"Cheep~ Cheep~"
Inside a certain forest, a pair of gray sparrows were chirping happily.
Dazzling sunlight filtered through the gaps in the maple leaves, scattering onto the relatively damp ground, where various mosquitoes and insects fluttered about upon closer inspection.
Of course, the sneaky Instant Noodle King, the Raccoon, was indispensable here.
If a camera were set up, the scene here would definitely be selected for *National Geographic* or *Animal World*; everything looked so serene and beautiful.
"Boom—Boom—!"
However, the roar of a black hummer's engine shattered the tranquility of nature.
Although there was no clear road for vehicles in the woods, relying on its brutal off-road capability, it drove deep into the forest as if traversing flat ground... Inside the vehicle:
"Hoo... Ha..." The sound of someone breathing in deep sleep.
The driver and passenger seats were occupied by Alpha and Hank, both wearing suits.
Sitting in the back was William Russell, leaning against a soft cushion, head back, mouth open, sound asleep.
"Gulong! Gulong!" The tires seemed to roll over large rocks, causing the vehicle to shake intensely.
Even William swayed with the vehicle, but such a commotion still failed to wake him up.
"Lieutenant."
The Alpha driving the hummer asked Hank, "We're almost there. Should I wake up the Boss?"
Hank said calmly, "No, let the Boss rest a little longer."
"Yes, Lieutenant."
The two Alpha returned to silence, leaving only William's steady breathing in the car.
Soon after.
The hummer drove past the obstacle area and reached a dirt road concealed by even denser foliage.
"Ugh ah~! Eh~!"
William stretched, rubbed his stiff neck, and then rolled down the window to look outside.
The cool breeze under the shade of the trees woke him up considerably.
It was now August 17, 2007, more than a year since William arrived in this World.
Umbrella had developed rapidly within the year, monopolizing the vast majority of companies in Canada.
Even though the outside World didn't know exactly how much wealth William possessed, the U.S. *Fortune* magazine still ranked Umbrella as the twentieth largest company in the World Top 500.
*Fortune* calculated based on Umbrella's publicly visible companies, concluding that its operating revenue was approximately 100 billion, with a profit of about 14 billion, and a workforce of 120,000 employees.
Umbrella's various metrics surpassed the Bank of America, making it the twentieth largest company in the World.
What about the World's number one?
It was... Walmart.
That's right, that Walmart.
Walmart's operating revenue was 351.1 billion, with a profit of 11.2 billion.
But BP, the World's second-largest company, had a profit of 22 billion, which even surpassed Umbrella's 14 billion. How did Walmart achieve the World's number one spot?
That was because Walmart's number of employees reached a terrifying 1.9 million, allowing it to continuously top the World Top 500 for many years.
However, *Fortune* magazine did not have a very good evaluation of Walmart; instead, it heaped praise upon Umbrella.
It even published multiple articles claiming that Umbrella would be the pioneer for humanity in the 21st century, clearly adopting an antagonistic stance toward Wall Street.
William had to express his thanks for this.
Precisely because of the silent war between *Fortune* and Wall Street, his Umbrella was firmly seated at the forefront of attention.
Money was pouring in.
Therefore, William could gain attention without needing various micro-management efforts, so of course, he had to thank *Fortune* magazine.
As for the previously calculated 14 billion in profit, the vast majority was deposited into accounts managed by the System, entirely belonging to him.
The System funds allowed for a monthly personal expenditure limit of 500,000, but compared to 14 billion... William couldn't even be bothered to touch that 500,000.
Speaking of the System.
Fortunately, William had bought the Nova Scotia Province Bank long ago.
Otherwise, if the whole World knew he earned 150 billion every year...
That would be interesting... Over the past year, William utilized the athabasca agreement signed between Umbrella and the United Nations to frantically acquire various arms companies.
The first to fall was Lockheed Martin, followed by Boeing, and then various long-established arms companies.
This meant that core technologies like the V-22 Osprey Tiltrotor Transport Aircraft, the C-130 Hercules, and the F-22 were all controlled by Umbrella.
The U.S. might have complaints, but there was nothing they could do.
Umbrella's nature is not that of a country; it is William's personal property.
And capitalism extremely advocates for private property; if you have money, you are the daddy.
The working class?
They have no rights whatsoever.
They claim democracy and freedom, but in reality? Heh heh.
The current William is the sugar daddy for the vast majority of companies in North America.
Utilizing this, Umbrella's arms division used various core technologies, along with blueprints purchased earlier in Ukraine, to produce a large number of enhanced vehicles and weapons for the armed division... As for the Xbox research and development plan, it had somewhat stalled.
Instead, *anomaly crisis*, which was being developed concurrently, was nearing completion.
William had great confidence in the Bungie Development Team.
After all, *halo*, the launch title for the Xbox in the original World, was created by Bungie.
When William became a major shareholder of Microsoft and discovered that the Bungie Development Team also existed in this World, he was ecstatic.
The reason Xbox could fight PlayStation to a standstill was precisely because of the masterpiece *halo*.
But the high-level executives at Microsoft in the original World went crazy, forcing Bungie out and letting 343 take over, nearly ruining the *halo* series.
Getting back to the point.
Then *anomaly crisis*, produced by Bungie, would definitely fire the first shot in the gaming industry.
But... as mentioned before, the Xbox R&D stalled.
Software for the games was easy enough, but the hardware was a bit of a problem.
Microsoft's Engineers and designers simply couldn't understand the console William described, as it was vastly different from a regular computer.
In the end, they only managed to produce a casing and a driver system.
Fortunately, the casing looked decent, similar to the final version of the Xbox 360 in the original World... But what good was that?!
During the period William was researching the Xbox at Microsoft, he invested over 100 million in total.
They freaking made a shell?
Do you know how many lives of Agents or Soldiers that money could save?
Therefore, William directly used one of his rights as a major shareholder to fire that group of truly useless Engineers.
But another problem arose: who would handle the research and development?
Out of helplessness, he had no choice but to seek help from that female genius, Halsey.
Originally, William hadn't held much expectation; after all, no matter how smart Halsey was, she couldn't possibly understand the console that players needed... right?
The fact was, she actually finished all the circuit diagrams and software systems for the Xbox in just two nights.
.
Thinking of this, William, who was looking at the scenery outside the window, was truly speechless.
The Xbox console and launch titles like *anomaly crisis* are scheduled for release at midnight on January 1, 2008.
Meanwhile, *Iron Man* is set to premiere on November 11 this year.
And *starship troopers 2*, appearing last, is scheduled to premiere on Boxing Day, December 26, after Christmas.
At that time, Umbrella's three major works will be released sequentially.
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