William's Day

As Raccoon City changed with each passing day, the once peaceful and tranquil city gradually began to stir with restlessness.

A large number of migrant workers flooded into Raccoon City, drawn by the presence of the Umbrella Corporation. The Umbrella Corporation promised stable jobs and basic housing to all migrant workers who passed identity screenings and possessed no bad habits.

Most of these migrant workers were simply ordinary people with hopeful aspirations for a better life, but among them were inevitably those with ulterior motives.

The most absurd incident occurred on the sixth day of the gun buyback program, when the Raccoon City Police Department uncovered a major arms smuggling case.

Those smugglers would sell guns to residents of Raccoon City at double the price, and then the residents would take the guns to the collection point to earn a profit on the difference.

When William learned of these events, he was completely stunned, and he immediately conveyed to the police department that such behavior must be severely punished.

All the citizens who had profited from the price difference were stripped of their benefits, including free education, medical care, and utilities, while the gun traffickers were left to the Umbrella Corporation's lawyers to push for increased sentencing.

After several heavy blows, the citizens who liked to play clever finally became a bit more well-behaved.

The checkpoints also became more meticulous in screening the identities of the public, but no matter how careful they were, they could not stop all those with ill intent, let alone the spies who had infiltrated the Umbrella Corporation long ago.

In a corner of the Umbrella Corporation building's cafeteria, a man with meticulously groomed hair and a small mustache on his upper lip ate his meal in silence. His eyes, hidden behind black-rimmed glasses, swept over the employees eating at other tables from time to time, and he couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

"William, can I sit here?" Suddenly, a young blonde woman sat down in front of him with her tray.

William looked up and saw a smiling face that wasn't exactly stunning but was very pleasant to look at. He stopped chewing his food, nodded, and mumbled, "Of course, no one is sitting here."

Hearing this, the woman put down her tray and sat down opposite William in a relaxed manner. Seeing his gaze seemed to be dodging, or perhaps just watching the people around them eat, she also looked around and sighed, "It's pretty good now, isn't it? Being able to get a job at Umbrella—although it's busier than before, it's not tedious."

"...Yeah, it's pretty good." William lowered his head and continued to shovel mashed potatoes, his attitude lukewarm, as his persona was that of a socially awkward, quiet, and good-natured man.

The woman did not lose patience because of William's attitude. She rested her chin on one hand and poked at the salad on her tray with a fork, staring unblinkingly at William, who was busy eating with his head down.

That intense gaze made even the highly professional William feel a bit of a scalp-tingling sensation. When he picked up his water glass to take a sip, he glanced at the person opposite him, only to collide directly with those smiling eyes.

"Cough... cough! Sorry..."

Wiping the water stains off his face with a napkin in a somewhat disheveled manner, William ultimately couldn't withstand that gaze and asked stiffly, "Janice, is there something you need my help with?"

He prayed inwardly: Please don't let it be something troublesome, please don't let it be something troublesome!

Janice smiled and said, "The New Century opening event is at the city center plaza tonight. Do you want to go together? I heard there will be the world's first holographic GG Billboard, and many other tech exhibits to see. You should like that, right?"

The New Century opening event was the Umbrella Corporation's response to the outside world, as well as a public exhibition and a grand event to provide information to the public.

At the downtown commercial plaza, the Umbrella Corporation would unveil the company's core future products for everyone to see. Among the confirmed exhibits was a giant holographic GG Billboard projected to be fifteen meters high.

The future giant holographic GG Billboard would also become a landmark of the city, similar to the GG Billboard in New York's Times Square, and would become a check-in spot for future tourists.

William's heart stirred. He really wanted to see the New Century opening event, but he had reasons why he couldn't go.

After struggling for a moment, William avoided Janice's expectant gaze and said stiffly, "Sorry, I have things to do tonight and can't go..."

After refusing, even without looking at Janice's expression, he could feel the deep disappointment, and his heart couldn't help but ache painfully along with it.

"That's a real pity..." Janice expressed her understanding, which only made William feel even worse inside.

After finishing his lunch in a hurry, William fled the cafeteria.

Due to the exhibition in the evening, the Umbrella Corporation allowed employees to leave work early today, giving them plenty of time.

Back home, William lay on his bed for a while, and it wasn't until dusk approached that his mood slowly calmed down.

He climbed out of bed with bloodshot eyes; the years he had spent working at the Umbrella Corporation had almost worn down his sharp professional edge.

He hadn't been this sentimental in the past; he would have taken action the moment an opportunity arose.

He had already planned to wash his hands of this life and return to his hometown after this last job, but when it was finally time to act, he had encountered a major crisis in his life.

In the bathroom, William looked at the man in the mirror in silence.

To be honest, he was no longer young. At 32, his face already showed many signs of roughness, and even with his usual maintenance, his skin was gradually becoming dull, which only strengthened his resolve to retire after this job.

"After tonight, take the money and go back to Sweden! Believe in yourself!"

After completing his self-encouragement, William entered the room, changed into new clothes, took his computer and data storage device, and waited quietly for the evening's opening event.

The pre-opening activities began as scheduled, and the residents of the entire city were deeply attracted to the scene.

William opened his eyes, took his tools from inside his trench coat, and headed toward the closed Umbrella Corporation building.

He deliberately took the back alleys to avoid all surveillance.

The Umbrella Corporation building was located in the center of Raccoon City. William tried his best to avoid the crowds, but he still couldn't avoid passing by the central plaza.

Having a great interest in high-tech electronic products, he looked at the plaza with curious eyes. The neon lights rendered the crowd below in brilliant, shimmering colors.

Everyone seemed to have a smile on their face, and he saw vitality in these scenes.

The opening event hadn't started yet, so he couldn't see those high-tech products.

It wasn't until he passed the edge of the plaza that he snapped out of the seemingly ordinary scene, and then, with a heavy heart, he snuck into the Umbrella Corporation building.

Using his identity and the excuse of having forgotten something, he blended into the building and naturally took the elevator to the floor where he worked.

The Procurement Department.

William worked in the Procurement Department. With five years of seniority, he didn't arouse any suspicion even when he was spotted by the person on duty while returning to the company.

With the whole city focused on the New Century opening event, his actions became exceptionally smooth.

Opening the door to the Procurement Department's office area, William went to his desk by the window and sat down, taking out the micro-computer hidden under his trench coat.

He connected it to the host machine with a cable, turned on the power, and through the relay of the micro-computer, transmitted the procurement data he had prepared during the day into the data storage device.