"I'll give you this data for free — I just want you to take care of Simmons for me," Allen said.
"Oh? Sounds like you've got trouble with that guy?" Ron Davis asked, a bit curious.
"You could say that. I've got information that he's suddenly targeting me for unclear reasons. You know how bad that could be for our business if he keeps messing with me," Allen said, feigning helplessness.
Ron frowned when he heard that — most of his business is tied to Allen, so he'd have to act. "Well, you know it'd be hard for me to remove the guy outright, because The Family has rules against us killing one another," Ron said. "And if you even try to hurt him, you'll be targeted by the Federation and The Family."
"I don't want you to do anything extreme just because of a small agreement," Allen replied. "But could you at least keep him busy? I also heard you want a higher position in The Family, and I think with the T-Virus data I'm giving you, I can give you a push toward that."
"Hahaha, alright — I actually like your idea. I never wanted to work with Simmons anyway," Ron said, smiling at Allen's reasoning.
"By the way, do you have a way to control these bio-weapons?" Ron asked after seeing his elite soldiers reduced to just four wounded men.
"I can probably supply chips that can be implanted in their brains so you can control them and destroy them if needed," Allen answered. "But developing the virus itself isn't really my field."
"Hmm. That should be enough for now. I'll order control equipment from your company, and I can handle developing the virus myself," Ron said confidently.
Not long after, they struck another deal: Allen requested several strategic locations to set up storage warehouses across cities in the U.S. The Senator gave the green light for the business, promised to handle the paperwork, and said his assistant would deliver everything once the deal was finalized.
Not long after, Michaela arrived carrying a briefcase containing the T-Virus samples and the antivirus, handing it over to Senator Ron Davis. Ron couldn't help but glance at Michaela and smirk.
"You're one lucky guy, being surrounded by such gorgeous women."
"Well, of course," Allen replied casually. "They're my wives. And as husband and wives, isn't it only natural that we work together in business too?"
As he said that, Allen subtly signaled Michaela to sit on his lap. Naturally, she didn't refuse. After all, she knew that saying no might lead the senator to make some inappropriate requests—and she definitely didn't want to be treated like some bargaining chip to smooth over a deal.
Still, Allen's slightly possessive behavior toward her made her secretly happy. Though right now, she could feel something under her buttocks that kept poking her.
"Hahaha! Well then, Allen," Ron laughed. "Let's toast to our agreement."
The senator quickly turned his attention back to business, pushing aside the thought of the beautiful woman sitting with Allen. After all, for a man like him, finding more beautiful women wouldn't be difficult.
"Well, I'm sure there'll be more chances for us to work together in the future… I can already see those opportunities coming our way," Allen said with an easy grin.
"I get the money, and you get the promotion—it's a win-win situation, huh?" he added, laughing.
Ron chuckled. "Well, if you make too much money, the Transparency Department or maybe even the FBI might start poking around in my accounts. That wouldn't look too good, would it?" he joked.
As the two of them laughed, the remaining members of Ron's private security team regrouped, most of them covered in cuts and bruises.
"Your men need the antivirus?" Allen asked casually. "You know it could be a problem bringing them back without it."
Ron smirked. "Hmm… if you're offering, then of course I won't say no."
...
After Allen's deal with Ron Davis, he went straight back to Raccoon City with Bertha and Svetlana. Yeah, Allen was pretty sure that with Ron Davis now in the game, Simmons would be busy dealing with other problems for a while.
Besides, Allen didn't really need to lift a finger to handle Simmons—he could easily take care of the guy and wipe him out anytime he wanted.
Well, he could just drop a meteor on Simmons if he felt like it and erase him from the face of the Earth, but of course, he wasn't going to do that.
What mattered most to him was just finding ways to have fun and spend time with his girls every day. And the main reason Allen was still in the city was because he was waiting for Claire to arrive.
"So, are you really planning to deal with Simmons and take him down with such a petty tactic?" Svetlana asked while sitting beside him, casually munching on some snacks.
"Well, of course not. The guy's got power—connections, money, politics—you name it. Even with Senator Davis's help, that alone wouldn't be enough," Allen replied. "Besides, I just wanted to give him a worthy opponent to keep him busy for a while. I've got better things to do than waste time dealing with that man."
Svetlana raised an eyebrow. "Well, I guess your tactic isn't bad, but you'd better be careful with Ron Davis. I don't really trust that man to stay cooperative forever."
"Of course. Besides, the only people I truly trust are my women," Allen said with a teasing grin.
"Haha, very funny. Are you trying to be a comedian now?" Svetlana replied dryly, giving him a look that said his dad-joke-level humor wasn't landing.
But not long after their conversation, Allen's phone started ringing—it was Curtis calling. He just wanted to report that their pharmaceutical branch had officially received approval to distribute their medicine on the global market.
"Okay, thanks for the update, Curtis. For the upcoming sales, you can leave everything to Exella," Allen said over the phone.
[Got it, boss. I'll handle it right away,] Curtis replied before hanging up.
Allen didn't really care much about the pharmaceutical business anyway—especially since with Exella handling things, he knew the products would sell out easily. And even if she ended up monopolizing the whole operation, it didn't matter to him, as long as Exella was happy doing it.
...
Meanwhile, Allen was in his office, watching Sienna inside the fusion chamber. At first, Sienna had been a bit shocked by the secret her man had been hiding all this time.
But after hearing Allen's explanation—that he only gave this serum to his women and to the people he truly trusted—she understood. Sienna also realized how dangerous it would be if this information ever leaked to the outside world; Allen's safety, and that of those close to him, would be at risk.
Because of that, Sienna swore to keep this secret from anyone, even from her closest friend, Caroline.
Of course, Allen had other plans involving Caroline. After all, if he wanted to deal with Simmons fairly and play his game on equal terms, he would need more allies.
Hearing Allen's intentions made Sienna feel a bit happy, especially when he asked her to call Caroline and invite her over.
Sienna briefly explained what was happening over the phone but left out all the details.
And sure enough, not long after, the doorbell rang. Svetlana went to answer it and opened the door for Caroline.
"Come on in, Allen's waiting for you inside," Svetlana said shortly.
"Hmm, okay," Caroline replied, following Svetlana into the living room.
A moment later, Allen finally met Caroline in his apartment.
"Hey Caroline, long time no see. How've you been?" Allen asked.
"I'm doing fine, thanks for asking. By the way, what's going on? Why did you want to see me, and where's Sienna?" Caroline asked curiously, noticing her friend wasn't around.
"Well, here's the thing," Allen began, "I plan to play along with Simmons's little game. It seems that guy's set his sights on me, so I need allies."
"So, you want me to help you deal with him?" Caroline said, tilting her head slightly.
Allen nodded. "Yeah, if you accept my offer, I'll—"
"Of course I'll join you as your ally," Caroline cut him off before he could finish explaining the benefits.
"Are you sure? I haven't even told you the full details yet—or the risks," Allen said, a bit surprised that she didn't seem to care about the danger of being his ally.
"I don't mind. Besides, I owe you a debt of gratitude for saving me and Sienna back then," Caroline replied firmly.
Besides, the news about Allen being targeted by one of the co-leaders of The Family—she was actually the first to find out about it, and she was the one who told her best friend, Sienna.
"Well, I guess I should thank you for that. And I've actually prepared a little gift for you and Sienna," Allen said.
"Gift? What do you mean by a gift? I don't really get it—and I don't think I deserve anything, especially since I haven't even repaid my debt to you yet," Caroline replied.
Allen shook his head. "I know about that, but we can talk about it later. For now, I'd rather show you directly what kind of gift you're getting."
He then looked over at Svetlana, who had been quietly sitting beside him, reading her book without saying a word the whole time. When she noticed Allen looking her way, she just sighed and shook her head slightly before getting up.
Svetlana reached into her hidden pocket and pulled out a knife she always carried with her. Then, with just a squeeze of her fingers, the blade snapped clean in half.
Caroline's eyes widened in shock—she couldn't believe how easily Svetlana had broken that knife with nothing but her bare fingers.
"Well, what do you think?" Allen said with a faint smirk. "I know you're strong and skilled in combat, but I'm sure this little 'gift' of mine will catch your interest."
"Besides," Allen added, leaning back casually, "I also know you're currently dealing with a tricky mission—protecting Dr. Mueller from Umbrella, not to mention the monster he's been studying."
"W-where did you find out about our mission? Don't tell me Sienna told you about it," said Caroline, looking a bit troubled by the situation.
"Nah... Sienna didn't tell me anything about this. Well, I have my own connections, so I know a few things that are actually happening in this city, for example, the Thanatos Project that's currently being developed by Professor Mueller — I know about that too." Allen replied in a tone that made it seem like there were no secrets he didn't already know.
Well, actually, if it wasn't because he knew several parts of the game's plot combined with the information Ada Wong had been gathering all this time, he wouldn't have known about this at all. But of course, he had no intention of revealing to Caroline how he really knew about it.
Caroline was quite impressed after hearing that. Even though her mission had apparently been figured out by Allen, she couldn't help but feel curious about this Thanatos Project he mentioned. "Thanatos? What's that supposed to be?" Caroline asked hesitantly, unsure if Allen really knew about her mission.
"Well, let's just say it's a weapon in the shape of a human — but it's still a monster," Allen said while showing her a video recording of the S.T.A.R.S. team fighting Tyrant 002, which he had captured using his nano costume.
Caroline was shocked when she saw the footage, and as she recalled the underground university lab, she remembered seeing a similar monster being studied by Professor Mueller. "So Professor Mueller is researching this thing, huh," Caroline muttered, a bit worried since this monster would be nearly impossible for her and her team to handle if it ever went out of control.
"Yes, it's one of Umbrella's projects, and the military alliance has been studying it for quite some time. Of course, even though the military is involved, they don't know the full details of the project's progress," Allen explained.
"And what do they even want to use this bioweapon for?" Caroline asked.
"Well, obviously to replace humans in warfare — for special missions, to reduce the number of casualties among their own troops," Allen replied with a shrug.
"So what now? What exactly do you want me to do?" Caroline asked, as she seemed to have accepted that she was now an ally of this man.
"Well, for now, I want you to stay alive. But for that, I'll need to make you stronger than you are now — and I have a serum that can enhance your physical abilities," Allen told her.
"What exactly is your goal?" Caroline asked, a bit curious about the man's ambition.
"My goal? Hmm… well, probably just to live a relaxed life with my women, of course," Allen replied with a smile.
"Hahaha, I see," Caroline laughed, expecting something grand or ambitious, only to find his answer surprisingly simple — yet, somehow, she liked it. She could tell Allen wasn't lying, especially when she looked into his beautiful green eyes. People often said words could lie, but the eyes always revealed the truth.
******
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