Yes, snakes!
The floor was covered in them. There were snakes of all colors. Javier's eyes swept across the room; there were at least 40 of them coiled up in the passage. The moment Javier and Rebecca opened the door, the snakes were startled. They all raised their heads, flicking their tongues and hissing a warning. Javier was sure that most of these snakes were highly venomous. If someone with ophidiophobia saw this, they would probably pass out on the spot. It was terrifying. Even Javier, who was not particularly afraid of snakes, felt a shiver down his spine. The hair on his arms stood on end, and he got goosebumps all over. It seemed that humans naturally had a negative initial reaction to these limbless, writhing creatures.
"Hiss—!!!"
Javier had no love for snakes, and the snakes, naturally, felt the same way about Javier and Rebecca. These were not ordinary snakes; they were infected with a weak T-virus. Their scales had festering skin, and they had horns on their heads, like those of a horned viper, hinting at a transformation into something more monstrous. Facing the intruders, Javier and Rebecca, the snakes on the ground immediately opened their foul mouths, revealing their two venomous fangs. They pulled their necks back, their muscles tense, ready to strike at any moment.
Javier's expression changed, and he quickly pulled Rebecca back.
"Spurt... Swoosh—!!!"
The next second, the snakes shot out their venom like water guns. The amount was small, but it was effective. They had a range of three to four meters, and the venom was a fine spray. If it hit a wound or the eyes, it would cause serious damage. With over 40 snakes, the simultaneous spray of venom was overwhelming. As the saying goes, if thousands of people spit, they can drown you. The situation was similar here. The venom of one snake wasn't powerful, but with over 40 of them, the venom could drench Javier and Rebecca.
And it seemed that due to the T-virus infection, the venom also had corrosive properties. Regular snake venom was usually neurotoxic, hemotoxic, or cytotoxic, but it only worked once it entered the bloodstream. Now, they had also developed a corrosive ability, with acid mixed in. If the venom corroded the skin or hit the eyes, it could dissolve and enter the bloodstream. What surprised Javier even more was that these snakes were all different species, but they all had the unique venom-spitting ability of a cobra. Had these snakes learned to evolve and adapt? These questions lingered in Javier's mind.
While Javier was busy thinking, Rebecca was so scared that she was shivering. The thought of being chased by over 40 venomous snakes was terrifying. Looking at the colorful snakes behind her, she felt a profound sense of dread. Her heart was pounding. She was genuinely terrified. As a pharmacist, she had often worked with snake venom. The venom, despite its dangers, had powerful effects as a painkiller, hemostatic, and blood pressure reducer when used correctly. But she had always received the venom in bottles. She had never been in a situation like this, being chased by a group of truly vicious snakes! This was more terrifying than a Hunter or a Tyrant.
So, the very nervous Rebecca immediately fought back.
"Click—!!!"
"Boom—boom—boom—!!!"
She frantically pulled the trigger of her M1897 trench sweeper shotgun. Twelve-gauge shells flew out. The black barrel was like a dragon breathing fire. The scattered, scorching pellets shot out and flew toward the snakes.
"Don't come any closer...!"
"Die—!!!"
With her eyes tightly closed, Rebecca screamed. She didn't care about accuracy and just fired wildly with her shotgun. The shots almost hit Javier. After a round of firing, the shotgun ran out of ammunition. Shells clanged on the ground, and white smoke billowed from the overheated barrel.
The snake horde in front of them was in chaos. The ground was covered in torn flesh, and blood was splattered all over the walls. All 40 snakes were wiped out. The power of the trench sweeper was terrifying. Its scattered pellets had a wide range, and these venomous snakes were exterminated before they could even get close. Looking at the scattered pieces of flesh on the ground and Rebecca's body covered in blood, Javier was amazed. This was a true "loli of violence." In the original story, she was a fierce loli who could take on a prototype Tyrant alone without him. Her strength had not diminished. When faced with danger, she could still unleash a terrifying potential. Of course, she was a bit "fiery."
Jill and Rebecca. None of the female protagonists in Resident Evil were simple. They all had a strange quirk.
"Impressive!"
"Was that a 'Dance of a Hundred Birds' with your shotgun? Charging through over 40 snakes, you killed all of them. You're just like Zhao Zilong from the Battle of Changbanpo. Keep it up, I have high hopes for you!"
Javier patted Rebecca's shoulder and praised her sarcastically. The girl had been so fierce. She closed her eyes and fired wildly, not caring who was friend or foe. She almost hit Javier. If he hadn't dodged in time, he would have become a nameless victim of Rebecca's shotgun. He promised himself to stay far away from her if she ever lost her mind again!
After clearing out the snakes, Javier and Rebecca continued down the passage. The door had only opened up this area. There were more rooms for them to search.
However, a surprise came faster than they expected. At the end of a corridor, next to a wooden cabinet, a figure was leaning against it. He wore a S.T.A.R.S. uniform, an orange vest, and had short blond hair. A communication device hung from his waist, and he was clutching a modified shotgun. The man's face was pale, his skin was swollen with a blood clot, and he looked like he had died from poisoning.
"Richard—!!!"
Upon seeing the man's face, Rebecca's expression changed, and she cried out in surprise. She quickly ran toward Richard. That's right, the man leaning against the wall was Richard Aiken, the communicator of the S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team. Javier and Rebecca had tried to call the other Bravo team members with their walkie-talkies, but they hadn't succeeded. It turned out that Richard, the communicator, had been killed, and his communication device was damaged. That's why they couldn't reach him. A walkie-talkie needs a terminal to receive and transmit signals. Although it doesn't need a network, it's not much different. Signal is a limiting factor. Richard's communication device was the team's terminal. It was like a mobile Wi-Fi router, connecting their walkie-talkies. Now that the Wi-Fi was down, Javier's walkie-talkie had no signal. You can't expect to have a signal deep in the mountains. So, since Richard was dead, they couldn't contact him.
"..."
"What's wrong? What happened to Richard's body?"
Seeing Richard's pale face and the numerous bite marks and black blood clots all over his body, Javier knew that Richard was dead, but he still wanted to ask Rebecca how he died.
"..."
"It's venom... snake venom. The bite marks are from snake fangs, and the hard blood clots are also a sign of snake venom. Richard is gone. His breathing has stopped, but besides that, he also has other lacerations, as if he was attacked by something much bigger."
Hearing Javier's question, Rebecca stopped searching Richard's clothes and sighed deeply. Her face was filled with sorrow and self-blame. It seemed that Richard's death had hit her hard. As the team's medic, she felt incompetent for not being able to save anyone in time. Richard had no breath and his pulse had stopped. He had been dead for at least an hour or two. If it were just snake venom, Rebecca would have been able to handle it, but since he had been dead for two hours, there was nothing she could do.
(P.S. The original setting was a bit strange. Richard was supposed to die protecting his teammates from a mutated giant snake, but the giant snake's design was absurd. It looked like something out of a horror movie like Anaconda. But why would a snake that big inject venom? Its fangs were thicker than an elephant's tusks. The amount of venom would have been enough to overwhelm a person's entire circulatory system. Richard didn't die? Absurd... What's even more absurd is that the giant snake could have swallowed Richard whole but chose to inject venom. Tsk tsk... So I had to make it more logical and have Richard die from smaller venomous snakes.)
Hearing Rebecca's explanation, Javier nodded faintly. It was sad, but it also showed that this area was not simple and that there were many snakes. But what made Javier even more cautious were the large wounds on Richard's body. They were not made by ordinary snakes. Even if they were snakes, they would have to be several times larger than the snakes on the ground. Javier guessed that this place was probably like the training facility before, where a big boss was hiding. It would be a huge creature infected with the T-virus, like the giant mutated centipede and the giant mutated bat they had encountered before.
"Rebecca, you should have an anti-venom serum with you, right?"
"Be careful not to get bitten by those snakes. Although anti-venom serum can save your life, those snakes are infected with the T-virus. Even if you survive, the part of your body that was bitten might be permanently damaged."
Javier slowly stood up, no longer paying attention to Richard's body. He took the modified shotgun from his hand and spoke to Rebecca, who was still kneeling on the ground. He had only been with the S.T.A.R.S. team for a short time, and many people had not even met him. So, except for Rebecca, Javier didn't feel any emotional connection to most of the S.T.A.R.S. team members. That's why he wasn't as sad. Of course, Rebecca and Richard weren't that close either. She was just feeling guilty because, as a medic, she hadn't been able to provide any treatment.
"Rustle rustle rustle..."
"Hiss—!!!"
But at that moment, a strange sound interrupted their thoughts. From the room at the end of the passage, something huge seemed to be crawling. The sound of it dragging across the floor was incredibly clear, and it was accompanied by a low hissing sound. This sound was exactly the same as the snakes' warning. This made Javier and Rebecca look at each other, hold their breath, and cautiously retreat step by step toward the door. Their instincts told them that there was a terrifying monster in that room. Otherwise, how could the sound of it crawling shake the entire floor and its low hissing sound be as terrifying as the roar of a ferocious tiger?