"Saria, you're finally jumping ship to our Umbrella." Fujino hugged Saria with a smile, her pleasant scent helping to calm Saria's nerves.
"It's not jumping ship," Saria said somewhat helplessly, giving a bitter smile at Fujino's intimate gesture. "If you changed your behavior toward women, Fujino, I think Silence wouldn't have run off to Rhodes Island."
Hearing Saria's words, Mayer and Ptilopsis, who hadn't yet recovered from A2's high-speed driving, instantly perked up. They didn't understand the reason why Silence insisted on going to Rhodes Island instead of Umbrella; they only vaguely knew it had to do with Umbrella's boss—the beautiful girl in front of them. Now, it seemed that was indeed the case.
Women love gossip, so both of them pricked up their ears, wanting to hear the details.
However, to their disappointment, neither Fujino nor Saria continued the conversation in that direction.
Fujino released Saria and looked at Ptilopsis and Mayer, smiling at them. "Welcome to Umbrella, Miss White Pigeon and Miss Mayer."
"Rebuttal: My name is Ptilopsis, not White Pigeon. Ptilopsis's mood levels are decreasing," Ptilopsis said to Fujino. Her expression remained blank, but Fujino could still see a slight flicker in her orange eyes.
"Alright, Miss Ptilopsis," Fujino laughed, apologizing for her rudeness. When she used to play the game, she always called Ptilopsis 'White Pigeon,' and over time it became a habit. Seeing Ptilopsis now, she couldn't help but say it.
"Alright, let's go inside. I'll register your information," Fujino said, leading the three toward Umbrella. As for A2, she drove off in the off-road vehicle.
The procedure wasn't complicated; in fact, it was so simple that after Ptilopsis and Mayer finished, the thought "That's it?" popped into their heads.
The entire process consisted of only one step: standing in front of a high-tech door and being scanned by a blue light, after which Fujino told them they were done.
Looking at the clearance cards in their hands, which shimmered with a faint black light under the illumination, Ptilopsis and Mayer both felt like they were in a dream.
"Alright, don't just stand there," Saria came to their side and smiled. "Umbrella is even more powerful than you imagine."
In truth, Saria also hadn't quite processed it. The simplicity of the hiring procedure at Umbrella surprised her too, but that was all. She still believed in Umbrella's security capabilities; after all, she knew about the time someone tried to cause trouble at Umbrella and was blown to bits by the security system.
At that moment, Fujino walked over, accompanied by a silver-haired girl.
Saria suddenly realized that so far, almost everyone she had seen in Umbrella—except for Fujino and a few others—had white or silver hair. People with other hair colors were non-existent.
Could it be that Fujino had a thing for silver or white hair? That must be it, right?
Before Saria could think further, Fujino brought the silver-haired girl to the three of them. "This is O11. She will take you to learn about Umbrella's various research projects and your laboratories. I have some matters to attend to, so I can't accompany you anymore."
Mayer and Ptilopsis both expressed their understanding; after all, she was the boss of Umbrella and had a lot of things to handle.
Saria, however, was different. Mayer and Ptilopsis might not know Fujino well since it was their first time meeting her, but Saria was different. She considered herself very familiar with Fujino. Saria guessed the 'matters' Fujino mentioned were probably just flirting or chatting about life with some pretty girl; as for company business, Saria had never seen Fujino handle it personally.
Saria knew that all matters, large and small, in Umbrella were handled by A2, 2B, and Miss Nanami, whom she had only met once or twice.
However, Saria guessed wrong this time. Fujino really had matters to attend to personally, rather than playing some shameful games with a certain maid with low presence.
After bidding farewell to Saria, Fujino trusted that O11 would treat Saria and her group well; after all, every employee at her Umbrella was an industry benchmark.
Unlike certain employees at a certain pharmaceutical company, who looked listless all day long.
Arriving at another office, Fujino pressed the red button on the wooden desk, and a projection appeared before her.
"It has been quite a while since I last saw you, Boss SilverAsh."
Fujino smiled as she looked at the figure displayed in the projection—that big boss who had spent two hundred million lungmen coins at Umbrella to customize weapons, SilverAsh.
SilverAsh was not his real name, but a code name. However, Fujino had forgotten SilverAsh's real name; after all, a four or five-character name was not as easy to remember as the two-character name SilverAsh.
"Compared to you, Miss Fujino, I can hardly be called a big boss," SilverAsh in the projection smiled helplessly.
A few minutes later, after some mutual business flattery, their conversation finally got to the point.
"Speak up, what is the matter? If it is about weapons, we at Umbrella can certainly assist by providing the latest weapons to your Kjerag."
"Based on the two hundred million lungmen coins you previously spent at Umbrella, we can offer a discount: buy one thousand, and we will give you one extra for free."
The corner of SilverAsh's mouth in the projection twitched. Buy one thousand and get one free—what kind of discount was that? Umbrella was too unscrupulous!
However, considering that he was asking for a favor this time, SilverAsh suppressed his urge to retort.
"Weapons are just one of the reasons I came to find Miss Fujino this time. I want to ask Miss Fujino for a favor."
"A favor? You should ask the people from Penguin Logistics for that kind of thing. They do anything for money. As it happens, the three capable agents from Penguin Logistics are currently at my company because that stingy penguin finally bled money to customize weapons for them. Do you want me to call them over?"
"For a commission from Boss SilverAsh, I think the lungmen coin payout will certainly be high, and that stingy penguin will definitely be very willing."
Fujino smiled and took a sip of the strawberry-flavored milk tea she had brewed.
SilverAsh shook his head and said: "It is not convenient to let outsiders get involved in this matter."
"Oh? Then is it convenient to find an outsider like me?" Fujino smiled. "Let me guess, those old fogies have jumped out to cause trouble for you, right?"
"Yes."
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