Hearing

Regardless of how many times Duncan emphasized and repeatedly guaranteed, Banner remained opposed. However, he lacked the power to stop Umbrella Corporation from continuing to use clones, and in the end, he could only remain silent.

They didn't expect to resolve the issue of the clones in a single day, so they went back to eating and drinking as usual.

While those on the Marvel side were still eating and drinking, the silence of the past few days from the Umbrella Corporation in the other world finally gave way to a direct attack.

A hearing held by the United Nations was set to take place at the UN building in New York via public broadcast, intended to appease certain uninformed protesters while simultaneously serving as an assault on Umbrella Corporation.

Inside Umbrella Corporation, a meeting was being held to discuss how to respond to this round of targeting by capitalists from around the world.

Umbrella Corporation's computer business was incredibly vast, and many people used computers and mobile phones produced by the company. Red Queen utilized this fact to intercept a massive amount of action plans targeting Umbrella Corporation from the vast ocean of network information.

Most of the methods discovered were merely spreading rumors, inciting threats, and malicious smearing.

The Umbrella Corporation, which was supposed to collapse, did not fall as they had expected. Instead, due to various maneuvers by Duncan, the company's stock rose slightly, which sent the group of capitalists who had sold their shares early into a rage.

Furthermore, because the "bioweapons" held by Umbrella were terrifyingly powerful, they felt threatened; Umbrella could no longer be allowed to remain, as its existence would only leave more people with nowhere to turn.

Most of the capitalists had originally been biding their time, waiting for a suitable opportunity to strike at Umbrella Corporation, as the company's power was simply too great.

But they never expected that the current leader of Umbrella Corporation would be assassinated!

According to the internal operating mechanisms of Umbrella Corporation, if a leader is assassinated, there will be no change in power for one year to prevent malicious competition, so this period was a golden opportunity for all the capitalists.

In just a few days, various rumors and protest groups were formed, quickly surrounding Umbrella Corporation with the intent to dismantle it.

At tomorrow's hearing, a large group of people would surely hold so-called evidence and state so-called reasons to force Umbrella Corporation to dilute its shares and break it into pieces according to its different business sectors.

The Hive underground base...

The online meeting had already begun, and the heads of the eight branches from around the world sat at the conference table, quietly watching Susan at the head of the table.

Susan's expression was stiff as she read mechanically from the speech script provided by Red Queen: "How does everyone view this incident?"

In a corner of the meeting room not captured by the cameras, a dozen armed clone soldiers silently watched the proceedings. Their faces were hidden beneath black helmets, and they remained as motionless as cold machines.

The branch heads at the meeting looked at Susan in the main seat, their disdain nearly overflowing from their faces. Someone who had climbed to the top using her body and had just gotten lucky—her ability to sit there was only due to the fact that the leadership team hadn't been fully assembled yet.

She had absolutely no right to know so much, let alone preside over this meeting.

However, since the equity hadn't been distributed yet and Susan was merely a mouthpiece pushed forward by Red Queen, they still had to listen obediently.

"We don't need to attend the hearing; Umbrella has the strength to ignore their power."

"Why not continue with the previous plan? That way, there won't be so many voices."

"I agree."

"We could manufacture some accidents to divert public attention."

"How about a terrorist attack?"

"Those people assassinated the CEO, so we should strike back in the same way."

The branch heads, who usually lacked presence, spoke one after another with the casual attitude of people chatting about daily life, not taking the external pressure to heart at all.

They were the kind of people who dared to destroy the world; how could they possibly care about the clamor of ordinary people? During this time, they had replenished a large amount of supplies, and they could restart the doomsday plan immediately if they sealed the base.

Susan didn't know exactly what the "previous plan" mentioned by the branch heads was, but the content they discussed afterward became increasingly outrageous: terrorist attacks, school shootings, assassinations of government officials, bombing the UN building...

Everyone wanted to pull off something big, and they spoke about these events, each of which would have a massive impact, with such ease.

Susan had heard that the circle of the wealthy was chaotic and wild, but compared to the people here, she felt that the things in the wealthy circle were at least relatively normal.

She was now very worried that one day, when the boss returned, he would kill her on the grounds that "you know too much."

Forget it, none of this mattered anymore...

The next day, the hearing was held as scheduled.

After being hyped up by the public and the media, this public hearing had become the focus of attention for most people around the world.

Hundreds of police officers and nearly a thousand National Guard soldiers maintained order around the venue, and a massive crowd of onlookers nearly filled all the streets near the UN building.

Various media outlets scrambled to report, and the live broadcast had already begun.

Umbrella Corporation's various industries touched every aspect of people's lives worldwide. Given the recent scandals exposed about the company and today's hearing, everyone who used Umbrella Corporation products was paying at least some attention.

To maximize the impact of this event and successfully split the mountain that was Umbrella, public displays in cities across developed nations were all broadcasting the hearing.

At 8:30 AM, the venue staff were in place, and the delegates and UN staff had arrived at their respective seats.

A dozen businessmen in suits also sat in the gallery, communicating with each other, determined to take down Umbrella.

This hearing was a sure thing; once public opinion was on their side, it would be hard for Umbrella Corporation not to collapse!

At 9:00 AM, the motorcade bearing the Umbrella logo entered the venue. The flashes of the reporters' cameras along the route were like stars, nearly blinding the drivers.

In the sedan in the middle, Susan, dressed in a standard women's suit, looked at the scene outside in a daze. The number of flashes was greater than those for celebrities walking the red carpet at the Oscars.

What right did she have to receive such attention?

The more exaggerated the scene, the more terrified Susan felt.

The Umbrella Corporation vehicles drove to the entrance of the conference hall. The clone bodyguards arranged by Red Queen helped Susan open the door, and she walked into the hall alongside the department heads.

At 9:30 AM, everyone and all equipment were in place, and the hall, which seated over two hundred people, fell into a deathly silence.

Susan and the Umbrella Corporation contingent sat in the prominent positions prepared for them, waiting for the meeting to proceed.

Like many strange meetings, the UN could not represent all countries, and the members participating in this hearing were not truly acting out of justice.

This incident was represented most heavily by the United States, followed by the UK and France.

In reality, the hearing was more like a coup by capitalists against the big boss, Umbrella.

"I declare this meeting open!" With the words of a certain American representative who had taken bribes, the meeting officially began.