The wolf eats the deer, the tiger eats the horse, and the eagle eats the snake. An interesting sequence. Without hesitation, Javier pulled a lighter from his pocket and lit the corresponding braziers one by one.
The nearly dried wicks, upon contact with the flame, immediately flickered to life. With a soft poof, the braziers lit up in succession, adding more light to the dark underground. Rebecca and Billy Coen watched Javier's methods and shook their heads helplessly. This guy... was always so clever. The puzzle was solved before it had even begun. But that was fine; it saved them a lot of time.
"Rumble...!"
"Clank, clank—!"
At that moment, a series of huge noises echoed through the air. A hidden stone door was revealed in the wall, serving as their entrance to the next area.
"So easy—!"
"Let's go. Let's see what else is waiting for us."
After showing off his clumsy Chinese-accented English, Javier waved his hand and motioned for Rebecca and Billy to continue deeper. They had already been delayed for too long in this facility. The Ecliptic Express incident happened around 8 p.m., and the S.T.A.R.S. team had arrived at the Arklay Mountains by helicopter around 10 p.m. Now, it was approaching 2 a.m.
If they continued to drag their feet, they might not escape until tomorrow morning. If that happened... the whole of Raccoon City would be in chaos. The entire S.T.A.R.S. team would be unaccounted for, which would cause great alarm for the city's residents and the police department.
It would also attract the attention of the Umbrella Corporation. If Umbrella found out they were investigating the facility, what would be waiting for them upon their escape would not be a hero's reward, but a year-long, all-expenses-paid trip to a high-security prison. To prevent the "ants" beneath them from talking, there was nothing Umbrella wouldn't do...
Therefore, Javier and the others had to race against the clock. They needed to seize the initiative before Umbrella fully realized they were there.
However, this time, the trio was truly surprised. The room they entered was not another disgusting dungeon but a modern military training ground. The dusty stone walls had been replaced with concrete, and red alarm lights were installed at the corners of the corridors. It was far more advanced and cleaner than the last area.
The vast setup was designed for military exercises. Below them were stacks of wooden crates of varying sizes, as well as various railings and concrete walls, arranged like a maze. In fact, it was just like a video game map, with every corner perfect for hiding and crates that served as excellent cover.
It was exactly what it appeared to be: a training facility set up by the Umbrella Corporation to train soldiers to fight B.O.W.s. The narrow tunnels, blocking fences, and assorted wooden crates were all props to be used as cover.
Following a suspended steel walkway along the wall, Javier and the others quickly reached the so-called "training control room." It was an isolated metal container from which they could look down and oversee the entire training ground below. The control panel at the front had a large number of buttons.
It seemed they were used to control the various traps and to release the B.O.W.s into the training ground.
What surprised the trio even more was a weapons storage room connected to the control room. Just like a police department armory, it held dozens of firearms, from assault rifles to shotguns and even sniper rifles, all neatly arranged on the wall.
However, due to the passage of time, decades without maintenance had left the firearms oxidized and covered in rust. The chambers in particular were so rusted that the bullets would probably get stuck. Looking at the countless weapons on the wall, the trio sighed in regret.
If only they were usable!
It would have been a complete resupply. With so many guns, and assault rifles at that, they could each carry two or three. They could walk through the entire facility with no fear of zombies or other monsters. Billy Coen, a former Marine Corps lieutenant, couldn't take his eyes off the weapons. He tried to cock a rifle and discovered the chamber was completely rusted, making it impossible to move. He could only sigh in frustration.
It was a shame. His trusty old Winchester 1887 lever-action shotgun, "The Exorcist," was an antique compared to these modern assault rifles. There was no comparison in power. If he had a choice, he would want more advanced weapons. With only a handgun and an antique shotgun, he couldn't help but feel a little unnerved. At this moment, Billy finally understood Javier's "firepower phobia." It really was a thing; without powerful weapons, you truly lacked confidence!
"But..."
"Even if these guns are useless, the ammo can still be used. The shelf life of bullets is much longer than that of firearms. This is more than enough to replenish our supplies. I've almost used up all the shotgun shells in my backpack, and now I can fill up again. Sweet."
"Don't just stand there. Something is better than nothing. You two should grab some ammo too."
While Billy was still sighing in regret, Javier pulled out the tactical knife from his waistband. The sharp blade flashed with a cold glint as he plunged it into a white wooden crate below the weapon rack. He pried it open with a forceful push. The old wooden crate had already been corroded by time and easily fell apart into splinters.
"Clang... Crack—!!!"
With the crate successfully pried open, Javier nodded in satisfaction. He spun the tactical knife in his hand before sheathing it in his leather scabbard. The combat knife was an essential weapon for every Resident Evil protagonist. In a pinch, it could be incredibly useful, especially when it came to knifing a Tyrant... Ahem, no, no! He meant it was excellent for close-quarters combat when there was no time to reload a firearm.
To be clear, knifing a Tyrant was something other protagonists could do. Javier felt he would never reach that level, especially not like Leon S. Kennedy, who would appear later and possessed what seemed to be a "B.O.W.-killing constitution." Javier had no doubt that if friendly support hadn't arrived, Leon would have hopped on a small box and soloed a boss with just his knife.
As for Javier's own knife, it was a cheap fifty-dollar item from the police department. It had no legendary backstory. It wasn't Marvin's final righteous entrustment or Colonel Krauser's beloved blade. It was just a plain, tetanus-inducing piece of iron. But Javier believed that with enough effort, this knife would also have its own story. Of course... he just hoped it didn't break beforehand.
Because the tip of the knife already seemed to be bending after prying open a single wooden crate. It really was a cheap piece of junk from the police department. Utterly disappointing!
After complaining about his cheap knife, Javier gave up on his dream of becoming a famous knife fighter.
He turned his attention to the wooden crate. Inside were loose bullets of various calibers. While some of the casings were starting to show oil, they were still perfectly usable. American craftsmanship was reliable; the bullets were tough. Most of them were made of brass, a very luxurious choice.
Brass has excellent ductility and flexibility, making it a great material for manufacturing bullets. Brass bullets are also self-lubricating, which greatly reduces barrel damage and extends the life of the firearm. When exposed to high temperatures, brass also has better airtightness and won't crack. These were all the advantages of brass ammunition.
The only downside was that brass was expensive... very expensive.
In China, due to their abundant copper reserves, they were still reluctant to use pure brass for ammunition. They would usually choose copper-plated steel rounds to reduce copper consumption. But the U.S. used brass for all its bullets, which showed just how extravagant they were.
The wooden crates contained a wide variety of ammunition: 7.62mm for sniper rifles and assault rifles, 9mm for common handguns, and shotgun shells. There was a very generous supply of everything. However, there were no magnum rounds. Magnum bullets were too powerful; no instructor would ever let their students train with them.
After this frantic scavenging, Javier's tactical backpack became noticeably heavier. He had used up a lot of ammunition while clearing out the zombies in the facility, and now his supply was full again, giving him a newfound sense of confidence.
His firepower phobia was completely cured. It was a good feeling...
However, this thought immediately sent a shiver down his spine.
He had been so absorbed in the joy of scavenging for supplies that he had completely forgotten a fundamental rule of Resident Evil:
Before a big battle... there will always be supplies!
So many bullets—wasn't that a generous supply? Did this also mean... that a big battle was about to begin? What kind of monster would they be facing? A Tyrant showing up early? Or some other boss?
While Javier was filled with a sense of dread, a document in the corner of the control room caught Rebecca's eye. She picked it up and began to read it. The paper was a user manual for the training ground.
This training ground was where the facility trained soldiers to fight B.O.W.s. However... the document stated that its true purpose was actually to test the B.O.W.s themselves. The facility had no concern for the soldiers; the "training" was merely a cover. Soldiers had proper places to train.
This was simply a field for collecting combat data. They would throw soldiers or prisoners with weapons into the area and then release B.O.W.s to fight them, thereby obtaining real-world combat data. This was the true purpose of the training ground.
As for what kind of B.O.W.s they would be facing, Rebecca had no idea.
But she could at least confirm that if the three of them wanted to leave the training ground and continue deeper, it was inevitable that they would encounter these B.O.W.s. The next passageway was in the lower part of the training ground. It would be a pipe dream to try and get through safely.
"Javier! Billy!"
"You two, come look at this! This isn't a training ground for soldiers; it's a combat data collection field for the B.O.W.s! The researchers here give prisoners or soldiers weapons and throw them down there, then release the B.O.W.s to fight them to get data! If we want to get through here, we have to fight the creatures!"
"What should we do... Should we press the B.O.W. release button on the control panel? Because if we don't do it now, we'll still have to face them when we go down there. Shouldn't we just deal with them from this high ground?"
Rebecca waved her hand, calling Javier and Billy back. She handed them the document she had just found and asked for their opinion. Rebecca herself stood in front of the control panel, looking at the buttons with a helpless expression.
There was no "stop release" button on the control panel. There were only buttons to activate and deactivate the mechanisms. In other words... the B.O.W.s in this training ground were tied to the mechanisms.
If Rebecca and the others wanted to leave and proceed to the next area, they would have to activate the mechanisms, which would likely release the B.O.W.s. Rebecca felt completely helpless; this was something they had to face. There was no way to skip it; the only option was to fight head-on.
"..."
"Then let's do it, Rebecca. Flip every single one of those buttons. Let me see what kind of boss is hiding here. Worst case, I'll send my divine weapon, the RPG, 'Big Banana,' right down its throat. Let's see whose early-game damage is more overpowered."
Facing Rebecca's hesitation, Javier calmly stated his intentions. It was just an early-game boss. He didn't believe his "Big Banana" RPG couldn't take it down.