"Space-time transformation complete. Entered Resident Evil plane. Begin scanning for mission."
"Warning: Begin Resident Evil mission. Main Quest: Acquire one complete copy of data regarding the Tyrant Virus and a sample of said virus."
"Optional Quest: Acquire one complete copy of data regarding the God Virus, and a sample of said virus"
"Urgent Quest: Unknown."
"Allotted Quest Time: 72 hours. Failure Penalty: Abolishment of host status of Dimensional Star and disposal of former host."
"Remark: Dimensional travel mechanism cooldown duration is 48 hours."
Zhang Heng slowly opened his eyes as the robotic female voice continued making its announcements.
The ruins stretched as far as his eye was able to see.
He let out a sigh and confirmed that everything that was happening to him was real. He had truly made it to another world, a world where human civilization had been completely destroyed.
He was standing in front of a rundown building at the moment. He saw skyscrapers in various states of disrepair and decay all around him. He deduced that he was in some American or English city, judging from the English letters on the rusted advertisement billboards at the side of the street.
The tallest of all buildings around had an extremely huge umbrella-shaped logo with white and red colors on it, and the word 'Umbrella' was written right below it. That meant that the building right before his eyes was a part of the Umbrella Corporation, a renowned massive company.
However, the Umbrella Corporation was an extremely massive business empire and had branch offices in major cities all over the world. As such, he had no idea which city the huge building in front of him belonged in.
If I remember correctly, most tech in the Resident Evil movies is near identical to that of my own. If there were to be any valuable tech to be found here, it has to be the so-called T-Virus and G-Virus.
According to his speculations, the biotech level of that plane was about 100 years ahead of his home dimension, which was why that plane was able to create demonic products like the T-Virus and G-Virus.
Common folks would have had their doubts about things, thinking the viruses to only be useful for producing zombies, and wondering what scientific value could those viruses hold.
The T-Virus's full title was the Tyrant Virus. The true purpose of the Tyrant Virus wasn't actually to create zombies or destroy human civilization, but to develop biological weapons. The creation of the virus drew cutting-edge technology and expertise from various fields, including virology, genetics, biotechnology, and a dozen others. It was something that could steer the direction of the advancement of human technology. It was unfortunate that the virus was released in a freak accident, which ultimately culminated in the destruction of human civilization through a series of events.
That was to say that, if Zhang Heng were to manage to get his hands on the data regarding the T-Virus or the G-Virus—the far more potent successor to the T-Virus—he would stand at the very cutting edge of biotechnology back in his home plane.
"So, this is the Umbrella Corporation eh." Zhang Heng's heart beat furiously, and he was confused if his raging heartbeat was due to excitement or nerves. This was his first time getting close to a power eclipsing that of nature. He felt excitement rather than just shock at that moment.
Yes, exciting indeed.
As someone who had been living in a materialistic world governed by all manner of written and unwritten rules, a world where he saw neither miracle nor opportunity, for over 20 years, he had become as jaded as one could be. He yearned for power. He wanted power that would allow him to stand above the common man, breaking all those rules, limitations, and shackles that had bound him.
His eyes glinted with a new light, a sheen that had been suppressed by the mundane life he led, a sheen that represented the irreverence and indomitability notably seen in young people, a sheen filled with ambition.
He took a deep breath to silence that raging something deep down. He knew all too well that the path that led to one changing the world and becoming somebody would be arduous. One could only reap what one had sown, and what he was about to sow at that moment was something that could doom him if he were to make a single mistake.
He looked around his surroundings and slowly made his way to the building, after confirming that there was no danger to be had, keeping contact with Yurianne inside his head as he did.
"Could you confirm that the data of both the T and G viruses of the Umbrella Corporation is in here? According to standard procedures, if a building like that were to have all its personnel cleared out, all that top-secret data would be moved along with the personnel. If they were to just leave the data behind instead of taking it with them, they should have destroyed everything instead."
"Hehe, relax. All the personnel in here were killed by a licker before they were able to clear out of the building and take all the data with them." That imp of a little girl growled and mimicked the movement of a monster when she elaborated, making it look like she was imitating the licker itself.
Zhang Heng's pupils contracted and stopped dead in his tracks right after he got into the building. "Wait, you're telling me that there's a licker in this building?"
"Well, you won't be getting anything out of Yurianne regarding that." Yurianne spread her hands and shrugged, looking innocent.
"Let me guess. System limitations?" He asked as he narrowed his gaze.
"You're still not getting anything out of Yurianne."
He smirked and continued, "Alright, sure, I get it. I'd assume that the Dimensional Star system isn't out to look for some junk collector to scavenge tech from a variety of planes, eh? The kind of person that you're looking for is some leader who could lead the technological advancement of humanity. If you're just out to look for a middle man, you would've been able to fill that role yourself."
"Woah, damn. You saw right through Yurianne then." Yurianne covered her face with her petite hands and her face underneath showed just a tinge of red, just like how girls in anime look when they blush. An otaku would have probably passed out at the sight of such a kawaii 2D chibi little girl, but there wasn't a tinge of joy from being complimented to be found in Zhang Heng. He felt only a chill running down his spine.
Could I really survive such a test from that damned system here, and go back to lead the world back home?
He felt himself being bogged down by something right there and then as if a mountain was sitting on his chest.
"Due to your exceptional performance, host dude, Yurianne shall present you with another piece of information," The system spoke again all of a sudden. "The time period that you're in right now, host dude, is the world 12 years after the viral outbreak back in Raccoon City. There are less than a million people worldwide right now, barely surviving and scattered all over the world. You could say that this human civilization has truly come to an end."
"And what does that piece of info have to do with me?" Zhang Heng was stunned and immediately realized something. He then asked a different question, "Wait, you're telling me that I could still save the other planes?"
"Yurianne said nothing of such nature. It's you who's speculating here, host dude." Yurianne blinked for a bit and held her finger in front of her mouth in a shushing gesture.
Zhang Heng flashed a bitter grin. "Alright, forget it. If I wanna save anyone else, I'd first have to make sure the plane that I'm in becomes powerful enough. The humans on the Resident Evil plane might have been rendered extinct by then." Despite what he said, he nonetheless committed that thought to memory, thinking that he might just be able to make use of the powers of the other planes when the curse finally hit.
All of that exchange took place inside his mind, between him and the system, and he actually made no audible sound throughout. He slowly walked into the dark, bleak lobby of the building.
The sun was setting at that moment, and beams of orange light shot through the broken windows. None of that brought any warmth to the place, and only accentuated the bleak, desolate state of the place. The dust on the floor was over half an inch high—an indication that there were hardly any living beings moving around that place for many, many years. Truth be told, Zhang Heng had no idea just how those zombies were able to 'stay alive'. He wondered if the zombies would just die of starvation, given that there was no food to be found around the place.
He came to the center of the lobby and saw an old presenting platform, still standing, if only just. A map of the building was plastered on it. It was fortunate that his English was decent, or he wouldn't have been able to make any sense of it at all.
Seems like the Huaxian education system is of some use after all…
He blew off the dust that obscured the writings on the map. It was only then that he read that the company's laboratory was located on the 54th floor—the topmost floor—and the data room was on the 53rd floor.
He cursed under his breath and turned around to look at the sunset outside the window, not sure if he should go out and get the data at that moment or wait for the first light of the next day. In that building, where dangers remained unknown, the day still seemed to be safer than the night.
He nonetheless made note that, given the level of his power, be it day or night, running into a licker would be the end of him.
Furthermore, he had about 48 hours to spare until the system was ready to transport him back to his own plane. Logic dictated that he should hide in some safe spot and wait until 48 hours had passed, before beginning to carry out the mission. That would have been the safer way. Unfortunately, however, the system only gave him 72 hours to complete the mission. If he were unable to find the viruses in that last 24 hours, he would be subjected to the system's penalties.
In other words, the 48 hours cooldown had its pros and cons. If he were to run into some danger that he was unable to get out of, he wouldn't be able to escape even if he had completed the mission. If he were to not make use of that 48 hours and instead just wait for it to pass, he feared not having enough time to complete the mission.
It was quite a dilemma.
Ah, whatever. Riches could only be found in dangerous places. If I were to be such a scaredy-cat right now, I'll lose the courage to face what is truly difficult someday. Zhang Heng sighed and his eyes flashed with a tinge of determination. "Forget about waiting for the 48 hours to pass. I'll begin looking at the topmost floor as soon as the sun comes up tomorrow."
He looked at the cup of noodles and the bottle of mineral water in his hands, then smirked bitterly. If he had known that he would run into such a situation, he would've packed more stuff to bring with him before taking on the mission. There was simply no way he could find food here. The whole world had been in ruins for 12 years. Even if there were any food to be found around, it would have been spoiled all the same. As for any of the handful of special foods that remained edible, he valued staying alive more than going out to look for them.
He shook his head and headed straight for the security room. The security room of the building was to the left of the lobby, a room which the security guards used for keeping an eye on the personnel entering and exiting the building. The window was made of reinforced glass and was very tough. The view angle in the security room was very wide, enabling one to see everything in the lobby from the inside.
The door to the security room was open, preventing the place from smelling moldy after being shut away for extended periods. There were only four pieces of furniture in the room—a table that was over two meters long, an Apple desktop computer that was covered in dust, a wooden bed that had its mattress taken out, and then a steel cabinet that was taller than a grown man.
He went inside the room, locking the door and shutting all the windows. The entire security room turned dark. He pulled at the table's drawers and looked through them with whatever bit of light he still had. Stacks of documents were inside.
He blew away the dust on the wooden bed and sat down, flipping through the pages of the documents, trying to look for leads that would prove helpful. But the entire room turned completely dark after just a short while.
Night finally came to the Resident Evil world.