The Beginning of Change

The group walking out of the conference hall was surrounded by even more tabloid reporters. Cameras fired like machine guns, and people clutching microphones constantly tried to break through the security line, hoping to get Duncan to agree to an interview.

They had all watched the live broadcast of Duncan's entire speech after he entered the hall, and they naturally realized just how massive this news was; it was no exaggeration to say it would directly affect the world order.

To get a promotion or a raise, all they needed was for Duncan to answer a few of their questions.

But Duncan clearly had no intention of answering these reporters. He simply waved his hand casually and, escorted by his clone bodyguards, stepped into a menacing-looking military armored vehicle.

This vehicle had been sent over by the Umbrella Corporation's New York branch. It was a prototype that had once competed for a contract with the National Guard; it had superior performance, but it was too expensive and thus never adopted, making this the only one in existence.

Duncan had flown from Raccoon City across most of the United States to reach the New York airport, then taken a car to the United Nations conference hall.

It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to arrive before the meeting started, but the speed of the plane was what it was; that he managed to arrive during the first half of the meeting was already quite timely.

Passing through the frenzied crowd, Duncan climbed into the high-chassis armored vehicle and left the United Nations compound along with the other escort vehicles.

The capitalists who chased after them gritted their teeth as they watched the motorcade drive away.

Under the protection of the armored vehicle and a large number of armed security personnel, Duncan's android successfully boarded a private jet and left New York.

His departure left many feeling nervous, and even some senators who supported Umbrella began to waver.

Duncan's three promises had offended the three largest capital interests within the United States: the political establishment, the military-industrial complex, and the energy corporations.

While the three promises seemed to apply only to cities established by Umbrella and the employees under the Umbrella Corporation, no matter how one looked at it, "fairness" sounded like some kind of socialist product.

"Safety" was an even greater threat to the interests of the National Rifle Association and military-industrial enterprises. Its impact would sweep across the entire country, causing residents dissatisfied with the status quo to complain about their local conditions, which would inevitably affect elections and Wall Street.

The politicians could still accept the final energy plan; senators could use the low electricity prices resulting from cooperation with the Umbrella Corporation to win votes. It was just that such actions made things very difficult for those funded by energy giants!

The Umbrella Corporation's products touched upon every aspect of life, yet they had never dabbled in energy. Now that they were relying on superior products to devour the business of energy giants, how could those giants possibly agree so easily?

The senators formed a small circle and discussed the matter while Duncan was boarding his plane. In the end, they decided to wait and see if Umbrella could withstand the attacks from the wolves whose interests had been touched, and then decide whether to continue donating funds to their parties.

There were fence-sitters, and there were radicals.

In the past, the Umbrella Corporation was managed by Isaac. Isaac's way of handling things meant the capital circle tacitly allowed such a behemoth to exist.

But after the entire management team was replaced, not only did the newly appointed Duncan refuse to show them respect—which was fine, as Umbrella was on its last legs anyway—but he actually wanted to eat all the meat in the pot without leaving a single scrap for them.

Even if they didn't want to directly confront the Umbrella Corporation, it would be very difficult for them to beat Umbrella's products in the market, given their absolute competitiveness.

As a result, their only remaining choice was to either oppose the Umbrella Corporation or steal the production data for their products.

Currently, public sentiment was entirely in favor of the Umbrella Corporation, so the capital sharks were only taking relatively moderate measures for the time being.

There was fierce competition among high-tech talent for the various positions recruited by the Umbrella Corporation. In just one day, the number of resumes sent to the official Umbrella website was so high that even the Red Queen had trouble processing them all.

Back in Raccoon City, the first thing Duncan had to do was fulfill his promises.

Raccoon City began a comprehensive gun ban. Those unwilling to surrender their weapons would be expelled from Raccoon City by the Umbrella Corporation, while those willing to surrender them would have their firearms bought back by Umbrella at five times their value.

The Ark reactor was planned for the industrial zone, so there was no rush there; the first priority was completing the gun ban.

The administrative system of Raccoon City consisted almost entirely of Umbrella personnel, so the directive to ban guns was executed without question. The Raccoon City Police Department was cooperating fully, and every day, police cars with loudspeakers drove around promoting the gun ban, urging citizens to turn in their firearms to the Umbrella Corporation.

If anyone was found privately hoarding weapons, they would no longer enjoy the free education, free medical care, and free utilities provided by Umbrella, and they would be expelled from Raccoon City.

Three days after Duncan's return.

At a collection point on the streets of Raccoon City, Jill and her five idle squad members, along with some volunteers, joined the work of collecting firearms.

The entire city had a population of over 100,000. If there were five people per household, and each household owned one firearm and some ammunition, the city would have to collect over 20,000 guns—and the actual number would only be higher!

This was no simple task. The police department only had a few hundred officers; even if they all went out to collect guns, they wouldn't be able to keep up.

Watching the citizens lining up and chatting under the sunshade, Jill sped up her work at the registration desk, handed a voucher to the middle-aged man in front of her, and smiled, signaling him to go to the next line to collect his money.

Ever since Duncan "returned from the dead" and miraculously appeared at the hearing, Raccoon City had undergone earth-shaking changes.

More capital flowed into the city, bringing more vitality to its citizens.

Roads were rebuilt, city housing was allocated, and some of the lower-class residents moved out of cramped rental rooms and into small apartments that at least had private bathrooms. The unemployed on the streets had all disappeared, and there was no more darkness in the nights here.

The future was promising!

Seeing the hope brought by change, the citizens smiled more often. Whenever they talked about the Umbrella Corporation, they no longer spoke of it as an unreachable, cold machine.

Now, when they talked about the Umbrella Corporation, the public praised its greatness and the series of measures Duncan had ordered to be implemented.

The working class of the past never cared what they would do for a better tomorrow, but now they left their homes with smiles every day, looking forward to what changes the next day would bring, no longer holding pessimistic views about the future.

Umbrella's charitable organizations provided help to everyone who truly needed it. This act of spending money to buy a good reputation did not fit with capitalism, but it fit the citizens' understanding of "goodness."

"I hope this beauty doesn't disappear." After sending off the last citizen who had surrendered their weapon, Jill rose from her chair and stretched her arms high to loosen the muscles stiffened by sitting for so long.

She was happy for the peace in Raccoon City, but also worried about the challenges that might be coming.

Peyton, who was helping to pack things up, curled his lip and said, "That guy is going against certain people by doing this. No one out there will actually like him; who knows, one day he might be killed by a bullet!"

He had originally felt depressed for a while because of Duncan's death, but after Duncan returned a few days ago and implemented a series of reforms, his mood had started to sour.

These measures were good things, sure, but he still didn't like Duncan, and the reason was simple...

"Peyton!" Jill looked at him, a bit angry. "If you can't say anything nice, just shut your mouth. I don't remember you being an unreasonable person. What is wrong with Raccoon City right now?"

Before Jill could say another word, Peyton surrendered first and carried the table onto the pickup truck.

He didn't want to argue with Jill, because he couldn't win against her...