Chapter 151: Mutation of the Divine Body

"Kak—! Kak—!"

Sui Bian, who had been seated for a long time, shifted his aching body, and the "kak" sound from his joints resonated throughout the office.

After that.

He rose from his office chair, lightly waved away the dissipating holographic screen with his left hand, and walked slowly to the floor‑to‑ceiling window on the east side of the office.

Cross‑arms folded across his chest, he looked down over the entire Raccoon City.

Gazing at the international metropolis that changes slightly over intervals, he observed the endless flow of vehicles and felt the people hurrying about their lives.

Standing behind this floor‑to‑ceiling window could put Sui Bian into a state of mental emptiness, temporarily freeing him from the shackles of the "Human Grand Plan" responsibility, making it one of his best ways to relieve stress.

Moreover, over the past year and a half, he has become proficient at wielding the Spiritual Energy he seized from the Blood Demon.

He no longer experiences the state where a single probe of Paris's city center would rapidly drain Spiritual Energy.

Through Spiritual Perception, the feedback from Raccoon City citizens is overwhelmingly positive—happiness and satisfaction.

Feeling these positive emotions, Sui Bian's mouth corners lift unintentionally, as if a sense of achievement makes him…pleased?

The massive changes in Raccoon City, or the rapid progress of human society, are indeed inseparable from Umbrella and him.

Sometimes, a little self‑confidence is also a way to adjust one's mindset.

"Hmm… why did I, without realizing it, think about humanity again…"

He first gave a self‑deprecating smile, then shook his head lightly with a hint of helplessness.

He slowed down and gathered his thoughts.

Sui Bian still looked out the window and said in a flat tone, "Bai Hou, how is the current response?"

Bai Hou used a holographic projection device to display her virtual avatar a short distance to the right of Sui Bian, reporting:

"The current response is intense, but according to your order, the online deployment I launched a year ago has already begun to show results.

Although the response is intense, it is still broadly accepting the shock brought by the press conference, and the company's stock price has once again hit a new high, further confirming this."

Long before the DawnGuardian lifted off, Sui Bian had Bai Hou use her unique advantage to disguise herself as various net users, posting online about the possibility of a fusion engine and a large number of posts titled "Is Umbrella conducting fusion research?"

Among the net users previously @'ed as "Prophet", one third were Bai Hou.

In addition to Bai Hou's online deployment, Umbrella's film and entertainment division also collaborated on two highly rated documentary series exploring space.

Thus, when society's curiosity and desire to explore the cosmos were rekindled and there was a certain readiness for fusion technology, it naturally led to today's press conference.

"Sir, anything else," Bai Hou offered.

"Enterprises such as Freeport·McMoran, Newmont, and Southern Copper are negotiating with us, eager to learn the exact price of the Precursors‑type engineering ship, apparently hoping to cooperate with us."

"Oh? No wonder the mining giants sniffed out the business opportunity so quickly," Sui Bian praised.

He then immediately said, "Temporarily disregard the cooperation request."

"Understood, sir," Bai Hou replied.

There are many profitable projects in space exploration, but one of the most lucrative industries is mining.

Metals that are difficult or rare to mine on Earth are abundant in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

If Umbrella conducts space mining, profit is secondary; its primary goal is the overall advancement and construction of humanity.

In this regard, Umbrella must be extremely cautious, and discussing this now is indeed premature.

Moreover, several years ago, Umbrella, due to the anomalous phenomenon "Space Gate", acquired the stable "mining site" of the prehistoric planet.

So there is no rush.

A moment of silence.

"How is the construction of the lunar base proceeding?" Sui Bian asked again.

"The base located on the far side of the Moon's equator is nearing completion, with formal completion expected on February 15," Bai Hou replied.

As the female spokesperson said, Umbrella has too many products and has been unable, and cannot, share them with society.

Humanity's first spacecraft was not a Precursors‑type engineering ship, but the DawnGuardian of the Falcon class.

In August and September 2002, the second and third Falcon‑class ships were completed in succession and launched.

Umbrella obtained its first fleet and also gained absolute air superiority, but the fleet's personnel composition, especially combat crew, was still insufficient.

After all, the Falcon‑class's standing force is the MTF, whose signature equipment is the TPS Power Armor.

Chiron, HellParatrooper, the Undead, and the Special Task Force each received their dedicated TPS.

The regiment‑level Olympus Arrow's cheaper TPS units are still short by three hundred sets before full outfitting.

The second ship's standing MTF consists of Chiron and the Undead, the third's of the Special Task Force; even so, there remain several thousand combat personnel vacancies.

As for the armed security force of nearly thirty thousand, they still need to protect the company's assets and assist nearby intelligence personnel.

Therefore, until the other two regiment‑level MTFs are built and TPS Power Armor stock is plentiful, Sui Bian has no intention of continuing to construct Falcon‑class ships.

Thus, the Eastern European manufacturing plant, in a nonstop fashion, used three dry docks to sequentially build three Precursors‑type engineering ships.

After all, engineering ships are civilian vessels, and their construction cycle is far shorter than that of the military Falcon class.

When Umbrella says "a certain product is about to be completed", it can be reasonably assumed that Umbrella already has mass‑production capability, and one can also suspect that the technology of that product has already been thoroughly assimilated by Umbrella.

Such as the lunar base.

The female spokesperson publicly said it was upcoming construction, but in reality, after acquiring the Yuyou, Umbrella began exploring, site‑selecting, and building on the Moon.

In mid‑2001, half a year before the DawnGuardian lifted off, Umbrella built a small outpost on the far side of the Moon, solving the helium‑3 source issue.

After the DawnGuardian lifted off, fifteen SCVs were sent to the lunar outpost, with the engineering department tasked with expanding it into a permanent base.

"Very good." Upon learning the base would soon be completed, Sui Bian nodded with satisfaction.

"By the way, sir," Bai Hou proactively said, "Chambos has a communication request; shall we connect?"

Rebecca?

Could it be that the OriginalBody's DivineBody has encountered a mutation?

"Connect," Sui Bian said.

"Okay."

White Empress said, and then generated a small holographic communication screen on Sui Bian's left side.

"Mr. Sui!" As soon as the communication connected, I saw Rebecca with a stern expression reporting to Mr. Sui:

"A child's DivineBody back suddenly underwent an uncontrollable mutation, growing two wing-like structures covered in hard feathers"

"Mutation? Whose is it?" Sui Bian asked in a low voice.

"It is... Shengjilesi's." Rebecca said.

(End of chapter)