Second floor, bedroom.
After Natasha left, Li Ze quickly washed up and lay lazily on the bed.
With Natasha's side basically settled and the future of his company secure, he thought to himself, "Time to collect the reward!"
[Ding, congratulations to the host!]
[After system detection, the host company "Umbrella" is expected to obtain the following benefits.]
[The two technology companies have assets of 12 million US dollars. Among them, "Hua Shao Software Co., Ltd." is showing strong growth in the later stages of development. It is expected to be valued at 200 million US dollars upon listing, and can be converted into 5,000 US dollars. The total valuation is: 62 million US dollars.]
[Five real estate companies, including Linghua, Luna, and Asuka, possess 16 apartments, 3 commercial properties, 23 large supermarkets, 1 amusement park, and 9 top manors, with a total valuation of approximately 1.3 billion US dollars.]
[Kasahara Bio Co., Ltd., valuation: 6 million US dollars.]
[3.1% of Nichimizu TV shares, valuation: 17 million US dollars.]
[Cruise ships, helicopters, various company shares, and other miscellaneous items, valuation: about 1 billion US dollars.]
[13 million shares of Seiwa Group, accounting for 9.2%, valuation: about 5.1 billion US dollars.]
[Estimated total valuation: 7.485 billion US dollars.]
[Congratulations to the host! You have won the silver-level reward.]
[All armed members of the Resident Evil 1 (movie version) task force, Alice (unactivated version of the T-virus), gun fighting (master level).]
[Ding...]
[Due to the special nature of the reward personnel, the host is automatically registered as a PMC private military contractor in the United States.]
[This company is a friendly cooperation unit of the United States Ministry of Defense.]
[All summoned personnel are now PMC members. They have legal entry procedures and are automatically eligible to carry firearms. The reason for entry is that the host is concerned about personal safety, so a private security contract has been placed on the PMC.]
[All procedures are well documented, but the host is reminded not to waste time, as this company is just a shell. There are no other armed members except the task force. If an accident occurs and this company is targeted, it will be evident that it has major issues.]
[The host is encouraged to materialize the PMC company as soon as possible to fully resolve any security concerns.]
Hiss!
After seeing the reward, Li Ze couldn't help but take a sharp breath.
To be honest, Li Ze was surprised.
Although he had mortgaged all his assets for today's battle, he had barely exchanged them for less than 500 million US dollars.
Natasha truly deserved her reputation as an eighth-level agent of SHIELD. To think she could leverage such a huge amount with only 500 million dollars was impressive.
She was a real talent!
As for the Seiwa Group, Li Ze could only call it a good find.
It was no wonder they were considered a chaebol.
Even though Seiwa wasn't a top-tier consortium, this was only 30% of the gains, and it was still massive, enough to make him feel a bit overwhelmed.
No wonder Natasha was worried.
With such a fortune, it was inevitable that someone would want to take advantage.
But it was fine.
The system reward this time wasn't bad at all: a well-organized armed team. Even if they were just cannon fodder-level U.B.C.S. from the bio-crisis world, they were still top-tier in this one.
That was more than enough!
And then there was Alice.
Not only was she beautiful, but she was also incredibly powerful, and there was even a chance she could awaken superhuman abilities.
Lastly, there was gun fighting.
With his previous mastery of Bajiquan, he figured he'd be fine handling regular people.
But it wasn't enough.
Li Ze swallowed such a huge piece of the pie, and who knew how the large consortiums would react to him?
It's easy to dodge an open spear, but defending against an arrow from the dark is another story.
Relying solely on national martial arts wasn't nearly enough.
But that's okay.
With master-level gun fighting, he was confident he could handle things, even if they sent an assassin after him.
"Summon!"
After arriving in the living room on the first floor, Li Ze spoke softly.
Then, six men and two women appeared simultaneously.
Among them were seven members of the task force: six men and one woman, with Alice in a red dress.
They were all confused.
After all...
Just a second ago, they were about to enter the hive, and now they found themselves here.
But soon, as the system implanted into them, they began to process what had happened.
"Boss, hello." James Shed was the first to speak. "Assault team, reporting to you!"
The others followed suit.
They were all in combat uniforms, carrying various guns and even gas masks.
It was clear they were a bit surprised by this sudden change.
However, thanks to the system implantation, they didn't panic or resist.
On the one hand, they were similar to mercenaries in their original world, truthfully, they had little to lose.
But, more importantly, thanks to the system's influence, they adapted quickly.
After all, it was just a change of boss.
As for Alice…
Even with the system's implantation, she knew Li Ze was in charge, though she was still somewhat defensive.
That's because the moment she was pulled into this world was before the rest of the team had entered the hive. In short, her memory hadn't been fully restored.
Of course, she might not realize she had no memory at all.
In essence, she was simply a replica.
Even the memories she had were just implanted.
"Well, hello, everyone."
"Welcome to the new world. You'll be joining the company tomorrow."
"Your task force will operate as PMC employees on the surface, but your true responsibility is to eliminate potential threats to the company," Li Ze explained calmly.
"As for you, Alice," he continued, turning his attention to her, "your situation is a bit more complex. For now, stay in the villa. Your role will be to ensure my safety and assist with day-to-day matters."
The task force had no objections, their professional demeanor unwavering. Alice hesitated briefly but then nodded. For her, this arrangement seemed like the best course of action under the circumstances.
"Understood, boss," Alice replied, offering a reluctant smile. "Thank you."
After some further discussion, the task force dispersed to settle in. The villa was spacious, and while it wasn't feasible to assign a room to each individual, sharing rooms in pairs was more than comfortable.
Meanwhile, Li Ze guided Alice upstairs to the second floor. He stopped in front of a room adjacent to his own and opened the door.
"Alice, you can stay here," he said, his tone steady. Once they stepped inside, he turned to her and added, "I know you've lost your memory, but let me be honest with you, there's no point in trying to recover it."
Alice blinked in confusion, and he continued, "Even if you do, the memories you regain will only be false, implanted memories. In the original world, you were nothing more than a clone."
His words were blunt, but his tone carried a note of reassurance. After all, she had left the chaotic world of Resident Evil and entered a new reality. There was no reason to keep secrets about her origins.
Alice stood in stunned silence, struggling to process the truth. The revelation that she was merely a clone left her visibly shaken. Yet, she knew her boss was no ordinary person and had no reason to lie about such a thing.
Depression flickered across her face, but Li Ze stepped in quickly to comfort her. With gentle words and a steady presence, he helped her regain her composure. Once her emotions had stabilized, he left her to rest and returned to his own room.
Lying on his soft, warm bed, Li Ze exhaled deeply.
"Not bad," he murmured to himself. "I've got some wolves circling me, sure, but at least I can protect myself for now."
His thoughts began to wander, weaving together his plans for the future.
"Next, I need to keep pushing forward. Once Kudou Shinichi becomes Conan, the timeline is going to go completely off the rails. Cases will start popping up everywhere."
A smirk tugged at his lips.
"I'll have to visit Mouri Kogoro soon. With him and Conan in the picture, my company will expand rapidly, and my rewards will grow even faster."
"As long as I can survive these early stages… I'll become a chaebol in no time!