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The scene at the New Century opening ceremony was even livelier than the streets on Christmas, packed not only with curious onlookers but also a massive crowd of reporters broadcasting the event live.

As 20:00 approached, the atmosphere among the crowd in the venue grew increasingly heated, and people began to surge toward the central plaza.

In the Raccoon City central plaza, colorful lights were hung high, and the citizens were buzzing with noise, waiting for the various high-tech exhibits that would be showcased during the Umbrella Corporation's opening event.

With the time drawing near, the television stations that had moved into Raccoon City early had already begun their live broadcasts from their designated positions.

At 19:30, staff members wearing armbands with the Umbrella logo entered the venue to organize the crowd.

At 19:45, the order was established. The citizens present were all people who had surrendered their firearms and voluntarily submitted to inspections; their overall conduct was excellent, and there was no resistance to the rules.

At exactly 19:59, a soothing piece of music began to play from speakers hidden in the streetlights around the plaza.

At the same time, four small drones flew out from the surrounding buildings, emitting a pale blue light. They circled above the citizens' heads, and combined with the stereo sound from the speakers, they drew the attention of even the most restless parts of the crowd.

The citizens' surprised gazes followed the small drones. While they found it magical, a small flying object wasn't enough to capture their full attention just yet.

Only a few people noticed that these four drones lacked propellers, and they stared at them without blinking.

After circling for a minute, the four small, circular drones arrived at the white cloth covering the giant holographic display board, just as the time hit exactly eight o'clock.

The white cloth was hooked by the four small drones and lifted high into the air, revealing the giant holographic display board hidden beneath to all the citizens.

The holographic display board was a metal disc one meter high and three meters in diameter. Its surface was covered in intricate, spliced decorations, with tiny blue light strips connecting various nodes, making the disc look like something out of a vision of the future.

Even if these were just decorations and the lights were merely for show, it didn't stop the citizens from gasping in awe at the appearance of the holographic display board.

Ding!

A crisp metallic chime rang out, and the hologram activated. Ten meters above the center of the plaza, the red and white umbrella logo of Umbrella Corporation was projected, immediately triggering a wave of screams and cheers from the crowd.

The logo suspended in mid-air rotated twice before vanishing. Then, a square block appeared on the holographic screen.

All four sides of the block were screens, and inside them was a miniature version of Duncan, walking around as the camera followed his footsteps.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the New Century opening ceremony!"

Duncan delivered the opening remarks from the screen, then smiled and said, "In the past, our technology has been constantly innovating and developing. Over the past few hundred years, we have successively experienced the First Industrial Revolution and the Second Industrial Revolution."

"In modern times, we are experiencing the Third Industrial Revolution, brought about by multiple technologies such as atomic energy, electronic computers, space technology, and bioengineering."

As Duncan began to speak on the holographic screen, the noisy crowd gradually quieted down.

"The Third Industrial Revolution has brought humanity not only a better life, richer entertainment products, and more information exchange... you can see the scenery of the world from the ocean of the internet without even stepping out of your house! The convenience that the Third Industrial Revolution has brought to our lives is so great that it can be ignored at any time, but it has also brought some subtle influences to the world."

The square projection disappeared, replaced by a disheveled Middle Eastern woman sitting slumped behind a wall riddled with bullet holes, holding a little girl.

Because holographic technology was used, the woman and the little girl outside the frame were three-dimensional. As the scene rotated, using the principle of perspective, the image gradually zoomed out, revealing soldiers and turban-clad militants—who had no equipment other than their guns—exchanging fire behind the wall.

The scene was not frozen but played in slow motion.

The effect of bullets leaving the chamber was slowed down, appearing incredibly realistic and shocking under the holographic technology. The difficult expressions and confused eyes of the soldiers were moving, while the tears and fear in the eyes of the militants were even more unsettling.

Bullets pierced through a militant, and the blood that sprayed out splattered onto the ground.

The image vanished, and the square frame reappeared.

"The injustice of resources and endless greed have created much slaughter. You are lucky, because until now, war has not disappeared from this world, and you are in a relatively peaceful place."

Duncan's expression became extremely serious at this moment. "It cannot be denied that Umbrella Corporation is also a beneficiary of war. The company's military division has provided soldiers with many weapons and medicines, but this is absolutely not the original intention of Umbrella's founding."

In a high-rise building around the plaza, Duncan himself stood behind a window, accompanied by Bark and the others, along with the spy who had just been captured.

William and Janice looked at Duncan, whose back was straight and whose eyes were fixed on the plaza without blinking. The smile on his face made it impossible to see any unusual emotions.

Admitting that the company profited from war while implicitly mocking certain capitalists for inciting wars elsewhere was quite bold—this was clearly a challenge to global capital!

What boldness, what courage!

Should Umbrella Corporation be called arrogant, or confident?

In the plaza, the pre-recorded program continued to play.

"Umbrella's original intention was to rid the world of disease, war, and famine. Our former president, Dr. Isaac, was deeply concerned about the future of humanity and tried to find a way to restore the Earth's ecology. It is a pity that he sacrificed himself during the Raccoon City crisis..."

Duncan in the hologram changed his tone and said, "But now! Under a series of reform measures, Umbrella has decided to take a completely different path. We have formulated many long-term development plans, willing to sacrifice all profits, so that humanity can move toward a more glorious era! The new century is coming, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution will surely be ignited by Umbrella Corporation, covering the world, starting from a noble and beautiful faith for humanity, to build a beautiful and peaceful world!"

Bang!

The square projection shell was shattered by a punch. Duncan's life-sized figure transformed from a two-dimensional plane into a three-dimensional image in mid-air. A staircase formed by the hologram guided him down to stand on a one-meter-high holographic device, and he pointed toward the sky.

Dozens of pre-prepared drones carrying holographic components arrived and hovered in their designated positions, projecting models and text descriptions of various high-tech products for the citizens to see. Each product was enough to shock the crowd.

The figure of Duncan on the giant holographic display board disappeared, replaced by a display of a cylindrical robot with text descriptions below it.

[First Generation Industrial Intelligent Robot]

"Flexible joint construction replaces rigid mechanical components, capable of completely replacing human labor. Controlled by a fully intelligent program, the work efficiency is three times that of manual labor..."

This unique opening ceremony directly demonstrated the strength of Umbrella Corporation to the outside world, and it was also a warning and counterattack against certain enterprises.

It clearly told those companies that even if Umbrella Corporation did not have the energy market, it would still stand firm.

Duncan was not afraid of them getting desperate. After all, commercial competition at most involved secret assassinations and data theft; it would not escalate to the point of sending troops to directly annihilate Umbrella.

In this way, they would never be able to defeat Umbrella Corporation, which possessed products with absolute competitiveness. The only thing they could do was accept reality, or accept it after struggling for a while.