Late at night.
Halifax was brightly lit, with snow knee-deep on both sides of the city center streets.
Yet, the cold weather and the night could not deter tourists and citizens from their nightlife.
The current Hafa City was no longer the small provincial capital that resembled a 'fishing village.'
Due to the massive influx of capital brought by Umbrella, buildings of all kinds sprouted up like bamboo shoots, and culture and entertainment reached unprecedented prosperity.
Furthermore, the red and white Umbrella logos were visible everywhere, along with the company's slogan on billboards: 'Our Business Is Life Itself.'
It was evident that Umbrella's influence in the area had long since surpassed that of the government.
However, compared to the joyful atmosphere...
A convoy consisting of ten black SUVs and heavy trucks seemed somewhat out of place.
But no one paid too much attention, as enjoying the wonderful nightlife was the priority.
This convoy was departing from the Umbrella General Hospital in the city center, heading toward the private military Base in the suburbs.
William, the owner of the enterprise, was sitting in one of the SUVs driven by Hank.
Since the expansion of the USS, Hank had formed a squad named Alpha.
He had recruited thirty of the most elite USS members as William's Personal Guards, ensuring William's personal safety from morning until night.
Each SUV was modified with titanium alloy steel plates newly developed by Halsey, with a defensive level far exceeding any existing armor.
After opening the hatch on the roof of the SUV, a six-barreled rotary machine gun could be raised, providing absolute firepower output.
The trunk was equipped with optical camouflage suits, bulletproof vests, riot shields, firearms, ammunition, and so on.
Unless there were thousands of high-spec armed personnel, and even then, only in an ambush situation, would it be possible to annihilate the Alpha squad.
However, within the Nova Scotia Province that Umbrella completely controlled, the probability of such a situation occurring was lower than winning the lottery.
As for the heavy truck, it contained three Tyrant T-103s prepared by Halsey, which could obey orders from Umbrella employees of A-level and above.
At this moment, William was in the backseat of the SUV, his expression grim, looking at the street scene outside through the one-way bulletproof window.
He did not feel strange about the anomalies appearing in this World.
But what he was worried about now was which anomaly he would have to face this time.
After all, among the Foundation's special containment objects, there were many...
No, it should be said, an overwhelming number of containment objects that could not be dealt with through normal means.
According to the official website's settings, some could not be killed at all.
But if it were settings from games like'SCP: Secret Laboratory,' some anomalies could still be killed.
However, he had only watched streamers' videos on YouTube for the games, so his understanding was not very deep.
William had not studied the SCP website too carefully either.
He only knew a few of the famous anomalies.
For example, SCP-096 The Shy Guy, SCP-682 Immortal Lizard, and... SCP-166 Succubus Teenage Girl.
Each one was difficult to deal with.
Just as William was lost in thought, Hank, who was sitting in the front, reminded him: 'Boss, we are almost there.'
Coming back to his senses, William composed his anxious mood and replied calmly: 'Alright, I understand.'
The scene shifted from William to above the convoy.
Ahead of the convoy, there was a large military Base covering nearly twenty square kilometers.
It had everything, including airport runways, hangars, helipads, and control towers.
Inside the hangars were the An-124s previously purchased from Ukraine, as well as C-130 Hercules multi-purpose transport aircraft.
As for helicopters, there were the UH-1E Huey, UH-60A Black Hawk, OH-6 Cayuse, and CH-53E Super Stallion.
Small, medium, and large transport helicopters were lined up neatly beside the airport, more numerous than those of the Canada military.
Moreover, every vehicle had been repainted black and stamped with the red and white Umbrella logo.
At the same time, the barracks, armories, parade grounds, training fields, and so on had expanded dozens of times more than half a year ago.
This was the main Base of Umbrella's armed department, codenamed Troy.
The convoy, traveling through the woods, slowed down after entering the Base and finally stopped in front of a hangar.
William and Hank's Alpha squad got out of the car together and walked into the hangar.
The heavy truck also opened its cargo door, and with the cooperation of the Technicians and the UBCS stationed at the Base, three Tyrant T-103s wearing green leather coats stepped out and stood by.
Inside the hangar, which had been converted into a temporary operational conference room, more than a dozen folding chairs were arranged in the center.
The seats were filled with UBCS Officers and non-commissioned Officers wearing dark green combat pants and light gray combat uniforms.
In front of the Officers was Andre, along with a drawing board and projection equipment.
Upon seeing William enter with Hank and the Alpha squad, the group stood up one after another and saluted, saying: 'Boss!'
William remained smiling and nodded slightly, saying: 'At ease, everyone.'
'Yes!'
After the Officers sat back down, William walked to Andre's side and asked: 'Colonel, what is the situation now?'
'Unclear.'
Andre shook his head slightly, turned on the projector, displayed the map of Alberta Province, and explained to William:
'The location of the Agent who lost contact is an industrial town named Athabasca, one hundred kilometers due north of Edmonton, the capital of Alberta Province.
The Agent's undercover identity was a local Police Officer. After he reported to us that a large number of civilian deaths had occurred in Athabasca, he lost contact.
The town has now been blockaded by the Canada military, and their Commander has contacted Troy.
They need us to dispatch troops to enter the town and investigate.'
As early as two months ago, William had signed a secret contract with the Canada military.
That was, in the event of civilian casualties caused by abnormal phenomena, Umbrella's armed forces would assist the military in suppression free of charge.
The high-ranking military generals would certainly not refuse such a good deal of having money delivered to their door.
After all, if a Soldier dies, the military and the government have to pay a lot of money and benefits...
Isn't this just giving away money?
Moreover, whether 'abnormal phenomena' even existed was a question, and in any case, there was no loss, so the Canada military signed the contract very happily.
This was the reason why the Commander of the Canada military contacted Troy first.
'Hmm...'
William groaned upon hearing the situation described by Andre and asked:
'How do you UBCS plan to resolve this?'
Upon hearing this, Andre pointed to the rough diagram on the drawing board and said in a deep voice:
'The town is not large, blocked by Water to the north, and the other entrances and exits are tightly blockaded by the Canada military.
And there have been no casualties in the surrounding villages.
This indicates that the abnormal entity cannot swim, or for some other reason, cannot cross the Water.
I am preparing to dispatch a company of UBCS to air-drop into the area, search for the abnormal entity, and attempt to contain or kill it.
Then, a company composed of transport helicopters will carry a large number of Technicians to be responsible for the cleanup operation.'