The captain's body began to swell grotesquely under his uniform. Buttons popped off, revealing pale, deformed flesh with purple-red veins crawling beneath, disturbingly alien. His shoulders split, sprouting jagged teeth. The swelling formed a gaping mouth. His broken right arm sprouted chaotic bone spikes, oozing thick white slime. The captain morphed into a towering, bloated monster over two meters tall, his human torso reduced to a tumor-like growth dangling from the creature's chest.
The monster roared through its grotesque mouth, while the captain's human remnant stretched out a hand, screaming, "Save me!"
Li Yexing's scalp tingled.
This thing resembled the first boss from Resident Evil: Revelations—the Queen Zenobia's captain. When it debuted, its bloated form charged with chainsaw-like limbs while its human part wailed, "May Day, May Day…" Teenage Li Yexing's mind was scarred by the twisted creativity.
Now, facing the Orianna's mutated captain, it was a nightmare reborn.
He fired three shots at the human part. The captain screamed, "Don't shoot! I'm human!" But the monster lunged, swinging its bone-spiked arm. Li Yexing and Lilith dodged as it crashed uncontrollably into a stack of kitchen racks, collapsing in a heap.
They unloaded their pistols, but the small-caliber rounds barely dented the thick-skinned beast. Li Yexing grabbed the shotgun; Lilith drew the large-caliber revolver from the captain's quarters. As the monster rose, Lilith fired, the bullet blasting a bloody hole in the human part. The captain wailed, clutching the wound as flesh sprayed. The monster, unfazed, charged her. She fired again, blowing off half its head. Silent, the human part dangled lifelessly. The monster staggered back. Li Yexing rushed in, blasting its bloated gut with shotgun shells, splattering blood and slime until it collapsed.
Even then, he stayed cautious. Their firepower was limited—shotgun shells and revolver rounds were scarce. Once depleted, the monster could recover, and they'd be outmatched.
He needed a plan.
Scanning the room, inspiration struck.
"Lilith, stop shooting!" he shouted. Trusting him implicitly, she paused. He fired the shotgun until it was empty, retreating while reloading, stopping by the stove.
Without suppression, the monster rose, screeching like a shrill infant's cry. A barbed, worm-like tendril whipped from its mouth, slinging slime.
Li Yexing took a deep breath, slung the shotgun, and clapped his hands, taunting it like a dog.
Enraged, the monster charged, its tank-like bulk shaking the floor. Li Yexing held his ground, eyes locked on it.
'Now!'
As it neared, he dodged. The monster smashed into the stove. Li Yexing grabbed Lilith, sprinting for the kitchen door. Glancing back, he saw it turning. He pulled a lighter from his pocket, flicked it, tossed it back, and slammed the door shut.
"See you in hell!"
An explosion rocked the kitchen, blowing the door off. Li Yexing tackled Lilith to the ground, shielding her as heat washed over them. He smirked. "Dumbass."
The heat subsided. Li Yexing pulled Lilith up, turning to the kitchen. Flames roared, but the Orianna's sprinklers kicked in, dousing the fire. Through the misty room, he saw the captain's corpse, half-blown apart.
Braving the scalding steam, he approached, digging through the charred, tattered uniform. He found it—a blue keycard, slightly warped, hopefully still functional.
Acquired "Captain's Keycard."
In a game, creepy BGM would play.
Pocketing the card, he turned to Lilith. "Got it. Let's go."
Back in the banquet hall, Li Yexing froze. The infected they'd seen were all dead, littering the floor.
"Who's there?" a voice called from above. They aimed their guns, spotting two figures.
"Don't shoot! It's me, Jason Parker, the ship's owner!" the chubby man said, panicked. His maid instantly aimed a silenced pistol at Li Yexing.
"How'd you get guns?" Parker asked.
"Pistols from a guard's corpse, rest from the captain's quarters," Li Yexing replied.
"I see…" Parker sighed, signaling his maid to lower her weapon. Li Yexing and Lilith followed suit.
Killing Parker crossed Li Yexing's mind—no lifeboat for him—but the blonde maid gave him a bad vibe.
'She's dangerous.'
"Listen, this ship's done for. Monsters everywhere, no outside contact. Get to a lifeboat," Parker said, wiping sweat.
"And you?" Li Yexing asked, frowning.
"This ship's my master's legacy. I'll guard it to the end," Parker said.
"Alright," Li Yexing nodded. "Good luck."
Leaving the hall, he caught Parker's venomous stare from the second floor.
"He's lying," Lilith whispered.
"I know," Li Yexing said. "But why stay on this ship?"
Lilith had no answer, staying silent.
"Next, we hit the engine room for backup power. Hope Ada's still alive—she owes us big," Li Yexing said, trying the comms. No response.
"She dead? We could take a lifeboat," Lilith suggested quietly.
"No, we're turning on the power," he said. "That woman's too stubborn to die here."
Lilith pouted, looking displeased.
They rushed to the engine room, fighting infected along the way, conserving ammo where possible, but their supply dwindled.
Finally, after a grueling trek, they reached the engine room.
Li Yexing hunted for the backup power switch, spotting it in a glass case requiring a key. He smashed the glass and pulled the lever, but it was locked. Lilith tugged his sleeve, pointing to a card slot on the console.
Worth a shot. He inserted the captain's keycard. A beep, a green light, and a clunk from the lever. He pulled it, and with a thud and engine-like roar, the ship's lights flickered back on.
A sign by the lever read: "Emergency backup power lasts 12 hours. Contact personnel to fix the main power."
'Twelve hours? Should be enough.'
"Next, we open the lower hold's gate and get our employer," he told Lilith. "After this, we're taking a long vacation."
…
In the lower hold, Clark, under the black-clad team's protection, reached Section A. The journey was brutal, swarmed by monsters—former crew turned infected from vent attacks. But the real threat was the creatures from the cargo hold, decimating the team.