In front of Umbrella's gates, Fujino stood alone, still wearing her usual white lab coat.
"They should be arriving soon." Fujino watched the front. Thousands of meters away from Umbrella, the off-road vehicle driven by A2 and the others was heading this way.
From the off-road vehicle, everyone could already see the Umbrella building that seemed to reach straight into the clouds.
"What an exaggerated building," Mayer said in awe. Today, Umbrella had brought her too many surprises: weapons capable of breaking the world's status quo, technology that surpassed theirs by unknown years, and many other things they didn't know. It was truly hard to imagine that such a behemoth was merely an arms dealer company.
Mayer had also learned a bit about Umbrella from Saria. The so-called arms dealer company was actually just Umbrella's external cover; Umbrella was involved in far more than just arms—it touched upon every sector, reaching a level beyond what the world could imagine in each one.
However, Mayer had a doubt: how could such an exaggerated piece of technology move if it encountered a Catastrophe? Even with Originium as power, such a building would likely struggle to cope, even if Umbrella had its specialty high-purity Originium.
Following the logic of asking when one doesn't understand, she asked A2 in the driver's seat, "Miss A2, wouldn't your company's massive base find it difficult to move if it encountered a Catastrophe?"
Hearing this, Ptilopsis, who had been scared earlier, also grew interested and waited for A2's answer.
Beside them, Saria smiled as if she already knew something, though she didn't speak.
"We at Umbrella don't need to move," A2 said calmly. "So-called Catastrophes don't appear here at Umbrella. Our scientific research found a way to crack Catastrophes as early as two years ago."
Cracking Catastrophes—this was something countless people across the Terra Continent wanted to achieve. Every time a Catastrophe descended, all the major organizations and city-states could do was take shelter and flee. To the people of the Terra Continent, a Catastrophe was like an invincible enemy, yet now A2 was saying that Umbrella had found a way to crack them two years ago. This was no less shocking than saying a human had killed a god.
Seeing this, Saria couldn't help but smile. The expressions of Ptilopsis and Mayer reminded her of how she looked when she first heard this information upon arriving at Umbrella two years ago. Her expression back then was very similar to theirs now. However, after learning about this, she hadn't told anyone at Rhine Lab and chose to keep it a secret. She knew that if the major city-states found out Umbrella possessed the ability to crack Catastrophes, only destruction would await the company. Saria knew their methods well; this Terra World always had more of a dark side. She saw the hope of changing the Terra Continent in Umbrella, so she chose to protect them. However, both then and now, Saria didn't realize that Umbrella didn't fear any faction at all; the power Umbrella possessed was far beyond their imagination.
"Don't be surprised; this is just a trivial research project for us at Umbrella," A2 said calmly, completely unaware of how discouraging her words were. She added, "Umbrella hasn't just cracked Catastrophes; while doing so, we also gained the ability to control them."
Hearing these words, the smile on Saria's face could no longer be maintained.
This was the first time she had heard this. If Umbrella truly had a way to control Catastrophes, then they didn't need to fear any faction on the Terra Continent. If anyone provoked Umbrella, they could just send a Catastrophe back at them—who could withstand that? In that case, wasn't her idea of wanting to protect Umbrella two years ago incredibly foolish!?
Saria's beautiful face instantly flushed red; it turned out she had been overthinking things!
Fortunately, no one knew about this. It was lucky she hadn't told the people at Umbrella back then, otherwise, she would have been embarrassed to death.
Saria could imagine if she had said two years ago that she would protect Umbrella and keep their secrets, only for the people at Umbrella to look at her with strange eyes and tell her they could control the power of Catastrophes and didn't need her protection—Saria felt she would have died of shame on the spot.
Sighing in relief, Saria decided to keep this matter buried in her heart forever and never tell anyone!
The blush on her face was only a flash. Mayer and Ptilopsis, still shocked by A2's words, didn't notice it; otherwise, they probably would have been even more stunned.
"These are just a small part of Umbrella's achievements," A2 said. "Once Miss Mayer and Miss Ptilopsis officially join Umbrella, you'll find that so-called Catastrophes and oripathy are actually trivial existences."
Nanami and A2 had actually hidden some things. On the first day they arrived in this world, they already had the means to control Catastrophes. Even oripathy, which left everyone on the Terra Continent helpless, was cracked and a cure was developed in less than an hour. It was just that they couldn't tell Saria and the others until they were fully part of Umbrella.
"Alright, please sit tight and make sure your seatbelts are fastened," A2 reminded. "I'm going to start accelerating; it might be a bit uncomfortable."
With that, A2 slammed her foot on the accelerator. The needle on the dashboard instantly swung to the top. The surrounding scenery receded at a terrifying speed, becoming a blur that the naked eye couldn't even distinguish outside the car window.
"They're here." Fujino had already heard the familiar sound of the engine. Soon, a black off-road vehicle appeared in her line of sight, driving toward Umbrella at a terrifying speed.
The friction between the tires and the ground made a piercing sound. After a stylish drift, the black off-road vehicle came to a steady stop in front of Fujino.
Miraculously, not a speck of dust was kicked up.
"Welcome," Fujino said with a smile, looking at the three people who stepped shakily out of the off-road vehicle.
Ptilopsis gripped Saria's arm tightly. Her already pale face was now even whiter, and her beautiful orange eyes were full of terror.
Mayer had to grip the car door tightly just to manage to step out.
Saria was doing better, as it wasn't her first time, but her hands were still shaking slightly.
The smile on Fujino's face grew wider as she suppressed the urge to laugh out loud.
One must know that A2 and 2B's driving skills were even more terrifying than a certain 'Pleasant Goat' who refuses to draw his sword; in this regard, only Irisviel could compare.
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