Back at the base, Victor found Andrey maintaining his weapons.
The moment he saw the SVD Custom in Andrey’s hands, Victor opened with the same old line.
“Using that thing on people is downright cruel.”
Victor had teased Andrey with that line many times before.
Now it came out as little more than an idle observation.
Because against biological threats, oversized weapons like that were exactly what worked.
One shot could tear an ordinary zombie nearly in half.
Even a mutated animal would lose a sizeable section of its body to a direct hit.
The same applied to Andrey’s dual Desert Eagles.
Those things had never really been appropriate weapons for use on ordinary people.
A headshot could smash an entire human skull apart.
However you looked at it, that was brutal.
Against creatures born from a biohazard, though, they were perfect.
A solid hit could simply destroy part of the target.
Even a large mutant would probably need instructions on how to put itself back together after both Deagles emptied into it.
The problem was that normal people simply couldn’t handle a weapon like this.
Its weight, recoil, and a whole list of other factors meant Andrey was currently the only person in CT who could use one effectively.
Fernando could also dual-wield Desert Eagles.
Li Yun, meanwhile, often carried an M1911 because he found the old pistol surprisingly practical.
Then again, Li Yun mostly preferred standard-issue weapons because he could throw one away without caring.
If Andrey ever had to abandon his SVD Custom, the old man would probably die of heartbreak…
“Your precious son is on leave.
Must be nice for you.”
Victor grinned as he teased his old friend.
Andrey merely shrugged, pulled over two glasses, and poured whiskey for both of them.
“He can run, he can fight, and in just a few years he’s earned as many medals as I did in half a lifetime.
He’s already excellent at both bioterror operations and counterterrorism, and his future is wide open.
If I can’t relax now, what am I supposed to do?
Compete with the young ones for glory, honors, money, and women?”
Andrey drained half his whiskey in one go, then filled the glass again.
Victor asked how many days Li Yun had been gone.
“Five.
He requested seven days of leave, so he should be back soon…
Wait.
Shouldn’t you know that better than I do?
Why are you asking me?”
Andrey’s brow furrowed like a mountain range.
He barely knew how to mock Victor anymore.
Had this middle-aged bastard been slacking off a little too much lately?
Something else had probably happened.
“All right.
What is it this time?” Andrey began pressing rounds into a magazine one by one.
The repetitive motion helped settle his mind.
“The Arklay Mountains outside Raccoon City.
A tourist taking landscape photos caught this.
Take a look.”
Victor pulled a slightly blurred photograph from his pocket.
Andrey noticed the main subjects immediately.
Several dogs stood perfectly still in the image, their flesh already beginning to rot.
Andrey’s composure nearly broke.
What the fuck was this now?
The Zeta City mess had only just settled down and Raccoon City was already starting its own disaster?
“The photographer sold the picture to a newspaper hoping to make some money.
It changed hands a few times and eventually reached us.
Take a team out there and investigate.
Be careful.
Raccoon City’s S.T.A.R.S.
unit will cooperate fully with you.”
“Once Li Yun returns, if you still haven’t resolved the situation and reported back, I’ll have him bring his team after you.
He has too much experience in this field, and his sense of caution is excellent.
I’ve always believed that kid has enormous potential.”
Andrey nodded, then complained that they could not keep shearing the same sheep until Li Yun had no wool left.
Zeta City had already happened.
Were the higher-ups still not going to take action?
At the very least, they should establish a dedicated department to handle bioterror incidents.
“All they know how to do is argue among themselves.
Of the three biggest players, two at least want to get something done.
Falcon, though, only cares about the prey under his own feet.
What can you say in a situation like that?”
Andrey could only raise his glass and pour another half-glass down his throat.
He knew those idiots upstairs far too well.
Let them do what they wanted.
He could not change them.
All he could do was handle his own responsibilities.
“When do we leave?” Andrey asked.
He needed time to prepare properly.
During the assault on Rex’s facility, he had suffered from insufficient ammunition; after blowing apart the Heavy Zombie, his SVD Custom had been down to half a magazine.
“Tomorrow.
Go to the Raccoon City Police Department first, then move with them.
I’ll remind you again: be extremely careful on this operation.
Don’t underestimate anything.”
The two lightly clinked them together, then drained the rest in one swallow.
“Still, the current situation proves the kid’s fears were right.
We’re really going to have an entirely new kind of warfare from now on.
Worse than the old forms of biological warfare.
Back then, all you had to worry about were poison gas and bacteria.”
Andrey could not help reflecting on it.
He remembered some of the filthy things done during World War II.
Anyone willing to wage war that way was scarcely different from an animal.
“That’s war.
Keep breaking every boundary long enough and eventually the only objective left is slaughtering life.
Anyway, enjoy your last quiet night.
I’m heading out.”
“So you bastard came over, conned a glass of whiskey out of me, dumped a pain-in-the-ass mission in my lap, and you’re not even buying me dinner?”
Victor said there was nothing he could do; he still had another meeting waiting.
Andrey could figure out dinner himself—open a few cans, boil some pasta.
Wasn’t that what he always did whenever Li Yun was away?
Andrey sighed helplessly and looked at the pile of empty cans in the trash…
Forget it.
He was going out to eat.
At that same moment in Raccoon City, Chris was checking his equipment.
Body armor, handgun, combat knife—he inspected everything in preparation for the upcoming operation.
“Is all that really necessary?
It’s just an inspection trip into the mountains.
We stay alert, clear out some dead branches and leaves while we’re there to reduce the fire risk, and that’s about it.”
Jill sat across from him.
Despite what she said, she was also loading rounds into her magazines one by one.
No matter how casually she talked, that one action was enough to reveal the tension and seriousness she felt underneath.
The man who would be fighting beside them this time was Andrey, one of CT’s heroes.
Li Yun—the young soldier they had met before—was Andrey’s adopted son.
That alone made it impossible for them to treat the mission lightly.
What kind of mission drew someone like Andrey here?
An ordinary inspection of the Arklay Mountains?
Chris had served in the military.
If he believed that bullshit, he might as well throw his brain away.
“Apply for two extra magazines and take them with you.
This isn’t a joke.
I’ve got a feeling this one is going to be trouble.”
Chris said it seriously, and Jill nodded.
She had the same feeling.