Looking at the pile of empty instant-food cans on the table, Luo Guang could feel a steady stream of strength surging up from inside his body.
In the end, he could not hold it back and let out a loud burp.
Rubbing his stomach, Luo Guang thought, “Feels like I just ate through over half of this family’s emergency stash.
And I don’t even have any money on me.
I really am dining and dashing here.”
Even though he had taken a small first step in evolution, Luo Guang did not feel that anything about him had changed all that much—aside from his appetite increasing dramatically.
The reason Luo Guang had devoured most of the room’s food not long after waking up was simple: despite not feeling weak or shaky when he woke, he had been ravenously hungry.
Since arriving in Raccoon City, although he had eaten a little at the R.P.D.
Youth Activity Center, it had mostly been snacks like chips.
So at first, Luo Guang assumed this was just normal hunger after “sleeping.”
But just as he was thinking that, the system suddenly sounded an alarm telling him to replenish energy immediately—or else it would be forced into dormancy—reminding him not to forget the need to maintain adequate nutrition and energy intake.
Only then did Luo Guang suddenly remember that the system really had said before that sufficient nutrition had to be guaranteed.
At this point, Luo Guang did not dare let the system go dormant.
True, after dormancy, other systems of the same type would no longer be able to detect him—but by the same token, his own system would also be unable to detect any Adaptees that might exist nearby.
His strength had increased quite a bit now.
If he were not still in the adaptation process, then when he picked up a glass to pour water, he might very well lose control of his grip and put on a one-man show of crushing the glass barehanded first.
Now full, rested, and refreshed, Luo Guang opened the map, confirmed his route, made his preparations, and left the room.
…
The Raccoon Police Department was not far from the substation Jill had gone to.
However, it was in the opposite direction along the same street.
So Luo Guang found himself returning to the place where he had previously encountered the zombie dogs, taking the opportunity to casually deal with a few zombies that were gnawing on the dogs’ corpses.
Aside from a few more zombies, nothing there had changed.
That meant Jill probably still had not returned after completing the mission.
Luo Guang did not linger.
After confirming that Jill had not come back, he continued on and arrived at the Raccoon Police Department.
Only a few minutes later—less than five, really—Jill also returned to that same area.
Seeing the ordinary zombies there that had each been killed with a single blow, and discovering that Luo Guang was nowhere in sight, she fell into thought.
…
Outside the main gate of the Raccoon Police Department, things were unexpectedly calm.
Even so, the moment Luo Guang saw the police station’s entrance, he could not help but raise his guard to the highest possible level.
The Raccoon Police Department was, after all, one of the major plot points in the entire Resident Evil series.
Luo Guang did not recklessly charge in.
Instead, he hid behind an ambulance that had crashed into a lamppost and observed the situation.
The police station’s main gate was still intact.
It was closed, though whether it was locked or not remained unclear.
Quite a few zombies lay scattered outside the gate in a messy heap, but there were no corpses visible inside the gate.
The Raccoon Police Department hasn’t fallen at this point yet?
Luo Guang found that deeply puzzling.
If I remember right, by this point most of the cops and S.W.A.T.
should already be dead.
At most, there should only be one heavily wounded Officer Marvin left inside the R.P.D.
In truth, Luo Guang had misremembered the point at which Marvin was wounded.
In both the original and remake versions of Resident Evil 2, Marvin had not yet been injured at this stage.
After confirming it was safe, Luo Guang carefully picked his way toward the station gate, all the while watching for any corpses underfoot that might merely be “playing dead.”
Clank.
As expected, the gate was locked.
Luo Guang did not bother playing needle-in-a-haystack and searching for a key.
Instead, he looked at the stone pillars flanking the gate, as well as the height of the wall.
Part of the R.P.D.’s outer perimeter, aside from the iron fence, was made of stone wall.
Using the rough surface of the masonry for purchase, Luo Guang climbed up and vaulted over the police station’s outer wall.
Thanks to his precise control, he landed without a sound.
Before coming in, Luo Guang had already noticed that there were no other people or zombies in the open space between the main building and the gate, but even so, after landing, he still cautiously drew his gun and checked the area.
No zombies.
No living people either.
Letting out a breath, Luo Guang still kept his guard up as he approached the front door of the R.P.D.
main building.
He shoved hard, but it did not open.
He tried turning the handle, but it would not budge either.
“That really is a good habit,” Luo Guang thought with a wry smile.
Just as he turned away, preparing to find another way into the R.P.D., he heard footsteps from the other side of the door.
Not long after, the sound of a lock being undone followed.
Luo Guang instantly spun around and aimed.
Whoever could open the door was probably alive—but no one said that a living person had to be harmless.
He kept his guard up.
“Hey, I’m alive.”
A shoulder appeared first. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
On the man’s sleeve, Luo Guang saw the R.P.D.
shoulder patch.
Then the man raised both hands and exposed his whole body in front of Luo Guang.
Seeing that, Luo Guang eased his index finger off the trigger and slowly lowered his pistol.
“Haaah…
thank God.” As a traditional Chinese man, Luo Guang felt an inexplicable sense of reassurance the moment he saw a police officer.
He could not help saying it out loud with real relief.
“Sorry, you’re too late.
The last rescue truck already left.”
The one who had opened the door for Luo Guang was a Black police officer.
He seemed to assume that Luo Guang had come here because he had heard this was an evacuation point.
“Ah…
Then when’s the next one?” Luo Guang put on a disappointed expression.
Since the other man was still here at the R.P.D., he assumed there might be another rescue truck coming later, which was why he asked.
Hearing that, the officer’s expression dimmed.
Then he rallied himself and said, “Come inside first.
It’s not safe out there.
You’ll only attract those monsters.”
Since the man had said that, Luo Guang stepped into the main building of the R.P.D.
and entered the station’s main lobby.
The Black officer who had opened the door for him waited until Luo Guang was inside, checked outside one last time, then shut the door again and locked it.
Luo Guang surveyed the lobby.
It seemed that, just as the officer had said, there were no civilians left inside anymore.
“That really was the last rescue truck.
But we’re trying to figure out another way out now,” the officer explained after locking the door.
He walked ahead of Luo Guang and pointed toward several dark green military crates, shaped similarly to the U.B.C.S.
equipment cases Luo Guang had seen on the subway train.
Two police officers were checking their gear nearby.
When they saw Luo Guang come in, neither of them said anything.
They probably no longer had the energy to voice an opinion—or to comfort civilians.
“They’re getting ready to search the Records Room for a way out of the police station.
This place used to be a museum before it was converted, and apparently there are still mechanisms from back then.
The exit tied to those leads far away from the city center, which would let us leave downtown relatively safely.”
After saying that, the officer added, “Right, I’m Marvin Branagh.
The thinner one over there is Elliot Edward, and the other one is David Zaro.”
“I’m Luo Guang.” After answering, Luo Guang also gave the two men by the supply crates a quick greeting.
Their hearts were clearly heavy, but they still managed to tug at the corners of their mouths and give him a small smile.
Seeing Officer Marvin, Luo Guang was already guessing in his head whether this was indeed Officer Marvin.
Looking at Marvin standing there completely uninjured, Luo Guang thought that either he had arrived too early…
or perhaps this truly was only a world similar to the Resident Evil series.
After the greetings were over, Marvin continued, “Elliot and the others are responsible for finding a way out so we can reach other evacuation points.
As for me, I’m trying to figure out whether we can contact a police or military rescue helicopter.
There won’t be another rescue truck—but the rooftop antenna seems to be damaged, so we can’t get through for the moment.
“Luckily, you came in through the front.
If you’d tried the other entrances, things would’ve been messy.
The east and west sides of the station are both packed with zombies.”
“Zombies?
There are zombies inside the Raccoon Police Department?” When Luo Guang was outside, he had assumed the police station had not yet fallen.
Marvin gave a bitter smile.
“Actually, aside from this area, the entire R.P.D.
has already been overrun.
“If it weren’t for the fire doors holding them back, we wouldn’t be able to hold this place either.”
Luo Guang immediately suggested, “I see…
By the way, Officer Marvin, what exactly is wrong with the rooftop antenna?
Do you need me to help?”
Marvin looked a little surprised that Luo Guang was so proactive about assisting him.
In Marvin’s experience over the past few days, it was already considered good enough if most civilians could stay calm and avoid becoming a burden.
“We don’t know yet.
I have to stay here to guide them through the monitors, control the fire doors, and open up for any survivors who make it here.
So we can only wait until they detour to the rooftop before heading to the Records Room and check the situation there.”
Only after Marvin said that did Luo Guang understand how the man had known he was outside even though he had barely made any noise.
Cameras were not exactly widespread in 1998, but some places were still covered in them.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with the antenna yet either.
We’ll only know once we get there.
We’ve already prepared basic repair tools.” Marvin turned and pointed toward the toolbox sitting beside Officer David, then faced Luo Guang again.
“Protecting civilians is our duty.
We shouldn’t be sending you out to take risks.”
“Officer Marvin,” Officer David interjected from the side, “the situation’s urgent.
We need every hand and every bit of strength we can get.”
“Just like David said, Marvin—we need help.
We need to work together if we want to survive.” Elliot was clearly close to Marvin, so he spoke without adding an honorific.
Officer Marvin fell silent.
In the end, he slowly said, “Then I’ll go.
Luo, you stay here and watch the monitors.
Open and close the doors for us.”
“No, Officer Marvin.” Luo Guang shook his head.
“On the way to the rooftop, you’ll run into zombies.
Those zombies will be civilians who came to the station looking for help.
They’ll be your former comrades.
Are you sure you can pull the trigger without hesitation?”
Luo Guang’s words hit Marvin like a thunderclap, leaving him hesitating for a moment.
When Marvin did not answer immediately, Luo Guang continued, “Officer Marvin, you’re a good cop.
But right now, I’m more suited to this job than you are.
“And I’m not familiar with operating the cameras and controlling the fire doors.
If I open a door too late, then the people left outside will end up trapped and forced to fight zombies like cornered animals.
“So, Officer Marvin, you staying here to hold the line is the best choice.”
Officer Marvin was one of the more regrettable characters in the Resident Evil series, so Luo Guang still remembered quite a bit about him.
In the game, Marvin had ultimately hesitated to shoot and was bitten by a zombified colleague, which led to him becoming a zombie himself.
Whether these words could actually help Marvin survive, Luo Guang had no idea.
Part of him wanted to see if he could alter Marvin’s fate.
But more than that, Luo Guang wanted to take advantage of the fact that he had already evolved once and that his strength was still in its adaptation phase, using this as a chance to train and get used to his changing body as early as possible.
Some people might think that was too risky.
But Luo Guang had already confirmed with the system that he was now immune to most forms of T-Virus infection found in Raccoon City.
Together with his rapid healing ability, that was what had given him the idea of training himself.
According to the system’s predictive models, this kind of real combat training would actually help Luo Guang improve more quickly, thereby increasing his chances of surviving the Raccoon City incident.
That was why the system had not tried to talk him out of it.
“All right.” In the end, Officer Marvin accepted Luo Guang’s reasoning.
Time was short.
Marvin quickly pulled Luo Guang over to a monitor, operated it a few times, and brought up a map of the R.P.D.
“First, look here.
This is the map of the Raccoon Police Department.
“You need to enter through the East Office side first.
Head toward the Press Room, then pass through the restroom, and you’ll see the stairs.”
As Marvin pointed each place out, he explained the route.
“Once you’re on the second floor, follow the corridor around the Art Room all the way to the far right.
That’s where the door leading to the second-floor rooftop is.”
Seeing that Luo Guang had no questions yet, Marvin continued, “Once you reach the rooftop, you’ll see the antenna control panel mounted on the wall.
Check what’s wrong with it.
“The control panel is inside a box.
Unless the antenna itself is seriously damaged, ordinary wiring issues should be relatively easy to fix.”
Luo Guang repeated the route back to him: “Got it.
Press Room, restroom, second floor, around the Art Room, rooftop.”
“That’s right.” Marvin picked up a walkie-talkie from the front desk, adjusted it, and handed it to Luo Guang.
“The channel’s already set.
Since zombies are highly sensitive to sound, neither I nor the other two will contact you unless absolutely necessary.
Understood?”
“Understood.” Even though Marvin said that, after taking the walkie-talkie, Luo Guang still spent a moment studying the buttons, then switched it to silent mode and turned it off completely.
Watching him do that, Officer Marvin nodded.
His confidence in cautious Luo Guang completing the task rose just a little.
“There’s some ammunition left over there.
Take it with you.
Also, it looks like the power tripped on the east side, so part of that area is unlit.
You’ll want to bring a flashlight too.
“Once you’re ready, let me know.
I’m going to open the door for them first.”
It’s not really mandatory—I’ll eventually upload all the chapters here—but it helps a lot in supporting me and allows me to dedicate more time to it.