The Leech Man—also known as Leech Luffy, a super-human rubber-rubber fruit user, nicknamed the Straw Hat Leech. His most famous technique is the Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun. He's one of the most powerful "Super Rookies" in the early stages of Resident Evil 0. With his hideous and disgusting body, he made countless women recoil in disgust.
He was led by Queen Leech Marcus, one of the Four Emperors of Resident Evil 0. To awaken the Leech Man's fighting spirit, Marcus sacrificed dozens of leeches from his arm, saving the Leech Man's life from a vicious human. Whenever someone asked Marcus what happened to the leeches on his arm, his face would light up with pride, and he would state with conviction, "I bet the leeches on my arm on the facility. I believe the Leech Man will become the King!"
And so, the legend of the Leech Man began to spread.
As one of the "Super Rookie" characters in the early stages of Resident Evil 0, the Leech Man's abilities are incredibly troublesome. Even for Javier's "Looting All" pirate crew, facing this difficult enemy required them to be on high alert.
"..."
"What monster is this?"
"It's so gross! What are those twisted muscles all over its body? Are they leeches or just... muscles?"
Upon seeing the Leech Man slowly rise from the shadows, Javier and the others were startled. First the Hunter, and now this Leech Man. How many monsters were in this facility, and why were they all so ugly?
They thought the zombies were bad enough, but they never expected something as disgusting as the Leech Man. Even Rebecca couldn't help but cover her mouth and take a few steps back in utter disgust.
Don't be surprised. Ninety percent of women, upon seeing a tentacle-like monster, will instinctively feel a shiver, get goosebumps, and have their hair stand on end, wanting nothing more than to kill the disgusting creature. As for the other ten percent... well, they might get excited.
As a relatively normal and non-perverted person, Rebecca was definitely in the former group. Faced with this kind of vile monster that only appears in erotic materials, she didn't hesitate for a second. With a look of complete revulsion, she immediately pulled out the handgun from her waist.
"Click!"
"Bang bang bang—!!!"
A series of gunshots rang out. Her police-issued 9mm pistol's trigger was instantly pulled, and dozens of bullets shot out, emptying the magazine in just two seconds. Rebecca wanted to kill the Leech Man immediately. No matter what it was in its past life, she just felt that this thing made her physically uncomfortable.
Javier, on the other hand, helplessly shook his head. He had wanted to stop Rebecca from acting so rashly but didn't expect her to draw her gun so quickly, pulling off a simple yet deadly "shooting-a-hundred-heads" technique, a powerful move that rivaled the one Hercules used to slay the Hydra.
Javier was in awe. He had to admit that while the girl's accuracy wasn't great, her firing speed was insane.
Could it be that she had the "general female revulsion" buff? After all, this was a tentacle-like monster, the public enemy of most women and magical girls. With this buff, Rebecca's insane firing speed was understandable. After all, when Javier gets extremely angry, he gets extremely angry, which is also completely ridiculous!
But Javier forgot to tell Rebecca that the creature in front of them was no minor character. It was one of the wicked "Super Rookies" of Resident Evil 0. It was an incredibly difficult enemy. The number of heroines this thing had brutalized in fan-made stories was countless. You could call it a genuine villain.
And what's more, ordinary bullets could barely harm it. Because its muscles were so twisted, they had an extremely high density. Bullets couldn't create a cavity effect and might even get stuck inside. Therefore, a normal handgun was useless against it!
Unfortunately, by the time Javier thought to warn Rebecca, she had already acted, and countless bullets had already been fired!
"Thud... Thud...!!!"
As Javier had expected, the 9mm bullets didn't cause any serious damage the moment they hit the Leech Man's body. They simply sank into its twisted muscles, and no large amount of blood flowed out. After being pushed back a bit, the Leech Man continued walking toward Rebecca and Javier as if nothing had happened.
Its steps were still shaky, but its occasionally twisting body and randomly flailing rubber-like arms gave off an invisible pressure that made Rebecca feel even more disgusted!
"It... it's coming!"
"Javier, quick, give me a high-explosive grenade! Handgun bullets are useless against this disgusting thing, so I'll blow it up! You still have four grenades left, right? Give me one, I'm going to blow it up!"
Seeing the unharmed Leech Man continue to advance, Rebecca panicked. She grabbed Javier's arm and shook it, her voice agitated. Its ugly appearance made Rebecca imagine being touched and wrapped in its sticky tentacles and the disgusting feeling of it stroking her face. This made her hair stand on end, and she got goosebumps all over.
She absolutely... absolutely could not be caught by this hideous Leech Man!
That's why Rebecca was so frantic, trying to get a high-explosive grenade to blow it up. But Javier immediately stopped her. Are you kidding me, my dear young lady? A high-explosive grenade for a Leech Man? That would be overkill. He was saving those for boss fights.
It wasn't a total loss using one on the Hunter, so Javier didn't mind too much. But this was different. It was just a Leech Man. Was it worth wasting a high-explosive grenade?
"Stop, stop, stop..."
"My dear young lady, this ugly thing is a job for me. You can go rest over there. Billy, get this crazy girl out of here!"
Quickly stopping Rebecca from rummaging through his backpack, Javier threw her toward Billy, who had been watching the show for a while. Recovering his composure, Javier didn't hesitate and quickly pulled out a makeshift Molotov cocktail he had prepared earlier.
"Hiss—!!"
Seeing Javier suddenly step forward, the dark, twisted Leech Man let out a strange cry. It contorted its body and tried to lunge at Javier. Its twisted arms had relaxed and now dangled like rubber ropes, looking ready to unleash a barrage of rapid-fire strikes at any moment.
But Javier wasn't scared. Based on the gasoline cans he had found earlier, he had already poured the fuel evenly into bottles and made makeshift Molotov cocktails with rags. Although simple to make, their power was not to be underestimated, as Molotovs are known for their simplicity and effectiveness.
"Click...!"
"I don't like this dish of 'grenade-roasted leeches.' The ingredients are too expensive. I prefer 'fire-roasted leeches,' it's more authentic!"
Without hesitation, the moment he took out the Molotov, Javier pulled out a lighter and ignited the rag at the bottle's mouth. A flame slowly grew. Javier's eyes narrowed, and with a powerful flick of his arm, he threw the Molotov into the air. He then quickly drew his Desert Eagle from his waist.
"Bang—!!!!"
With a loud roar, a Magnum bullet shot out.
With the same trick he used before, Javier's Desert Eagle bullet hit the Molotov just as it was about to smash into the Leech Man's face. The glass bottle exploded, and the splashing gasoline, when it came into contact with the flame and the expanding air, created a chemical reaction. A ball of fiery inferno instantly erupted.
The blast was as powerful as an incendiary bomb, not just a slow, leisurely burn from a regular Molotov.
The difference was the Magnum bullet's cavity effect, which acted like a blast furnace.
"Sizzle..."
"Boom—!!!"
A roaring fire exploded in an instant.
The dark film storage room was immediately enveloped in the fiery glow. The faces of Javier and his two companions were bathed in a fiery red light. The surrounding temperature seemed to rise dozens of degrees before suddenly dropping. When the flames slowly died down, all that remained on the ground was the scorched corpse of the Leech Man, now completely lifeless.
"..."
"Is this monster really dead?"
Seeing the Leech Man motionless on the ground, Rebecca murmured in doubt. She walked up and gave it a few kicks. Just to be safe, she took out her newly reloaded police pistol and unloaded another clip into the Leech Man's head. Only after confirming it was dead did she put her gun away, satisfied.
This whole series of actions made Javier and Billy exchange glances, their eyes filled with helplessness. Perhaps this was just how women were!
The Leech Man was not afraid of ordinary physical attacks, including handgun, assault rifle, or shotgun fire, but it had one fatal weakness: fire. Flames could easily harm it. After all, rubber melts when it touches fire—a simple principle.
Of course, besides fire, if they had a tranquilizer gun and a large amount of salt water, they could also easily neutralize these monsters. Because leeches are soft-bodied animals, even after being mutated by the T-Virus, their original biological traits had not changed.
Most soft-bodied animals are terrified of salt. Their bodies are mostly composed of water and lack skin. When they come into contact with salt, the higher solute concentration outside their body causes water to osmose outward, accelerating their secretion of mucus until they shrivel and dehydrate to death. Many people treat snails and leeches by sprinkling salt on them, and the creatures seem to melt into a puddle of water because the salt causes them to rapidly dehydrate.
This "melting into a puddle of water" isn't what it seems. A leech or snail is simply like a water balloon filled with water. If it has enough water, it will be bloated. But once you poke a hole and all the water drains out, all that's left is a thin skin, which makes it look as if it has melted.
So, if there had been no fire to deal with the Leech Man, a tranquilizer gun filled with high-concentration salt water could have been a viable weapon. By shooting the salt water into the Leech Man's muscles, it would have quickly died. Unfortunately, Javier didn't have that kind of equipment, so he had to settle for a Molotov cocktail. If he had the chance, he still wanted to try shooting a Leech Man with salt water to see how effective it was.
With the Leech Man successfully dealt with, Javier and Billy ignored the young Rebecca, who was still in her frenzy. They quickly opened the door to the film storage room and continued their exploration.
"Pitter-patter..."
"Pitter-patter..."
"Pitter-patter..."
After a while, they left the film storage room and arrived at a bar. This room was different from the other areas. The lighting was dim but very warm, not the pale yellow of decay, but a warm, vintage yellow.
This place seemed to be a leisure and recreation area for the facility's employees. It had a sophisticated bar counter, standard bar stools, and a large liquor shelf filled with all kinds of expensive, famous wines. The cocktail tools and beautiful wine glasses were still transparent and clean.
On the wall hung a classic dartboard. In a corner were a few decks of poker cards, a roulette wheel, foosball, and a pool table. There was no doubt this was a place for employees to relax and have fun.
The most notable item was the piano in the corner. It was trimmed in black and gold with intricate, beautiful patterns. Although the style was vintage and a bit outdated, its price was surely outrageous. This was a good place. The moment he entered, Javier felt his mind and body slowly start to relax, which was hard to believe.
If only there were some gentle music playing on a vintage record player. That, combined with the warm, dim lighting and the rich aroma of wine in the air, could truly make a person feel at ease. But unfortunately... they were here to explore. Javier quickly shook his head and pushed the thoughts out of his mind.
"It's weird that this place has no zombies."
"Did nobody want to take refuge in the recreation room when the virus leaked? There's food, drinks, and entertainment."
Rebecca, whose focus was completely different, shook her head and complained.