Cleaning Up the Mess

The procedures for taking over Umbrella Corporation were simple. All of the company's power was managed and distributed by the artificial intelligence Red Queen. As long as the shares and positions were transferred voluntarily or inherited according to succession order, the new owner could retain control of Umbrella Corporation.

After Alicia transferred her shares to Duncan, making him the owner of Umbrella Corporation, he automatically inherited the shares belonging to the deceased Isaac as well.

Thus, Red Queen's systems were unlocked, and she became a good, obedient child who listened to Duncan.

Although Red Queen was very obedient, the data Alicia had added still left the directive to protect humanity in effect. If Duncan ever tried to do anything that threatened all of humankind, Red Queen would quietly take action.

This was one of Alicia's little safeguards to keep an eye on Duncan. After handing over her authority, Alicia, who had already made up her mind to die, closed her eyes. With the burden on her mind finally lifted, she no longer wanted to drag out her life in a sickly body.

Umbrella Corporation had now completely fallen into Duncan's hands. Tony cut off the power to all the shareholders and company executives in the cryogenic pods, freezing them to death.

If Duncan himself had cut off the power, Red Queen's underlying rules would have suspended his shareholder rights for ten years. This was a necessary rule to protect everyone.

The cruelty of corporate warfare showed itself in all kinds of ways. Some important figures spent hundreds of millions each year on personal security, afraid their competitors might assassinate them.

Duncan was a shareholder, so he couldn't do it—but Tony could!

He was from another world. He fed corrupted data into Red Queen's database, then cut off the power and locked the pod doors while she was down. In an instant, over a thousand guilty people were turned into popsicles. Later, Duncan had someone dispose of all the bodies.

The Hive had been left in a mess by Natasha and the other two's attempt to make their way through it. It couldn't be used until the facility was repaired. Duncan returned to the surface with the lifeless Alicia and temporarily stored the young old woman in the morgue at Raccoon City General Hospital.

Next came cleaning up the mess Isaac had left behind.

First and most importantly, he had to stop the doomsday plan and prevent the infection from spreading.

All the Umbrella loyalists at the company's underground bases around the world received the order to terminate the plan. It had been issued under the highest management authority and was absolute, leaving no room for doubt.

Wesker was Isaac's most loyal subordinate. He had been doing Isaac's dirty work since the company's founding, and had risen through the ranks to become one of his trusted men.

When Isaac put his plan into action and entered a cryogenic pod, Wesker was the only person who stayed awake outside to oversee its execution.

Now, he was still working for Umbrella Corporation, doing his best to stock the company's bases around the world with enough supplies before the apocalypse arrived.

The virus had simply modified his body, making him as tough as iron and giving him incredible stamina. But running all over the world to order supplies still left him exhausted.

Wesker didn't yet know that Isaac was dead. He had just finished handling the supply situation at the Tokyo base and was at the airport, preparing to take Umbrella's private plane to an underwater base in the waters near Bear.

"Wake me when we get there. I'm going to rest for a bit." The exhausted Wesker spoke to the bodyguards on the plane with him, then leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

The bodyguards were loyalists trained by Umbrella Corporation. They nodded in unison and took their seats around Wesker, waiting for the plane to take off.

Before the plane had even taken off, the communicators on their bodies sounded a special alert. It only sounded when Umbrella Corporation issued a top-priority order.

They didn't dare waste any time. All of them pulled out their communicators to check the message.

A moment later, they looked up at Wesker, who was resting in his seat. They put away their communicators, drew their pistols, and, facing their superior, cleared their magazines, taking special care to aim at his head.

A barrage of gunfire echoed through the plane. The dense hail of bullets riddled the resting Wesker.

And it didn't stop there. All of Isaac's loyalists who had been flagged by Red Queen were brought to justice. Duncan now controlled most of Umbrella Corporation's power and had the authority to fire any employee.

With Isaac's loyalists dead, the plan to release the virus was naturally halted. The company also needed to mobilize its resources and do everything it could to manage public relations, putting forward some clones as scapegoats to give the public a satisfactory explanation.

In the Resident Evil world, Umbrella Corporation's accumulated influence had made the multinational monopoly immensely powerful. This was the ideal world to serve as a foundation.

Duncan could already feel that before long, he would be able to open a second door and make contact with a new world.

But until Umbrella Corporation's problems had been dealt with, he had no intention of entering a new world. Besides, the Marvel Universe was more than enough for him to build up his strength in the early stages, and Umbrella Corporation had plenty of projects worth collaborating on with Stark Industries.

Major Cain, who was watching from Meimen Bridge, was also one of Isaac's men. Although he was only a clone now, that didn't mean he didn't deserve to die.

The Security Force's captain was a Black man. He had also received the company's emergency communication, but unlike the other company loyalists, he wasn't a clone.

When he saw what was displayed on his communicator, a puzzled look came over his face and his brow furrowed slightly. But he quickly stopped thinking about it, picked two subordinates, and walked down from the wall.

Major Cain, who was directing the evacuation, was arrested and restrained inside his tent. Before long, a helicopter arrived at the temporary Camp outside the city.

The Black captain went to the helicopter to welcome the interim commander who had just arrived by air.

A graceful figure opened the helicopter door. Natasha, now wearing an off-white women's suit, stepped down with Steve beside her. The two of them were the interim commanders of the Camp.

"Ma'am!" The Black captain stood at attention and saluted Natasha.

Although Umbrella Corporation's Security Force was highly militarized, the real decision-makers still wore suits. It made sense to greet Natasha, who looked more like a manager.

Natasha nodded to the Black captain, then quickly headed for the stairs leading up to the wall. As she walked, she said, "Stop everyone from passing through. Anyone who's already made it out has to stay in the Camp under quarantine. How many people can we deploy here?"

Natasha's decisive words caught the Black captain off guard. He grew more serious and replied, "Most of our people have been sent to guard the weak points in the wall. We only have six squads available right now."

"How many people exactly?"

Natasha climbed the stairs to the wall, her footsteps echoing. Steve, serving as her bodyguard, followed silently behind her.

The Black captain hurried after them and replied, "Forty-two!"

The area below the wall was still in chaos, giving Natasha a headache. Although she was used to the freedom of the free world, its foolish, blind pursuit of freedom could really send her blood pressure soaring at times.

"Understood. Close the gates for now. And get me a map of Raccoon City!"

"Yes, sir!"