After retrieving the battery, Javier and the others did one more thorough search of the secret wine cellar, but unfortunately, there didn't seem to be anything else of use besides the large battery.
With no other choice, the trio regretfully abandoned the wine cellar and the piano, continuing on to the next room. Javier could only stuff a few bottles into his backpack, lamenting how great it would have been if he could have taken them all.
"Click..."
"Clang—!"
As the door handle turned once more, the next room was revealed to Javier and his companions. Just before, it was a recreation bar; this place was a workshop. There were all sorts of lathes and machines piled up, seemingly used for processing various objects. There were also some carved rejects on the floor.
In the corner of one of the workbenches stood a few heavy, huge steel clamps holding a stone tablet. It was the Obedience Stone, one of the three they were looking for.
They already had the Unity Stone, and with the Obedience Stone, they only needed one more—the Discipline Stone—to complete the set. The process wasn't too difficult, but the Obedience Stone was stuck tightly in the steel clamps and was very difficult to remove. Forcing it out would have broken the tablet.
After searching the workshop for a long time, the trio finally found an iron handle to pry open the steel clamps and retrieve the Obedience Stone. All that was left was to find the last one.
Taking the tablet, they returned to the main hall of the facility. There was a second Knight's Door here. The previous one, in the meeting room, led to an emergency corridor and Marcus's office.
This new Knight's Door was a back entrance that led to the exterior of the facility. If they could get outside, could they escape?
No. While that was the idea, in reality, it was incredibly frustrating. The area the Knight's Door led to was still blocked by a tall iron fence that was impossible to climb. And the main bridge to the facility was already destroyed. Even if they got out, they would still be trapped within the facility's grounds.
Furthermore, there were still many things Javier and his companions needed to explore inside the facility. They had to find powerful evidence to prove the Umbrella Corporation's crimes. Therefore, Javier's team could not leave yet. If they couldn't escape from the front, maybe there was another way out through a different passage.
"Wait a minute..."
"Javier, Billy, come here. There's an old lift here that doesn't use the shared power source. It uses its own separate power source. I knew the battery I was carrying would be useful, and it fits perfectly."
Rebecca's eyes lit up as she looked at the lift with its yellow and black warning tape. Her voice was slightly excited. Her intuition was right again!
The three of them walked outside the facility, breathing in the fresh air. Even though the outside was still blocked by heavy iron fences and the surroundings were barren, covered in moss and weeds, it didn't affect the trio's mood. After all, being outside was much more comfortable than being stuck inside the facility. The interior was simply too suffocating.
Javier and Billy were slightly surprised by Rebecca's discovery. They had been wondering why Rebecca was carrying such a heavy battery, and it turned out to be useful. It was hard to tell if it was a coincidence or if it was designed to be a part of the puzzle.
"Click..."
With a clear sound, the battery was successfully installed in the lift's power supply. Although the lift was old, it still worked. There was still a lot of power in the battery. The moment it was installed, the lift's red operational light began to flash, indicating that the lift was working and could be used.
Without hesitation, Rebecca pulled the lever. The entire lift began to operate. In no time at all, the platform reached the ground level where the three of them were. There was also a wooden crate blocking the top of the lift.
This seemed to be another hint. Javier and Billy worked together to push the wooden crate out of the way, and then told Rebecca to get on the lift to see what was at the top.
"Whirr..."
The lift started up again. In a short while, Rebecca successfully reached the top. However, the lift didn't lead to another floor of the facility; it only went to the rooftop. It seemed this lift was simply a device used by workers to repair the facility's roof and nothing more.
"What's this..."
"So there's nothing here?"
After reaching the top, Rebecca scanned the area with her sharp eyes and found nothing of note. Her face immediately fell, and she complained, looking disappointed. Had she been wrong? Was this just a normal lift and not a clue?
Just as she was thinking this, her eyes involuntarily glanced at a corner of the rooftop. There, a silver-white stone tablet was sitting, exceptionally noticeable on the empty rooftop. It was clearly the last tablet Javier's team was looking for, the Discipline Stone!
"Hey!"
"Javier, Billy, I found it, I found it! The last tablet was hidden here! I knew this lift had to be a part of the puzzle. But are the people who built this place so boring? Hiding the last tablet up here? What if the wind blows it away?"
The moment she found the Discipline Stone, a look of joy appeared on Rebecca's face, and she excitedly shouted down to Javier and Billy. It seemed she wasn't so useless after all. At least this time, she had found the tablet all on her own!
Thinking this, Rebecca's face was filled with pride.
Javier and Billy were naturally very surprised. They looked at each other, their eyes full of confusion. Indeed, who would have thought the last tablet would be hidden here, found by Rebecca all by herself?
(Author's Note: In the original game, the final Discipline Stone is hidden on top of a stone pillar next to the lift. You have to lower the lift, push a wooden crate to the pillar, and then use the crate to climb up and get the tablet. That's even more confusing than my version of hiding it on the rooftop. If it weren't for the item's flashing visual hint, no one would have noticed it, not to mention the fixed camera angles of the older Resident Evil games made it even more frustrating.)
"Is this the last Discipline Stone?"
"You really are lucky, girl. I can't believe you found it so easily. You're amazing! All the credit for this one is yours, Rebecca."
Looking at the last silver-white tablet in her hand, Javier couldn't help but sigh. The first two tablets required them to solve a puzzle or kill a Hunter to get them, but Rebecca had found this one so easily. She was the king of finding things! He and Billy simply couldn't compete with her luck.
Hearing Javier's praise, Rebecca once again lifted her proud head, looking very pleased with herself.
"That's all well and good,"
"But where are we supposed to put these tablets? The previous Good and Evil Statues had the Goddess of the Scales statue. So where is the corresponding mechanism for these three tablets? We've searched everywhere and haven't found anything similar."
Joy aside, the taciturn Billy Coen pointed out the final problem. They had no idea how to use these three tablets. They needed a hint! Without a place to put them, what was the difference between these tablets and useless rocks? They would be completely worthless.
However, Javier, who was good at identifying missing pieces, quickly thought of a solution. If Rebecca was the king of lucky finds and Billy was an expert at getting straight to the point, then Javier was the king of improvisation.
Quickly rummaging through his lazy memory, Javier found one last place they hadn't been to.
"Snap!"
"I've got it! Did you forget? We haven't opened the last Knight's Door yet! It's on the second floor, right by the waste pool where we fought the giant centipede. We couldn't open it before because we didn't have the key, but we can now."
Javier snapped his fingers as a flash of inspiration hit him. This reminder made Billy and Rebecca realize he was right. The giant centipede by the waste pool was the first boss they had encountered, and at the time, they didn't know the Knight's Doors could be opened, so they had overlooked it. Only now did they remember.
"Let's go, let's go..."
"Let's go check out the last puzzle. I have a feeling... we'll be able to leave this area now."
Without wasting any time, with the final Discipline Stone in hand and a guess as to where it went, the trio quickly made their way to the second-floor waste pool. As expected, there was a Knight's Door there. The iron sword in the knight's hand was now gone, which meant they could open the door!
"Whirr..."
"Clang—!"
Without any hesitation, Javier pushed the rusty green iron door open with all his might. What greeted them was a steel fortress. Yes, it wasn't a room. It was the interior of a steel pillbox. The walls were reinforced with countless steel rods, and a massive, pitch-black cannon stood in the center. The cannon's muzzle was terrifyingly large. Javier estimated it could probably blow away a hill. Below the cannon was a control platform with three grooves carved into it, matching the three stone tablets Javier's team had collected.
There was no doubt about it, the three stone tablets were the key to operating the pillbox. The use of a weapon required three separate stones to unlock it. He didn't know whether to call the person who designed this facility's puzzles a hardcore gamer or just an old-fashioned eccentric.
Obedience, Discipline, Unity.
The three stone tablets were placed into the grooves in order. Javier extended his hand and slowly pressed the button. Although he didn't know what would happen, he had no choice but to take a chance.
"Click!"
"Boom... rumble...!!!"
As the button was pressed, the entire pillbox mechanism started up again. A violent roar continued to sound, like an earthquake. The steel beneath their feet rattled, and the entire pillbox began to shake as if it had activated some kind of machine.
And that's exactly what was happening. Javier's team, inside the pillbox, had no idea what was going on outside. But outside, the pillbox they were in was a tall steel fortress surrounded by a lake, with the fortress standing in the center. As the mechanism operated, the tall steel fortress slowly lowered itself, causing the lake's water to rush around it. The fortress began to move to a level close to the water's surface.
"..."
After an unknown amount of time, the violent trembling finally stopped. It was as if it was all over. Javier's team's expressions changed slightly, and they walked toward the other iron door of the fortress. This was the exit, but they had no idea what was outside. At this point, it didn't matter anymore.
"Phew..."
Taking a deep breath, Javier took the lead as always. He gripped the iron door handle and pushed with all his might. The iron door of the pillbox fortress was opened once again.
"Clang!"
With another clear sound, this time, instead of an ambush, they were greeted by a refreshing evening breeze. Looking out, the pillbox fortress was connected to a stone bridge that lay above the lake. With this bridge, Javier and his companions could reach a new area!
Javier's premonition was correct. They could indeed leave the old facility hall and reach a new region. This was something Javier had been looking forward to for a long time. After all, they couldn't be trapped in that place forever; they had already wasted too much time!
"Hmm...?"
"Is that a church... or something else?"
As the trio marveled at the new view, Javier's eyes narrowed as he looked ahead. He quickly saw a huge building at the end of the stone bridge. It was a church that was still giving off a warm, yellow light. However... it was quite odd that the facility would have a church.
A group of scientists who specialized in studying viruses were materialists. They believed in science and themselves. In ancient times, they would have been considered heretics who rebelled against God.
And now, these very scientists had a church next to their facility. Tsk! How could you explain it? Could you imagine a group of materialistic scientists suddenly believing in ghosts and spirits, praying to God, Jesus, and Buddha for help?
It was laughable. Were they trying to pray to Jesus for forgiveness because they had killed many innocent people with their virus research? If so, that would be incredibly ironic!