Chapter 584: Goodbye, Ethan Winters (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

‘Ethan! Ethan!’

After the Mold-constructed barrier dissipated, Chris immediately rushed in and came to Ethan’s side.

At this moment, Ethan was in a very bad state.

He had already died three years ago, merely a Fungal Beast with consciousness.

The Mold had given him strange abilities, allowing him to reattach severed limbs and heal from severe injuries.

But now, with his heart crushed, his body was rapidly collapsing; the Mold that once maintained his form began to backfire.

Half of his right arm had already calcified and shattered.

Chris knelt down and helped Ethan up: ‘Ethan… wake up! We need to get out of here!’

Turning his head, Chris’s expression was very serious.

Although Miranda was dead, the Mold entity was not. The Mold was growing again, seemingly about to revive.

‘Ethan… you did it! You took her down!’ Chris encouraged Ethan.

‘I think we… died together…’ Ethan’s voice was faint and barely audible.

‘Ethan, I think we need to leave quickly.’ Looking at the rapidly reviving Mold entity, Chris slung Ethan’s arm over his shoulder and walked towards the outside.

In the distance, the Mold entity, resembling a gigantic fleshy sac of petals, slowly bloomed.

Black vines whipped and writhed, and Mold fluid condensed into petal-like structures, looking incredibly eerie.

Song Ren noticed that in the center of the fleshy sac, there was a red-glowing device.

That was the bomb Chris had planted earlier.

The Mold seemed to lack complete self-awareness, relying purely on instinct.

It sensed that a container perfectly suited to it was being carried away, so the furious Mold entity thrashed its Mold fluid limbs, attempting to keep Chris and the others there.

Watching the Mold spread and advance towards them, Chris quickened his pace and urged Ethan: “Hold on a little longer! Ethan, we’re almost there!”

“I put a bomb on this damn thing, enough to blow the entire village sky-high!”

“Look! When I press this, we absolutely cannot be nearby!”

Saying this, Chris shook the detonator in his hand, hoping to ignite Ethan’s will to survive.

Because he found that the increasingly weak Ethan was struggling with every step.

If this continued, they would definitely not be able to escape.

“Ethan! Hey! Hold on, Mia is still waiting for you! She’s alive! Do you hear me? Alive!” Chris tried everything to make Ethan persevere.

Upon hearing Chris’s words, Ethan seemed to regain some hazy consciousness.

“Mia…? I’m so sorry… I love you… Chris… protect Rose.” Ethan handed Rose to Chris.

“Hey, hey, hey… hold on! Just a little more effort, we’re not far! Tell her yourself!”

Ethan didn’t answer Chris. He merely took off his green jacket and gently placed it over Rose’s body.

Little Rose opened her big eyes, looking at everything around her with childlike innocence.

“Take good care of her… teach her to be strong!”

Ethan laboriously raised a hand and gently stroked his daughter.

With that, the Mold entity’s Mold vines surged. Using his last ounce of strength, Ethan pushed Chris out of the vine’s encirclement, simultaneously snatching the detonator from his hand.

The relentless vines slowly converged. Looking through a gap at his daughter held in Chris’s arms, Ethan slowly turned: “Take care… Mary Rose.”

As Ethan whispered, the last gap was sealed.

Looking at the gigantic Mold entity in the distance, Ethan forced his body to move forward slowly.

The colossal, petal-like fleshy sac, blotting out the sky, formed a stark contrast with Ethan’s tiny, fragile body.

Chris, holding Rose, fled the village at top speed. He had to protect Ethan’s daughter.

In the nick of time, Chris finally reached the helicopter.

Mia waited anxiously there. Seeing Rose in Chris’s arms, she showed a joyful expression.

“Rose!” She took the child and peered outside, but couldn't find Ethan. At this moment, Chris immediately ordered the helicopter to take off.

“Wait! Chris! Where’s Ethan? We can’t leave, we can’t abandon my husband!”

“Mia, sit down, put on your seatbelt.”

“First, tell me where Ethan is! He would never leave us!” Mia gently stroked Rose in her arms, shouting at Chris.

The next second, the game’s camera shifted to Ethan.

By now, Ethan had reached directly beneath the Mold entity. He could no longer stand and knelt to the ground.

He had been through too much.

He fought the Baker family for Mia, and took down Evelyn, that terrifying yet pitiable bio-weapon.

For his daughter, he infiltrated the mysterious village, eliminated the Four Heavenly Kings, and killed Miranda, the source of all evil.

Now, he was about to bring the final end to the Mold entity, the origin of everything.

Yet, there was still some regret.

‘Goodbye… Mia.’

‘Goodbye… Rose.’

Looking at the Mold entity, which blotted out the sky, and with the faces of his wife and daughter flashing in his mind, Ethan Winters slowly raised his calcified left hand, and with the last three remaining fingers, pressed the detonator.

‘Boom!’

A deafening explosion shook the earth, and the entire village and Mold were engulfed in flames.

“Goodbye, Ethan Winters.”

Looking at the explosion’s blaze, every player who reached this point silently uttered those words in their hearts.

Regardless of the fear, exhilaration, or other emotions they felt before, in the end, everyone was moved by Ethan Winters’ paternal love.

Then, as the screen went dark, the dark fairy tale from the game's opening continued.

‘The girl’s parents searched for her all day, finally reaching deep into the forest.’

‘The furious father battled the witch, and the mother’s loving touch shattered the dark curse.’

‘But the witch was powerful, and the father cried: Save our daughter!’

‘So the mother carried her daughter to safety, heedless of the burning forest behind her.’

‘Even now, the scorched forest is a stark testament to the father’s sacrifice.’

‘Today, any child who gazes too long at that charred wasteland will be tormented by nightmares, dreaming of being lost while picking berries.’

Rustle… A sound of pages turning, and the fairy tale book closed.

A young, beautiful girl sat by the window of a bus, watching the scenery pass by.

Her somewhat familiar face, and the green jacket, all indicated the woman’s identity.

She got off the bus and came to a graveyard, placing a bouquet of flowers in front of a tombstone.

The tombstone was inscribed with a line of text:

[A good husband and father who always put his family first]

[Ethan Winters]

‘Hey, Dad, Happy Birthday…’

‘Sorry I couldn’t make it last week, you know.’

‘I’ve been so busy with my tests recently…’

Yes, the girl before him was the grown-up Rose.

She told Ethan about recent events.

As a Mold-born, and one far exceeding the likes of Miranda.

Rose possessed powers far beyond what ordinary people could imagine, and Ethan had been sampled by Miranda back then.

So Rose had all of Ethan’s memories: memories of fighting the Baker family, memories of fighting Miranda.

As a bewildered child, she didn’t understand, but as a grown woman, Rose clearly knew what kind of person her father, Ethan Winters, truly was.

‘Alright… I have to go.’

‘I’ll come see you again next week, Dad…’

Looking at the security vehicle at the graveyard entrance, Rose stood up and turned to leave.

‘Something’s happened, it’s your turn, Evelyn.’ A sunglasses-wearing agent at the security vehicle’s door said playfully.

But the next second, Rose showed intense anger, grabbing his neck and slamming him against the vehicle.

‘Don’t call me that name again. My powers will blow your mind, even Chris doesn’t know!’

Back in the vehicle, Rose took a deep breath and muttered: ‘Whew… got to control it better, Rose…’

After the agent got in, he looked at Rose next to him and said, “You know, you’re a lot like him.”

Rose’s lips curled into a smile: “Of course.”

The security vehicle drove off into the distance, and at the same time, a man whose face was indistinguishable slowly appeared far away. The security vehicle stopped at that moment.

The screen went dark, and a line of text appeared before the players’ eyes.

‘A father’s story has ended.’

(End of Chapter) <>