Although he was just a salary thief at Umbrella Corporation, the pay was really quite good.
However, Asa hadn't been employed for long, and his main wealth still came from his parents' inheritance. Excluding fixed assets, his liquid assets totaled about five million dollars.
That was enough.
The nearly impossible steps had been opened up by Asa using special methods, and the next part was for Asa to improvise.
First, he had to leave Umbrella Corporation, but Asa had signed a lifetime employment contract with them; resigning voluntarily would require paying an astronomical penalty fee.
But wouldn't it be fine if Umbrella Corporation fired him instead?
Although the company couldn't fire him without cause under the lifetime employment contract, there were far too many loopholes to exploit in this situation.
Asa could even fire himself, and even after being fired, he could still retain access privileges to freely enter and exit NEST 1.
Returning to the NEST 1 base, Asa directly contacted the wife of the NEST 1 base director, William Birkin—Annette Birkin.
The reason Asa gave was that it was about something important regarding Sherry Birkin.
When Annette Birkin arrived in a rush with tired eyes, before she could even ask a question, Asa stepped forward and closed the meeting room door.
Annette Birkin frowned, assuming Asa didn't want others to know about this matter.
Glancing subtly at the camera in the corner of the meeting room, Annette Birkin asked bluntly:
"The project is at a critical moment; you'd better have something very important regarding Sherry Birkin."
Asa sat down unceremoniously in the chair opposite Annette Birkin, resting his hands on the conference table.
"Mrs. Birkin, you wouldn't want the matter of your husband wanting to betray Umbrella Corporation to be leaked, would you?"
However, Annette Birkin said, looking confused:
"Are you here to tell jokes?"
Acting quite convincingly, Asa saw Annette Birkin's slightly trembling hands and knew this research fanatic was just putting on a brave front.
Unfortunately, Asa gaze was like a torch; Annette Birkin's subtle movements could not escape his eyes.
Shaking his head, Asa got straight to the point.
"Joke or fact, Mrs. Birkin, as Dr. William's partner, you should know that you wouldn't want your husband to be riddled with bullets by Umbrella Corporation, would you?"
"You!"
Annette Birkin was furious, and even more panicked inside.
A few days ago, William had approached her, stating that the success of the G-Virus was imminent, but Umbrella Corporation's philosophy didn't align with his own. He intended to contact high-ranking military officials and defect with his greatest work to date.
He even asked Annette Birkin to come along.
The two immediately had a huge argument, because Annette Birkin knew that as a core member of the G-Virus project, William couldn't just leave whenever he wanted.
Once the matter was exposed, the consequences went without saying.
However, as the date drew nearer, William remained stubborn in his views.
Although their relationship had gradually grown cold over the years, Annette Birkin still had some feelings for William and had not leaked the matter, hoping he would change his mind.
But this matter was a secret between the two of them; there was no one else in the room at the time, and the surveillance cameras were turned off. How did the Asa in front of her know?
"I don't know what you are talking about."
Annette Birkin said, suppressing the fear in her heart.
"Don't worry, the conference room surveillance was turned off long ago."
"And, look at this."
Annette Birkin took a closer look and immediately widened her eyes. Wasn't this the scene where she and William had argued that day? Why did Asa have it?
In the meeting room, Annette Birkin only felt her hands and feet go cold, and her whole body chilled.
"Ma'am, are you alright?"
Facing Asa concerned gaze, Annette Birkin ultimately chose to surrender.
"What do you want to do?"
"Ms. Annette Birkin, you wouldn't want to be buried with William, would you? Why not come work with me instead, how about it?"
Asa words were shocking. He looked at Annette Birkin. How could he start a company without recruiting talent? Besides, since he was the raw material for various serums himself, it would be too conspicuous.
And the person in front of him had participated in the research of the T-Virus/G-Virus and the development of B.O.W. biological weapons; her professional level was there.
She was also Sherry Birkin's mother; as for a conscience, while there wasn't much, there was at least some.
In the future, he would nominally let her lead the virus research and let Annette Birkin draw the fire.
Asa wanted to focus his energy on military matters.
"You?"
Annette Birkin looked at Asa, her eyes seemingly seeing a monkey posturing.
He was being looked down upon.
Asa took out a pale blue serum and looked at Annette Birkin.
For this core team that was about to be formed, Asa naturally had to show some real skills.
"What is this?"
It was the same blue as the T-Virus, but the color was more crystalline and translucent; just from the color, Annette Birkin couldn't tell the origin of the serum.
"T-Evolution. The serum contains an improved T-Virus. A direct injection allows a person to perfectly fuse with the improved T-Virus, greatly extending strength, speed, and lifespan, without any flaws, such as intellectual defects, contagiousness, attacks on the frontal cortex, and so on."
"Impossible, are you joking?"
Annette Birkin simply didn't believe it. After all, Umbrella Corporation had been researching the Progenitor Virus and T-Virus for decades, and until now, the number of humans who could perfectly fuse with the T-Virus was scarce, so the company had to change direction to research biological weapons.
A normal person hearing this would only find it laughable.
Asa took out a pistol, attached a silencer, and gently pressed it against his... palm.
Annette Birkin:???
"Are you crazy?"
Annette Birkin really wanted to stand up and leave, then call Umbrella Corporation's security personnel to take him away.
But unfortunately, she had been caught with leverage; if this video were leaked, Umbrella Corporation would only think she was in cahoots with William.
"Pfft."
Like the sound of torn cloth, the black gun in Asa hand blossomed with sparks, which Annette Birkin saw with her own eyes.
Asa opened his palm, and there was a small hole in the center, bloody and mangled.
However, very quickly, the flesh on the palm moved on its own, as if possessing its own consciousness, intertwining and tangling together, plugging the bullet hole; the bleeding stopped, and the palm returned to its original state.
Annette Birkin turned over Asa palm and, after examining it carefully, remained silent.
At the moment the bullet was fired, Asa had multiple ways to deal with it.
His reflexes could have allowed him to dodge before the bullet hit him, and dense bone and muscle could easily block bullets, but Asa ultimately chose a more intuitive method, for which he had specifically lowered the hardness of his palm bones.
"How is that?"
Asa pursed his lips, his expression neither happy nor sad.
Annette Birkin continued to check; the blood was real, the pistol was real, but the wound on the palm had disappeared without a trace.
Someone who had perfectly fused with the T-Virus had really appeared?
Annette Birkin's gaze turned to the evolution serum on the other side, a flash of longing in her eyes. She reached out to take the evolution serum, but Asa grabbed it first and then made it disappear.
Facing Asa teasing gaze, Annette Birkin couldn't help but plead:
"Please, give it to me."
Asa twitched the corner of his mouth. He understood that Annette Birkin was pursuing the mysteries of human evolution, but why did it sound so strange coming from her mouth?
"Ma'am, you should know what the conditions are, right?"
"I agree."
Annette Birkin agreed directly. Even if the evolution serum were fake, but Asa recovery speed was real; just by studying Asa, she could gain certain results.
"Bingo."
Asa snapped his fingers and took out a video camera from behind him. Annette Birkin was stunned and asked:
"You recorded it?"
"Of course. I was afraid you might go back on your word, wasn't I? Now that there are two videos, I hope Ms. Birkin won't be fickle."
"Fine, then when do we start the research work?"
Asa glanced at Annette Birkin; he didn't expect the other party to enter the role so quickly.
"Of course, after your husband researches the G-Virus."
[That's good.] Annette Birkin felt relieved; the time wouldn't be very long.