Chapter 43: Hunter

The cabin had three levels. Li Yexing and Lilith successfully arrived at the control room with their pet dog, who was dragging a fuel canister behind it. Fortunately, they did not encounter any infected along the way. It seemed that most of them were gathered below.

Once in the control room, Li Yexing headed straight for the device in the back and inserted the captain's permission card. The main control computer screen next to it lit up. Li Yexing quickly searched for information on the gate leading to the lower deck of the ship, but his brow furrowed slightly.

"Emergency protocol activated, all sealed gates on the ship are open?"

"What's wrong?" Lilith asked beside him.

"I'm not sure. It seems that other survivors have activated some kind of emergency protocol and opened all the gates... What's going on?"

Well, since the gates are open, maybe Ada can come up directly. Li Yexing tried to contact Ada using the communicator but still did not receive a response.

"Looks like we have to go down and get her ourselves..." Li Yexing sighed. He turned to Helen and asked, "We're going to the lower deck. It may be very dangerous. Are you sure you want to come with us?"

"Y-y-yes, I'll g-g-go where y-you g-g-go!" stuttered Helen.

Okay... she's stuttering again...

Next, Li Yexing prepared to lead the two of them back the way they came. They left the control room and when they were near the stairs leading to the lower deck, an infected person appeared at the end of the corridor in front of them, swaying back and forth.

Helen trembled with fear as she held up her stick, while Lilith and Li Yexing aimed their guns at the infected person. It was just an infected person, nothing to worry about. They just needed to kill it as they did with the others before.

The infected person turned its head towards Li Yexing and the others and made an excited gurgling sound like a wild dog that had found food. The milky white liquid kept dripping from its mouth.

'Yes, that's it. Come running over like a stupid dog.'

Li Yexing muttered to himself quietly in his mind while holding up his gun. However, just then, something strange happened!

Suddenly, a green figure flashed through the corridor in front of them. Li Yexing didn't even see clearly what it was but felt that it looked quite big, probably close to two meters. In just a moment, the infected person, whose head was covered in blood and white fluid, blocking Li Yexing and others' way, was instantly knocked out with some flesh flying out, rolling a few times on the ground, and stopped moving.

Li Yexing was so shocked that he couldn't speak. Lilith pulled out a large-caliber revolver as if facing a great enemy, while the little yellow flower behind them was scared stiff by the sudden turn of events.

What the hell was that just now?

This scene in front of him brought Li Yexing a strong sense of déjà vu. He seemed to remember something. That summer vacation, he held his PSP and played Resident Evil 3 with an emulator at home. When the main story progressed to the hospital, there seemed to be a similar scene where a Hunter β jumped out and smashed the head of a blocking zombie.

So, was that thing just now a Hunter? The green color did match, but...if it was a Hunter, isn't the size a bit too big? And where did the Hunter come from on this ship?

Wait, Ada seemed to have mentioned that there might be B.O.W.s in this year's trading items on this ship. That means...this thing was very likely stored as a trade item in the lower cargo hold before.

This doesn't make sense, though. What do these aristocrats want to do with a Hunter? Do they want to cut off their heads and make specimens to hang on the wall? When guests come to visit later, they can brag about it, "Hey, bro, I went hunting at the Raccoon City ruins a few days ago and caught a super-sized Hunter!" Or is it that some idiotic young master will say, "Mom, I want B.O.W., are two Hunters enough? I want the big ones, thanks, Mom!"

'Fuck, what the hell!'

"What was that just now? Was it a d-d-dinosaur?" The little yellow flower Helen behind them finally recovered and asked Li Yexing with a frightened face.

"I would rather face a dinosaur..." Li Yexing said, taking out his shotgun from behind. According to his experience in the game, this was the perfect weapon to deal with hunters, but there were no hunters this big in the game! If the first shot didn't stun the target, there would be big problems.

"Let's go..." Li Yexing gritted his teeth. He couldn't starve to death, and he had already taken on this mission and boarded this ship. Even if a tyrant appeared, he would have to tough it out.

"That, that, that thing was so scary..." Helen muttered behind him. "I don't know what happened to Mom and Dad..."

"To be honest, you shouldn't get your hopes up..." Li Yexing said coldly. "Just getting you out of here is already the limit. If we have two more burdens, we won't be able to escape today."

"I won't keep following you forever!" Helen said excitedly. "If I find my parents, I'll leave!"

After saying that, Helen murmured to herself, "I thought you were a gentleman, but I didn't expect you to be a rough mercenary. My dad says mercenaries are not good people. I can't believe I liked you so much..."

Before the little flower Helen could finish speaking, Lilith suddenly turned around and glared at her with blood-red eyes full of killing intent.

Helen immediately shut up, tears rolling in her eyes.

"If your dad thinks mercenaries are not good people, let him come and save you." Li Yexing said casually, not hearing clearly what Helen had said.

Although a suspected hunter appeared during the journey, Li Yexing, Lilith, and the little follower Helen returned to the next level safely. By this time, there were already many infected standing in the corridor. Li Yexing and Lilith shot and dealt with several infected that they could not avoid while being cautious of the ventilation ducts around them. Helen followed closely behind, looking at Li Yexing's back as he shot, feeling a bit mesmerized.

As they walked down another corridor, Li Yexing frowned at the sight of the many infected in front of them. There were more than ten infected gathered in the short corridor.

"Lilith," Li Yexing whispered the girl's name, and Lilith understood his intention. They both picked up their guns and aimed at the infected, pulling the triggers. These infected were fast runners, and Li Yexing led Lilith and Helen to quickly retreat and shoot at the same time. After retreating the entire length of the corridor, they finally cleared the infected blocking their way.

"Let's go," Li Yexing turned back and said, but the little flower Helen, who was standing behind him, didn't move. She stared at the corpses of the infected in the corridor, then tremblingly walked towards them.

"Where are you going?" Li Yexing shouted from behind, but Helen seemed not to have heard him. She stopped beside one of the corpses, looked at the suit and tie on the body, and then trembled as she squatted down and reached into the corpse's pocket, pulling out a bedroom key card.

In an instant, the little flower Helen collapsed on the ground.