Chapter 111: Angela's Origins

"Hurry! Three minutes left!" Leon, carrying Annette on his back, charged forward with a stumbling but exceptionally determined pace.

The clothes on his back had long been soaked through with blood, and the gunshot wound on his shoulder had torn open again during the battle with the Tyrant. Every breath brought a piercing pain, but he didn't dare slow down for a second.

Claire followed closely behind, clutching Sherry's hand. Seeing that Sherry couldn't keep up, she simply picked the girl up and sprinted forward.

Rounding the final corner, the blinding lights of the train pierced through the swirling smoke and dust, illuminating the entire platform.

Chloe was sitting on the steps of the train's cab. Her long silver hair was stained with red blood, and a long gash was torn into the combat suit on her left arm, revealing the smooth skin beneath.

Seeing the four of them rush over, Chloe didn't waste words. She turned into the cab and pressed the start button. The train gave a low hum, its wheels slowly turning as it began to move deep into the tunnel along the tracks.

"Whew..." Leon gently placed Annette on a seat and let out a long sigh of relief, leaning back against the chair as if drained of all strength. Sweat mixed with dust slid down his cheeks, dripping onto his blood-stained combat suit.

Claire also set Sherry down and leaned against the window. Watching the darkness recede rapidly outside, her nerves, which had been tense for over ten hours, finally relaxed slightly.

"Leon, this is Chloe." Claire wiped the dust from her face and looked at Leon. "She's... my friend."

Leon looked up at Chloe, who was standing at the cab door. The girl's gaze was cold and calm, as if that life-and-death struggle with G4 had never happened.

She kept staring at Leon, her thoughts unreadable. Leon felt a chill run down his spine under her gaze.

This was the first time Chloe had seen Leon since her transmigration. Looking at the game character she had liked in her past life, she blurted out, "He really is quite handsome."

"Uh... hello?" Leon scratched his head awkwardly. He hadn't expected Chloe's first words to him to be that.

Chloe merely gave a slight nod without speaking. Her gaze fell on Claire, then shifted to Annette.

Following her gaze, Claire finally noticed a sleeping little girl inside the carriage. The girl had the exact same silver hair as Chloe, and her features were fifty percent similar. She looked to be about eight or nine years old, curled up on a seat, sleeping soundly.

"Who is she?" Claire asked curiously.

Leon inexplicably remarked to Chloe, "You have a kid? You look pretty young." Chloe rolled her eyes at him. "I'm still a minor, please."

Chloe ignored Leon's continuous apologies and walked over to Annette, looking at her with a cold gaze. "Don't you want to explain?"

Annette leaned against the seat, her face as pale as paper. She clutched her chest and coughed violently several times, a trace of blood leaking from the corner of her mouth. Claire quickly took a bottle of mineral water from her backpack, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to her. Annette took the water, took a small sip, and after a long moment, spoke weakly:

"You... brought her out... Three years ago, when William and I were still at Arklay, William discovered through research that your body could release a special pheromone capable of precisely suppressing the violent characteristics of viruses. However, no progress could be made using your body directly."

Annette's voice carried deep exhaustion and guilt. She didn't dare look Chloe in the eyes, keeping her head down as she continued, "At that time, NEST had the most advanced cloning technology and equipment. William... he extracted your complete genetic chain and cultivated three clones. Then he sealed you away in the Arklay Research Facility to focus on experiments at NEST."

"But the clone Observation Room only has two observation windows." Chloe's voice was devoid of emotion, yet it carried a bone-chilling coldness.

"One of them... after successful cultivation, was injected with the G-Virus original sample by William." Annette's voice trembled slightly. "He wanted to see if your genes could perfectly fuse with the G-Virus. The experiment failed. That clone underwent severe mutation, turning into a mindless monster. William... disposed of her."

A deathly silence fell over the carriage, broken only by the rhythmic clatter of the train on the tracks. Sherry was so frightened she gripped Claire's hand tightly, her small face full of terror. Leon clenched his fists; he had long known Umbrella Corporation's experiments were inhumane, but hearing it firsthand still sent a chill from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

"But that failed experiment also allowed William to find the key to perfecting the virus-suppressing pheromone," Annette continued. "He conducted repeated tests on the remaining two clones, and the experiments were successful. It was based on this data that he developed the G-Virus Prototype Inhibitor."

Chloe walked over to the unconscious Angela, her expression complex. She reached out and gently brushed the girl's soft silver hair. "You're saying this little one is only three years old?"

Angela's height and appearance clearly looked to be eight or nine years old.

"The G-Virus's infinite proliferation characteristic manifests as accelerated growth in them," Annette explained. "Their physical development is three times faster than that of a normal child, so she grew into this appearance at age three."

Chloe's heart sank suddenly.

Just then, the train suddenly let out a deafening boom!

The entire train shook violently, and everyone was thrown forward, caught off guard. Leon was quick, grabbing Sherry before she could fall, while Claire gripped the seat armrest tightly. Annette groaned as her wound tore open again, blood soaking through the bandages.

"What's going on?!" Leon shouted.

Chloe instantly stood straight, her blood-red pupils flashing with a cold light in the darkness. She looked toward the rear of the train, her voice icy: "It seems she wasn't as powerful as I thought."

"What do you mean?" Claire asked, confused.

"Nothing. It's G5." Chloe drew the dagger from her waist, the blade shimmering with a silver-white chill. "William isn't quite dead yet."

Leon and Claire exchanged a glance and immediately drew their weapons. "Sherry, stay here and take care of your mother. Don't wander off," Claire instructed.

"Okay!" Sherry nodded vigorously, clutching Annette's hand tightly.

Chloe led the way toward the rear of the train, with Leon and Claire following close behind. Passing through two empty carriages, a nauseating stench of blood and decay hit them. The further back they went, the higher the temperature in the carriage rose, and green slime even began to condense on the walls.

When they reached the door of the final carriage, everyone gasped.

The last carriage was completely filled by a massive, constantly writhing mass of flesh. That was G5 William.

He had completely lost his human form, becoming a puddle of shapeless sludge. The grayish-brown flesh was covered in a dense network of blood vessels and pustules. In the center of the mass, a giant mouth gaped open, filled with layers upon layers of spikes and teeth, constantly dripping corrosive saliva.

"My god..." Claire covered her mouth, fighting back the urge to vomit.

G5 sensed their presence, and the massive mass of flesh began to writhe slowly, encroaching toward the front of the train. Wherever it passed, the metal walls of the carriage hissed as they were corroded, emitting clouds of white smoke.

If Angela could weaken G4, then maybe I can too. Let's see if I can deal with it, Chloe thought.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, concentrated, and extended her right hand toward G5's massive body, attempting to release a virus-suppressing pheromone like Angela's.

However, G5 only paused for a brief moment before continuing to writhe forward. The pheromone Chloe released had almost no effect on it.

Useless? Chloe frowned.

"You want to eat bullets? I've got plenty!" Leon raised his rifle and pulled the trigger at G5's massive mouth.

The rifle's muzzle flash erupted in the dim carriage, and bullets peppered G5's flesh, blowing open blood holes. Dark green blood splattered out, landing on the carriage floor and corroding small pits.

But after only a few seconds, those blood holes healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. G5 let out a dull roar, and its writhing speed increased.

Claire also raised her revolver, aiming at the protruding pustules on G5's body. The bullets burst the pustules, sending green pus flying everywhere, but it was equally unable to stop its advance.

"Its self-healing ability is too strong!" Claire shouted, reloading while backing away.

Chloe leaped forward, her blade slashing hard into G5's body, easily tearing through the flesh and leaving a wound deep enough to see bone. But the wound healed instantly, and several fleshy tentacles even extended from the cut, trying to entwine Chloe's arm.

Chloe quickly pulled her hand back and jumped away, dodging the attack of the tentacles.

"This isn't working!" Leon tossed aside his empty rifle and drew his handgun to continue firing. "Our ammo won't last long!"

G5 had closed in to less than five meters from them. Its massive mouth opened, and a spray of corrosive liquid shot out. Leon shoved Claire aside and dodged it himself. The corrosive liquid landed on the carriage floor, instantly burning a large hole through it.

Just then, Leon's gaze fell on the metal coupling pin at the carriage connection.

"I've got an idea!" Leon shouted. "We decouple the last carriage!"

"But the pin is on the outside!" Claire said.

"I'll go!" Leon said, immediately rushing toward the connection.

G5 sensed his intention, and several thick fleshy tentacles lashed out at Leon. Chloe immediately charged forward, her blade dancing as she severed the incoming tentacles. "I'll cover you!"

Claire also raised her revolver, firing frantically at G5's mouth to draw its attention.

Leon took the chance to reach the connection, grabbing the heavy metal pin with both hands and pulling hard. The pin was rusted shut from long disuse; no matter how hard Leon pulled, it wouldn't budge.

"Hurry! It's coming!" Claire shouted.

G5 had broken through Chloe's defense, and the massive mass of flesh pressed toward Leon. Chloe lunged from the side, plunging her dagger into G5's body with all her might to try and stall it. But G5 simply flicked her away, sending Chloe crashing heavily against the carriage wall.

"Chloe!" Claire cried out.

In that critical moment, Leon used every ounce of his strength and gave a violent yank.

*Clack!*

The metal pin was finally pulled out.

The latch at the connection snapped open, and the last carriage separated from the ones in front. G5's massive body slid backward with the detached carriage, letting out an angry roar.

Leon immediately ran back into the forward carriage and slammed the connecting door shut.

A few seconds later, a deafening explosion echoed from behind.

NEST's self-destruct sequence had finally reached its end. A massive shockwave from the explosion swept through the tunnel. The detached final carriage, along with G5, was swallowed by the flames of the explosion and instantly turned to ash.

The train burst out of the tunnel, and the sky outside was already beginning to turn grey with the first light of dawn.

Everyone leaned against the carriage walls, gasping for breath, the relief of having survived the ordeal washing over them.

Chloe walked to the window and looked at the burning NEST in the distance, her expression complex. Eight years of imprisonment and countless tortures had finally come to an end in this explosion. But she knew that all of this was far from over.