Long-term salvation

Koko snatched the book from Caspar's hand. She flipped through the pages quickly, revealing the contents, and spoke incoherently:

"Is all this true? The other world really exists? Monsters, corpses, evil gods, and all that..."

"A warrior for humanity," Caspar added, "and Lovecraft, the greatest paranormal investigator ever."

The two children looked at Rhodes together, their eyes finally showing a hint of genuine expectation and longing.

Very good. Rhode was very satisfied. He had now confirmed that these two children still had some idealism in their hearts. That was enough.

It was enough for Rhodes to reshape them instead of letting these two people become cold-blooded arms dealers and naive fools in the future.

Then, in response to them, Rhodes ignited a golden flame at his fingertips.

Holding the Shiting Box tightly in his hand, Rhode mentally called out to Asuka Iki, thousands of kilometers away, and then lit the flame in the palms of the two children. In a split second, almost an eternity, they saw everything around them rapidly dissolving: the freighter, the bulkhead, the people, the corpses, the blood, the light, the darkness... everything was thrown into the kaleidoscope of dreams, and was once again reshaped by the girl who controlled the dreams.

An incredibly magnificent metropolis slowly rises, like an old scab entrenched on the Eurasian continent. Marbles overlap and piece together, as if distorted by human dreams and illuminated by human souls.

Koko and Caspar ran helplessly in the streets made up of Gothic buildings, but the next second, everything around them shattered like bubbles, and a wide and straight road appeared in front of them.

At the end of the road is a magnificent golden throne.

Sitting on the throne, the Lord of Mankind placed his hands on the armrests, allowing the scorching sun behind him to cast its unrivaled power.

"You know very well—what you see and hear is the truth—and I am here."

The savior of mankind said so. He needed these two smart, idealistic, kind, but indifferent children in front of him to become members of the Army Without Borders in the future and help fight against the events in the other world.

Compared to this, destroying, reshaping, and controlling the Hecmedia Group from within were nothing but trivial matters.

Just do it when it’s convenient—why not?

"No need to explain. As powerful psychics, you know who I am."

The roar of thunder exploded in the ears of Hekmedia and his sister, but when they came to their senses, they found themselves standing on the bridge of the freighter!

The bridge was filled with the foul smell of blood and gunpowder, clearly having been through a fierce battle. The captain and several other crew members were kneeling on the ground, facing the bulkhead, while that nasty guy... the Umbrella Corporation specialist, lay sprawled on the ground like a dead dog.

The fully armed girls were standing among the corpses of the mercenaries, blood splattered on the surface of their equipment, deeply imprinted into them, making the camouflage color even darker.

"My instructor," Mori called out to Rhodes. She raised her eyes from the data terminal in her hand, avoiding Hina and Shirako who were watching over the other crew members, and said calmly, "Marian's operation team has discovered a lot of things. You'd better take a look at the video."

"I will."

Rhodes nodded slightly. He touched the still dazed Coco and Casper, and cast his gaze on the Umbrella company commissioner who was still trying to stand up from the ground. This man had a calmness that the others did not have, as well as some arrogance and resentment.

"I'll definitely watch it."

Chapter 492: No One Left Alive

Ten minutes ago.

Marian clung to the edge of the helicopter door. The blood-red sunset hung over the horizon, dyeing her long hair a dangerous dark gold.

Nikki looked down and saw a marked medium-sized freighter - this was a disguised Umbrella freighter, and the intelligence showed that there was only one - there might be more, but there would be other mass-produced Nikki to check.

If nothing related to the other world is found, even the arms transport ship will be destroyed, as a warning to Floyd Hekmedia.

"This is a cargo ship registered in Estonia, number 52775. The crew and security personnel on board are all from Umbrella Corporation. As for what kind of enemy they might encounter... the Intelligence Department has no idea."

Marianne repeated the information calmly, as if she were saying it was a beautiful day.

"Commander Marian, what are the rules of engagement?" asked a mass-produced Nikki.

"Crew Expendable."

Bullets loaded.

The helicopter transporting Nikki and the others turned its body, allowing the whistling rockets to fly past the tail rotor and explode in the sea breeze of the Indian Ocean.

The attack helicopters, coming close to the sea, quickly climbed, their steel wings whipping up a fierce wind as their machine guns tore the flesh and blood into pieces! The shells spun and struck the warm flesh, shredding the skin, shattering the internal organs and bones, and ultimately blasting dozens of ugly holes in the deck.

"Action! Action!"

Marian shouted loudly on the communication channel. She was giving orders not only to the mass-produced Nikkis on this helicopter, but also to another team that would descend to the stern.

While the voice was still echoing in the communication channel, Marian had already stepped forward - she walked out of the helicopter cabin and fell straight down - landing on the deck. Nikki stepped on the spreading blood and raised her machine gun to fire at the security personnel who tried to launch rockets at the helicopter from other directions:

Two bursts of gunfire, two clouds of blood. Bloody fingers left five curved bloody streaks on the freighter's bulkhead.

"keep going."

The mass-produced Nikkis spread out behind Marian, finishing off the corpses on the ground, and then continued to advance into the freighter.

Security personnel inside the freighter had completed their defensive deployment, dispersed to key locations, and began reinforcing the upper bulkheads to prevent explosive break-ins. Meanwhile, Umbrella's biological weapon—the weaponized T-002 Tyrant—was brought online, ready for activation at any moment.

An Umbrella security guard leaned against the bulkhead, looking vigilantly at the hatch next to him. He raised his head and exchanged a glance with his companion opposite him. The two of them were ready at the same time, waiting for the attacker to arrive.

The attackers came without hesitation.

In an instant, the metal let out a shrill scream as it was twisted by the huge force!

Arm! A slender arm punched straight through the 6mm thick bulkhead!

The arm clenched inward, and its tender white fingers pressed the security guard's head against the bulkhead—harder, harder—and the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness and his life was his companion's entire upper body folded against the bulkhead... With the crisp sound of a skull cracking, the arm retracted and shook off the stains on its hands.

"Humans are so weak."

"You won't say that when you meet a tyrant."

"Can that still be considered human?"

With a faint whisper, the hatch wheel slowly turned, and the door leading to the lower part was opened.

The moment it was opened, the gathered security personnel immediately began to pour fire on the hatch. Bullets splashed golden sparks like a rainstorm on the metal cabin wall, and amid the roar of gunfire, a smoke bomb was thrown in from the outside.

The tank made a hissing sound, and smoke filled the not-so-large cabin. The twelve white bodies stood out so clearly in the gray world. Then, with a finger still stained with blood, he pulled the trigger.

Gunfire erupted! The bullet darted through the smoke, leaving a subtle, swirling trajectory, but the trail of blood at the end was clearly visible.

Each bullet hit the head, and the face of each head was torn off from the skull. The human nose, eyes, and forehead were torn apart by the spinning bullets, leaving nothing behind - only the chin with the tongue hanging down! Blood gushed out from the wound like a faucet being twisted upwards.

Five slim figures emerged from the smoke. They walked slowly forward and fired a few more shots at the corpse's chest, but then they felt a faint tremor.

"Something is approaching."

Marian whispered, raising her right hand and casually grabbing the wrist of the security guard who had rushed out from behind the box next to her. She twisted it and then thrust the gleaming Gurkha knife into the man's chest. Judging from his skin color, this brave and reckless man was obviously a Gurkha mercenary from Nepal. He was hiding in the bunker and was not seen by the thermal imaging. Fortunately but unfortunately, he avoided the first round of precise shooting.

"But it's obviously not this... It's the tyrant, disperse!"

Nikki and the others quickly dispersed, and just a few seconds after they left their spot, a line of orange-yellow fire whizzed over, and the roar of the Gatling gun drowned out all other sounds at this moment!

The towering monster grasped the purest torrent of destruction in its hands and released it without mercy.

"It's good that it's not a bazooka... Tsk, has Umbrella already lowered the cost of the Tyrant series?" Marian muttered softly. She looked up at her location, calculated in her mind for a while, and then said on the communication channel:

"Little Red Riding Hood, can you confirm my location?"

"If you didn't upload the wrong location...how many shots do you need me to fire?" Red-haired Nikki's lazy voice came over the communication channel, mixed with the noise of waves stirred up by the helicopter's rotors. "If it's accurate enough, one shot will be enough."

"Two shots. After all, the opponent's regenerative ability is very strong. Now prepare to follow my command."

Marian peeked at the advancing biological weapon and immediately drew back before the fire line swept over her. She continued:

"Ten meters."

“…Five meters.”

"Fire!"

Two shrill, explosive wolf howls slammed into the cabin from one side, then emerged from the other like crimson meteors, leaving only two gaping holes! These holes connected, allowing the Indian Ocean breeze to pour in and brush past the tyrant's remaining lower body.

No secondary mutation, no rapid regeneration, nothing happened.

A veritable torrent of destruction rolled over, engulfing this pathetic monster created by human wisdom.

"Burn this thing, don't leave any traces." Marian walked out from behind the box. She walked past the remains of the tyrant, letting the bloody sea breeze blow her long hair. "How is the enemy being eliminated?"

"It's almost over. Team Two is currently clearing out the escaped personnel. As for the storage facilities, they're still intact... but you should come and take a look."

Hearing the hesitant voice in the communication channel, Marian pursed her lips. She could fully imagine what these scumbags had done.

Sighing, Nikki took a step forward and walked along the passage made of stacked containers, and met up with other mass-produced Nikkis after two corners.

Standing in front of the camouflaged container that had been opened from the side, Marian saw five precisely dismembered, but still alive... humans.

The skin was peeled off, the nerves were extracted, the muscles were dissolved, and the bones were broken apart. The main blood vessels that sustain these lives were soaked in nutrient solution, pumping around the still beating heart, keeping the eyeballs, liver, lungs and stomach active, and keeping the most important thing - the brain - alive.

Marianne wondered if that brain remained lucid, but she hoped not.

Probably not. If there were, this freighter would have already turned into a hellish demonic realm... How ridiculous, the place most capable of punishing these scumbags would actually be the other world.

At this moment, humanity’s enemy is actually humanity.

"...Is that all?" Marian turned her head and looked at the mass-produced Nikki next to her, who also had a grim expression on her face. The latter paused for a few seconds and said slowly:

"We also discovered a large number of human organ products, also in a 'fresh' state. Based on previous records, we speculate that these five... humans must have been clairvoyants. Only clairvoyants are qualified to arrive at their destination 'relatively intact'."

"They've most likely become part of the 'experiment' by now," Marian shook her head. "This freighter might have deviated from its route mid-journey and rendezvoused with a secret experimental facility or ship, allowing them to conduct experiments at sea. If they want to minimize trouble, trafficking living people is a good option."

"...But this is something the commander needs to consider. Request an additional data link to pass on everything here."

Chapter 493 They All Volunteered (3K)

"Overdose those brains with anesthetic, then destroy all biological products with fire."

Rhode ordered calmly. He tapped the data terminal, threw it to Koko and Casper, and said:

"This is what your father's 'friends' did. See for yourself."

With that, Rhode walked towards the Umbrella commissioner, ignoring the two siblings whose pupils trembled. Even though they were young, they had seen many bodies that died in miserable conditions... This wasn't even a corpse! Those people had created all of this with the most cruel means, not out of morbid madness, not to vent resentment, but for research purposes, for so-called "science."

The rising tide brings more than just an increase in geniuses and clairvoyants within human civilization. Even the most brilliant minds can be corrupted by the endless possibilities of the other world, and once such beings fall, they will only drive human civilization towards the abyss.

Just like the Organization, most of them are extremely talented people, but they choose the path of abusing all living beings.

This is the horror lurking in the dark side of human emotions, and this is the ripple created by contact with the other world.

Just ripples, for the roar of the tide has not yet reached its peak.

But how many civilizations were not swallowed up by the other world, but fell in these ripples?

"Your ship didn't depart from Europe, did it? Africa, the Middle East, or South Asia?"

Rhodes asked the Umbrella commissioner, who was a well-mannered middle-aged man, but now looked extremely embarrassed.

After hearing Rhodes' question, the commissioner took a breath and whispered:

"India in South Asia... But what good does it do you know? It's meaningless."

"Wow, you're more courageous than those mercenaries. Now let me see if your bones are as tough as your mouth."

Rhode stood up and flexed his fingers, ready to let the man endure the pain of the golden flame, but the man struggled to stand up and leaned against the navigation platform, saying with a hint of ridicule:

“They all volunteered.”

"Because the company will pay, in US dollars! And if psychic abilities are detected, they will give more and more money - oh God, I feel jealous when I see it - the money will go to their families, their children, directly, without any middlemen."

"People willing to sacrifice their lives like this are everywhere in the slums of South Asia, and this is especially true for biological products... Hehe... Haha, India sold 6 sets of human bones in 1984. How many living, fresh corpses do you think can be sold? Local governments in India are selling them!"

"It's not just Umbrella that's making this kind of deal—the whole world! Plenty of people in Third World countries, West, East, and South, want these 'things'. This will be even more true in the future, because the Underworld can't remain hidden forever. When those countries get involved... heh... If you compare them, at least Umbrella is willing to pay more right now, because it's easier than outright kidnapping."

Commissioner Umbrella let out a painful laugh and slowly sat down against the instrument table.

"You're from Atlas, you must be, because you exude such arrogance the moment you speak."

The Umbrella officer gasped for breath. His internal organs had been damaged by the explosion during the battle, causing waves of dull pain. But even so, he spoke these words, which seemed to have been suppressed in his heart for too long, without a pause:

"How arrogant! Irons actually thinks that most people in this world are worth saving. What will you gain by becoming the savior? Gratitude, power, glory?"

What can be gained? This is probably also the question of many people in the [Organization].

Whether it is from the deduction of the situation, the collection of intelligence, or the profile of Ains's own character, it is already known that the Atlas Company in the other world has not accelerated related research, just like he never cares about the future brought by the other world and never cares about his own life.

Gaining the power to control the world, possessing unparalleled wisdom, gaining eternal life, and even resurrecting a dead son... The other world can do all of this, of course it can! There is no way Irons didn't know this.

However, Irons would say in his video speech to all soldiers, "Atlas Corporation will save the world in the future, and you will all become soldiers of the savior," and other nonsensical and funny things.

"Ions has gone mad," sighed the Umbrella commissioner, "and you've gone mad with him."

Rhodes recalled what he had said to the directors of the Cogito Foundation a long time ago, and the evil words of the former leader of the Ibris organization.

That guy is probably still repeating his own death somewhere in the other world?

"All this talk is just sophistry, trying to find an excuse for your own crimes and throw mud at others."