radicalducati Chapter 115 Vampires and Werewolves Besiege the School
Chapter 115 Vampires and Werewolves Besiege the School
Chapter 115 Vampires and Werewolves Besiege the School
Li En pushed open the door to the adjacent network lab.
A synthesized electronic voice immediately sounded from above: "Officer Li En, hello."
He looked up slightly and followed the sound, only to see a surveillance camera slowly rotating from its bracket on the ceiling, its red indicator light flashing on and off, the lens pointed at his face.
The voice spoke again: "I am Mr. Barron's assistant AI, named Sunday."
"Hello, Sunday." Li En nodded, shifting her gaze from the camera to the depths of the room.
Barron sat in the very center of that row of wraparound computer monitors.
He bent forward, his elbows against the edge of the table, his ten fingers digging deep into his hair, his fingertips pressing against his scalp.
He curled up into a ball as if something was pressing down on him from above.
His shoulders were trembling slightly, and occasionally a few suppressed sobs escaped from his throat.
Li En stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder.
Barron didn't look up or say anything.
Suppressed sobs leaked intermittently from between his fingers.
Li En looked up directly at the camera on the ceiling that was still flashing red and asked, "What happened to Barron on Sunday?"
"Officer Li En, Mr. Barron has been in this state ever since he browsed information on the dark web."
The synthesized sound was slightly lowered on Sunday.
The dark web? Li En frowned.
He patted Barron on the shoulder again, his hand landing harder than before: "Tell me, what happened?"
Barron then slowly lowered his hands and raised his head.
His features were scrunched up, his eyes were red-rimmed, and the light in his pupils was as dull as if a switch had been turned off from the inside.
He looked at Li En, his lips moving several times before he finally managed to squeeze out a few words, haltingly: "Li En, police officer—humanity—is there really any hope for humanity?"
Li En fell silent, leaning against the edge of the table, looking down at Baron's face, which was on the verge of collapse.
This kid is usually quite cheerful, always smiling as he runs from the evidence room to the lab with his keyboard. Why is he suddenly starting to think about whether humanity can be saved?
However, it's easy to guess that the things on the dark web are the most inhuman things that humans could do.
It's perfectly normal that Barron's mental state couldn't take it.
Even though he used to be a nerdy guy who spent all his time in tech forums and code repositories, his exposure to the dark side of the internet was limited to the conventional level.
There's a dark web beneath the dark web; dig deeper and deeper, and each layer is more nauseating than the last.
He couldn't have dug that depth with his previous skills.
But now, with Stark Industries' high-end equipment, plus the computing power of Sunday's AI, they have the advantage.
He finally broke through the thin wall separating normal people from the abyss, and was instantly swallowed by the abyss.
Li En turned around, leaned against the edge of the control panel, looked down at Baron, and said in a flat tone, "So, what did you see?"
Baron's eye twitched a few times.
He opened his mouth, uttered a few broken syllables, then choked back down.
After repeating this several times, he turned his head back to the computer screen, lowered his head, stared at the keyboard, and said in a voice so low it was almost inaudible, "Those people—they really aren't human."
There is still no specific information.
Li En picked up a tablet from the table next to him, placed it on his lap, and spoke into the air: "Show me what he just browsed on Sunday."
Barron's recent browsing history immediately popped up on the tablet screen.
He flipped through a few pages, then his finger stopped.
Then he flipped the tablet over, screen down, and gently placed it on the control panel.
The cybersecurity lab fell into complete silence.
Barron's suppressed breathing mingled with the low hum of airflow passing through the overhead ventilation ducts.
Li En stood up, walked behind Baron, placed his hands on the other's shoulders, and said in a low voice and slow pace: "Baron, whether humanity can be saved—I don't really like to ponder such broad questions."
"But I'm more used to doing what I can do myself."
He released his grip, took two steps toward the door, and turned his back to Barron.
"Give me a list, pull up all the information for everyone, and print them out one by one."
"Whether humanity can be saved or not—these guys have to die first."
He pushed open the door and walked into the corridor.
After the door behind him closed automatically, he stood there taking a few deep breaths before taking out his phone from his pocket and dialing a number.
"Leicester, call it a day and head back to the school gymnasium. We have a mission."
Less than twenty minutes later, Benjamin Lester, the captain of the Hellsword Third Squad, appeared in the gymnasium of Umbrella School with three team members.
The four men were fully armed, and the joint armor of their special operations uniforms was still covered with dust from their patrols.
Li En handed over the tablet computer, which already displayed Sunday's content, along with files and videos retrieved and organized from Barron's browsing history.
Lester took the tablet and looked down at it.
His expression froze the moment the first page of images appeared, and his pupils contracted sharply.
Then he didn't say anything and continued scrolling down.
Three team members surrounded him, passing the tablet around before falling silent.
The expressions on their faces were similar to those of Barron just now.
Lester handed the tablet back to Lee and looked up: "Boss, what do we do?"
Li En stepped forward, patted each of the four men on the shoulder, and then stood in front of the team and spoke.
"Some of the people on the list are public figures who are great philanthropists, sitting in the front row at charity galas and donating larger sums than anyone else."
"Some of them are big Hollywood stars who act crazy and silly to amuse people, and they share posts on social media every day to help the disadvantaged."
"And then there are politicians, standing on the podium in sharp suits, talking about the city, the country, all of humanity, the whole planet, but behind the scenes—"
He tapped the tablet twice with his finger.
"—They're all doing this kind of shady stuff."
He flipped the tablet over so that the screen was facing the four people.
The screen then cuts to a satellite map showing an island isolated in the sea.
The vegetation in the center of the island has been deliberately kept very dense, and from satellite images, it almost covers the entire island.
Only by zooming in to the extreme can one vaguely see the outlines of the rooftops of several modern buildings.
"Go up there, and then make a decision based on your own judgment."
"Is it arrest, execution on the spot, or simply leaving—"
He put the tablet away and his gaze swept across the faces of the four people one by one.
"Leave it all to yourselves."
Benjamin replied loudly, "Understood."
Li En looked down at the tablet in her hand again.
The list I just got from Barron includes top Hollywood stars and influential business tycoons.
It includes people from the top 20 of the world's wealthiest individuals, as well as political figures and members of royal families from various countries.
These people control the vast majority of resources and discourse power in modern human civilization.
They did things that even animals wouldn't do.
If Frank were leading the team, or if he went there himself, there's nothing to say; one slash, one kill; bullets through the forehead, clean and efficient.
But he wanted Benjamin to go and see for himself.
Let's see what choice this sniper, still lost and trying to figure out how to spell the word "justice," will ultimately make.
He will be very disappointed if the other party chooses to let go of those things that are dressed in a glamorous guise.
Li En handed the tablet to Lester and turned to walk towards the laboratory.
Before I even reached the laboratory door, a strange fluctuation seeped out from the crack in the door.
This fluctuation carries a certain pulling sensation that acts directly on the blood.
The rhythm of my heartbeat was slightly off by this fluctuation, and the cells in my body trembled slightly.
He pushed open the door, and there were three scientists busily working around the control panel.
A row of test tube racks stood on the worktable, each test tube containing a mixture of red and purple liquid, a total of twelve tubes.
Banner looked up and saw Li En walk in. He pointed directly at the row of test tubes and said, "Put the extra eleven tubes in your special space, and leave one here for analysis."
Lee En tilted his head and looked at Banner without saying a word.
Connors pushed his goggles up to his forehead and said irritably, "How many times have you shown this to us? It's not hard to guess that you have spatial equipment. Compared to the lab, your place should be the safest place."
Tony leaned against the control panel and scoffed, "That arm is so big, don't tell me you pulled it out of your ass."
Li En did not respond.
Indeed, he never deliberately hid his personal space from Banner and Connors.
He reached out and took one of the test tubes from the rack, handing it to Banner who was standing next to him.
Then, close the lid of the entire biological refrigerator, press one hand on the lid, and the entire refrigerator disappears and is stored in the space warehouse.
He took the separate reagent from Banner again and held it up to his eyes.
Banner then continued, his tone unusually serious: "This thing—let's call it the Demon King's Reagent for now."
"When I touched it, I had a strong urge to gulp it down. You absolutely must not drink it."
""
"This thing is just as corrosive as my Hulk cells. It can completely cover the Dragon Blood Potion within seconds, devouring it without leaving a single trace."
"At least vampire blood retains some human cell framework, but the Demon King's reagent completely empties and replaces everything, it's incredibly domineering."
Connors chimed in, his hands gripping the edge of the control panel, his tone more composed than Banner's: "The Demon King Reagent cannot be used to upgrade the Dragon Blood Potion for the time being. Its level is too high; the existing Dragon Blood Potion base simply cannot withstand it."
"My suggestion is to continue searching for blood samples from the progenitor of vampires, or from the level of the werewolf king."
"At the very least, the Dragon Blood Potion itself needs to develop a certain level of resistance to the Demon King's reagent before we can discuss further fusion plans."
.
Li En nodded and put the Demon King reagent back on the operating table.
The overhead loudspeaker suddenly blared, Jarvis's voice steady and clear: "Mr. Tony, Mr. Lee, a large number of unidentified targets are approaching the school, and their numbers are increasing."
Tony immediately put down the data panel in his hand: "Bring up the screen."
Several beams of light descended from the ceiling, spreading out in a ring.
The footage is real-time surveillance of the area within a radius of several kilometers around the school; from an aerial perspective, every street is clearly visible.
Every vacant lot.
Figures, countless figures, were moving from all directions toward the Umbrella School.
Jarvis switched to infrared mode at the same instant.
The figures in the picture all turned into cold colors, devoid of body temperature.
However, its movements were not like those of a corpse; it walked in the same way as an ordinary person, with steady steps and a clear direction.
There was no rotting, no dragging; they simply advanced silently and orderly toward the school wall.
"Vampires? All of these are?" Tony asked, somewhat surprised.
He had walked to the center of the room and opened the silver briefcase.
The mechanical arms of Mark's armor unfolded from inside the box, wrapping his body piece by piece.
Li En's gaze fell on the Demon King Reagent on the control panel.
He picked up the reagent and turned to Tony.
"This thing is quite attractive to us, but what about to dark creatures?"
Before Tony could answer, Jarvis's voice rang out again: "Gentlemen, not only at the North Gate, but another group of targets has appeared at the East Gate as well."
Li En looked up at the other two light screens.
The image at the East Gate did not show human figures, but rather a group of creatures whose size was clearly greater than that of ordinary people.
In infrared mode, an extremely intense red heat source pulsates in their chest cavity.
It has a heartbeat; it's a living organism.
But their walking style is very strange:
His body was half-hunched over, his hands hung down in front of him, and his legs were disproportionately large; one of his strides was equivalent to two steps for an average person.
Their facial details are not visible in the image; only their outlines appear to get closer and denser.
Tony raised his arm, and the energy ring at the muzzle of the cannon in his palm began to light up. He shouted at the ceiling, "Activate defense mode."
"Received, sir."
Li En turned his head and stared at Tony for a moment.
While upgrading the laboratory equipment, this guy even installed a defense system around the school.
The ground outside the school wall suddenly sank.
Rows of automatic machine gun turrets rose from the ground, their dark barrels and grenade launchers gleaming coldly in the moonlight.
They aimed at the vampire horde at the north gate and the deformed creatures rapidly approaching from the east gate.
The turret bases made a uniform, metallic locking sound as they were put into place, echoing across the empty campus perimeter.
"These automated defense systems don't use silver; the bullets are all conventional: armor-piercing, high-explosive, and incendiary—"
Tony's voice came through the helmet speaker, tinged with a deliberately suppressed irritation.
"It might not be possible to kill the vampires outright, but it should be enough to smash their bodies. You are now authorized to fire."
Li En nodded.
He stared at the two groups of creatures on the screen that had stopped within the turret's fire control range.
They are not mindless creatures.
Upon seeing that row of dark cannon muzzles and gun barrels, both vampires and werewolves stopped in their tracks.
Then, suddenly, one of the vampires opened his arms, tilted his head back, and howled.
His mouth was open, and a pair of extremely long canine teeth protruded from his upper and lower jaws, the tips of which gleamed a dark yellow in the moonlight.
His clothes suddenly ripped open at the back, revealing a pair of bat-like wings that spread out from his shoulder blades, with a wingspan of nearly five or six meters.
He flew into the air and coldly looked down in the direction of Umbrella School.
As he transformed, the vampires around him also began to mutate.
Someone lay on the ground, their thighs swelled rapidly, and the muscles and bones of their legs quickly deformed into a shape more suitable for jumping and tearing.
More people spread their wings and took to the sky.
On the other side, those strange creatures, half-hunched over, simultaneously raised their heads and howled at the moon.
The sound surged from deep within his throat, echoing endlessly in the night sky.
Their bodies swelled with howls, their upper bodies became extremely strong, their shoulders stretched to a width almost disproportionate to their height, their waists narrowed downwards, and their thighs became so thick that they tore their trousers apart.
Silver-gray and dark gray hairs grew wildly from the pores, covering the entire body in a matter of moments.
Their facial bones stretched forward, their snouts lengthened, and their teeth protruded from their gums, becoming rows of serrated, interlocking fangs.
Giant werewolf.
Li En stared at the wolf pack on the screen as it completed its transformation and said, "Fire."
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