Upon hearing the call, Rebecca quickly walked into the office, then shyly looked up at Karl on the Golden Throne, who had just finished enjoying Selena's 'silver tongue' and 'turbocharged' service.
He seemed to have entered a state of 'sage time,' looking relaxed and content.
This dashing appearance, in the eyes of an inexperienced 'newbie' like Rebecca, was filled with an indescribable, fatal allure.
However, thinking about what she was about to say, a hint of awkwardness and nervousness appeared on Rebecca's doll-like face, but after a moment of hesitation, she finally bit the bullet and said:
"Boss, that… that I have a very tricky matter I need your help with…"
"Oh?"
As if he had already guessed something, Karl slightly raised his eyes, looking at her with a half-smile and saying, "Dr. Rebecca, why don't you tell me first."
"Whew, it's like this, I have a friend named Leon Scott Kennedy, he is…"
Rebecca took a deep breath, and then succinctly recounted the general process of the Kijuju Autonomous Region operation that Leon had told her over the phone.
Finally, she looked with some apprehension at the handsome figure on the Golden Throne.
"Boss, I know this request of mine is excessive, even exceeding the authority of an employee at my level…"
"And under normal circumstances, the company has no obligation to put irrelevant personnel in danger, or to waste such a precious medicine as Revival Potion to save Jill."
"But I believe it would be too much of a pity if experienced top Agents like Leon and Jill were to die there."
"If you agree to this rescue operation, I will do my best to persuade them to join the Hyperspace Group, and repay your kindness with practical actions…"
"Also, I think the mysterious plants Leon and his team discovered deep in the cave are very likely the Stairway to the Sun Flower, which was recorded in the Umbrella experimental logs obtained by the intelligence department from the BSAA Organization database, and from which the Progenitor Virus can be extracted!!"
"If my guess is correct, then after acquiring these Sun Ladder Flowers, the group will surely achieve immeasurable great accomplishments in the field of biochemical weapon defense in the future…"
By the end, Rebecca was almost unable to continue speaking.
Because she knew very well that even if all the things she had just said were added together, they would never be worth a single Revival Potion.
That's right, even if those Sun Ladder Flowers could really extract the Progenitor Virus, what then?
The Hyperspace Group is not Umbrella, so it naturally wouldn't develop biochemical viruses like the T-Virus and G-Virus using the Progenitor Virus, as the latter did.
And for the Hyperspace Group, which had already launched the 'Super Soldier Enhancement Serum Project' and the 'Extraordinary Creature Extraordinary Factors Extraction Project,' the slight physical enhancement the Progenitor Virus could bring to infected individuals was simply negligible.
Not to mention its serious side effect of 'zombification'…
So Rebecca was now very guilty and unsure, afraid that the man on the Golden Throne would refuse her request for this reason.
However, even if Karl ultimately chose to refuse, Rebecca would never feel even a hint of resentment.
After all, in the adult World, there is never 'love' without reason!
Whether it's a favor or a duty.
He runs a company, not a charity.
Moreover, as the boss, Karl owed her nothing; on the contrary, he provided her with much better work and employee benefits than any other company.
So, in Rebecca's heart, apart from gratitude and deep admiration for Karl, there were no other negative emotions whatsoever.
As Rebecca fell silent, the office instantly became quiet.
Karl, sitting on the Golden Throne, did not rush to speak, but quietly gazed at Rebecca below, as if to see through her.
Rebecca's breathing grew heavier with her nervousness and the passage of time, and a fine layer of cold sweat visibly beaded on her fair forehead.
Just as she was hesitating whether to say something more, to make one last effort for Leon and the others, she heard a voice like a heavenly melody from the Golden Throne.
"Sec!"
"Boss, I'm here!"
The blonde secretary, who had been waiting outside, immediately scurried into the office. Karl, seeing this, calmly instructed:
"Immediately contact Frank, have him dispatch the The Uninfected Squad of the Fourth Phase to assist Dr. Rebecca in completing the rescue mission, and clear all biochemical zombies and infected individuals within the target area. After confirming safety, place a transmission beacon and prepare for recovery."
"Yes."
The blonde secretary responded very efficiently, then quickly and discerningly retreated, leaving only a stunned Rebecca still standing in place.
"Boss, you… you agreed so easily?"
After coming to her senses, Rebecca looked at Karl with a face full of gratitude and excitement. She never expected him to agree to her excessive request so readily.
After all, Leon and Jill were neither employees of the Hyperspace Group, nor could they afford the astronomical appearance fee, nor could they provide any valuable intelligence or resources for an equivalent exchange.
But even so, her boss still chose to agree.
To Rebecca, this was simply a miracle!
No, from now on, I must work extra hard to repay Boss's kindness.
Boss's kindness is endless, endless!
Ah no, the company is clearly my home, I must work Dr. Stern to death!!
Just as Rebecca began to wildly fantasize, even engaging in self-pua, she saw Karl on the Golden Throne smile indifferently and say:
"Dr. Rebecca, don't be so surprised. You can consider this one of the hidden benefits for senior researchers within the group…"
Is it really a hidden benefit?
Rebecca repeated Karl's words several times in her mind.
But she didn't believe it was a so-called hidden benefit.
It wasn't that she didn't believe Karl; on the contrary, Rebecca felt that such a benefit could no longer be described as generous.
It could only be said that the magnitude of this benefit was perhaps too great?
No, this is definitely not a hidden benefit. It must be that Boss made an exception for my sake, but was afraid that telling me directly would cause me some psychological burden and thus affect my subsequent work, which is why he chose a subtle way of speaking.
Yes, the truth must be this!
After a round of self-persuasion, Rebecca's delicate doll-like face suddenly flushed, and her gaze towards Karl became much softer, her voice trembling slightly, whether from excitement or emotion, she said:
"Boss, thank you. Please rest assured, I will redouble my efforts to serve you and the group in the future. No matter what command you give, I will do my utmost to complete it…"
Karl said nothing more, only smiled and nodded, then waved his hand at Rebecca, signaling that she could leave.
The reason he agreed to Rebecca's request to rescue Leon and Jill was naturally not as simple as the 'hidden benefit' he claimed.
Nor was it merely because he valued the Sun Ladder Flowers in the underground cave.
Instead, he wanted to recruit elite warriors like Leon, Jill, and Chris, who were naturally endowed with a 'protagonist's aura,' into his command.
In fact, in his opinion, the importance of these three individuals far outweighed that of the Plaga Parasite and the Sun Ladder Flower.
After all… what is most important in the twenty-first century?
Talent!!!
However, compared to what Karl truly needed in this grand scheme, the trio of Leon was merely an appetizer.
"It seems Africa can be reeled in ahead of schedule."
Karl leaned back on the Golden Throne, a mysterious smile playing on his lips. "I just didn't expect Black Panther to be so impatient, personally entering the fray so early…"
"This is good. With Wakanda's technology and Vibranium, both the Hyperspace Group and Sokovia will be completely revitalized, and the equipment level of the Thunder Warriors is bound to undergo revolutionary changes."
Karl naturally wouldn't be like the various tribes of Wakanda, who, despite possessing advanced weapons and technology, still chose to have their warriors engage in close-quarters cold weapon combat with enemies.
That kind of approach was simply anti-intellectual!
However, for Karl, the true purpose of coveting Wakanda was not merely for Vibranium and its cutting-edge technology, but also for the so-called Black Panther Goddess Bastet!!
She was not only the guardian deity of Wakanda for generations but also a member enshrined in the Hall of All Gods.
Karl had already figured out how to deal with the old fogeys in the Hall of All Gods.
And the first step of this 'God Slaying Project,' which was about to officially begin, was to deal with the Black Panther Goddess Bastet!!
"Presumably, once the Black Panther Goddess is also 'dealt with,' those old fogeys in the Hall of All Gods should no longer be able to sit still, right?"
...
…
Kijuju Autonomous Region.
In a huge underground cave, Leon looked at Jill Valentine's body, which was laid out on the flat ground, then sat down exhausted, breathing heavily.
The series of previous battles had almost exhausted all his strength, and with his ammunition depleted, he and Sheva were unable to explore the nearby underground laboratory for a short period.
Originally, Leon had planned to clear out all the zombies and infected individuals in the entire underground laboratory by himself, then call Rebecca, and use the laboratory as leverage to exchange for the Hyperspace Group resurrecting Jill.
After all, he wasn't so blindly confident that the Hyperspace Group would be willing to expend precious Revival Potion to resurrect Jill based solely on Rebecca, a researcher's, face.
But who would have thought that plans change faster than they can be made? The depletion of ammunition forced him to stop within this cave.
"I wonder how Rebecca's progress is going? Is it smooth?"
Leon looked at Jill Valentine's lifeless, shattered body on the ground beside him, his heart filled with unknown apprehension.
"Leon, come look at the flowers in this flowerbed…"
Not far away, Sheva Alomar stood at the top of an ancient-looking, tiered flowerbed. Beside her grew a large patch of brightly colored, mysterious flowers with deep red outer petals and golden yellow stamens at the center.
Sheva Alomar asked somewhat curiously, "How do you think these flowers can survive underground with no natural Sun light?"
Leon stepped over, first looking up at the huge incandescent lamp hanging from the cave ceiling, then down at the vibrant flowers growing in the flowerbed, and shook his head, saying:
"I'm not entirely sure about the specific situation, but Rebecca said over the phone earlier that these flowers are probably not ordinary flowers. They might be related to a certain virus previously developed by Umbrella, otherwise Wesker would never have rashly set up such an important laboratory here!!"
"What, these flowers… are related to a virus?"
Sheva Alomar immediately withdrew her hand, which had been reaching for the flowers, upon hearing this. Fortunately, her hand speed hadn't been that quick just now.
But then she asked curiously, "If that's really the case, do you think these flowers might be the true 'answer' Ricardo Elvin spoke of?"
Leon shook his head blankly. "I can't say for sure yet, but whether it's these mysterious flowers or the laboratory deep in the cave, anything connected to Umbrella is never good news."
"That's true."
Sheva Alomar deeply agreed with this, then said with some concern, "But Leon, do you think the Hyperspace Group will really agree to intervene in this matter?"
"Why do you ask that?" Leon glanced at her, his eyes full of confusion.
Sheva Alomar looked at Jill Valentine's body from afar, her expression complex as she said, "Nothing, I just feel that what we've found doesn't seem enough to impress a behemoth like the Hyperspace Group…"
"Leon, if the Hyperspace Group isn't willing to lend a hand, what should we do next?"
Evidently, their current predicament was no better than that of the deceased Jill Valentine.
First, almost all their ammunition was used up, leaving only two blood-stained field daggers and less than 5 pistol bullets combined.
Most critically, they had no food or Water supplies.
If the Hyperspace Group refused to help them, then they would probably have to leave this cave by boat again and go to the outside World to find food and Water before they starved or dehydrated.
Leon fell silent at her words.
But just then, near where Jill Valentine's body lay behind them, a ripple suddenly appeared in the space, followed by a circular blue portal that materialized out of thin air. Ten super soldiers, over 2 meters tall, armed with large-caliber boltguns and plasma pistols, stepped out of the portal first.
Upon entering the cave, these fully armed super soldiers immediately dispersed into a combat formation, completely controlling the entire area.
The two warriors who first emerged from the portal, with terrifying reaction speeds measured in milliseconds, immediately aimed their guns at Leon and Sheva Alomar on the flowerbed.
It was as if they had known of their presence before entering the cave.
Such terrifying reaction speed made even a battle-hardened 'veteran' like Leon feel shocked and send shivers down his spine.
There was no other way; the gap was simply too vast.
So much so that Leon had no doubt that if he made even the slightest rash move, the other party would precisely blow his head off within a second.
Fortunately, accompanying this squad of super soldiers out of the portal was also a petite woman with a doll-like face, a loli-like older sister.
That's right, it was the The Uninfected Squad of the Thunder Warriors Fourth Phase and Rebecca!