Umbrella

"Heh."

Hearing the System's words, William put on a dead-fish eyed expression and sneered inwardly.

He thought that by becoming young and handsome, he could start over and leave behind his previously hopeless life.

Who knew this world would be even more dangerous?

Sigh...

Composing himself, William said calmly in his heart, "Please continue, System."

[Received, reading host's complete profile, please wait...

Reading complete.

Detected that the host has a lumber processing company that is virtually defunct.

Therefore, this System will assist the host in developing the company as the main objective.

Reward package opening mission: Please change the company name to UmbrellaCorporation.]

"Umbrella?"

William was stunned. Of course, he knew what this name represented.

Translated into Huaxia characters, it would be 'Anbulai' or 'Protection Umbrella Company'.

It was the culprit behind the tragedy of Raccoon City in the Resident Evil game series.

It possessed extremely high-end technology in weapons, military arms, and biomedicine, and even had armed forces comparable to a small nation's government.

Just as William was still in surprise, the System continued:

[Once the host completes the mission and opens the reward package, this System will continue to answer the host's questions.]

After saying this, the System, which had appeared out of nowhere, seemed to retreat back into his mind and fell silent.

At the same time, Andre drove the car into the courtyard of a villa, stepped on the brakes, and stopped. He said:

"I'll park the car in the garage first. You get out and wait a moment."

"Ah, okay."

William, snapping back to reality, had no objections. He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car.

He glanced at Andre, who was reversing into the garage, before turning to face his current home.

A two-story villa with a highly modern style, gray stone, and a simple main door.

To the right of the door was a giant floor-to-ceiling window, through which the living room inside could be clearly seen.

What a great environment.

It was a pity William was in no mood to enjoy life.

"Beep beep!"

With the sound of the car successfully locking, Andre walked to the door with the keys. As he opened it, he reminded William:

"Stop just standing there."

"Mm."

Entering the house, the interior was still minimalist, with black and white tones.

After all, it would be harder for a tough guy like Andre to create a stylish interior than for him to defeat a hundred enemies alone.

"Ugh!"

Andre couldn't stand the smell of alcohol and sourness on William. Pinching his nose, he said, "Go take a shower quickly!"

Then he walked to the bar and kitchen area behind the door on the left, preparing to make some simple sandwiches for breakfast.

"Oh, okay."

William, gradually adapting, first returned to his room on the second floor. Ignoring the pin-up posters on the walls, he took out new clothes and a bath towel and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

Five minutes later;

William, changed into clean clothes and wearing slippers, came downstairs from the second floor.

Andre had just finished placing their breakfast on the dining table by the living room window and said to William:

"Hurry up and eat, kid."

"Coming." William nodded obediently, walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

?

Andre, sitting opposite him, felt that this kid was a bit abnormal.

Too obedient.

Did drinking until he blacked out help correct a spoiled brat?

"Andre," William said, suddenly looking up while eating his sandwich, "how much savings do we have left?"

"Why are you suddenly asking about this?" Andre's brows furrowed instantly, and he asked cautiously:

"Let me tell you, you can buy a car, but don't even think about those GTRs and AMGs. You can afford to buy them, but you can't afford to maintain them. When you graduate, I'll buy you a car."

"Uh... no." William knew the other person had misunderstood him.

He organized his thoughts and said sincerely, "Andre, I know I was truly unbearable before. That's why I've made up my mind to revitalize the Russell Family."

"Mhm, I believe you."

Andre, as if he had heard it all before, took a bite of his sandwich and chewed a few times before continuing, "When you graduate successfully, find a good job, get married and have children, then you'll have revitalized it."

"No!" William got straight to the point, "Andre, I'm planning to revive the company, so I need to pay the property taxes first."

"Ugh!" Andre was so choked he couldn't breathe.

"Andre!"

Seeing this, William quickly got up, walked around the table, and patted the old, burly man's back.

"Cough cough!"

After swallowing the food, Andre asked in disbelief, "William! Did I hear that right?! You actually want to restart the company?"

"Yes, if we don't pay the property taxes soon, the government will start auctioning it off," William said seriously.

"Mhm..." Andre saw that the young man wasn't joking. He grunted and said, "Your dad left about 600,000 in savings. You've squandered over 500,000 in the last two years, so there's not much left."

"What?!" William was shocked to hear this number. This was because he recalled from his university courses that the professor had mentioned the property tax rate in Halifax City was around 1.7%. He also knew that the processing plant had a very large area, and coupled with the factory buildings and equipment, its value was estimated to be over 6 million. This meant that the property tax for one year would be 100,000. Two years of property taxes... that would be 200,000.

"Heh heh."

Looking at William's face, Andre chuckled and stood up. He placed a hand on William's shoulder and said solemnly, "William, that was your father's money, and I can't stop you from spending it. As for my savings, I have nearly a million."

Upon hearing this, William's eyes reignited with hope, and he asked with trembling lips, "You... you mean...?"

"Kid," Andre, the burly man, wore a rare benevolent expression and said, "I don't know what's gotten into your head this time, but I know you're much smarter than your unreliable father. Lord Russell thought highly of you back then, so as long as you're determined to get on the right path, I'll support you no matter what."

"Andre..." William's eyes couldn't help but redden slightly.

"Alright, you're not a child anymore!"

Andre playfully swatted the top of William's head with his hand, then turned and walked to the door, picking up his car keys and wallet. He shouted, "Instead of spacing out there, why don't you hurry up and come with me to pay the property taxes!"

"Oh! Coming!" William also quickly ran to the door, put on his sandals, and walked outside.

Then, the two of them went into the garage and drove to the Nova Scotia Provincial Government Office (Access Nova Scotia) in the suburbs to pay the two years of overdue property taxes. They also took the opportunity to rename the company, formerly Russell Enterprises, to Umbrella Corporation.