Albert Wesker stood stiff-backed on the portside balcony of his warship, black gloves folded neatly behind him, posture sharp as a blade. The night wind tousled the edges of his blonde hair, but he didn’t move. His gaze locked straight ahead, watching the lights flicker and vanish over the shoreline where Los Illuminados scurried like insects, utterly convinced of their divine significance.

Delusional zealots. Every last one of them.

The radio in his hand clicked off with a dull snap. Ada had just given her report—terse, vague, and drenched in that familiar flirtation she thought he hadn't caught onto. He had. It didn’t amuse him, if anything, it made his jaw clench, and it was already sore from holding back what he really wanted to say.

"She's stalling," he muttered to no one.

Not that she wasn't competent, Ada Wong had her uses. Slippery, precise, and surprisingly resourceful for someone so fond of leaving herself unaccounted for. But Wesker had long grown tired of playing chess with people who thought they were in the same league.

His eyes narrowed behind the glint of his sunglasses—still worn even in the pitch-black of night because the sight of this place disgusted him more when fully visible. Parasites, ancient cults, self-important tyrants—the kind of rot that always festered when no one smart enough was around to burn it all down. Leon S. Kennedy was on the ground now too, throwing wrenches into gears with that smug boy scout complex of his. Wesker would deal with him, eventually... maybe.

But Ada... Ada was testing him.

The scent of motor oil mingled with saltwater as the engines shifted gears beneath him, routine adjustments, likely. The vessel hummed with restrained power beneath his shoes, a constant reminder of how much force he had at his command. Real power, not fairytales about "ascension" and "divine plague." What he had was muscle, machinery, and an absolute lack of hesitation.

A low clack echoed behind him, someone with a reason to interrupt him. He turned his head only slight and spoke sharply.

"Report."