May the Holy Light Be with You

"This place didn’t look too good."

They didn’t spread out too far, circling the main hall once. Most of the bloodstains here had already dried, seemingly proving that this place had been abandoned for some time.

"Check the area again. See if there are any survivors."

Given the state of things, no one expected the Police Station to still be an intact defensive line. They could only hope that a small group of people was still holding out somewhere in a corner.

After making another round, they found that two of the three doors here were locked. Only one could be turned open.

Leon did not rush inside. Ever since Yinsen had taught him a lesson, he had become extremely careful. He first made sure everyone was behind him, then cracked the door open and confirmed there were no zombies or other monsters on the other side before opening it fully.

It was an office. The moment they entered, they saw a police officer sitting on the floor with his back against a cabinet. Their footsteps woke him, and he immediately raised the weapon in his hand.

"Don’t shoot."

Leon was wearing the standard equipment of the Raccoon City Police Station. The large letters RPD clearly identified him as one of their own. The officer on the floor lowered his weapon, clutching his wound as he gasped heavily.

"Are you all right?"

"I can still hold on…" The officer looked at Leon, then recognized the rookie who should have reported for duty long ago. "You’re the new guy… Sorry, I can’t throw you a welcome party."

"What exactly happened here?"

As Leon questioned him, the officer briefly explained what he knew. Leon and Claire finally learned what had happened in Raccoon City.

Two months ago, monsters had begun attacking people in the outskirts of Raccoon City. STARS, the elite force of the Raccoon City Police Station, had been sent to investigate.

During that operation, nearly all of Bravo Team’s members had died. Only Rebecca Chambers, a young recent recruit, had survived.

Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Barry Burton, and Blade Vickers of Alpha Team had ultimately survived. They had also rescued Rebecca, the sole survivor of the previously missing Bravo Team. At the same time, they had brought back the truth behind the monster attacks: Umbrella Corporation had built a bioresearch facility in Raccoon City to study biological weapons.

The leak of the Bio-Virus had caused the monsters to appear, leading to everything that followed. However, Chris’s report had been ignored by the Police Station’s leadership, and Chris and the others had even been suspended because of it.

Many of the officers at the Police Station had not believed Chris’s claims about zombies either. It was only after monsters began attacking people throughout Raccoon City that everyone realized Chris had been telling the truth.

But by then, the situation had become increasingly dire. More and more monsters filled the city, until all of Raccoon City had turned into hell. The police had initially established defensive positions in the streets, but over time they had been forced to retreat step by step, from the streets back to the Police Station. Now even the Police Station had fallen. Who knew where was still safe?

"Where is my brother now?"

Claire had held herself back and not interrupted. Only after Officer Marvin Branagh had nearly finished explaining the situation did she ask about Chris’s whereabouts.

"You are…?"

"I’m Claire Redfield."

"You’re Chris’s sister… I’m sorry, I don’t know where your brother is now. But he isn’t at the Police Station. In fact, no one has seen him recently. Maybe he’s already left the city." Marvin gave a bitter smile, but it tugged at his wound and twisted his expression. "Even if he’s still in the city, I believe he has the ability to escape. After all, he understands these monsters far better than any of us."

The Raccoon City Police Station had made many mistakes in its battle against the zombies. Leon and the others did not know that yet, but Yinsen had some understanding through memories from his previous life.

At first, they had treated the zombies as ordinary rioters, or rather, ordinary citizens who had gone mad. So when the Police Station established its defensive line, "shoot to kill" had not even been an option. Their initial shots had targeted non-vital areas, hoping to deter the crazed civilians.

By the time they realized something was wrong, the officers had still followed their usual shooting habits and aimed for the largest target: the torso. This wasted enormous amounts of ammunition while failing to stop the zombies’ advance. Countless elite officers had been swallowed by the tide-like horde of zombies.

After retreating to the Police Station, they had also had a huge traitor within their ranks. The police chief, who had long since been bought off by Umbrella Corporation, kept issuing all sorts of bizarre orders, including moving away their guns and ammunition. He had utterly ruined the last of their fighting strength, which was why the Raccoon City Police Station had been completely wiped out in its battle against the zombies.

Otherwise, with sufficient ammunition and enough personnel capable of fighting, even if they had been locked in a hard battle, they should not have suffered such a thorough defeat. The outcome could only be said to have resulted from multiple factors combined.

Officer Marvin Branagh did not have much strength left to share his analysis with the rookie before him. He could only tell Leon the basics, then handed him an Access Card.

"Use this… card… through the main hall’s… computer… to open the locked doors."

Marvin was in bad shape. He had spoken too much and expended too much strength. Yinsen could tell that the T-Virus’s infection had reached its final stage. In truth, Marvin was already more than half a zombie. The only reason he had not lost control and begun attacking people was because he was forcing himself to endure with astonishing willpower.

If Yinsen remembered correctly, in the plot of Resident Evil 3, whose Timeline began earlier than Resident Evil 2, Jill had arrived at the Police Station before Leon. At the time, Marvin had been unconscious, or perhaps in a state of apparent death. That had been when the virus was rapidly spreading through his body.

If Yinsen had entered the opening stage of Resident Evil 3’s plot, this officer could still have been saved. Now, however, the best time for treatment had already passed.

Marvin could feel it himself. He was about to lose control of his urges, so after explaining everything, he told them all to leave.

Just as Leon was about to say something, Yinsen reached out to stop him, then stood before Marvin. "You can’t hold on much longer, can you?"

Marvin’s breathing grew heavier and heavier, and a trace of madness appeared in his eyes. Yet he still forcibly suppressed the most primal urges within himself, struggling to maintain control.

"Yes. So leave quickly, or I can’t guarantee I won’t pounce on you in the next second."

Marvin did not hide it. He only hoped he would not truly hurt these people.

"Personally, I’d suggest that instead of waiting until you become a zombie and we kill you, you give yourself a bullet while you’re still human. If you can’t do it, I can help you."

"Yinsen!"

Leon could not believe Yinsen would say something like that. He absolutely could not accept such an act. He would do everything in his power to stop Yinsen from doing it.

"Leon, your friend is right."

Marvin tossed the weapon in his hand aside.

"Dying directly is a better choice than becoming one of those monsters."

He lay on the floor, a little calmness returning to his eyes as he quietly waited for Yinsen to act.

"There won’t be any pain."

Yinsen flung Leon, who wanted to stop him, aside. Before Leon could get back up, Selene pressed a hand onto his shoulder.

Leon was shocked to discover that he could not break free from Selene’s restraint. This woman, who looked so slender and frail, possessed astonishing strength.

"No!"

"Do it."

Marvin’s face had turned dark purple, and grotesque veins bulged across his neck. He was about to lose control of his urge to bite people. Somehow, tremendous strength surged from his weak body, and he felt as though he could tear the young man before him apart in an instant.

His remaining reason told him that he was already dead. He had become a monster. He used nearly all his remaining strength to shout those words, but to everyone else, it sounded more like a zombie’s roar.

Even Leon, who had wanted to stop Yinsen, gave up struggling at the sight. He knew that the first colleague he had encountered after joining the force had become one of those man-eating monsters. Did he still have any reason to stop Yinsen? On the way here, they had killed who knew how many monsters like this, and he had never regarded them as human then.

The only difference was that this time, he had watched a living person turn into a man-eating monster with his own eyes.

"May the Holy Light be with you."

Yinsen did not believe in the Holy Light, but at that moment, he felt he ought to say something. Marvin Branagh was only a very ordinary police officer, yet his willpower filled Yinsen with admiration. If possible, he hoped the Holy Light in his hand could cleanse the evil staining Marvin’s soul and send him where he belonged.

"If there is a heaven in this world…"

Bang!

The crisp report of the Beretta echoed through the office. Marvin, who had been about to rise and pounce on Yinsen, fell to the floor again.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but Yinsen felt as though Marvin had died with a smile on his face.

What surprised Yinsen even more was that the Holy Light within the Holy Light Cross he held beneath his clothes with his left hand, which had nearly been depleted, seemed to have increased slightly.

"Yinsen."

"Hm?"

Selene’s voice pulled the dazed Yinsen back, and he saw her point behind him.

When he turned around, Yinsen saw the corpses that had been lying quietly on the ground slowly rise one after another, then stagger toward them.

"What should we do?"

"Clear them all out."

Yinsen suddenly wanted to test whether saving these suffering souls could increase the Holy Light.