Taking all of that in, Sherry could only look at Rian with wide, questioning eyes—her gaze reflecting confusion and curiosity all at once.
But Rian didn't push her.
The decision was entirely Sherry's to make—whether she wanted to join the organization or not.
And even if she chose not to, the weekly allowance and the interface glasses would still be hers… because from this moment on, she was part of Rian's family.
Hearing that, Sherry froze for a second, then gave a small, quiet nod—an unspoken sign of acceptance.
With that, the meeting between Rian and Sherry came to an end.
Throughout the entire time, from start to finish, Fear simply sat beside Rian—calm, silent, and happily munching her rice crackers as if everything happening around her was nothing more than light entertainment.
***
A full day had passed in the world of Resident Evil. Now it was the final day before Rian returned to the Infinity Room to take care of his remaining business.
But before that, there was one last objective: grinding Exp.
At this moment, Rian, Fear, and Alice were standing on the beach of a remote island—an isolated landmass in the middle of a vast ocean, protected by the combined powers of the Time and Space Stones.
The island appeared natural, with lush trees and soft white sand, but in truth, it was not a product of nature… and certainly not something bought with Rian's near–limitless wealth.
Quite the opposite: the island was constructed by Alice, built alongside the hidden base lying directly beneath its surface.
The island stood on an unusual foundation—a massive cubic structure spanning 390 square kilometers.
Rising from the ocean floor all the way to the surface, it resembled a colossal monolith disguising itself beneath the waves and tropical sky.
Not a natural landmass. Not soil, not concrete, not coral formed through sedimentation.
Its foundation was forged from meteor stone—ancient material taken from the core of asteroids, refined and compacted with precision by Alice.
Using the Space Stone, Alice opened a spatial rift leading directly to the asteroid belt beyond Earth's atmosphere.
From there, she carefully selected specific meteor fragments—those with exceptional density, natural structural stability, and completely free from elements harmful to Earth's environment.
According to her calculations, meteor stone was the ideal foundation material: harder than steel, capable of withstanding extreme pressure, chemically inert, and entirely eco-friendly.
After all, the universe had plenty of "wild rocks" lying around. At least, that was Alice's reasoning when she brought them to Earth.
With ease, Alice compressed, aligned, and fused dozens of meteor fragments into a single solid cube.
The result: a structure nearly seamless, flawless, and possessing perfect resonance with Earth's gravitational and magnetic fields.
The outer layer of the structure was also coated with a nano-ceramic material infused with plasma ions, engineered to resist oceanic corrosion and distribute hydrostatic pressure evenly across its entire surface.
And just beneath the island's surface… a high-tech underground base lay hidden.
Gaining such an astonishing island out of nowhere, Rian could only shake his head, utterly baffled by Alice.
Setting aside the previous matter, Rian turned toward Fear, who was sitting not far beside him.
"Fear… are you sure?" Rian asked softly, his voice gentle but carrying firm resolve. "You know, right? I will use you… to take the lives of other living beings."
Fear looked up, meeting Rian's gaze without a trace of hesitation.
"As long as they deserve to die… not good people, and not monsters who only want to live… I'm willing to be your weapon."
Then, slowly lowering her head, her gaze dropped to the white sand beneath her feet. Her voice softened, barely audible.
"…but… if possible… don't use me too often…"
Before Fear could finish her sentence, Rian's hand reached out, gently brushing through the silver hair of the girl beside him.
"I know," he said with a warm smile. "And don't forget… your curse will never work on me."
Fear didn't respond. But the soft pink blooming across her cheeks, and the way her eyes no longer tried to hide the comfort she felt, spoke more than words ever could.
Seeing Fear's reaction, Rian shifted his gaze toward Alice, who hovered calmly on his other side.
"Alice, from now on… release all the exp livestock," Rian said with a faint, knowing smirk.
"Yes, Father," Alice replied obediently. But before acting, she added, "Ah, before that… there is something Alice wants to give you."
Rian raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what is it?"
Without answering directly, Alice opened a portal—shaped like a swirling vortex of blue cosmic clouds, streaked with lightning around its edges.
From within the portal, a simple silver ring emerged. It looked like it was designed for a man, yet something about it was far from ordinary: the ring was encircled with runes glowing in six different colors, radiating a unique aura.
"Besides having massive storage capacity," Alice said, "this ring can also store me… and grants access to the Infinity Stone's powers."
"I call it the Infinity Ring," she continued, her tone filled with pride. "Ah, one more thing… the ring can also conceal Father's aura as the successor of Antares."
With a slight focus, Rian examined the ring's details using the Envoy System within him.
Ding!
__________________
Rank: Silver
Type: Accessory
Effects: A part of Alice's body, containing a 100-cubic-meter space that can store anything — including Alice herself.
__________________
Because it is a part of Alice, the user can access a portion of the Infinity Stone's cosmic power within certain limits.
After reading the full description, a faint smile appeared on Rian's lips, and one word echoed in his mind: "Amazing. So that means Alice is at Tier 2… stronger, or perhaps on par with Ophis?"
Satisfied with the item's details, Rian closed the interface.
His right hand extended, taking the floating Infinity Ring before him — a simple silver band etched with six softly glowing runes.
Without any further hesitation, Rian transferred the entire contents of his void ring into the new one, then slipped it onto the ring finger of his right hand.
Once he was finished, Alice moved on to the next phase.
"Beginning the summoning," she whispered, and the cosmic portal opened once more—swirls of blue mist merging with crackling lightning that tore across the air.
From within the portal, shapes began to emerge one by one. They resembled dogs, yet their bodies were covered in scars, torn skin, and glowing dark-red eyes.
But these were not simple infected creatures. Alice had merged the C-Virus, canine DNA, and the Plaga parasite in her bio-engineering process, creating a B.O.W. purely synthesized from three sources of bioterror technology.
The result: highly efficient, brutal, and fully controlled "exp livestock."
Fear, standing on Rian's right, frowned deeply. Her expression showed disgust… and a trace of pity.
The mutant dogs were far too grotesque—skin flayed open, teeth jutting out unnaturally, eyes devoid of any soul.
But because they were not natural creatures—merely artificial beings created by Alice—Fear had no hesitation in letting them be slaughtered.
Rian stepped forward, and Fear moved beside him.
"Fear, let's begin," Rian said softly, his eyes fixed on the pack of B.O.W.s.
Fear closed her eyes for a brief moment. In an instant, her small body began to glow, dissolving into fragments of deep blue light that swirled gently in the air.
The light slowly condensed, flowing toward Rian's open palm and forming a small cube of blackish-blue: solid, cold, and heavy with dense dark energy.
Rian gazed calmly at the cube. His fingers moved swiftly across its surface, as if typing commands on an invisible keyboard.
"Emulation Start – Mechanism No.20: A Hatchet of Lingchi. Curse Calling."
The moment those flat, emotionless words left his lips, a dark blue magic circle manifested in the air.
From within it rose a towering pillar of deep blue steel, which immediately split into four restraining clamps.
At its center, a cleaver materialized—arm-length, blackish-blue in color, with asymmetrical glowing blue lines running across its surface like living streams of curses.
There was a reason Rian could wield Fear, even though she was technically a Bronze-ranked Equipment, while Rian himself was only at Rank 5.
The reason was simple: Fear wasn't ordinary Equipment. She possessed consciousness—a living entity capable of choosing her own master.
Thanks to Fear's own permission, Rian was able to access her power.
Even if limited, it was already extraordinary—especially considering Rian hadn't yet reached Rank 4, the level technically required to wield Equipment of her class.
Ghastly growls accompanied the lumbering steps of the zombie dogs as they advanced, all of them fully controlled by Alice.
Rian moved with the Lingchi hatchet in his right hand, dancing through a flawless symphony of slaughter as he cut down the creatures one after another.
For reference, Fear's human-form attribute data—without activating any Emulation Cursed Tool—was: STR: 20 | VIT: 20 | AGI: 20 | INT: 1 | Total: 60 attribute points.