[TWD x Resident Evil] — Chapter 492 - The Use of Tentacles

On the other side, Candice pulled off her goggles.

"Success."

"I analyzed your blood. Rebekah's earlier hypothesis was correct."

"Your body now carries the T-Virus, and it shares the same origin as the virus inside the Leech Queen."

"Which means from now on, you can establish this kind of master-servant relationship with any T-Virus infected organism. I guarantee it."

Leon let out a slow breath. His cheat was back online.

"So I can control the Runners too? The ones infected by the T-Virus?"

Candice nodded.

Not only could he control T-Virus infecteds, he could do it more easily, and hold them more firmly, than before.

Leon walked over to the incubator and lifted the Leech Queen out.

He turned it over in his hand for a moment.

No. He'd keep this on him.

This thing was a top-tier researcher's life, contained in one small organism. He wasn't afraid of Marcus, under control, causing problems. He was afraid of someone else getting to it first. If Marcus died, Ashley was gone with him.

He slipped the Leech Queen into a waterproof tactical pouch, zipped it shut, and pressed it flat against his body.

His insurance policy. Marcus's leash.

He walked out.

"Boss, you seriously gonna carry that thing around all the time?"

Merle materialized at his elbow, face twisted with open disgust.

"Thing looks fucking revolting. What happens when it pops out a litter in your pocket one day?"

Leon glanced at him.

What a goddamn talent.

If it were Leon himself, he could live a hundred years and never come up with something that beautifully deranged.

He could feel it now. A strange, low hum of connection.

Through the core leech, he could sense Marcus moving in the lab, every shift of that vast, leech-built body. Even the residual leeches down in the sewers, the ones T-Dog and the others were still chasing with flamethrowers. He could feel their fear. Their frantic, scattering struggle.

An unprecedented sense of control settled into his chest like a stone dropping into still water.

If he wanted, right now, he could turn those leeches around and send them straight at T-Dog's group.

The thought surfaced.

He put it down.

...

The sewers.

A wall of heat and the reek of scorched flesh hit the moment you stepped down.

T-Dog hauled the flamethrower's fuel canister, cursing under his breath as he pushed forward through the dark.

"Damn. Not even rats left in this hole. These slimy bastards ate every last one."

The survivors behind him moved with the faces of men counting the minutes until they could die somewhere nicer. They had shovels. Their job was to scrape charred leech husks off the ground and into buckets.

"Let's get this done. I don't want to spend one more fucking second down here."

T-Dog reached for the flamethrower valve. One last cluster of leeches still twitching in the corner. He was going to end them.

"Hold on."

Leon's voice came from behind.

T-Dog jerked. His hand slipped. Nearly sent the fuel canister clattering across the floor.

"B-Boss? What are you doing down here? It's filthy, you shouldn't—"

"Head up." Leon waved them off. "All of you. I've got this."

"Huh?" T-Dog stared at him.

"Boss, these things—"

"Go. Handle something else."

"...Okay."

T-Dog traded a look with the others. Nobody asked. They climbed the ladder, one after another, until the sound of boots on metal faded and the sewer went quiet.

Just Leon.

He stood in the stagnant, filthy water and looked at the last cluster of leeches huddled in the corner, trembling.

He closed his eyes.

The connection came back, cleaner and stronger than before. Distance had been narrowing it. Up close, it was almost too clear.

He could feel every single leech. Their pulse. Their hunger. Their fear. Their instinct, stripped down to its most basic command.

Submit.

Leon focused and sent a single, wordless instruction.

Come.

The black mass in the corner shuddered.

Then, like troops receiving an order, they moved. Not the mindless, directionless crawl from before. Organized. Coordinated. They swarmed toward him in a single, unified current.

They reached his feet and kept going, climbing over his boots, up the legs of his pants. The sensation was wet and dense, every surface dragging against every other surface. Anyone else would have been off that ladder before the first leech cleared their ankle.

Leon didn't move.

He extended his right hand.

The leeches read him. They poured onto his arm and began to stack, to compress, to reshape. Building fast.

It took maybe 10 seconds.

A tentacle extended from his right arm. 2 meters long, black, its surface alive with movement, the tip already splitting into separate, flexible fingers.

Identical to the tentacles Marcus used in his leech form.

Leon gave a thought, nothing more.

The tentacle swung. Easy, responsive, like moving his own arm. It curled around a loose brick on the ground and lifted it.

Force behind it. Serious force, far more than he'd expected.

"Hell."

Even Leon had to say it.

This was better than any whip, any rope, any grapple line he'd ever used. Ambushes. Assassinations. Restraints. The applications lit up in his mind, one after another, a dozen before he'd finished the thought.

This was a whole new cheat unlocked.

He started thinking about whether to breed a dedicated nest of them. Keep a reserve. Have them ready for combat.

"I'd advise you not to get too attached to that."

The voice came from behind him.

Leon didn't turn around. He already knew Marcus was there.

Marcus stepped closer and pointed at the tentacle on Leon's arm.

"You're using my core, your remote control — to direct these individual units."

"That drains my focus significantly."

Those dark-gold eyes settled on Leon, flat and steady, the warning threaded underneath the calm.

"I need absolute concentration to save that girl."

"Every minute you spend playing down here, she moves one step closer to dying."

"You are spending her life to satisfy your own curiosity."

The tentacle came apart instantly. Hundreds of leeches dropped to the concrete and scattered into the dark.

"Fine. I'm done." Leon lowered his arm and turned for the stairs. "Whatever the lab needs, put a list together for Candice."

➤ Next: A More Lenient Mutant Link