After reading through the files.
After listening to the accounts given by the two Queens.
"Sigh..."
Sanders leaned back in his computer chair, looking up at the ceiling and letting out a soft sigh.
The road ahead is long and arduous.
The Red and White Queens could help him sideline the board of directors or even take out that old fossil Spencer, but acting rashly would undoubtedly trigger a series of chain reactions.
One had to remember that Umbrella was crawling with traitors on the inside, while numerous rival companies and factions watched from the outside.
To avoid alerting the enemy, Sanders planned to take control of Raccoon City step-by-step, then gradually seize Umbrella's military forces before taking over these five facilities one by one.
To control Raccoon City and ensure the integrity of the underground and surrounding facilities, Sanders first had to deal with William Birkin and Albert Wesker.
Those two.
One wanted to throw himself into the arms of the U.S. government for protection once the g-virus was complete.
The other planned to use combat data and all of Umbrella's files and records to join a rival company and secure a high-ranking position.
In short, both were planning to use Umbrella as a stepping stone to secure a better future.
Only after handling these two could Sanders safely deal with the target of the system's challenge mission: James Marcus.
After all, the current Wesker had not yet injected the Progenitor virus variant customized for him by William to become the legendary boss of the Resident Evil series, whereas Marcus was already the hermaphroditic leech queen.
At that moment, Sanders glanced at the bottom right corner of the screen.
03:12.
Sanders already had the prototype of a plan in mind, but the internet of this era was a far cry from 2021, and the Americans had that culture of not starting work until nine o'clock...
Combined with the fatigue from his sudden physical changes, Sanders's concentration began to slip, so he decided to rest for a while.
Afterward.
He took a quick shower, dried off, grabbed a thin blanket from the bedroom closet, and collapsed onto the none-too-spacious sofa.
The sofa was uncomfortable to sleep on, but it was much better than that smelly bed; he knew exactly what the original owner had done on that bed.
Lying down, he closed his eyes, and as drowsiness gradually washed over him, he fell into a dream.
—
...
Time: May 31, 1998.
Raccoon City.
Early morning.
04:14.
The entire city was still deep in slumber.
Hardly any vehicles drove through the city streets, though a few drunks and party girls could still be seen wandering about, along with beggars sleeping in alleys covered with newspapers.
Southwest District of Raccoon City.
This was an area where industrial plants, waste processing facilities, and warehouses gathered; there wasn't a single vehicle or citizen in sight on the streets.
However, the nearby greenery was lush, and a few birds had already begun their morning chirping—peaceful and pleasant.
Just then.
A black four-door sedan drove along the main road of the Southwest District.
It went straight through two intersections, turned right, and continued straight until it arrived in front of the main gate of an inconspicuous warehouse.
In the security booth to the right of the main gate, a'security guard' in a black uniform watched the sedan with his right hand resting on his hip.
"Beep! Beep-beep!" The sedan honked rhythmically.
Seeing this.
The guard relaxed his vigilance slightly and pressed a red button on the console, raising the gate's barrier to let the sedan pass.
The sedan drove straight to the right side of the warehouse, where several cars of different models were already parked in the far corner of the open lot.
Seeing this, the driver parked the car next to a blue Ford pickup truck.
Handbrake.
Engine off.
Doors open.
Four muscular men wearing loose-fitting jeans and dark short-sleeved shirts stepped out of the car one after another.
Opening the trunk, each of them picked up a black duffel bag.
The last muscular man to take out a bag closed the trunk and entered the warehouse through a side door with his three companions.
Stepping inside.
They found that the warehouse contained no goods at all; instead, it was brightly lit and spacious.
In the center, four white square tables were arranged in a grid pattern.
The tables were piled high with various weapons, ammunition, and equipment.
Beside the tables were muscular men who shared the same 'look' as the four who had just arrived.
These muscular men were dressed similarly, in loose jeans or work pants and dark short or long-sleeved shirts.
The men were methodically calibrating firearms and donning their gear.
The four newcomers approached a square table with fewer people.
They placed their duffel bags on the table, unzipped them to reveal the firearms and equipment inside, and joined the ranks of those calibrating and gearing up.
The scene was identical to a special forces unit in an action or war movie performing pre-battle preparations in a warehouse or hangar.
In fact, they were Umbrella's special forces: the USS Alpha and Omicron teams.
Following the red queen's orders, the two combat teams had secretly arrived in Raccoon City from Europe and South America with their respective equipment, without reporting to the company.
Around the warehouse perimeter.
A four-man Omicron combat squad was deployed on sentry duty, and the'security guard' from before was a member of this squad.
As for the money used to buy this warehouse...
Sanders had completed the purchase quickly with the White Queen's assistance.
She had diverted a'small amount' of company funds and transferred it to Sanders's account via email without leaving a trace.
Sanders, dressed in a black suit, white shirt, and dark blue tie with his black leather shoes polished to a shine, stood to the center-left of the warehouse.
With his arms crossed, he silently watched the USS members organize their weapons and gear.
Combined with his serious expression and gelled short hair, he truly looked like a business elite or a corporate executive.
In fact, two days ago, the red queen had arranged an identity for Sanders—
A member of the company's board of directors.
However, this director status was actually only known to the Red and White Queens; the company's senior employees and the actual board of directors had no idea who Sanders was, and there weren't even any Chinese board members.
But for the USS, it was enough.
The USS was said to be Umbrella's secret force, but they were still a group of disposable and consumable cannon fodder.
Most of the USS members were self-aware and knew this to be true; they didn't understand the composition of the company's high-level personnel and only followed orders from superiors.
However, this operation was being directly commanded by a director, which gave the USS members a feeling of being valued, invisibly increasing their sense of identity and belonging to the company.
Therefore, the USS members did not find his presence out of place.