29: Chapter 29 The Protective Umbrella

Chen Feng tucked Jason's ID card into his pocket and brushed the dust off his hands.

He didn't rush to check on the half-dead mercenaries, but instead walked over to the restraint pod and, through the thick observation window, locked eyes for three seconds with the killing machine inside, which had just entered standby mode.

Obedience: B.

The rating letter on the system panel satisfied him even more than the forty-seven seconds of combat footage from just a moment ago.

This meant that his first fist was already clenched, and it wouldn't easily strike himself.

"Dr. Samantha, you have four more experimental subjects." Chen Feng's voice was very calm, as if he were saying the cafeteria added four new dishes today.

Samantha's body was still tense; she had witnessed the entire battle, which looked less like a firefight and more like a slaughter. She adjusted her glasses, but the look beneath her lenses wasn't fear; it was a glimmer mixed with fanaticism and inquiry.

"Their physiological data... especially the leader's, is very valuable." She licked her slightly chapped lips, having automatically slipped into the role of chief scientist. "His stress response and muscle control far exceed that of an ordinary person. If we can extract genetic samples..."

"They will all be yours." Chen Feng interrupted her. "The premise is that you keep them all alive."

He turned to look at Marcus. "Marcus."

"I'm here, Boss." Marcus's voice was as steady as always, though his gaze toward Jason held a hint of complexity.

"Do you know this Jason?" Chen Feng asked, as if it were just a casual question.

Marcus was silent for a moment, then finally nodded. "2014, Kandahar. We spent three months at the same forward operating base."

"What kind of person is he?"

Marcus's answer was short: "The kind that can survive until now."

Chen Feng understood. Anyone who could survive until now from a place like that was no pushover. Brains, skill, and luck—none of them could be lacking.

"Alright, don't let them die." Chen Feng concluded. "Treat their wounds first, then lock them up with the others. Put them in separate chambers; don't let them collude."

He pointed at the hard drive cloner on the floor that Big Black had carried over. "Where's Tony? Get him down here and have him check this thing inside and out."

"Tony is already on his way." As Marcus spoke, he began to check Jason's injuries.

Big Black pushed the hard drive cloner to Chen Feng's feet with its nose, as if asking for a reward, its tail wagging like a propeller.

Chen Feng bent down and patted its head. "Well done."

Big Black hummed comfortably twice.

After handling all of this, Chen Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief. He looked around the chaotic second-level underground laboratory—shattered glass, bullet holes in the walls, bloodstains on the floor, and those experimental subjects lying on the ground waiting to be "recycled."

This place was no longer a small workshop that could be broken into and smashed to pieces at any moment.

He walked to the center of the laboratory and, using the communicator, connected to the channel for all core members—Marcus, Samantha, and Tony in the office upstairs.

"I have something to say."

Tony's boisterous voice came through the communicator: "Boss, go ahead! Are you going to give me a bonus? I was risking my life in the monitoring room to be your eyes and ears just now!"

"From today on, the name Maple Leaf Biopharmaceutical Company will no longer be used." Chen Feng's voice wasn't loud, but as it traveled through the current to everyone's ears, it carried an unquestionable weight.

The other side, where Tony was, fell silent instantly.

Chen Feng paused, then said, enunciating every word: "The company's new name is 'Umbrella'."

"Umbrella?" Tony's voice was full of confusion. "Sounds like... something that sells rain gear?"

Samantha didn't say anything on her end, but Chen Feng could imagine her frowning.

Only Marcus, after bandaging Jason's wound, replied in a low voice: "Good name."

"Why call it Umbrella?" Tony still couldn't help but ask.

"Because we both create the storm and provide shelter." Chen Feng watched the silhouette of the Tyrant in the restraint pod, the corners of his mouth curling into an almost invisible arc. "We provide shelter for our friends, and bring the storm to our enemies."

This slightly chuunibyou line, spoken in a basement that had just experienced a bloody battle, didn't seem funny to anyone.

Tony was silent on the other end for a full five seconds, then replied in a low voice: "Cool. Boss, I'll go get the new logo and company registration documents right away."

Chen Feng turned off the communicator and brought up the system panel in his mind.

[Ding!] [Detected that the host has successfully thwarted an armed intrusion and perfectly achieved the defense objective.] [Special mission "First Armed Defense" completed.] [Mission Rating: S (Perfect)] [Reward calculation in progress...] [Reward 1: 8,000 Research Points.] [Reward 2: Unlocked "Umbrella Security Services" department template, available for modular upgrades.] [Reward 3: Unlocked all remaining nodes of the "T-Virus" technology tree.]

Here it comes.

Chen Feng's breathing paused for a second.

He immediately opened the technology tree panel. The originally tangled T-Virus branch now had all its gray nodes lit up, and countless streams of blue data converged, finally rushing toward the blueprint at the end of the branch that he had coveted for so long.

[T-Virus technology tree 100% unlocked.] ["Eternal" project prerequisite (1/3) achieved.] [Remaining prerequisites:] ["G-Virus" technology tree 0% unlocked] ["Plaga Parasite" technology tree 0% unlocked]

Done!

Although there were still two long branches to climb before the true "Eternal," the most critical step had already been taken. This meant that what he had promised that old man Weber had turned from a purely theoretical concept into an engineering project with a clear path forward.

He suppressed the excitement in his heart and unhesitatingly invested all 8,000 research points, fully absorbing all the technical details, improvement plans, and derivative applications under the T-Virus branch. Countless pieces of information flowed through his mind, from the Tyrant's neural regulation to more efficient virus purification processes; everything became incomparably clear.

Just then, the laboratory elevator door opened, and Tony rushed in like a gust of wind.

He didn't look at the half-dead mercenaries on the floor first; instead, he held up a tablet computer, his expression more dramatic than if he had seen a ghost.

"Boss! Boss, look! Something big happened!"

"What is it?" Chen Feng had just come back to his senses from the massive stream of data.

"Maida! It's the Maida Group!" Tony shoved the tablet in front of Chen Feng. "I just cracked some of the emails on that Jason's phone. Guess what I saw? Just half an hour ago, the Maida Group's corporate security director, Lane Black, was urgently recalled to the New York headquarters! And all of their peripheral surveillance personnel targeting us are withdrawing!"

Chen Feng raised an eyebrow. "They chickened out?"

"More than just chickening out! Look at this!" Tony swiped to another email. Although most of it was encrypted, the title and a few keywords were highlighted in red. "'Gray Wolf Squad Status: MIA (Missing In Action)', 'Target Facility Risk Assessment Level: Upgraded from Gamma to Omega'! Boss, Omega is the highest level! It means 'Unknown and Extremely Dangerous, Recommend Abandoning All Active Contact'! In the military contractor assessment system, they've marked us as a black hole!"

The top-tier squad that Blake hired for $300,000, including the captain, all four of them had become MIA in less than an hour. For a giant corporation like Maida that was adept at calculating costs and risks, this was no longer a matter of whether it was worth it or not; they had kicked a steel plate.

And it was a titanium alloy plate that could shatter their toes.

"They've been scared off, temporarily backing down to go back and re-evaluate." Chen Feng made his judgment. This was within his expectations; the Tyrant's combat effectiveness was meant to achieve exactly this purpose.

"Does that mean we're safe?" Tony let out a long sigh of relief.

"Only temporarily." Chen Feng shook his head. "The jackals have been scared off, but that doesn't mean the forest is safe. It might just attract even more formidable hunters."

"Huh?" Tony's heart, which had just settled, rose again. "Then what do we do?"

"Don't worry, there's something even more explosive." Tony, as if remembering something, swiped to another interface. This time, it was a very formal email format.

"What's this now?"

"This is even weirder." Tony's expression became strange. "This was received by the company website's public email address. I originally thought it was spam, but look at the sender's suffix..."

Chen Feng leaned in to look. The sender's address suffix was ".gov.hua".

The official domain of the Hua Federation.

The content of the email was very concise, written in the most standard diplomatic language, inviting the person in charge of Maple Leaf Bio... no, now Umbrella Corporation, to have a preliminary meeting regarding the clinical application of "ruisu" in the Hua Federation and subsequent cooperation matters.

It was signed: Embassy of the Hua Federation in the U Federation.

Contact: Song Yun.

Chen Feng's eyes narrowed.

That old man Weber really had immense influence to have the Hua Federation officials come knocking so quickly. But looking at the situation, it didn't seem to be entirely through Weber's channels. The clinical effects of ruisu and the healing factor in the Hua Federation had likely alarmed some special departments.

"Boss, what... what is this situation? Have we connected with the national level?" Tony's voice was trembling; this time, it wasn't out of fear, but excitement.

"Good thing." Chen Feng said concisely.

Dealing with a pure capital behemoth like the Maida Group, the other party could use any means necessary. But dealing with a sovereign state, the rules were completely different. The other party had concerns, procedures, and was more likely to become a huge protective amulet.

"Then... how should we reply?" Tony asked, rubbing his hands together.

Chen Feng looked at the two words "Song Yun" on the email, thought for a moment, and said: "Just reply with four words."

"Which four words?"

"I am all ears."

After handling all this, Chen Feng told Tony to arrange for people to clean up the laboratory, then turned and walked back to his office.

The Maida Group had temporarily retreated.

The Hua Federation had proactively extended an olive branch.

The first prerequisite for "Eternal" had been achieved.

He also had four high-value live experimental subjects in hand, and a Tyrant whose obedience had been raised to B-level.

Everything seemed to be developing in a good direction.

Chen Feng sat in his boss chair and poured himself a glass of water. He looked at the sky over Los Angeles before dawn outside the window; the outline of the city was looming in the darkness.

He knew that this was just the brief calm before the storm.

Maida's retreat was for the sake of a more violent attack next time. The Hua Federation's olive branch must also inevitably carry their conditions and calculations behind it.

And he himself had officially transformed from a small company boss struggling to survive into the controller of "Umbrella," holding destructive power in his hands.

He picked up a pen and, on a piece of white paper, drew the classic red and white octagonal Umbrella logo.

After finishing the drawing, he looked at this logo and muttered to himself.

"Mr. Blake, I have accepted your Gray Wolves. Now, it's my turn to ask you."

"Who are you going to send next?"