Party

Duncan skimmed through the proposed projects and looked surprised. "These projects... They'll take a long time to get off the ground, and even longer to turn a profit, right? They might need funding from other projects just to stay afloat. Won't money get a little tight in the meantime?"

He wasn't worried about the money. Umbrella and Stark Industries were both extremely wealthy, but more than half the projects in the proposal were money pits that wouldn't turn a profit anytime soon. Starting them all at once would tie up most of both companies' working capital and leave them less able to weather risks. If anything went wrong, all their initial investment would go down the drain.

There were also far too many high-tech projects. They didn't have enough qualified people to fill the research positions—unless Tony was willing to let him clone some experts.

"Of course not!"

Tony spoke with complete confidence. He tapped three headings on the holographic display: clean energy, artificial intelligence, and pharmaceuticals.

"We can start with these three ideas. Stark has cold fusion reactor technology, and Umbrella has a wealth of pharmaceutical data. We just need to trade technologies, and there won't be any funding problems at the outset. I can develop an industrial robot to replace human labor entirely. We can use robots for any jobs that would otherwise require people on the later projects, so all the projects can proceed in parallel. For the positions that really do need people, we can start hiring once the facilities are built. And there's more..."

The more he talked, the more excited he got. He nearly ran out to order the construction crew to get started.

Duncan hadn't been running the company for long, and after hearing some of the technical jargon, his head started to spin.

Fortunately, Pepper noticed how lost Duncan looked and explained things in plain language, just barely helping him understand what Tony meant.

The discussion went on for more than two hours. Duncan got a decent idea of what Tony hoped to achieve with all these plans.

Lead Stark Industries to become the light of the Marvel universe!

Great. What ambition!

"I think I've got the gist of it. Send me a copy of the documents later, and I'll take them back and coordinate with my people. I didn't come here to talk business this time. It's exhausting. I'm taking Alice out to look around. You don't mind putting the bill on your tab, do you?"

Duncan pulled the drowsy Alice to her feet and headed for the door. He even turned around to ask Tony for spending money, without the slightest hint of embarrassment.

Tony stood too and waved away the holographic display. Now it was his turn to envy Duncan. "Sounds great. I'll have to come visit you on vacation sometime. I bet nobody there will ask me for an autograph!"

At last, Duncan escaped the headache of work. He and Alice wandered around New York, then had dinner together that evening.

Now fully convinced that traveling between worlds was real, Alice agreed to transfer to a new position. She would temporarily join the Avengers and learn how to become a Super Soldier.

That night, Duncan returned to the Resident Evil world through the elevator at Stark Industries, while Alice stayed behind. Pepper would look after her for the time being.

After Alice joined the Avengers, the partnership between Stark Industries and Umbrella began to move forward at a rapid pace.

After rejoining the Avengers, Steve and Natasha began striking at Hydra hideouts. Alice took the place of the uncontrollable Hulk on missions and gradually bonded with Captain and the others.

Duncan remained concerned about Alice, so they occasionally exchanged letters the old-fashioned way. Her letters mostly described her missions.

She also had plenty of questions. For example, the Avengers had no official organization backing them, so why could they travel around the world carrying dangerous weapons? And why did they charge into Hydra bases in small groups instead of waiting for the military to arrive?

They were all incredibly capable, and their methods caused few casualties, but it seemed exhausting.

At first, Alice struggled to adapt to the Avengers' fighting style. She often got hurt during raids on Hydra outposts and complained about it. Later, her T-virus abilities gradually awakened in the face of danger. Only then did she manage to learn how to dodge bullets and become the second Super Soldier.

Duncan also escaped his crushing workload. The secretarial team he'd recruited handled things very efficiently, while Clone employees among them made sure the secretaries did their jobs properly. His workload was greatly reduced.

One afternoon, after taking care of the company's routine business, Duncan returned to his newly renovated mansion after work. He changed out of his suit into casual sportswear, then drove to a hotel near the Raccoon City Police Department.

There was a party at the hotel that evening, organized by Raccoon City's police officers themselves. Duncan had only provided a tiny bit of funding so the officers who had helped during the Raccoon City crisis could eat, drink, and enjoy themselves.

Meanwhile, in the hotel's banquet hall, soft lighting fell on the formally dressed men and women. Most were men, with only a handful of women among them.

Drinks and refreshments had been laid out in a corner of the banquet hall. People only sipped their drinks, leaving the snacks on the long table untouched. There was still one important guest who hadn't arrived.

"Henry, do you know why that person invited us to the party?"

A few people had gathered around one end of the table, where the fruit wine had been set out, and were chatting.

Henry was a young man in S.T.A.R.S., a unit formed within the Raccoon City Police Department. He was not only highly skilled but also well-informed.

His job had made him a bit of a gossip. If anyone wanted to know something, they could always ask him.

But even Henry hadn't found out why Umbrella's current head had invited a bunch of low-ranking officers to the party. "I don't know. I even asked the chief when I came in, and he didn't know either. He just reminded us to show that guy the same respect we'd show God. He looked awful when he said it, like he'd been licking sweat off an old man's undershirt!"

"Ugh!"

"Gross!"

"Hey, I'm planning to have some snacks later. Don't say disgusting stuff like that!"

The others nodded along with Henry's complaints. Unable to figure out why Duncan had invited them, they changed the subject to griping about their jobs and all the things that were going wrong.

Complaining about their boss together brought them about as much joy as drinking an ice-cold beverage on a hot summer day.

Their conversation about how often the chief sneaked off to an apartment behind his wife and children's backs came to an abrupt end when the person who'd thrown the party arrived.

Duncan pushed open the banquet hall doors with a smile, his gaze sweeping quickly over the crowd before settling on the person he'd been looking for: a policewoman with short black hair cut to her ears.

She wore a sleeveless, water-blue dress that ended above the knee, revealing a pair of shapely, athletic legs.

Her sharp eyes were fixed on him. She held a glass of fruit wine in both hands, and her long, straight legs shifted slightly. The muscles in her thighs and calves flexed beneath her skin, combining softness and strength in lines of sculpted beauty that evoked a primal elegance.

She was like a proud leopardess standing in the grasslands. Even among the yellowing grass, she would captivate anyone who spotted her.

His eyes swept over her and moved on. He found her body tempting, but Duncan wasn't a shallow man, and he soon composed himself. The party wasn't for her, anyway.

Smiling, he stepped into the hall and exchanged pleasantries with the Raccoon City Police Department's chief, trading compliments.