Spencer, who had recovered his vitality, began to deal with Umbrella's affairs. He used the cooperation between the Western Federation and Umbrella to shift some of the responsibility to the Federation departments, claiming that the problems arose from projects they had jointly developed, and that their inaction even after being notified led to the Raccoon City incident.
After the Raccoon City incident, all shareholders immediately abandoned Umbrella, cashed out their stocks, and moved on to other companies to make a profit.
Spencer regained control of the company, leveraging his connections and network. He forced the major Pharmaceutical Associations that had collaborated with Umbrella on projects to remain neutral, reducing their aid to the Western Federation.
This was a protracted tug-of-war. Umbrella's market in the Federation was indefinitely banned; it could only maintain operations in Latin America and Africa, which brought in very little revenue.
Behind the scenes, it began selling biochemical weapons and providing supply chains to recover funds. Spencer's goal was to exploit Umbrella to amass wealth, not to conduct legitimate business.
Due to Spencer's re-emergence, he controlled most of Umbrella's affairs. It was expected that Katherine's father would be dispatched to Europe to seek aid; Warren was at his wit's end and could only pray that his daughter would help him.
The wrangling between Umbrella and the Western Federation continued, while the Federation of Pharmaceutical Companies and the Western Federation's attention had already turned to the Veronica Virus.
It can be inferred that Rockfort Island is near Latin America, but finding it still requires starting with the French Branch.
On Xiang'aoli Street in France, Sienna, disguised, appeared again. She was there to gather intelligence. At the end of the road in the distance was a tall building. Although this area was suburban, the establishment of Umbrella's branch here had led to the formation of a peculiar commercial chain nearby.
"Caroline, do you have anything on your end?" Sienna asked.
"Nothing, not even a fly," Caroline replied, hiding on the rooftop.
"Me too, it's so boring here. Umbrella's people have all become reclusive, they won't come out at all," said the cheerful, red-haired Marissa, who was in a car, monitoring every move of Umbrella's branch.
"Damn it, isn't there a single Umbrella employee getting off work? Nobody's trying to hit on me anymore," Sienna complained a little. Had her charm decreased? She wasn't promiscuous, but she found it amusing to toy with men.
The three conducted superficial reconnaissance. When night fell, they would infiltrate the building, responsible for finding out which areas were more important to Umbrella and inquiring about how to get to Rockfort Island.
Caroline looked at her two companions in the distance, quietly closed the communication channel, and pulled out her phone to dial. "Eddie, we're monitoring Umbrella's French Branch. We're also looking for the location of Rockfort Island. I'll let you know if there's any progress."
"Be careful yourself, the French Branch is not to be trifled with," Eddie said before hanging up. He had also come to France to discuss something with Warren.
Sienna, in the cafe, looked in Caroline's direction, a glint flashing in her beautiful eyes. She knew Caroline was problematic. This made her very curious: what benefits had Eddie given her to help him?
This curiosity was dangerous and could potentially drag her down. Fortunately, Sienna knew it wasn't appropriate for a good friend, so she chose not to report the matter.
In another city also in France, located near a strait, with another island nation across the water.
Outside the airport, an RV was waiting. A driver held a sign that read, "Welcome, Mr. Eddie."
Inside the RV, Warren was already waiting, looking somewhat haggard. Due to his interrupted political career, he had been trying to remedy the situation recently.
"Eddie, it's great that you could come. Please help me, I need your help to get the Pharmaceutical Association, led by Tricell, to testify," Warren said anxiously, clearly having been rejected to be so eager.
Eddie shook his head, "Impossible. They conducted some kind of project research with Umbrella. Even if they didn't know Umbrella was secretly developing biochemical weapons, the raw materials and some necessities for biochemical weapons were manufactured by these companies. Now that over a hundred thousand people have died in Raccoon City, anyone involved in this will not end well, so don't even think about it."
Chapter 320: Katherine's Cheap Father
"Tricell is out of the question, Shén Yà Pharmaceutical is busy with its own affairs, and the remaining Honor Pharmaceutical is useless. This kind of thing is impossible to succeed. Given that you raised Katherine for so long, I'll show you a clear path." Eddie picked up a cigarette.
Jessica's slender fingers reached out and snapped, actually using ultrasonic vibration to light the cigarette, but doing so was to throw people off and was also quite cool.
Smoking in an RV is agonizing for non-smokers, who have to breathe in secondhand smoke.
Warren didn't care; he cared about the clear path the other person mentioned. "What method? Tell me, tell me, and Katherine will be yours from now on."
"She was always going to work for me, it just took a while longer. Mayor Warren, oh no, I should call you Mr. Warren. You need to find someone, look in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Wherever the unrest is greatest, that's where you look," Eddie said with a smile.
"What do you mean?" Warren didn't understand.
"Go find a reactionary armed leader. Find him and have him provide evidence that Umbrella traded biochemical weapons to him. If there's none, you can fake it, either way works. It's a foregone conclusion that Umbrella developed these things; you just need to disrupt their plans," Eddie sneered.
Warren began to ponder, "That won't work, I can only forge it, and I need to find other Pharmaceutical Associations. Umbrella does have evidence of illegal human experimentation, but I can't reveal it; once I do, I'll be in deep trouble too."
Such people are truly despicable. They've done such things themselves, and after a dirty deal, they then disdain others for being ugly, which is extremely excessive and immoral.
Eddie blew a smoke ring at Warren. He wasn't fond of this person who would stop at nothing to climb the ladder. "You can go find Senator David; he might be able to help you. I can only tell you this: I'm too lazy to get entangled with Umbrella's affairs."
Warren frowned. He didn't mind being insulted in such a way; he only wanted to regain his power. He would kill anyone who stood in his way, and Umbrella was no exception. "Okay, thank you. I'll contact him. Besides that, is there anything else?"
"Anything else? Haha, no. You can only continue to push for Umbrella's downfall. Didn't you defect to Simmons? Won't he give you advice?" Eddie said coldly.
"Simmons has been busy with his experiments lately; no one knows what he's doing. He's handed over most affairs, only retaining military authority. Everything is controlled by Kaplan, and he's targeting everyone who cooperates with Simmons," Warren whispered.
Many people knew that General Morgan, Kaplan, and Eddie were the three cooperating giants. Among the three, only Eddie was the most low-key, the least noticeable, and a businessman who preferred to stay behind the scenes.
Compared to General Morgan of the Federal Bio-Terrorism Countermeasure Committee, who commanded vast military power, and Kaplan, who held the right to speak on foreign affairs, Eddie truly had no presence. This was also the effect he desired; a prominent tree in the forest is bound to be destroyed by the wind. Our ancestors said long ago that one should not be too arrogant.
"Suppressing you all? Isn't this a good time to show loyalty? If everything fails, you still have one use. That is to defect to Simmons, become Simmons' dog, and help me find out all his movements. I will provide you with some information. Reliable information. Don't think Simmons has no power; do you believe he will fall?" Eddie spoke like a demon.
Now Warren had two paths before him: one was to contact David and then forge evidence of Umbrella's biochemical weapon transactions. Regardless of success, he would still be a member of Simmons' faction, would not be heavily relied upon by Kaplan, and would ultimately have to return to being Simmons' dog.
And Eddie needed him to be a dog, to lurk and wait for the right moment.
Warren gritted his teeth. This was a time to accumulate political capital. He needed to take a gamble; no matter who he worked for, it was a path forward. At the same time, he felt a chill of fear towards Eddie. This young man saw things so clearly!
No wonder he had become a rapidly rising business tycoon. Was this what a man was like?
"I understand, I'll do as you say. Being a spy involves great risk, I need support," Warren stated his condition.
"No need. I'm not asking you to inquire about anything specific. You just need to tell me who Simmons wants to deal with; I don't need detailed plans. I will periodically provide you with some Umbrella evidence and an opportunity to boost your influence. Whether you can seize it is entirely up to your own ability," Eddie said, stubbing out his cigarette.
Lisa's beautiful eyes glared at the cigarette butt, which then completely burned to ashes.
The suddenly ignited cigarette butt startled Warren. "I know, I know, I'll do as you say."
The RV arrived in a suburb, a typical rural street. Not far away were private homes, and nearby were vast fields of crops.
"This place must have cost you a lot of money, didn't it? So much money to keep a mistress here, aren't you afraid of being cuckolded?" Eddie got out of the car and said, looking at the wheat fields.
"To have a decent life, you must have a little green on your head. Life is very difficult, but I believe Naveli is not that kind of person. You don't know, she has been with me for a long time. It's been over twenty years now; I know her every move. She is the perfect mistress; she bore me a son, who is now twenty years old," Warren said proudly.
The other person actually had an illegitimate son older than himself? That was a bit outrageous. "Are you showing off your toy to me?" Eddie said, displeased.
"No, no, no, I'm just explaining. If you don't like to hear it, I won't mention it," Warren's attitude was humble. He was just reminiscing; he had no other intention.
"In my opinion, she's just a tool for you. You even treat your daughter as a tool, what else is there to say? But you're quite shrewd, finding an adopted daughter to disguise your intentions. You've got some tricks. You're a scumbag, and coincidentally, so am I," Eddie said with a laugh. Was the so-called Raccoon City Mayor Warren such a person? He really didn't know until he understood.
Chapter 321: Warren, the scumbag Who Betrays His Family
Even if a competitor used despicable tactics and assassinated Katherine, he wouldn't feel any pain. Katherine was always just a shield for him, and Eddie knew this, which is why he mocked Warren's villainous behavior.
Warren gave an awkward laugh. "Please come in. I've already had Naveli prepare dinner and wait for the Doctor. Doctor, as long as you can help me return to politics, I will give you everything you desire."
This statement was not wrong; had Warren not taken the lead in accepting Umbrella's various terms and obtaining huge investments, Raccoon City would not have fallen under the control of the Umbrella Corporation.
In other words, Warren did a decent job; at least he spurred Raccoon City's economic development. It was only Umbrella's own foolish self-destruction that led to the Raccoon City incident.