Assassination Attempt on Ian

Ian stood on the steps and waited a few seconds, until the screams had died down a little.

He did not raise a hand to call for silence. He did not say, "Please be quiet." He simply stood there and waited.

The crowd slowly quieted down, not because anyone had ordered them to, but because him standing there was, in itself, a silent command.

"Today is the seventh day since Umbrella was founded." His voice came from the speakers on the company's outer wall, not loud, but very clear. "Seven days ago, I said here that Umbrella would release its first product—the Miniaturized Nuclear Fusion Reactor. Today, I am here to fulfill that promise."

He turned sideways, extended his right hand, and pointed toward the inside of the company's main gate. A flatbed vehicle slowly drove out from within the gate. On it sat a silvery-white cube, about half a meter on each side. There were no seams anywhere on its surface, and it was as smooth as a piece of metal polished with painstaking care.

Under the sunlight, the cube reflected a dazzling glare, like a star with one corner cut off.

The crowd stirred again. Some people sucked in a cold breath, some cried out in amazement, some began applauding, and some took out their phones to take photos.

"This is Umbrella's first-generation nuclear fusion reactor," Ian's voice continued. "It has a volume of 0.125 cubic meters and a maximum output of fifty megawatts, enough to supply a small city with a population of fifty thousand.

"It requires no fuel, no maintenance, produces no nuclear waste, and emits no pollutants. Its service life is fifty years. After fifty years, Umbrella will replace it with a new one for free."

After saying that, Ian paused.

"Free. No money required,