HOTD! Busujima's Step Brother-Chapter 56 – Researcher

"Eeek!" Surprised scream escaped from his lips, "W-Wait, d-don't hurt me!"

"I won't as long as you obey and keep silent. Now, who are you?"

"H-How did you ent—"

"Answer my question." I snapped impatiently at the man.

He trembled violently beneath pressure exerted upon his body by Saeko's katana. The blade gleamed under the luminescent light.

"Tell us your identity and affiliation right now or die instantly without mercy."

If he resisted further then I wouldn't hesitate to dispose of him here regardless of circumstances surrounding him.

But then, I also had to be careful when dealing with this man. I didn't want him to die before giving us information.

When dealing with an organization like Umbrella Corporation, killing one agent was acceptable in order to prevent leaking intel. I couldn't lower my guard even though there was no one here.

Thankfully, he gave in easily enough.

"I-I work here. Please let me go. I haven't done anything wrong..."

"If so," I responded coldly. "What exactly was it that made you panic?"

"N-Nothing special. I came here for s-safety... Hahaha—"

Obviously he was lying through his teeth.

Saeko applied more pressure to his throat as punishment. Blood began trickling down the side of my neck.

"Eeek!" He cried out once again but refrain himself from crying excessively thanks to her sharp glare directed his way.

After seeing his pitiful state however, she loosened hold slightly allowing him room to breathe normally albeit painfully still. His voice became strained and hoarse afterward. "...f-fine, I'll tell you. B-but can we discuss this somewhere safer first?"

'Safer?'

I raised my eyebrows and observed him. His eyes darted around at some corners.

And I realized, there were hidden cameras installed here.

"Keep your blade. I will tie him up."

"Please! Don't hurt me—" He begged loudly only for his mouth covered with cloth we found in the corner.

Then, using the rope we brought for emergency, I tied him securely and forced him to follow us. We left the room with his keycard, bringing him back above ground.

Visit fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm for the best novel reading experi𝒆nce.

I really wanted to destroy that underground lab, but I decided to keep it that way so Don Takagi and his men could investigate it for me. Who knows if the information stored in it may be useful.

Also, destroying it wouldn't sit right for me. It's a bad idea to detonate something big like that. The vials inside the lab could as well be T-Virus or some prototype G-Virus.

Destroying them risked infecting me and Saeko by mistake, hence, it was wiser leaving them alone until experts dealt with the problem appropriately later down the line. Once everyone's evacuated away from the city, I would consider doing something extreme then.

However, our captive may have information regarding matters regarding these viruses or chemicals, which meant interrogating him thoroughly must take precedence first.

In other words...

"Hmm!! Hmmmm! Puhaa!"

...time for some violence.

Thud!!

"P-Please, spare meee!"

I slammed him onto the wall and pointed my gun at his head.

We were right now on the second floor of the police station, in an abandoned office that seemed to have a good soundproof. Here, our voices wouldn't extend outside and attract the zombies.

There was also no camera here because this was an important room where the police had a conversation regarding a secret topic. They couldn't risk anything, even security cameras.

"If you don't wanna die, then talk. Don't worry about anyone hearing this."

"W-Wait, please..." He pleaded again. "I-I'm just a researcher."

"Good. You're the perfect candidate." I cracked a sly smile.

It seemed like I hit a jackpot.

"A-Alright... Alright! Just, please, stop pushing me onto the wall." He relented dejectedly. "I will explain everything, so..."

"Go ahead." I smiled widely, enjoying my newfound authority. "Your name and affiliation."

He gulped nervously. Then, he proceeded to answer my questions hesitantly.

"My name is Davis, John Davis, an American citizen. I work as a senior researcher under the command of William Birkin, a brilliant scientist working on a development project titled 'G' for the Umbrella USA Branch."

I kept pressing him for answers throughout the next half hour or so, gaining invaluable details regarding current happenings inside this particular establishment.

"We had branches in Japan and China, mainly conducting research projects concerning various biological weapons utilizing various viruses developed by our company such as t-virus and g-virus," explained John nervously while sweating profusely.

"Tyrants series, lickers, hunters... All kinds of bio-organic weapons or BOW in short. The goal is to create powerful and intelligent weapons capable of slaughtering many targets in the shortest amount of time possible."

"That's..." Saeko muttered with a grimace, "...really messed up."

"Yeah..." I trailed off absentmindedly. "You guys are fucked up. Anyway, I have three questions."

He flinched noticeably when hearing my tone of voice before nodding fearfully, indicating willingness to cooperate fully.

"First of all, about this outbreak. Did your people have anything to do with this incident?" I questioned sternly.

"No! Never! We never intended anything like this to occur!"

He answered without hesitation almost instantaneously upon receiving the query.

"So, no Umbrella Corp personnel released these creatures intentionally then?"

"Absolutely not!"

I stared deep into his frightened eyes trying to discern whether he spoke truly or merely attempting to mislead us away from truth.

Maybe he was just a low-ranking researcher and knew nothing at all?

Or perhaps Umbrella simply didn't bother involving themselves directly with matters like this?

Either way, I took his answer at face value for now.

"Then why were there two laboratories belonging to your company located here? This is Japan. Your facility shouldn't be present in this country."

"W-Well, technically speaking," replied John shakily, "We actually own property everywhere around the globe including Asia. Our HQ happens to reside within America however. As far as I understand, this particular location houses facilities dedicated towards experimental purposes. Medicine, I mean."

Medicinal products meant pills and others, correct? But they were still experimenting with dangerous stuff secretly here, weren't they?

'And the result ended up in failure.' I shook my head mentally.

"So you created vaccines for viruses?" Saeko chimed in unexpectedly, surprising me somewhat considering she hadn't spoken since entering office together with our hostage earlier.

John hesitated for several seconds before responding slowly.

"No, there is no vaccine, unfortunately."

"No antidote?" She frowned slightly at his revelation, prompting him to continue the explanation quickly.

"We tried making prototypes but ultimately failed miserably. Everything produced was either ineffective, completely useless against effects caused by these viral strains or resulted in fatal outcomes resulting in death within mere minutes after injection."

"You mean..."

"Yes. Test subjects died shortly after exhibiting similar symptoms shown by those infected individuals roaming outside."

***

I hope you can support me with Power stones. They are greatly appreciated!

Support and read advanced Chapters in patreon.com/DungeonLove