Meanwhile, on the African continent, in the Dibaya Tribe of West Africa…
This is one of the world's most mysterious primitive tribes, untouched by outsiders to this day.
The tribe selects its leaders through an ancient ritual, a custom that remains unchanged because the leaders chosen through this ancient custom are incredibly powerful.
As a result, their tribe has not gone extinct; instead, it has continued to prosper, even evolving from a tribe into an empire.
The Dibaya Tribe became the Dibaya Empire, and its leader became a king, a God-King—
But until that day…
A sudden upheaval destroyed everything, leading to the complete downfall of the Dibaya Empire, and no God-King level ruler has appeared since.
Within the Dibaya Tribe, a sacred object has been passed down through generations: a red flower cultivated in a flowerbed.
This sacred object was discovered by chance by the people of the Dibaya Tribe.
Initially, due to its toxicity, the Dibaya Tribe used the flower's poison to coat arrows for hunting animals.
However, they found that the poison was too strong, rendering the killed prey inedible, so they gradually abandoned the idea of using it for hunting.
Later, a tribesman accidentally applied the red flower's toxin and underwent a mutation.
He struggled in agony, enduring unimaginable torment. When the tribesmen and priests believed he was certainly going to die, they were astonished to find that this person miraculously survived and gained strength beyond that of ordinary people.
It was then that the tribesmen and priests understood that this was a sacred object given to their Dibaya Tribe by the gods.
Those who passed the gods' test could gain great power and lead the tribe to prosperity.
Therefore, this red flower was regarded as a sacred object by the natives of the Dibaya Tribe.
Whenever the tribe needed to select a chief or leader, they would undergo the test of this red flower.
Although many people died, each time a leader capable of overcoming the flower's power emerged. Thus, this ritualistic test was passed down through generations, enduring through time.
At the same time, the emergence of extraordinary individuals led the Dibaya Tribe to gradual prosperity, continuously absorbing surrounding tribes and developing into a vast ancient kingdom, much like ancient Egypt, whose glory was fleeting.
The Dibaya Tribe became the Dibaya Empire.
Its military power also developed intensely, reaching an unprecedented peak, and the ritual of the sacred object continued to be passed down.
Only by passing various rigorous tests and surviving the ingestion of the sacred flower could one become the new king.
Unfortunately, due to later unforeseen events, the Dibaya Empire was destroyed.
Murals depicting the end of the Dibaya Empire reveal a terrifying scene: the underground world filled with bizarre monsters, their humanoid bodies covered in tentacles, mercilessly destroying everything.
And in the sacred place, on the Sun Ladder Flowerbed, two giant-like creatures fiercely confronted each other. This perhaps hints at the brutal consequences of the struggle for the throne, and how the loss of control over the Stairway of the Sun led to the empire's destruction…
Although some of the Dibaya Empire's people survived and the empire regressed back into a tribe, the Dibayan people found it difficult to regain their former glory.
This was because it became increasingly rare for God-King level rulers to appear among subsequent generations.
Fearing a repeat of the past apocalypse, the people of the Dibaya Tribe confined their living environment.
But even so, Spencer later found this miraculous flower among the sacred objects.
Because it grew towards the sun and was surrounded by a tiered flowerbed, Spencer named the sacred flower of the Dibaya Tribe the "Stairway of the Sun"—!
Not only that, but even the Umbrella Corporation's logo originated from the tiered design of the Sun Ladder Flowerbed.
Rather than resembling an umbrella, it actually looks more like a flowerbed.
The moment Spencer discovered the Stairway of the Sun, he immediately surrounded the entire Dibaya Tribe ruins.
But after realizing that the Stairway of the Sun could not survive outside of Africa's ecological environment, a reluctant Spencer established a research Institute on site in Africa.
Only after successfully extracting the virus strain from the Stairway of the Sun did he return to America to establish the Umbrella Corporation, the greatest pharmaceutical company in Resident Evil history—!
However, after the Raccoon City incident, the Umbrella Corporation gradually collapsed, and its research Institutes around the world were successively evacuated.
This void allowed its old rival, Tricell, to gain an advantage, requiring almost no significant capital investment.
By simply restoring the existing equipment, Tricell could take over and fully restore the former Umbrella Corporation research Institutes.
And on the African continent, Wesker had taken over an Umbrella Corporation base near a region called the "Kijuju Autonomous Region" in distant West Africa.
He completely transformed it into a Tricell-owned base.
Even the internal systems and logo were replaced with Tricell's green and blue emblem, a truly thorough overhaul.
After the collapse of the Umbrella Corporation, Tricell successively took over numerous Umbrella Corporation bases worldwide.
This is the real reason why Tricell once again rose to become the world's largest pharmaceutical company.
And in some sense, Tricell is even wealthier than the Umbrella Corporation, which is why people like Ada and Wesker frequently defected to Tricell.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to attract a large number of talented individuals.
However, there was no other way; the Umbrella Corporation's virus research consumed massive amounts of funds, so its capital reserves certainly couldn't compare to Tricell's, only appearing larger on the surface.
"Buzz buzz buzz—!!!!"
At this very moment, a deafening roar echoed over the Kijuju Autonomous Region.
A small transport plane was rapidly flying through the hazy sky.
Upon approaching a factory base in a mountainous area, it slowly began to land. This was the Umbrella Corporation research Institute in West Africa… no, it should be called one of Tricell's bioweapon research Institutes, and the area Wesker was responsible for.
Although Wesker now possessed extraordinary superpowers, he still outwardly served Tricell.
Thus, this base became his only place to hide.
However, once his research was completely finished, that would be the true day he betrayed Tricell.
He would become the Kami of the new age, and Tricell would be insignificant…!
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh…"
The transport plane slowly descended for landing.
As if seeing the transport plane piloted by Wesker, the factory at the research Institute below slowly opened its sealed gate, revealing a hidden helipad.
Without hesitation, Wesker precisely landed the transport plane on the ground.
"Click—!"
"Javier, Alexia, and Lisa Trevor, just you wait. Once I complete the final refinement of the ouroboros virus, the world will be in my grasp, and you… will then become ants to be trampled underfoot," Wesker muttered, clenching his fists as he slowly walked out of the transport plane's cabin, gazing at the surrounding research Institute.
At this moment, his injuries had mostly healed. Approximately half a month had passed since the battle at the Mansion Villa in a small town in Scotland, United Kingdom.
His face, originally scorched by Lisa's Violet Flame, had also largely recovered.
Although there were still some scars, it no longer mattered. Wearing dark sunglasses, Wesker's demeanor appeared even more rugged and masculine. After all, scars are a man's medals, and for Wesker, there was no harm in them.
However, whenever he thought of Lisa's immense power, Wesker couldn't help but feel a twinge of apprehension.
She was a fusion of various viruses, not only possessing the powerful primordial force of the G-Virus but also capable of manipulating the blood bio-flames of the T-Veronica Virus. She was truly too difficult to deal with, even for Wesker, who possessed the progenitor virus.
After all, his progenitor virus was developed in a balanced, all-around manner. While comprehensive, it didn't have any particular outstanding aspects.
He could be said to be invincible at the same rank, but against an opponent like Lisa, who had extreme offense and defense, he was completely helpless.
In terms of offensive methods and power, Lisa possessed the strongest spear, which was the T-Veronica Virus's flames; no Infected could defeat her.
And in terms of durability and defense, the power of the G-Virus pathogen was enough to give anyone a hard time; it could be said to be completely unsolvable.
Currently, only by achieving a perfect fusion with the ouroboros virus, or by waiting for the birth of the c-virus, could he have a chance to fight Lisa.
But both of these conditions were very difficult.
Firstly, Wesker currently wasn't confident in perfectly fusing with the ouroboros virus. Fusion was possible, but achieving perfection was very difficult.
Secondly, the ouroboros virus had a very annoying fatal weakness: it was afraid of fire. Against the T-Veronica Virus's blood flames, it was simply its natural enemy—!
Therefore, the odds were not good, unless a perfectly fused Wesker could resolve this flaw; otherwise, it would still be very difficult to defeat Lisa.
As for the c-virus, it was a new type of virus born from combining the advantages of both the G-Virus and the T-Veronica Virus.
Its characteristic was extreme adaptability; perfect fusers could freely modify their bodies, transforming into various biological forms like Transformers.
Similar to William, the c-virus had five forms, C1 to C5. William also had G1 to G5 forms in the past. Both were essentially capable of infinite evolution, but this depended on the host's willpower.
In addition to this, the c-virus could also release blood flames similar to the T-Veronica Virus, and some mutants could even release special elemental powers like lightning, which was very powerful.
Therefore, if Wesker, who already possessed the power of the progenitor virus, could fuse with the c-virus, he would gain extraordinary offensive capabilities and regenerative power.
In that case, he would definitely have a chance to fight Lisa.
But unfortunately… Simmons's c-virus was currently only in its initial stages.
It seemed very difficult for Wesker to obtain it; there wasn't much opportunity, as that was already a matter of Resident Evil 6, which was later.
"…"
"Welcome back, my King. So… did you find the answers you were looking for?"
As Wesker was muttering to himself, a tall, beautiful, mature woman slowly approached from the front of the research Institute.
She had a mixed-race, wheat-dark complexion, long hair styled in a high updo, and a tall, slender figure with a prominent chest.
She wore an ivory-white, deep V, backless evening gown with spaghetti straps, also vacuum-sealed, making her look sexy and alluring.
Around her neck, she wore a large gold necklace, and her watch, belt, and earrings were all gold jewelry.
Her plump, long legs were adorned with golden stiletto heels. Her demeanor was rather arrogant, elegant, and noble, yet her attire was still graceful and generous.
This mature, curvaceous, and beautiful woman was Excella Gionne, the true head of the Umbrella Corporation… no, Tricell research Institute in Africa—!
An Italian-British mixed-race wealthy businesswoman, her skin tone was not purely white. Italian women always possess a wild beauty, and Excella was no exception.
She served as the President of Tricell's African division, responsible for the base research Institute here alongside Wesker.
The Gionne family was highly respected in Europe due to their successful import and export trade.
Her grandmother came from the Travis family, the founders of Tricell, which gave Excella a noble and prestigious lineage.
Possessing model-like beauty, she was raised in an aristocratic family, which also led to her being very arrogant towards those around her, especially men.
However, it was not her beauty or family background that led her to her current position.
Excella inherited her father's intelligence; she skipped grades in school and entered university at a very young age.