108: Chapter 108 The Will of the Hive, Bloodbath at the Alliance Headquarters

General Antonio Reyes paced back and forth in his office, his leather boots making dull thuds on the wooden floor.

Outside the window, most of the two infantry battalions originally stationed around the headquarters had withdrawn. The empty camp made his eyelids twitch violently. As a veteran who had crawled out of piles of dead bodies, he sensed something unusual—a damp, earthy smell like the air before a torrential rain, suffocating and heavy.

"General, everyone has arrived." The adjutant pushed the door open, his expression unnatural. "The leaders of 'Black Spider,' 'Silver Eagle,' and several other groups are all in the conference room. They have many complaints about Deputy Minister Almeda's absence."

"Even if they have complaints, they'll have to hold them in." General Antonio Reyes pressed his hand against the sidearm at his waist and snorted coldly. "The Deputy Minister's son has been cured; this is a joyous occasion. As long as he remains in his position, we will have our share of the business in Colombia."

He walked to the window and looked at the rainforest in the distance again.

The dark green forest was terrifyingly quiet; not even the sound of birds could be heard.

"Notify them to double the manpower around the conference room," the General ordered. "Also, call the outer outposts and ask about the situation with the withdrawal. I keep feeling like something unclean has crept into this forest."

The adjutant nodded and picked up the walkie-talkie to call.

However, only harsh static came from the walkie-talkie.

"Zzz... Zzz..."

"What's going on?" The General frowned.

"The signal might be jammed." The adjutant tried a few more channels, but it remained deathly silent.

Meanwhile, on a high ground in the rainforest five kilometers from the headquarters.

Dr. Park stood in the shadows of the trees, his eyes flickering with a dim golden light. He was not wearing any communication equipment, but every movement within a radius of several kilometers was clearly presented in his mind.

This feeling was wonderful.

He could feel more than three thousand nodes moving rapidly through the forest. Those infected individuals who were once drug dealers, farmers, or vagrants were now like tentacles extending from his own body.

They didn't need walkie-talkies, tactical hand signals, or even eye contact.

A single thought from Dr. Park was the supreme command.

"Alpha." He whispered in his mind.

"Alpha," lurking beneath the headquarters wall, opened its eyes abruptly. Dark golden light flashed through its wise yet violent eyes.

"Master, please give the order."

"Cut the power, clear the field." Dr. Park issued the command. "Except for those in the conference room."

"Understood."

Inside the headquarters building.

The atmosphere in the conference room had dropped to freezing point. Over a dozen drug lord leaders were gathered together, smoke swirling, and shouting constantly.

"Reyes, you called us here, where is the Deputy Minister?"

"Exactly, I make millions of dollars every minute; am I supposed to wait here for that old man?"

General Antonio Reyes was about to speak when the chandelier above suddenly flickered twice and then went out completely.

The entire headquarters plunged into deathly darkness.

"Fuck! What's going on?"

"Where is the backup power?"

Before anyone could react, uniform footsteps echoed from deep within the building.

It wasn't the chaotic sound of humans running, but rather like some precise mechanical array moving.

"Thump—Thump—Thump—"

Every step landed on everyone's heartbeat.

"People outside! Open fire! Open fire!" General Antonio Reyes roared.

Dense gunfire erupted in the corridor, but it quickly turned into shrill screams.

Antonio Reyes rushed to the window and looked out by the faint moonlight; he saw the most terrifying scene of his life.

Countless figures in tattered clothes were surging over the electrified fence like a tide.

His elite guards were firing wildly at those figures.

Bullets hit those people, splashing blood, and one could even see severed limbs flying.

But those figures didn't stop at all, not even letting out a single scream.

A guard emptied his M16 magazine, watching with his own eyes as a "civilian" with a shattered chest rushed in front of him. The civilian's neck twisted 180 degrees in a bizarre way, and a giant Plaga Parasite body covered in barbs ejected from the broken neck cavity, instantly crushing the guard's skull.

"What... the fuck is this monster?" General Antonio Reyes's hands were trembling.

In the monitoring room, Chen Feng sat on a leather sofa, holding a glass of whiskey with ice.

On the screen in front of him, through the perspective of the Placa host, this one-sided massacre was clearly being broadcast.

"Dr. Park, your little pets are doing well." Chen Feng said lightly into the microphone.

"Thank you for the praise, Boss." Dr. Park's voice echoed in the channel. "The Hive Mind eliminates fear and hesitation. At this moment, these three thousand people are a single entity. They share vision, share pain... oh no, they have no pain."

On the screen, Alpha was leading a six-man squad advancing in the corridor.

They displayed extremely high tactical proficiency. Two infected acted as meat shields in front, and even after being riddled with bullets, they could still throw grenades before falling.

Alpha itself was like a bolt of black lightning; every swing of its military knife took the life of a bodyguard.

It even utilized wall jumps to complete a turn-and-shoot maneuver in mid-air.

"This speed of evolution is truly astonishing." Chen Feng took a sip of wine. "However, those old guys in The Federation seem to want to resist."

At this moment, the conference room door had been locked from the inside. General Antonio Reyes and his confidants were hiding behind the thick bulletproof door, holding various weapons, staring at the entrance in despair.

"Boom!"

With a loud noise, the entire bulletproof door was dented inward instantly, as if hit by a heavy hammer.

General Antonio Reyes fired frantically, sparks flying off the door panel.

Immediately after, a giant fist wrapped in a black leather glove punched straight through the alloy door panel.

With a "click," the door lock was forcibly torn off from the inside.

The door was slowly pushed open.

A two-and-a-half-meter-tall giant wearing a special black trench coat walked in.

Its exposed muscles were as solid as steel cables, and there was no expression on its face.

Tyrant T-501.

Behind the Tyrant were the expressionless Alpha and two squads of fully armed USS Soldiers wearing red goggles.

"Clang."

General Antonio Reyes's gold-rimmed pistol fell to the ground.

He looked at the giant, then at those infected who were like walking corpses, and collapsed into his chair.

"Almeda... he betrayed us." The General muttered to himself, his eyes hollow.

"No, he just chose a more promising boss."

Dr. Park pushed through the crowd and walked in.

He patted the non-existent dust on his suit, walked up to Antonio Reyes, and a gentle smile hung on the corners of his mouth.

"General Antonio Reyes, nice to meet you. I am Dr. Park, Chief Researcher of the South American branch of the Umbrella Corporation."

Antonio Reyes looked at this refined man, his voice hoarse: "What... what exactly do you want? Money? Drug channels? As long as you ask, 'The Federation' can provide it."

"Money? That kind of thing is just a number to us."

Dr. Park leaned down, staring into the General's eyes. Those dark golden pupils made Antonio Reyes feel a shudder from the depths of his soul.

"What we want is the whole world."

Dr. Park straightened up and looked around at the drug lord leaders in the conference room who were usually arrogant.

They were now like a group of lambs waiting to be slaughtered, huddling in the corner and shivering.

"Originally, the only value of you trash was to become fertilizer." Dr. Park pushed his glasses. "But my boss is a merciful person. He thinks rather than rebuilding an underground order, it is better to directly use the existing framework."

"You... you want us to be puppets?" A drug lord asked boldly.

"Puppets? No, that word is too low-level."

Dr. Park took a silver cold storage box from his arms. After opening it, syringes filled with purple liquid were neatly arranged inside.

"What we want to establish is a perfect, efficient, and absolutely loyal ranch."

He picked up a syringe and walked to General Antonio Reyes.

"Now, who is first?"

General Antonio Reyes watched the purple parasite egg squirming slowly in the liquid and struggled frantically: "No! Kill me! Just kill me!"

"Don't rush, General." Dr. Park's hand was as steady as a mountain. "You will live longer and healthier than before. You will even feel an unprecedented clarity."

He slammed the needle into the back of Antonio Reyes's neck.

"Ah—!"

The shrill scream echoed in the conference room, but it quickly subsided.

Antonio Reyes's body twitched violently a few times, his originally cloudy eyes gradually filled with bloodshot, and finally condensed into a faint golden ring.

He stood up slowly, his original anger, unwillingness, and despair disappearing without a trace.

He bowed to Dr. Park, his voice calm without a ripple.

"Master."

The other drug lords saw this scene and were scared out of their wits; some even peed their pants on the spot.

But the USS Soldiers did not give them a chance to escape.

Under the absolute power suppression of the Tyrant, everyone was forcibly pressed to the ground, accepting that gift that could not be refused.

Half an hour later.

The smoke in the conference room gradually dissipated.

The originally tense venue became exceptionally quiet.

All the leaders stood neatly behind Dr. Park, like a group of the most devout believers.

Dr. Park walked to the window, looking at the thousands of infected who had stopped killing and stood quietly in the moonlight outside.

He connected to Chen Feng's communication.

"Boss, cleanup is complete. 'The Federation' has been merged into the Ranch Project. From now on, every gram of goods flowing from Colombia to the international market, and every cent of capital coming in, is under our control."

On the other side of the screen, Chen Feng put down his wine glass.

"Very good, Dr. Park. You have proven your value."

"Next, let these seeds return. I want to see the entire South American underground world dyed in the colors of Umbrella within three months."

"Understood, Boss."

Dr. Park cut off the communication and turned to look at Antonio Reyes.

"General, go back and continue your exercise. Tell the Ministry of Defense that the rebellion within The Federation has been quelled, and you now have absolute control over the situation."

"Yes, Master." Antonio Reyes answered mechanically.

"Also, send all those disobedient consumables to the warehouse and prepare to transport them back to headquarters."

"Understood."

With a thought from Dr. Park, the thousands of infected standing in the rainforest disappeared into the depths of the dense forest like the ebbing tide.

The rainforest returned to its usual tranquility, as if the bloody massacre had never happened.

But everyone knew that the old era of Colombia had completely ended.

Under the cover of the dense rainforest, a huge biochemical empire connected by the Hive Mind was spreading crazily toward the entire American continent like cancer cells.

And the operator of all this, Chen Feng, had returned to the U Federation and was sitting in his office in Los Angeles, looking at the rapidly increasing values on the system panel.

[System Prompt: Main quest "Colombia Ranch" progress reached.]

[Plaga Parasite research progress: 95%...]

[Ultimate project "Eternal" unlocking conditions are about to be met.]