Chapter 71: Transaction Before Dawn

September 23, 1998, 10:32 PM.

At the shipyard in southern Raccoon City, Sergei Vladimir was watching the UMF-013 being packed up.

This Umbrella Corporation executive, who had recently recovered the T-011 Tyrant from the Arklay Research Facility, had been busy with the logistics of transferring this supercomputer for over two months.

Just then, his adjutant invited him to check a nearby computer. On the screen, the red area representing the T-Virus infection zone was covering Raccoon City's underground pipe network and suburban streets at an alarming speed.

The R.P.D. communication channels were filled with gunfire, screams, and desperate roars. The infected from the Arklay Mountains had already flooded into the city, and over one-third of the districts were completely out of control.

"General, a top-priority encrypted communication from headquarters, coming from the private line of Lord Oswell E. Spencer." The adjutant stepped forward quickly and handed the encrypted headset to Sergei.

Sergei put on the headset. His originally cold and rigid expression instantly softened, and his tone became absolutely respectful: "Lord."

"You have already seen the situation in Raccoon City." The voice of Oswell E. Spencer came through the headset—his signature, calm tone that carried an unquestionable sense of oppression.

"William Birkin's stupidity has ruined our ten-year layout, but disaster also means opportunity. Immediately mobilize all UBCS troops on standby in North America and have them enter Raccoon City."

Sergei's brow furrowed slightly: "Lord, do you mean... to execute the rescue contingency plan?"

"Rescue?" Oswell E. Spencer chuckled, his tone filled with indifference. "The lives of those civilians have nothing to do with me. The UBCS has only two core missions upon entering the city:

First, act as bait to provide actual combat data for the B.O.W.s we have deployed in the city, especially the combat performance of the T-103 Tyrant. I want a complete observation report;

Second, destroy all traces of experiments and incriminating files related to Umbrella Corporation within Raccoon City, especially the remaining documents in the NEST and the police station."

He paused, his tone suddenly turning cold: "Remember, the only value of those mercenaries is to trade their lives for the data we need. As for the civilians? Saving a few is nothing more than a show for the outside world."

"Understood, Lord." Sergei gave a standard military salute. The moment he hung up, the respect on his face was immediately replaced by a soldier's cold rigidity. He turned to the command console and issued a stern order:

"Contact the UBCS North American Command immediately. Mobilize all four standby combat squads, totaling 120 personnel, and have them transported to Raccoon City in batches.

Operational Directive: Partially execute civilian rescue missions. The core mission for the supervisors is B.O.W. combat data collection and destruction of incriminating evidence. They are authorized to use all individual equipment except for heavy weaponry. Mission priority: Data Recovery > Evidence Destruction > Personnel Rescue."

The order was issued instantly. Far away at the UBCS secret base in Colorado, North America, piercing combat alarms suddenly sounded.

Mercenaries dressed in black combat uniforms assembled quickly, checking the firearms and anti-contamination gear in their hands. No one knew that what they were about to head into was not a rescue mission, but a one-way grave prepared for them.

At the same time, in Paris, France, on the top floor of the Umbrella Corporation global headquarters, an encrypted video conference in the boardroom had been going on for a full hour.

Around a massive circular conference table, holographic projections displayed the figures of the twelve core directors of the Umbrella Corporation global board, each face showing different emotions.

The seat at the head of the table was empty. Oswell E. Spencer himself never attended regular board meetings, yet he used his influence to firmly control every nerve of this multinational giant.

"Enough! Heinz, you cannot just decide to turn the entire city into your testing ground!"

Director Arthur Thompson, representing Wall Street capital in the United States, slammed the table, his gray hair trembling with rage.

He was the core of the conservative faction on the board, holding the reins of Umbrella Corporation's pharmaceutical channels in the US market. All his interests were deeply tied to the US government.

"There are over one hundred thousand civilians in Raccoon City! And dozens of state and municipal government officials who are in deep cooperation with us! Once this matter is completely exposed, the US government will immediately seize all our assets in North America and freeze our bank accounts! By then, never mind any virus experiments—the entire Umbrella Corporation will completely collapse!"

Sitting opposite him was Rudolf Heinz, Oswell E. Spencer's most loyal subordinate and the Vice Chairman of the Board. This German man's face was devoid of ripples, and his tone was as cold as a scalpel:

"Thompson, put away your ridiculous civilian rhetoric. Lord Oswell E. Spencer has already made the decision. Raccoon City is currently the only place where we can obtain complete field combat data for the T-Virus and G-Virus. One hundred thousand civilians? They are nothing more than experimental consumables."

He raised his hand to signal, and a long list of B.O.W. deployment manifests immediately popped up on the screen behind him: "We have already dispatched 20 T-103 Tyrants, 40 groups of Hunter α, 100 Licker specimens, and several trial samples of new B.O.W.s to the secret warehouses around Raccoon City.

The combat data of these experimental subjects will determine Umbrella Corporation's position in the global arms market for the next decade. As for the US government? Once we have obtained the complete data and mastered biological weapon technology capable of changing the world, they wouldn't dare lay a finger on us."

The boardroom instantly descended into intense argument. The loyalist directors led by Heinz firmly executed Oswell E. Spencer's orders, aiming to turn Raccoon City into a massive open-air laboratory.

Meanwhile, the conservative directors led by Thompson worried about completely infuriating the US government, leading to the total destruction of the entire company. They were all clear that at Umbrella Corporation, Oswell E. Spencer's will was the supreme directive; they simply could not overturn this decision openly.

At 4:02 AM, the meeting ended on a sour note. Heinz took the loyalist directors and left the boardroom to execute the B.O.W. deployment plan. Thompson remained in the boardroom and initiated a private, encrypted communication with two other conservative directors.

"We cannot just sit here and watch Heinz and Oswell E. Spencer ruin everything." Thompson's voice was extremely low. "Oswell E. Spencer doesn't care about the life or death of the company at all; he only cares about his damn immortality project.

We must do something, at least to rescue those who are tied to us in Raccoon City—the state assembly members, the high-level municipal officials, and the families of our company executives. Once they die in Raccoon City, we will completely lose our bargaining chips with the US government."

"But we cannot bypass Sergei; all the armed forces are under his and Oswell E. Spencer's control. The UBCS and USS will never listen to our orders," another director said with great concern.

"We don't need to use those units." Thompson's gaze darkened. "At the Chicago security base, we have our own private security team directly under our command. They are all elite retired special forces, absolutely reliable.

We can bypass Oswell E. Spencer and Sergei, and secretly dispatch this team into Raccoon City to extract those key figures and their families. The whole operation must be kept confidential; Oswell E. Spencer's people must absolutely not know."

This proposal was instantly met with approval from the other two. The moment the encrypted communication ended, Thompson immediately dialed the encrypted phone number of the Chicago security base and issued the top-priority secret mission order.

Meanwhile, in the suburbs of Chicago, in the barracks of the Umbrella Corporation North American security base, Dylan Black was wiping down his M4A1 rifle.

This 22-year-old young man had been discharged from the United States Marine Corps for less than half a year, and had joined Umbrella Corporation's private security team along with his best comrade, JJ.

In his understanding, Umbrella Corporation was a top-tier global pharmaceutical company. His job was to protect the company's personnel and facilities—it was a decent, righteous job.

"Dylan! Emergency assembly! Top-priority mission!" The barracks door was slammed open, and JJ rushed in with an excited look on his face. "We've got work to do! The captain wants us to go to the operational briefing room immediately!"

Dylan immediately put down the rifle in his hand, grabbed his tactical vest, and ran out after JJ. In the operational briefing room, 20 security team members had already assembled. The captain slammed an encrypted mission brief onto the table, his face looking exceptionally serious.

"Mission details: Secretly infiltrate Raccoon City and evacuate high-level US government officials, Umbrella Corporation North American division executives and their families located within the city—a total of 37 targets." The captain's voice was very low.

"This mission is of the highest security level. Maintain radio silence throughout. Do not interact with any UBCS units or R.P.D. police within Raccoon City. Do not leak the mission content, and do not expose our identities."

A murmur of discussion arose in the briefing room. JJ leaned over to Dylan and whispered, "Raccoon City? I heard there's some kind of epidemic over there, and they've locked down the city."

Dylan's brow furrowed slightly as he looked at the target list on the briefing. His fingertips tapped lightly on the table. He could feel that something about this mission was wrong. If it were just a routine personnel evacuation, why bypass the company's regular armed forces, and why keep it completely confidential?

But he quickly suppressed the doubts in his heart. As a former Marine, obeying orders was a principle carved into his bones. Moreover, in his view, this was a mission to save lives.

"Regarding equipment, we have provided you with the highest level of anti-contamination gear, suppressed weapons, and modified Black Hawk helicopters. We take off at 5:00 AM sharp." The captain's gaze swept over everyone.

"This mission has a very high danger coefficient. Large-scale violent attacks have already occurred in the target area. Your core mission is to evacuate the targets, not to engage in combat. Is that understood?"

"Understood!" everyone replied in unison.

After dismissal, JJ patted Dylan on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Once we finish this mission, we'll go to Miami for a vacation. I told you before, joining Umbrella Corporation is much better than staying in the Marines—you can save people and make big money, too."

Dylan smiled and nodded, reaching out to fist-bump JJ. "Be careful. Come back alive, then we can talk about the vacation."

He would not know that this "righteous rescue" he imagined would ultimately lead him to witness the ugliest truth of Umbrella Corporation, would cause his best brother to die in front of him, and he would not know that more than twenty years later, he would carry the hatred left behind by this disaster and launch the craziest revenge against all survivors of Umbrella Corporation.

At the same time, at Raccoon City Hall, in the Mayor's office.

Mayor Michael Warren slumped in his leather chair. The whiskey glass in his hand trembled slightly, and the liquor spilled out, soaking his expensive suit trousers.

The red encrypted phone on the desk had just hung up. Umbrella Corporation's people had delivered an ultimatum to him: the epidemic was completely out of control. The evacuation helicopter the company had arranged for him was already parked on the roof of City Hall. There was only one seat, limited to him boarding alone, taking off at 5:00 AM sharp. If he missed it, there would be no more chances.

He looked at the photo of his daughter on his desk. The girl in the photo was smiling brightly. A flash of struggle crossed his heart.

He had been the Mayor of Raccoon City for twelve years, had taken countless benefits from Umbrella Corporation, had covered up countless dirty deeds for them, and had even personally approved the land in the Arklay Mountains for them to build their research facility.

Now the disaster had broken out, and he could just walk away, but his daughter was still in her villa in Raccoon City.

He picked up the phone, wanting to ask Umbrella Corporation to add one more seat, but there was only a busy signal in the receiver. Umbrella Corporation had cut off all contact with him, giving him only this single chance to survive.

In the end, the instinct to survive overcame everything. He stood up abruptly, grabbed his passport and cash from the table, rushed out of the office, and ran toward the helicopter pad on the roof.

When he reached the stairwell, he stopped, gritted his teeth, and dialed the phone number of Brian Irons, the Chief of the Raccoon City Police Department.

The phone rang for a long time before it was picked up. Irons' drunken, gloomy voice came through the receiver: "Mayor Warren? Calling me at this hour—has the sky fallen?"

"Brian, listen, Raccoon City is finished." Warren's voice was filled with tears, panicked and incoherent. "Umbrella Corporation's virus has leaked, and the whole city is going to be gone! I'm about to leave by helicopter, but my daughter is still in the West Mountain villa. Please, take care of her for me, get her to a safe place! Afterward, I'll give you five million dollars—no, ten million! I'll give you all my money!"

On the other end of the line, Irons' originally drunken eyes instantly became dazed. He leaned back in his office chair, looking at the animal specimens filling his room, his eyes full of shock.

"Mr. Mayor, I... why didn't I receive notification?" Irons' voice began to tremble. "Are you all coming to pick me up?"

"Don't worry, Brian, your police station is the safest place! I beg you, please take my daughter there. I'm entrusting her care to you!" Warren hung up the phone and rushed to the roof without looking back.

The roar of the propellers grew louder and louder. The silver-white helicopter carried this corrupt mayor, slowly lifting off and disappearing into the darkness before dawn in Raccoon City. He would never know what a tragic end his daughter, whom he entrusted to Irons, would ultimately meet.

Inside the police station, Irons slowly hung up the phone and casually tossed it onto the desktop. He stood up, walked to the window, and a crazy smile appeared on his face.

"Damn it!" he roared, his fingers stroking the scalpel at his waist. "You abandoned me! You think I'll really help you take care of your precious daughter? No, she will become my most perfect collection piece, staying in this city forever, accompanying me until the very last moment!"

He locked the office door and turned to walk into the secret room in the back. The secret room was filled with various specimens, and various weapons he had collected were hung on the walls. The air was permeated with the pungent smell of formalin mixed with the scent of blood.

At 5:00 AM, a sliver of white finally appeared on the horizon.

The UBCS transport fleet was flying toward Raccoon City at full speed; the Black Hawk helicopter carrying Dylan and JJ had also taken off, disappearing into the horizon; Umbrella Corporation's B.O.W. deployment was being carried out in secret; and on the streets of Raccoon City, the roars of zombies grew closer and closer. The dawn of the entire city was ultimately swallowed completely by endless darkness.