Time Flies

Antarctic time: August 29, 1998, 14:23.

Location: Southern Ocean, east of coordinates 74°41'S, 164°16'E.

At this time, Antarctica was still in the depths of polar night. Thirty kilometers from the Antarctic mainland, two large ships sailed through the drifting ice, one behind the other.

The ship behind was the Poseidon, carrying Sui Bian. Ahead of it was a company icebreaker, clearing a path for the Poseidon.

The Poseidon's flight deck.

Two CH-53s with their rotors folded had long since been covered with dust sheets. Ground crew in winter gear were checking the chains securing the helicopters or chatting in small groups as they waited for the next orders from the bridge.

Sui Bian stood in the middle of the deck, wearing a black jacket, insulated pants, and a black baseball cap. With his hands in his pockets, he gazed silently at the sky, admiring the emerald-green aurora.

Perhaps they had simply been unlucky. Since entering the polar night within the Antarctic Circle, they hadn't seen the aurora once. But now, with only thirty kilometers left to the Antarctic Laboratory, it rippled across the sky above them like waves on the water.

"Phew..." Sui Bian exhaled. The warm breath instantly turned to mist in the cold, swirling before his face for a moment before fading away.

Besides the dazzling aurora, there were also the stars, twinkling due to the refraction of the atmosphere. There was no denying that the Antarctic night was far more beautiful than elsewhere.

Eight days had passed since the fall of Rockfort Island.

After the Poseidon had eliminated all resistance on the island, it left a hundred elite security personnel behind to guard it, then changed course and headed straight for the Antarctic Laboratory.

Two hours after the Poseidon departed, the fleet that had set out from the Africa Base arrived at Rockfort Island.

It brought Umbrella's Engineering Department staff and workers, as well as a considerable number of technicians.

The Engineering Department's job was to repair the airport runway and related facilities, then convert Rockfort Island into the first containment center for anomalous phenomena in a short time.

The technicians had a simple, clear task: dispose of the human and B.O.W. corpses on the island and thoroughly disinfect the sealed facilities to ensure the workers wouldn't be at risk of infection.

After sailing for a day, the Poseidon reached Durban harbor in South Africa. The crew and accompanying troops rested in Durban for two days while the Poseidon took on supplies and waited for the icebreaker dispatched by the Africa Base.

On the 24th, at 09:00, the Poseidon and the arriving icebreaker set out for Antarctica, ready to take over Umbrella's last research facility still operating off the books.

During the voyage, Sui Bian gradually settled into his role as chairman, with help from the Red Queen and White Queen.

It was true that he was the company's only board member.

The military bases and ports in Africa, as well as the research institute beside the Ndipaya Tribe ruins north of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso in West Africa, had raised no objections whatsoever to Sui Bian taking over.

The employees, researchers, and armed forces in the African region shared the same mindset as the USS: they followed every order from the company's upper management.

That made things easy.

On the 26th, Wang Zhaofeng brought more good news: the M41A and Caseless Pulse Rounds were ready to enter production.

The Hive's production facilities, however, were nearing capacity.

So Sui Bian had the White Queen make arrangements to build an arsenal beside Umbrella Airport on the outskirts of Raccoon City, large enough to mass-produce individual weapons and equipment.

Birkin had mentioned that the G-Virus was complete, but hadn't spoken to Sui Bian again since. It seemed that neither extracting a serum nor using the virus to create Super Soldiers was going smoothly.

Sui Bian wasn't worried. He'd let things take their course. Besides, this wasn't something that could be rushed. If he kept asking, he'd only distract Birkin and Rebecca.

As for major projects and proposals from the company's other departments, such as real estate, pharmaceuticals, and digital technology, they all required his approval and signature.

Smaller departments, like film and entertainment, didn't need his personal involvement unless they did something truly earth-shattering.

In fact, the White Queen helped him oversee all of this. She screened the projects and proposals most likely to turn a profit. He then considered whether to proceed, sign off, and provide funding.

The Red Queen was also constantly recruiting retired soldiers from around the world. She evaluated their former units, service records, family backgrounds, and other factors in preparation for forming the various special forces teams Sui Bian had envisioned.

At first, Sui Bian hadn't been used to suddenly wielding so much power. Documents and files had come pouring in like snowflakes, but everything took time. By now, he was gradually getting used to the pace.

Just moments ago, he'd been in his Dormitory Cabin using his laptop to review project templates when he heard a crew member in the corridor mention the aurora.

Curious and wanting to rest his eyes, Sui Bian had come up to the flight deck for some fresh air and to take in the computer-wallpaper-worthy view.

"Ah." After a long exhale, Sui Bian couldn't help sighing and shaking his head.

Time really flew.

From waking up in a studio apartment to standing on a ship's flight deck, contemplating life, three months had passed in the blink of an eye.

I wonder what else the future has in store for me, and what else Umbrella will have to contain and control. All right, time to get back to work.

After muttering softly to himself, Sui Bian turned and headed for the hatch leading inside.

15:07.

The icebreaker reached the limit of its range.

15:20.

With the ground crew's help, the two CH-53s unfolded their rotors. The pilots and ground crew then carried out preflight checks.

15:32.

The Charon, Spear of Olympus, and Epsilon units prepared to board the CH-53s in turn.

15:35.

Everything was ready. The two CH-53s lifted off from the Poseidon's deck and headed for the Antarctic Laboratory on the edge of the Antarctic mainland.

15:56.

With the weather clear, the CH-53 flight formation reached the airspace above the Antarctic Laboratory without incident and landed on its helipad.

The Antarctic Laboratory had been built by Alexander Ashford, the "father" of Alfred and Alexia.

The quotation marks were warranted: the siblings had been conceived through artificial insemination at the Antarctic Laboratory.

After learning the truth about her origins, Alexia, out of hatred, made Alexander the first test subject for the T-Veronica Virus. Her nominal father became a monster, neither fully human nor fully beast.

After Alexia took over as head of the Antarctic Laboratory and fell into hibernation under the pretense of her death, the facility went into decline. That was precisely why it hadn't attracted Spencer's attention.

When the remaining employees learned that the company's upper management would be taking over the Antarctic Laboratory, they were overjoyed. There was no way they would try to stop the CH-53 formation from landing.

And so, Sui Bian smoothly took control of Umbrella's last major facility.