After briefing Serena on the sales matters, William led the Alphas to the fourth floor of the Hive.
The Hive hadn't changed much since its construction three years ago.
The only difference was that the first floor of the Hive, originally used for storing various materials, had now been converted into the 'Central Platform' of the Halfa underground facility.
Due to the success of Project Dawn and Umbrella's 'behemoth' status,
the Halfa underground facility, originally built as a doomsday shelter, was modified by the engineering team to expand the Hive Research Center.
This allowed for more convenient secret transportation of supplies, or travel to the Troy Base on the outskirts of Halfa, among other functions.
William wasn't here to inspect the Hive's changes over the years, but rather because he had a new plan in mind that he needed to discuss with the researchers there.
— — — — — — —
...
The fourth underground floor of the Hive.
"Boss!"
As William and the Alphas exited the safety valve, they saw a researcher with a receding hairline, wearing a white lab coat, running towards them.
William recognized the middle-aged man at a glance.
He had been present during the operation to contain Elizabeth Greene and had even led a research team to simplify electromagnetic railgun technology into Gauss technology.
But his name...
William seemed to have forgotten it. The main reason was that the company had too many employees, with research centers of varying sizes all over the world.
Moreover, Serena kept him updated on various research projects at the Hive, so William hadn't personally visited the Hive in a long time.
He then glanced at the name tag on the man's left chest.
Aaron Adams.
"Dr. Adams," William said with a faint smile.
"Heh heh, I wonder if the boss's personal visit to the Hive means there's something important?" Adams asked.
"Indeed. First, gather the core members of your research team," William nodded.
"Yes."
.
A short while later, in the conference room.
William sat at the head of the U-shaped table, with senior researchers from various fields at the Hive seated on either side.
William rested his elbows on the table, clasped his hands, and, shedding his usual smile, said in a deep voice, "Gentlemen.
Within the past two days, you've all more or less heard that... Umbrella has engaged in battle with an alien race, haven't you?"
"..." Everyone nodded silently.
"Now..." William unclasped his hands and pointed his index finger at the ceiling.
He continued, "That twenty-five-kilometer-diameter disc is currently parked on the far side of the moon."
"Twenty-five kilometers?!" Adams, who was seated to William's immediate left, exclaimed.
"This..."
"Our largest aircraft carrier is only three kilometers..."
Not just Adams, but the other researchers were equally shocked.
"Alright." William lightly waved his left hand, signaling everyone to quiet down, then continued:
"The alien race's disc is no match for our side. In the battle two days ago, we achieved victory with extremely minimal losses.
Although their mothership will arrive in the solar system in three days, with Umbrella's current strength, dealing with them is more than sufficient."
Upon hearing this,
Adams was the first to recover from his shock. He looked at William and tentatively asked, "Boss, are you asking us to design a new type of warship?"
"Exactly." William's face, which had been serious moments before, softened as he said, "Twenty-five kilometers, huh? Even if they can't pose an effective threat to us, the visual impact is quite significant.
Two days ago, Serena copied all the data from their disc.
What we can confirm so far is that the race, codenamed 'Reapers,' possesses warp drives, energy shields, directed energy weapons, and other technologies.
Although their energy shields are useless against electromagnetic railguns, their technology is quite mature. Even their carrier-based aircraft are equipped with energy shield systems.
From the surface, their energy shields appear to be more 'cost-effective' compared to the shield system developed by Dr. Halsey.
So...
I'm here to tell you the direction of the Hive's upcoming research.
One (extending his left index finger).
Decipher the Reapers' energy shield technology and upgrade it, and equip all our warships, carrier-based aircraft, transport craft, and ground forces with this low-cost energy shield as soon as possible.
If conditions permit, transfer the energy shield generators to the individual combat equipment of various units.
Two (extending his middle finger).
Design a new type of warship to replace the Phoenix-class carriers in each fleet.
As for the requirements...
(William's right fingers tapped rhythmically on the table, a familiar smile returning to his face)
It's simple: the length of this warship must be no less than seven kilometers.
The main cannon should also be upgraded.
After all, a seven-kilometer-long warship is no longer suitable for a hundred-meter-long electromagnetic accelerator cannon, and a thirty-ton tungsten projectile is too light.
Try to increase it tenfold.
The last requirement is that this warship must have a hangar for the Divine Bodies.
At least two hundred and forty more Divine Bodies will be added in the future, and the Divine Bodies are our, Umbrella's, and even humanity's main weapon against alien civilizations.
So, do you all understand what needs to be done next?"
"Yes!" The group of researchers replied with full fighting spirit.
"Very good." William nodded with satisfaction.
"Boss," Adams, who was beside him, asked, "Does this research project have a special code name or name?"
"Of course." William clasped his hands again, rested his elbows on the table, and, looking around at everyone, said in a deep voice:
"Codename: 'Infinity'."
— — — — — — —
...
After briefing Adams and the Hive researchers on the Infinity project, William took Hunk and the Alphas to the first floor of the Hive and boarded the underground railcar to the Troy Base on the outskirts.
.
Ten minutes later.
Troy's underground first-floor station.
Andre, dressed in an Umbrella general's military uniform and wearing a black cape, was leading a group of field-grade and company-grade officers, awaiting the train's arrival.
Soon, a shuttle-shaped train passed through the tunnel and stopped a short distance in front of Andre and the others.
The hatch opened.
William led the Alphas out. Seeing Andre, he raised his right hand and gave a standard military salute, saying, "General."
Andre returned the salute, "Boss."
The two Olympus board members then walked side by side, while the officers and Alphas followed behind them, the group heading towards the surface.
"General, Umbrella is preparing to sell advanced military weapons to the United Nations. Serena should have already informed you about this, right?" William said calmly.
"That's right." Andre shook his head slightly and smiled, saying,
"Leave this matter to me. Among everyone in the company, I've dealt with those UN officials and generals the most, after all, most containment operations are carried out outside of Canada."
"Heh heh, then I'll leave it to you, Andre."
"Ah, you still don't trust my work?"
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