[TWD x Resident Evil] — Chapter 755 - A Trip to Antarctica

The dim blue G-Virus serum pushed into Ashley's body, drop by slow drop.

The moment the needle withdrew.

Ashley sucked in a sharp breath.

Her entire body went rigid.

"Ugh — ahh..."

A groan of pain squeezed out from between her clenched teeth.

The G-Virus was brutal and direct about what it did. It tore the original gene chain apart by force, then rebuilt it into something better.

Leon stood at the bedside with his fists clenched so tight his knuckles had gone white. He wasn't breathing.

He stared at Ashley's face.

And then, a miracle.

Right before his eyes, Ashley's sunken cheeks began to fill out, little by little. The paper-white skin flushed with color. Even her swollen belly, veins straining against the surface, stretched so taut it looked ready to split, slowly settled, the tension bleeding out of it.

On the monitors, the numbers that had been spiking wildly started to level off.

"Heart rate normal."

"Blood pressure returning to normal."

"Cell degeneration has stopped! God — the cells are regenerating. Perfectly."

William stared at the display, his voice shaking.

Marcus let out a long breath and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. If the injection had failed, he'd have been finished.

It hadn't.

"She's stable." Marcus turned to Leon. "The G-Virus's regenerative and evolutionary capacity has completely compensated for the energy demands of fetal development. More than that, both the mother's and the fetus's genetic sequences have been positively enhanced."

He looked at Leon.

"Congratulations. Mother and child are both safe — and healthier than anyone."

The nerve that had been stretched to its absolute limit inside Leon finally let go.

He walked to the bedside and leaned down.

Ashley slowly opened her eyes. She released the bedsheet she'd been crushing in her fists, touched her own face, then touched her belly.

"I feel good," she said. "I actually feel good."

She looked up at Leon. Her eyes went red at the rims.

Leon took her hand and brought it to his lips.

"It's over," he said quietly. "All of it. Rest now. Leave the rest to me."

......

A few days later.

Atlanta Prison. Underground Laboratory.

Leon stood before a row of centrifuges.

Alexia Ashford stood quietly at his side in a white lab coat, a stack of record boards in her hands. For the past several days she'd followed Leon's orders without question, working alongside William, Rebekah, and Marcus on the reverse-engineering of the T-Veronica Virus.

The progress wasn't good.

"Hit a wall?" Leon looked at the cloudy liquid churning in the centrifuge tubes and frowned.

Alexia nodded.

"The T-Veronica Virus's genetic sequence is too vast. Too complex." Her tone was completely even. "The complete virus runs through my body, that part is true. But extracting it piece by piece and reformulating it into a base serum ready for injection, using nothing but my memory and verbal descriptions... a truly perfect replication is nearly impossible to achieve that way."

This wasn't sabotage. She wasn't dragging her feet to keep Leon from obtaining T-Veronica. The problem was simply what it was.

Back then, even she had gone to enormous lengths to synthesize it, and she'd had an entire research team behind her.

"Even with talents like William and Marcus, without the original raw data, it would take at least 2 or 3 years of repeated trial and error. And there are details I can't remember clearly anymore."

"2 or 3 years?" Leon shook his head. "I don't even want to wait 2 or 3 months."

The apocalypse could flip overnight. And Umbrella Corporation was still circling Atlanta, watching him with hungry eyes. He needed to complete the T-Veronica fusion fast, push his strength to an absolute ceiling. Once he was strong enough, it didn't matter what new monstrosity Umbrella cooked up. He could ignore all of it.

Alexia paused.

"There is actually a way to solve this immediately."

Leon turned and looked at her.

"Talk."

"Antarctica."

Two syllables.

"Years ago, my father Alexander built a massive secret research base beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, specifically to stay out of Umbrella's upper management's sight. The most original, most comprehensive research manuscripts and experimental data on T-Veronica are preserved there." Her blood-red eyes stayed fixed on Leon. "More importantly, in the deep-freeze storage at the base's lowest level, the finished T-Veronica serum I refined back then is still sealed away."

"Retrieve those materials, and Marcus and the others can formulate a perfect enhancement serum for you in the shortest possible time. One injection, and you get T-Veronica in full. You could even give your companions the same ability."

The Antarctic Research Facility.

Leon's eyes narrowed.

It was a tempting proposition. Original data plus finished serum, that eliminated an enormous amount of wasted effort. Collecting the compounds alone wasn't a simple job, and trying to piece it together himself would be far too cumbersome.

And Antarctica...

The moment the name surfaced, a figure flashed through his mind.

Citizen Z.

The hacker who'd been holed up at a listening post in the frozen wasteland ever since the apocalypse broke, broadcasting survival information to the whole world over radio. Leon had made contact with him through the camp's Radio Station before.

Doing the math now, the temperature in Antarctica was only dropping, and their supplies had to be nearly gone. Citizen Z and Kaya's family, stuck in that isolated frozen world with no outside support, would starve or freeze eventually.

But if the trip was already happening.

Picking them up on the way back cost nothing.

Citizen Z was a top-tier hacker and communications expert. That listening post held military-grade equipment and satellite access with global coverage. Bring the people and the gear back to Atlanta, and the camp would have a worldwide intelligence network overnight.

"Antarctica." Leon rubbed his chin. "You're certain the base is still intact?"

Alexia nodded. "It's deep beneath the ice, extremely well-hidden. Outside the core Ashford family members and the researchers stationed there, no one knows the exact location. And in Antarctica's extreme environment, Walkers can't function. Bring sufficient cold-weather gear and vehicles, and you'll get in."

Leon made his decision on the spot.

He looked at Alexia. "Go get ready. Pick out what you need."

"We leave for Antarctica immediately."

Alexia dipped her head slightly.

"Yes. Understood."

Leon turned and walked out of the lab.

He followed the corridor to the underground central command room. Rick was at the wall, marking the cleanup progress for the surrounding cities. He saw Leon come in and set down his pen.

"Leon. How's Ashley?"

"Completely stable." Leon walked to the table and spread a world map across it. "Rick, notify the logistics department. I need the longest-range heavy transport aircraft we have. Full fuel load."

Rick blinked. "You're heading out again?"

Leon's finger came down on the white expanse at the bottom of the map.

"Antarctica."

Rick didn't ask anything else. He knew how this worked, once Leon decided something, it was decided. And the camp was running smoothly now. Leon could leave without looking back.

"When do we depart?"

"As soon as possible."

➤ Next: Departure