Before long, the sounds of gunfire and shouting on the street had ceased, leaving only the heavy "thud, thud" of the giant's footsteps as it walked.
From the way it deliberately exposed itself to attract the attention of Class D personnel, then used alleyways to storm into stores for ambushes, it was clear that the giant possessed a significant degree of intelligence and self-awareness.
At this moment, about sixty meters away from the street, inside an apartment on the sixth floor:
"As expected, they're a bunch of idiots. How could they think Atlas would kindly provide guns and ammo? Instead of hiding, they're wandering around in the open. They're just asking to die."
The bald Class D personnel, who had witnessed the giant massacre dozens of people in seconds, muttered quietly, feeling fortunate that he had made the right decision.
But his relief was short-lived. He saw the giant begin to loot the corpses, and then it found a grenade. The giant deftly pulled the pin and safety, then aimed it at the building where the bald man was hiding.
Whoosh! The grenade, thrown with brute force, whistled through the air and landed perfectly inside the room.
Seeing this, the bald man froze for a moment before cursing with a calm smile, "That son of a... ha!"
"Boom!"
In the next second, the explosion and shrapnel from the defensive grenade engulfed the bald man.
Leaving behind the now ruined room, the view shifted back to the ceiling of the facility.
In the simulated town, two giants were sweeping through the north and south ends, eliminating all Class D personnel and mutated Dobermans.
—
Meanwhile, on the upper section of the facility's northern wall, there was a slightly recessed area with a one-way protective window.
If you moved closer to the protective window...
Closer...
Until you passed through it, you could hear:
"The monitoring systems for 001 and 002 are stable. We can confirm that we've successfully achieved visual synchronization with the pilots."
"001 and 002 have eliminated 90% of the Class D subjects and standard bio-weapons. The simulated security operation is expected to conclude in sixty seconds."
"The neural link between the pilots and their respective Tyrants is stable, with synchronization rates maintained between 98% and 100%, with no significant fluctuations."
Atlas' staff were reporting the details of the experiment to their supervisor and boss.
Behind the protective window was an observation room filled with multiple control stations and numerous holographic screens. The staff at their stations were closely monitoring the two giants and the various data from the simulated town.
In addition to the staff, there were several researchers in white lab coats holding their tablets, meticulously recording and analyzing the data.
Among them, Alexia Ashford, the head of the Bioengineering Department, seeing that the experiment was proceeding as expected, walked slowly to the protective window. Her eyes showed a hint of pride and satisfaction as she smiled and said, "How's the Veronica Virus, boss?"
"Very impressive," Samuel Young replied, having observed the entire experiment. He affirmed Alexia's research results, saying, "Being able to extract the Veronica Virus from the Flower of God proves that you are indeed a once-in-a-century genius. It's a fortune for Atlas to have your assistance."
The Veronica Virus developed by Alexia was not the same as the one from "Resident Evil: Code Veronica."
Since the sample of the Flower of God had been recovered by Junior Investigator Leon S. Kennedy and the 3rd Regiment of ARS, Alexia and her team had devoted most of their time and energy to extracting and researching the RNA virus contained within the Flower of God.
It seems Alexia had a particular knack for virology, as she successfully developed a variant strain using ants, which she named Veronica.
Later, following Samuel Young's suggestion, they extracted another variant using leeches, which became known as the Tyrant Virus, or simply the T-virus.
The basic RNA virus contained within the Flower of God was dubbed the Progenitor Virus by Alexia and her team.
Both the T-virus and Veronica Virus shared similar traits. If an ordinary person were infected with either of these viruses, their metabolism would accelerate drastically, causing severe itching and insatiable hunger, leading to muscle and skin tissue decay and eventually brain cortex necrosis, turning them into a walking corpse.
If a freshly deceased body were infected with these viruses, it could also "come back to life," much like what happened to the Class D personnel attacked by the mutated Dobermans.
Theoretically, if a person infected with these viruses was a compatible host, they would have a chance to become a "superhuman," with significant enhancements in speed, strength, reflexes, and other attributes.
However, after calculating that only one in four million people might be a perfect match, Alexia shifted her focus, based on Samuel Young's suggestion, to the development of Bio-Organic Weapons (BOWs).
Although the T-virus and Veronica Virus had similar properties, leading to rapid cellular mutation, Veronica was more "gentle"...
Even though this "gentle" effect was still beyond human tolerance.
On the other hand, the T-virus was relatively "friendly" to embryos.
Using these characteristics and combining them with the biotechnology acquired from RDA, Alexia's team first cultivated T-virus-infected embryos, then transferred them to incubation tanks for accelerated development.
During development, the incubation tank's temperature would gradually drop until it reached -14°C. At this point, the Veronica Virus would be injected, allowing it to slowly and safely modify the infected body.
To ensure the infected body's development, the incubation tank would provide excess nutritional energy and improve the RDA's original preservation fluid.
After continuous experimentation, Alexia's team successfully produced the first stable BOW on November 2, 1994—
The Hellhound (Cerberus).
Its official name should be "Bio-Organic Rapid Recon Unit," but Alexia and her team preferred the name "Hellhound."
Later, using the programmed brain experience from the Reborn Soldier Project, the research team quickly enabled the Hellhound to have enemy identification capabilities, allowing it to operate independently or in tandem for reconnaissance, alert, and search missions.
Using the experience gained from the Hellhound Project, coupled with RDA's consciousness transfer technology, Alexia's team attempted to develop a combat body similar to the "Avatar."
On November 7, 1994, the Bioengineering Department officially launched the "Bio-Organic Combat Exoskeleton" project.
However, in the later stages of the project, Alexia and her team preferred to call the final product of the project "Tyrant," which referred to the two giants executing the simulated security operation.