Reset and Offspring

Sui Yang had named the company Titan—or rather, Atlas—to settle an old regret.

But Soldier Boy...

As a popular character from the third season of The Boys, Soldier Boy was someone Sui Yang could hardly fail to recognize.

In short, he was a vastly upgraded Captain America who could withstand a nuclear bomb and fire a blast from his chest. He was also arrogant, conceited, and volatile.

But the newspaper told Sui Yang more than that.

If Soldier Boy existed, it meant the federal government had already reached an agreement with Frederick Vought. They were working together, and Compound V—the drug that could turn humans into "superhumans"—existed too...

What a mess this world was.

That was Sui Yang's first thought after reading the paper.

Then the cold, hollow, emotionless voice sounded in his mind again, repeating the same broken message:

[Own... one hundred billion in assets in North America. Then... a door to other worlds will open... Whether humanity survives... will be yours to decide...]

At that, Sui Yang felt this world was getting stranger by the minute.

Setting the hundred-billion-dollar requirement aside, a door to other worlds?

And humanity's survival was up to him?

What the hell?!

Still, Sui Yang did little more than grumble to himself.

He was here now, so he kept building his business step by step.

If nothing else, he had to deal with the "superhumans"—and whatever other threats lay ahead—for his own sake and for his friends and family in this world.

Who knew what else this world held?

To avoid a direct clash of interests with Vought International—and the possibility that it would send superhumans to assassinate him—Sui Yang adjusted the company's development strategy.

First, if Atlas wanted a secure position in the United States, it had to enter the arms industry. Sui Yang, however, focused on relatively "inexpensive" infantry equipment, along with domestic and overseas sales and contracting.

Next came consumer products.

Over decades of operation, Sui Yang had the fruit grown on his estate and farmland shipped to his own factories for "extraction" and "processing," producing health products such as multivitamin effervescent tablets and lozenges.

He also pushed advertising to its limits. Print ads in newspapers were merely a small start.

His bigger moves included spending tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to partner with cinemas in major cities such as Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

The request was simple: screen advertisements for Atlas consumer products before the films.

And those ads were far catchier.

One classic ad opened with an actress lying on her side in bed, gazing dejectedly at the night view outside her window. Meanwhile, an actor in the shower punched the wall, torn between guilt and frustration.

A male narrator said, "After a hard day's work, you're exhausted. You feel completely drained, and worry you can't make her happy anymore."

The screen suddenly went black!

When the picture returned, a bottle of supplements appeared on the big screen, bearing the Atlas logo—a red "Λ."

The narrator's voice rose with excitement. "Titan Brand Kidney Treasure Tablets! Restore your strength and replenish what you've spent!"

The scene changed again. The actors lay in bed wearing pajamas, and the actress turned toward the approaching camera with a blissful smile. "When he feels good, I feel good too~"

That was the whole ad. It lasted only thirty seconds.

Atlas—or rather, Sui Yang—had no shortage of ideas like it. In the United States of the 1940s and 1950s, they were astonishing enough to spark a craze.

His initial contracts with cinemas and screening rooms ran for at least two years. An additional clause explicitly forbade them from showing ads for other manufacturers during that period, on pain of a penalty worth five times the contract value.

At first, the cinemas and screening rooms thought it was easy money.

After all, ten thousand dollars back then had the purchasing power of three hundred thousand dollars before Sui Yang's transmigration. Who in their right mind would spend more on advertising than it cost to make a film?

But once the ads drove Atlas's sales to double again and again and its reputation kept climbing, other manufacturers came rushing in for a share.

Because of the contract terms, cinemas in prime locations with heavy foot traffic could show only Atlas ads for two years unless they paid a hefty penalty.

Two years was enough for Atlas to establish an overwhelming lead.

Finally came communications and transportation.

By the 1960s, Atlas wholly owned a communications company and had a dedicated research and development team. In transportation, it instead took stakes in other companies across the rail, automotive, and aviation industries.

In the automotive sector, General Motors was Atlas's closest partner. It even created a premium brand specifically for Atlas.

Over time, the public came to see Atlas as a "conscientious" company involved in pharmaceuticals, health products, agriculture, animal husbandry, and manufacturing.

In the federal government's eyes, however, it was a "dependable fellow" that handled difficult matters for the military and paid its taxes without complaint—especially estate tax...

And estate tax brought up the question of Sui Yang's offspring.

Sui Yang had been only twenty-five when he arrived in this world. But ninety years had passed between 1870 and 1960, and his appearance had not changed at all.

In fact, it had not taken long after his arrival for Sui Yang to realize that his physical abilities far exceeded those of ordinary people.

His strength, speed, and endurance were extraordinary, and illness never troubled him. But what troubled him most was...

Longevity.

That was right. His appearance seemed frozen at twenty-five.

He had had romantic partners. During his "cowboy years," he had even had plenty of affairs.

But as he gradually came to understand his unusual constitution, he chose not to marry, reducing the risk of exposure. That also meant he never had the chance to father biological children.

Fortunately, it did not bother him much. Sui Yang wanted to solve the mystery of why he had come to this world and where the voice in his head came from.

At first, the only people who knew the secret of his longevity were Arthur Morgan, the orphans he had adopted, and their direct descendants. They also formed the foundation of Atlas's mercenaries.

But back to estate tax.

To conceal his identity, Sui Yang used makeup to make himself look old. Every fifty years, he faked his death, then reappeared in public as "a grandson taking over his grandfather's business."

So far, Sui Yang had faked his death twice. Each time, he had handed the tax authorities fifty percent of his cash. He had never used charitable or benevolent foundations to get around the law imposing a fifty-percent estate tax on inheritances exceeding $2.5 million.

That was why Atlas had enjoyed smooth sailing in the western United States despite its founder being Chinese... Of course, Sui Yang sometimes had his private security use a few "small" tricks behind the scenes. Then, at 2:14 p.m. Seattle time on May 30, 1993, his net worth finally passed one hundred billion dollars.

Afterward, he received a set of coordinates that led him deep into the West African rainforest.

More than 120 years of memories flashed through Sui Yang's mind. He shook his head with a smile and was about to enter the ruins with the others when...

[Through the first world... you can obtain... Reset... and... Offspring...]

If you're new here, you can check out my earlier book, Light of Humanity: Umbrella.

As for Containment and Control Starting from Umbrella, I wouldn't recommend it for now. That one has plenty of flaws and things to complain about.

Lastly, thank you all for your support~!

(End of chapter)