Late at night.
Halifax City was ablaze with lights, and the streets downtown were lined with snow piled higher than a person's knees.
But the cold weather and late hour could not stop tourists and residents from enjoying the nightlife.
Halifax City was no longer the small provincial capital that had once resembled a "fishing village."
The massive influx of capital brought by Umbrella had caused all kinds of buildings to spring up like bamboo shoots, while culture and entertainment had reached unprecedented prosperity.
The red-and-white umbrella logo could be seen everywhere, along with Umbrella's corporate slogan on billboards:
"Our Business Is Life Itself."
This showed that Umbrella's influence in the region had long since surpassed that of the government.
But compared with the cheerful atmosphere...
A convoy consisting of ten black SUVs and a heavy truck looked somewhat out of place.
Still, no one paid it much attention. Enjoying the wonderful nightlife was what mattered.
The convoy had just left Umbrella General Hospital in downtown Halifax City and was heading toward a private military base in the suburbs.
William, the owner of the company, was sitting inside one of the SUVs driven by Hunk.
Ever since USS had expanded, Hunk had established a squad called Alpha.
He had recruited thirty of the most elite USS members to serve as William's personal guards, ensuring his safety around the clock.
Each SUV had also been retrofitted with Titanium Alloy plates newly developed by Halsey, giving them defenses far beyond those of any existing armor.
Once the hatch on top of an SUV was opened, a six-barreled rotary machine gun could rise from it, providing overwhelming firepower.
The trunks were packed with Optical Camouflage suits, Bulletproof Vests, riot shields, firearms, ammunition, and more.
Only a large-scale armed force numbering several thousand—and an ambush at that—could possibly wipe out Alpha Squad.
But within Nova Scotia, which Umbrella had completely brought under its control, the odds of such a thing happening were even lower than winning a massive lottery jackpot.
As for the heavy truck, it contained three T-103 Tyrants prepared by Halsey. They could obey orders from Umbrella employees of Grade A or higher.
At that moment, William sat in the back seat of the SUV with a grim expression, watching the streets outside through the one-way bulletproof window.
He was not surprised that an SCP had appeared in this world.
What troubled him now was which SCP they would have to face this time.
After all, among the Foundation's special Containment Objects, there were many...
No, there were far too many Containment Objects that could not be dealt with by normal means.
According to the official website's settings, some of them were simply impossible to kill.
But if the settings from games such as SCP: Secret Laboratory applied, some SCPs could still be killed.
He had only learned about them through YouTube videos by streamers, so his understanding was not particularly deep.
William had never conducted especially careful research into the SCP website, either.
He only knew a few famous SCPs.
For example, SCP-096, the Shy Guy; SCP-682, the Immortal Giant Lizard; and... SCP-166, the succubus girl.
Every one of them was difficult to deal with.
Just as William fell into deep thought, Hunk, sitting in front, reminded him, "Boss, we're almost there."
Coming back to himself, William composed his anxious and unsettled feelings and replied calmly, "All right. I know."
The view pulled away from William and rose above the convoy.
Ahead of the convoy stood a large military base covering nearly twenty square kilometers.
It had everything one would expect: runways, hangars, helicopter pads, control towers, and more.
Inside the hangars were An-124s previously purchased from Ukraine, as well as C-130 Hercules turboprop transport aircraft and others.
The helicopters included UH-1E Hueys, UH-60A Black Hawks, OH-6 Little Birds, CH-53E Super Stallions, and more.
Small, medium, and large transport helicopters stood in neat rows beside the airfield, outnumbering even those of the Canadian Military.
Every vehicle had also been repainted black and marked with Umbrella's white-and-red umbrella logo.
The barracks, armories, parade grounds, training areas, and other facilities had likewise expanded dozens of times over in just six months.
This was the main base of Umbrella's armed forces, codenamed Troy.
The convoy passed through the woods. After entering the base, it slowed down and finally stopped in front of a hangar.
William and Hunk's Alpha Squad got out together and entered the hangar.
The heavy truck opened its cargo doors as well. With the assistance of technicians and the UBCS stationed at the base, three T-103 Tyrants clad in green leather suits stepped out and stood by.
More than a dozen folding chairs had been arranged in the center of this hangar, which had been converted into a temporary operations room.
The seats were filled with UBCS officers and noncommissioned officers wearing dark green combat trousers and light gray combat uniforms.
Standing in front of the officers were Andre, a drawing board, and projection equipment.
When the group saw William enter with Hunk and Alpha Squad, they all stood up and saluted. "Boss!"
William still wore a smile as he gave a slight nod. "At ease."
"Yes, sir!"
After the officers sat back down, William came to Andre's side and asked, "Colonel, what's the situation?"
"Unknown."
Andre shook his head slightly, turned on the projector, and displayed a map of Alberta Province. He then reported to William:
"The missing agent was located in an industrial town called Athabasca, one hundred kilometers directly north of Edmonton, the capital of Alberta Province.
"The agent's cover identity was that of a local police officer. After reporting that Athabasca had suffered a large number of civilian deaths, he lost contact.
"The town has already been sealed off by the Canadian Military. Its commander contacted Troy.
"They need us to send troops into the town to investigate."
Two months earlier, William had signed a confidential contract with the Canadian Military.
Under its terms, if an anomalous phenomenon caused civilian casualties, Umbrella's armed forces would assist the military in suppressing it free of charge.
The military's senior officers naturally had no reason to reject such an opportunity to make money.
After all, if a soldier died, the military and government would have to pay out a great deal of compensation and benefits...
Wasn't that practically giving away money?
Besides, whether an "anomalous phenomenon" even existed was still a question. Since they had nothing to lose, the Canadian Military happily signed the contract.
That was why its commander had contacted Troy first.
"Hmm..."
After hearing Andre's report, William let out a low hum and asked:
"How will your UBCS deal with it?"
At that, Andre pointed to the rough diagram on the drawing board and said in a solemn voice:
"The town isn't large. A river cuts it off to the north, while the Canadian Military has tightly sealed all the other entrances and exits.
"Furthermore, no casualties have occurred in the surrounding villages.
"This indicates that the anomalous entity cannot swim, or that some other factor prevents it from crossing the river.
"I plan to parachute a company of UBCS troops into the area to search for the anomalous phenomenon and attempt to contain or shoot it.
"Then a company of transport helicopters carrying a large number of technicians will handle the cleanup operation."
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