The Incident Was Over

Communications in Raccoon City were restored on the sixth day after the crisis. 

Serum ingredients arrived in Raccoon City from the Nairobi branch in Africa. The original procedure for making Airborne Serum was put back into action, and a new batch was successfully produced.

This batch of serum was rushed to every branch for distribution. Umbrella's mess was more or less cleaned up.

Quite a few people in Tokyo had filmed zombies eating people, but that was all right. Umbrella Corporation could call the shots in America, and America could call the shots in that tiny country, so it was easy enough to suppress the fallout.

News of the Raccoon City incident spread around the world as soon as communications were restored. Duncan was already swamped, but he had no choice but to rush to Washington and hold a press conference with the relevant authorities. He laid out what had happened, along with a series of pieces of evidence, and promised a host of benefits for the public and the country. Mostly, he threw money at the problem.

Umbrella Corporation successfully shifted the blame, and the public's anger was directed entirely at some nonexistent corporate spies.

Under the glare of countless media cameras, Duncan—who had never before appeared in the spotlight—performed remarkably well. That was thanks to his broad perspective and magnanimous spirit.

The people here might have been duped into stupidity, knowing only how to fight among themselves. But that was all right. He and Umbrella Corporation would lead humanity into a new era!

After taking control of Umbrella Corporation's resources, Duncan's horizons had broadened. He had initially planned to work with various countries to develop the resources of the new world, but once he'd gotten a clear sense of Umbrella's resources and influence, he abandoned that idea.

Umbrella was fully capable of developing the other world's resources on its own in the early stages. Once it had grown strong enough, it could cooperate with other countries—and avoid the hassle of negotiating with all kinds of interest groups.

Facing a battery of cameras and microphones, Duncan stood behind a podium bearing Umbrella's logo like an unyielding warrior. In a solemn voice, he said, "Umbrella Corporation has learned from this incident and will make the necessary changes. We will take the following measures, among others: disclose our research projects, financial status, and the number of experiments conducted; publish updates on our research progress and findings; and regularly invite members of the public and other groups to tour Umbrella's research facilities!"

Click, click, click...

The shutter of a Japanese reporter's camera rattled furiously, capturing the entire scene.

In a corner of the press conference hall, Steve and Natasha watched Duncan speak eloquently onstage, prompting the following exchange.

"This reminds me of the old days..." Steve's eyes filled with nostalgia.

"War?" Natasha asked curiously.

"No. The time a senator invited me to sell war bonds."

A capitalist's words, indeed.

After the press conference, Duncan left with Natasha and Steve, ignoring the crowd of reporters calling, "Excuse me!" Once he answered, they'd pester him with questions nonstop.

After the final press conference, the three of them boarded an Umbrella plane and returned to Raccoon City. The crisis had caused Umbrella's market value to drop by a fraction of a percent, while its direct financial losses amounted to three hundred million dollars.

The "humanitarian aid" alone for Raccoon City's residents had cost seven hundred million. That wasn't much for Umbrella, and if they didn't spend it, people might keep digging into the incident.

Sitting on the plane, Duncan rubbed his brow, feeling exhausted. Now that he was actually running a major corporation, he was beginning to understand just how tiring the job was.

A large part of the company's senior management had been purged, and the people who'd been hastily promoted hadn't yet learned the ropes. Most decisions now fell to Duncan.

Duncan felt like he needed an entire team of secretaries. Natasha was a great candidate, so he turned to her as she read through some documents and asked hopefully, "Natasha, I have a secretary position available. Would you be interested in giving it a try?"

Natasha turned him down without hesitation. "Thanks, but I already have a new job. If you're short-staffed, I can help you recruit some people."

She sounded completely confident. Her experience as an agent had given her a good eye for people, so she'd have no trouble finding Duncan some truly capable employees.

They'd been in the Resident Evil world for six days. Tony had already returned to Marvel and was busy arranging a partnership between Stark Industries and Umbrella Corporation. There wasn't much left for them to do.

Natasha might still be able to help, but Steve felt thoroughly out of place. Every day, while Duncan worked, Steve could only stay on guard and read the newspapers to learn about this world.

Or find books about the world's history and learn about the World Wars.

The history of World War II in this world wasn't all that different from Marvel's. The difference was that there was no Hydra here. The Allies defeated the little mustache, and the war was won.

Steve was deeply interested in the history of the Resident Evil world, but guarding someone wasn't his strong suit. He was better suited to taking the initiative than staying in one place to protect someone.

"Then I'll have to trouble you. I don't have anyone on my staff! If you'd agree, I'd even create a Clone of you to help me out!"

Duncan slouched back in his chair and lowered it until he was lying down.

Natasha rolled her eyes at him.

Several hours later, the plane landed back in Raccoon City.

The virus outbreak had happened six days ago, and the city of a hundred thousand had nearly returned to normal. Only the gravestones in Raccoon City Cemetery stood as proof that the outbreak had really happened.

After the quarantine ended, many residents chose to leave. The owner of Kendo's was among them.

Duncan had paid him for the guns. It didn't matter that the guns had never arrived; the money could count as aid for the residents.

Umbrella had previously treated Raccoon City as a financial district. There were hardly any factories around the city, and over fifty percent of its residents worked for Umbrella. Most of the rest were employed in the service industry.

Now things were different. To speed up the flow of goods for Stark Industries, Duncan hired people to redraw the city's plans.

They cleared the vast forests outside Meimen Bridge to build transport routes, then built an industrial park farther away, along the riverbank.

Umbrella had money to spare. There was no need to take out bank loans to fund infrastructure projects.

Duncan now had a bit of a nouveau-riche mindset. He'd glance at any project that needed funding and sign off on it. This world's Umbrella had nothing but money.

Now that Duncan had returned to Raccoon City, he hadn't even had time to grab a bite at the Crazy Kenjiji's before Susan, the secretary who'd come to meet him, brought him some troubling news.

Duncan exclaimed, "What? My family's waiting for me at the company? I live alone. What family? You must have the wrong person!"

Susan froze at his words. She swiped through the tablet in her hand, and Duncan Aremus's personal file appeared on the screen. It clearly stated that he had a family.

Could it be...

[There's no ridiculous content like you're imagining. Keep reading without worry]