Courtyard House: I fish in the heavens, a professional bird abuser.

The three people crawled out of the sewage duct in Hive B and returned to the ground.

The air outside wasn't much better than underground—the cloying chemical smell of the T-virus still lingered in the wind, mixed with the acrid smell of a distant fire.

It was still dark.

Or rather, it was already too late for dawn—the smog over Raccoon City was so thick that it covered the sky with a murky yellow, making it impossible to tell whether it was dawn or dusk.

He Yuanchao led Alice and Nicole along a deserted back alley.

His mind was working very fast.

Six hours.

Less than six hours have passed—I just spent almost forty minutes in Hive B.

He had too much to do in less than six hours.

First, notify all those who are still alive.

Second, gather them into one point.

Third, seize the helicopters used for evacuation.

Fourth, before the nuclear bomb lands, fly everyone out of the city.

There are countless potential pitfalls in every step.

But He Yuanchao was not the kind of person who would be intimidated by difficulties. In the world of Bright Sword, he had experienced more desperate situations than this more than once—when Zhao Jiayu was surrounded by the Japanese on three sides, when he led the Independent Regiment to fight the Kwantung Army with bayonets on the snowfield at minus forty degrees Celsius, when he faced hundreds of thousands of Allied troops pressing in front of him—each time he had to fight his way out of a pile of dead bodies.

Compared to all that, what is this little thing?

It's just that there are more zombies, time is tighter, and there are fewer people available.

But the core logic remains unchanged—it's always the same three key elements: information, firepower, and speed.

He Yuanchao stopped on the rooftop of a three-story apartment building.

The view here is excellent, overlooking most of the city. A few tall buildings in the distance are still emitting black smoke, and a few zombies can be seen wandering the streets, but the density is not too high—most of the zombies have been attracted to the other side of the city by the previous gunshots and explosions.

He pulled out the high-capacity memory card he had taken from the system space—the one he had used to copy data from the Red Queen.

Kari not only has Hive's scientific research data, but also Red Queen's access to all public infrastructure in Raccoon City.

include--

The city’s public address system.

Although Raccoon City is without power, the municipal emergency broadcasting system has a separate backup power source—designed to cope with natural disasters. Powered by diesel generators, it can theoretically operate independently for 72 hours after a city-wide power outage.

He Yuanchao inserted the memory card into a military communication terminal that he had taken from the Hive.

The terminal's casing was covered in dust, but the chips inside were military-grade, with performance several orders of magnitude better than civilian devices.

He typed a series of commands on the terminal.

A notification popped up in his mind.

Connecting to the Raccoon City emergency broadcasting network.

Connection successful.

Current coverage area: 73% of the city.

Some base stations are offline due to physical damage.

He Yuanchao said to Alice, "Keep an eye on our surroundings for me."

Alice nodded, picked up her shotgun, and walked to the edge of the rooftop, her eyes scanning the street below.

Nicolai leaned against a water pipe, clutching Glock with his movable hand. He looked terrible, but his eyes were still relatively clear.

He Yuanchao brought the microphone of the communication terminal to his mouth.

He cleared his throat.

Then I pressed the launch button.

A few seconds later.

Every street, every building, and every public address system that hadn't been smashed in Raccoon City simultaneously emitted a sharp, electric whistling sound.

The sound pierced the night.

Even the zombies wandering the streets were startled and stopped in their tracks, tilting their heads and staring at the loudspeaker for two seconds with their pupil-less white eyes—then they lowered their heads and continued to wander.

The howling sound disappeared.

Instead, a man's voice came through.

Not too high, not too low. Not too fast, not too slow.

With an undeniable composure, it was like a piece of red-hot iron falling into cold water.

"Listen to me, all those who are still alive."

"I'm not with the military, nor with Umbrella Corporation. You can call me 'Dawn.'"

I'll only say it once, so listen carefully.

"Within five hours—less than five hours—a nuclear bomb will land in the heart of Raccoon City. This is not a rumor, not a threat, but a confirmed fact. The Security Council has approved the sanitization agreement. The nuclear bomb is on its way."

He Yuanchao paused for half a second, allowing those who were still alive to process the news.

Then he continued.

"There are three helicopters in City Hall Square. That's the only exit. I'll be waiting for you there."

"Whoever you are—police officer, firefighter, supermarket cashier, homeless person, gangster—if you can still move, run to City Hall."

"Grab any weapons, water, and food you can find. Don't stop along the way, and don't linger in battle. If you encounter any rotten flesh, go around it; if you can't fight it, run."

"You have five hours."

"No exceptions after this time."

"If you choose to stay—that's your prerogative. But I'm telling you this: in five hours, nothing will be left of this place."

"Don't dawdle. I don't have the patience to wait long."

"Broadcast complete."

He Yuanchao released the launch button.

The rooftop was quiet for a few seconds.

The wind blew in from afar, carrying the smell of cigarette ash and blood.

Alice turned her head and glanced at him.

"'dawn'?"

"I just came up with something random. I needed a code name, right? I couldn't exactly shout 'I am He Yuanchao' to the whole city—it's too long, and nobody knows me."

Alice's lips twitched slightly.

That wasn't exactly a laugh, but it was close.

How many people do you think will hear this?

"I don't know." He Yuanchao put away his communication terminal. "But if even one person hears it, it's worth it."

He walked to the other side of the rooftop and looked down at the main road leading to the city hall.

In the distance, the gray domed building of the city hall can be vaguely seen.

The distance is about two kilometers.

Several streets blocked by abandoned cars and corpses lay in between.

There are also countless zombies.

He Yuanchao took the shotgun off his back and checked the chamber.

Full.

"Walk."

He stepped down the iron stairs from the rooftop.

Alice followed.

Nicolai was the last one, limping, but he didn't fall behind.

And in every corner of this ghost town that is counting down its days—

Some sounds are being heard.

Inside a convenience store surrounded by roadblocks, three armed shop owners looked at each other. One of them turned the radio volume up to the maximum and listened to the broadcast again.

"Nuclear bomb?"

"Are you coming or not?"

"Walk."

In a basement, a young mother, cradling her baby, wrapped the infant tighter in her trembling hands. Her husband was dead—torn to pieces by zombies two days earlier at their doorstep. She had endured forty-eight hours alone.

The sound of the broadcast leaked through the cracks in the ceiling above.

She looked up.

Tears fell onto the baby's face.

Then she stood up.

Move the clutter off the door one by one.

In the basement of a church, an old priest, covered in blood but with his back straight, stopped stitching up his wounds.

He was surrounded by four or five injured citizens.

The pastor put the needle and thread on the table, turned around, and said something to the people.

"God said, 'Go.'"

Those people did not hesitate.