"Bring the stuff over, we're going in to shut it down."
Seeing the door open smoothly, Captain James let out a sigh of relief and directed two assault team members to carry the machine for shutting down the Red Queen, preparing to enter the laser corridor.
To preserve these three fighters, Uchiha Kazuhiko had to warn them.
"Wait, do you think the Red Queen will let us shut it down so easily?"
Uchiha Kazuhiko's previous performance had won everyone over, so they took his opinion extremely seriously and immediately stopped in their tracks.
"Chad, re-verify the safety here." Captain James cautiously went on alert and gave Chad another order.
After meticulously checking all the code, Chad jumped up from his seat in fright, exclaiming,
"Oh my god! There's some kind of dormant defensive measure hidden here. Once too many people pass through the door, it will activate after entry, emitting laser beams that can cut through anything."
"Good thing we didn't go in, or it would have been disastrous. Thank you for the warning."
Captain James and the other two wiped cold sweat from their foreheads upon hearing this, feeling immensely relieved and thanking Uchiha Kazuhiko.
Uchiha Kazuhiko smiled and shook his head, indicating it was nothing, then said to Chad,
"Shut down this program completely, and do it quickly. We're running out of time and need to deactivate the Red Queen and return to the surface ASAP."
"Okay, it'll be done soon."
Chad sat back down and began modifying the program code to switch the defense system to the off position.
Only after Chad had disabled the dangerous lasers did Uchiha Kazuhiko enter the core server room with Captain James and the others.
They saw the supercomputer housing the Red Queen's motherboard, installed the brought machine, and prepared to reboot the Red Queen.
The Red Queen seemed to detect their purpose. Using machinery on the walls, it projected a 3D hologram of its virtual form.
"Shutting me down will cause the main power to go offline. I beg you, please don't do this."
The Red Queen's gaze swept over everyone present, its pitiful plea echoing through the narrow server room.
"Sorry, but our mission is to shut you down." Captain James glanced at the Red Queen's virtual image and pressed the button on the machine.
"You will all die down here."
In the instant before being shut down, the Red Queen's expression turned exceptionally sinister, coldly pronouncing their fate without emotion.
Zaaaap!
A massive electric current surged from the machine brought by the assault team. The supercomputer Red Queen was forced to reboot, the Hive's main power cut out, and darkness spread from the core server room throughout the entire Hive.
Dozens of seconds later, the Red Queen finished restarting, and the main power finally restored. The lights in the Hive flickered back on.
Chad crouched down, pressed a few buttons, and extracted the Red Queen's motherboard from the supercomputer, handing it to the waiting Uchiha Kazuhiko.
"Alright, mission accomplished. Let's head back now."
With the task complete, Captain James sighed in relief and prepared to lead everyone back to the B Dining Room to rendezvous with Rain and the other two before returning to the surface.
"Ahhh, help!"
"Get away!!!"
Rat-a-tat-tat!!!
They had only taken a few steps when they heard Rain's furious shouts and the sound of rifle fire. They exchanged glances and immediately ran towards the B Dining Room to provide backup.
When Uchiha Kazuhiko reached the B Dining Room, he found the situation had drastically changed from the original plot.
The Lickers, who weren't supposed to appear until later, had been unleashed early, and there wasn't just one of them.
The three people left behind in the B Dining Room had already become food for the Lickers.
Having obtained new DNA, the Lickers began evolving into a higher-level form of hunter.
"Dammit, what are these monsters?!"
Captain James stared in horror at these monsters with exposed muscles, long tongues, and giant sharp claws, raising his rifle to fire at them.
The high-velocity bullets striking the Lickers didn't cause much damage, but the significant kinetic energy carried by the rounds pushed their bodies backward, preventing them from getting close enough to attack.
"Fight and retreat! Fall back to the Red Queen's room!"
However, rifle ammunition was limited after all, and their firepower soon dropped a notch. Under Captain James's order, the assault team retreated towards the Red Queen's location.
Uchiha Kazuhiko felt somewhat frustrated. Indeed, no plan survives contact with the enemy.
If he wasn't mistaken, the Red Queen must have released the restraints on the Lickers the moment she was shut down, unleashing them to eliminate the assault team members who might carry the T-virus out of the Hive.
He had originally planned to use these assault team members to help clear out the blocking zombies on the way back. Now, it seemed he could only rely on himself to return to the surface.
"Lickers are beyond your ability to handle. Escape through the public sewer access near the Red Queen's room."
After giving them this final tip, Uchiha Kazuhiko drew his tachi, turned around, and engaged the Lickers in a fierce battle.
The Lickers' eyes had degenerated; they relied entirely on acute hearing to detect targets. Hearing Uchiha Kazuhiko's movements, they lunged at him, claws and teeth bared.
"Die!"
Uchiha Kazuhiko sidestepped the tongues shot out by the Lickers. His Xuantie Tachi stabbed into the arm of the nearest Licker.
Using it as leverage, he performed a mid-air flip, landing behind the Licker, and with a backhand swing, severed its neck.
Even a Licker with astonishing regenerative abilities could only stagger forward a few steps by inertia after losing its head before collapsing heavily.
After slaying this Licker, the remaining ones abandoned their pursuit of the exploration team and focused their attention entirely on Uchiha Kazuhiko.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several Lickers changed direction, charging forward recklessly. Their tongues, covered in barbs, shot towards Uchiha Kazuhiko's body.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The powerful and highly flexible long tongues of the Lickers failed to injure Uchiha Kazuhiko. Instead, he used his agile body to dodge them and cut each one off.
The Lickers with severed tongues had now closed in on Uchiha Kazuhiko. They swung their razor-sharp claws, capable of shearing through metal, stabbing viciously towards him.
Uchiha Kazuhiko's expression remained unchanged. The moment the claws were about to hit, he used the Replacement Technique to evade. Without engaging further, he ran towards the upper-level passage without looking back.
"Roar~"
The Lickers split up, sending two to chase after Alice and the others, while the rest all gave chase to Uchiha Kazuhiko.
"What a hassle..."
Looking at the large group of Lickers hot on his heels, Uchiha Kazuhiko employed a energy-burst technique.
With a ghostly movement style, he leaped between containers.
While bursting out of the B Dining Room, he wielded his tachi and Rasengan, killing any Licker that left an opening.
In this chase, they soon arrived at the station plaza where the train had previously been parked. Through Uchiha Kazuhiko's constant counterattacks along the way, the several dozen Lickers had been reduced to just over twenty.