47: Chapter 47: Creating America's Most Luxurious "Elysium Manor"

Early the next morning, the conference room of Umbrella Corporation was filled with core members.

The atmosphere was a bit heavy.

Because of one sentence from Chen Yuan, the hundreds of millions of dollars that had just warmed up in the company's account were about to be spent like flowing water.

"Boss, I understand you want to improve the living environment."

Victor held a preliminary budget report, his hands trembling, "But this is just too... exaggerated, isn't it?"

"We bought an entire valley in the eastern suburbs of San Verde, covering over five thousand acres. This alone has already cost eighty million dollars. And now you want to build a... a palace on top of it?"

Chen Yuan leaned back in his chair, toying with the architect USB drive he had redeemed from the system, his face showing no sign of heartache at all.

"A palace?"

He shook his head and corrected him, "No, Victor, your perspective is too small."

"What I want to build is not a palace, but an independent kingdom."

He inserted the USB drive into the conference room's holographic projector.

"Buzz—"

A blue light flashed, and a virtual figure wearing a white suit, gold-rimmed glasses, and looking refined appeared in the center of the conference table.

That was the [Grandmaster Architect] materialized by the system, codenamed "Lu Ban".

"Good morning, everyone."

Lu Ban pushed up his glasses, his voice gentle yet carrying an unquestionable professionalism, "Next, I will introduce the planning blueprint for the first phase of 'Elysium Manor' to everyone."

With a gentle wave of his hand, a massive 3D model unfolded before everyone.

It was a scene that would make any real estate tycoon feel breathless.

The surface part was a luxurious manor that fused classical European gardens with a modern minimalist style. The neatly trimmed lawns rivaled a golf course, and the winding artificial lake even contained a few black swans air-freighted from Australia.

In the center of the manor was a three-story main building with pure white walls, huge floor-to-ceiling windows, and a rooftop helipad capable of landing a Boeing 747.

"The surface building complex includes: the main building, twelve independent guest villas, a standard eighteen-hole golf course, an equestrian training ground, and a small wildlife park, with preliminary plans to keep white tigers, African lions, and a few giant pandas."

Lu Ban's voice introduced this without a trace of emotion.

Victor was stunned.

Giant pandas?

That thing is a national treasure! It's a diplomatic tool! Do you think this is buying cabbage at the vegetable market?

"Of course, the surface is just a disguise."

Lu Ban's hand waved again, and the entire model instantly became transparent, revealing the even more jaw-dropping underground structure beneath.

It was a massive underground fortress reaching a depth of one hundred meters.

"The underground is divided into five levels."

"The first underground level is our core command center and data server room, managed directly by the Red Queen."

"The second underground level is a large-scale arsenal and vehicle maintenance center, which can simultaneously accommodate twenty bio-mecha for maintenance."

"The third underground level is an independent ecological circulation system. We have our own groundwater source, air purification devices, and... a small nuclear fusion reactor, which can ensure the manor operates independently in isolation for fifty years."

Lu Ban paused, seemingly giving everyone time to digest the information.

"As for the fourth underground level..."

He glanced at Chen Yuan, received a nod of permission, and then continued:

"It is the living area for security personnel... and 'special guests'."

The model zoomed in again, revealing the internal structure of the fourth underground level.

There were no cold metal walls there; instead, there were twelve luxurious suites with vastly different styles.

"There are Japanese-style rooms designed after the Kyoto Imperial Palace, Rococo suites designed after the Palace of Versailles, and even cyberpunk-themed rooms full of a futuristic feel..."

"Every room is equipped with independent life-support systems and entertainment facilities, capable of meeting the needs of any picky guest."

Lu Ban's words were very subtle, but everyone present was shrewd and instantly understood what these so-called "special guests" referred to.

This wasn't a living area; this was clearly an ancient emperor's harem!

"Ahem."

Chen Yuan coughed twice, interrupting everyone's ambiguous looks, "Continue."

"Very well, Boss."

Lu Ban switched the image without changing his expression, "The bottommost fifth underground level is our emergency shelter and secret passage. This place can withstand a direct hit from tactical nuclear weapons, and there are three independent secret passages leading to the Pharmaceutical Factory headquarters, the mining area in the north of the city, and... Mexico."

The introduction was complete.

The entire conference room fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone looked as if they had been hit by a freezing spell, staring blankly at the magnificent blueprint floating in the air.

This wasn't building a manor; this was clearly building a kingdom within a kingdom, a super fortress capable of waging war and surviving the apocalypse!

"I... let me calculate..."

Victor's hands trembled as he picked up a calculator, pressing the buttons shakily, "Eighty million for the land, three hundred million for materials, security system... plus that nuclear reactor... My God!"

"Clatter."

Victor's dentures fell onto the table.

"Boss, this... this budget is at least one billion dollars! And that's just the first phase!"

"Even if we dump all the money in our account, it won't be enough!"

Victor was about to cry. He had been an intelligence broker his whole life and had seen people throw money around, but he had never seen anyone spend money like this. This wasn't spending money; this was burning money!

"Don't worry about the money."

Chen Yuan stood up and walked to the holographic model, his eyes filled with longing and ambition for the future.

"Not only will I build it, but I will also use the best materials and the fastest speed."

"Within three months, I want to stand here, sipping champagne, watching those who once looked down on me kneel at my feet."

"Now, the construction team can enter the site."

Chen Yuan waved his hand, full of high spirits.

However, just when everyone was infected by this magnificent blueprint and the boss's dominance, and was ready to go all out,

"Knock, knock, knock!"

The conference room door was knocked on urgently.

An outreach subordinate scrambled in, his face pale, holding a document that had just been delivered from City Hall.

"Boss! It's bad!"

He gasped for air, his voice trembling, "Something... something happened!"

"City Hall just issued an emergency stop-work order!"

Victor snatched the document, took one look, and his face turned even uglier than if he were crying.

"Damn it!"

He slammed the document onto the table, "It's Johnson & Johnson! It's Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Company!"

"They've united with local environmental organizations and construction unions to pressure City Hall, claiming our project is destroying the valley's ecological environment and that we're withholding workers' wages!"

"Now, all of our construction equipment is being blocked outside the valley!"