[TWD x Resident Evil] — Chapter 582 - Lisa Trevor

"This is the Nemesis parasite we tested on Lisa."

Leon glanced at the photograph.

A bizarre creature resembling a multi-legged arthropod. Sharp barbed hooks at the ends of every limb. A head covered in dense, fine suckers. Just looking at it turned his stomach.

"Umbrella Corporation poured enormous funding into developing this genetically engineered parasite specifically to grant biological weapons intelligence."

William pointed at the creature in the photo.

"You know the flaw with biological weapons."

"With the early T-Virus, poor fusion would directly cause extreme intellectual degradation in the bioweapon."

"Those early insect-type bioweapons couldn't even tell friend from foe."

"We researchers had no choice but to forcibly implant the Nemesis parasite into those weapons."

"After injection, we found the problem was indeed solved — except the Nemesis made them too intelligent."

"They learned to think. And at critical moments, they would backstab us."

"So we had to rely on computer commands to restrict their cognitive capacity. That's how we ended up with the T-103 Tyrant."

"Don't underestimate the T-103. They're completely different from the T-001 and T-002 you've encountered, ambushes, tactics, retreat. They can do all of it."

"That's entirely thanks to the Nemesis parasite."

Leon nodded.

The T-103 was the mass-production Tyrant model. Nemesis was a specialized upgraded version of the T-103, also known as the Pursuer.

That thing was in a completely different league from a standard mass-production Tyrant.

William turned to the dissection diagrams on the second page.

"The operating mechanism of this parasite is nothing like that of an ordinary parasite."

"Once it enters the body, it immediately burrows through the bloodstream deep into the host's spinal cord."

"There it frantically absorbs T-Virus cells, rapidly grows and expands, and ultimately forms a completely independent neural center."

"It then ruthlessly and completely erodes and supplants the host's original brain functions."

William's tone quickened, turning fervent.

"Once the parasitic takeover succeeds —"

"It will grant the host terrifyingly formidable combat intelligence."

"It can make a biological weapon smarter. Operating complex weapons like rocket launchers and heavy machine guns, no problem."

"It can even grant the host a regenerative capacity far beyond the norm, and the ability to manifest tough strangling tentacles directly from within the body, or other, stranger capabilities."

"Even if the host sustains severe damage, the parasite can trigger a secondary mutation in the host's own body."

Leon narrowed his eyes as he listened.

"What's the drawback?"

He cut straight to the point.

"If the effects are this remarkable, why haven't we seen Umbrella Corporation deploying this parasite weapon all over the world?"

William yanked off his tie and took a deep, heaving breath.

"Because of an extremely lethal rejection response."

"Its physical demands on the host are stringent to an infuriating degree."

"The neural takeover process is extraordinarily violent."

"The vast majority of robust test subjects die of brain shock within 5 minutes of implantation, their brains consumed almost instantly."

William threw the documents onto the table.

"The extremely high fatality rate caused this highly promising project to grind to a complete halt inside the company."

"But I also know that only by fusing it with the Nemesis parasite will the G-Virus be developed to its absolute limit!"

"And the independent neural center the Nemesis produces, it just might be able to make the G-Virus's evolution controllable!"

Leon leaned against the wall.

Dead within 5 minutes.

That meant this parasite had a ferocious survival instinct and aggression to match.

It didn't just want to parasitize. It wanted to usurp the host, become the master of the body itself.

But right now, standing in this room, a completely insane idea surfaced in Leon's mind.

The parasite wanted to seize control of the brain?

For ordinary test subjects, that was a death sentence.

But who was he?

He was the neural mastermind of the entire Mutant Network.

His brain was connected to countless powerful individual consciousnesses.

Ada, Wesker, Ashley, every one of them a top-tier neural synapse node.

He held absolute, unbreakable command authority over every Mutant he had created.

If he simultaneously implanted both the G-Virus and the Nemesis parasite into himself, or into one of his Mutants,

This damned parasite wanted to stage a coup inside the spinal cord?

What would greet it was total obliteration.

Leon could forcibly seize total control of the parasite's independent consciousness. Turn it into a pure intelligence amplifier and physical weapons arsenal. Make it stay tucked in the spine like it was told, providing regeneration and tentacles, instead of coming out to play boss.

Only by fusing a controlled Nemesis parasite with the limitlessly potent G-Virus could one truly touch the pinnacle of biological evolution.

"I can handle the parasite." Leon's tone was flat.

But the absolute confidence underneath it made William pause.

William shook his head. His hands waved aimlessly in the air.

"Not enough."

"Not nearly enough."

He stared at Leon with burning intensity.

"Even if you find a way to tame that parasite, the physical collapse of the body remains an unsolvable problem."

"To be absolutely certain, to fuse two extraordinarily dominant substances within a single body, we must formulate an extremely specialized buffer solvent."

William planted both hands on the table and leaned forward.

"That requires the most perfect experimental specimen."

"The woman I mentioned at the beginning."

"Lisa Trevor."

Leon knew that name all too well.

The daughter of the brilliant architect who built Spencer Mansion. A miserable wretch whom Umbrella Corporation had kept locked underground and tormented for decades. In the end, stripped completely of her sanity, reduced to a terrifying monster that wandered the dark wearing several layers of human skin as a mask.

"She is a true natural-born viral vessel."

William's voice carried undisguised obsession.

"She achieved an extraordinarily rare perfect fusion with a mutant strain of the Progenitor Virus."

"The cellular compatibility of her modified body is frighteningly strong."

"She can form a symbiotic relationship with virtually every known virus in existence."

William knocked hard on the table.

"She not only successfully absorbed the NE-α parasite and gained all its tentacle abilities —"

"Most terrifying of all, she possesses a near-unkillable regenerative capacity."

William swallowed, as if recalling the scenes he had witnessed at the Arklay Research Institute.

"We swept her with large-caliber rifles."

"We pushed her off a cliff."

"We even injected into her veins enough poison to kill dozens of fully grown elephants."

"It didn't work."

"None of it worked."

William spread his hands.

"Her body heals its wounds rapidly every time. It even expels toxins from within. Conventional physical and chemical means simply cannot kill her."

"If we can capture her and extract the perfect symbiotic cells from her body, we can completely eliminate the negative mutations of the G-Virus."

"Perhaps we can also find the fundamental reason why she can absorb viruses, even coexist with them."

"If that can be replicated, it would be an enormous advantage for someone walking the path of viral enhancement."

Leon straightened up.

Spencer Mansion had already been reduced to rubble. She had almost certainly fled long ago.

"Where is she now?" Leon asked.

William shrugged.

"The Underground Research Lab was destroyed by you. A monster of her caliber, no cell could hold her."

He pointed north.

"She hasn't gone far."

"Most likely she's still wandering the outskirts of the Arklay Mountains, or somewhere in the abandoned sewer system under Fort Benning."

Leon nodded.

The next objective had been confirmed.

The Nemesis parasite.

And Lisa Trevor.

➤ Next: Swallowing the Entire Solar Stairway