The agreent between Lear and Annette was finalized with sharp efficiency. Ada, who had observed the entire exchange in silence without uttering a single word, remained abnormally calm, leaving Lear feeling sowhat surprised by her restraint.
Once the deal was struck, Lear gestured for Friday to release Annette. True to the truce, Annette rely rubbed her stiff, aching shoulders and wrists, making no attempt to flee.
Noticing Lear's questioning gaze upon her, Ada's lips curled into a faint smile as she broke the silence. "What? Surprised?"
Lear nodded, speaking candidly. "Quite. Knowing what I know of you, I expected that in order to get the G-Virus, you'd at least try to outbid with a higher price for Annette, if not try to stop outright."
Ada didn't respond imdiately. Instead, she turned and walked over to Leon, who was resting against the wall, leaning down to carefully inspect his wounds.
"I may be a spy, but I never make promises I can't keep. What I offered earlier was the ceiling; anything more would be a check I couldn't cash. Besides..."
She gently pressed the dressing around Leon's wound, confirming his condition hadn't worsened, and her voice relaxed significantly. "Besides, I'm certain she wouldn't have agreed to anything I offered. I can see she truly wants to atone—perhaps even to self-destruct. The only reason she struck a deal with you is because of her daughter."
Lear's mind raced as he processed Ada's words. He hadn't expected such an admission from her. In his mind, the current Ada was a strictly neutral figure, soone whose every move should prioritize mission objectives. He didn't think she was ruthless, but he didn't expect her to concede so easily either.
He pondered her motives. Had he been too guarded against her? After all, she was still ultimately one of the "good" characters.
As Lear's thoughts shifted, Leon, slumped against the wall, let out a low groan. His eyes fluttered open, landing first on Ada. He was about to speak when he spotted Annette standing behind them. By reflex, he reached for his gun, but the sudden movent jerked his wounds, causing his face to contort in pain.
"Leon, take it easy!" Ada reacted instantly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder to keep him seated against the wall. Though Leon didn't draw his weapon, he kept a wary eye on Annette.
Lear stepped forward to intervene. "Ms. Birkin has struck a deal with us. Once we're out, she will turn herself in and assist in exposing Umbrella's cris."
With their explanations, Leon slowly began to relax. "What happened? How did she change her mind so fast?"
Ada arched an eyebrow and smiled at Leon. "That would be thanks to Lear's silver tongue. Without it, Ms. Birkin might not have confessed so readily."
As she spoke, she cast a subtle, aningful glance at Lear.
"Also, I have to thank you again, Leon. If it weren't for you, those bullets would have hit ," Ada added, her gratitude sounding genuine.
Her sincerity made Leon scratch his head in embarrassnt, but the mont he raised his arm, the pain from the wound in his back made him hiss through his teeth. "Sss... hah. It's nothing. Anyone would have done the sa in that situation," Leon said, offering Ada a small smile.
As she looked at the young man's sunny grin, Ada's practiced, polite smile faltered for a mont. Then, her expression gradually softened, and her entire aura turned a fraction more gentle.
"Let's put the gratitude aside for a mont. Um... by the way, where are Claire and Alyssa?"
Lear asked the question, awkwardly shattering the strange atmosphere between the two. At his words, Ada imdiately withdrew the genuine emotion she had inadvertently revealed, regaining her calm and composed facade.
"A corridor was blocked when we were coming over, so they had to take a detour. I have a Grapple Gun, so I ca ahead. They should be arriving soon."
Ada turned and answered Lear, then leaned against the wall, clearly done speaking. Leon opened his mouth, but when nothing ca to him after a long mont, he remained silent as well.
As for Annette, she maintained a silent watch throughout. Until she had completely figured out this group's motives and backgrounds, she wouldn't speak easily. A re verbal agreent wasn't enough to make her trust Lear.
The group waited for about ten minutes until the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor. Lear looked toward the noise and saw Claire, in her red jacket, pulling Alyssa along as they ran quickly toward them.
"Whew... Leon, Lear! You're both okay, thank goodness!" Claire panted as she reached them, speaking before she could even catch her breath. Behind her, Alyssa was leaning forward with her hands on her knees, gasping for air. It was clear that an anxious Claire had dragged her along at a full sprint without stopping once.
"We're fine. But looking at Alyssa, it seems she might not be..." The two greeted Claire, and Leon couldn't help but crack a joke.
Realizing what she'd done, Claire turned around and saw that Alyssa looked like she was about to collapse. She apologized hurriedly, but Alyssa waved a hand at her. "Cough, cough... I'm all right. I just haven't run that fast in a long ti. I just need to catch my breath."
Watching the interaction between the two won, Lear and Leon both let out a small laugh, and even the corners of Ada's lips curled up ever so slightly.
After a brief rest to recover their energy, Lear spoke up seriously. "We still need to head to Umbrella's Research Base. Dr. Birkin just ntioned that there's a subway train there that leads directly out of Raccoon City."
Ada nodded in agreent. "Since Annette is willing to testify, our objective has been t. However, it's no longer realistic to double back the way we ca. Our best bet is to head down and take that train."
Lear glanced at Ada out of the corner of his eye, imdiately realizing what she was up to. He wanted William dead, and she wanted the G-Virus down below. However, Lear didn't expose Ada's true motive. The virus had already leaked; whether she took it or not wouldn't change that. He would deal with the future later; the most important thing now was getting out of here.
Leon, Claire, and Alyssa naturally had no objections. They had co down here to help Ada, and in their view, since Annette was willing to turn whistleblower, leaving was obviously the best course of action.
Annette, anwhile, was lost in confused thought. When did I ever tell them there was an underground train leading out of Raccoon City?
Of course, that didn't matter much. Annette knew she had the clearance to set the self-destruct sequence for the Laboratory, making evacuation easy. She just wondered how this man intended to get rid of William, stealing a glance at Lear.
With their own individual thoughts, the group gathered their gear and set off, stepping through the secret door Annette had just opened. Once inside, Lear discovered that the train leading directly to NEST was just a short distance away.
Seeing the train, Lear couldn't help but complain to himself. In the ga, Leon had to take a massive detour to get here, but here it was just behind a door. This was definitely a conspiracy by Capcom.
Just as...
(Translated by yourtl.app)
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