The Military's overtures

Before Tony could react, Jarvis had already turned on the nearest computer and started playing the news replay.

"According to the military investigation, the biochemical attack in the Marbury community of Los Angeles was a terrorist attack carried out by a terrorist organization against our country, with the intention of intimidating our country, stopping the stationing of troops in the Middle East, and maintaining peace."

The spokesperson, dressed in military uniform, spoke while a screen behind him simultaneously displayed various pieces of evidence, including a list of attackers, seized attack plans, and details such as the time and location.

After presenting the evidence, the military spokesperson didn't give reporters time to question, continuing, "In response to the rampant acts of terrorists, Congress passed a resolution to increase military spending and plans to deploy more US troops overseas. This is to ensure stability in the Middle East, combat the arrogance of terrorist organizations, and guarantee peace and stability in the United States."

After the speech, the Q&A session with reporters began.

Some reporters, presumably having inside information, directly produced photos and asked what was going on with the zombies.

"This is a biochemical virus used by terrorists, turning people into beasts," the military spokesperson had prepared his statement.

"Excuse me, is the biological virus related to Umbrella Corporation? I have video footage of them capturing zombies immediately; it's clear they were prepared." This reporter was probably bribed by some organization, which was obviously getting desperate because they couldn't steal as many zombies as Umbrella Corporation.

Although the question was not prepared in advance, the spokesperson made their position clear and answered it very calmly.

"Umbrella is a technologically advanced and patriotic company that contacted us after discovering the biohazard attack and played a vital role in our efforts to contain the contamination in the Mabbury community."

After the spokesperson finished speaking, he immediately gestured to the reporter he had arranged in advance, not giving the disruptive reporter another chance to ask a question.

"Is the Marbury community thoroughly cleaned up, and are there any remaining viruses?"

"Regarding this issue, we have passed a resolution with the City of Los Angeles to fully acquire the land in the Marbury community to ensure that the contamination does not spread. At the same time, we will jointly build a research center with Umbrella Corporation in the Marbury community to be responsible for handling the aftermath of the biological attack."

Having said what she wanted to say, the spokesperson ended the press conference abruptly, not giving reporters another chance to ask questions.

After reading the news, Tony asked Pepper on the other end of the phone curiously, "Did you arrange this? Did you talk to the military representatives?"

Pepper denied it outright: "No, although I have had some exchanges with quite a few military representatives who have been in contact with Stark Industries, the relationship is not that good. If Obadiah had taken the initiative to contact them, it might have had the same effect, but I'm afraid it wouldn't work for me, after all, I'm not even a shareholder."

Tony thought about his relationships and realized that he didn't have such good relationships that the military would offer to help him.

Rhodes is a good friend, but he's an Air Force officer and only a lieutenant colonel. He doesn't have that much power, and he might not even know about this. So, could it be General Ross? After all, he did give him face yesterday.

"By the way, the press conference mentioned the Marbury community and the construction of a research center? Has anyone contacted them?" If someone does contact them, we might find out who's behind it all.

"Not yet, but it's probably not just talk, since this is an official press conference. By the way, a military representative contacted me." Pepper's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Who?" Tony asked curiously.

"General Cross, didn't the press conference mention increasing military spending? He's placed orders, a lot of orders, almost as many as the orders placed during the first year of the Middle East deployment."

"Catch them, catch them all." Tony saw the bright green US dollars flying towards him.

Pepper wasn't surprised by Tony's words. Their relationship was growing closer, and she knew Tony's true thoughts. Pepper then asked, "But our production capacity can't keep up. Based on what you said before about cutting production capacity, many factories have stopped operating after completing their orders."

"Restarting production and increasing capacity—I said that before just to lower the stock price and buy back shares. Now that Obama is gone, there's no need to pretend anymore. New weapons development can also be started, but I won't be in charge for the time being. Let the weapons development department recruit, or have internal competitions."

"Okay, I can already see the stock price soaring." Pepper was also very happy, after all, who would like their company's stock to keep hitting the daily limit down?

"Should we inquire further about the reasons for the military's statement? I subtly probed General Cross, but he seemed unaware of the situation."

"No need. Whoever it is, they'll probably contact me soon. What they want is Umbrella's technology."

Tony guessed it was Ross. It seemed they had encountered some difficulties in their technological research, which was why they were so quick to extend an olive branch to him.

"Okay, I need to get back to work. Since the military has determined that this matter does not involve Stark Industries or Obadiah, then Obadiah's shares need to be recovered as soon as possible. First, we need to apply to the court to freeze Obadiah's assets."

"You've worked hard, darling." Tony wanted to say a few more sweet words, but before he could finish, he found that Pepper had already hung up the phone.

-----------------

"Boss, there are some problems with the research on zombies and enhanced beings," Wesker reported to Tony, who had come to inspect the lab.

"The problem? Wasn't last night's research going very well? There were many breakthroughs in understanding the effects of the T-virus on the human body."

Wesker picked up his tablet, opened a video, and showed it to Tony.

The video shows spiral-shaped gene segments that are very active, constantly wriggling, dividing, burrowing into cells, invading the cell nucleus, and altering the cell structure.

However, the latter half of the gene shrinks, its movement becomes smaller, its division speed slows down, and it can even be seen that the gene is missing segments and losing something.

"What's going on?" Tony asked curiously.

Wesker didn't keep them in suspense, directly stating the researchers' conclusion: "These genes have been edited, genetically restricted, limiting their number of divisions, or rather, their lifespan, and are now approaching their limits."

"Are these zombies going to die?" This is different from what's shown on TV. The zombies on TV are like perpetual motion machines, they're just short of pulling a roller and connecting it to a generator to produce electricity.

"Zombies don't die. The T-virus has already modified them. However, after the T-virus in their bodies has split multiple times, it is basically impossible to restore them and they are no longer of research value."

"This sounds a bit like a security technology, a patented technology to prevent copying," Tony said, sensing something was amiss.

"That might be their intention," Wesker confirmed Tony's guess.

"Any good news?" Tony wasn't too concerned, since he also had the T-virus.

"Although the other side has methods to prevent replication, due to the large number of zombie samples and the fact that we have our own T-virus, we were able to successfully record the gene sequence through genetic technology. By controlling the targeted mutation of the T-virus, we still obtained the original strain from the other side." Seeing that Tony was getting a little impatient, he quickly stated the conclusion.

"The T virus you gave me is designated T1. Their strains are more primitive and have undergone greater biological modification, so they are designated T0. They can produce more powerful, but slightly unstable, infected organisms. Therefore, we now have two directions for enhancement."

As he spoke, Wesker slid the tablet back, showing Tony data from two experimental projects.