Chapter 128: Three Women Make a Drama

Chapter 128: Three Women, One Show

The damp sea breeze carried the scent of rust through the wire fence of the USS Training Base. Broken target poles stood crookedly in the mud, and the ground was littered with shell casings and mangled training dummies.

Alfred Ashford walked at the front, his hands cuffed behind his back by Chloe. His back was ramrod straight, like a plucked peacock that still refused to bow its head. He had kept his mouth shut since leaving the mansion, refusing to answer any questions.

Jill walked on the left side of the group with her M4A1 raised, alertly scanning the abandoned barracks on both sides. Claire followed behind, checking back every so often to see if there were any pursuers.

Only Chloe walked nonchalantly beside Alfred, her fingers occasionally tapping the sheath of the dagger at her waist.

"Edward Ashford died in 1968, right?" Chloe suddenly spoke, her voice as flat as if she were talking about the weather. "The official story is a sudden heart attack in his own lab."

Alfred's footsteps faltered for a moment, and then he let out a cold snort. "It has nothing to do with you, lowly experimental subject."

"It really doesn't," Chloe shrugged, her tone carrying a hint of imperceptible mockery. "But I did hear that the day before he died, he was still arguing with Spencer over the research rights for the Progenitor Virus. It was a heated argument, and the next day he had a'sudden heart attack.' Not even an autopsy report was released to the public."

Alfred turned his head sharply, his eyes fierce. "Nonsense! Mr. Spencer was my grandfather's best friend. How could he possibly harm him!"

"Best friend?" Chloe smiled and stopped to look at him. "Then tell me, the Ashford Family founded the Umbrella Corporation, so why don't they even have control over the European Branch now? Why are you, the legitimate heir, thrown onto a lonely island in the North Atlantic to watch over a prison? Why does the family you're so proud of have to report to Spencer just to move a single supply ship?"

Her words were like a dagger dipped in ice, accurately piercing Alfred's most sensitive nerve. His face turned pale instantly, and his lips trembled as he tried to argue, but not a single word came out. It wasn't that he hadn't thought about these questions; he had just been blinded by the illusion of family glory and didn't dare to look deeper.

"The Ashford Family hasn't been the Ashford Family of old for a long time." Chloe leaned in close to him, her voice low and carrying a cold penetration. "You're all just dogs for Oswell E. Spencer now. You guard this prison diligently every day, but you're actually working for the enemy who killed your grandfather. You don't even know it yourself; it's truly pathetic."

"Shut up! I won't allow you to insult my family!" Alfred screamed hysterically, suddenly trying to break free from the handcuffs, but Chloe pinned his shoulder with her hand, leaving him unable to move. His eyes were bloodshot, anger and fear intertwined, and the seeds of doubt had already quietly taken root in his heart.

Just then, Chloe's pupils contracted slightly as her virus perception gave a frantic warning. She looked up sharply toward the interior of the training facility. The ground beneath their feet began to vibrate slightly, and the soil surged like ripples of water.

"Not good!" Chloe shoved Alfred away while simultaneously grabbing Jill and Claire to pull them back.

Almost at the same instant, a Giant Worm the size of a truck burst from the ground. Its brownish-gray body was covered in a hard cuticle, and its mucus-coated mouthparts opened to reveal rows of sharp teeth, letting out a piercing screech. Its body twisted on the ground, instantly crushing the nearby wire fence into scrap metal.

Alfred took advantage of the chaos to run to the side. Chloe wanted to pursue, but the worm's swinging tail blocked her path. The heavy tail slammed into the ground with a whistling wind, smashing a half-meter deep crater and sending rubble flying.

"Don't chase him! Deal with this thing first!" Jill shouted, raising her gun to fire at the worm's head. The bullets hit the cuticle, leaving only shallow indentations, unable to cause any substantial damage.

Chloe gave a low shout, and her body instantly mutated. Sharp silver-white Blade Claws extended from her fingertips, and her blood-red pupils were particularly striking in the dim light. She leaped up, her Blade Claws slashing fiercely at the worm's mouthparts.

"Screee—!" The worm let out a pained screech and jerked back, black blood gushing from the wound. But before Chloe could attack again, its massive body dove into the ground, leaving only a huge hole.

"Damn it!" Chloe landed and stared warily at the ground. The vibrations beneath her feet continued, but she didn't know where the worm would burst out again.

Claire threw a grenade into the hole. The explosion kicked up a cloud of dirt, but it had no effect. The worm tunneled underground, occasionally bursting out from somewhere for a sneak attack. Each time, Chloe barely dodged, but she couldn't hit its vitals.

"This isn't working!" Jill shouted while dodging flying rubble. "We can't hit it while it's underground! Retreat into the building first!"

Chloe nodded, forcing back the re-emerging worm with a slash to cover Jill and Claire as they ran toward the nearby building. Once the three of them rushed through the door, Jill immediately hit the switch, and the heavy alloy gate slowly lowered, cutting the worm off outside.

The interior of the building was a mess, with scattered firearms and tactical gear littering the floor and bullet holes covering the walls. The air was thick with the pungent smell of disinfectant mixed with blood; clearly, a fierce battle had taken place here as well.

"This should be a temporary research facility." Jill frowned as she looked at the doors on both sides of the corridor labeled 'Biological Laboratory.' "As expected, Umbrella Corporation still has secret research on the island."

The three went up the stairs to the second floor, where an isolation Observation Room sat at the end of the corridor. Jill and Claire went to the filing cabinet against the wall to search for useful information, while only Chloe stood before the isolation room, looking inside through the glass.

"Chloe, what's in there?" Claire asked without looking up.

"Someone," Chloe's voice was low.

As soon as she spoke, a researcher in a white lab coat suddenly stumbled to the glass. His face was filled with terror as he pounded frantically on the glass, letting out garbled cries for help. His eyes were wide as if he had seen something extremely horrifying.

"I'll open the door!" Claire immediately put down the documents and ran to the isolation room's keypad, quickly entering the password.

"It's no use," Chloe shook her head.

Just then, an arm suddenly reached out from behind the researcher and grabbed his head in a death grip. The researcher's cries for help stopped abruptly, and the arm jerked with force, slamming his head violently against the glass.

*Crack—*

The crisp sound of bone fracturing rang out, and blood and brains instantly smeared across the glass. Claire stepped back in fright, taking a sharp breath.

"Alert! Alert! Biohazard leak detected! Initiating Level 1 Lockdown Procedure!" A piercing alarm suddenly echoed throughout the training facility, and the alloy gates on both sides of the corridor began to lower slowly.

"Let's go!" Jill grabbed the stunned Claire, and the three of them ran down the stairs. The moment they rushed out of the training facility's back door, the final gate slammed down, completely sealing the entire building.

The back door led to a small courtyard with a stone bridge in the center connecting to a gray building opposite. The three ran across the bridge, and as soon as they entered the building's main door, the gate behind them slammed shut with a clang.

"Enjoy yourselves, you three commoners!" Alfred's cold laughter came over the overhead speakers. "I have a surprise waiting for you just ahead. Oh, and don't die too soon; I want to torture you properly, hahahahaha!"

The broadcast cut off, and the entire building fell into a dead silence.

"I knew I should have broken his legs earlier," Chloe grumbled, flicking her dagger. "It's too late for that now; our only option is to keep moving forward."

Jill nodded and took the lead toward the end of the corridor. The three passed through the empty dormitory area and reached the entrance to the basement. Just as they walked down the stairs, the gate on the left slowly rose, and a thick stench of rot wafted toward them.

A One-armed Monster twice the height of a man stepped out from behind the gate. Its skin was golden-yellow, its muscles knotted, and its single arm was abnormally thick. Upon seeing the three, it let out a low roar and extended its arm to suddenly lunge at Claire, who was standing at the front.

"Watch out!" Chloe lunged forward, bumping Claire out of the way with her shoulder while simultaneously reaching out to grab the monster's arm. She pulled hard, intending to yank the monster over, but to her surprise, the monster performed a large jump, closing the distance instantly.

Chloe sidestepped to dodge, drawing the dagger from her waist. She didn't use her viral abilities, but instead followed the combat techniques Barry Burton had taught her, aiming for the monster's joints. The dagger pierced the monster's elbow joint, and black blood sprayed out. The monster roared in pain and swung its arm in a horizontal sweep.

"Don't fire! You'll hit her!" Jill shouted, pulling Claire back to the corner. The two watched the battle nervously, their guns gripped tightly, but they didn't dare fire easily.

Chloe moved nimbly through the monster's attacks, her dagger constantly stabbing at its weak points. She was deliberately suppressing the viral power within her body, wanting to use this battle to hone her combat skills. Though the monster's attacks were fierce, its speed was slow, and it couldn't even touch the hem of Chloe's clothes.

Just then, the basement window suddenly shattered with a crash. Steve jumped in through the window holding two pistols, striking a cool pose as he landed. He fired several shots at the monster, the bullets accurately hitting its eyes.

The monster, in pain, temporarily abandoned its attack on Chloe and turned to pounce on Steve. Steve nimbly jumped back, shooting as he retreated, landing all a dozen plus bullets into the monster's head. The monster shook its head and then collapsed heavily, completely motionless.

Steve blew the smoke from his gun barrels and looked at Chloe smugly. "Don't mention it, we're even now."

Chloe rolled her eyes at him and put away her dagger, silently grumbling: 'Do I look like I need you to save me? I was just playing around.'

Seeing that she didn't speak, Steve became even more self-satisfied. "As expected, you can't manage without me." He turned to Jill. "Are you their leader? I want to join the team. The condition is that you give me a good gun."

Jill held her forehead, completely speechless. Chloe leaned toward her and whispered with a laugh, "Kids are like that."

Claire smiled and took out a pair of submachine guns from the side, handing them to Steve. "If you want them, these are yours."

"Wow! This is great!" Steve excitedly took the guns and struck a cool shooting pose. "These guns suit me perfectly!" With that, he went to pull the triggers, only to find there were no bullets in the guns.

He looked up at the three who were snickering nearby, becoming a bit incensed. "How dare you trick me!"

"Who's tricking you?" Claire pointed to the top of a nearby shipping container. "The ammo you want is up there."

Steve looked up and saw a magazine sitting on top of the container. He jumped a few times but couldn't reach it, saying crossly, "And you say you're not playing with me!"

"I'll help you get it down," Claire said with a smile. "But you have to be my stepping stone."

"What a pain," Steve grumbled, but he still obediently got down on all fours. Claire stepped on his back and reached the magazine.

"Hey! Should you lose some weight? You're heavy as hell!" Steve complained incessantly as he lay on the ground.

Chloe and Jill leaned against the wall, laughing so hard they couldn't stand straight.

Steve stood up, brushed the dust off himself, and looked at the two who were doubled over in laughter, saying huffily, "What's so funny!"

Chloe gave a light leap, jumping onto the shipping container and sitting along the edge, her legs dangling over Steve's head. "Actually, I could have helped you get it."

"You—!" Steve was hopping mad and was about to retort when the ground beneath them suddenly began to vibrate. The platform where the shipping container sat emitted a creaking sound and began to slowly descend.

The smiles on the three women's faces vanished instantly, and Jill immediately raised her gun in alert. "What's happening?"

Chloe jumped down from the shipping container, looking around warily..