Marvel's Death Merchant

Chris then got up and rummaged through the pile of medicine boxes for a while, only to find that they contained some very ordinary injectable drugs, but no bandages or hemostatic agents. So he simply tore off a relatively clean strip of cloth from his body and helped Liu bandage his wound. The previous strip of cloth was already soaked in blood and could not be used anymore, and it was also stained with some zombie blood. If it was not replaced in time, there was a possibility of infection.

Umbrella Corporation's influence is weakest here. This part of Russia doesn't have as many superheroes as the US, so it's basically dangerous. And other places can already start to be quarantined.

Chapter 514 The Source of the Infection

While Chris was bandaging him, Weaver kept his eyes tightly closed, occasionally letting out painful groans. However, he was, after all, a mercenary, and even with the greatest pain, he didn't utter a single word of "pain!" Although the blood-stained bandage on Weaver's body didn't reveal the extent of the injury, with Leon's help, he figured out where the wound came from: it was a wound inflicted by a military sniper rifle within a 200-meter radius!

This immediately reminded Chris of the corpses of the dead soldiers at the hospital entrance. There were no signs of zombie bites or scratches on their bodies, suggesting they were shot in the head while firing to defend themselves against the zombies—a direct hit that killed them instantly! A handgun wouldn't be accurate enough at that distance; only a sniper rifle could achieve such precision. Furthermore, a thought crossed Chris's mind: Weaver's wound could very well have been inflicted by the same sniper rifle!

Leon, standing to the side, was also panting heavily, his face covered in sweat. However, ever since he saw Chris, he had been startled at first, and then he had become indifferent and wary of the Hydra member next to him. There seemed to be a sense of suspicion and indifference in his eyes, which puzzled Chris. Even now, as Chris looked at him like this, he kept his gun close at hand, and the muzzle seemed to be pointed at the man.

Perhaps due to the temporary rest and the fact that the bleeding had been somewhat stopped, Weaver's consciousness began to clear. He slightly opened his eyes, looked at Chris beside him, and asked weakly, "You really are an elite of Umbrella Corporation, you're really tough! Tell me... what were you doing all this time before...?"

Only then did he reveal that he had been tracking Hanks. However, for safety's sake, he didn't mention that the person with him was Hanks, only saying that he was someone who had saved him. Naturally, he also mentioned that his eye ailment had relapsed. If Leon knew that he was with a Hydra member, who knows what might happen.

Chris's current intermittent eye condition is largely unknown to others. While it manifests as an eye ailment, it's actually a neurological issue affecting the brain. Only specific medications can suppress the nerve pathways in Chris's brain, temporarily restoring his vision to normal. Each time this occurs, a white patch appears on Chris's retina, resembling cataracts to most people. The primary cause is the impact of the Tokyo atomic bombing, coupled with a mild infection from a biochemical virus.

Despite his initial skepticism about Chris's words, a glance into Chris's eyes filled him with doubt. The chaos had initially led him to suspect Hydra, and Chris's disappearance and the attack half an hour earlier had solidified his belief that Chris was the one who had secretly harmed them. Yet, the current situation seemed to contradict his initial assumptions, leaving him utterly bewildered. If Chris was truly responsible, why was he saving them now?

Although he sensed that the others weren't quite right in the mood, he initially just assumed they hadn't managed to control their emotions, so he asked first, "Can any of you tell me what happened while I was gone? How did Mr. Weaver get his wound? And how did you all end up in that underground parking lot?" Chris asked a series of questions, clearly wanting to find out the whole story as quickly as possible.

Leon glanced at Weaver hesitantly, and seeing him nod, he sighed and said, "After you left, a lot happened. Before we arrived at Hospital 514, all the emergency exits were guarded. But for some reason, zombies inexplicably appeared in the hospital! Then we received orders from Umbrella Corporation headquarters to slow down the zombies' attacks as much as possible, to buy time for the troops to set up the containment network..."

At this point, Leon slowly put the gun back at his waist before continuing, "Originally, everything went according to plan, and we had a high chance of leaving safely. But unexpectedly, just as we were shooting at the zombies, gunshots rang out from inside the No. 1 Aid Building. Many mercenaries died on the spot, and even Weaver was almost shot in the chest. Luckily, I was quick-witted and pushed him away, thus avoiding the bullet, but I was still injured. Sigh, I'm so damn stupid, how could I forget that there might be suspicious people inside the building?"

"So, you ran to the underground parking lot to escape those zombies?"

Weaver nodded, his face full of self-reproach.

"You said you heard gunshots coming from inside Building One, which means that person is still very likely inside the building?"

Chris's words seemed to make him realize something, and he immediately turned around and said, "It seems...that's how it is!"

"Then it goes without saying, it must be that mysterious person; he must have brought the T-virus into the hospital!"

Chris pounded his chest, looking very unwilling. "It must be him! I have to find him and find out who's involved in this kind of deal!"

Just then, Hanks, who had been checking the warehouse for other exits, walked over with an assault rifle. He first glanced at Cai Zhuohua, who was squatting to the side, and seeing that Cai Zhuohua didn't seem to like him and only occasionally glanced at him while speaking, he didn't talk to him and instead spoke directly to Chris:

"Boss, I checked for you. There's a door at the other end of the warehouse, but it's locked with a chain, so you probably can't get out. However, if you can figure out how to open it, it will be much easier to get into the Second Ambulance Building from there. It's relatively safe outside that door."

Chris nodded. Hanks was now calling him "boss" as if he were afraid of revealing his identity. Chris promised not to kill him, but that didn't mean the other two wouldn't make a move! Meanwhile, Weaver was sizing up this complete stranger, wondering how this person had gotten together with Chris. Judging from his appearance, he didn't seem like an ordinary person.

After discussing it, they decided to first accompany Weaver to the operating room in the second ambulance building. There, they found clean surgical instruments and spare blood plasma. As long as they got there safely, Weaver's injuries should be fine. After that, they would go find the neurological drugs they needed. Once they had done those two things, they would consider how to leave this terrifying hospital full of zombies.

Chapter 515 The Sniper in the Dark

Leon immediately got up and went to the iron gate Hanks had mentioned. After examining it carefully, he found that the screws on the door handle were a bit loose. If he used force, he could probably pull the door open! He found a long iron bar on a nearby shelf full of scrap metal, hooked it between the door handle and the chain, and then pried it open with all his might!

With a "bang," the loose handle was easily pulled off. Afterward, Leon opened the door and looked around. He found that the entrance to Building 2 was only fifty meters away. He could get there quickly by running. Moreover, there were no zombies wandering around. He then gave Chris an OK sign.

Through the blue light scope of a sniper rifle, Hanks and Leon supported Weaver, walking behind them. Leon, now willing to believe that Chris had been framed, no longer held a grudge against his good friend for what happened before, and walked at the front with his gun, keeping watch over the three of them.

On the other end of the scope, a man wearing black sunglasses and bearing the Hydra symbol was smiling coldly. After much deliberation, he decided not to fire, finding the four men somewhat useful. He put away his weapon, glanced at them a few more times, and then slowly disappeared into the dimly lit hospital room with his briefcase...

"Crunch—!"

In the lobby of the No. 2 ambulance building, with a swift and decisive slash from Hanks, the last zombie, dressed in a hospital gown and still struggling on the ground with its legs broken by bullets, was completely decapitated. Its body only twitched a few times before going still, with black blood still gushing out from its severed neck, a truly disgusting sight!

Perhaps having completely adapted over time, Hanks was now calmly wiping his blood-stained dagger. Facing these half-dead zombies, he showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, his eyes gleamed with a fierce light as he searched the spacious hall like a professional hunter looking for prey.

However, he didn't notice. After Leon, who had been being supported, was replaced, he was secretly watched by Weaver from behind. In Weaver's eyes, this person he had never seen before, in both his skills and demeanor, didn't resemble an ordinary person at all. His movements as he sniped zombies were skillful and efficient, and although he sometimes deliberately made some almost embarrassing moves, the hot-blooded energy emanating from his body could not be concealed!

Leon walked behind them nonchalantly, but in his heart he was making plans. Once he got them out of danger, he would find an opportunity to thoroughly find out the identity of this person, and of course, the many suspicious things Chris had left behind about himself. They obviously didn't know that Umbrella Corporation and Hydra were mortal enemies.

Just as I was thinking this, I saw the unfamiliar American in front of me suddenly stop and bend down to right a fallen square wooden plank in the hall. The plank was about two meters long and one meter wide. It was supported by two triangular supports at the bottom, and the text on it was still fairly clear; it should be a notice board.

The bulletin board was printed entirely in color, but the image on it was covered in bloody handprints left by countless zombies.

Leon pushed Weaver, who was in a regular wheelchair, and exchanged a few words before moving on to observe the layout of the departments throughout the building. Hanks, understanding the situation, returned to Chris's side and began his security duties. Weaver, sitting in the wheelchair, had no time to think about anything else; he was only focused on conserving his strength, tightly clutching his bandaged wound, breathing unevenly.

A moment later, Chris strode back and began to discuss with Weaver: "I just looked at the floor plan of the entire department and found that the operating room is on the seventh floor. There are also some on the twelfth and fourteenth floors, and the pharmacy is near the west corridor on the third floor. How about this, we split up. Leon and I will go to the seventh floor to avoid him losing too much blood and dying because I didn't save him! You and this American go to the third floor and find the medicine you need as soon as possible. We'll meet in the lobby on the first floor in an hour!"

After listening to Chris's description, Weaver thought the idea was good and feasible, so he nodded and called out to Hanks, "Hank... uh... you've heard our arrangements, so it should be fine, right?" Fortunately, he reacted quickly and didn't call out "Hanks" by name. Hanks naturally had no objection and simply nodded to indicate that there was no problem.

Seeing that no one had any objections, Chris added, "Alright, Weaver, we'll stay in touch using the communicators we have on us."

After finalizing their plan, the four entered the still-functioning surgical elevator. They chose this route for two reasons: first, it would help Leon and Chris get to the operating room on the seventh floor as quickly as possible, avoiding them having to travel further; second, the space inside was vast, and ordinary patients were not allowed to enter the dedicated passage, which greatly reduced the risk of zombies inside.

Sure enough, everything was fine inside the elevator; there were no zombies. The four of them stood inside the elevator, experiencing the feeling of being under G-force for only three seconds, before hearing a "ding" as the elevator stopped on the third floor.

The thick elevator doors slid slowly to one side, revealing the dark passageway to the third floor. After confirming that there were no zombies wandering around, Weaver gave Chris a cautious gesture, while Hanks stepped into the passageway first.

However, just as Chris was about to step out of the elevator, Leon also made a cautious gesture to him, but pointed to Hanks, indicating that he should be careful of this stranger. Weaver turned his head to indicate that he could rest assured that there would be no problem.

Watching the two figures disappear safely around the corner of the elevator doors, Leon pressed the button for the seventh floor without hesitation and headed straight for the operating room on the seventh floor.

The majority of rooms in Building 2 are ordinary nursing wards. Unlike Building 1, which is nearly thirty stories high and has complete facilities and advanced equipment, and is home to many attending physicians, Building 2 only has fifteen floors at its highest. Many of the wards are reserved and the equipment is not very complete. However, there is a 50-meter-long suspended glass walkway between Building 1 and Building 2, which makes it easier for patients to move between the two buildings.

The situation here is not as good as any of Umbrella Corporation's hospitals, but fortunately there are no zombies here. Otherwise, being surrounded by zombies would have been disastrous, and his survival would be uncertain. So he could only be more careful, extremely careful.

Chapter 516 Exploring the Hospital

Chris, whose vision was temporarily blurred, followed behind Hanks. Hanks was also very loyal and had not done anything strange along the way, which made Chris lower his guard. He thought that this Hydra agent was just a name without substance, and that he did not show any signs of murderous bloodlust or treacherous behavior.

As they stepped out of the corner near the elevator, the two men became tense. There were six or seven zombies wandering about fifteen meters away on the west side of the corridor. Strangely, they didn't make the low growls of other zombies. Instead, they were unusually quiet. Apart from pushing and shoving a few times into some brightly lit wards, they didn't show any signs of ferocity. No wonder the two men hadn't noticed any zombies when they got out of the elevator.

For some unknown reason, a strange noise suddenly came from a ward near where the two were. A zombie that was "idling" in the distance, perhaps noticing the commotion on the east side of the corridor, led six or seven other zombies to wander towards the east side of the corridor. What was puzzling was that they were all carrying a few simple fruit knives or similar "weapons".

Just as Chris heard the sound and was about to raise his gun to shoot the blurry shadows, Hanks cautiously reminded him, "Don't shoot, they don't seem to have noticed us."

Chris, perhaps out of curiosity, found the zombies' behavior quite strange and actually listened to Hanks's words. He thought to himself that as long as these zombies came within five meters of the two of them, he would resolutely shoot them, regardless of whether they had noticed them or not!

These zombies didn't give him a chance to fire. Just as they were about to enter the five-meter death zone, they suddenly turned around and went into the ward from which the strange noise was coming. Hanks reacted quickly and locked the ward door from the inside. By the time the zombies realized what was happening, they were already trapped. All they could do was bark and claw at the ward door!

The zombies have never had the ability to open doors or use complex tools, and of course, in Hanks' eyes, that's at least the case for now.

Seeing Hanks easily deal with several zombies, Chris couldn't help but find it amusing. In all his years of fighting zombies, he had never actually seen a group of bloodthirsty zombies handled like that! The Hydra organization had done research on virus-infected zombies, and as a member of Hydra, he must know a great deal.

Before long, Hanks discovered that although there were still quite a few zombies in the other rooms, they were all as stupid as the previous few, which was really not flattering. Simply closing the door would keep them completely locked up. Otherwise, with so many of them, no matter how hard the two of them fought, it would only be the prelude to them turning into zombies!

Chris was filled with a question he had never considered before: why were the zombies today showing such a "docile" variant, so different from the zombies that couldn't be burned to death? What was causing the spread of the same T-virus infection to produce such a strange situation? It might be due to mutants or parasites.

Just as he was hesitating, Hanks suddenly ran over excitedly and told him that he had finally found the pharmacy and that it would soon be able to help him restore his eyesight. Chris ignored everything else and stopped arguing with those stupid zombies. Led by Hanks, he headed towards the pharmacy.

As the elevator doors stopped on the seventh floor, Leon also stuck his head out to check the surrounding situation. He found that because the seventh floor was where the operating room was located, there were very few wards and most of the rooms were surgical instrument rooms, so there were almost no zombies. He then boldly rushed towards the operating room.

However, after walking several dozen steps, he did find the operating room, but the layout was different from what he had seen on the notice board, both in terms of the length of the corridor and the room number.

He clearly remembered that the operating room he had seen earlier was marked "1-3-a," but now the door was marked "2-3-b," which was quite strange! After thinking for a moment, he suddenly slapped his forehead and shouted, "Oh no!" He realized that the floor plan he had seen earlier must have been for the No. 1 ambulance building! And if that was the case, then there was no pharmacy in this building at all!

"Weaver! Weaver! Please respond! Please respond!..." Leon's anxious shouts kept coming through the earpiece that had been left aside, but no one answered, which made his tone even more urgent.

Ever since Leon sensed something was wrong, he had been calling out to Weaver, but no matter how hard he shouted, there was no response. Leon figured something must have happened to Weaver!

This should have been an ordinary hospital room. Perhaps because it hadn't been used for a long time, one of the lamps hanging high was out of order, but no one had come to repair it. The air was filled with the strong smell of disinfectant, mixed with a slight stench of decaying corpses, which irritated his sensitive nose. He kept feeling a figure moving in front of him, but he couldn't make out the person's face. Oh well, he didn't want to do anything right now; he just wanted to have a good sleep.

Weaver was lying on a relatively clean and tidy bed, his head spinning, his eyelids drooping no matter how hard he tried to open them. He knew this was a normal reaction after the injection, and that he would be fine after a good night's sleep. Meanwhile, Chris had found what he needed.

Hanks stood quietly beside Chris, his expression stern, seemingly with some lingering worry. Only after a few minutes, upon confirming that Chris was unharmed, did Hanks breathe a sigh of relief. After all, although he was a member of Hydra, he had a decent impression of Chris, a member of the Umbrella Corporation, and Baron Zemo, the second-in-command of Hydra, greatly admired his abilities.

Although the reagent injected into Chris had extremely strong side effects, after a thorough blood sample analysis, it was discovered that Chris's blood contained a high concentration of antibody substances, perfectly matching the human host he had been searching for. If there were no errors, the reagent would enhance his body's repair mechanisms, and he would regain normal vision within half an hour. Furthermore, Chris received an initial boost, and the feeling was quite positive.

Hanks had many considerations before deciding to begin implementing his true plan for this trip.

Chapter 517 Highly Mutated Zombies

Once the mysterious figure from Hydra believes he has truly obtained the antiviral serum he seeks, he will surely retrieve the modified evolved virus he has been searching for to create chaos. In this way, he will have a great chance to obtain the original sample of the modified virus, thereby confirming the list of members who conducted the live fusion experiment on twenty people in the Arklay Mountains of the United States.

Furthermore, if possible, he was doing this to recruit Chris into his team, because once Chris was infected with the T-virus, his body would undergo unexpected changes. Whether he could achieve perfect fusion and mutation in the future would depend on his own abilities. After all, Hydra didn't have many super-powered warriors.

Following this logic, the main task now is to find the mysterious figure from Hydra. As for verifying his identity, that is not within the scope of Hanks's current operation. However, before that, there is another related matter that urgently needs to be confirmed, namely whether the modified T-virus really has extremely strong instability.

Looking at Chris sleeping soundly, he glanced around the room and figured that no zombies could possibly break in, and that the person in front of him would be safe. So he decided to go to the ward where there were six or seven zombies.

If those zombies were indeed infected with the modified T-virus, in a few minutes, the virus within those docile zombies would begin to mutate, evolving into an increasingly ferocious variant whose attack power would be no less than that of the previous four-legged zombie! This situation is caused by the extreme instability of this virus.

Hanks didn't linger. Instead, he flashed into the dimly lit third-floor corridor like a ghost, silently heading towards the ward containing the zombies.

Perhaps because evolution requires a lot of energy, the zombies behind the ward were quieter than before, like ordinary people sleeping. Four or five zombies lay helplessly on the ground, while only two seemed to have a lot of energy left and were walking slowly.

Hanks understood that these two would have a high chance of evolving, while the zombies that had fallen would probably explode into a pool of blood and gore in a few minutes because they couldn't withstand the powerful berserk energy during the mutation! Therefore, these useless zombies were of no use to Hanks. What he wanted was to witness the two mutated monsters with his own eyes and then collect relevant combat data.

Hanks calmly walked in. The two standing zombies did not attack him, but instead kept pounding on the deformed bed and wooden chair, venting their immense pain. Then they slumped to the ground, motionless.

Hanks calmed himself down, a surge of excitement welling up inside him. His mouth was slightly open, his eyes fixed on the two zombies, and he murmured slowly, "Soon... something new will be born again!"

Perhaps because he had slept for a long time, Chris felt as soon as he woke up that his head was still heavy as if it were filled with lead. The feeling was just like after drinking a pound of liquor, when the world was spinning before his eyes.

He slowly sat up, supporting himself on the bed with his hands. He felt a slight tingling sensation in his arms, as if something was slowly flowing through them. He raised his right hand and discovered that the veins, which were originally bluish, seemed to be shimmering with a pale blue fluorescence, traveling with the blood through every cell in his body.

Perhaps it was the effect of this fluorescence that made his body gradually relax from the initial soreness and numbness, and his spirits were also significantly improved. At the same time, Chris clenched his fists and found that his physical strength was unusually abundant, as if he had rested for two days and three nights. However, what excited him the most was that his vision had been completely restored! That was thanks to the virus serum regularly manufactured by Umbrella Corporation.

It seemed that Hanks had indeed done him a great favor, not only finding the medicine he needed but also not playing any tricks behind his back. Chris smiled, feeling that his previous concerns about being constantly on guard against Hanks were unnecessary.

Although Chris hadn't experienced this sensation after receiving the same injection during his previous treatments here, his actions during the journey to this point weren't as ruthless as those of Hydra. This made Chris feel that the Umbrella Corporation members were perhaps a little too vigilant.

However, he soon realized that Hanks was not next to him. The ward, which had six beds, was empty of him. Apart from the QBZ56C short automatic rifle he had used before and some combat equipment he carried, which lay quietly to the side, the only other thing was the communication headset that kept beeping.

Hanks wasn't in the room, and he wasn't carrying the gun he always used. Could something have happened to him? Thinking of this, Chris quickly jumped off the bed, wanting to go out and check the situation. He had nothing else to worry about now. Once he recovered, dealing with ordinary zombies would be more than enough for him, given his combat experience. Of course, he absolutely couldn't let himself be surrounded by a bunch of zombies, otherwise, he would be courting death.

However, just as he finished packing and was about to leave the ward, the earpiece beside him suddenly rang again. Chris grabbed it and put it to his ear. The sound of Leon using his superpowers was mixed with the sounds of gunfire and shouts from the surrounding area, creating a very noisy environment, as if a battle was taking place. Nevertheless, Leon was still trying his best to contact the person whose survival was unknown.

“Chris, we’re fighting them off right now. Wherever you are, get to the central control room on the fifteenth floor of Hospital Building One as soon as you hear this message. We’ll meet there!… Hospital Building Two is teeming with bloodthirsty, berserk zombies. We can’t stay there any longer… It’s dangerous there, you hear me? If you’re still alive, get out of that damn place immediately!…”

At this point, the communication in the earpiece was cut off. It was unclear whether Leon, exhausted from the battle, couldn't spare a moment to call him and had simply turned off the communicator. Chris's immediate priority, however, was to get to Aid Center One as quickly as possible. If he could make it in time, he might still be able to help Leon and his team. After all, they had survived the Tokyo incident, the various attacks by Hydra, and their current predicament.

Chapter 518 Encounter with Mutated Zombies

Chris flung open the hospital room door, but two seconds later, he realized that what he had done was a complete mistake!

Near the elevator on the east side of the corridor, two or three enormous zombies were crouching on the ground, scratching at something. These zombies were completely different from the previous ones; not only were they several times larger, but their skin was also taut from their bulging muscles. From their bluish-green necks to their lower backs, they were covered in sharp spikes, seemingly derived from the spine. Their two massive arms were incredibly thick, covered with the same pale blue stripes, and their two claws were the size of scythes. They were using these scythe-like claws to scratch at something on the ground and then put it into their blood-red mouths filled with sharp teeth!

Chris quickly came to a conclusion he was certain of: this must be the special zombie that the Umbrella Corporation had just discovered.

Just as Chris realized that the mangled corpse on the ground was from the same dead special zombie, a chill ran down his spine! These special zombies were actually cannibalizing their own kind! Could it be that this was serving some purpose for them? However, the answer was certain.

Soon, Chris's doubts were confirmed! One of the zombies, presumably having eaten its fill, suddenly stood up, raised its massive head, and roared. Its two huge arms were also spread out to the sides. The roar was so loud it was almost deafening. Chris even had the urge to cover his ears!