☆ First battle, initial display of talent

Ye Xi was completely unfamiliar with Raccoon City. She had to look at the map every time she walked down a street, and she also had to be vigilant about her surroundings from time to time to avoid being pounced on and bitten on the shoulder by a zombie again. In addition, she was anemic, so Ye Xi's progress was very slow. It was already past four o'clock, and she had only walked a third of the way... Ye Xi looked at her watch and felt a little anxious.

Don't ask Ye Xi where she got her watch; she took it from some ungrateful zombie. The zombie had just emerged from a shop when he bumped into Ye Xi. Ye Xi immediately noticed the Blancpain watch on his wrist—the latest model, no less. And so… the consequences were predictable. How could she waste such a precious watch on a zombie? So Ye Xi first chopped off the zombie's left hand to get the watch, then promptly blew his head off.

In the past, Ye Xi would have been overjoyed to receive such a fine watch, but things were different now. The minute hand on the watch moved at a leisurely pace. Ye Xi desperately wished it could stop and rest, but that was impossible. She could only watch as time slowly slipped away, the sun gradually moved westward, and night fell step by step—as anyone who has seen Resident Evil knows, nighttime is when the climax of the plot arrives, and also… when almost all the citizens of Raccoon City turn into zombies! The longer the time dragged on, the greater the danger would become!

Worse still, Ye Xi now only has one bullet and one grenade left. If she can't find a weapons shop, she will have to rely on a small dagger and hand-to-hand combat, which would be tantamount to a death sentence!

And that damned evolution! Who knows how long it takes to evolve after being infected with the T-virus! But Ye Xi is certain that she will be completely defenseless during her evolution, and it will be the most painful time. At that point, any zombie, even one with severed limbs, can take her life!

"Damn it!" Ye Xi cursed, glaring angrily at the zombies on the next street. She then unfolded the map again and chose a new route to avoid the horde. She'd lost count of how many times she'd had to take this detour; she had to do it to conserve ammo. This damn map showed everything, even the restrooms, but no weapon shops! Isn't it legal for American citizens to carry weapons? Did they really need to be so secretive?!

"Woof...Woof! Woof woof!" A dog's bark suddenly came from behind Ye Xi. Startled, she immediately turned around. It was a small Chihuahua with large, round, bright black eyes like black pearls...if one could ignore the fierce glint in its eyes. It was covered in blood, and one of its hind legs had its leg bone exposed. There was also an unknown blackish-red substance draped over its body, most likely its own skin.

This is a badly bitten zombie Chihuahua, identification complete.

Ye Xi watched it warily, not daring to relax her guard for even a second. Although this zombie dog was small, it gave it a speed advantage. Compared to large dogs, small dogs are harder to spot, and this one had been bitten, so it had no fear or scruples left. Its only concern was blood and human flesh, making it even more difficult to deal with.

Almost simultaneously, Ye Xi and the Chihuahua zombie dog charged at each other. The Chihuahua was very fast, and before Ye Xi could take her third step, it was already close. Ye Xi immediately jumped to the left to avoid its pounce, and before it could turn around, she kicked it, hitting it squarely in the stomach.

The Chihuahua was very light, so it flew off in an instant, and Ye Xi's feet were covered in an unknown, lumpy substance that emitted a nauseating, fishy stench. Before Ye Xi could even shake off what appeared to be the Chihuahua's internal organs, she felt a chill behind her and immediately rolled to the side...

A bloodied cat stood where Ye Xi had just been, glaring at her menacingly.

Ye Xi looked at the Chihuahua running back and the cat that suddenly appeared, and her lips twitched—seriously, when did you cats and dogs get so close, you bastards! Shouldn't you two have fought first to decide who gets the prey?!

The two cats ignored Ye Xi's resentment and pounced on her together. Ye Xi, who was sitting on the ground, didn't have time to stand up and could only roll to the side in a sorry state, but was scratched in the abdomen by the cat's sharp claws.

"Damn it!" Ye Xi was furious and drew her dagger. Although they were small, Ye Xi couldn't charge at them directly with the dagger, but she could wait until they jumped up and then chop off their heads with the dagger.

As Ye Xi watched them leap up again, she didn't dodge this time. Instead, she went straight to meet them, swinging her dagger in a backhand motion, but encountered resistance—the Chihuahua bit the dagger! And the cat, taking advantage of Ye Xi's distraction, bit her arm holding the dagger.

The pain in Ye Xi's arm almost made her drop the dagger, but she finally gripped the weapon tightly and forcefully stabbed the dagger into the Chihuahua's head. Then, with her other hand, she quickly pulled out the gun with only one bullet left and blew the cat's head off.

Damn it, there's not a single bullet left. Ye Xi gritted her teeth and pulled the cat, still clinging to her arm, down. Its teeth were deeply embedded in her arm, so pulling its corpse down almost tore off a chunk of flesh! The feeling of being torn apart alive was so painful it almost drove her crazy, but Ye Xi only whimpered a few times—she didn't want to attract zombies.

So much time wasted on two such weak pets! Ye Xi looked at her bloodied hands, feeling a mix of grievance and resentment—she was still too weak, too weak! That's why she spent so much time on these two. If it were Alice…

Forget it, Ye Xi, you can't become as powerful as Alice. She's the director's wife, and her protagonist aura is incredibly strong.

You've already surpassed yourself, so that's great. You can't be discouraged now!

Ye Xi comforted herself, pulled the dagger out of the Chihuahua's head, shook off the Chihuahua's internal organs from her feet, and immediately left the street.

As it turns out, Dust wasn't such a bad mother after all (seriously). Right after blowing up the heads of two pets, Ye Xi stumbled upon a weapon shop, and a rather large one at that, fully equipped one at that. Although the weapons inside were almost entirely looted by the citizens of Raccoon City, it was enough for Ye Xi.

She ran inside excitedly, locked the door, and used her eyesight to scan the store. After finding nothing red or other unusually colored, Ye Xi rushed forward to pick out a weapon that suited her.

In fact, Ye Xi herself didn't know how to use many weapons, so she simply ignored heavy weapons or weapons with high recoil. She abandoned the pistol that was out of ammunition and picked out two pretty, lightweight women's pistols, tucking them into her waistband. Then she chose a submachine gun and slung it over her back. She then collected almost all the ammunition suitable for these two guns, dividing it into two bags and strapping them to her thighs. Finally, she inserted a dagger into the small compartment strapped to her left thigh.

Ye Xi searched for more bombs, but unfortunately only found one grenade; the others had probably been stolen. She hung it and another grenade on her waist and continued walking until she saw a door. She first peered through the door to check for zombies, and only opened it after confirming it was safe.

The room was filled with cold weapons: axes, samurai swords, nunchucks... Ye Xi could name them all, but there were many more that she couldn't.

It turns out the shop owner is a weapons fanatic. Ye Xi wiped the black lines from her forehead and then decided to pick out a melee weapon she could use. Daggers were too short and could only be used for self-defense, while melee weapons were more suitable for close combat.

Ye Xi glanced around at the weapons in the room, finally fixing her gaze on the Miao sword on the table. Ye Xi remembered how, as a child, she had watched her grandfather wield the Miao sword with such skill, and she had begged him for a long time before he would teach her a few moves… A complex mix of emotions welled up within Ye Xi; she suddenly longed for the past. Before her death, her grandfather had always taught her how to conduct herself and how to be a good person, but now, Ye Xi, driven by the need to survive, had become despicable and selfish, destined to disappoint her grandfather's expectations…

Tears welled up in her eyes without her realizing it. Ye Xi quickly wiped them away and picked up the two Miao swords. The Miao swords were long and slender, with great killing power. Fortunately, Ye Xi had been trained by her grandfather. Although she couldn't wield them as skillfully as her grandfather, at least she wouldn't cut herself. Besides, Ye Xi had been trained by countless zombies, so her flexibility and reaction speed were greatly enhanced.

If one day, I, so despicable and selfish, am unable to survive, then I will apologize to you, Grandpa… Ye Xi smiled slightly, picked up two Miao swords, twirled them, then sheathed them and tucked them into her waistbands, before striding out.

Having just left the room filled with cold weapons, Ye Xi suddenly felt a sharp pain spread throughout her body—evolution? No, impossible, the previous times were definitely not this excruciating pain that felt like it was crushing her bones! Ye Xi covered her mouth and collapsed to the ground, convulsing and whimpering, finally unable to hold on any longer and fainting…

Waking up in a daze, Ye Xi felt sticky all over and immediately woke up to find that it was her own sweat.

Ye Xi got up from the ground and looked in a mirror. The person in the mirror hadn't changed; she still had that endearing appearance.

Hmph, I knew it... Ye Xi immediately looked away. She had no expectation that the damn, useless evolution would bring her any surprises.

It was completely dark outside, and the streetlights automatically turned on. Ye Xi glanced at her watch; it was already 8:15, meaning she had been in the weapon shop for almost four hours! Fortunately, she had locked the door when she came in, and Ye Xi had been almost unconscious for those four hours, so no zombies noticed her or came in.

Ye Xi stretched her now-healed shoulder and then left the weapon shop.

If Ye Xi remembered correctly, Raccoon City would be destroyed by an atomic bomb at dawn tomorrow, so she still had about 10 hours to escape. Ye Xi took out a map, but after searching for a long time, she still couldn't find which neighborhood she was in—she was lost.

Damn it!

Ye Xi discarded the map, chose the opposite direction from where she had come, and cautiously advanced, dual pistols in hand. After about ten minutes, she hadn't seen a single zombie. On this empty street, she was all alone, as if she were the only person left in the entire world. This melodramatic feeling, commonly known as "loneliness," sent a shiver down Ye Xi's spine. She immediately dismissed this cowardly thought and tried to think of something else, such as a question that was more important to her—where had the zombies all gone to congregate?

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Ye Xi put away her twin pistols, rubbed her arms, and then she suddenly felt—she was hungry, really hungry.

Previously, the disgusting-looking zombies had ruined Ye Xi's appetite, but now that she hadn't seen them for a long time, her stomach was gradually returning to normal and began to rumble. However, Ye Xi hadn't seen a single convenience store yet, which made her feel somewhat frustrated and anxious.

Ye Xi didn't know how long she had been searching for the convenience store when she started seeing zombies. At first, there were only one or two, which she didn't care about at all, but later there were more and more of them. Ye Xi went from ignoring them to using a dagger, then a single gun, and finally two guns, but she still couldn't get rid of those damned zombies.

"What the hell!" Ye Xi sensed something was wrong and was about to turn around and choose another street when she found herself surrounded by zombies. The bright red mass, accompanied by a pungent odor, sent a chill down Ye Xi's spine. She looked helplessly ahead. Although the zombies were less numerous in front than behind, Ye Xi could see an increasingly dense horde of zombies in the distance—a vast, red mass, enough to make her legs go weak!

What to do? Ye Xi looked anxiously at the approaching zombies. Should she blast a path with a grenade? No, there was no cover here, and she might get hurt. If she was maimed, she would just have to wait to die. So…

Suddenly, intense gunfire erupted ahead. Hearing the sound, Ye Xi's eyes lit up—there was reinforcements ahead! She immediately sheathed her two pistols, drew two Miao swords, and began to charge forward.

We can't let them get away or die. In this critical moment, every extra person means a greater chance of survival for Ye Xi! Thinking this, Ye Xi ran even faster, wielding her twin swords without hesitation, turning all her defense into offense. Anyway, she didn't care about such a minor injury!

The gunfire grew closer, and the zombies became increasingly dense. A full-on charge without regard for defense was no longer an option, but Ye Xi didn't slow down. She ducked to avoid a zombie's pounce, then rolled on the ground, dodging another's claws, only to be grabbed by another. Before she could get up, Ye Xi released her Miao sword and swiftly drew her dagger, severing the claw gripping her shoulder. Then, Ye Xi raised her Miao sword again, her eyes flashing, and hurled it, piercing the heads of two zombies.

Ye Xi didn't linger. After stabbing the head of the nearest zombie with her dagger, she immediately rushed to the two zombie corpses, gripped the hilt of her sword, and performed a beautiful front flip, drawing her Miao sword. She landed precisely on the two zombies—as if it had been precisely calculated—and stabbed the heads of the two zombies again. Then, she stood up from the zombies that had returned to their normal color, drew her twin swords, and performed a beautiful 360° spin. A zombie head flew off, and within five meters of her, there were no more zombies...

This series of actions suddenly appeared in Ye Xi's mind like a movie, and then her body moved involuntarily. Before she could even react, she had already swiftly killed more than a dozen zombies!

Ye Xi was somewhat surprised but more excited about her sudden transformation into a powerful figure. Only later did she realize that these seemingly difficult moves were skills she had mastered in online games... She felt as if she had returned to the exhilarating days of grinding dungeons. This cathartic and exhilarating combat made Ye Xi feel great. She loved this feeling, this sense of complete freedom.

But she couldn't maintain this state for long. Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit her. She immediately used her Miao sword to support her body, caught her breath, and continued to rush forward—she couldn't rest, the zombies wouldn't give her any time to stop!

The gunfire grew closer, and Ye Xi could almost see several men in special forces uniforms ahead. Special forces… UBCS?! Remembering the plot, Ye Xi felt a surge of joy—if GD attacked them, her chances of survival would definitely increase significantly! And she could simply hide behind them for protection and push the danger onto them! Ye Xi immediately sheathed her twin knives, feigning terror, and shouted at them, “Hey!! Help me!! Help me!!…” Before she could shout more than a few times, she couldn’t make a sound anymore; her head grew heavier and heavier, and her body became increasingly sluggish.

Ye Xi gritted her teeth, mustered her last strength, and rushed towards one of the men closest to her. Then, when she was only three steps away from him, she collapsed and fainted…

Author's Note: Ahh, seeing so many comments makes me so happy! Is it the effect of a curse? (twist) So, two chapters today as a reward! These two chapters are quite substantial! So please don't get emotional after reading them! Otherwise, I'll be heartbroken, and the consequences will be severe! (smile) As for the person Ye Xi finally lunged at, I won't keep you in suspense—it's Uncle Ka! (shrug) So Uncle Ka isn't from STARS; he's from UBCS. It's just that the movie didn't mention it, only the Umbrella Security Forces (←What is this? What is this? It should be the Umbrella Biohazard Emergency Response Force! Ahhh! OJZ) Actually, the 120 people sent to Raccoon City for the rescue were all from UBCS. Don't be fooled by the movie! OJZ Anyway, I'm just mentioning this, don't take it too seriously (hey!!). So, leave your comments, kids! (twist)