"Ethan! Ethan!"
As the mold barrier disappeared, Chris was the first to rush in and reached Ethan's side.
At this moment, Ethan was in very bad shape.
The Ethan from three years ago had already died, and he was merely a sentient mold creature.
The mold had given him strange abilities, allowing him to reattach severed limbs and heal from severe injuries.
But now, with his heart crushed, his body began to break down rapidly. The mold that had maintained his form was now turning against him.
Half of his right hand had calcified and turned to dust.
Chris knelt down to help Ethan up, "Ethan... Wake up! We need to leave here!"
Turning around, Chris's expression was very serious.
Because even though Miranda was dead, the Mold Lord was not. The mold was growing again, and seemed to be about to revive.
"Ethan... you did it! You killed her!" Chris encouraged Ethan.
"I think it was mutually assured destruction..." Ethan's voice was so weak it was barely audible.
"Ethan, I think we need to hurry." Looking at the Mold Lord, which was close to reviving, Chris slung Ethan's shoulder over his own and walked towards the exit.
In the distance, the Mold Lord, like a giant petal of flesh, slowly bloomed.
Black vines swung and twisted, and the mold liquid condensed into petal-like things, looking incredibly bizarre.
And Ben noticed that in the center of the fleshy mass, there was an object emitting red light.
That was the bomb Chris had planted earlier.
The mold didn't seem to have full self-awareness, it acted purely on instinct.
It knew that a vessel that perfectly fit it was being taken away, so the enraged Mold Lord swung its moldy limbs, wanting to keep Chris and the others there.
Seeing the spreading mold approaching them, Chris quickened his pace and urged Ethan, "Hold on a little longer! Ethan, we're almost there!"
"I planted a bomb on this thing; it's enough to blow up the whole village!"
"Look! When I press this, we absolutely cannot be near!"
Saying this, Chris shook the detonator in his hand, hoping to spark Ethan's will to survive.
Because he noticed that the increasingly weak Ethan was struggling to walk.
If things continued like this, they would never be able to leave.
"Ethan! Hey! Hold on, Mia is still waiting for you! She's alive! Do you hear me? Alive!" Chris tried everything to make Ethan hold on.
Hearing Chris's words, Ethan seemed to awaken a hazy consciousness.
"Mia...? I'm so sorry... I love you... Chris... Protect Rose." Ethan handed Rose, who was in his arms, to Chris.
"Hey, hey, hey... Just hold on! Keep going, it's not far! Tell her yourself!"
Ethan didn't answer Chris, but took off his green jacket and gently draped it over Rose.
Little Rose's big eyes, with innocent confusion, looked around.
"Take good care of her... Teach her to be strong!"
Ethan raised his hand with difficulty and gently petted his daughter.
With that, the Mold Lord's moldy vines attacked. Using his last bit of strength, Ethan pushed Chris out of the vine's encirclement and snatched the detonator from his hand.
The ruthless vines slowly converged. Seeing his daughter in Chris's arms through a gap, Ethan slowly turned, "Take care... Mary Rose."
As Ethan murmured, the last gap was sealed.
Looking at the giant Mold Lord in the distance, Ethan forced himself to move forward slowly.
The giant, petal-like fleshy mass, which blotted out the sun, formed a sharp contrast with Ethan's small, fragile body.
In the distance, Chris, holding Rose, fled the village at full speed. He had to protect Ethan's daughter.
At the last moment, Chris finally reached the plane.
Mia was waiting anxiously. Seeing Rose in Chris's arms, she showed a look of joy.
"Rose!" She took the child and looked outside for Zack, but Ethan was nowhere to be seen. At this moment, Chris immediately ordered the helicopter to take off.
"Wait! Chris! Where's Ethan? We can't go, you can't leave my husband!"
"Mia, sit down and fasten your seatbelt."
"Tell me where Ethan is first! He would never abandon us!" Mia gently stroked Rose in her arms and asked Chris loudly.
The next second, the game camera shifted to Ethan.
At this point, Ethan had reached directly beneath the Mold Lord. He could no longer hold on and knelt on the ground.
He had been through so much. He had fought for Mia and the Baker family, and defeated Evelyn, a terrifying and pitiful bioweapon.
He had entered the mysterious village for his daughter, defeated the Four Lords, and killed Miranda, the source of all evil.
Now he was about to bring a final close to the Mold Lord, the origin of everything.
There were still some regrets.
"Goodbye... Mia."
"Goodbye... Rose."
Looking at the sky-obscuring Mold Lord, his wife's and daughter's faces flashed in his mind. Ethan Winters slowly raised his calcified left hand and, with his last three remaining fingers, pressed the detonator.
"Boom!"
A deafening explosion shook the heavens and the earth. The entire village and the mold were engulfed in flames.
"Goodbye, Ethan Winters."
Looking at the fiery explosion, all the players who reached this point silently thought these words.
Regardless of the fear, exhilaration, or any other emotions felt before, all of them were ultimately moved by Ethan Winters' fatherly love.
Then, as the screen went black, the dark fairy tale story that began the game continued.
"The girl's parents searched for her for a whole day and finally reached the depths of the forest."
"The father fought the witch in a rage, while the mother's loving touch shattered the dark curse."
"But the witch was very powerful, the father shouted: Save our daughter!"
"So the mother took her daughter to a safe place, ignoring the burning forest behind her."
"Even now, the scorched forest relentlessly testifies to the father's sacrifice."
"Nowadays, any child who stares at the blackened wasteland for too long will be tormented by nightmares, dreaming of getting lost while picking berries."
Swish... A sound of pages turning, the fairy tale book was closed.
A young, beautiful girl sat by the window on a bus, watching the scenery outside flash by.
Her slightly familiar face and the green jacket she wore all indicated the girl's identity.
Getting off the bus, she came to a cemetery and placed a bouquet of flowers in front of a tombstone.
An inscription was carved on the tombstone.
[A good husband and father who put his family first, no matter what]
[Ethan Winters]
"Hey, Dad, happy birthday..."
"Sorry I didn't come last week, you know how it is."
"I've been so busy with my tests lately..."
Yes, the girl in front of them was Rose, all grown up.
She spoke to Ethan about recent events.
As a second-generation mold, and someone far surpassing Miranda, Rose possessed power beyond ordinary imagination. Furthermore, Ethan had been sampled by Miranda at some point.
Therefore, Rose had full access to Ethan's memories, memories of fighting the Baker family, and memories of fighting Miranda.
She didn't understand when she was young, but as an adult, Rose clearly understood what kind of person her father, Ethan Winters, truly was.
"Alright... I have to go."
"I'll come see you again next week, Dad..."
Seeing the anti-riot vehicle at the cemetery entrance, Rose stood up and turned to leave.
"Something happened, it's your turn to show up, Evelyn." A balaclava-wearing agent at the door of the anti-riot vehicle joked.
But the next second, Rose showed an extremely angry expression, grabbed the man by the neck, and slammed him hard against the car.
"Don't call me by that name again. My abilities will astound you, even Chris doesn't know!"
Back in the vehicle, Rose took a deep breath and whispered, "Huu... gotta control myself, Rose..."
The agent got into the car and said to Rose beside him, "You're very much like him, you know."
Rose's lips curled into a smile, "Of course."
The anti-riot vehicle gradually drove away, and at the same time, a man whose face was unclear slowly appeared in the distance. The anti-riot vehicle also stopped at this moment.
The screen went black, and a line of text appeared before the players.
"A father's story has ended."
(End of chapter)
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