Javier rested both hands on the railing, looking at Aiden and the others brought by his daughter, his eyes full of indifference.
Of course, this so-called indifference couldn't be described with words at all.
But when he looked at his daughter, the indifference turned into affection again.
Manuela was his daughter. He couldn't treat her in any other way. He loved his daughter, no matter what her identity was, it was all the same.
"Come back to my side, Manuela," Javier said softly, his tone gentle to the point that he didn't even sound human.
"No." Manuela shook her head hard. Javier's actions made her extremely afraid. She didn't want to return to this father who was no different from a demon, even if he had always loved her.
Her refusal didn't come as a surprise to Javier, because he clearly knew why Manuela brought these people here. And he also clearly knew that what he had done had damaged his image in his daughter's heart.
However, as long as Manuela could survive, what did that matter? He didn't care at all how his daughter saw him.
Thinking of this, Javier took a deep breath to calm himself down, then continued, "Manuela, you will understand your father's good intentions one day, and you will eventually return to my side."
Saying that, Javier looked toward Aiden and the others, especially Leon and Krauser, his gaze resting on them for a long time.
"Javier, surrender," noticing Javier's gaze, Krauser pointed his gun at him and shouted.
"Do you think that's possible? Hahaha." Javier was stunned for a second, then mocked him. He thought the guy was so dumb it was beyond words.
"Of course not. But it's just a habit before we carry out arrests," Leon shouted. "When we arrest people outside, we always do it like this."
"Then what reason are you using to arrest me?" Javier asked.
"Illegal use of bioweapons," Krauser shouted.
"Just that?" Javier shook his head. "I've done so many illegal things before. I've been making and trafficking drugs for more than ten years. I never saw you come to arrest me. And now, just because I used the so-called bioweapon, you all suddenly become so enthusiastic? Your words are really high-sounding. Or should I say, I've harmed your interests?"
These words silenced Leon and Krauser.
Oddly enough, they actually felt like what Javier said made a bit of sense.
It was Aiden who reacted. He gently kicked Leon, then said to Javier, "Even if their government always loves double standards, every single thing you've done deserves a firing squad, no matter what the reason is."
"He's right," Leon immediately agreed.
Javier glanced at Aiden. This young man was the one he paid the most attention to. After all, ever since entering the surveillance zone, his daughter hadn't left his side for a second. Her attitude toward him was so good it made Javier feel a bit jealous.
"And who are you? Are you also sent by the American government like them?" Javier asked.
"Of course not," Aiden said loudly. "I'm just a passerby who can't stand your actions."
"A passerby? With your skills, you don't look like just a passerby," Javier clearly didn't believe it. "But no matter who you are, since you've come, don't even think about leaving alive."
As he spoke, Javier snapped his fingers. Instantly, dozens of Sacred Serpent members with guns appeared all around them, surrounding them tightly.
"Kill them all," Javier ordered.
"But, the miss is there too," a subordinate said.
"Don't worry about her," Javier said coldly.
It wasn't that he suddenly changed personalities. He still loved his daughter, but in this current situation, getting her to follow him obediently was clearly impossible. So he simply ordered his men to shoot. After all, Manuela had almost perfectly adapted to the Veronica virus in her body, bullets couldn't kill her.
Hearing his cold command, the subordinates exchanged looks, but in the end still chose to obey and raised their guns toward Aiden and the others.
Just as both sides were about to shoot, the water storage device above the drain was suddenly smashed open by something, and immediately, lake water rushed in.
The rapid current flooded everyone's knees in just a few seconds, forcing most to give up the idea of shooting and start running toward dry ground.
But some people were dragged into the water by something while running. And when they resurfaced, they were already corpses.
Seeing this scene, Javier shouted in anger, "Hilda, what are you doing?!"
Along with his voice, Hilda's terrifying figure leapt out of the water. The tentacles behind her stabbed at Javier like sharp swords.
This great mother had been lurking near Manuela all along. When she heard Javier order the shooting, she couldn't hide anymore. She broke through the water storage and charged in, even treating her own husband as an enemy.
Seeing the incoming tentacles, Javier's face turned dark. But he didn't dodge, letting the tentacles pierce through his body and nail him to the wall behind.
Then, he grabbed one of the tentacles, and a flash of orange light passed through his eyes. A flame wrapped around the tentacle, and then spread all the way to Hilda's body.
Hilda was just an ordinary T-virus host, no match for Javier who was actively infected with the Veronica virus. In pain, she pulled back her tentacles and fell into the water with a wail.
Aiden and the others took the chance to climb onto a platform and were preparing to enter a tunnel.
But Manuela froze when she heard Javier call that monster "Hilda." She didn't expect her mother hadn't died of illness, but had become a monster.
Seeing her mother burned and falling into the water, Manuela couldn't hold it in anymore. She tore off the bandages on her right arm, revealing her mutated arm, and fiercely swung it toward Javier who had just jumped over to chase them.
Boom!
A flame shot out from Manuela's palm and blasted toward Javier.
But Javier, watching the fire rush toward him, didn't even try to dodge, letting the flames engulf him.
"Manuela, we have the same power. This has no effect on me."
In the flames, Javier's voice was extremely calm. Then with a jolt of his body, the flames disappeared, revealing his unscathed body, only his clothes were burned away.
Of course, he wasn't fully exposed, some parts of his body had already developed hardened, keratin-like skin.
The Veronica virus had already started to mutate his body.
Seeing the increasingly monster-like Javier, Aiden, Roberta, and Leon didn't show any special reaction, but Fabiola and Krauser were shocked.
Especially Krauser. When he saw Manuela and Javier manipulate fire like mages in the DND games he used to play, the surprise in his eyes immediately turned into fanaticism.
He suddenly had a thought, if he could have such power, how great would that be? But before he could think further, gunfire interrupted him.
As Javier advanced, Aiden and the others fired at him like crazy.
But the hardened skin on Javier, though it looked thin, was unbelievably tough, bullets barely pierced it.
Seeing this, Roberta and Fabiola immediately targeted the areas not covered by the keratinized skin.
And the only one who could deal real damage to Javier was Aiden. He instantly entered his awakened state, and with the aid of psychic power, his bullets could easily pierce Javier's body.
But besides granting him powerful abilities, the Veronica virus also gave Javier an incredibly strong vitality. The bullet wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Fall back!" After emptying a magazine, Aiden was drenched in sweat and shouted loudly.
"You won't escape." Javier looked at Aiden with eyes turning orange, then rushed toward them.
His speed was extremely fast. Though he couldn't move at the speed of sound like Wesker or Alexia, he was definitely faster than a cheetah. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Aiden.
After realizing Aiden's bullets could hurt him, and already being jealous, Javier now made him his primary target.
"Die!" Javier raised his hand, ready to unleash flames.
But at that moment, Manuela stood in front of Aiden and raised her hand too, unleashing flames.
The two flames collided instantly, exploding in the narrow tunnel.
BOOM!
After the explosion, both Manuela and Javier were blasted away.
But Manuela landed behind Aiden and was caught by him, while Javier fell directly into the drainage water.
"Are you okay?" Aiden held Manuela and asked.
Manuela shook her head, signaling she was fine.
Aiden let out a sigh of relief and set her down. Just as they were preparing to leave, Javier climbed out of the water and continued walking toward the tunnel.
But after just two steps, several tentacles wrapped around his body.
"Hilda, why? Why are you stopping me?!" Javier roared in anger, constantly tearing at the tentacles.
But Hilda could no longer speak. She only had one thought, to protect her daughter and not let her stay with the already insane Javier.
Javier was very strong. With just a few pulls, he tore the tentacles off. Just as he was about to keep moving, Hilda slammed into him from under the water again.
As an amphibious B.O.W., Hilda was no match for Javier infected with the Veronica virus on land, but in water, she had an absolute advantage. Especially since Javier's flames, which dealt the most damage to B.O.W.s, couldn't be used in the water. Hilda tightly pinned him down.
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