Marvel: Umbrella Corporation

A short while later, the group of people chatting below dispersed and left.

Jack glanced back at Ruth, his face troubled.

"The situation here is far more complicated than we imagined…"

At this point, retreating seemed like the wisest choice.

From the snippets of conversation he had overheard, it was clear that some kind of human experimentation was taking place here—experiments that had claimed many lives.

The sheer scale of this base, hidden in the desert, and the audacity to conduct such experiments, pointed to a force far beyond what they could contend with.

But Ruth's eyes burned with determination, mixed with deep-seated hatred.

"No, I can feel it—my sister must be here! Even if we don't find her, we have to expose what's happening here!"

Seeing the unwavering resolve in his girlfriend's eyes, Jack hesitated.

After a brief internal struggle, he nodded, crawling forward in the cramped ventilation duct.

"Stay close to me."

As they pressed on, Jack discovered the situation was worse than he had feared.

Peering through a gap in the vent, he spotted a corpse.

The body's skin was dried and shriveled, all hair and fur gone, replaced by a gaping maw filled with sharp teeth. Tendrils, grotesque and writhing, protruded from its mouth. The sight was horrifying.

Whatever these experiments were, they seemed aimed at creating monstrous mutations or augmentations.

This discovery deepened Jack's growing desire to retreat. Any organization capable of conducting such experiments would be a force to reckon with.

But Ruth's repeated pleas pushed him forward.

Minutes later, they found themselves peeking into another room. This one housed living prisoners—men, women, and children of all ages. Their eyes were hollow, faces streaked with tears. Despair filled the room.

*Clang…*

The heavy iron door creaked open, and three heavily armed soldiers strode in.

They grabbed a young girl and dragged her out.

Seeing this, Ruth clenched her fists and prepared to leap down to intervene. But Jack grabbed her arm, holding her back.

She turned to him, her eyes blazing with anger and confusion.

Jack shook his head, his expression stern.

"They have guns, and we don't know how many more soldiers are outside. We can't afford to be discovered."

Though Ruth didn't speak, her eyes were filled with frustration and defiance.

Jack didn't explain further.

"Let's keep moving. We might still find Elena ahead."

They crawled through the ventilation ducts for what felt like an eternity, passing rooms filled with supplies, empty cells, and more prisoners—but no sign of Elena.

Ruth's spirits sank lower with every passing minute.

Jack decided they should move to the lower level.

What they saw there stunned them both.

In a thirty-square-meter room, a man in a lab coat and mask stood writing notes in a notebook.

Before him were three iron cages, each containing a monstrous humanoid creature.

*Roar…* *Grrr…*

The creatures resembled zombies from horror films but were far more grotesque. Their mouths stretched unnaturally wide, tendrils tipped with barbed hooks writhing within.

The sight made Ruth shiver with fear, and she nearly screamed, but Jack clamped a hand over her mouth just in time.

They watched in horror as the scientist seemed to be documenting the behavior of the monsters, occasionally provoking them to observe their reactions.

Deciding it was too risky to stay, they moved on.

Suddenly, Ruth froze, her body trembling.

Below, a small girl sat on the floor of a cage. A familiar hairclip gleamed in her hair—the same clip Rose had gifted her sister Elena not long ago.

Though the girl's face was obscured, Ruth's heart raced.

"Jack, it's her! It has to be!" she whispered, her voice trembling.

Jack hesitated, "Ruth, be careful. I'll use my powers to shield us. But don't make any noise."

Ruth nodded, her hands steady as she pried open the vent cover.

The two of them slipped into the room, landing silently on the floor. Ruth rushed to the cage. Up close, she could confirm it—it was indeed Elena.

"Elena! Are you okay? It's me, your sister. I've come to save you!"

Elena slowly raised her head, her expression cold and unrecognizable.

She didn't react with joy or relief. She simply stared at Ruth in eerie silence.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here," Ruth said, her voice filled with determination. She began using her superhuman strength to bend the bars of the cage.

"Wait! Stop!" Jack shouted, alarmed.

But it was too late.

The moment the bars gave way, Elena lunged forward, her maw opening wide.

"Grrr.."

Ruth froze in shock as her beloved sister, now a monstrous abomination, tried to devour her.

Jack threw himself in front of Ruth, taking the brunt of the attack.

"Argh!" Jack cried out in pain as barbed tendrils pierced his skin, injecting venom into his bloodstream.

Fighting through the pain, Jack concentrated his powers, focusing light into a searing beam that sliced through Elena's grotesque appendages.

"ROAR!!"

Elena shrieked in agony, stumbling backward.

Ruth finally snapped out of her shock. Tears streaming down her face, she punched Elena with all her strength, sending her flying into the far wall.

*BANG!*

"Let's go!" Jack shouted, grabbing Rose's hand.

Alarms blared as the entire facility was flooded with red lights.

Soldiers stormed into the room, their weapons drawn, only to be met by the enraged creature that was once Elena.

"Open fire!"

"Help! Argh—"

Gunfire echoed as chaos erupted behind them.

Ruth and Jack escaped back into the ventilation ducts, their hearts heavy with guilt and sorrow.

This was not the reunion Ruth had dreamed of.

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