Delphi

By the beginning of next year, Umbrella would become a company that "served" all of humanity.

Just as William had said: "Our business is life itself."

That was what the outside world knew.

But Umbrella's employees were also deeply aware of another saying:

"We contain, we control, we protect. We are humanity's first line of defense, and we never retreat."

The reason civilians could enjoy peaceful lives was that someone was dying in their place.

After the Athabasca incident, the numbers of employees who had signed Confidentiality Agreements and died in action were as follows:

C-Class security personnel responsible for Containment Centers around the world: 27.

B-Class field agents responsible for investigating anomalous phenomena: 221.

And, of course, there were the D-Class personnel who advanced Umbrella's biotechnology: 20,000+.

If not for the selfless sacrifices of these people, human society would have collapsed long ago.

"Ah..."

William looked at the trees outside the window and could not help sighing.

It was precisely the field agents' fearlessness that ensured the UBCS could arrive in time. Otherwise, certain Safe Containment Objects could also cause mass casualties.

A classification did not merely indicate destructive power. It also represented how difficult it was to recover a Containment Object.

Take Wendigo, for example.

These incorporeal evil spirits could not be contained at all, but once their weaknesses were understood, the field agents alone were sufficient to deal with them. Hence, they had been classified as Euclid.

What puzzled William most, however, was 049.

The Plague Doctor had gotten along with the officers at Containment Center One like a house on fire, and his relationship with them was far more harmonious than with the researchers.

In fact, the vast majority of Containment Objects had been analyzed and studied by 049, helping the Containment Center manage and control them more effectively. And 049 took great pleasure in the work.

In the Original World, William had watched many fan-made videos on YouTube.

049 could be described as killing ghosts when he encountered ghosts and killing gods when he encountered gods.

Not to mention the Mobile Task Forces of the SCP Foundation.

Yet after the UBCS officers took over Containment Center One, 049 had shown no intention of resisting whatsoever. They had not even needed to use the lavender tranquilizer on him.

Should he have Halsey ask him about it when she had the time?

After all, she was the only person who could have such a pleasant conversation with 049.

Speaking of which...

Ever since William had nearly kissed Halsey that time, their relationship had become somewhat delicate.

Fortunately, after Halsey finished helping him deal with Xbox, she had gone to Delphi Base to prepare to put construction of the Aerospace Carrier on the agenda.

William, meanwhile, had been busy expanding the company and had no time to worry about his personal feelings.

Otherwise, he would not have been able to fall asleep the moment he sat down.

"Boss, we're almost there."

Hearing Hunk's reminder, William finally stopped thinking and replied calmly, "Mm. Got it."

He turned his gaze forward again.

Through the car window, he could see a checkpoint not far ahead of the Humvee.

A rising barrier had been set up across the dirt road, with six UBCS soldiers in AAES uniforms stationed there.

As soon as the UBCS confirmed that William was inside the vehicle, they immediately saluted and let them pass.

The Humvee continued forward along the dirt road between the dense forest. Soon, the view gradually opened up, and at the end of the road was the entrance to a cave.

The mountainsides on both sides of the entrance had been hollowed out. One could vaguely guess that built-in bunkers were hidden within.

As for exactly how many concealed defensive weapons and personnel were stationed there, someone would have to be bold enough to come and find out.

The Humvee entered the cave and continued deeper inside according to the indicator lights.

The road inside was no longer dirt. Instead, it was a smooth asphalt-concrete surface, with a Red and White Umbrella logo appearing every hundred meters.

This was Delphi Base.

To prevent detection by American spy satellites, the facilities outside the cave were extremely crude. From the air, there was nothing to see but forest.

To throw off prying eyes, William had first gone to inspect the space technology department, then had the convoy formed by Alpha return toward the direction of Hafa at a steady speed.

Meanwhile, Hunk and another elite Alpha soldier had brought Biochemical Power Armor and secretly escorted William to Delphi Base.

This was not William making a fuss over nothing. The base contained something capable of changing the balance of power in the world, so they had to be cautious—extremely cautious.

Several minutes later;

The view ahead of the Humvee suddenly opened up.

The entire mountain had been hollowed out, and enormous lighting equipment made the interior as bright as day.

Five external-frame structures stood in a row, each covered by green safety netting.

Dazzling flashes from welding flickered inside. It was impossible to know how many workers from the Engineering Team were carrying out construction within.

Most importantly...

Each "building" was six hundred meters long, two hundred meters wide, and two hundred meters high.

From this, it was clear that Delphi Base was absolutely the largest of all the facilities—without exception.

Fortunately, William had been lucky enough to draw Umbrella's specialized Engineering Team. Otherwise, Delphi would not have been completed even after several decades.

The Humvee drove for another few minutes before finally arriving in front of a lift.

William and the others got out of the vehicle and took the elevator toward the facilities built at the top of the cave.

The style inside the facility was extremely similar to The Hive. UBCS soldiers patrolled the corridors, while technicians in white lab coats moved about as well.

Delphi Base, inside Halsey's office;

It was the most protruding position of the upper facility, and Halsey had replaced the floor and walls with enormous sheets of bulletproof glass.

Standing there, one could look down over the entire base without a blind spot, while also enjoying the best possible source of inspiration.

But the view was extremely unfriendly to anyone with a fear of heights.

"Tap, tap~"

Halsey sat behind her computer desk, her face stern and icy as she busily struck the keyboard with her slender fingers.

"Whoosh—"

"Hm?"

The sound of the automatic door opening attracted Halsey's attention.

When she saw that William had arrived, her expression instantly changed from its previous coldness into that of a young girl, and she prepared to launch an "attack."

The scene shifted to William.

He pressed the door-opening button and reminded the two Alpha soldiers beside him, "Hunk, you two can wait outside."

"Yes, boss." (x2)

"Mm." William gave a slight nod before walking into Halsey's room.

However, after he took a few steps forward, his heart nearly leaped out of his chest. White stars floated before his eyes, and he felt the world spinning.

"Boss~!"

Halsey hurriedly stood up, preparing to embrace her heartless boss.

But then...

"Thud—!"

Before William could be "ravaged" by Halsey, his eyes rolled back. He fell face-first and straight onto the glass floor.

That was right. William suffered from a mild fear of heights.

But still...

Anyone would have been unable to take it when they opened a door and immediately found themselves "suspended in midair," right?