Space Exploration Technology Department

"Fine."

William looked at Halsey's face, barely able to suppress the stirrings in his heart.

He shifted his gaze and said, "You should know that I'm your boss. Hugging me like this every day is really inappropriate."

"Oh?"

Halsey narrowed her eyes slightly, as if she were thinking about something.

Soon, she opened her eyes again, slightly furrowed her brows, and pursed her lips.

She suddenly reached out with her right hand and pinched William's chin, forcing him to meet her gaze.

!

William looked at Halsey's utterly serious face as it slowly drew closer. His lips trembled slightly as he asked,

"Halsey, what are you doing?"

Halsey did not answer immediately. Instead, with their faces almost touching, she asked back in a slightly hazy voice,

"Are we really just employees?"

"I—you—this!"

William watched as Halsey's lips were about to touch his own.

He panicked a little.

Wasn't she being a little too forward?

But...

He liked it.

He stopped resisting and accepted it calmly!

It was just...

"Boss, Egypt..."

But after Hunk entered the first-class cabin, he interrupted what the two of them were doing.

"Wow." Hunk exclaimed without changing his expression.

"Ah!" Halsey hurriedly stood up and jogged to the bathroom to hide from the awkwardness.

William, meanwhile, stared at Hunk with dead-fish eyes.

With unwillingness in his voice, he said, "Hunk, what's so urgent?"

"Boss, well..." Hunk pointed toward the bathroom at the end of the cabin and said,

"Perhaps I should wait and say it later. You and Dr. Halsey can continue first?"

Continue my ass.

Naturally, William did not actually curse aloud. Wouldn't that chill his subordinate's heart?

"No need." He leaned against the sofa cushion and said lazily, "Go ahead."

"Yes."

Hunk clasped his hands behind his back and respectfully told William, "Mr. Mubarak, the Egyptian president, contacted the captain over the radio and said he wanted to send his regards to you.

"He said that if you weren't busy, he could personally receive you during your trip to Egypt."

"Send his regards?" William was stunned.

It seemed Egypt's economy had been struggling lately.

He waved his hand and said, "Have the captain reply to the president.

"Tell him I'm very busy, and just politely brush him off by thanking him for his kind offer or something."

"Yes." Hunk turned and prepared to leave.

"Wait."

"Boss, is there anything else you want me to do?"

"Oh, also tell the president that I send my regards to his mother."

"Yes, Boss."

Ever since the United Nations conference,

Umbrella's international standing had risen sharply, nearly covering every field.

It was not limited to cutting-edge technology. Even the lifestyle industries had been monopolized by Umbrella.

Take Canada, for example.

From toothbrushes and toothpaste to housing and real estate, everything bore the distinctive Red and White Umbrella logo.

The Canadian Government's reaction?

Umbrella had long since become Canada's largest taxpayer. The government was too grateful to restrain it with petty-minded tactics like the USA.

At the beginning of the year, the Canadian military had also signed an order for Standard Weapons with the Umbrella Arms Department.

It could be said that within Canada, Umbrella's influence was so overwhelming that it had more power than the government itself.

The signing of the arms order not only brought William tens of millions in pocket money, but also gave him an idea.

Thus, in April 2007, Umbrella established the Space Exploration Technology Department and declared that it would lead humanity into the Interstellar Age.

This earth-shaking move once again attracted global attention.

Those idiots at the Wall Street newspapers certainly would not miss the chance to mock him. They all claimed that William Russell had completely lost his mind.

Since Apollo 17 in the United States in 1972, humanity had never set foot on the moon again.

The Interstellar Age?

For a mere company to make such a boast naturally drew a torrent of abuse.

Moreover, as Lehman Brothers' stock price continued to rise, most investors followed the trend and mocked William, telling him to wait until he lost all his money.

However...

The development plan for the Xbox console was suddenly "leaked," instantly causing Microsoft's market value to soar.

As Microsoft's largest shareholder, William's net worth indirectly doubled, effectively silencing those who had mocked him.

Furthermore, Abnormal Crisis would be made into a launch title by Microsoft's Bungie team, causing sales of the already-popular comic to rise sharply.

After all, this world's gaming industry was extremely backward, let alone the concepts of consoles and handheld systems.

This move completely established Umbrella's position in the hearts of young people.

As the person behind everything, William naturally did not reveal that he had orchestrated the leak.

Although he did not care about rumors, he could not let Umbrella's reputation decline.

Besides, establishing the Space Exploration Technology Department had been a necessary compromise.

This world had no genius named Elon Musk, nor did it have a company called SpaceX, so William had no choice but to set one up himself.

The department's headquarters and launch base were built by the Umbrella Engineering Team in Newfoundland and Labrador's wilderness.

Its main purpose was to design Umbrella's proprietary private satellites for detection, communications, navigation, and other functions.

The goal was to achieve global coverage and provide Umbrella's armed personnel with real-time information.

Since the relevant technology was already mature, there would be no difficulty in putting it into practice.

As for launch vehicles?

Buy them!

Money was not a problem.

Besides, NASA was not favored by the USA's higher-ups at all.

When faced with the purchase contract offered by Umbrella, NASA agreed readily without even batting an eye.

Although the department's researchers did not know how this would help usher in the Interstellar Age, they had all signed the Confidentiality Agreement and would not ask too many questions.

In truth, the department's actual purpose was merely to provide cover for another secret department.

Coordinates: 54°N, 62°W.

Authorization: B-class and above.

Name: Delphi Base.

Description:

It was a secret base located in an uninhabited area of Newfoundland and Labrador's interior. The base possessed the most outstanding technical personnel within Umbrella.

The armed personnel responsible for security were all provided by two UBCS companies.

Other than the Umbrella Engineering Team, whose loyalty was guaranteed, there were no C-class personnel.

Delphi was the first base to construct a Nuclear Fusion reactor. It was also the most confidential facility among all of Umbrella's research installations.

Delphi was Apollo's temple in Greek mythology, and was also considered the center of the world in Greek mythology.

William's intention in naming this place Delphi was obvious...

He intended to break free from gravity's restraints and venture into space, making Umbrella the core of human civilization.