Return to Raccoon City

12:06.

More than sixty UBCS members remained in the hangar.

At that moment, the Lieutenant swiped a finger across the tablet's capacitive screen, then swept an impassive glance over the UBCS members present and raised his voice again.

"Next, any UBCS member whose name I call should stand and leave as well. Once you exit the hangar, company staff will escort you through the next procedure.

"Hosen Nate, Gamiel Zeko, Ken..."

Several minutes later, only sixteen UBCS members remained in the hangar. Nikolai, the two-faced traitor, was among them.

With Nikolai there, no further explanation was needed. The Red and White Queens had obtained conclusive evidence against all sixteen, who were either preparing to betray the company or already had.

Several of the less composed traitors were now breaking out in cold sweats.

If only they'd thought of that before. Seeing them, Sui Bian couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

Victor, Carlos, Tyrone, and the other UBCS members who had left the hangar in the first group were relatively loyal to the company.

Based on their past spending records and background checks, the White Queen had judged these soldiers to be decent people.

Most of them also had families, and family meant responsibility. It also meant their families were a line they wouldn't cross.

When the White Queen examined the second group's spending records, she found that they were extremely selfish. They spent most of their pay on debauchery, luxury goods, and keeping mistresses.

In truth, that was normal behavior for most mercenaries.

After all, mercenaries lived by the gun and risked their lives for money. With no way of knowing whether tomorrow would bring another day or an accident, they resorted to extreme indulgences to numb themselves.

But that also meant they had no principles. They would go to the highest bidder, making their loyalty impossible to guarantee and them unfit to trust with combat missions.

So the first group of UBCS members boarded the C-17 bound for Raccoon City, while the second group was about to face the flash of a memory eraser.

Once the memories related to Umbrella were erased, the second group would return to being "wild" mercenaries. But the traitors' fate would be...

"Sir." At that moment, Nikolai stood up, bold and convinced of his own cleverness. Looking at Sui Bian as if nothing were wrong, he tried to talk his way out of the situation.

"I'm curious what kind of suicide mission you need us for."

"Lieutenant, handle it."

Sui Bian knew what Nikolai was like and had never planned to let him go. For him to walk right into the line of fire was simply asking to die.

"Understood." The Lieutenant drew a .45 ACP Glock 21 from his shoulder holster and aimed it at Nikolai with his right hand.

???

Nikolai stared in astonishment.

"Bang!"

"Pfft! Splatter!"

Nikolai's face remained frozen in shock after the gunshot. A hole pierced the space between his eyebrows, and a fist-sized cavity gaped in the back of his head.

The .45 ACP bullet pierced Nikolai's skull, tumbled through his cranial cavity, and finally burst out through the hole in the back of his head.

He was well and truly dead.

Nikolai's eyes went blank. He swayed, then his body pitched forward uncontrollably and collapsed to the floor with a thud.

!!!

Seeing their comrade killed, the remaining fifteen traitors shuddered.

"We're dead either way! Let's fight!"

"Better to die than be a miserable coward!"

But that only roused several of the more hot-blooded traitors to fight back.

"Right! Let's go!"

With someone leading the charge, all the traitors sprang up and rushed forward. As for how it ended...

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The Omicron unit and security staff, already prepared, swiftly took them all down.

Looking at the bodies scattered across the floor, Sui Bian felt no particular reaction. It seemed he had grown used to this without realizing it.

The Lieutenant watched the traitors' corpses twitching on the floor, then returned his gun to its holster and mocked them.

"Heh. They were D-Class Personnel material anyway. Why rush to die? Though they'd only have lived a few more days. Otherwise, we'd have to feed them, too."

The Lieutenant wasn't as stiff as Hunk. He even liked telling the occasional dark joke.

"Ha." Sui Bian chuckled, then ordered him, "Lieutenant, tell the technicians to freeze these bodies and transport them to Raccoon City as well."

"Yes, sir," the Lieutenant replied, obeying his order.

"Also, once I leave, your Omicron unit will be responsible for monitoring Headquarters." Sui Bian's tone grew a little more solemn.

From the moment Sui Bian took power on August 15, he had moved the White Queen's mainframe from Paris Headquarters to the Hive.

Although Paris was the headquarters, Sui Bian had gotten his start in Raccoon City, so the company's focus would inevitably shift there over time.

Birkin was close to completing the G-Virus, Rebecca had already been transferred to the Raccoon Police Department, and Leon, the future "Leon the rookie," would soon be joining, among other matters that required Sui Bian to return to Raccoon City as quickly as possible.

Leaving the Omicron unit under the Lieutenant to "guard" Headquarters was Sui Bian's best option for now. After all, compared with Zeta and Epsilon, Alpha and Omicron were more loyal.

Hearing Sui Bian's words, the Lieutenant dropped his joking mood and nodded solemnly. "Yes, sir. You can count on us."

"Good." Sui Bian nodded slightly and patted the Lieutenant's right shoulder with his left hand. Then he turned and headed for the C-17 waiting outside the hangar.

12:25.

After Sui Bian boarded, the C-17 took off, carrying him, Victor, Carlos, Tyrone, and the other loyal UBCS members to Raccoon City.

12:45.

The airport technicians loaded the sixteen traitors' bodies, Nikolai's among them, into individual refrigerated containers and placed them aboard a C-130 with no flight scheduled that day.

12:50.

Once everything was ready, the C-130 carrying the bodies took off as well, following Sui Bian's C-17 to Raccoon City.

Raccoon City time: August 17, 14:45.

The C-17 carrying Sui Bian arrived at Umbrella Airport on the outskirts of Raccoon City.

15:35.

The C-130 carrying the sixteen bodies arrived at the airport as well.