"Super Soldiers"

After arriving at the suburban airport in Raccoon City, Sui Bian, Victor, Carlos, and the other UBCS members boarded the convoy that had been waiting for them and drove straight into the Hive through the southern entrance.

16:25.

The convoy arrived on the Hive's first floor.

Afterward, members of the Charon Task Force, including Marini, Chris, and Jill, explained employee ranks and anomalies to the 54 UBCS personnel.

As for why Sui Bian wasn't giving the explanation himself...

It was because he had to meet a new police officer.

16:35.

The Hive's second floor.

A small reception room.

Still dressed in his gray suit, Sui Bian sat on a leather sofa with his legs crossed, flipping through a paper file in his hands.

Sitting on the sofa across from him was a police officer wearing a tight green short-sleeved shirt and dark gray combat pants, with short brown hair—

Rebecca Chambers.

At that moment, the youthful-looking Rebecca seemed a little nervous.

It was obvious that she seemed to have misunderstood something.

"You were admitted to Cornell University at sixteen and graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemistry at eighteen." Sui Bian set the file aside and looked at Rebecca with a smile. "It seems you're a genius in chemistry."

"Uh..." Rebecca looked a little dazed, but quickly came to her senses. "I wouldn't call myself a genius, but I really enjoy studying chemistry and biology."

Then Rebecca hurriedly asked, "Mr. Sui, Chief Irons transferred me here... so what will my job be?"

Two hours before Sui Bian arrived in Raccoon City, Rebecca had toured the Hive's first and second floors under Irons's guidance.

The existence of the Hive had completely overturned Rebecca's understanding of the world, and she had begun to wonder what kind of company Umbrella really was.

"Heh. Come with me. We can talk as we walk." Sui Bian chuckled softly, then stood and headed out of the reception room.

"Okay..." Rebecca rose from the sofa too and left the reception room with him.

As soon as they reached the corridor, Sui Bian switched on his "persuasion" mode, first asking Rebecca something along the lines of, "Do you know about the darkness behind this world?"

Still reeling from the shock of the Hive's existence, Rebecca fell straight into Sui Bian's trap.

Then, while they waited for the elevator in the central hall, Sui Bian explained that Umbrella conducted all kinds of biological experiments to confront the "darkness."

He did this so Rebecca would be mentally prepared before seeing the B.O.W.s on the third floor.

Soon, they took the elevator to the Hive's third floor.

When Rebecca saw the production facilities for Tyrants and Hunter Alphas, then laid eyes on the "dazzling array" of bizarre specimens in the laboratory, she was completely overwhelmed.

However, thanks to Sui Bian's earlier preparation, she was at least able to accept the existence of the B.O.W.s.

After passing through the third floor's production facilities and researchers' laboratory area, the two arrived at William Birkin's private laboratory.

As soon as they entered, Sui Bian saw Birkin in a lab coat, sitting behind his desk and staring intently at his computer screen, occasionally tapping away at the keyboard as if recording or revising something.

Birkin was still as careless about his appearance as ever. From the yellowed collar of his shirt and the disheveled, greasy state of his hair, Sui Bian could tell that Birkin hadn't showered in at least five days.

And sharing the room with Birkin were four Zeta members in suits.

After Sui Bian had taken Alpha and Omicron to Europe, the Zeta Squad had taken over from the USS personnel responsible for keeping Birkin and his wife and child under close surveillance.

Birkin seemed so absorbed in perfecting the next stage of G-Virus research that he hadn't noticed Sui Bian and Rebecca approaching.

"Knock, knock."

"Hm?"

Only when Sui Bian tapped his knuckles on the desk did Birkin finally notice them.

"Mr. Sui?! You're back?" Coming to his senses, Birkin hurriedly stood up, brimming with excitement. "And you've returned at just the right time! The G-Virus research is nearly complete!

"One day! Just one more day, and I'll have perfected the G-Virus! I did it! Hahaha! I created a masterpiece more perfect than the T-Virus and Veronica Virus!"

"..." Birkin's frenzied behavior left Rebecca at a loss.

Sui Bian and the four Zeta members, on the other hand, remained composed, as if they were already used to Birkin acting this way.

It was understandable, after all. Creating the G-Virus must have brought him the joy of a human taking on the role of a "god" and creating a new species.

"Ahem." Sui Bian cleared his throat to remind Birkin. "Dr. Birkin, we have a guest. Remember to maintain the image of one of the company's top researchers."

At that, Birkin finally noticed Rebecca standing to Sui Bian's right.

"My apologies, my apologies." Seeing a guest, Birkin immediately apologized to Rebecca, then made a perfunctory attempt to smooth his bangs with his left hand.

Once Birkin had composed himself, Sui Bian introduced him to Rebecca. "This is William Birkin, one of the Hive's top researchers."

Then he raised his right hand toward Rebecca and introduced her to Birkin. "This is Rebecca Chambers. She has a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Cornell, and she'll be helping you extract serum from my blood."

"Serum?" Rebecca looked confused.

"Her?" Birkin looked Rebecca over skeptically.

"I'll leave it to you to explain the serum later, Doctor. For now, I'd like you both to come with me. It's time you saw the 'dark side' of this world." Sui Bian smiled.

"Sure!" Birkin replied without hesitation.

"Okay..." Rebecca still hadn't recovered from her confusion.

Next...

Sui Bian, Rebecca, Birkin, and the four Zeta members went to the temporary conference room on the third floor.

In the conference room, Sui Bian played the file and video about the Plague Doctor for the two geniuses in chemistry and biology.

"..." (x2)

After watching the file and video, Birkin and Rebecca both fell silent.

Birkin now completely believed what Sui Bian had told him earlier about doing it "for humanity," while Rebecca's brain was struggling to keep up.

There was no helping it. In just a few hours, she had seen a gigantic research facility built beneath a city, then encountered B.O.W.s that made her scalp crawl, and finally this even stranger Plague Doctor...

No matter how high her intelligence was, she couldn't fully "process" all of it in such a short time.

"You two." At that moment, Sui Bian's expression turned grave as he addressed the two seated before him:

"There must be other unexplainable biological entities like the Plague Doctor in this world. No matter how strong our elite soldiers are, they can only reach the pinnacle of human ability.

"But even at the pinnacle, humans are still only human.

"So, I need you two to use the G-Virus, the T-Virus, and the serum flowing in my blood to create beings that surpass the limits of humanity...

"Super Soldiers."

There was a lot to do today, and everything ran late. I didn't start writing the second chapter until nine tonight. I'm sorry for keeping you waiting.