Chapter 118 – I, Renji! Raccoon City’s Five-Star Model Citizen!

Chapter 118 – I, Renji! Raccoon City's Five-Star Model Citizen!

From the way Jill grabbed him and ran, Renji realized they'd just encountered the Tyrant chasing her. Jill hadn't reunited with her old teammates yet, so she still didn't know that the Tyrant was sent by Umbrella to hunt her down.

After the mansion incident, because S.T.A.R.S. reported and demanded an investigation, Umbrella sent the Tyrant to eliminate the remaining S.T.A.R.S. members.

"I'll get you to a safe place first, then you need to leave on your own!"

Jill glanced at Renji and then looked ahead, her tone serious. Even now, she still thought Renji was just an innocent bystander who got swept up in this mess.

Because of her, Renji ended up being hunted by the Tyrant, but she didn't have the energy to deal with him—her only option was to get him somewhere safe and then let him go.

In Jill's eyes, Raccoon City was already a complete disaster. Before figuring out the truth, she had to investigate the city and expose Umbrella's conspiracy.

"Raccoon City isn't safe anymore. The whole city is full of zombies, and that Tyrant is after you."

When Renji said this, Jill froze for a moment and looked at him in shock. She was clearly surprised by the news.

He seemed to know things she didn't, and it was obvious this guy was not just an ordinary citizen.

But before she could recover from her shock, the wall to their left was suddenly blasted open. The hulking Tyrant walked out slowly, with Jill right at the center of the explosion. The impact was about to send her flying.

"Hold on to me!"

Renji grabbed Jill and leapt from the third floor in a single bound.

It was such a long drop—Jill was stunned. Was this guy insane?

Falling from the third floor while carrying her—if he didn't die, he'd at least have every bone shattered, right?

The intense sense of falling snapped Jill's thoughts back. She instinctively clung to Renji's shoulders, but in the next second, they landed safely. Renji spun and rushed into an alley, grabbed a car by the roadside, shoved Jill into the passenger seat, grabbed the keys from a nearby corpse, tossed aside a mutating zombie, jumped into the driver's seat, and started the engine, driving off immediately.

Time was short—he had to get to the lab and secure the sample. Although he'd run into Jill, Renji didn't want to waste too much time with her.

Besides, he couldn't expose too many of his abilities right now. Although powers like elementalization could make him immune to all kinds of physical attacks, he had a fatal weakness: in this world, he had no special energy or abilities. The other Renjis could use chakra or spiritual pressure instead of stamina to use their powers, but he couldn't.

He could only rely on his own stamina, so when it ran out, he was no different from an ordinary person.

Stamina was the issue he most urgently needed to solve. Even with the Eight Gates technique, it only boosted stamina a little—it wasn't enough for him to stay elementalized under sustained attack.

This world was already chaotic. Until he fixed his stamina flaw, Renji didn't want to reveal too many special abilities and attract unwanted attention.

If they couldn't catch him, wouldn't they just keep bombing him with missiles?

And really, is there anything in this world an RPG can't solve? If there is—just hit it again!

Click.

"Hey, hey, isn't this a bit much for your lifesaver?"

As Renji was thinking about his next move, Jill pointed her handgun at him. Clearly, his unusual behavior had made her suspect something was wrong.

If Renji was sent by Umbrella to get something from her, then all his suspicious actions would make sense.

He knew her situation, understood Raccoon City, just happened to be waiting where she and the Tyrant showed up, and then showed superhuman skill—jumping from the third floor with her, then running to the street and grabbing a car.

"Who are you, really? Umbrella? My gun is loaded!"

Deep down, Jill didn't really think Renji was from Umbrella—he did save her from the Tyrant.

But the constant stress and hallucinations had left Jill's nerves completely frayed.

"You can't shoot me."

"Why not?"

Jill asked reflexively. Clearly, this guy was hiding something!

"Because I'm driving."

"..."

Jill fell silent, and her grip on the gun loosened. The next moment, Renji snatched the gun from her and pointed it at her forehead. "Marksman, can't even hold your gun steady?"

Then Renji tossed the pistol back to Jill and looked ahead, not bothering to tease her further. "I was just there to look up some info. Actually, you brought the Tyrant with you, right? Also, I'm with Interpol, investigating Umbrella's bioweapon incident in Raccoon City. So, here are your two choices: get out now and go search for your truth, or come with me to find Umbrella's secret research lab in the city!"

"We're right up at the next intersection. There are ten seconds left on the red light. If the light turns green and you're still here, I'll assume you're coming with me."

With that, Renji stopped at the light and handed the choice to Jill.

"Drive!"

"Knew you'd pick me!"

Being with him was better than wandering aimlessly through this city.

By now, Jill's route had already deviated from the original. There was no guarantee she'd run into Carlos, and her old teammates weren't around. At least, after meeting Renji, she learned the Tyrant was actually hunting her.

But right now, Jill was more like a headless chicken. Given the choice, she'd rather stick with someone who seemed to know what was going on.

"Come on, the city's full of zombies. If we waste ten seconds, how are we supposed to get away?"

Jill shrugged, covering her forehead with her hand in exasperation.

What could she say about this guy?

Stopping at a red light for ten seconds to let her choose whether to stay or go?

Raccoon City was a total nightmare and he's still waiting for the light to change?

Are you some kind of five-star model citizen?

If Renji really waited those ten seconds, Jill wasn't sure the Tyrant wouldn't catch up—but she knew for sure zombies would surround them, and they might not even be able to drive away. To her, it wasn't a real choice at all.

"Sorry about earlier—I misunderstood you a bit."

After getting a bit more familiar, Jill apologized to Renji for almost turning on her rescuer.

She'd just been scared out of her wits by Renji's actions.

Jumping from the third floor without a scratch made her think of the monsters she'd seen in the mansion. If not for Renji's completely human appearance, she'd have suspected he was one of those creatures himself.

That was exactly why Jill suspected Renji might be someone sent by Umbrella.

"You mean that just now? If you work for me for a year, I'll let it slide."

"?"

We're not friends?

I apologize, and you want me to work for you?

"I'm being serious with you. This world isn't like it used to be—not only Umbrella, but plenty of other companies are now researching bioweapons."

And it wasn't just about the T-virus. There were other things Renji didn't mention—like Silent Hill, or even the USG Ishimura. Anyway, he felt like this world was doomed sooner or later.

Since he'd already decided to leave Interpol, the best choice was to recruit a few people.

Those main characters from the original story would be the best picks, though Renji knew some of them might not join—he wouldn't force anyone.

"So, what do you know?"

Jill was at a stage where she was still mostly in the dark. She knew some truths about what happened in the mansion, but looking at it now, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

The man from Interpol seemed to know even more.

"What do you mean?"

"Umbrella? Or the other organizations?"

Jill thought for a moment, then picked the two questions she cared about most.

"There's nothing much to say about Umbrella. We all know what their goal is by now. The rest is basically the same kind of thing—like something called the Z-virus. If you join, you'll find out everything eventually."

Renji scratched his head. He wasn't sure how to explain all this.

Some things he couldn't put into words. It all depended on Jill's own choices.

"Join Interpol?"

Jill considered it. It seemed alright—at least it wasn't like Umbrella. Still, she didn't agree right away; she wanted to investigate first.

After what happened with Umbrella, Jill couldn't possibly trust someone so easily.

"No, I'm planning to leave Interpol."

Renji shook his head. As far as he was concerned, he'd reached the end with that organization.

He didn't believe for a second that the higher-ups didn't want to get their hands on this stuff.

Staying would only mean being at their mercy. Leaving and starting something new seemed like the best choice.

"Leave?"

Jill was stunned. She'd thought Renji was inviting her to join Interpol, a legitimate organization, but now he was talking about leaving—and pulling her into something new.

Why did she feel like she was about to get sold off?

"What organization do you want to join?"

Jill grew even more wary. If Renji ended up with Umbrella, wouldn't she just be running in circles?

"I want to form a new organization. With all these viruses breaking out, working alone won't solve anything. I need to bring together a group of people with the same goals. So, Jill, want to help fix this mess?"

Renji glanced at Jill. When he saw her deep in thought, he didn't interrupt.

She needed time, and he understood.

After a while.

Jill looked up, gazing seriously at Renji. "Your goal is to change the world, but if you leave Interpol, how will you do it? Even if I join, all I bring is my own fighting power. You haven't even seen those people. You have no idea how terrifying they are. Just like this Tyrant—you saw I can't handle him. The ones who made him have even more weapons!"

Jill knew that what Renji wanted was a little unrealistic.

He had no idea how strong the Tyrant really was, or how powerful Umbrella was. With Interpol's backing, maybe they'd stand a chance. But after leaving, it was basically impossible.

"What do you think they sent me here for?"

"For what?"

"Officially, to gather evidence against Umbrella. But behind the scenes, they want me to get T-virus data. Now that it's out in the open, every faction has their eyes on it. We're all caught up in this—there's no way out."

Back when he played the games, Renji could never understand one thing.

Looking at the world's background—Umbrella had already created the virus, yet everyone just watched. In the games, Umbrella seemed almost godlike in the early stages.

The attitudes of all those countries toward the T-virus were bizarre—hardly anyone sent an army to seize it.

Sure, a few tried, but no one took it seriously.

In the games, you could defeat a monster with one rocket launcher. That just wasn't possible in real life—who wouldn't want a weapon like that? And the T-virus was something Spencer researched for immortality—who wouldn't be tempted?

Renji just took it as a game, but in reality, he was sure: if he ever got his hands on a T-virus sample, the higher-ups would demand he hand it over. If he refused, they'd hunt him down.

That was another reason he wanted out. Before, he had no power or research ability, so he had to follow along. Now things were different—no need to settle for less.

(End of chapter)

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