"New" Accra

Chapter 33: "New" Accra

"Very good."

Edgar seemed satisfied with Vogelbaum's response, then continued, "Given that the CIA and all our competitors in the arms industry are suspected of plundering Soldier Boy, the plan to bring Homelander to the public eye must be accelerated."

"Ms. Stillwell, please notify the media team—especially the editors of the comics and novels conceptualizing Homelander's origins and displays of power. You must mold Homelander into an omnipotent being, the most powerful superhero in history, bar none."

"I understand." Madelyn nodded slightly and took the initiative to suggest, "Sir, I believe dropping the 'The' and using the title 'Homelander' would be more natural."

"As long as it satisfies the board and keeps the company profitable, you may decide these details yourselves." Edgar had no objections.

"Very well, then leave it to me."

While the upper echelons of Vought debated who had orchestrated the attack, in Accra, the capital of Ghana—located ten thousand kilometers from New York and five hours ahead in time—the sun was already setting.

The orange-red glow stained the clouds, and combined with the pleasant tropical climate, the golden beaches to the south, and the turquoise ocean, it looked every bit like a vacation paradise.

If it weren't in Africa, Accra would be favored by tourists from all over the world. But it was bound to negative labels like war, disease, and robbery...

Even though Ghana, when viewed across the entire African continent, boasted a relatively high standard in public security, education, sanitation, and medical care, no one dared to gamble with their own safety, and they stayed away.

However, Accra had quietly undergone a "qualitative" transformation without the outside world noticing.

Looking down at the city, its central streets were cordoned off by eye-catching black and yellow warning fences, as these areas were undergoing large-scale renovation, reconstruction, and development.

Many construction sites featured the skeletal frames of hundred-meter-tall skyscrapers, apartment complexes, or office buildings.

Other sites were being excavated deep underground, seemingly to improve or even rebuild the city's subterranean power and water supply systems.

The construction crews seemed to know no fatigue; even as the sky grew dim, they continued their "night battles," working overtime to push the construction forward.

If one zoomed in to observe, it would be clear that despite being in Africa, over 70% of the construction crew members had light yellow or white skin.

Based on the eye-catching red "Λ" logo on their uniforms and protective gear, it was not hard to guess that they were employees of Atlas, belonging to one of the departments with the largest headcount, the widest reach, and the highest capital consumption—the Engineering Department.

The Engineering Department had multiple branches, such as the "Combat Engineers" who operated with higher clearance and core secrets alongside the ARS companies, and the conventional personnel gathered in downtown Accra responsible for building infrastructure.

Ever since the Accra Park, responsible for the production and testing of next-generation weapons, was built, Atlas had used it as a center to "radiate" and "expand," constantly summoning engineering personnel from all over the world to this location.

After all, Accra was the closest site to the ruins containing the space gate, making it the most suitable location to develop into a stronghold second only to Seattle.

Between 1993 and 1994, the arrival of Atlas directly spurred rapid local economic development.

Many family members and friends followed the engineers to Accra to settle down long-term, eventually becoming the primary local consumer base.

The remaining 30% of the construction crews consisted of locals strictly selected by the Human Resources Department through a series of exams and tests.

Ensuring the loyalty of the selected local employees was the primary requirement, followed by positive character traits such as not being prone to anger, being helpful, honest, and upright.

Of course, this was not targeted at any specific place or person; regardless of where they were, Atlas followed the same process when recruiting new employees.

The company treated every team and employee who truly integrated into the core with equal importance. For instance, the elites of the ARS 3rd Infantry Company, who provided support to Leon, were equipped with mechanical exoskeletons and the latest individual weapons earlier than the Hunter Company led by Arthur Morgan.

Conversely, most of the Universal Soldiers capable of being deployed directly into combat and missions were assigned to the Hunter Company.

Psychological factors like jealousy and rivalry could never be truly eradicated, but Atlas transformed these emotions into healthy competition.

Whichever company or department had the best "performance" for the year would receive corresponding equipment, weapons, and bonuses. Even for those at the bottom, Sui Yang, as the boss, would pay out of his own pocket to provide consolation prizes; there was no such thing as "empty promises."

However, the foundation for all of this was successfully becoming an employee with a legally binding contract with Atlas, and in reality, 90% of people failed at this step.

As for the local population of Accra, due to various factors, the actual failure rate was much higher than 90%.

Beyond the infrastructure projects that Atlas was best at—and seemed to "love" the most—public security in downtown Accra had also seen significant improvement.

Continuing with a bird's-eye view, it was not difficult to spot "soldiers" in ink-blue combat uniforms, patrolling the streets in pairs and carrying firearms.

If they discovered traffic congestion, these "soldiers" would even act as traffic police, rushing to the scene to direct and clear the flow.

These soldiers, all bearing the red "Λ" logo on their armbands, were actually conventional mercenaries of Atlas, providing contract services to non-official clients.

In theory, a private enterprise had no right to interfere with the policing of a city.

But after Atlas provided sponsorships measured in "hundreds of millions of dollars" to the Accra police, and even fire and hospital services, all difficulties were resolved.

The personnel providing emergency services were disbanded, reorganized, trained, screened, and appointed by Atlas.

If not for the principles of sovereignty, international consensus, and various international legal constraints, Atlas and Sui Yang would have been fully capable of "buying" the entire country of Ghana.

All of this had not yet attracted significant attention from the outside world, but given the efficiency and progress of the current sweeping renovations and reorganizations, it was only a matter of time before the world found out.

However, Atlas's Public Relations Department was already preparing countermeasures to deal with the various tricky topics fabricated by the media for the sake of hype and traffic, such as "Titan is interfering with national sovereignty! Blaspheming democracy!" or "Titan Corporation is attempting to legalize colonial practices!" and so on.

To this, Sui Yang only wanted to quote the words of the "villain" Jonathan Irons from Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare as a summary:

"Drop a few bombs, topple a dictator, and declare it 'democracy' over the ruins? Don't make me laugh. People need protection, rules, boundaries, security, and the infrastructure that supports it all."