Some time earlier, Ivan and Rebecca had left the interrogation chamber and rejoined Billy.
Billy looked the two of them over and asked, “Well?
Find anything?” The question dragged Rebecca back to what she had seen inside, and she drew a slow breath.
“It’s an interrogation chamber.
The walls and floor are covered in dark red bloodstains, and the air in there reeks.” Billy’s expression soured as she finished.
“Damn Umbrella.
They don’t have a single line they won’t cross!” “Hey, Rebecca, Ivan – you two didn’t run into any trouble, did you?
I heard noises coming from in there.” Rebecca glanced at Ivan with a smile.
“There was a baboon infected with the t-Virus.
Ivan protected me.” Ivan rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.
Billy gave an approving nod and clapped him on the shoulder, the same way Ivan had done to psych him up earlier.
Pulling his hand back, Billy shared his own findings with the two of them.
“I took a walk around just now.
There’s no way forward up ahead…” Ivan and Rebecca caught his meaning.
Rebecca thought it over, then offered a suggestion.
“How about we head back to the main hall first and see what’s going on in the other rooms?” Billy considered it for a moment, then gave a small nod.
“Guess that’s all we can do.
What about you, Ivan?
What do you think?” Ivan lowered his head, the back of his hand resting against his jaw while he organized his thoughts.
“I think it works.
Bravo Team was sent in by Umbrella, and they’ve already scouted a lot of ground for us.” “And we haven’t found a single one of their bodies – not in the hall, not in the underground passage, not in the interrogation chamber.” “That tells us Bravo Team is strong.
And since their mission was to determine the current state of the Umbrella Executive Training School-” Ivan paused, meeting Rebecca’s encouraging gaze and Billy’s approving one.
The corner of his mouth lifted on its own.
“-then it also tells us they won’t pull out until every unstable element here has been eliminated.” “Which means the threat level in this place has dropped sharply.
Now is exactly the right time to investigate.” Rebecca gave a soft round of applause when he finished.
It was what she had been thinking too.
Then she stepped closer, tilted her head up at Ivan, and parted her red lips.
“Ivan, how are you feeling now?
Have you recovered a little more?” Ivan nodded.
“Mm.
My head feels a lot clearer, and my thinking’s much sharper.
I just still can’t remember anything from before.” Billy chimed in at the right moment.
“Don’t sweat it, brother.
Your brain’s working on it.
I’m betting that day isn’t far off.” Ivan smiled at Billy’s dry joke and pointed at his own head.
“Mm.
It says thanks, Billy.
Appreciates the vote of confidence.” “Hahaha!” x2 Rebecca and Billy both burst out laughing.
Once the laughter faded, the three of them set out again.
Back in the main hall, Ivan and the others started by searching the rooms along the right side of the second floor.
Just as Ivan had predicted, the corridors and the rooms alike were covered in signs of combat.
Chunks of B.O.W.
corpses lay scattered throughout the area.
Among them were crows carrying the t-Virus, zombies, spiders, and Plague Crawlers.
Along with the remains of several leeches.
Bravo Team had clearly fought its way through a bloodbath.
At the same time, in these areas – and in key locations like James Marcus’s office – they turned up some critical records.
For instance, that the t-Virus had originated from the Progenitor Virus, though none of the three had any clear idea yet what the Progenitor Virus actually was.
And for instance, the open rivalry and hidden maneuvering between James Marcus and Spencer, Umbrella’s two founders, over the fruits of the t-Virus research.
Ivan finished reading the notes and passed them into Rebecca’s hands.
Then he summarized the gist of them for Billy and Rebecca.
“Spencer and James Marcus founded Umbrella together – one put up the money, the other put up the science.” “The former saw the Progenitor Virus research as a way to make more money.
A cash machine, basically.” “The latter thought that attitude was idiotic, and it left him feeling threatened.” Billy rubbed his thumb along his chin.
“Why would James Marcus feel threatened?” Ivan thought for a moment, then explained.
“James Marcus was obsessed with his research, so he stayed far from Umbrella’s center of power.
Little by little, he got pushed to the margins.” “On top of that, the site, the funding, and the personnel for his research were all provided by Spencer.” “In a sense, he was a caged bird that Spencer kept and fed.” “Maybe he realized that.
That’s probably where the urgency came from.” Billy grasped the crux of it as Ivan finished.
His eyes tightened, and he pressed at the crease between his brows.
“Brother, after hearing all that, I understand Spencer even less.” “If this is all about money, why take a risk this big?
Why bury a bomb like this Umbrella Executive Training School out in the Arklay Mountains?” Ivan went on.
“My take is that Spencer is after something else.
Judging by how things stand, James Marcus may not have understood what Spencer really wanted.” “Otherwise, as a founder of Umbrella and the man behind the t-Virus, he wouldn’t have ended up holed up in a backwater like this.” Billy fell into thought.
While the two of them debated the contents of the notes, Rebecca had already closed the diary in her hands.
Her chest rose and fell unevenly.
Whatever was written inside had clearly shaken her.
Ivan noticed and rested a hand on her shoulder.
Feeling that familiar weight, Rebecca gave him a look meant to reassure him.
She exhaled slowly, steadying herself as best she could, and picked up where Ivan had left off.
“The notes also mention that the t-Virus was created by combining the Progenitor Virus with leech DNA.” “James Marcus started out experimenting on rodents.
Later, when progress was too slow, he moved on to human subjects.” “Some of the researchers who caught on to what was happening…
met with accidents.” Billy sat down on the desk, closed his eyes, and rubbed at his forehead.
“That lines up with the roster we found earlier.” “So this is just the story of a mad scientist meeting a ruthless businessman?” Rebecca looked at the irritation on Billy’s face and didn’t answer right away.
Because something else weighed on her far more – what came later in those notes.
Getting no response, Billy lowered his hand and opened his eyes again, turning to Ivan and Rebecca.
Rebecca stood with her arms folded, leaning against the bookshelf, head bowed.
Her usually bright, open face was full of shadow now.
Something was clearly weighing on her.
Ivan saw it too.
He spoke gently, his voice full of concern.
“Rebecca, what’s wrong?” When she didn’t answer, he called again.
“Rebecca?” This time she stirred.
She looked at Ivan first and gave him that familiar smile.
Then she glanced at Billy, seated on the desk.
Facing the two teammates who had been through hell with her, Rebecca didn’t hide what was troubling her.
“I don’t know why Captain Wesker’s name would show up in James Marcus’s notes.” ____ 👻🔥Seek: Walnut-chan on P a t r e o n🔥👻 🔥 New history: DanMachi: