When the victory banquet began that evening, Li Yun devoted himself entirely to eating and drinking, with absolutely no interest in socializing.
Everyone else chatted merrily; he just kept his mouth busy with food.
That was the great thing about a buffet.
There was enough variety to keep him happily eating without pause.
“You can’t keep doing this.
You need to socialize with these people at least a little.
And even if you’re not interested in the men, surely you can go talk to some of the women.
A few of those girls look pretty good to me.” Andrey came over, clearly dissatisfied with the way the kid was behaving.
Li Yun looked at him, put down his plate, and wiped his mouth to make himself somewhat presentable.
Then again, plenty of people had already seen him wolfing down food, so he had no idea whether this attempt at damage control was coming too late.
“I read your report and watched the operation footage.
Your proposal to quarantine Helgen and hit it hard enough to destroy the place made sense.
Unfortunately, the higher-ups have high hopes for Dr.
Rex’s research, so they authorized Beta Team’s operation anyway.”
Li Yun’s expression twisted like a wrung-out rag.
After thinking for a long moment, he sighed.
“Even though we’ve made some progress against the T faction these past few years, the overall situation still has the higher-ups that anxious?
Anxious enough to resort to something like this?”
He had heard about Dr.
Rex’s Super Soldier Project.
The problem was that the advanced equipment Rex had developed simply could not be used by ordinary humans.
The higher-ups turning to human enhancement was, in a sense, an act of desperation.
“CT hasn’t had much outstanding new blood these last few years either.
Two old friends of mine complain about it constantly.” Andrey sighed over the state of affairs.
The T faction had infighting of its own, but nowhere near as much as CT.
CT was, after all, an organization created jointly by multiple national governments.
It had achieved obvious results when first established, but after so many years its structural weaknesses were becoming harder and harder to ignore.
Internal conflicts only grew as the international situation changed.
Steady footsteps approached.
Both men turned toward the sound and saw a blond, bespectacled middle-aged man walking toward them.
“General Victor.
It’s been a long time.” Andrey and Li Yun started to salute, but Victor waved the formality away.
“You had a difficult operation.
I originally intended to receive you personally, but after I read your report and reviewed the battlefield footage, I spent my time arguing with the others about the feasibility of the Super Soldier Project and trying to stop the follow-up mission.
You can see how that turned out.
A few people supported me, but more voices were in favor of the project.”
General Victor’s voice was full of helplessness.
Andrey and Li Yun both knew he was an upright man.
If even he said this much, he had probably spent meeting after meeting openly clashing with the faction that supported the project.
Their gazes shifted toward the stage, where the formal awards ceremony had begun.
Yet none of the three was watching the successful Beta Team.
Their attention was fixed on Dr.
Rex, standing to one side with a smile.
Victor and Andrey only had a bad feeling that the research was dangerous and might cause trouble.
Li Yun, however, knew exactly how horrifying Dr.
Rex’s work could become—and how many monsters it would create.
His memories only covered the first three seasons of CSO’s Zombie Scenario storyline, and by now he had forgotten many of the finer details.
But there was no chance he would forget those horrifying bio-organic monsters.
When it came to developing large-scale bioweapons, Li Yun suspected that even if you stacked every current Umbrella researcher together, they still would not match Dr.
Rex.
Maybe the genius William Birkin could give Rex a run for his money?
The G-Virus was practically a creation of God, after all, though Li Yun had no idea whether Birkin had developed it yet.
“You don’t have any special assignments scheduled for the next few months.
How about I arrange for you to go home?” Andrey suddenly asked.
Lately, however, Li Yun had the strange feeling that Andrey was hiding something from him—almost even avoiding him.
Li Yun could not understand what was going on, but he trusted Andrey enough not to press him.
They shared no blood, yet after so many years together, their bond as father and son was completely real.
Victor cut in.
“No.
Keep Li Yun with me for the time being.
I still don’t trust Dr.
Rex’s research, so I intend to make preparations.
Li Yun is one of the few people we have with firsthand experience in this field.
Sending him on leave now would be a waste.”
Andrey thought it over, then nodded and agreed to release him.
There were no formal transfer orders yet, but Victor was a general.
As long as Li Yun’s current command agreed, borrowing a few people was hardly a problem.
Li Yun had no objection either.
He knew roughly how the story would develop.
He also knew what following General Victor now would eventually put him up against.
None of that made him resist.
If anything, he wanted to be involved.
People had to do something with the lives they were given.
Now that he possessed the ability to help, he ought to try to save more people.
“Second Lieutenant Li Yun, any objections?” Victor turned to ask him directly.
Of course Li Yun said no.
Victor was equally pleased by his attitude.
A passionate, upright young man—CT’s future would have to rest on young people like him.
“Hey, Natasha!
My lovely girl, come over here.
There’s someone I want you to meet.” Victor called to a beautiful young woman in the distance, and she immediately walked over.
“Let me introduce the newest standout from Russia’s Spetsnaz—Natasha Petrovna Vasika.
She has the greatest natural talent for shooting I’ve seen in years.
It cost me quite a bit to pry her away from them.”
Victor happily introduced Natasha to the group.
Andrey was naturally delighted, but Li Yun noticed that the young woman’s eyes were fixed on him—and burning with competitive fire.
“Li Yun, PLA Special Forces.
Nice to meet you.
I look forward to working with you.” Li Yun offered his hand first, and Natasha took it without hesitation.
“Natasha, Spetsnaz.
I’ve now been transferred under General Victor.
I look forward to working with you.” She delivered the greeting in fluent Chinese.
Li Yun blinked, then smiled.
He chose to ignore how much strength Natasha was putting into her grip.
“You’ll be colleagues from now on.
There’s plenty of time ahead, so you’ll have many chances to get to know each other.” General Victor had noticed Natasha quietly testing Li Yun, but healthy competition was something he welcomed, so he said nothing more.
At Victor’s words, Natasha released his hand.
Her expression remained cool and impassive.
Li Yun, still feeling the lingering pressure in his fingers, privately concluded that she might be difficult to get along with—while also finding himself looking forward to what came next.
[I never expected to meet her.
Strictly speaking, she has almost nothing to do with Resident Evil.
Running into Choi Ji Yoon or Jennifer would’ve made a lot more sense.]