Marvel's Death Merchant

"If I trip over something, you can let the zombies eat me! ...Why aren't you saying anything?"

Perhaps Lyon had thought of something, for after a moment of silence, he lowered his voice and asked a rather serious question:

“Chris, stop right now. I have two questions for you, and you have to tell me the truth! First, do you know that mysterious Hydra spy, and why does he know our location?”

Chris stopped and said without thinking, "I don't know him, I just met him by chance."

"To be honest, the world situation is very strange. Superheroes, biohazards, all sorts of weird things have appeared, and the world hasn't been destroyed because of this, which is very strange in itself."

"What? Are you kidding me!" Chris thought Leon was talking nonsense.

"You are the second one. Who exactly is the person with you? I think he is more than just an ordinary citizen, isn't he?"

“This…” Chris hesitated. Judging from Leon’s tone, if he didn’t tell him, Leon seemed unwilling to continue leading the way, and his tone even implied that he would have to settle things with him if he didn’t speak. But if he told him, Leon probably wouldn’t believe him, even though they were good friends. However, when it came to the interests of the Umbrella Corporation, it was a different story. Even if he told him, Leon wouldn’t do anything to him. Since Leon was asking him with a degree of trust, Chris decided to tell him everything.

Leon understood what happened at the airport perfectly and believed that Chris really didn't know what was going on, since Chris was still on the helicopter at the time, and the pilot could testify that it was a frame-up. Leon could understand that, but when he heard about the Hydra member, he was so shocked that he couldn't speak.

Seeing Leon's strong reaction, Chris quickly reassured him, "What I said is true. Whether you believe it or not, if he were truly loyal to Hydra, he would never have come with me to rescue you. Just for that reason alone, we should believe him! Besides, he's already dead!"

Leon's reply came from the other end, and Chris was stunned. Leon said, "I know Hanks Cavill is dead, but... he died... two weeks ago!"

In Leon's view, it was absolutely impossible for Hanks Cavill, an internationally wanted criminal, to reappear in Russia. Yet Chris insisted that the man was Hanks, and was quite certain of it. There was only one possibility: this person wasn't the real Hanks, but someone using his name, disguised, and infiltrating the country. So, what was this person's background? Why had he traveled all the way to Russia? Was it merely to conduct a transaction involving the T-virus with another mysterious Hydra figure mentioned by Chris? All these questions combined made for a truly mysterious situation!

Leon was somewhat helpless. He wasn't a talent like Wesker, so he closed his eyes and sorted out his thoughts. He felt that there must be many things that needed to be verified. However, now was not the time to consider these issues. So he decided to guide Chris to the central control room first, and after ensuring his safety, the three of them would gather together to discuss it.

The internal structure of the No. 1 ambulance building is not completely enclosed. Instead, there is a square, openwork design about 15 meters long and 30 meters wide in the center of the building, from the first to the twelfth floor. One side is against the main south wall, and the other three sides are equipped with aluminum railings. There are two open, inclined conveyor belt elevators between the floors, from which you can directly look down at the scene on the first floor, providing a relatively open view.

From the thirteenth floor upwards, the floor is generally a fully enclosed structure with staircases and elevators connecting it. From where Weaver is currently, once he exits the suspended glass corridor, he can reach the open space on the eighth floor and then go directly to the elevator via the waiting area.

Chapter 523 Ambulance Building

As long as there are no zombies blocking his way, Chris should be able to reach the thirteenth floor in just a few minutes. Once there, he needs to be careful. Because of the chase with Leon, the corridors from the thirteenth to the fifteenth floor are practically swarming with zombies. If Chris dares to force his way through, those zombies are more than willing to tear him apart!

"Without further ado, keep going forward. You'll find a passageway connecting to the passenger elevator, which takes you directly to the next floor. However, the elevator seems to have stopped working, so you'll have to climb up yourself. After repeating this a few times, you'll reach the thirteenth floor..." Leon began rotating the cameras in the openwork hall to observe the situation on each floor, and then continued, "Don't worry, everything is safe during this period! However, what happens after that is up to you. There will be many zombies waiting for you on the way. Whether they pick you up or not depends on your fate!"

"Understood! Stay in touch!" Chris replied simply, then gripped his military dagger and cautiously moved forward. He already had a general understanding of the building's structure, as he would come here for treatment whenever he felt unwell. After doing so many times, he found navigating the building as simple as disassembling a magazine.

Stepping out of the suspended corridor, Chris entered the interior of Ambulance Building One. He turned right and came to a waiting area with a row of yellow seats. To the north of the seats was a passageway, and not far ahead was the passenger elevator he needed to take. To the south of the seats, where the backs of the seats were close to the aluminum railing, one could see the situation on several floors below.

Although he was already familiar with the layout and general arrangement of the place, the horrific scene still made Chris feel somewhat unfamiliar: every floor was littered with zombies just like the ones he had seen before, mostly zombie corpses.

Perhaps because she had only recently died, she didn't have enough time to mutate, which is why she remained in this state. But that's fine, it saves the survivor from suffering too much. Chris covered her with a piece of clothing next to him, sighed, and then carefully observed his surroundings again.

The corridor in the distance was filled with the remains of the dead zombies, and even the glass bulletin boards hanging on the walls were covered with black bloodstains; while at the entrance to the lobby on the first floor below, there was a pile of zombies that Liu Tou and his group had killed earlier, like a small hill, with no less than thirty of them, but this was still only a small number in the whole building.

Chris glanced at his watch and realized it was 4:45 AM, almost 5:00 AM. Dawn would break soon, and once it was light, troops would definitely enter the area to begin clearing out the zombies. If Leon could contact Umbrella Corporation headquarters, they might be able to be saved! He decided not to delay any longer and walked towards the passenger elevator.

Just as Leon had said, the elevator seemed to be damaged or the power had been cut off, and it had stopped running. Chris decided to run upstairs quickly to save time, but the bottom of the elevator was blocked by the dead body of a researcher. Judging from his appearance, he seemed to have died a more tragic death!

The researcher fell backward, his feet pointing directly at him. His face, neck, and even his entire body were covered in bite marks, and his flesh was turned outward, likely leaving him completely disfigured.

Chris hesitated for a moment next to the researcher, then immediately bent down, put away his dagger, grabbed the dead researcher's work clothes at the waist with both hands, and pulled him to one side. Just then, he suddenly heard a woman's moan. Chris thought something was wrong!

He quickly stood up, gripped the dagger again, and cautiously scanned his surroundings. If he wasn't mistaken, there should have been zombies nearby, but after looking for a long time, not only was the sound gone, but he couldn't even see a single zombie! Could it be that the zombies went elsewhere? This was really strange!

Chris wiped the few beads of sweat that had seeped from his forehead due to nervousness before continuing to bend down and drag the researcher's body. He had just grabbed the researcher's clothes and hadn't even exerted any force when the researcher suddenly opened his eyes, clearly appearing to be a living person.

Chris stood up and took two steps back, cursing, "Fuck! Is that a zombie?!" He then twirled the dagger in his hand and thrust it straight at the researcher. However, his foot slipped on something, and the dagger veered off course, missing its original target.

Chris looked down and realized that the handsome researcher was still breathing rapidly, his body rising and falling. Could it be...? Just as Chris relaxed his guard, before he could take his eyes off the man, the researcher suddenly slapped him across the face, saying, "Hello, sir, I'm alive."

Chris took a few steps back, watching as the handsome man got up from the ground, rubbed his sore knee, straightened his clothes, and wiped his face, which was covered in stubble. Chris then realized that the man's rotten flesh wasn't his own; he had deliberately smeared it on him! Confirming his suspicions, Chris understood that this was a genuine survivor, not a zombie, and that his earlier test had been entirely accurate.

Chris turned his face away, feeling somewhat ashamed. He had always been the one making more money. Thinking of this, his expression became somewhat dejected. So many things had suddenly happened, and he was powerless to save this survivor. He guessed that the survivor had probably already met with misfortune.

"Hey, sir, this is not the time for thinking!" The man next to him saw that the man who had just attacked him had suddenly fallen silent and was staring blankly, and fearing that he might have some aggressive thoughts again, he shouted to him, "I didn't expect there to be survivors here."

Hearing the shout, Chris immediately snapped out of his daze and hurriedly replied, "Oh, I was just passing by. Don't worry, I'm not a zombie! But you... what happened to your whole body?"

"Forget it, let's get out of here quickly. I won't hold this against you!" The researcher said with a faint smile, surprisingly calm, which made Chris nod in agreement.

However, Chris immediately realized something, his face darkened, and he shook his head helplessly, muttering, "As expected, none of the survivors are simple. Places where a biohazard outbreak occurs are just that dangerous."

Chapter 524 Louis

The first rays of morning sunlight bathed the once peaceful city. Perhaps due to the torrential rain of the previous day, a thick, white fog blanketed the air, obscuring the vision of many. Only the general outlines of the distant, towering skyscrapers could be seen. And this wasn't America; there weren't many superheroes, and mutants were extremely rare.

But the city was devoid of any of the vitality that should have been present in the early morning. The entire D district was deathly still, and the thick fog was filled with the pungent smell of blood. The crisscrossing streets were littered with smashed cars, and abandoned shops with billowing smoke could be seen everywhere on both sides. Some were burned to the point of being reduced to mere skeletons, while others were still burning recklessly in open flames, creating a scene of chaos that resembled a scene of vandalism!

Countless zombies roamed every corner of Sector D in packs, roaring furiously as they searched for survivors still struggling in this dead city. Their arms were raised high, their blood-soaked legs seemingly tireless in their advance. At the first cry of someone, they would pounce like a pack of ravenous wolves, tearing the survivor to shreds! For in their lifeless eyes lay only one unwavering belief—"Bite!" While this wasn't a zombie hero storyline from a comic book, the situation was just as dire.

In a relatively secluded restroom on the thirteenth floor of Hospital 514, Chris was pressed against the wall by the door, listening to the sounds outside. For some reason, the sounds of the berserk zombies had gradually subsided, and they seemed to have lost their strength. Another question flashed through his mind: What was causing them to suddenly become so weak?

Chris heard muffled thuds coming from the wall in the corridor, so he slightly opened the door and looked out. He saw that the once ferocious and arrogant zombies from last night were now squatting on the ground in pain, smashing the white wall with all their might. Soon, large craters appeared on the wall, and the plaster used for plastering fell off due to the violent impact. Then, a moment later, an astonishing scene unfolded!

Although the zombies were all vomiting blood, their bodies were undergoing drastic changes. Marcus had released more than one virus; there were other viruses found on the island, including a mutated rabies virus.

Could the berserk zombies from last night have been their second-stage evolved form? And now they've returned to normal? Chris couldn't help but wonder how the mutated T-virus could have developed to such a terrifying extent, and the zombies it has spawned are becoming increasingly powerful in both attack and defense. Ordinary piercings and bullets probably won't be very effective against them!

With that in mind, Chris decided to take advantage of the zombies' weakened state to quickly run into the elevator and head to the central control room on the fifteenth floor. After all, hiding and dodging along the way had taken up too much time, and if they were to return to their berserk state, getting into the elevator would be harder than climbing to heaven.

Chris took a few big strides and came to a folding screen near the window, intending to tell Louis, who was busy changing clothes, about his decision and plan. However, as soon as Chris saw the scene behind the screen, he saw a fully armed handsome man looking at him, as if to say, "Brother, let's get moving."

Chris looked seriously at the guy named Louis in front of him, and then said calmly, "Are you ready? We should go! If we stay any longer, we might encounter even more difficulties!"

Louis simply smiled and said, "Mr. Chris, please say whatever you want. I'll do whatever you say! I have great respect for the Umbrella Corporation."

Chris nodded. "Hmm! In my opinion, these zombies in front of us are definitely in a very weak state. After I get off the elevator on the fifteenth floor, I will cover you as much as possible. All you have to do is keep running towards the central control room and ignore everything that happens around you. Can you do that?"

Louise nodded confidently. Chris admired her composure in the face of danger. After all, in the face of adversity, only by keeping a clear head can one increase one's chances of survival.

"Also, remember not to wear inappropriate clothes in dangerous situations in the future, otherwise it is easy to get into danger! But you did very well, which surprised me a lot."

"Ordinary clothes are indeed nothing special and won't attract the attention of zombies unless you intentionally lure them. What I really mean by danger is that if you dress like this, it will easily affect the attacks of your rescuers! Understand? Okay, follow me closely, we're about to set off!"

Chris bent down and picked up a half-finished can of cola from the ground. He opened the door a crack again, waited for his chance, and then suddenly swung his arm, throwing the can a distance away. With a loud "clang," the zombies, who had not yet fully recovered their strength, seemed to be startled by the sudden sound. Hearing the commotion in the distance, after a few seconds of silence, they all raised their hands, covered with sharp nails, and rushed towards the source of the sound!

Taking advantage of the fact that all the zombies had their backs to them, Chris yanked open the bathroom door with his left hand and grabbed his weapon without hesitation with his right. Then, the two of them began to sprint towards the elevator, stepping over the corpses of the already dead zombies.

Five meters, four meters, three meters... Just as it was about to reach the elevator door's upward switch, a short male zombie suddenly darted out from the side, about to pounce on the can. Upon seeing the two people delivered to it, it hesitated and stopped, seemingly unable to believe the two large, living people running before it! And its body blocked the elevator doorway!

Chris cursed, "Fuck, slow on the uptake! The can's been rattling for ages and you're only just realizing where you're going!" The zombie yelled excitedly, but Chris moved with lightning speed. He drew the dagger from his thigh, lunged forward, and braced his left forearm against the zombie's neck while simultaneously plunging the dagger in his right hand into its skull!

The force of that stab was truly extraordinary; with a "crack," the zombie's hard skull was pierced through! Then, Chris flicked the male zombie's head with his right hand, holding the dagger, and the zombie was killed just like that.

Chapter 525 Showing No Mercy

With a "plop," it was flung out of its head, its once white brain matter now replaced by black blood. After Chris's fatal blow, the zombie waved its arms resentfully before collapsing limply to the ground.

A group of zombies in the distance were gathered in a circle, staring blankly at a can of cola that was gushing out. Suddenly, they heard a shout from one of their fellow zombies coming from where they had just been. They turned around and saw Chris struggling to carry a zombie corpse toward the elevator door. All the zombies were instantly enraged and rushed over as if they had grown two more legs!

Chris pulled out his pistol, which was running low on bullets, and fired a shot at the leading male doctor zombie. The bullet whistled through the air and instantly pierced its menacing brow. The force of the shot sent the zombie flying backward, temporarily blocking the advance of the other zombies! At the same time, Chris hurriedly reminded Louis, who was standing by, "What are you waiting for? Open the elevator doors quickly!"

Louis, who had been prepared, froze, stunned by Chris's swift and ruthless actions. He hadn't expected this seemingly powerful warrior to be so domineering and composed in a crisis, making the researcher somewhat worried in the face of this fierce individual. Only after Chris's reminder did he snap out of his daze, quickly pressing the ascent button. The elevator doors slowly opened, and Chris pulled him inside before the doors slowly closed.

In a long, quiet corridor, the morning sunlight filtered through the dissipating fog and clean glass windows, forming slanted beams of light that added a touch of brightness and warmth to this dark and eerie place. This was the 22nd floor of the hospital's No. 1 emergency building, a spacious corridor leading to seven morgues at the end. No zombies had yet set foot here; it was arguably the only peaceful place within the hospital. However, for some reason, there were faint, indistinct footprints left by a normal person walking along this corridor. Between the footprints were a few barely noticeable drops of red blood, suggesting that an injured person had recently passed by and wiped themselves with something.

At the top of the stairs, a man draped in a white sheet, his face covered by it, was quietly observing the cleaned-up bloodstains on the ground, as well as the several morgues in the distance that exuded a terrifying aura! However, compared to the two, the places where many dead bodies were kept seemed to arouse his interest more.

"That guy miscalculated. He didn't expect those mutated zombies to attack him! Heh... What a joke!" Thinking about what he had just witnessed in the dark, the man smiled, but it was full of sarcasm and he was very surprised.

As the elevator doors closed, Chris didn't rush to press the button for the fifteenth floor. The elevator remained on the thirteenth floor because he knew the situation on the fifteenth floor wasn't necessarily better than before. He had to wait for Leon's instructions before daring to take any further action. Although the elevator doors were now crowded with zombies smashing them, they were no longer in the same state as before; otherwise, he and the other survivors would have already perished inside the elevator.

"Tell me the situation on the fifteenth floor right now! Leon, I need to get out of this hellhole; there's nothing fun left."

Leon spoke softly before straightening up and saying, "Overall, there are about twenty zombies, but if you run fast, you shouldn't get caught. I roughly estimate that it will take you less than ten seconds to get up from the elevator and less than thirty seconds to run safely to the central control room. Hmm... how about this, I'll open the electronic door to the central control room in one minute, and then it'll all depend on your speed!"

Chris nodded. "Okay, see you in a minute!"

“Listen, I’ll say it again: once the elevator doors open, no matter what’s around you, all you have to do is run as fast as you can! You already know the location of the central control room. If you don’t do as I say, the consequences could be worse than you think! Understand?” Chris said in a serious tone, speaking in a commanding manner.

"And what about you, sir? If I run there, what will you do?" Louis asked with some concern.

“I’ll stay right behind you and cover your retreat. Don’t forget I have this!” Chris raised the pistol in his hand and continued, “If nothing goes wrong, we’ll both be safe, so just sprint as fast as you can!”

“But… I’m just a scientist, an office worker. And when I was in high school, I never passed the 100-meter dash…” Louis didn’t see Chris’s dark expression.

Chris was well aware of the situation. It was now a critical moment. Leon had already contacted the helicopter rescue team, and they would be arriving at Hospital 514 soon. If he and the researcher named Louis could reunite with Leon in a short time, their chances of survival would be much greater. If there was any delay, they might not be able to reach them before the helicopter left.

Chris took a deep breath and simply said, "Ready!" Then he pressed the button for the fifteenth floor.

“Hey buddy, I think we should go together.” Seeing that Chris had become indifferent to him, Louis didn’t say anything. Although he was just a researcher, he wasn’t that cowardly.

At this moment, the elevator had reached the fifteenth floor. As the elevator doors opened again, Chris shouted at him, "Run!" Louis seemed to forget everything at once, and suddenly unleashed his potential. Regardless of anything else, the belief in survival made him not hesitate. He rushed out of the elevator and ran towards the central control room.

Chris was surprised by his speed, and quickly jumped out of the elevator to follow him. He was quite surprised by the researcher; at least he was alive.

Sure enough, there were about twenty zombies in the corridor leading to the control room. When they saw someone running towards them, these twenty-odd zombies roared loudly almost at the same time and raised their hands covered with sharp nails. However, before they could get close, Louis, the researcher, had already flashed past them like the wind at a speed that was beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. They couldn't catch up with him!

Chapter 526 Encountering Danger

Several more zombies were within reach of Louis, but Chris, who was sprinting behind him, blew their heads off with bullets from his gun, causing them to fall to the ground. Chris quickly reached the door of the central control room, where he was almost safe. However, the fact that he managed to evade so many zombies was only because he had a capable protector behind him; Chris himself was not so lucky.

Seeing one of the fresh, fleshy zombies run far away, the remaining zombies were enraged and gathered together, rushing towards Chris who was still behind. So many zombies almost completely blocked the corridor, and there were five or six more zombies following behind, with black blood flowing from one side of their faces, cut by Chris with a dagger as he passed by.

Chris had actually anticipated this scenario. He was already low on bullets in the elevator, and now he was running out of ammunition faster than he had initially estimated. Chris angrily threw the pistol away and switched to a dagger, preparing for a desperate hand-to-hand combat.

However, at that moment, a low sound came from the stairwell next to the elevator, "woo...woo...", accompanied by slow footsteps. Upon hearing this sound, the running zombies stopped five meters away from Chris, turned around, and looked back, each of them looking extremely terrified.

The dozen or so zombies behind Chris also retreated simultaneously, clearly indicating that some high-level zombie had arrived. Ultimately, they scattered and fled, disappearing around the corner of the fifteenth floor. Only a few zombies remained, barely holding on, like several that had successfully surrounded a pet, about to feast but then discovered a stronger beast approaching. Terrified, yet seemingly unwilling to give up!

Chris stared at the wooden door at the top of the stairs, seemingly wanting to confirm what exactly could scare away all those crazed zombies. It must be a monster even more troublesome than the zombies.

With a loud crash, the sturdy wooden door was instantly blasted away by a tremendous force, shattering against the wall and filling the corridor with broken wood shards. Then, a monster that was two heads taller than a normal person and two sizes wider emerged from the stairwell!

Upon seeing its true form, the zombies all took a few steps back, but still showed no intention of fleeing. Their threatening cries, however, were nearly twice as loud as before! The enormous monster, however, did not rush into action. Instead, it stood still for a moment, surveying its surroundings, until it spotted Chris. Only then did it take a heavy step, weighing several dozen kilograms, and walk towards him.

Once the monster's entire body was revealed, Chris noticed that it was completely white, like the skin that peels off after prolonged immersion in water. This was clearly due to the rapid reproduction of the T-virus, a common characteristic of mutated zombies. Furthermore, on the monster's left shoulder, there was a protruding feature that, at first glance, resembled a bulging shoulder bone, but upon closer inspection, it was actually a huge eye, somewhat like the eye of the G-virus.

Seeing that the former monster was making a move, the zombies could no longer restrain themselves and rushed forward all at once, seemingly wanting to fight it to the death with their relatively small bodies! But what happened next made Chris completely understand why the zombies had been scared away.

Those zombies were practically helpless against this monster! Although they managed to bite several large holes in its body thanks to their numerical advantage, it was probably just a tickle to the monster. With a swing of its right arm, immense power gathered around it, and in an instant, the zombies were reduced to a bloody mess. The mutated, tyrant-like creature then swallowed one of the zombies whole, as easily as if it were a snack.

Perhaps because zombies are relatively large, this monster looked disproportionately swollen, but as its body continued to change, the zombie was probably digested very quickly! And before long, the other zombies met the same fate!

Chris was truly amazed this time! He used to think zombies were just simple, mindless undead, except for those deliberately cultivated bioweapons. But now, he understood what he had discovered. Meanwhile, someone even more anxious than him was watching him closely. Suddenly, Leon's tense voice came through his earpiece: "Chris, what are you standing there for! Run!! Those are advanced mutated zombies, super monsters mutated from several special viruses!"

Chris then realized he was still in danger and immediately turned to run towards the control room. However, it was too late! The monster's fist was faster than his. When Chris was still five meters away from the electronic door, it suddenly hit Chris's right shoulder, knocking him away in the same way and pulling him to its side.

"No, damn it!!!" Leon's scream came through the dropped earpiece. His beliefs seemed to have collapsed in an instant! He had not only witnessed Chris being smashed to the ground, but also the few seconds he was dragged towards everyone. His companion had seen such a bloody scene from the side, and he could not believe that his friend, whom he had always been proud of, was afraid of being killed by a monster.