Duncan had repeatedly stressed his point and offered reassurances, but Banner still opposed the idea. Yet he had no way to stop the Umbrella Corporation from continuing to use Clones, so in the end, he could only remain silent.
They weren't expecting to resolve the Clone issue in a single day. For now, they could eat and drink as usual.
While people on the Marvel side were still eating and drinking, the few days of Silence from the Umbrella Corporation in the other world finally gave way to a direct attack.
The United Nations had arranged a public hearing at its headquarters in New York, to be broadcast live. It was meant to appease the protesters who didn't know the truth—and to attack the Umbrella Corporation.
A meeting was also underway within the Umbrella Corporation, where they were discussing how to respond to this latest assault by capitalists around the world.
The Umbrella Corporation had designed an extensive range of computer products, and many people used its computers and phones. Red Queen took advantage of this to intercept a huge number of plans targeting the corporation from the vast sea of online information.
Most of what she uncovered amounted to little more than spreading rumors, making threats, and smearing the company.
The Umbrella Corporation, which was supposed to have fallen, hadn't gone down as they'd expected. Instead, thanks to Duncan's various moves, its stock had risen slightly. This sent the capitalists who had sold their shares early into a fury.
And with the "biological weapons" in Umbrella's hands proving so powerful, they felt threatened. Umbrella could no longer be allowed to remain. Its existence would only leave more people with nowhere to turn.
Most capitalists had been biding their time, waiting for a good opportunity to move against the Umbrella Corporation. After all, its power was immense.
But they'd never imagined that the corporation's current leader would be assassinated!
Under the Umbrella Corporation's internal procedures, if its leader was assassinated, there would be no change in leadership for a year, to prevent malicious competition. That made this period a golden opportunity for all the capitalists.
In just a few days, all kinds of rumors and protest groups had sprung up, quickly besieging the Umbrella Corporation in an effort to break it apart.
At tomorrow's hearing, there would surely be a large group of people brandishing so-called evidence and offering so-called reasons, demanding that the Umbrella Corporation dilute its shares and be broken into pieces according to its different business divisions.
The Hive's underground base...
The online meeting had begun. The heads of eight divisions from around the world sat around the conference table, silently watching Susan at the head of it.
Susan's expression was stiff. She mechanically read from the speech Red Queen had prepared for her: "What does everyone think of this situation?"
In places the cameras couldn't see, more than a dozen armed Clone Soldiers watched the meeting in silence. Their faces were hidden beneath black helmets, and when they stood motionless, they looked like cold machines.
The division heads looked at Susan at the head of the table, their disdain practically spilling across their faces. She was someone who'd climbed the ladder on her back and then gotten lucky. The only reason she was even here was that the leadership team hadn't been formed yet.
She had no right to know so much, let alone chair this meeting.
But the shares hadn't yet been distributed. Susan, sitting at the head of the table, was just a mouthpiece pushed forward by Red Queen, so they had no choice but to listen obediently.
"We don't need to attend the hearing. Umbrella has the power to ignore them."
"Why not continue with the plan we had before? That would quiet a lot of people."
"I agree."
"We could stage some accidents to divert public attention."
"What about a terrorist attack?"
"They assassinated the CEO. We should strike back in the same way."
The largely unnoticed division heads chatted back and forth as casually as if they were discussing everyday matters. They didn't take the pressure from outside seriously at all.
They were the kind of people who would dare destroy the world. How could they care about ordinary people making a fuss? They'd stocked up on a huge amount of supplies. They could seal off their bases and restart the doomsday plan at a moment's notice.
Susan didn't know exactly what the division heads meant by "the plan we had before," but their discussion grew more and more outrageous: terrorist attacks, school shootings, assassinating important figures, blowing up the United Nations building...
Everyone wanted to do something big. Each idea would have an enormous impact, yet they discussed them with startling ease.
Susan had heard that the circles of the rich were wild and anything went, but compared to these people, she thought the rich had it pretty normal.
Now she was worried that one day, when her boss came back, he'd kill her on the grounds that she "knew too much."
Whatever. None of that mattered anymore...
The next day, the hearing began as scheduled.
After being hyped up by the public and the media, the open hearing had become the focus of attention for most of the world.
Hundreds of police officers and nearly a thousand National Guard soldiers kept order on both sides of the venue. The crowds of onlookers nearly filled every street around the United Nations building.
Media outlets of every kind rushed to report on the hearing, and the live broadcast was already underway.
The Umbrella Corporation's industries touched every aspect of people's lives around the world. Given the recent revelations about the corporation and today's hearing, anyone who used Umbrella products would pay at least some attention.
To maximize the impact of this event and successfully break apart the mountain that was the Umbrella Corporation, public screens in cities across developed countries were all broadcasting the hearing live.
At 8:30 a.m., the venue staff were in place, and the legislators and United Nations staff had taken their seats.
More than a dozen suited businessmen also sat in the observers' section, exchanging information. They were determined to take down Umbrella.
This hearing was as good as won. Once public opinion was on their side, there was no way the Umbrella Corporation could avoid falling!
At 9:00 a.m., a convoy of cars bearing the Umbrella logo entered the venue. The reporters' camera flashes along the route were like a field of stars, nearly blinding the drivers.
In the business sedan at the center of the convoy, Susan sat in a proper women's business suit, staring blankly at the scene outside. There were more camera flashes than at a red-carpet event on the Walk of Fame.
What had she done to deserve this kind of attention?
The more extravagant the scene, the more anxious Susan became.
The Umbrella Corporation's cars pulled up in front of the conference hall. Clone bodyguards arranged by Red Queen opened the car door for Susan, who then walked into the hall with the heads of the various departments.
At 9:30, the people and equipment were all in place. The hall, with more than two hundred people seated, fell silent.
Susan and the rest of the Umbrella Corporation's delegation took the conspicuous seats prepared for them and waited for the hearing to begin.
Like many strange meetings, the United Nations couldn't represent every country, and those taking part in this hearing weren't necessarily driven by a sense of justice.
America represented the greatest interests in this affair, followed by Britain and France.
In truth, the hearing looked more like a group of capitalists trying to force the big boss, the Umbrella Corporation, to bow to them.
"I hereby declare this meeting open!" With the words of a certain American representative who'd taken bribes, the hearing officially began.
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