113: Chapter 113 Prelude to the Storm

The dead of night at Red Creek Ranch should have been filled only with the rise and fall of insect chirps and the occasional dull sound of cattle hooves.

But tonight, the air here was completely torn apart by the roar of heavy engines.

Three all-black heavy helicopters swept low over the treetops, their massive rotors flattening the pasture grass in unison. Before the cabin doors were even fully open, dozens of USS Soldiers slid down the ropes.

Their movements were uniform and synchronized; upon landing, they quickly dispersed like a group of ghosts emerging from the shadows, taking control of every vantage point.

"Team One, perimeter sensors deployed."

"Team Two, high-definition infrared cameras are online, 100% coverage."

"Team Three, high-voltage electric fence self-test complete, current intensity adjusted to below the lethal threshold."

Cold, robotic reports came over the communication channel.

Marcus stood on a makeshift command tower, binoculars in hand, scanning the thousands of acres of land beneath his feet.

"Move faster," Marcus said with a buzz into his headset. "The boss said that by daybreak, this place needs to be an iron fortress. Those idiots playing at political correctness won't want to see our construction site."

A few minutes later, several automated sorting gates began to operate.

Driven by the USS Soldiers, the tens of thousands of beef cattle originally scattered everywhere were forcibly separated. Those that were smaller and docile were herded into distant pens, while one thousand Angus bulls in their prime, the most robust of the lot, were singled out.

These beasts seemed to sense that the atmosphere was wrong, pawing their hooves uneasily within the reinforced alloy fences, exhaling plumes of hot white steam from their nostrils.

"Dr. Samantha, the actors have been selected," Marcus said, pressing the video call button.

On the other end of the screen, Samantha was sitting in the laboratory at Umbrella Headquarters, with dozens of surveillance monitors in front of her: "Very good. This batch of bulls has very high testosterone levels, making them perfectly suited as carriers for the virus. Begin the injection."

A technical team wearing thick white protective suits walked into the enclosure area.

In their hands, they carried silver cold storage cases, inside which one thousand injection guns filled with a deep red liquid were neatly arranged. It was a variant based on a subspecies of the T-Virus—T-C-01.

"Pfft!"

The first high-pressure injection gun pierced the neck of the lead bull.

The black bull, weighing nearly a ton, shuddered violently and let out a short, mournful cry. Immediately after, the second, the third...

Half an hour later, the injections were complete.

The technical team withdrew, and the alloy gate emitted a heavy, muffled thud as it locked completely.

Chen Feng was sitting in his large office, and on the hundred-inch screen in front of him, the scene at Red Creek Ranch was being broadcast in real-time.

"Boss, the effects of the drug are starting to take hold," Marcus's voice came through the speakers.

On the screen, the herd of bulls, which had been relatively quiet, suddenly fell into chaos.

The first bull that had been injected let out a low roar; the sound didn't sound like a cow at all, but rather carried the hoarseness of a beast. Its already bulging muscles began to swell like a balloon, and the veins beneath its skin bulged one by one, appearing a strange, dark purple.

"Crack—crack—"

That was the sound of bone growth. Under the forced catalysis of the T-Virus, the bone density of these bulls doubled in a short time, and their size grew by a full twenty centimeters.

The most terrifying thing was their eyes.

The originally gentle brown pupils were completely replaced by bloodshot crimson, and under the illumination of the infrared cameras, they exuded a chilling ferocity.

"Bang!"

The lead black bull slammed violently into the alloy fence.

That was special steel capable of withstanding the impact of a heavy truck, yet it was actually dented into a noticeable curve from the impact. Amidst the flying sparks, the black bull seemed not to feel any pain, lowered its head, and crazily rammed into it again.

One thousand mutated bulls going crazy in the pen simultaneously—that kind of vibration was felt even by Sheriff Greg, who was several kilometers away.

"My God..." Greg sat in his patrol car, looking at the flickering red light in the direction of the distant ranch, his palms slick with sweat. "What on earth is Umbrella raising in there? A T-Rex?"

He recalled Chen Feng's earlier warning and silently rolled his car window up a little more.

Chen Feng looked at the violent beasts on the screen, feeling quite satisfied.

"Samantha, the aggression of these things is even stronger than I imagined."

"Adrenaline levels are at least fifty times that of a normal state," Samantha said, monitoring the data in the background. "Their pain nerves are now completely paralyzed. Unless you destroy their brains or hearts, they will keep charging until their muscles completely disintegrate. Boss, are you sure you want to let those civilians face these things?"

"Civilians?" Chen Feng sneered. "Doctor, do you have some misunderstanding of the word 'civilian'? Those are professional protesters who are taking payment to come and destroy Umbrella; they aren't any civilians."

He set down his wine glass and pressed another internal line.

"Tony, is the documentation ready?"

Tony Liu's voice sounded very excited: "Boss, it's been ready for a long time! The elites in the legal department pulled an all-nighter; it's a full fifty-page indictment. The plaintiff is 'Umbrella Agricultural Subsidiary,' and the grounds are: illegal trespassing on private property, intentional destruction of rare scientific research assets, causing major economic losses, and illegal incitement of riots. I've left the defendant column blank; the moment that woman Janet shows her face, I'll fill in her name."

"Remember to attach the receipt for our purchase of the ranch to the first page," Chen Feng reminded him. "I want them to understand that from the moment they cut the first piece of wire fencing, they weren't liberating animals; they were robbing my private property."

Tony chuckled: "Understood! As long as they step one foot into the ranch, I can make them pay until they don't even have their underwear left. Plus, with the blockade order from Sheriff Greg, once these people go in, they'll be like turtles in a jar."

Just then, Marcus's report interrupted the conversation.

"Boss, the fish has taken the bait."

The screen switched.

On the highway ten kilometers away from Red Creek Ranch, a convoy consisting of dozens of buses and pickup trucks was driving along in a grand procession.

The vehicles were covered in all sorts of flashy slogans: "Animals are people too!", "Stop live animal testing!", "Chen Feng is a murderer!".

In the lead convertible jeep, Janet was wearing sunglasses, holding a megaphone in her hand, loudly encouraging the volunteers behind her.

"Family! Do you see the glimmer ahead? That is the call of freedom!"

Janet's voice carried far in the night wind, carrying a nauseatingly self-righteous tone. "Umbrella Corporation thinks they can lock up souls with walls, but they are wrong! Tonight, we will use the shears in our hands to shred their arrogance! We will let thirty thousand suffering creatures run free on the land of Los Angeles!"

The volunteers below cheered wildly, each waving the iron shears and cameras in their hands.

They thought this was a peaceful demonstration destined to go down in history.

They thought the cameras would record the moment of their heroic animal rescue.

They had even already thought of their pose for when they made the headlines tomorrow.

"Expected arrival in half an hour," Marcus reported coldly. "Three in the morning is the time when people are most exhausted, and also the time when they are most excited."

Chen Feng stood up and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

The lights of Los Angeles flickered in the distance, while the wilderness where Red Creek Ranch was located now seemed like a gaping maw, quietly waiting for its prey.

"Marcus, launch all the drones."

He paused, then added: "Tell the USS to act only after they cut the fence. Before that, even if they tear down the gate, don't interfere. Since they want to play, we have to let them set the stage."

"Understood."

The night grew heavier.

Janet's convoy had already driven off the highway and turned onto the dirt road leading to Red Creek Ranch.

Those volunteers had not yet realized that their so-called "rescue operation" was actually a one-way ticket to hell.

And deep inside Red Creek Ranch, those one thousand frenzied bulls with crimson eyes and muscles like steel were staring fixedly at the direction outside the fence, their throats emitting bursts of dull thunder.

The trap had closed completely.

Waiting only for that first crisp sound of wire fencing snapping.

At this moment, Sheriff Greg of the Los Angeles Police Department was sitting at an intersection a few kilometers away, watching Janet's convoy file in.

He extinguished his cigarette and sighed to his deputy beside him.

"Seal off the road. From now on, except for Umbrella's vehicles, don't let even a fly out."

The deputy hesitated: "Sheriff, if a real fight breaks out in there..."

"A fight?" Greg snorted coldly. "That is Umbrella's private property. They're just walking their cows in their own yard, and these people are insisting on rushing in to join the fun; that's their freedom. Our duty is to block traffic, understand?"

"Understood."

Police lights flashed, and road barriers were heavily locked in the middle of the road.

Red Creek Ranch had completely turned into an isolated island.

And in the center of the island, a violent red storm was already poised to strike.