"Yeah, white clothes, thin, clinging to my body, with chains wrapped around me. They'd inject me with sedatives, and the 'fathers' would watch me through thick glass."
"fathers?" Li Yexing frowned.
"Mr. Freeman said they were all my fathers, but I didn't like them. They looked weird. Miss Kelly didn't like them either—she'd badmouth them to me." The expressionless silver-haired girl continued, "They never made me good food or bought me new clothes."
At that, T-Lilith lifted her head, her ruby-red eyes locking onto Li Yexing. "You're so nice to me. Even Miss Kelly wasn't this nice. I like you."
'Goddamn!' Li Yexing covered his face, turning away to dodge her gaze.' What's with this girl? She's too cute! I can't handle this!'
"What's wrong? You're not happy?" Seeing no response, T-Lilith leaned closer, her voice tinged with disappointment. "Or… you don't like me?"
Blushing, Li Yexing avoided her eyes, placing a hand on her head. "I feed you once, buy you some clothes, and you like me? You're so naive—aren't you afraid of getting kidnapped?"
"No way…" T-Lilith closed her eyes, nuzzling his hand like a cat. "I heard Mr. Freeman tell the daddies my arm strength is over ten tons. Killing people is as easy as ripping apart a ragdoll. Everyone's scared of me."
That's some terrifying talk. Killing like tearing up a ragdoll? Li Yexing eyed her slender arms and legs, skepticism written all over his face. As a BOW, sure, she might be strong, but ten tons? That's a stretch. And…
"Big deal if you're strong. These days, bad guys have guns, grenade launchers, RPGs." He patted the Glock at his waist.
"Not scared." T-Lilith shook her head. "Back in the white room, they'd sedate me, chain me to a wall, and shoot me. Started with handguns, then guns I didn't recognize. Once, they used a gun that spun really fast, shot me for ages. It hurt so much I thought I'd die, but my wounds healed quickly. After that, they kept using the spinning gun. It hurt a lot at first, but I got used to it."
Spinning gun? Motherfucker, a Gatling gun? If she was telling the truth… what kind of monsters would chain a frail-looking girl to a wall and blast her with a minigun? No wonder she said he was nice to her—what kind of hell had she been through?
Even if his body's memories had changed him, Li Yexing's soul was still that of a working-class warrior from peaceful, beautiful China. He wavered. If he handed this girl back to her employers, what kind of life awaited her? Locked in a cold lab, never seeing sunlight, barely clothed, eating nutrient paste that couldn't even be called food, accustomed to the pain of minigun fire—what would they hit her with next? She had basic knowledge but a warped view of the world. What had those researchers drilled into her head? Could he really send her back?
'Damn it! Why am I even thinking about this?' His expression darkened. Was he really a soul from another world in this body, or was the mercenary Li Yexing just infected with a worker's memories, making him soft? Was the worker becoming ruthless, or was the cold-blooded mercenary growing a conscience?
T-Lilith tugged his sleeve, snapping him out of it.
"Unhappy?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Nah, just thinking…" Li Yexing shook his head. She didn't reply, just paused, then grabbed his hand from her head and gently pressed it to her chest.
"This makes you happy…" she said. "After getting shot and lying in bed, Miss Kelly would hold my hand like this, saying it stops the pain and cheers you up. I never told her it still hurt, but it did make me feel better."
Holding his hand, she whispered, "I like you, so I want you to be happy."
Li Yexing froze.
What the hell? I just got healed by a ten-ton, bullet-eating monster girl?
In that moment, his resolve shifted. He wasn't handing her over.
The convoy's security team was wiped out that night. Freeman probably didn't survive the cliff. BSAA was too busy fighting the Tyrant to notice him slip away with the girl. If the client came knocking, he'd say the mission failed, he escaped, and BSAA took the cargo. If they didn't like it, tough luck—this was Roples, a haven for scum. Some shady lab far away had no pull in this cesspool. As for BSAA, they got what they wanted: two Tyrants, taken out after a bloody fight, stopping a new bioterror threat in its tracks. Even if they noticed the third truck was empty, they'd never suspect someone smuggled the cargo out. With Tyrants in the first two trucks, they'd assume the third held another monster, not a girl. They'd sooner believe it was empty. Sure, he'd lose a few hundred grand, but money could be earned again. Silver-haired, red-eyed beauties tailored for otaku? Those didn't come around every day. In the end, everyone got what they wanted—except the inhumane lab that lost its precious cargo.
Everybody wins!
He made his choice.
"T-Lilith…" Li Yexing pulled his hand back, placed both on her shoulders, and looked into her ruby eyes. "My name's Li Yexing. I'm a mercenary. My job's to kill without asking questions. But right now, I want to give you something better. I want you to live happily from now on. I'm not sending you back to that place. I want you to stay with me. I'll cook for you, buy you clothes, and provide for you as long as we're home. Are you… okay with that?"
"T-Lilith, Li Yexing, T-Lilith, Li Yexing…" she murmured, staring into his earnest eyes. Then she spoke. "T-Lilith likes Li Yexing. T-Lilith doesn't want to go back. T-Lilith wants to stay with Li Yexing."
For some reason, her answer lifted a weight off his chest, like confessing to a crush on a rooftop and hearing her joyfully say, "I do."
Li Yexing's face broke into his first real smile in this Resident Evil world.
T-Lilith seemed happy too, thinking her comforting trick worked. She tugged his sleeve, seeking praise. "So, Li Yexing, dinner…"
"Let's get the rice cooking. Tonight, we're having beer-braised chicken wings!"
He rinsed rice, set it to cook, and tossed frozen chicken wings into a metal bowl to thaw. He grabbed two cans of beer, heated oil in a pan, cracked in two eggs, and added diced tomatoes. Soon, the kitchen filled with savory aromas. T-Lilith stood at the doorway, sniffing the air, her red eyes wide.
"Li Yexing, you're amazing…"
Her praise made him grin.
From now on, I'm not alone.
…
In a dim room, a woman in a white lab coat stared at a laptop screen. A blinking red dot pulsed as the map zoomed in, finally stopping. A line of text popped up: "Target Located: Roples, Edonia."
She closed the laptop, the glow in her eyes fading with the screen.
"Found you," she muttered.
Morning came, and Li Yexing was woken by his phone.
Pushing T-Lilith off him, he checked the caller ID: Argall. After a moment, he answered.
"Hey, Argall."
"Damn shame you're still alive," Argall's tired voice came through.
"Job went to hell," Li Yexing said bluntly. "You didn't tell me BSAA was gonna crash the party."
"I didn't know. The client told me jack shit. I thought it was a simple armed escort."
"So my final payment's screwed?"
"Afraid so. The client's pissed. They think I sold them out to BSAA. Hell, do I look like I'd break professional ethics?" Argall griped. "To betray a client, you'd need double their price. That's the rule. BSAA wouldn't pay me that much!"
"Real ethical of you," Li Yexing mocked. A soft hand touched his chest. He looked down to see T-Lilith, sleepy-eyed, staring at him.
"Li Yexing, so noisy…" she mumbled.
"Wait, Li Yexing, is that a woman's voice?" Argall asked. "Just got back and you're already with a girl? Young guys and their stamina."
"None of your damn business. She's not your mama!" Li Yexing snapped, ruffling T-Lilith's hair. She nuzzled his chest, humming contentedly.
"Wash that filthy mouth with soap, you rabid dog," Argall shot back. "But seriously, BSAA took the convoy's cargo, right?"
"More like they blew it to bits," Li Yexing said. "They were hauling two BOWs. I saw those things and booked it. You know you stay as far from that shit as possible."
"Stay far away? Don't want me?" T-Lilith looked up.
"Not you," Li Yexing said, patting her head.
"BOWs…" Argall muttered. "Good thing this went down outside. If Mr. Jobarna found out, I'd be in deep shit."