A Brief Exploration

"Damn it!"

"Fuck!"

"Oh, shit!"

The pedestrians along both sides of the road were drawn by the sharp squeal of tires. When they looked toward the sound, they all started cursing and running with a practiced ease that was almost heartbreaking.

If you were out shopping in Zhonghua Jia and saw four fully armed people, you could go over and take a selfie to post on social media, because they might just be cosplaying.

But in America, if you saw four people in full black combat gear, carrying guns, don't hesitate—run!

Because the next second, the place could very well turn into a game map.

On the opposite side of the road, a patrol car happened to be driving by. The fat cop in the driver's seat steered with one hand and shoved a doughnut into his mouth with the other.

Hearing the commotion, he looked to the side. Once he got a clear look at the four people standing in the road, he spat doughnut crumbs right out of his mouth.

He didn't yell "Police!" or turn on the siren. The fat cop's first reaction was to hit the gas and get away from there before calling for backup.

His young partner in the passenger seat was holding a cup of soda. A sudden, powerful jolt threw him back against his seat, and the flimsy lid popped right off. The ice-cold drink drenched him.

"George! What the fuck are you doing?"

"Look behind us, you idiot!"

"Look at wha—W T F!!! Call for backup! Call for backup! Four armed suspects on the 2300 block of Virginia Road, possibly carrying automatic weapons. Oh, shit! They're moving!"

Bark and the others took in the novelty of traveling between worlds, but a trace of unease crept into their hearts, too. It was a natural reaction to suddenly find themselves in an unfamiliar place.

More importantly, when they turned around, Duncan was nowhere to be seen. That meant there was a chance they couldn't get back!

The area was in an uproar, and a police car had even sped away. Everything around them seemed familiar, but something wasn't quite right.

Most of the vehicles were models they'd never seen before. The scenery, the pedestrians' clothes, the GG Billboards hanging from the high-rises nearby—everything was subtly different.

All those subtle differences added up to an odd feeling none of them could quite describe.

They stood there, unsure what to do next. After a while, Duncan emerged from thin air, wearing a gas mask and a suit.

"Boss!"

Seeing Duncan, all four of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Duncan said, "Come with me!"

The five of them ran to a phone booth at the side of the street and pulled open its transparent glass door. The scene inside changed, becoming a warehouse in Raccoon City.

They rushed inside. The door closed, and the five of them vanished, leaving behind all the chaos they'd caused in that world.

Back in their original world, Bark slumped to the ground. They'd spent less than half a minute in another world, but after coming back, they felt as if they'd survived a life-or-death adventure. They were exhausted.

Although they had a thousand things to say, Bark and the others couldn't speak for a long time. It was all too incredible, completely overturning everything they knew!

"God! My God, was that real?" Snow panted as he took off his gas mask, looking at Duncan as if his whole worldview had collapsed.

Duncan took off his mask too, a faint smile on his face. "Didn't you see enough for yourself?"

"Oh, boss..." Kevin looked at Duncan too, then pulled the cross necklace hanging around his neck into view. "Tell me, are you God? If you're not, how did you do that?"

Like the others, Bark was too astonished to think about anything else.

A mere minute had left the four of them shaken for the rest of their lives!

Duncan's smile faded, and he said seriously, "It's a special ability, but it definitely wasn't granted by God. If you want to seek out dazzling magic and the secret of eternal life, you'll have to work for me."

After witnessing Duncan's ability to travel between worlds—even if it was only an ability to travel through space—they were willing to follow a boss like him!

"May God bless you and your boss!"

Kevin was the first to pledge himself. With a devout expression, he kissed his cross, then tucked the necklace back beneath his collar.

The other three couldn't resist the allure of a much broader world, either, and all said they were willing to join.

The boss's demands were my pursuits; the boss's temper was my blessing!

They had all sworn their loyalty, at least for the time being.

Duncan had more to say. He took his phone and anything else electronic out of his pockets and tossed them outside the warehouse, signaling for the four men to do the same.

In their eyes, Duncan was practically a god. Without hesitation, they took out their phones and threw them away. They put the walkie-talkies farther off, since they'd need those later.

Once they'd gotten rid of anything that might have a listening device installed, the five of them huddled together and began discussing important matters.

Duncan lowered his voice. "Do you know what Umbrella Corporation's main business is?"

"Medicine?" Bark had been sure of his answer, but since Duncan had asked, he was clearly about to say something unexpected.

"Right, but Umbrella Corporation's biggest business is actually military manufacturing. More specifically, biological weapon research!"

The others didn't understand, but just hearing the words "biological weapon" made them feel that something was wrong.

Duncan looked from one man to the next. He was reasonably good at reading people, and unless they were professional actors, he could usually tell from their reactions whether they were pretending to be surprised.

"The biological weapon they're researching is a special virus called the T-Virus. It can turn people into beasts driven only by the urge to devour. The board has already approved the plan. In about a year, they'll release the T-Virus, infect all of humanity, and create an artificial deluge!"

Ten minutes later, the four men had learned the truth about Umbrella Corporation and understood what Duncan wanted to do.

They were all furious, cursing the company's higher-ups with impressive creativity.

The convoy, which had been on the road for more than ten minutes, finally arrived. Six SUVs and a box truck drove into the open area outside the warehouse.

Duncan immediately went over to direct the Security Force members as they unloaded the supplies from the truck. The boxes were packed with supplies they'd gotten for free: guns, ammunition, grenades, compressed rations, and emergency food.

The filters for the gas masks were among the most important supplies. If Duncan hadn't been worried that Isaac might pull something, he would've dared to move all of Umbrella's most valuable assets to the other world!

Bark and the other three became Duncan's personal bodyguards. At the same time, they went back to their own squads and recruited the companions they trusted. They explained things with such secrecy that it sounded almost like a pyramid scheme.

Of the three units obtained from Umbrella Security Company, the members of the Security Force and the U.B.C.S. were all real people.

The last unit, the Special Operations Force, was Umbrella's core force. Its combat strength wasn't greater than that of the other two units, but its members were bioengineered humans created through cloning. They had been implanted with memories that made them fiercely loyal to Umbrella Corporation and its shareholders.

The members of the Special Operations Force felt no attachment to one another. They were all cold and rigidly hierarchical, carrying out their missions by the book. They made the people in the other two units feel completely out of place.