Infinite Terror: Infinite Reversal

Chapter 5 Abandoning Side Quests
[For me, there are still too many questions surrounding this cycle of reincarnation... But right now, the most urgent task is to complete the mission at hand. I can only consider these other issues after the gaps in time and when it is safe to do so.]

The train was still not completely stopped, and he was still the only one standing next to Zhang Jie. Although Mu Xiang's face was expressionless, a closer look revealed a slight tremor in his eyes.

Since I'm not so scared that I can't walk yet, I should focus on dealing with what's in front of me first... Whatever happens, I'll face it!

Thinking about it, a bitter smile appeared on his face... Although Resident Evil is really friendly to newcomers, what he fears most is zombies... Perhaps it's related to childhood trauma.

Zhang Jie was smoking, but he was actually observing Mu Xiang closely, from his expressions and his emotional fluctuations...

Mu Xiang knew that Zhang Jie had been observing the Zhongzhou team members since their first meeting until he passed the leadership to Zheng Zha, so it wouldn't be surprising if he was observing him now. After all, it was obvious that he was just a high school student, yet he had been quite composed and even self-satisfied before; anyone would be curious in that situation. But Mu Xiang wasn't afraid of anything. Right now, he just wore a wry smile; Zhang Jie wouldn't do anything to him.

Another person was also observing Mu Xiang; it was Li Xiaoyi in the carriage.

"He seems to be trembling, though it's very subtle... Could he not be Haotian? Haotian certainly wouldn't be afraid of a mere Resident Evil."

[Everyone's saying the T-virus and antidote in the train carriage might be a side quest, but I definitely can't take them now... Taking them would be too conspicuous, and there'd be no way to explain it. Forget about getting shot, even if I were handcuffed, I'd have a hard time surviving... I can only say resist the urge to be greedy.]

Having decided not to get involved with the T-virus or the antidote, Mu Xiang stopped thinking about anything else and silently waited to get off the bus.

The train carriage gradually slowed down until it came to a stop, and the dozen or so foreign mercenaries cautiously stepped out, guns in hand. On the Samsara Squad's side, Zhang Jie was the first to strut out, followed half a step behind Mu Xiang. The girl with glasses glanced at Zheng Zha and the others, then followed Zhang Jie and Mu Xiang out as well. Seeing James Schade walk away, the others couldn't hesitate any longer and had no choice but to follow.

Stepping out of the train carriage, he was on the station platform. Mu Xiang glanced back in the direction he had come from; with his glasses on, he could see quite far. He didn't actually have any particular plans; he was just looking around. Mu Xiang remembered that the Hive was deep underground, and the train journey involved a series of twists and turns, descending in a Z-shape. The gradient wasn't steep, but the journey was extremely long, and they were already quite far from the surface.

Mu Xiang looked around; this was the entrance to the Hive underground laboratory.

Even though I know this place is very safe, my legs still feel a bit weak. Why is that? My gait doesn't feel as natural as usual.

Take a few steps... take a few steps... even if you're not sick, take a few steps!

While joking about himself, Mu Xiang gave another bitter laugh. He thought he had a strong mental fortitude... but now his legs were weak, and it seemed that his legs would start to shake. If this continued, he was afraid he wouldn't even be able to get past the stairs.

He talked to himself in his mind while trying to pull his attention away from his legs. Only when a partition door suddenly appeared above them did Mu Xiang's feeling of weakness in his legs disappear. This door separated the world inside and outside the laboratory; one side had already become hell, and the other... was about to become hell as well.

There are two prominent symbols on the gate: one is the classic red and white Umbrella logo, representing the Umbrella Corporation's ownership of the laboratory; the other is a yellow warning symbol with black stripes, representing biological hazards.

Another noteworthy detail is a small window on the main door. Mu Xiang recalled that this window might require a password to open, but in the movie, the Umbrella Special Forces simply cut and broke through the access control system.

Not far in front of him, the woman in the fiery red dress, who was also the female protagonist Alice, asked, "I want to know who you are? And what exactly happened here?"

James Sheldon turned to look at her, waved to the other team members, and one of the female members began to break down the door. He continued to Alice, "We are employed by the Umbrella Corporation—including you… This door leads to the Hive. You are a registered surface security personnel of the company, which is why we brought you along." Mu Xiang silently watched the Umbrella mercenaries open the door… pointing to a hole in it. At the same time, he listened to James's explanation and couldn't help but think, "This really is a reincarnation world, isn't it? Their speech has none of the slight incongruity of the audio dubbing in Resident Evil, and there are no mismatches between sound and lip movements. They are indeed speaking English, and what I am receiving is indeed Chinese, but this is not what I 'hear,' but rather converted by some strange translation mechanism. This feeling is really novel."

Alice looked confused. She stroked a wedding ring on her finger and murmured, "Then what is this?"

James nodded and said, "You're not married. This is just a cover for Hive."

"What exactly is a beehive?" a man who wasn't a mercenary suddenly asked.

Mu Xiang knew that he was the culprit behind the whole incident—Spence Parks, who stole and released the T-virus.

[The original book changed his name to Ryan... Actually, Ryan, Rain, and Laine are all the same person; they're all translations of the female mercenary Rain's name... Logically, identifying him as the culprit would be a plot change, right? So, will there be any side quest rewards? Isn't that more important than saving the captain?]

While he wasn't surprised at the bug fix, he pondered the possible side story... The T-virus and antidote in the carriage were indeed difficult to obtain; identifying the murderer, after gaining the mercenary's trust, would be relatively easier.

Upon hearing Spencer's question, James instructed his teammates to turn on their laptops: "Show them." A moment later, images appeared on the laptop screens. Everyone crowded around, with Mu Xiang, being the closest, squeezing to the front.

"This is the passage into the Hive... Deep within the Hive lies beneath Raccoon City. This is the building where we found you. From here, we boarded the train that takes us underground, which brought us to the entrance of the Hive, where we are standing now."

Mu Xiang stared at the screen, comparing it with his memory, and felt a little smug—not bad, he still remembered how the train ran.

The images on the screen kept changing, until finally a honeycomb-like building appeared on the computer screen. A... honeycomb of reinforced concrete, of course, without any honey inside.

“This is the Hive, a top-secret research facility hidden deep underground, owned and overseen by the Umbrella Corporation. Inside the Hive are over five hundred scientists and other staff who conduct research here on top of certain classified information, which is of paramount importance to the company—and even we don’t know it.” James explained the general situation first, then gestured: “This is where we are now, as indicated by the thermal sensors.”

Sure enough, the computer screen showed where everyone was. They were standing on the station platform at the top of the hive. According to the plot, this place was currently an absolutely safe place, but unfortunately, it would soon become part of the death zone.

Mu Xiang nodded in a perfunctory manner, even though he already knew this information.

Perhaps it was because Mu Xiang's movements were too exaggerated, or perhaps it was because she had been wondering for a long time, Alice suddenly pointed at Mu Xiang and the Samsara Squad members behind him: "So who are they?"

Apart from Zhang Jie, who was leaning against the wall on the steps with his eyes closed, resting, the members of Mu Xiang's Reincarnation Team were all taken aback. Almost all the newcomers thought they were just "immersed" in watching a horror movie, with no connection to the plot or characters, and that they only needed to deal with the monsters in the immersive horror film—but how could this be?

This doesn't make logical sense. Aren't monsters also characters in the story in a certain sense?

Perhaps driven by a self-deceptive instinct, the newcomers almost all oversimplified things, failing to consider their interactions with the characters in the story. In reality, they are currently at a significant disadvantage compared to the mercenaries. If they cannot manage this relationship well, what might take their lives is not zombies or Lickers, but rather these genuine humans from Resident Evil!
(End of this chapter)