William Birkin

Sui Bian looked down at Wesker, who was stone-cold dead.

Killing someone...

It didn't seem like a big deal. He didn't feel much guilt, either.

Maybe it was because the person he'd killed was Wesker.

A double agent, an enemy of humanity, the final boss—Wesker had every villainous aura imaginable. After killing him, Sui Bian even felt relieved.

As for Wesker being easily subdued by a group of "grunts," don't forget: these "grunts" were elite soldiers trained at great expense.

In the original Resident Evil 3, twenty elite US Delta Force soldiers, ambushed by five Tyrant 103s, had still managed to take them down with them. That alone proved these "grunts" were no pushovers.

The roles of light and shadow had been reversed.

Wesker had been in the open, while Sui Bian had remained hidden. Wesker had never expected to be targeted by a transmigrator, so there would be no melodramatic reversal or last-minute counterattack.

[Anomaly Albert Wesker's death detected. As the subject died while still in a human state, the system will reward the host with only 10 points.]

Oh?

After hearing the system, Sui Bian couldn't help feeling surprised. He hadn't expected resolving an anomaly to earn points.

The system continued explaining:

[If the host or the host's soldiers successfully kill or contain an anomaly, the system will award the host an appropriate number of points based on the anomaly's abilities, attributes, and combat strength.]

Hmm... there's potential, Sui Bian thought.

Judging by the system's criteria—anomaly abilities, attributes, and combat strength—10 points for Wesker, who was still human, was pretty good. At least it wasn't 5.

After a brief pause,

Sui Bian turned and returned the gun to the Omicron soldier who had lent it to him. He left Wesker's apartment and went to the ninth-floor corridor, where he told the Lieutenant, "Take the body, along with anything related to the target."

"Yes, sir."

The Lieutenant then directed his subordinates to pack everything up, destroy the scene, and erase all traces.

Afterward, the group took the elevator back to the first-floor lobby, where they quickly withdrew from the upscale apartment building with Groups C and D, who had been standing by.

As for the bound security guard, he would have to wait until the next shift change in the morning to be freed.

The Hive.

It was the most iconic underground research facility in the Resident Evil series, with four levels in total.

The first level housed supplies, cargo, and transportation facilities, and connected to the Raccoon Police Department and the general hospital in the city center.

It also contained a rail station and a transport route to Raccoon City's southern suburbs. Alpha had used that route to drive into the Hive.

The second level was dedicated to living and recreation. It allowed researchers to carry on with their daily lives, rest, relax, eat, and enjoy themselves.

The third level was the work area.

It contained the most comprehensive facilities for isolation, containment, experiments, and simulated trials, where researchers studied biology, chemistry, and high-tech weapons.

The fourth level was used for refrigeration and freezing. It stored viruses, vaccines, and all kinds of samples, as well as B.O.W.s and the "by-products" of virus experiments.

At that moment,

More than seven hundred employees working at the Hive were seated in the second-floor cafeteria.

There were engineers, researchers, armed security personnel, and even cleaners who had signed contracts and nondisclosure agreements. But...

No matter what their jobs were, all of them looked frightened and bewildered. Alpha and Omicron soldiers stood guard around the cafeteria, weapons at the ready.

At 05:17, Hunk had led Alpha in taking over the Hive, where everyone was unconscious. His men had used handcarts to move the employees from every level and section to the second-floor cafeteria.

At 05:52, the Omicron team that had dealt with Wesker and Sui Bian arrived at the Hive via the route from the suburbs.

Omicron helped Alpha move the unconscious employees, while Sui Bian, accompanied by two Alpha soldiers, "toured" the Hive's main areas.

Damn, that was impressive.

After "touring" the Hive, Sui Bian could only use those two words to express his astonishment.

The mature holographic projection technology, the dazzling array of huge cultivation tanks and containment pods, and the "not yet fully developed" Tyrants, Hunters, and other B.O.W.s inside them.

Most importantly, Sui Bian had also seen the Railgun from the Resident Evil 3 remake at the High-Tech Weapons R&D Center on the third level.

Umbrella's technology in 1998 already surpassed that of the world he'd left behind.

Most importantly, Umbrella's clean, uncluttered decor would have made anyone with obsessive-compulsive tendencies feel right at home.

Around seven thirty,

More than seven hundred employees, including the Birkin Family, gradually woke up. Their emotions shifted from confusion to bewilderment, then to fear.

After all, they had first passed out without knowing why, then opened their eyes to find the company's elite troops standing over them. Anyone would have been confused and panicked.

Only William Birkin knew the reason.

However, the G-Virus was not yet fully developed, and his wife and daughter were right there with him, so Birkin was still relatively calm.

Once he learned that Birkin and the employees were fully awake, Sui Bian went to wait in a small meeting room on the second floor. He told Hunk to invite Birkin to the room; he planned to speak with him in private.

07:45.

Inside the meeting room,

There was a long table, six office chairs, and a holographic projector.

Sui Bian and Birkin sat facing each other.

Seated on the right side of the table, Sui Bian sized up Birkin.

His blond hair was thinning, and he was starting to go bald. He had stubble on his chin that he hadn't shaved clean.

Combined with his yellow-collared white shirt and wrinkled lab coat, he looked like a disheveled man weighed down by exhaustion.

Yet Birkin's eyes were unusually bright, giving the impression of a learned doctor who simply didn't care about his appearance.

"..." (x2)

The two remained silent.

Sui Bian's face was expressionless. Birkin's was, too, though sweat had already begun to bead on his forehead.

He was afraid.

Fear of death was only human. Even if Birkin was a boss in the game, the Birkin sitting here was still human.

And Birkin had reached out to the US Military and conspired with Simmons. His original aim had been to protect himself and his family.

"Mr. Sui, please tell Mr. Spencer that I can finish the G-Virus in three months. I'll hand it over to him as soon as it's ready. Please don't make things difficult for... my family."

In the end, Birkin, lacking confidence, was the first to speak.

Seeing Birkin speak, Sui Bian rested his elbows on the table and clasped his hands. In a calm voice, he said, "Dr. Birkin, I think you've misunderstood something. To be honest, I can't stand that old man Spencer, either."

???

Birkin had already prepared himself to lose the work of his lifetime. He hadn't expected Sui Bian's words to leave the genius at a loss for what to say.

"Heh." Sui Bian gave a light chuckle and continued, "Dr. Birkin, I don't want to reveal too much, but you only need to know that before long, the company will answer to me alone.

"And you're an important company asset. I'm not going to make things difficult for you or your family. I'll do everything I can to protect you."