doing? Aren't you afraid of the virus on the Ghoul's corpse?"
Liu Xing shook his head, pointing to the Ghoul's back, "Commissioner Allen, I think you and Colonel Bayer should come take a look."
After seeing the Ghoul's missing heart, Allen and Colonel Bayer's faces turned uneasy.
"What's going on? Is the mysterious person really after these Ghouls' hearts? I remember that Ghouls' hearts don't have any medicinal value, do they?" Colonel Bayer asked, furrowing his brow.
"Ten years ago, our military got hold of several Ghoul corpses and conducted autopsies, confirming that Ghouls' bodies are similar to humans, but their organs and muscles are more developed, giving them stronger close combat abilities. However, their hearts and other organs don't have any medicinal value, and heart transplants are impossible."
Allen nodded, speaking up, "That's right. I've also heard that a noble lord got a severe heart disease, so he used his connections to get a Ghoul's heart, wanting to transplant it into his own body. The surgery was successful, but he died the next day. There was also a rich businessman in Italy who wanted to eat a Ghoul's heart to cure his illness, but he died on the spot."
Liu Xing couldn't help but twitch his mouth after hearing Allen's words. He didn't expect the NPCs in this parallel world to be so... creative, trying to develop medicinal uses for Ghouls' hearts.
However, Liu Xing was becoming more and more suspicious that the mysterious person was Ithaqua, and their goal was likely related to Crimson Ghoul. Although Liu Xing didn't know what use ordinary Ghouls' hearts would be to Crimson Ghoul.
But, Liu Xing really couldn't think of any other forces in the struggle for the Sacred Book's projection that would need these Ghouls' hearts.
"Never mind, let's not dwell on why the mysterious person wants these Ghouls' hearts. We just need to keep moving forward and catch the remaining two Ghouls. Then, we'll encounter the mysterious person and find out why they're doing this." Allen suddenly said.
So, Liu Xing and the others set off again.
This time, they didn't walk far before seeing another hole in the subway tunnel wall, with a trail of fresh footprints beside it, likely left by the mysterious person.
"This hole should lead to the sewer," Allen said. "However, I remember that this section of the sewer was closed off by the London municipal department because it's right next to the subway tunnel, making it the perfect hiding spot for Ghouls."
Colonel Bayer nodded, looking concerned, "This sewer is the Ghouls' territory, after all. Compared to the subway tunnel, it's too narrow, and we can't deploy our formation to attack. It's also easy to misfire and hit our allies... and the smell here is really overwhelming. If we don't wear gas masks, our team's combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced, so I think it's better if we don't enter the sewer."
Liu Xing strongly agreed with Colonel Bayer's suggestion.
Although the sewers in the London city center were quite spacious, they were still too cramped for fully armed people like Liu Xing, and bullets could easily ricochet and cause friendly fire in such a narrow space.
The most important thing was that Liu Xing was about 6-10 feet away from the entrance and could clearly smell a pungent and indescribable odor, which was no surprise given that this sewer had been sealed for a long time.
So Liu Xing didn't want to fight the Ghoul in this place, because he felt that his team would lose half their combat effectiveness as soon as they entered the sewer, especially those in the middle.
Allen also realized this and said with some frustration, "Colonel Bayer is right, we're not suited for fighting those Ghouls in the sewer. But now that we've come this far, I'm not willing to give up if we're not sure those two Ghouls are dead. If they're not, innocent civilians will die at their hands in two days, and as a police officer, I'll have to take responsibility and resign."
Bayer sighed and pointed at Liu Xing and the others, saying, "So, Commissioner Allen, ask them who wants to go into the sewer with you to find those Ghouls? I'm not willing, because I don't want to risk my life."
Liu Xing and the others nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, Allen sighed and said, "I understand your concerns. The other teams should have gathered by now. Let's wait for their support and then decide what to do."
So Liu Xing and the others waited for support.
However, a few minutes later, Allen's walkie-talkie received some bad news - a team at a subway station about 1,640 feet away had been suddenly attacked by a Ghoul, with heavy casualties!
"Damn it, what is that mysterious person doing? Why did they let a Ghoul attack our teammates?" Allen cursed.
As soon as Allen finished speaking, the walkie-talkie received another message, "Commissioner Allen, we've encountered a masked Black-Clad Man. What should we... Chette!"
A burst of gunfire suddenly erupted.
It was clear that the team on the other end of the walkie-talkie had clashed with the Black-Clad Man, and it seemed that the Black-Clad Man had struck first.
However, it was clear that the Black-Clad Man was the mysterious person who had killed three Ghouls.
"Damn it, what is this guy doing?!" Allen exclaimed.
It was clear that the mysterious person had no intention of cooperating with the police, which made Liu Xing even more convinced that the mysterious person was Ithaqua.
As the head of the London police, Allen still had some abilities, and he quickly arranged for nearby teams to support the two teams under attack, while he and Colonel Bayer had a brief discussion before splitting up.
Liu Xing followed Allen to support the team that had been attacked by the mysterious person.
However, when Liu Xing and the others arrived, the team members had already been evacuated from the subway station, with only three people still alive...
According to the lightly injured team member, they had warned the mysterious person to stop and reported the situation to Allen, but the mysterious person suddenly drew two short swords and took the lives of two team members.
The other team members naturally opened fire, but the mysterious person seemed to know the trajectory of the bullets in advance and dodged them with ease.
Then, the mysterious person quickly rushed over and started killing team members with a dagger.
If not for the timely arrival of other teams, the entire team would have been wiped out...
Standing on the side, Liu Xing had already equated the mysterious person with Ithaqua, as Ithaqua was the only NPC in this module who could predict bullet trajectories.
At this time, Colonel Bayer also reported the situation on his end through the walkie-talkie.
Colonel Bayer's team had encountered a wounded Ghoul that had lost an arm, so its combat effectiveness was greatly reduced. After paying the price of five injured team members, they finally killed the Ghoul.
The one who delivered the final blow to the Ghoul was Chris, who shared the same name as Liu Xing.
Was this the convergence of the world lines?
Liu Xing felt more and more like a tool person in this module, with no way to change the future or past through this module.
Half an hour later, Allen's walkie-talkie received another update - another Ghoul corpse had been found.
Now all five Ghouls in the subway station had been confirmed dead, and except for the one killed by Chris, the other four Ghoul corpses were missing their hearts.
As for Ithaqua, he was still nowhere to be found, as none of the subway station's surveillance cameras had captured his image.
At 3 am, Allen declared the subway operation officially over, and all teams were dismissed. Liu Xing could finally go to the hospital to visit Leon.
Wesker and Jill were already at the hospital taking care of Leon.
On the way to the hospital, KP Time smiled and said, "Congratulations, player, you've officially entered the final stage of this module's main quest - the fate's crossroads. You just need to ensure Ithaqua can't get the Sacred Book's projection to clear this module... By the way, because Leon, who was supposed to die in this operation, survived, a small change occurred in this parallel world. You can explore the details in future modules."
Liu Xing frowned, not expecting Leon to have originally died in this operation.
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