Finally, I don’t have to keep pretending.
Looking at yet another zombie shambling toward him, Luo Guang dropped the act, though what occupied his mind was something else entirely.
“…”
Although the system said nothing, Luo Guang had the vague feeling that it was exercising its right to remain silent, rather than simply failing to respond to him.
From the alley behind him, the sounds of fighting began to drift over faintly, pulling Luo Guang’s thoughts back to more pressing matters.
Facing the zombie in front of him, Luo Guang once again kept it simple—one kick straight to the knee, then he circled behind it and drove the knife in through the ear.
Once you grasped the technique, dealing with these mindless zombies that could barely even run became very easy in one-on-one fights.
I’m getting better and better at this.
Thinking that, Luo Guang quickly left the alley and hid behind a stalled sedan, peering ahead.
According to his original plan, once he had stocked up on supplies like food and water, as well as any usable weapons and ammunition, he would waste no time escaping Raccoon City before it got nuked.
The firearms were for dealing with bio-weapons.
As for the food and water, those were meant for after he escaped Raccoon City.
Originally just a backwater town, Raccoon City had three sides hemmed in by mountains and only one route leading out.
Umbrella Corporation had seen potential in that and poured huge sums into modernizing it, turning Raccoon City into a full-fledged industrial city with a permanent population of over one hundred thousand.
To preserve the secrecy of its viral experiments, Umbrella had kept Raccoon City far from other cities.
Without food and water, Luo Guang could not guarantee he would be able to make it to another human settlement.
If he escaped the zombies only to die of starvation or thirst afterward, that would be beyond miserable.
Luo Guang was planning for the worst.
Escaping Raccoon City was only a small short-term objective for him right now.
There was food and water in the S.T.A.R.S.
safe house Brad had set up, but Nemesis had arrived too quickly.
Worse, the shelves with the supplies were on the opposite side of the black escape door, closer instead to the other red door.
Luo Guang had neither the time nor the chance to grab them on the way out and had been forced to flee the safe house in a hurry.
When Jill decided to split up with him, what Luo Guang had wanted to say was not an attempt to persuade her.
He knew perfectly well how dangerous Nemesis was, and on top of that, very few people who stayed near the protagonists ever survived.
Jill had helped him obtain a fair amount of weapons and supplies, and out of gratitude, Luo Guang had only wanted to remind her to leave Raccoon City as soon as possible.
But the moment she finished speaking, she rushed back toward the safe house.
Judging by the situation, she had likely gone back to help Brad.
And in a Resident Evil setting, Luo Guang naturally was not the type to start shouting at the top of his lungs, so he never got the chance to say it.
Still, he no longer felt that he owed her a favor.
Now, his original plan was about half complete.
The only things left were food and water.
As Luo Guang thought that over, another thing suddenly occurred to him—something else vital for getting out of Raccoon City.
A map.
Because when Luo Guang arrived in this world, he had not inherited the memories of the other Umbrella employee who also happened to be named Luo Guang, his knowledge of Raccoon City’s streets, buildings, and layout was a complete blank.
Because he had inherited no memories at all, when he met Jill, Luo Guang even found himself feeling grateful for the nine years of compulsory education he had once received.
Without it, he would not have been able to communicate with her in English.
Back to the plan—so that he could more easily find supplies and escape Raccoon City, Luo Guang added a new high-priority objective to his list:
Find a map of Raccoon City.
Unlike the world Luo Guang originally came from, where everyone had a phone in hand and could pull up navigation anytime, anywhere, in this era the only kind of map he could realistically look for was a paper one.
Of course, some electronic mapping devices did exist, but those things were obviously nowhere near widespread in this time period.
Maybe Umbrella facilities might have some, but Luo Guang had no idea where to find an Umbrella facility right now.
So, after considering that local households usually would not keep maps of their own city, Luo Guang set his sights on public or administrative buildings instead.
Places like those might have tourist maps of Raccoon City.
If that failed, he could at least go to a subway station and see whether he could use the route maps inside to figure out his position and direction.
At the moment, without a map, the only thing Luo Guang could do was rely on street signs to find where he needed to go.
And once he stepped out of the alley, there was only one street sign in sight.
The information written on it—R.P.D.
Youth Activity Center—was exactly what Luo Guang needed.
Judging by the size of the sign, there should have originally been another place name on it as well, but it had already been obscured by black-red fluid.
R.P.D.
was the English abbreviation for the Raccoon Police Department.
The R.P.D.
Youth Activity Center should be some kind of public facility, like a youth center or community center…
so there’s a good chance I can find at least a few supplies there.
That was what Luo Guang thought, but at the moment, the road leading to the R.P.D.
Youth Activity Center beneath the sign was blocked by dozens of zombies.
If he used the pistol, Luo Guang was still confident he could deal with them.
Still, at that moment, he found himself missing the fire axe he had left behind.
That thing could split a skull open in one blow.
As long as he controlled the distance well and broke a group fight into multiple one-on-ones, a fire axe would have been excellent for this sort of situation.
No matter how you looked at it, its range was far better than the telescopic dagger in his hand, making it easier for Luo Guang to kite the zombies and take them down one by one.
Luckily, by the time Luo Guang arrived in Raccoon City, it was already September 28.
After the demolition operation directed by the deputy chief on September 24, a large number of zombies attracted by the noise had been concentrated and destroyed.
That was why Raccoon City’s streets did not seem that overcrowded now.
Otherwise, Luo Guang definitely would not have had any intention of fighting zombies on their home turf of human-wave tactics.
According to the sign, if he turned right at the intersection ahead, the R.P.D.
Youth Activity Center should be nearby.
Which meant that if he wanted to get there quickly, he would first have to fight his way through those dozens of zombies.
But if Luo Guang chose to engage them, it would take quite a bit of time—and during that time, who knew what might happen.
On top of that, Jill’s fight in the alley was still going on.
Luo Guang believed he needed to get away from here as fast as possible to avoid getting dragged into it.
He looked left and right.
Across the street was another alley, and it seemed to run in roughly the same direction as the R.P.D.
Youth Activity Center.
Very quickly, Luo Guang made up his mind and acted on it at once.
In just a few strides, he crossed the street and slipped into the alley.
The alley had not been touched by the spreading fire.
Garbage was scattered everywhere, but there was none of the usual buzzing of flies.
Compared to the streets outside, where every kind of sound was mixed together, this alley was eerily quiet—like Raccoon City before the biohazard outbreak: quiet, and full of crime.
Luo Guang held the telescopic dagger in a standard forward grip in his left hand, the blade angled across the front of his body.
In his right hand, he held the Glock 17—with only a single loaded magazine for it—and braced that hand against his left wrist.
Back in the S.T.A.R.S.
safe house, Luo Guang had only had time to grab the Glock 17 that was already loaded, along with a box of 9mm ammunition.
The box had been full, and he had stuffed it into his backpack.
The Glock 17 Brad had chosen really did suit Luo Guang’s Asian hand shape.
Without needing to make any special adjustments, his palm fit the grip snugly.
Still, the pistol’s barrel was relatively short, which made Luo Guang worry that it might not have enough stopping power to punch through the skulls of zombies whose bones had not yet softened.
A few street lamps in the alley were still functioning, casting faint light, though at least it was enough for Luo Guang to see.
The system timely mentioned that it had a way to increase Luo Guang’s light sensitivity, allowing him to see clearly in dark places like a cat.
But Luo Guang worried that if a sudden bright light appeared due to an explosion or something else, his eyes might be injured, so for the time being he declined the system’s help.
Moving lightly and quietly, staying close to the left wall, Luo Guang passed a large dumpster on his right.
Then, with a sudden turn to the right, he swung around and aimed his pistol at the side of it.
That spot had been a blind angle in his field of view.
On top of that, Luo Guang had noticed black-red trails of dried blood on the ground, so he had already been on guard.
“Ah…”
What came into Luo Guang’s sight was half a corpse.
On the upper arm of the torn uniform, a patch bearing the letters R.P.D.
stood out sharply.
It was a Raccoon Police Department officer.
Luo Guang frowned—not only out of regret for what had happened to the policeman, but also out of unease at his own inability to tell what kind of bio-weapon could have inflicted this sort of damage.
Only half the body remained, as though it had been ripped apart by some enormous force.
Yet Luo Guang saw no traces around it—no claw marks, no impact marks, nothing.
Luo Guang let out a long breath.
Without gloves, and without something like a stick or pole, and for reasons of hygiene, he had no intention of frisking the corpse to see whether it had any weapons or ammunition on it.
There was no weapon in the corpse’s hand, and the police duty belt had no idea where it had flown off to.
Still, the corpse’s condition filled Luo Guang with unease.
The unknown was the most terrifying thing of all.
Luo Guang was just about to leave this troublesome spot when something flashed in the corner of his eye.
Wary that the corpse might suddenly mutate and lunge at him, Luo Guang only edged a little closer.
It was a key, lying quietly beside the body.
Without thinking too much about it—or perhaps driven by some instinctive urge to pick up any item he saw—Luo Guang quickly reached out, snatched up the key, and immediately withdrew from the corpse again.
The body did not suddenly spring up, which made Luo Guang let out a breath of relief.
Reflecting on his own carelessness, he looked at the key in his hand.
There was no label on it, and no car logo either.
For now, Luo Guang had no idea what it was for.
But since it had come from a police officer, and the place he was heading to—the R.P.D.
Youth Activity Center—was also connected to the police, he decided to keep it on him for the time being.
After steadying himself, Luo Guang walked forward a few more steps and arrived at a T-junction.
Based on the direction of the R.P.D.
Youth Activity Center, he needed to turn left.
He darted a quick look down both side alleys.
Each path had zombies “guarding” it, but there were far fewer than out on the main road.
If he only had to face one side, Luo Guang was confident he could handle them through spacing and pulling them around.
But because there were enemies on both sides, he had to stay constantly aware of the aimless zombies wandering in the other alley as well.
After checking his gear once more, Luo Guang switched the weapons between his hands.
Holding the telescopic dagger in his right hand now, he rolled his wrist, and the instant the nearest zombie in the left alley turned its back to him, Luo Guang burst forward.
There was plenty of debris on the ground—discarded paper and the like.
Rather than sneaking slowly up behind the zombies while constantly watching his footing, Luo Guang chose the more direct approach and sprinted in.
The moment the nearest zombie heard the footsteps and twisted its head around, the telescopic dagger plunged cleanly into its eye socket.
Just like before, Luo Guang twisted the blade to make sure the brain was destroyed before pulling it back out.
Without stopping, before the first zombie had even finished falling, Luo Guang had already chosen his next target.
He kicked the zombie on the left, knocking it backward into the zombie behind it.
Using the recoil, he leaned away to dodge a lunge from the zombie on the right.
At the same time, the leg he had drawn back lashed out again, cutting across the attack path of the zombie on the right and tripping it heavily to the ground.
With one hard stomp, Luo Guang crushed the cervical spine in the right-side zombie’s neck.
Then he strode forward a few quick steps, planted his foot on the zombie still struggling to rise from the heap, and with two rapid thrusts of his right hand, finished off both of them.
After a moment’s thought, Luo Guang turned back and put down the zombie whose neck he had broken and whose mouth was still opening and closing.
At the same time, he kept watch from the corner of his eye on the zombies in the other alley.
Perhaps because the alley was so narrow, with tall walls on both sides allowing sound to travel farther, the zombies in the opposite alley had noticed the commotion and were now shuffling toward Luo Guang.
After confirming that they would not pose an immediate threat, Luo Guang was just about to continue along the path and exit the alley.
“Adaptee, the destination is to the right.”
“Huh?”
Luo Guang had walked to another T-junction—straight ahead or right—and suddenly heard the system’s voice in his mind.
It sounded almost like navigation instructions, making him pause for a moment.
With the system’s reminder, Luo Guang spotted a directional sign for the R.P.D.
Youth Activity Center posted on the wall of the alley to the right.
The sign had entered the corner of Luo Guang’s vision, but he had failed to notice it.
The more attentive system, however, had caught it and knew Luo Guang was about to keep heading straight out of the alley, which was why it spoke up to remind him.
“Thanks.”
As a civilized, polite, well-mannered man of exemplary conduct, Luo Guang thanked the system, then turned right into the other alley.
This alley was much wider than the previous one.
There was no clutter on either side, and it was wide enough for a car to drive through.
To Luo Guang’s surprise, unlike the youth centers in his memory that were always positioned right by the roadside, the R.P.D.
Youth Activity Center was actually enclosed by other buildings.
Unlike the weak alley lamps elsewhere, there were two bright wall-mounted lights by the entrance to the R.P.D.
Youth Activity Center, which made the building stand out to Luo Guang immediately.
Looking at the sign above the tightly shut front doors that read R.P.D.
Youth Activity Center, Luo Guang gave a silent nod.
I’m here.
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.