"Half? Fine, but I can't give it to you now," Nicholai sneered. "If I give you the money now, I'll die by your hand immediately!"
Lear shook his head slightly. "If you don't give it, I can still kill you. If you do, I get an extra bonus, and you get to stay alive for a while longer."
As he finished speaking, he slowly clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking faintly.
Nicholai's expression shifted slightly, a flicker of fear crossing his eyes.
"Let's both take a step back. I'll pay, but not the full amount. I'll transfer a deposit to you now, and pay the remainder once we're out. You have to guarantee you won't make another move against me."
Lear gave a brief nod. "Fine, I agree."
Nicholai struggled to pull a satellite phone from his jacket.
"Your account."
Lear paused for a moment. "What account?"
"What do you think? Your Swiss Bank account, obviously!" Nicholai rolled his eyes.
Jill immediately stepped forward and rattled off a long sequence of numbers. At the same time, she leaned in toward Lear and whispered reproachfully, "Are you stupid? How is he supposed to transfer the money without an account?"
Lear scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed. "I thought it would be a check or something."
Jill was momentarily speechless. "You're unbelievable. If he dared to give you a check, would you even dare to cash it?"
Nicholai paid no attention to their private exchange. He dialed a number, barked a few quick instructions in Russian, and hung up. After waiting a few minutes, he handed over the satellite phone.
"The money has been transferred. You can verify it."
Jill didn't hesitate. She took the phone and quickly navigated through the menus. After a moment, she gave Lear a slight nod.
"Two million. It's quite a sum."
Hearing Jill's words, Lear was internally surprised. He hadn't expected those companies to be so generous just to get their hands on the data Nicholai held.
Noticing the surprise in his eyes, Nicholai immediately adopted a coercive tone:
"It seems you're just like me—risking your life for others. This payment stands. How about we continue our cooperation once we escape Raccoon City?"
Thinking he had grasped Lear's motivations, Nicholai's tone regained a hint of arrogance. "You're strong, but no matter how high your combat power is, you can't turn that into money on your own, can you? I'm guessing you don't want to be a throwaway mercenary your whole life. You'd be better off coming with me; I guarantee the income will be a hundred times better than what you're making now."
Hearing this, Lear almost laughed out loud.
He had just secured an investment intent for hundreds of millions from a certain young heiress. Did Nicholai think he was in any position to recruit him?
"Mr. Nicholai, you talk too much," Lear interrupted coldly, his voice laced with mockery. "Whatever you're promising, you can't deliver it right now. Cooperation? Let's see you make it out of here alive first."
Mocked by Lear, Nicholai's face turned livid. A flash of ruthlessness crossed his eyes, but he immediately forced a smile, as if the unpleasantness had never occurred.
"OK, no problem. Let's finish this job first before talking about the future. The next destination is..."
"The Substation," Lear interrupted again.
Nicholai was caught off guard, his face a mask of bewilderment. "What? The Substation? Why there? What's there?"
"We have our own intelligence. There's a new species there created by Umbrella's T-Virus. As for what it is, I can't tell you—you'll see for yourself when we arrive."
There was an unmistakable tone of finality in Lear's voice. "So, the next stop must be the Substation. I'm not negotiating with you."
"...Fine, the Substation it is." Nicholai's eyes darted quickly. He raised his two injured arms, his tone feigning weakness. "You two head over first. I'm going to tend to the wounds on my hands, then I'll rendezvous with you."
"Don't even think about it." Jill immediately leveled her gun at him, her voice icy. "You aren't leaving our sight for a single second."
Staring down the dark barrel of the gun, beads of sweat instantly broke out on Nicholai's forehead. He waved his hands frantically. "Take it easy, take it easy! We had a deal. If I die, you won't get the rest of the money!"
Lear watched his panicked display and gave a faint smile. "Don't worry, Mr. Nicholai. I said I wouldn't harm you, and I meant it. Provided, of course, that you put your 'heart' into completing your job. There is an infirmary at the Substation. Once we get there, we'll help you take care of your arms."
Lear didn't give Nicholai a chance to respond. He grabbed one of his arms and forced him along, half-hauling him toward the Substation.
Jill followed close behind, her weapon still drawn, her muzzle subtly trained on Nicholai.
The only reason Nicholai had been able to navigate Raccoon City so successfully was his cover as a member of the U.B.C.S., combined with his seasoned tactical skills.
But now, in front of Lear, his identity had long since been exposed, and his much-vaunted skills were hardly worth mentioning.
Watching Nicholai continue to struggle and squirm, Lear sneered inwardly.
I hope you're still this energetic when you meet those giant mutant fleas in a moment.
The three of them soon passed through the corridor behind the Auto Repair Shop and arrived at the Substation.
Lear deliberately bypassed the control room and came to the iron door leading to the circuit breakers.
Seeing the iron door was locked, Nicholai immediately spoke up. "We can't get in. Why don't we find another way?"
He was still trying to change their route, hoping to lead Lear and Jill in his intended direction.
Jill glanced at Lear, waiting for him to make the call.
Lear gave a thin smile and wasted no words. He stepped to the side and delivered a powerful kick, sending the entire iron door flying.
He then stepped back a few paces, his tone mocking. "The door is open. After you, Mr. Nicholai."
With a look of utter helplessness, Nicholai had no choice but to step forward.
Just as Jill was about to follow, Lear suddenly reached out to stop her, shaking his head slightly and gesturing for her to look up.
Jill's eyes widened the moment she looked.
A mutant bug the size of an adult dog was perched on the overhead pipes.
Jill started to speak, but Lear gently pressed his hand down to silence her, signaling for her to keep quiet.
The giant bug crawled noiselessly until it was directly above Nicholai. It suddenly pounced, its hairy, spindly limbs clamping tightly around his neck as several mouthparts plunged directly into his throat.
Witnessing this, Jill instinctively covered her mouth.
It had to be said that Nicholai was indeed a well-trained mercenary. Despite being seriously injured, his reflexes remained lightning-fast as he violently threw the Giant Flea off his body.
Seeing the bug tossed aside, Lear stopped spectating.
Having achieved his goal, he raised his gun and killed the mutant bug with a single shot just as it was about to lunge at Nicholai again.
"Is this the mutant creature you were looking for?" Nicholai clutched his throat, coughing uncontrollably.
"That's right, Mr. Nicholai. Interesting, isn't it?" A hypocritical smile played on Lear's face. "This is a variant that evolved naturally in the wild due to the T-Virus; samples are extremely rare. I didn't fire earlier for fear of hitting you by mistake."
Nicholai was seething with rage and hatred, but he didn't dare lash out. He could only cast a venomous glare at Lear as he struggled to climb off the ground.
"I'm not dead yet!"
"No, no, no, you're in terrible shape," Lear said with mock concern. "Let's go to the infirmary on the second floor first to treat your wounds."
Nicholai let out a visible sigh of relief and nodded.
The three of them then headed toward the offices on the second floor of the Substation.
(Translated by yourtl.app)
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Tl note:
Hello everyone! I've started publishing a new translation: Warhammer: Wait, Do I Have to Sit on the Golden Throne Too? The story looks very promising, and the author has already written a Warhammer fanfiction with over 800 chapters, so I'm really excited to share this one with you. I'll leave the link in the comments for anyone who wants to check it out. Hope you enjoy it!