[TWD x Resident Evil] — Chapter 609 - Telekinesis

"Fluid exchange."

Leon said it plainly, puncturing the thin veil between them without a flicker of hesitation.

"The viral sequence that has evolved to its apex flows through my body."

"Through the most primal method, my genetic sequence gets fused into yours."

"Not only will there be none of the tearing agony of a bite."

"It will also preserve the maximum developmental potential of your body to the fullest."

Leon tilted his head.

"What? Having second thoughts?"

This was an entirely undisguised power play.

You want strength. I want you.

Fair trade. No fine print.

That was simply how this world worked now.

Nothing came free. If you wanted something, you paid for it.

Otherwise, why would he help her for nothing?

Out of the goodness of his heart?

He had always measured every action by one metric: what it returned to him.

Alice stood in place, fingers curling unconsciously around the hem of her skirt.

Her mind was running at full speed.

Any other woman, caught in circumstances like these, might have felt profoundly insulted, might have erupted in curses and called him a shameless bastard.

But this was the apocalypse.

Chastity had its value. But how much value, really?

Far less than something as concrete and real as genuine power.

And besides.

This man in front of her — beyond his extreme ruthlessness — was flawless. In looks, in strength, not a single fault to be found.

Compared to being dragged off by whatever freaks Umbrella Corporation kept on its payroll, strapped to some lab table and sliced apart for research, ending up here was actually the far more sensible outcome.

Only by tying herself completely to him could she get her hands on the virus in that case, which meant acquiring real leverage against Umbrella Corporation directly.

Alice set her jaw. No hesitation. No wasted words. She raised both hands and pinched the shoulder straps of the red silk dress.

The impossibly smooth fabric slid down her pale shoulders and dropped straight to the carpet at her feet.

A body without a single flaw, laid completely bare before Leon.

Those legs, visually devastating in their length, and the exceptionally taut muscle of her waist and abdomen, sculpted by years of nutrient-solution cultivation, radiated a lethal pull.

She made no move to cover herself. Instead, with perfect composure, she stepped forward and placed herself directly in front of him.

Looking down at the man who was about to hold her fate in his hands.

"This is part of the deal too, isn't it?"

Alice's breathing was starting to go shallow.

"Then come."

"Give me what's yours."

Leon watched her fall into line so naturally, and his throat moved.

He had never been any kind of saint unmoved by temptation, and this was a woman of the highest caliber throwing herself at him without reservation.

Truth be told, he'd had his own private reasons from the start.

It was also a second layer of insurance.

This woman was fierce. And decisive.

Leon's hands shot up and hooked around Alice's slender waist, yanking her entire body down onto the sofa, flipping over and pinning her hard beneath him.

"This was your choice."

Even as he said it, his right hand had already moved with practiced ease to tear open his tactical belt.

Alice looked up at that striking face hovering inches from hers. Not a trace of retreat. She tilted her neck up on her own, both arms wrapping around his back.

"Give me strength, Leon."

She breathed it against his ear.

"Make me become like you."

The tearing of fabric and low, breathless sounds wove together in the room.

This collision, built on zero emotional foundation, driven purely by interest and the law of survival, went straight into its most primal and fevered stage.

For Leon, this was a one-sided conquest and act of control.

For Alice.

This was nothing more than the first step she had taken in this godforsaken world, the step from pitiable clone toward something truly her own.

Over the next several hours.

The Mutant genes inside Leon began their silent invasion of Alice's body.

A slow permeation. Cell by cell.

Not until the sky had gone completely black did the sounds in the room finally die.

Alice lay sprawled and boneless across the wide leather sofa, without the strength to lift a single finger.

Leon pulled a blanket over and dropped it across her.

Then, bare-chested, he walked to the liquor cabinet and poured himself another drink.

He could feel it with complete clarity, a brand new node had successfully connected to his brainwave network.

The conversion had gone without a hitch.

From today onward, Alice belonged to him, and him alone, in every sense of the word.

He walked to the coffee table.

Picked up the deep-blue T-Virus sample.

Walked back to the sofa and looked down at Alice, whose very breathing had gone faint and labored.

"Phase one is complete."

Leon held the test tube up and swayed it in front of her eyes.

"Your body has now laid its foundation."

"With my genes inside you, you won't turn into one of those Rotters from viral rejection."

He pressed the test tube into Alice's faintly trembling palm.

Alice closed her fingers around the cold glass, grip tightening.

She could feel something entirely unfamiliar stirring inside her. In that mind which had felt so hollow before, it was as though an invisible fuse had been threaded through.

She knew what it was. The control shackle Leon had left behind.

She didn't care.

As long as she could drive this tube of blue liquid into her body, she would have the foundation to tear everything apart.

"Do it yourself, or shall I help you?"

Leon watched her without expression.

Alice gritted her teeth, braced against the sofa's edge, and slowly pushed herself upright. The blanket slipped, exposing the vivid bruises that marked her.

She picked up the compact injector beside her and snapped the viral sample into place.

No hesitation. She pressed the muzzle directly against her own thigh.

Squeezed the trigger.

The lethal blue compound drove straight into her veins.

A violent searing sensation shot up along the vein toward her heart in an instant.

Alice threw her head back. Every tendon in her neck stood out against the skin.

Her eyes flew wide open, and at the edges of her already-blue irises, a ring of deeply uncanny gold flickered to life.

The mark of perfect evolution.

The light bulb overhead suddenly emitted a CRACK of electrical interference.

The half-glass of whiskey sitting on the coffee table, with no external force acting on it whatsoever, began to tremble violently on its surface.

Leon stood to the side.

He caught the profoundly anomalous mental-force fluctuation spreading through the air with sharp clarity.

Telekinesis.

Already successfully activated, within the mere minutes since the virus entered her body.

As expected. Alice was nothing like ordinary people.

Perhaps when Marcus built her body, he had already used the Progenitor Virus. That would explain the aberration.

This was genuinely excellent news.

Alice was breathing in ragged, heavy gasps.

She looked down at her own hands. The explosive force surging through her veins gave her the delirious sense that she could tear the entire room to pieces.

"Congratulations. You've been reborn."

Leon turned the empty glass between his fingers, the corner of his mouth curving into a satisfied line.

Alice's head snapped up.

Her gaze locked onto the glass door of the solid-wood liquor cabinet 2 meters away.

BANG!

The entire pane, without any physical contact, shattered abruptly into fragments.

Shards flew in every direction.

The several bottles of expensive red wine inside exploded along with it, red liquid splashing across the floor.

Leon felt it with perfect clarity — in the instant Alice exerted her will.

This ability to move objects with thought had been completely duplicated into his own body through the Psychic Link.

He could use Alice as the conduit and wield this power himself in equal measure.

That was the richest prize of all.

An absolutely obedient top-tier enforcer.

Plus a superior supernatural ability, acquired at zero cost.

He was practically drowning in profit.

And on top of that, he seemed to have directly accelerated Alice's evolution, letting her start out in possession of this sky-defying ability from the very beginning.

Going by the original course of events, Leon had figured she would need 2 more years of adjustment before this happened.

Alice looked at the shattered cabinet. Then looked back at Leon, standing there untouched.

She threw off the blanket and stood, letting her body remain bare in the open air, and walked straight over to him.

With complete submissiveness, she wrapped both arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his lower abdomen.

"Thank you."

➤ Next: Surprisingly Useful