Long-term salvation

It can be said that if there was no Jimenez, this Ruben Victoriano would most likely develop into a nobleman with a perverted sister complex and a love of dissecting "small animals", or die from an experimental infection, or be shot to death by the police who kicked open the door - instead of constantly dragging the residents of the city into this horrible dream like now!

"Hoo...Hoo...Help...Help...I know...how...to get out..."

"Unfortunately, I know everything about you," Rod flicked the cigarette ash between his fingers, making Dr. Jimenez's heart sink. "What should I do with you, doctor?"

"Phew... I'm still useful! STEM, you definitely want it, right? Ruvik can't cooperate with anyone else anymore, only I can!"

Rhodes looked at the panic expression on Dr. Jimenez's face, and then thought about his usual sanctimonious appearance... He did not respond immediately, but took out a few incendiary grenades and threw them into the group of monsters, and flames rose!

The dancing flames reflected on the monsters that scattered to avoid the flames, making their shadows even more distorted and blasphemous. The original inarticulate mumbling quickly turned into short howls, and the hatred and anger that had lingered for a long time quickly turned into fear - derived from Ruvik's fear of the barn fire that burned his sister Laura to death and burned his own face. Because of this, the monsters in the STEM world are extremely afraid of fire.

The flames subsided slightly, and a dozen white figures slowly emerged, using nearby objects or monster limbs as fire wards! These newly emerged enemies wore the same hoods, but there was no one inside, seemingly just Ruvik's clones.

Doppelgangers, those human consciousnesses with a higher synchronization rate with Ruvik, are not very powerful in the game, but they can summon bloody ghost claws from the ground, and anyone caught will die... But in this world, Rhodes dare not gamble on where he will appear after being captured and disemboweled.

Thinking of this, Rhode, who had made up his mind, suddenly shouted loudly:

"Sebastian, blast the chains!"

"what happened?!"

The roar of an explosion mixed with the whistling of some flying stones filled Dr. Jimenez's ears. Before this evil doctor with a beastly heart could react, Rhodes grabbed him by the collar and threw him into a Hummer that appeared out of nowhere. The wide body of the Hummer squeezed down the stone walls on both sides, and dust and fog rose up in an instant!

The Hummer's engine roared as it twisted its body forward, almost bumping into Detective Sebastian, who was stunned. Detective Sebastian didn't waste any words and got into the car and asked:

"Can we drive a tank later? A wheeled armored vehicle would also be fine."

"Don't wait a moment! Let's get through this first!"

Rod took the steering wheel, struggling to steer the Hummer up the winding mountain road. The nursing home building, once so close, now seemed incredibly far away. Even the road began to narrow, and driving felt like driving on a cliff. Darkness climbed up from the abyss on both sides, threatening to burst with fangs and claws, hungry and thirsty.

Not to mention, Ruvik's clones are following behind the car like ghosts.

"Sebastian, get to the weapons station!" Rhodes shouted, "Use the heavy machine guns to kill those bastards! Otherwise, we won't be able to open it even if we spend ten thousand years!"

Sebastian didn't hesitate, but glanced curiously at Dr. Jimenez, who was huddled nearby. When he leaned out, he found the situation was far more complicated than Rhode had described.

The entire city of Crimson looked like a rolled-up book, with the urban area above and villages and lakes on the left and right. Only the lighthouse of the Lighthouse Mental Hospital was still shining in the front... Sebastian was already disgusted by the light, but when he got a closer look at the shadows wandering in the darkness, he retched uncontrollably.

Those are the emotional fragments of innocent people who were tortured and subjected to live experiments. Their emotions, memories and pain were released without reservation and distorted here by the energy of the other world.

But just looking at it almost made Sebastian's brain explode!

The determined detective hurriedly closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Following Rhode's instructions and after some trial and error, he figured out how to control the heavy machine gun to fire. As if to vent his inner rage, the detective and the heavy machine gun roared together.

The 12.7mm bullet, which is powerful enough to cut a normal human in two, also perfectly played its original role as a killing weapon. As the gunfire swept across, it set off a storm of sand, dust and gravel, blowing up the two Ruvik clones in the front that were chasing the Hummer!

The clones were almost hit in mid-air. Their false bodies, which were outlined by crazy consciousness, burst into a cloud of blood mist. The dirty blood scattered everywhere, leaving only a shrill and piercing scream, but this scream could not drown out the roar of the heavy machine gun!

The monsters rushed forward one by one, but were shot down one by one by humans with gunfire.

"It works! Sebastian, keep killing them! They are Ruvik's spies and the means by which he exercises his power," Rhodes laughed heartily. He saw that the road ahead was gradually returning to its original state, and the nursing home reappeared in his sight.

The sound of heavy machine gun fire never stopped, and the hot shell casings fell into the Hummer like a drizzle, making a crisp clanging sound.

Suddenly, Rhodes heard a cat's meow. It was the voice of the black cat Pickman.

Rhodes slammed on the brakes and was shocked to find that the nursing home was right in front of him. A timid, white-haired boy in a hospital gown was huddled in a corner of the nursing home gate.

Leslie Withers, found you.

He had to admit that for a split second, Rhodes did have the thought of shooting the mentally ill teenager in front of him to completely cut off Ruvik's idea of ​​escaping STEM... But now, he still had the strength to spare, and so did his girls.

Rhodes warned himself.

Everything is not yet at the point of no return, so don't open that door lightly.

After getting off the car, Rhodes took Dr. Jimenez down with him. He ignored the doctor who was trying to tidy up his clothes, and turned his head to Sebastian and said,

"Detective, this man is very important. If you can find an opportunity, send him to the Dream Cabin... When we return to reality, someone will deal with him."

After all, as they are both psychiatrists, Dr. Hannibal would definitely be happy to have someone like this who he can talk to.

It won't be that easy for him to die before Jimenez is drained of all the information he knows about Mobius.

Rod walked up, put his hand on Leslie's shoulder, and said gently:

"Leslie, let's get out of here."

"Leave?"

"Yes, not in a nursing home, nor in a mental hospital, but in a normal place, with sunshine and beaches, and plenty of clothes... Oh, this doesn't count. Anyway, let's get out of here first."

The timid boy glanced at Rhodes, and the panic on his face slowly relaxed:

"Your hair is the same color as mine."

"I'm a bit grayer," Rhodes said as he helped the boy up and handed him to Sebastian. "He's the most important test subject, Leslie. Do you remember his name? We're here for him."

The detective nodded slightly, but Leslie, who was being supported by him, suddenly asked:

"Will he leave here with us?"

It was still the familiar whistling of the wind, the sharp scalpel cut through the air and collided with the revolver, the cold and dirty airflow blew up the attacker's hood, revealing a face full of hatred and arrogance.

"It seems that Leslie is indeed your first choice for escape." Rhodes held up his revolver and drew his combat dagger with his other hand, but swung it in the air, leaving only a shadow. "Don't underestimate the rest of the world, Ruvik."

"I return these words to you, the dazzling sun."

Before he finished speaking, Rhodes heard a roar like a tsunami. He looked up and found that blood was falling, enough to completely submerge the entire city!

Before being drowned in the blood, Rhodes heard the familiar cry of the black cat Pickman.

Chapter 141: Dead Ends Ahead and Behind (3K)

Rhodes, who was swept away by the blood, only felt that he was being tossed around, moving along the complex and twisted pipes until he was thrown into a pool of blood.

Rhodes climbed out of the pool of human blood. After shaking off the rotten blood on his hands with disgust, he walked through the rectangular pool of blood, one step deep and one step shallow, and grabbed the ladder to climb to the edge of the pool.

This place seemed to be the underground section of the Lighthouse Mental Hospital. Huge exhaust fans blared non-stop, filling every cavity and crevice within the subterranean space with a low, humming sound. The dim, flickering light illuminated the bodies haphazardly piled on the ground, often bearing neatly etched cuts and lacerations, the obvious product of repeated human experimentation.

Suddenly, Rhodes saw the shadow of a black cat walking gracefully along the wall and disappearing behind an iron gate.

"Do you think you can achieve your goal by separating us?"

After making up his mind, Rhodes spoke calmly to Ruvik—he was sure that this crazy genius could hear him:

"You can't escape from this world, so why not die quickly? Let me give you a painless death, even though you don't deserve it."

Provocation is part of the battle.

The more Ruvik interacts with Rod, the easier it will be for Abigail and Asuka Iki to locate his true form... Beyond that, it's Rod's job.

[I once thought I was arrogant, but I'm still far from you.]

A broadcast-like voice echoed through the underground space, and at the same time, Ruvik's phantom appeared. However, the latter only flashed by, then dissolved and transformed into blood-colored particles, pouring into the pool of blood behind Rhode:

The fragments of consciousness of the tortured innocents were awakened, distorted, and guided with mad cruelty, thereby pulling the tendons and bones to crawl out of the blood, and emitting intermittent and shrill roars with their soaked vocal cords - dozens of agile corpses appeared from the blood pool, corridors, and iron gates leading to different areas, and they all pounced on the only human here!

Rhode twisted his neck, pulled out his shotgun, and with two shots, knocked over the first corpse that rushed in front of him. Then, he used the meat hook on the muzzle of the gun to swing to the ceiling. After taking in the enemy and the entire area, he threw two grenades downwards, released the meat hook, and swung to an area away from the shrapnel range.

The roar of the grenade explosion and the whistling sound of shrapnel tearing through the air swept around, turning the roars of the corpses into the muffled sound of flesh breaking.

Releasing the meat hook, Rhodes fell straight down, crushing a rotten head with his combat boots, causing the headless body to wave its hands around wildly. The next second, its upper body was shattered by two shotgun shells!

Ignoring the dirty brain matter splattering on his face, Rhodes calmly pulled the trigger and used shotgun and magnum bullets to smash the corpses that surrounded him again.

Amidst the flickering gunfire, blood and flesh flew everywhere!

"Is this all you have?"

Rhodes stepped on the chest of the last corpse and blew up the head, which was pierced and wrapped with wire, with a shotgun. Then he breathed a sigh of relief, took out a cigarette from his pocket, shook it out, and put it in his mouth. As he walked towards the iron gate that the black cat shadow had passed through, he provoked Ruvik:

"That's about as good as your hospitality gets, Ruvik."

Are you deliberately provoking me?

Ruvik's voice rang out above Rod's head. Rod looked up and saw Ruvik, also looking "upwards", reflected on the corridor ceiling.

You're trying to distract me, to keep my attention on you... Why? To make it easier for the detective, or to prevent me from rushing into your weird safe house?

"You are so smart, why don't you guess more?" Rod lit a cigarette with a match and did not directly answer Ruvik's question.

Smart people always like to think too much, so let them think!

To be honest, Rhodes was looking forward to Ruvik running into the cabin and being dragged away by Abigail's father... That great being would probably like such a little toy very much.

【…】

The mirrored image above the corridor gradually faded, transforming back into a mottled ceiling. But through the cracks in the paint, Rhodes could vaguely see rapidly flowing blood-colored particles—those were fragments of Ruvik's thoughts, as he combined the images in his mind's memory with this distorted world, allowing them to appear here:

Laura, Laura Victoriano, not that Laura Croft. The former is now a horrible monster with four arms. After the once beautiful girl was engulfed by flames, only a hideous face, loose long hair, and the hatred and malice that will never be healed are left!

The Keeper, a strong man with a meat hammer and a safe head, is the product of Ruvik's anger at Jimenez stealing his research data, his betrayal by Mobius, and the pain of losing his body... This monster can even pull out its own head and reappear through safes scattered in other areas.

Now, two monsters were emerging in this straight but slightly narrow corridor, one in front and one behind, and Rhodes was standing between them, alone and helpless.

The burning murderous intent was licking Rhodes' skin, making his hair stand on end and his brows furrowed!

Now, how do you do it?

Ruvik's voice came from behind Rhodes. The phantom of the mad genius leaned forward to the latter's ear and said with a low laugh:

Your brain will become my best collection. Struggle as hard as you can, shining sun.

The phantom dissipated, leaving only Rhodes standing there. He took a deep breath of his cigarette, exhaled, and sighed softly in the swirling milky white smoke. Rhodes threw away the super shotgun. The weapon constructed based on his consciousness immediately turned into particles and dissipated, but reunited in his palm the next second.

The tenacious will is shaped into the sword, the fearless courage is condensed into a chain, and the rage against evil and blasphemous things is transformed into jagged edges to embellish it.

Finally, flip the switch and let the roar of the chainsword echo through the corridors!

Rhodes twisted his neck and walked forward slowly with eagerness to try, facing the monsters rushing towards him head-on.

Laura was faster than the guard, but she was also the first to enjoy the chainsaw - Rod climbed up the wall and jumped in the air to avoid the swing of the claws. The muscles in his body tensed up and the blood was pumped to all parts of his body through his heart, making his mind clearer than ever - the chainsaw sword in his hand slashed across the slender and twisted body, and the teeth that were given meaning by will tore through the skin without hindrance, biting the flesh and blood, and pulling it off savagely and ruthlessly!

Warm blood splashed out, drawing the shape of angel wings on the walls on both sides of the corridor.

Landing, twisting his body, Rhode drew his revolver and moved at will. The bullets, enhanced for damage to creatures of the inner world, spun through the filthy air, shattering Laura's already exposed, bizarre organs and piercing the thick chest muscles of the guards, causing blood to bloom on them!

Laura cannot be completely killed, and neither can the watcher. They are just a collection of memories, thoughts, and emotions, just servants created by Ruvik... No matter what names the latter gave to some of these things, it could not change this fact.

Rhodes had no intention of fighting with this thing for a whole day. After landing, he prepared to run to the other end of the corridor. On the iron gate at the end, the shadow of the black cat Pickman was licking his paws.

However, before Rhodes could run a few steps, he heard the whistling sound of wind coming from behind him - Laura pulled out the head of the guard's safe and threw it at him!

"What the hell?!"

Dodging the huge metal safe sideways, Rhodes watched helplessly as the safe grew a body again in the slight distortion and hazy light and shadow, and once again transformed into the burly monster holding the meat hammer.

"Tsk, you're amazing, Ruvik," Rhodes curled his lips, raised his hand to block the swinging meat hammer, and swung it away while bending down to avoid the claws attacking from behind. "But I don't have time to play around with you two here... Oh, sorry, ma'am, I don't want to be hugged by you."

Stepping on the guard's body, Rhodes did a difficult backflip, causing Laura, who was rushing towards him, to collide with the guard, and the latter's strong body was actually knocked off balance.

This is not far from the end!

Rhodes ignored the possible damage to himself and directly exchanged for an M202 FLASH 66mm incendiary rocket launcher, pulling the trigger towards the gap between the two monsters. The flames exploded like foam, wrapped in milky white smoke and spread along the corridor. The heat wave even pushed Rhodes' body away, making him roll on the ground in a mess.

It seemed that because Laura's body blocked a considerable portion of the flames, Rhode's body was not burned too much. However, the instantaneous heat and impact were a bit too much for him to bear. Even when he climbed up from the ground, he could hear the protests of his bones and internal organs.

"Don't do that next time...it's too dangerous."

After coughing a few times, Rhodes stood up and saw with satisfaction that the two monsters were screaming in pain because of being trapped in the flames. A slight burnt smell penetrated his nostrils, driving away the smell of rotten blood that had lingered since he fell into the blood pool.

In this world, only fire can cause the greatest damage to these monsters, even those that cannot be killed by bullets or swords. However, being "killed" is only temporary, and they will eventually come back again.

However, this is enough to buy time and clear obstacles for progress.

He lit a cigarette with the lingering flames from the two voiceless, twisted corpses and enjoyed a few seconds of peace. Then, carrying his chainsaw sword, he walked across the corridor, opened the iron door with the shadow of a black cat, and entered.

The black cat Shadow walked briskly as it found the trace of its prey.

Chapter 142 Kidman's Nightmare (3K)

Behind the iron gate is still the dark and dilapidated hospital corridor, but after passing through a few more corridors, it will be completely different:

A large square hall appeared in front of Rhodes. Standing on the second floor and looking down, he could see broken stone pillars, scattered furniture, staggering monsters, and Kidman who was locked in a large water tank that was constantly being filled with water. Kidman kept knocking on the transparent glass of the water tank, his face full of fear of drowning.

After noticing Rhode, the Mobius agent's face flashed with panic, but it was quickly covered by genuine surprise. She shouted loudly: