Chapter 21 : The Battle Plan!

After Christine finished speaking, she looked over at Li Yiming.

“Well? If you’re willing to trust me, then hand over the antivirus serum.”

The T-virus raw solution and the antivirus serum were usually stored as a pair.

Since Li Yiming had obtained the T-virus raw solution,

there was a high chance that he also had the antivirus serum on him.

However…

When Christine extended her hand toward him,

Li Yiming’s face twitched slightly, and he scratched his cheek awkwardly.

If his memory wasn’t playing tricks on him…

That suitcase had probably been ripped off along with his left hand by the Licker.

And back then, just to survive,

Li Yiming had even thrown a grenade at the creature.

With such a powerful explosion,

he wasn’t even sure if the suitcase still existed—or had been blown to pieces.

“…What’s wrong? Don’t you trust me…?”

Seeing that Li Yiming hadn’t responded for a long time,

a hint of disappointment flashed through Christine’s sapphire-like eyes.

“It’s not a matter of trusting you or not.”

Facing Christine’s sincere gaze,

Li Yiming sighed helplessly and told her the whole truth.

After hearing it,

Christine let out a soft sigh.

“You don’t have to worry about the suitcase being destroyed.”

“The suitcases our Umbrella Corporation uses to store biohazardous material… forget grenades—”

“Even a nuclear blast wouldn’t breach them.”

Christine frowned deeply and continued slowly:

“But the real problem is… there are six Lickers out there.”

“Getting the antivirus serum back… isn’t just difficult.”

“It’s basically a suicide mission…”

She rubbed her temples, clearly troubled.

As a senior researcher at Umbrella,

Christine hadn’t been directly involved in the Licker bioweapon project,

but she’d certainly heard of their capabilities.

They were the corporation’s first generation of bio-weapons with basic intelligence.

Even though their intellect was limited,

their ability to hunt in packs—like wolves—made them deadly.

They could easily wipe out many espers.

And Li Yiming didn’t even have powers.

Going out there would be a death sentence.

Christine massaged her temples, racking her brain for a solution.

Meanwhile, Li Yiming exhaled deeply.

“As long as the case is still intact, that’s good.”

“As for the Lickers…”

Li Yiming clenched his fists,

feeling the raw power surging through his fingers.

A confident smile formed on his face.

After all, the T-virus was constantly evolving and strengthening his body—

every second of every day.

Back when he had just injected the virus, Li Yiming had barely managed to kill a single Licker.

But now? Taking down one of those things was easy.

Not to mention—

He was still absorbing a neutral zombie crystal core through his hand!

With such a power gap, Li Yiming honestly couldn’t even imagine how he could lose.

> “This is a whole new game now.”

“I’m way stronger than I was before.”

“Just a few Lickers?”

“Six on one—I’ve got the upper hand!”

Li Yiming spoke with complete confidence.

Christine, however, just rolled her eyes at him.

“Don’t go thinking that just because you killed one Licker, they’re all that easy.”

As she spoke, she dragged a stool over from the side.

Kicking off her high heels, she climbed onto the stool.

From the top of a bookshelf, she retrieved a sealed bag.

Christine tore off the tamper seal and pulled out a set of documents, handing them to Li Yiming.

The documents contained detailed information about the Lickers.

Li Yiming accepted the file and started reading carefully.

What he saw made him suck in a sharp breath.

The clinical tone and detailed data gave him the uncanny feeling he was reading an SCP Foundation report.

The section describing their behavior patterns especially made his eyes widen in astonishment.

They actually exhibited pack mentality!

And this wasn’t the kind of “pack mentality” that companies use to brainwash employees in motivational speeches.

This was the real deal—wolves hunting in formation, working together with deadly coordination.

These virus-infected bio-weapons would even elect a lead Licker, just like a wolf pack would select an alpha.

Now that he thought back to the time he was fleeing for his life, Li Yiming realized something—

Damn.

That especially bulky Licker he saw back then must’ve been their leader!

No wonder that after he severely wounded that one, the rest of the Lickers’ pursuit had noticeably weakened.

All these little details—the manga never showed them.

Li Yiming rubbed his chin, sinking into thought.

> “Makes sense now, doesn’t it?”

Christine rested her chin on her palm, watching him from her chair.

> “Lickers aren’t just strong—they’re more than the sum of their parts.”

“Just because you managed to kill one doesn’t mean you can take on a coordinated pack with a lead Licker calling the shots.”

She spoke calmly, assuming Li Yiming would finally give up.

But to her surprise—

Li Yiming still looked as optimistic as ever, and even suggested a plan of his own.

> “If I can’t take them all on at once…”

“Then I’ll just pick them off one by one.”

He snapped his fingers casually, speaking like it was no big deal.

> “Pick them off one by one?”

Christine raised an eyebrow.

> “And just how do you plan to do that?”

Faced with her skepticism, Li Yiming began explaining:

> “You’ve got surveillance here, right?”

Back on the first floor, Christine had been able to contact him through the building’s PA system.

Which meant she almost certainly had some way to monitor the outside world.

As expected, Christine nodded.

> “I do have surveillance systems,” she said,

“but when those soldiers stormed the hospital earlier, they wrecked quite a few of them.”

> “There are a lot of areas I can’t monitor anymore.”

She frowned as she spoke.

Li Yiming, however, waved it off casually.

> “As long as some of them are still working, that’s enough.”

> “Those six Lickers aren’t going to stick together 24/7.”

> “If they really behave like wolves, then logically they’d split up to patrol or hunt from time to time.”

> “All I need to do is catch one of those moments—strike when they’re scattered.”

> “Take one down while it’s isolated. Then when the rest regroup, I pull back.”

> “Rinse and repeat. Simple, right?”

He spoke with full confidence.

> “Besides, I don’t have to fight them at all.”

> “If I can recover the suitcase without them noticing…”

> “That’s the best outcome.”

Li Yiming’s tone was calm, almost casual.

> “They’re out in the open—we’re in the shadows.”

> “No matter how this plays out, the initiative is ours.”

Hearing his plan, Christine slowly nodded.

> “Hmm… this just might work!”

A smile gradually spread across her face.

After all, if the Licker situation couldn’t be dealt with,

she’d be trapped here in the lab too.

Living out the rest of her life holed up in this bunker?

Way too stifling to even think about!