GTAG Chapter 76: Changing Direction
Although Colette's body had developed scales in several places, she hadn't mutated like Hank, whose entire body was now covered, complete with a tail and dorsal fins. Over the past half month, Hank's transformation hadn't stopped. In fact, Colette noticed he had even grown taller.
As for her, aside from scales on her hands and feet that had turned into beast-like claws, only her chest and cheeks had developed patches of scales. Colette was actually satisfied with this outcome—at least she hadn't become as monstrous-looking as Hank. Hank, meanwhile, was relieved to confirm her body wasn't continuing to change, easing a bit of the guilt he carried.
After searching for a long time, Hank and Colette finally came across a building marked with the Umbrella Corporation's insignia. Overflowing with pent-up rage, Hank left Colette safely behind and stormed inside alone. Kicking down the main doors, he rampaged through the facility with his axe, cutting down zombies from the bottom floor to the rooftop, then leaping down into the underground levels.
But all he found were more ordinary zombies. No hidden research, no secret labs. He searched carefully, especially underground, but still found nothing. At last, he confirmed it was just another branch office—nothing special.
Still, Hank wasn't discouraged. That didn't mean he was on the wrong track. After all, even the Umbrella Corporation couldn't keep every single branch alive in every city. Realistically, only major cities or entire nations would house true bases. If he kept searching, he would find one.
Ignoring the crawling, dried-up husks of zombies outside, Hank returned to Colette. Even though he had cleared the area earlier, he worried she might wander, so he hurried back. Together, they continued their journey to track down Umbrella, but not before looting as much food as they could from the city. They weren't zombies—they still needed to eat and drink.
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Godzilla had been secretly observing the twisted mutations born from the G-Virus. When he saw one infected human storm an Umbrella building, something clicked. Why had he been scouring the world blindly for the Sun Ladder Flower? If such a plant truly existed, Umbrella would surely have a preserved specimen for research!
He could simply raid Umbrella instead of sending his monsters on wild hunts. What had Blade and the Sentinels been doing all this time? One foolish command from him had sent them running themselves ragged! Godzilla immediately corrected his orders, sending Blade and a pack of Sentinels toward Raccoon City.
He hadn't forgotten—beneath Raccoon City lay Umbrella's most important facility, housing humans in cryogenic sleep. He hadn't bothered digging it up before since it held nothing he wanted, but now it became relevant again. He was also curious: would Alice break into the Hive, steal the T-Virus serum, and save the world? Or would she fail, humanity perish, and the sleepers awaken to release the cure and claim the new world for themselves?
Godzilla wanted to see what these survivors would do. Would they remake themselves as gods, as rulers, or regress into feudal lords high above the rest? The thought intrigued him. It even made him wonder—if alien species existed, would they feel the same way he did? Watching Earth not to destroy it, but to study it, curious about its people, perhaps even selling the data back to their homeworlds for profit. Like livestreaming a newly discovered animal in the wild.
But speculation aside, he knew one thing: before, he had been an audience. Now, he was about to flip the stage itself.
What disappointed Godzilla was that he might never see those sleepers awaken and play god. Compared to Alice's world-saving act, he would have preferred the villains' grand designs to succeed.
Umbrella, however, was not ignorant. The Sentinels already put them on alert, but Blade terrified them outright. Against those monsters, they had no answer.
As Blade and his forces turned toward Raccoon City, the Red Queen detected the movement and raised an alarm. Her immense computing power quickly confirmed their trajectory. Their destination was Raccoon City.
At first, Wesker, overseeing the underground base, didn't believe it. But he trusted the Red Queen's calculations. Fearful but not panicked, he reassured himself. Their base was buried deep underground. Even if Blade found the surface structures, there was no way they could reach the hive. Digging it out? Impossible. The monsters had no idea how deep the base was.
The real threat came from the smaller Sentinels. Unlike Blade, their size meant they could potentially slip into hidden access tunnels and infiltrate the base. Alarmed, Wesker acted quickly.
"Seal all access tunnels to the base. Now!"
The Red Queen obeyed immediately. Every direct passage was sealed. Explosions collapsed the Hive's connecting routes, burying everything inside. Only a few emergency escape routes to other locations remained, but their gates were locked tight.
At last, Wesker exhaled in relief. No matter what, Blade and the Sentinels would never find the Hive now. As far as they knew, the base didn't even exist.
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