Chapter 99: Turning Hands into Clouds

"Tragic. To prevent the leakage of the relevant virus, all personnel at one of Umbrella's research bases have died!"

"Shocking. Competitors, in order to win the competition, have resorted to such terrible means!"

"Diseases that Umbrella Corporation has eradicated over the years!"

"Umbrella Corporation is a people-oriented company. We have always held human rights as paramount and are committed to solving various diseases in the human world, making the world a better place."

Numerous camera flashes flickered as a group of reporters, armed with long lenses and microphones, surrounded the relevant spokesperson for Umbrella Corporation.

They were asking about the major incident that had just occurred.

"May I ask what Umbrella Corporation's thoughts are regarding the leakage of the secret virus researched by yourselves, which has caused major casualties and led to the near-destruction of a city?"

This question skipped the stage of whether the virus had been created by Umbrella Corporation and went straight to questioning; it could be said to be quite impolite, though among the personnel present, this one could still be considered relatively polite.

"Umbrella Corporation has caused such major casualties; why are you still here in suits and ties holding a press conference? Shouldn't the relevant press conference be held in a prison?"

"Shouldn't the authorities take further action against such heinous behavior by Umbrella Corporation? This has led to thousands of deaths or even more; this is a major casualty event unprecedented since the founding of the nation. All Umbrella Corporation personnel should be put on trial!"

Someone had already begun directly attacking Umbrella Corporation and the officials responsible for maintaining order, while the personnel from the Public Health Department who were attending alongside Umbrella Corporation showed not the slightest embarrassment on their faces.

The spokesperson for Umbrella Corporation, facing such pressure, did not lose their composure; instead, they said with a look of sorrow.

"We are already assisting the authorities in their investigation, and according to the information known so far, the virus was not leaked intentionally, but was stolen from within our tight containment and then deliberately smashed inside the Hive research base."

"This was a terrible act of murder targeting our Umbrella Corporation. This act caused over five hundred of our research personnel at the Hive base to die in vain. We have already reported the case to the relevant Public Health Department and the police, and the relevant investigators have already gone to the scene at the first opportunity."

"Huh?"

The Umbrella Corporation spokesperson's statement, which completely exceeded everyone's expectations, left the reporters present stunned for a moment, and then they immediately became excited.

They had always been righteous and aggressive; the few reporters who asked the fiercest questions were able to come to the venue at this time to further demonstrate their outstanding qualities in front of countless peers.

That was why they were so aggressive, not giving anyone a chance to explain the relevant matters at all.

They also wanted to demonstrate their special courage once again in this place, using such pressing statements to express their hatred for evil.

Just this one action alone could win the favor of many people, and they could also receive considerable support in subsequent promotions.

In any case, aggressive statements against evil would not make others feel disgusted, and many people would even support them; after all, they were interrogating the world's top biomedical company.

This required more courage than interrogating their President of the United States. Usually, if one spoke too fiercely, they would be permanently blacklisted by such companies.

They had thought victory was in their grasp, but they had not expected a sudden turn of events.

"This is completely sophistry, right? Before the news broke, anonymous individuals had already exposed relevant documents to major media outlets, and all that information was suppressed by you, Umbrella Corporation, using relevant public relations tactics."

"And previously, there were reports of your heinous track record of using humans for experiments. It is hard for us to believe your words now. Where is the evidence for what you are saying?"

The lead reporter was still very pressing, and the topic they asked about was what everyone around was concerned about.

The Umbrella Corporation spokesperson's expression remained completely unchanged. Under the gaze of the long lenses and microphones, they maintained their composure. They first bowed their head with a heavy look.

"For the deaths caused by this incident, we at Umbrella Corporation express our deepest sympathy. I have personally applied for five hundred million dollars in relevant aid within the company, prepared as compensation for the deaths caused by the virus leak in this incident."

"As for your worries that the authorities and we are working together to suppress this incident, that is completely groundless."

"From the information released this time, it can be known that those who died the most in this incident and suffered the greatest impact from the virus were actually our company's own personnel. All the personnel of an entire base died in this virus leak incident."

"Through our joint investigation with the authorities, it has been determined that this was someone deliberately leaking the virus. The many personnel at our Umbrella Corporation Hive base were conscientious and dedicated, risking their own deaths to try their best to seal off the entire underground base."

"With the entire base suffering casualties, they sealed the virus for many hours and reported it to our company. Unfortunately, the information was cut off, and we had no way to know the detailed situation. It was only later that the senior security personnel of our Umbrella Corporation Hive base, Alice, along with a concerned citizen Zhang Xuan, took a team of mercenaries to the underground base and discovered the truth..."

The Umbrella Corporation spokesperson was not only speaking but also displaying the data made public by Zhang Xuan to the many news reporters.

Those research personnel in white coats with ferocious expressions shown earlier were all Umbrella Corporation personnel. This Umbrella Corporation spokesperson had clearly practiced their performance many times.

Every time they displayed a photo, they would read out the name in a slightly sorrowful tone.

"Laura, Umbrella Corporation research personnel."

"Trace, a member of the security team of the insurance company."

"Angolo Smith, senior research personnel of Umbrella Corporation..."

They read the names one by one and displayed the relevant internal personnel data of Umbrella Corporation on the big screen. They did not provide further explanation, but just the look of grief, combined with their handsome appearance and melancholic eyes, made a large crowd of people present feel sympathy.

This scene, broadcast to people globally, had already garnered the admiration of a large number of people.

"What they said should be true."

"My God, I didn't expect Umbrella Corporation to have suffered so many casualties in this operation. They are all heroes."

"I don't think we can fully believe their words. God knows if these vampires are just shifting the blame in advance. I have seen such behavior too many times."

"Anyway, the people are already dead, so they can say whatever they want."

"Do you have any conscience? Over five hundred relevant personnel of Umbrella Corporation have already died in this operation. It is the most tragic of all the casualties in this incident, and you are actually doubting them like this?"

"Such a biological company, a top financial conglomerate, and you actually believe they have a conscience? In my view, perhaps all the personnel died in this accidental virus leak, and that is why they are being adorned with so many halos."

"Just researching this kind of virus and letting it leak is already an unforgivable responsibility on their part."

On the internet, this press conference also caused intense debate.

But both sides were still arguing endlessly. Umbrella Corporation was not a pure and flawless white lotus; before this, there had been quite a few heinous incidents and situations.

Coupled with the fact that the United States had never had much affection for relevant large financial conglomerates or these high-and-mighty elite classes, many people felt both disgust and envy toward them.

And when the emotions of the crowd were rendered to a peak, and when the doubts of many people reached their highest point, the Umbrella Corporation spokesperson released that video of Matthew stealing the T-virus.

The senior official in charge of public health and safety for this incident stood out before the many reporters could speak.

"The senior police officers we have in charge of investigating this incident have already tested this video in advance and can ensure that there are no traces of editing or synthesis. It is a completely natural video."

This immediately stirred up a monstrous wave.

The Umbrella Corporation that was playing the victim was actually truly miserable, because someone had stolen the virus from their heavily guarded laboratory, which led to this tragic incident, and Umbrella Corporation had first lost an entire sub-base.

The over five hundred personnel who researched the virus were no longer the terrifying Satan, but had instead become heroes.

And the Umbrella Corporation spokesperson's expression at this time also changed from the previous grief and gentleness to one full of anger.

"This incident has caused such major and painful losses, but we will not evade the relevant responsibilities. We have already provided the relevant virus data to the public affairs department to allow them to better cope with this crisis. At the same time, all the families of the Umbrella Corporation personnel who died in this incident will be properly taken care of."

"As for the personnel who leaked the virus, and the relevant company behind them, we will do our utmost to investigate and find them, to seek justice for all the victims together!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the reporters and personnel present all broke into applause, and the sound of praise merged into one across the scene.

……

Bang!

Alice slammed her fist heavily onto the table in front of her; her already enhanced physique caused the table to jump three times.

"Fuck, how do they have the face to say such things?"

"They previously sent people to assassinate us and even wanted to drop a nuclear bomb to stage this incident."

"At a press conference like this, those people can actually still believe them, and they can actually manage to wash their hands of this so cleanly?"

Alice was so angry that her chest heaved violently, and her rosy lips were bitten white by her.

Zhang Xuan's gaze slowly moved away from the computer; in the corresponding live broadcast, that spokesperson for the Umbrella Corporation and that official from the Public Health Department shook hands together, vowing together to investigate this matter to the end and never let any evildoer go.

(End of this chapter)