Having lost his support, Chris slammed heavily onto the ground from mid-air and rolled several times, while the hand that had been gripping him instantly loosened its restraint.
The series of twists and turns left Chris somewhat dazed.
He couldn't imagine who could possibly save him at a time like this, so he turned a bewildered gaze behind him.
From the corridor at the back of the base's middle sector, a figure slowly emerged. With a familiar buzz cut and a young, handsome face full of roguish charm, it was undoubtedly Jake.
He hadn't perished under the siege of the Oculare Soldiers; instead, he had undergone a temporary viral genetic breakthrough, completing a stage-two evolution.
Empowered with new strength, Jake...
...had easily annihilated the squad of Oculare Soldiers. He had intended to rush over to support Chris and the others,
but he never expected to witness Chris being restrained and captured the moment they met.
Without a word, Jake...
...immediately grabbed a steel plate component to use as a boomerang and hurled it with all his might.
With the enhancement of his stage-two viral power, the steel boomerang easily severed the HAOS's hand...!
Volume Nine: Resident Evil 6: Chapter 80: Stage Two
And now,
Jake's appearance had actually changed slightly.
Specifically, his muscular form and height had changed; his muscles were leaner and firmer than before, tough as bronze with clearly visible lines.
He was already exceptionally tall at 1.9 meters,
but now he had soared to around 1.95 meters, making his posture appear even more upright. There was no doubt that Jake's genes were superior,
perfectly inheriting the traits of his father, Wesker.
Now that the virus had awakened and entered stage two, his physical attributes had increased significantly. Current Jake actually possessed pseudo-superhuman strength—
He could easily leap to a height of three or four meters and cover seven or eight meters in a single bound. His strength, speed, and reaction time were even more staggering.
He possessed the strength to bend steel bars and the speed of the world's fastest sprinters; in a formal competition, he could even surpass the records of the Jamaican lightning bolt.
Without a doubt...
This was the power of viral evolution. If everyone could achieve such evolution,
then the idea of using the virus to infect all of humanity—one could somewhat understand Wesker's mad behavior.
But unfortunately,
Wesker's methods were too cruel, filtering out far too many humans,
and it was done without people's consent. Furthermore, Wesker never considered the subsequent handling of affairs once they entered the new era.
How would resources be allocated?
How would a new order be rebuilt once the old one was lost?
These were things Wesker never seriously considered; he simply pushed forward with the viral infection plan blindly.
But then again,
just figuring out how to infect all humans worldwide was troublesome enough,
so Wesker naturally had no spare mental energy to think about the aftermath. That is why he failed...!
"Sorry..."
"I'm late, Captain Chris!"
Slowly stepping out from the shadows, Jake's tall and upright figure appeared before everyone.
Looking at the massive HAOS before him, there wasn't much panic on Jake's face; this was the confidence brought to him by his awakened viral power.
"Jake...!"
"That's great, I didn't expect you to still be alive. Sorry... it was my fault before. I shouldn't have let you stay behind alone to cover the rear."
"I wasted the opportunity you fought so hard for, because even though we broke through, I had no way to kill the HAOS."
The moment he saw Jake appear, Chris's mood was undoubtedly one of excitement and joy, because he hadn't expected Jake—whom he thought had sacrificed himself—to still be alive.
But at the same time,
Chris felt a deep sense of guilt,
because they had squandered the opportunity Jake had fought for. Even though they had broken into the incubation chamber base,
they had no way to kill the HAOS and were instead chased all over the place by this monster. That was the most embarrassing part.
It was like a comrade-in-arms covering you to blow up an enemy bunker,
only for you to come running back in a hurry because you didn't dare risk your life to take the bunker down. This made Chris feel deeply guilty, believing he had failed Jake's efforts.
"Chris—!"
"I told you, I hate this mothering, indecisive attitude of yours the most. I really don't know how you managed to kill that bastard father of mine. If he were as ruthless as I am, you would have died dozens of times over."
"There's no need for extra words. I'll still cover the rear here. I'll stall this monster for a bit. You guys go and activate the Escape Pods at the Underwater Oil Field Base to get out of here!"
"Not far behind, there are Emergency Escape Pod Devices prepared by the Underwater Oil Field Base. Once activated, those pods can be ejected and then float to the surface to escape."
Seeing Chris's guilty expression,
Jake felt a wave of helplessness; he found it both irritating and amusing.
What was irritating was how the Chris he respected could be so indecisive, completely lacking the air of a captain,
but what was amusing was,
Chris truly cared about him. Having a captain who cherished his subordinates so much was their honor.
If a captain could disregard the life and death of his subordinates and instead use them as cannon fodder at will,
then Jake would feel true disappointment.
And Chris was undoubtedly the exception. He was flesh and blood—sometimes iron-blooded and ruthless, sometimes full of emotion. He was a very competent captain,
making countless subordinates willing to place their lives in his hands. This was Chris's unique personal charisma, and it was something Jake had been fascinated by until now.
Therefore, without hesitation,
Jake immediately shouted at Chris to snap him out of it,
telling him to continue being his iron-blooded and ruthless captain. Right now, they only needed a calm Chris to give orders; the sentimental Chris wasn't needed for the time being.
"And what about you? Jake!"
"Don't tell me you plan on fighting a lone battle like before—?!"
Hearing Jake's words, Chris's brow furrowed. It was that familiar "covering the rear" again. Having finally seen that Jake was alive, how could Chris allow him to continue staying behind?
"Bullshit—!!!"
"I don't want to die here. Of course it's just temporarily covering the rear. Besides, you guys staying here will only hold me back."
"Remember to activate an emergency Escape Pod for me too. I still have a great life and plenty of money and wealth waiting for me to spend. How could I die in this godforsaken place?"
Faced with Chris's mothering,
Jake didn't hesitate to bark back an insult.
He only agreed to cover the rear; he didn't agree to go down with this ugly HAOS.
He naturally intended to escape as well; he was just helping to buy time so Chris and the others could activate the emergency Escape Pods.
"Good!"
"In that case, I'm relieved. Don't die, Jake. When we get back, I'll give you a promotion and a raise!"
Hearing Jake's cursing, Chris didn't get angry; instead, a smile appeared on his face as he replied. At the same time, he didn't forget to promise Jake a "big pie," attempting to use this method to boost Jake's will to survive.
Then, without any hesitation,
Chris turned and left, leading Leon, Piers, and the others in a hurried escape,
running toward the Emergency Escape Pod Devices Jake had mentioned. Once Jake's intentions were confirmed, Chris naturally had no more reservations; his execution was swift and decisive!
...
"Come on, monster. Let's have a decisive battle here. You only have ten minutes to kill me, otherwise I'm running away. Let me see what you've got!"
Watching Chris and the others finally leave, Jake then turned his gaze toward the massive, terrifying HAOS before him, declaring his challenge in a firm, low voice.
Undoubtedly, upon seeing this giant white skeletal humanoid monster, Jake had also been startled, but the fact that his virus had just awakened gave Jake a lot of confidence, which was why he had the guts to cover the rear alone.
The only pity was, the highlight moment that originally belonged to Piers now had to be performed by Jake himself.
But this was for the best;
Piers's "Pikachu" state consumed too much of his life force.
In the original game, to save his old captain Chris, Piers had his right arm smashed by mechanical equipment thrown by the HAOS.
Seeing an enhanced C-Virus vial fall from his body, he didn't hesitate to tear off his right arm, pick it up, and inject it.
Subsequently, a "Kirin Arm" grew from his right side, and he gained the ability to generate electricity, entering a Pikachu-like state.
His "Thunderbolt" finishing move beat the HAOS into a stunned state, but because the C-Virus was too corrosive, Piers couldn't control it and would eventually be slowly infected into a monster.
To avoid causing trouble for his old captain, Piers chose to let Chris escape the Underwater Oil Field Base alone in an Escape Pod,
while he himself chose to perish with the HAOS. Just as the HAOS was about to catch up to the Escape Pod,
Piers unleashed a maximum-power Thunderbolt,
a lightning beam that pierced through the HAOS and triggered the explosion of the entire Underwater Oil Field Base, vanishing in the flames along with the monster.
He could be called a true man among men,
but now this highlight was to be taken on by Jake. However, this also prevented Piers's death and sacrifice.
In the future, with Jake and Piers acting as the twin stars of the BSAA, they might truly be able to inherit Chris's burden and become the legendary heroes of the new generation!
In that case,
an elderly Chris could properly enjoy his retirement,
instead of going on missions with graying hair. Even at forty or fifty years old, they still wouldn't let the old man go; Capcom and the BSAA were indeed quite heartless!
"ROOOAAAR—!!!!!!!"
Snapping back to reality,
the HAOS looked at its severed hand and immediately let out another angry roar.
From the severed stump,
amidst a frantic squirming, a new hand quickly grew back.
Looking at the ant before it, the HAOS spread both its palms and slammed them down hard, attempting to squash Jake into meat paste with a single blow.
Clang...!!!
However, facing the HAOS's attack, Jake slowly drew the blade from his back. It was a weapon he had looted from those Oculare Soldiers—
a sharp longsword, a very handy weapon.
A white flash of the blade flickered; facing those two massive palms, Jake directly delivered a fierce, powerful slash!
Psh—!!!
Something unexpected happened.
The massive palms did indeed strike the ground solidly, but Jake's body had not turned into meat paste.
Instead, he stood on the spot perfectly intact.
It turned out that Jake had severed the HAOS's hand at the critical moment,