Gentek Corporation and Umbrella Corporation

While Chen Changsheng and the Willow Tree were frantically scavenging for loot, Elizabeth's home was also breached by the army. A mere few hundred zombies were no match for the military.

Under the crushing might of tanks and cannons, Elizabeth and her newborn child were, as expected, captured alive.

The various zombies that rapidly evolved near Elizabeth's home also greatly shocked the scientists. The researchers simply couldn't fathom how these monsters had evolved.

Beyond shock came panic. These monsters evolved to the point of their physical bodies being able to withstand bullets in such a short time was truly terrifying.

Elizabeth and her child were escorted onto different planes and transported to different research locations. Coincidentally, Chen Changsheng was on the same plane as the infant born from the virus aggregate.

At this time, the virus aggregate codenamed Pariah still resembled an ordinary infant, naturally failing to attract the attention of the researchers. Everyone simply secured Pariah in an isolation box as they would a normal infant.

As if a normal person, Chen Changsheng stepped forward, patting the isolation box, feigning great interest as he scrutinized Pariah.

It wasn't that Chen Changsheng lacked empathy; it was simply that from his perspective, this infant was merely a virus aggregate.

Although Pariah possessed the appearance of a toddler, it showed none of the typical behaviors of an infant. Normal toddlers would either cry or sleep, but Pariah merely stared with wide, unblinking eyes, devoid of emotion, fixedly gazing at the creature before it.

Though he desperately wanted to absorb it and see what abilities he would gain, Chen Changsheng made no move.

After all, there were still dozens of Black Watch researchers in the cabin at this time. Chen Changsheng couldn't make any excessive moves. If he attracted their attention, it would be difficult to explain.

More importantly, at such high altitudes, Chen Changsheng truly wasn't sure if he would survive if the plane crashed.

Elizabeth, on another plane, was also like Pariah, her eyes devoid of any emotion, as still as a dead person.

After giving birth to Pariah, Elizabeth gained the ability to link with the virus's memories. At this moment, Elizabeth was receiving forty billion years of evolutionary memories passed down from the Original Virus.

Given Elizabeth's pitiful brain capacity, this was clearly no small undertaking. It wouldn't be completed in a short time. One could only hope that this vast memory wouldn't shatter Elizabeth's mind.

Chen Changsheng didn't know how far the plane had flown when he felt a distinct tremor. Simultaneously, a bright light flashed outside the plane's porthole.

It was a mushroom cloud descending from the sky, erupting on the ground with a brilliance as dazzling as the sun. A massive mushroom cloud ascended into the heavens, proclaiming that this world still belonged to humanity.

Chen Changsheng agreed that this world belonged to humans. After all, he still considered himself human. Therefore, Chen Changsheng also wished to exercise the rights of an owner.

He hoped the Willow Tree had escaped disaster. Before leaving, Chen Changsheng had already commanded the Willow Tree to transfer its energy to a distant location. He believed the Willow Tree's root network, far from the blast center, would survive.

Chen Changsheng's physical condition, strengthened by the Original Virus, was exceptionally robust, even making his mind much more agile than before. After infiltrating the Black Watch, Chen Changsheng's brain, like a sponge, absorbed a great deal of biochemical knowledge.

Concurrently, Chen Changsheng's application of the Original Virus became even more adept. With means far surpassing ordinary people, Chen Changsheng managed to win over some high-ranking military officials, becoming one of the Black Watch's chief scientists. Chen Changsheng also gained more influence through some of his research achievements.

The Black Watch's nuclear bombing of Hope Town in 1980 was eventually exposed. Under public pressure, the Black Watch was forced underground. The numerous research centers that originally belonged to the Black Watch were also forced to fend for themselves.

It was against this backdrop that Raymond McMullen, a chief scientist of the Black Watch, founded Gentek Corporation, which became a subordinate research institution of the Black Watch.

Chen Changsheng, meanwhile, gathered a group of talented scientists and established Umbrella Corporation, pledging allegiance to the military and conducting research for their benefactors.

Gentek Corporation, following the Black Watch's orders, researched how to weaponize the Original Virus. Chen Changsheng's Umbrella Corporation, however, focused on studying the effects of the Blacklight Virus in enhancing the human body.

Amidst the chaos, as the military divided assets, Gentek Corporation obtained the virus progenitor, Elizabeth, while Umbrella Corporation acquired the child codenamed Pariah, initiating research into human enhancement.

Upon acquiring Pariah, Chen Changsheng, as the sole and most powerful boss of Umbrella, unceremoniously absorbed Pariah, becoming the sole will of the Original Virus and the sole leader of the virus aggregate.

Gentek Corporation's decades of development and research yielded limited results. After all, modifying the Original Virus into a controllable bioweapon was incredibly difficult, something beyond current technology.

In contrast, Umbrella Corporation was remarkably successful, achieving significant results and transitioning to a commercial model to generate profit, especially since Chen Changsheng himself was the virus.

Under Chen Changsheng's deliberate suppression, Umbrella Corporation obtained numerous results from the Original Virus in a short period.

These included evolution potions that enhanced human physical functions, various drugs that boosted human immunity, anti-aging elixirs that delayed human aging, and biological cosmetics that maintained eternal youth...

These products quickly generated immense wealth for Chen Changsheng. With the backing of this wealth, Umbrella's cooperation with the military became even closer.

Currently, Gentek Corporation, relying on official funding from the Black Watch, still stands firm in Manhattan, New York. After all, that is the stronghold of the Black Watch forces in this world.

Chen Changsheng has no intention of going there yet; it's not the right time. Sometimes, Chen Changsheng envies Alex Mercer.

Chen Changsheng had transformed into the Original Virus long ago since Hope Town, but the abilities he gained were quite limited. Therefore, Chen Changsheng planned to absorb abilities after Alex Mercer acquired his, reaping the benefits of a third party.

Chen Changsheng spent a huge sum of money to purchase land near Hope Town, under the guise of cleaning up nuclear radiation, and established a new urban base for Umbrella near Hope Town. Chen Changsheng naturally named this new base city Raccoon City...

The Willow Tree in the original Hope Town was not destroyed by the nuclear explosion. This was because the Willow Tree, following Chen Changsheng's orders, had grown in a direction away from Hope Town, thus preserving its root network far from the blast center.

As for the above-ground body of the Willow Tree, it was unfortunately obliterated. The ground itself had been blasted into a large crater, let alone the body of a Willow Tree. Even its reinforcement by the Original Virus was useless. In the face of a nuclear explosion, all beings are equal.

However, when he left, Chen Changsheng had already absorbed some of the Willow Tree's genes and taken a branch. This branch was the key to the Willow Tree's revival.

As soon as Chen Changsheng was able to escape the Black Watch's surveillance, he secretly returned to Hope Town under the pretext of research. In an area with a root network, Chen Changsheng planted the Willow Tree branch from his arm into the soil. With the Willow Tree's formidable vitality, it had grown extremely tall within a few decades, its roots spreading far and wide.

The nearby Willow Trees were all extensions of the main Willow Tree. This small-yield nuclear bomb couldn't eliminate the Willow Tree.

Because the Willow Tree was near the nuclear crater, the newly grown Willow Tree had even evolved the ability to absorb nuclear radiation.

This ability was truly remarkable. The life essence produced by the Willow Tree's ability had directly increased severalfold.

Due to the Willow Tree's massive growth, Chen Changsheng decided to build Raccoon City not far from here to conceal the Willow Tree's abnormality. He spent a great deal of resources planting trees to restore the appearance of the original forest.

The original site of Hope Town was cordoned off by Chen Changsheng under official authority, with numerous signs warning of radiation hazards, ensuring that no one would be willing to go there. Furthermore, this area was a no-fly zone, and nothing could reveal the secrets within except for satellites.

Raccoon City was inhabited by Umbrella employees. All employees had signed confidentiality agreements with Umbrella Corporation, ensuring they would not disclose any information related to Umbrella.

Chen Changsheng had sufficient means to make those who violated the confidentiality agreements pay the price.

However, Umbrella's methods of recruiting people were always simple and effective. As company employees, they could receive enhancements from the company, doubling their lifespan and physical strength compared to ordinary people.

All living expenses were covered by the company. If they were still not satisfied, the company's security department had enhanced mercenary security forces who would teach them the meaning of knowing when to stop.

Chen Changsheng had already developed the Willow Tree's abilities to their utmost. The complex root system coiled and tangled, tightly enveloping the large hole blasted by the nuclear bomb, completely absorbing all radiation.

Seeing the Willow Tree's capabilities, Chen Changsheng even planned to buy nuclear waste to feed it.

In 2008, Chen Changsheng, while in India, saw through the computer in front of him that Alex Mercer in Manhattan had dropped and broken a test tube containing the Blacklight Virus at a train station. He was then shot and killed on the spot by Gentek Corporation security personnel who arrived, and his body was taken away.

Chen Changsheng hadn't been wasting his time all these years. At the very least, in terms of intelligence, the Umbrella Corporation had infiltrated every country globally, having its own representatives in each nation.

Don't ask why Chen Changsheng was in India. India has the world's second-largest population, the sixth-largest land area, the most illiterates, the worst environment, and is the most suitable place in the world for viruses to grow.

Now, India's Ganges River had become a river flowing with the Original Virus, though all the viruses were in their latent stage.

Every day, many people drowned in this river, and many bodies were thrown into it, but without exception, they were all converted by the Blacklight Virus into the initial energy for Chen Changsheng to absorb.

As a colony of an old capitalist empire, Western countries were very tolerant of India. Every day, many people flew from India to all parts of the world, thus spreading the virus worldwide.

After contacting Raymond McMullen, Gentek Corporation's chief scientist, Chen Changsheng learned he would watch a live online dissection of Alex Mercer tomorrow.

Raymond gave Chen Changsheng a lot of face. After all, they belonged to the military. Even though the Umbrella Corporation was superior to Gentek in all aspects, they still left a sliver of hope, making Raymond treat the situation cautiously.

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