"Uhhhh…"
After Alex had left, a hunter* on all fours, reeking of danger, suddenly stepped out of the shadows. Hunters belonged to the most common mutants among the infected, similar to lickers, except that hunters didn't have a long tongue like lickers**. They hunted with their claws. This hunter trampled the ground, making dust fly, step by step towards Lucius.
But the hunter couldn't step forward before a barrier of flames appeared in front of Lucius. Soon after, the hunter was frozen and fell into pieces to the ground by the azure ice crystals.
"They're dangerous."
Su Lei walked out of the house, ever since he had been infected himself. Su Lei had been cautious of the Black Light Virus-infected lifeforms, whether it was a high-level infected lifeform or a low-level infected lifeform. He didn't dare to underestimate the vulnerability of an opponent that could burn away with a wave of its hand. After all, Su Lei had already paid the price for belittling the infected lifeforms.
"Master…" Arthas seemed to have had enough.
"A loyal dog would never harm its master, Su Lei. I think you should depart for the capital with Arthas now."
Should Lucius say he's worthy of being a major? Su Lei wasn't the kind of existence that normally sat in an office and only knew how to give orders to subordinates. He had at least rolled over on top of various battlefields and experienced many real wars. Possessing a very rich experience in combat, both against ordinary people and also Espers.
"....."
Su Lei still didn't seem to be convinced about Lucius' safety. After all, his impression of Lucius was when the Black Watch injured him in that building.
"Lucius, can you really handle an A-ranked Espers? He could've killed you…"
"Kill?…"
That was a strange word for Lucius as no one was able to kill him. Ah, it's because he pretended to be weak in that building, so he was underestimated? Then…
"Do you wanna see?" Lucius drew out the Yamato Blade, "My power…"
His power? Su Lei stared closely at Lucius' movements. He knew Lucius had finished off Mordell. Maybe he wasn't like what he seemed? Then let me see the real power of a vampire.
The next moment, Lucius put the Yamato Blade against his neck. The moment it sliced through his neck, his head would be decapitated. But Lucius' movement abruptly stopped by Su Lei, who suddenly appeared in front of him with his hand outstretched to strangle him.
The moment the blade bowed down that could be the end of a person's head on the ground….
"Are you crazy?"
"Why so nervous? This won't kill me."
'Can't kill him…how is it even possible? Is it possible for a human to live without a brain? No, wait… This guy isn't human.'
"Anyway, stop doing something so impulsive!" Su Lei released his grip on Lucius' hand, "The little piece of my soul that still remains now is only to return the favor for saving me! If you died, I…would never forgive myself."
"That's really touching."
"....."
Su Lei was speechless for a while.
"The New Federation? It won't take long to get rid of that man. Don't die before that happens."
"You should be worried about your own life." Lucius didn't think there was anyone in the world who would be able to kill himself.
"I'm just a dead soul, it doesn't matter if I live or die." Su Lei shook his head and turned around towards the New Federation of China capital. Arthas looked at Lucius as if she was hesitant.
"Ar, go ahead." Lucius withdrew the blade of the Yamato Blade into its sheath, "You can trust him with your life."
"....."
Arthas nodded and followed Su Lei.
What the hell were you worried about? Lucius touched his neck. It was ridiculous that someone wanted to protect him.
"Make the most of what you have." Su Lei's actions just now had proven that this guy wouldn't betray Lucius. After all, the frightened look in Su Lei's eyes the moment the blade was about to slice his neck wasn't fake.
"Then, let's officially begin. I'd love to win this game."
After Su Lei and Arthas left, another hunter descended from the sky. This one stood frozen as the previous had no intention of attacking Lucius.
"Yuri, you scared them." Lucius looked at the hunter, knowing whose consciousness was inside its head.
"Uh…"
After the hunter let out a low whimper, it walked off into the darkness, and Lucius followed the hunter. Sure enough. After walking for some time, the zombies that weren't so dense on the streets suddenly gathered in this area. Gathering and wandering back and forth like an ant colony that had found their prey. And in the center of this dense horde of zombies, a building covered in crimson muscle tissue towered over. It was as if the building was alive. The musculature of the exterior was constantly writhing, beating in a certain rhythm—the nest…or Mother's Nest…the symbolic building of the Black Light Virus.
After seeing Lucius, the group of zombies automatically parted a path to the mother nest. When Lucius reached the bottom of the mother nest, the building sealed by those writhing pieces of flesh cracked open, and Lucius just stepped into it.
The building interior was also the same as outside the building. All were covered by those living flesh. The ground was covered in soft tissues. Entering it was like walking inside some creature's abdomen. Lucius sniffed the air, but there wasn't anything but the faint smell of blood.
"Hold on… I'm sorry, Master Lucius… there's no way I can get out of here right now."
Yuri was sitting paralyzed in the middle of the mother nest, naked. Yuri's delicate appearance and fair skin paired with the dark red background was a different kind of forbidden beauty.
"It seems that you do possess the ability to control these zombies. How large is your area coverage? And how many zombies can you control?" Lucius went straight to the point.
"Ah…about that. It seems like I can manipulate all the infected lifeforms in the entire city, whether it's a normal zombie or advanced infected lifeforms. But any further than that, I can't do it."
The Mother Nest was the convergence of the Black Light Virus' consciousness. The infected lifeform listened to the commands of the Black Light Virus. It would naturally follow the orders of the Mother Nest as well.
"Well done. So how do we spread your control?"
"Well…" a strange redness suddenly appeared on Yuri's face. After closing his eyes in thought, probably because his body had been linked to this mother nest and he couldn't move. But he had a solution, a tentacle suddenly stretched out among the dark red muscle tissue behind Yuri.
"About… that, Master Lucius… this… seed."
"?"
Lucius looked at the tentacle reaching out towards him as if it was holding something. Lucius reached out and caught the object the tentacle handed over. It was a small dark red ball, about the size of an egg, with a crimson glow flickering inside.
"It's the Mother Nest's Consciousness. Master Lucius, just throw it to the ground, and the virus within this Mother Nest Consciousness will spread… Then, I will be able to manipulate the infected lifeforms."
In other words, it's a virus bomb? It happened that Lucius was planning to take some action into a peaceful city of the New Federation of China.
"Thanks, Yuri, it's a great help."
"I-it's nothing." Yuri lowered his head again.
"Then continue exploring ways that can make the infected lifeforms stronger. In the meantime, I'll give you a wider range of control."
There was no more time to lose. Lucius turned around and left the Mother Nest.
"Go ahead…" Yuri watched as Lucius left and wondered what he was thinking.
TL's note
*Hunter I'm not sure which this Hunter is from RE or Prototype as both had claws.
https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Hunter https://prototype.fandom.com/wiki/Hunter
**Licker
https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Licker