Chris was swayed because the document had the Raccoon City Police Chief's official stamp, signature, and personal token. This was quite convincing. He could disbelieve Wesker, but how could he disbelieve the police chief? While it was possible that the items were faked, the difficulty of faking them was high. The stamp and signature were one thing, but the token was the chief's personal badge, which he carried with him at all times. It was incredibly bizarre that Wesker had managed to acquire it; it wouldn't have been easy to steal. That's why Chris had stepped back. He didn't trust Wesker, but he also couldn't trust Enrico. Until the truth came to light, both were suspects.
Seizing the opportunity, Wesker let out a cold laugh and presented an even more direct piece of evidence: a black voice recorder. He pressed play.
"This is Enrico Marini, code name 'Sheep.' I want to confirm the mission requirements with the 'Wolf's Den.' I need to go to the mansion's lab to destroy all the evidence and use the remaining S.T.A.R.S. team members to collect combat data on the Tyrant, is that correct? The mission difficulty is high. I want to confirm if there are any other methods..."
The voice was unmistakably familiar. Even Enrico's own expression froze. He couldn't believe his own voice was coming from the recorder. The voice sounded exactly like him, with no difference. But Enrico swore he had never said those words. He was not an Umbrella Corporation logistics operative; he had come to catch a mole. How had he become the mole himself?
Chris's expression also grew grim. The plot twist was too fast; he genuinely couldn't tell who the real mole was. Was it the Wesker he disliked, or the righteous Enrico?
From a distance, Wesker's expression became more playful. He hadn't expected things to be this entertaining. The feeling of being in control and manipulating people was quite satisfying. This sense of superiority made Wesker's mood even more pleasant. The voice recorder he held was high-tech Umbrella equipment, something beyond Enrico's comprehension. In 1998, while voice forgery technology existed, achieving such a high level of realism was rare, possible only for a powerhouse like the Umbrella Corporation. Enrico and Chris, who were unfamiliar with this, naturally couldn't tell the difference in a short amount of time.
So, Wesker continued to fan the flames, determined to make white appear black and to make the arrogant Enrico his scapegoat. "Do you hear that, Chris? I told you this is Enrico's true face. His so-called integrity and kindness were all just to win your favor. I only recently learned about Enrico's secret because I never expected him to be the real Umbrella mole, trying to frame me."
"The evidence I showed you was personally approved by Chief Brian. He plans to take down the Umbrella research facility in one fell swoop, which is why he played along with Enrico and had him lead us here to the Arklay Mountains. This is also why I seemed indifferent to Umbrella's evil deeds before—because I was already aware, but I couldn't expose my hand. I'm sorry... I had to keep this a secret from you."
"Of course, if you still don't want to believe me, that's fine. Continue your search. If Enrico is truly an Umbrella operative and a researcher, you'll definitely find his information in the Umbrella system. At that point, you'll know whether I'm telling the truth or a lie."
Wesker spoke with a serious and confident expression behind his dark sunglasses. His words were logical and well-founded. Anyone else would have believed him, but Chris still harbored a deep-seated distrust of Wesker. Although he was 80% convinced, he did not let down his guard. For some reason, despite the seemingly flawless and logical story, Chris still felt that something was off.
"Shut up!" Enrico couldn't take it anymore. He was furious and yelled at Wesker, "You're framing me! You prepared all this in advance, didn't you? You're the one who is the mole. You're trying to pin your crimes on me so you can get away with it!" As an old cop of twenty years, even with his mental fortitude, he couldn't remain calm in the face of such slanderous evidence. He knew those pieces of evidence could very well seal his fate, even if they were fake.
"Click—!!!"
Without hesitation, Enrico was the first to draw his weapon. The dark muzzle of his gun was aimed at Wesker. There's a saying that in a game of negotiation, words decide the winner. The first person to draw a sword is the loser because they have broken the rules of the game. It was clear that Enrico had lost the negotiation to the more cunning and well-prepared Wesker.
But there is another saying: the winner of a game is determined by the stronger player. In this negotiation, the disadvantaged party had drawn his sword, but that didn't mean he had truly lost. He had only lost by the rules of negotiation, not by the rules of combat. And now it was time for the one who had overturned the table to prove his strength. The negotiation had only given Wesker a "moral and logical" advantage.
"Click—!"
Wesker wasn't one to give Enrico a free pass. The moment Enrico drew his gun, Wesker, with lightning speed, threw his dark sunglasses at Enrico's face.
"Smack—!"
Caught off guard, Enrico was hit in the eye by the sunglasses. His eye socket immediately turned red, and his vision was obstructed. "Hah—!" With a low cry, Wesker didn't miss his chance. He tensed his muscles and surged forward. A flurry of punches and kicks landed on Enrico. Then, he gathered strength in his palms and delivered a powerful strike to Enrico's abdomen. The hidden force penetrated Enrico's stomach. Enrico felt a immense impact and a sharp, unbearable pain, as if he had appendicitis. He cried out in agony and collapsed to the ground.
This was Wesker's ultimate move, his signature Chain Drive! He would throw his sunglasses at the enemy's face to distract them, then instantly teleport to them to unleash a quick combo of attacks, finishing with a powerful palm strike. It was a very cool and incredibly fast move.
With Enrico on the ground, Wesker walked over slowly and drew the gun from his holster, aiming it at Enrico. Staring at the cold, black muzzle, Enrico realized he had lost completely. He had lost on every level.
Wesker's expression remained playful. Abusing a miserable ant was also quite enjoyable and pleasing to the mind, especially when that ant tried desperately to fight back and failed.
But just then, "Don't move—!"
A sharp warning came from a distance. The naive Chris, seeing things had gone awry, had also raised his weapon and aimed his cold, black gun at Wesker. This action surprised Wesker. He couldn't understand why Chris hadn't fallen for his trick yet. Was it possible that Chris was only pointing a gun at him because he disliked him?
In fact, that was exactly it. Although all the evidence pointed to Captain Enrico, with no room for him to defend himself, Chris still felt something was off. So Chris decided that while it might be right to arrest Enrico, it was absolutely impossible to let Wesker kill him on the spot. At least not right now.
"Captain Wesker," Chris said, his eyes fixed on Wesker, the gun in his hand steady. "I don't think it's necessary to kill Enrico immediately. Even if he's an Umbrella mole, keeping him alive to testify against Umbrella would be more useful, wouldn't it? He's a crucial witness. It would be safest to tie him up."
Chris was proposing a compromise, and if Wesker were to make a move to kill Enrico, Chris would not hesitate to shoot him.
"Heh..." Enrico, still on the ground, laughed bitterly. He endured the intense pain in his abdomen and slowly propped himself up. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, he said with a cold sneer, "That last strike was truly powerful. I didn't know you were so good at close combat, Wesker, besides your excellent marksmanship. I think Chris's suggestion is excellent. I give up... I'm an Umbrella logistics operative, and I'm willing to help you expose Umbrella's crimes. How about that? Just spare my life!"
Now Enrico could confirm that even though all the evidence pointed to him, Chris wasn't a bad person, and he wasn't blind. He at least still had a little faith in him. With Chris acting as a check on Wesker, Enrico could relax a bit. Wesker wouldn't dare do anything to him for a while.
And so, a bizarre and famous scene was born. The three men stood in a triangle. The injured Enrico was on his feet, pointing his gun at Wesker. Wesker was pointing his gun at Enrico. And Chris was pointing his gun at both of them. It was a classic three-way standoff from a Hong Kong action movie.
Wesker was caught in a stalemate. He could have killed both of them in an instant, but that would ruin his scapegoat plan. So, in the face of this threat, Wesker just let out a cold snort and once again unleashed his palm strike, knocking the arrogant Enrico to the ground. Chris had no way to stop him. As long as he could keep Captain Enrico alive, that was all that mattered. The rest of the investigation could wait until everyone had regrouped.
If Enrico was a mole, Chris's prejudice against Wesker would change. His captain might have a bad personality and temper, but at least he was a righteous man. He would apologize to Wesker for his previous behavior. As for Enrico, if he was indeed a mole, Chris would not hesitate to beat him up, regardless of their past friendship. This was Chris's simple and direct way of thinking.
But Chris was running out of time. Wesker had no intention of killing them with his own hands, but he had already found a way to "borrow a knife" to do the deed. They would soon face the mansion's boss, the Tyrant T-002. Having the Tyrant kill Chris and Enrico would suit Wesker's plans perfectly. He wouldn't have to get his hands dirty, and he could easily fake their deaths. As long as they weren't killed by him, it was fine!
Meanwhile, as Wesker and the others were playing out their spy drama, Javier and his team had finished dealing with Plant 42 and had found the final cursed mask by following the clues. The last mask was located in a gallery with a puzzle. The puzzle consisted of four paintings. It was a simple puzzle to solve. The first three paintings were of a saint wearing a crown, a sage wearing a necklace, and a sword master wearing a bracelet. Each of these paintings had its own color: yellow, green, purple, and orange. One of the colors was wrong and needed to be corrected. The object of this correction was the last painting in the gallery: a colorless, black-and-white portrait of a young and beautiful woman. Her smile and posture easily brought to mind the world-famous Mona Lisa.
The beautiful young woman in the painting was actually Lisa Trevor, the daughter of the mansion's architect, George Trevor. When he designed the mansion, George, who adored his daughter, had her portrait included. No one would have ever thought that the monster who tore off people's faces to stick on her own had once been such an innocent and beautiful woman.
The key to the puzzle was to match the colors. The painting of Lisa had three ornaments: a crown, a necklace, and a bracelet. Javier and the others had to figure out the colors of Lisa's ornaments based on the first three paintings. After a few tries, they successfully solved the puzzle. The colors were a green crown, a purple necklace, and an orange bracelet. When the three colors were correctly matched, the black-and-white painting of Lisa came to life, as if a master had dotted her eyes, making her even more beautiful.
"Click—!"
With the mechanism now open, Javier and the others successfully obtained the final cursed mask. Now... they could finally go and see who was truly in the coffin!