"Jobarna? That blonde Italian mafia guy?"
"Yeah, that Italian prick…" Argall replied. "Anyway, nothing else to say. Just needed the mission details to smooth things over with the client. Since they were hauling that kind of stuff, I've got some leverage. They won't dare make a fuss."
"If that's it, I'm out. Got my hands full." Li Yexing hung up. Lilith nuzzled his chest gently.
"Li Yexing, breakfast."
"Eggs, bacon, toast, and I'll heat you some milk."
[Changed T-Lilith to only Lilith]
He patted Lilith's head, got out of bed, and stretched, his joints popping like firecrackers.
In a small room behind the bar, Argall ended the call and dialed another number. "He says BSAA trashed the cargo. By the way, what the hell was your boss transporting? BOWs? That's not what we agreed on."
"None of your business," a cold female voice replied. "Give me the mercenary's location."
"What do you need his address for?"
"Some things need a face-to-face. Boss's orders."
"Fine. You pay, you're God. I'll send the address. Done." Argall hung up.
After breakfast, Li Yexing sat on the sofa, scrolling through news on his laptop. Lilith leaned in close. The screen showed a report about a U.S. airport accident—a plane had crashed, its nose rammed into the terminal like a knife through a birthday cake.
"Early yesterday, it was confirmed the airport suffered a bioterror attack. Thanks to the Special Response Team's efforts, several survivors, including a senator, were rescued. One S.R.T. member died in last night's operation…"
The news was straight out of Resident Evil: Degeneration. A former Umbrella researcher, backed by big capital, founded WilPharma, but locals fiercely opposed it, especially after reports of human testing in India. Fears of another Raccoon City fueled the backlash. The senator behind WilPharma wanted to use the incident to push vaccines and gain influence, but the dumbass researcher had his own plan: showcase bioweapons to Indian warlords for profit, blow up the company building to cover his tracks, and collect G-Virus data. Genius move—until Leon's team beat the crap out of him.
Some old-school British baker once said: humans have limits—the more you scheme, the more you realize those limits. This brain-dead researcher didn't get the memo and predictably fucked up.
The news was still rolling as daylight broke. WilPharma was toast, and the researcher probably changed his piss-soaked pants by now. Li Yexing couldn't believe it—while he was fighting for his life last night, a major Resident Evil event was unfolding in the U.S. It gave him a weird sense of being part of history.
The next two days were quiet. No jobs came through, and Argall didn't call with work. Besides grocery runs, Li Yexing spent all his time with Lilith. He asked Argall to find a PS2. Argall thought it was some kind of weapon at first, then was stunned to learn it was a gaming console. He said he'd keep an eye out. Li Yexing really wanted an Xbox 360, but learning it hadn't been released yet made him feel like he'd time-traveled.
"What's a PS2?" Lilith asked, playing Call of Duty on his laptop.
"Gaming console, just for games. When we're not working, we can play to kill time." Li Yexing hadn't thought about a console until he downloaded a pirated Call of Duty. Lilith seemed hooked, and after a quick rundown of the controls, she picked it up fast. Her reflexes were sharp, her aim steady, and she was fascinated by the in-game guns.
"They shot me with that gun," she said, pointing at a rifle.
So, Li Yexing gave her his boss's old AR-15. She mastered it instantly. At the shooting range, her accuracy was unreal—like the gun had no recoil. He let her try his boss's prized Desert Eagle, a showpiece too heavy for practical use. In Lilith's hands, it was like a BB gun. She fired two-handed, then one-handed, then rapid-fire, nailing headshots on a 20-meter target without missing.
"That's your new girl?" The range owner's jaw dropped. "Li, where'd you find this kid?"
Li Yexing played it cool but was floored inside. Lilith didn't even flinch firing the Desert Eagle. Ten tons of arm strength? I'm starting to believe it.
She was already cute, but now Li Yexing knew he'd struck gold. He'd doubted her claims before, but not anymore. This girl was a beast—she could protect herself even without him.
Holstered Desert Eagle at her waist, AR-15 slung on her back, Call of Duty-style mask hiding her face, silver hair tied in a single ponytail tucked into her rebellious outfit, Lilith skipped along the way home, humming. Her face was blank, but she radiated joy.
"What's for dinner?" Li Yexing asked, hands in pockets.
"Beer-braised chicken wings, red-braised pork, and…" Lilith rattled off every dish he'd cooked recently. "How about something simple? Beef curry?"
"Mhm." She nodded, chanting, "Beef curry, beef curry…"
"Let's grab ingredients. Fridge is running low."
On the street, Lilith watched the working girls cozy up to clients, then mimicked them, hugging Li Yexing's arm.
"Lilith?" He was caught off guard.
Her masked face nuzzled his shoulder. "Being with Li Yexing is great. All happy things. I wish it could stay like this forever."
They bought more clothes and ingredients nearby. It felt like shopping with a girlfriend. Her warmth on his arm filled Li Yexing with happiness, almost overflowing. This life's not bad, he thought. Maybe he could use his worker skills, ditch the mercenary gigs, get a normal job—work days, come home to Lilith waiting.
He admitted it: he was scared of dying now, of going out with a gun and never coming back, leaving Lilith alone in a cold apartment.
Life might not be smooth sailing, but he was sure he could face it with this pitiful, adorable girl until death parted them.
They returned home with bags of clothes and groceries.
Li Yexing frowned, his free hand inching toward his Glock.
A tall woman stood outside his office, like she was waiting. Plaid trench coat, black sunglasses, a strand of brown hair peeking from a beige knit cap.
Sensing his gaze, she turned, lowering her sunglasses. Blue eyes scanned him, then Lilith.
"Mercenary, Li Yexing… right?" Her voice was cold, distant. "We need to talk. About the kid next to you."
So, you guys more into zombie-killing action?
"Miss Kelly!"
Before Li Yexing could draw, Lilith waved at the woman.
This was the Miss Kelly Lilith kept mentioning? Li Yexing's frown deepened. She was a researcher from that shady lab, like Freeman. Lilith might like her, but she didn't stop the horrors inflicted on the girl. To Li Yexing, she was no better than the bastards who tortured Lilith. Her presence alone made him hostile.
He dropped the bags, grabbed Lilith's hand, and gripped his Glock. "Lady, you got the wrong guy."
Surprised by his hostility, a flicker of panic crossed Kelly's cold face. She steadied herself. "No mistake. I'm here for the girl. You gonna invite me in?"
"Why the hell would I?" he shot back.
"Business," Kelly said after a pause.
They entered the office. Li Yexing tossed the groceries on the table, glaring at Kelly on the sofa. "Spill it. Depending on what you say, I'll decide whether to twist your head off." But Kelly wasn't focused on him. Her eyes followed Lilith, who was humming an off-key tune while unpacking clothes. Kelly's icy expression softened, like a worried mom watching her daughter.
That pissed Li Yexing off more. He slammed the table. "Miss Kelly! Let's talk business."
"Sorry, got distracted." With a perfunctory apology, Kelly crossed her legs, hands clasped on her knee, and looked at him coldly. "First, introductions. I'm Kelly Maraine, a biochemistry expert, sort of. I worked for a research institute on a project. The result? That girl. Codename: T-Lilith."
"Get to the point. I've got dinner to make," Li Yexing said, waving off her spiel.
"Remember your armed escort job?" Kelly didn't dive in, instead bringing up the convoy. "You saw those humanoid creatures from the containers, right? Tyrant T-103C, our lab's upgrade on the T-103 model… Sorry, you might not follow. Basically—"
"I follow. Tyrants. Umbrella's BOWs, based on Soviet officer Sergei Vladimir. Most black-market models are tweaks of that design," Li Yexing cut in, annoyed. He found her smug and condescending. "Hurry up."
Kelly was stunned. This young mercenary in some backwater Eastern European country knew classified intel? After Umbrella's fall, much of that data was lost or locked away. She only accessed it as a core researcher, yet this guy recited it like a textbook.
Who is this mercenary?
"Good you understand," Kelly said, regaining her composure. "Tyrants are solid BOWs, but my boss wanted more—same combat power, smarter, human-sized. We stopped using standard clones as bases. To make subjects more compatible with the T-Virus, we engineered genetic defects, then used the virus to fix them. Traditional Tyrants modify normal genes with T-Virus. Our project built clones with defective genes, using T-Virus to patch them, like assembling a puzzle. After thousands of failures, we got a near-perfect product: human appearance, Tyrant strength, enhanced intellect. That's her—T-Lilith, or Tyrant Lilith."
She looked up, gauging Li Yexing's reaction. His face stayed dark, unreadable.
Lilith, now changed, wore a white shirt under a slightly oversized red jacket, ripped light-blue jeans, and white sneakers. She skipped to Li Yexing, tugging his sleeve. "Li Yexing, pretty?"