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Oh my God!
Dannika's pupils constricted, her heart pounding rapidly. She was certain she had never seen these people before.
But with a little thought, she understood why these people had come. It was very likely...
Dannika immediately returned to her room, quickly put on her clothes, grabbed her keys, phone, and wallet. She gently opened the window, jumped down from the second-floor bedroom window, and crouched hidden in the bushes in the yard, quietly sneaking towards the garage.
Nervousness, dread, fear ā various negative emotions weighed upon Dannika at this moment.
At this moment, she finally understood how Johnny felt when he contacted her.
"Those people must be from that Umbrella Corporation!"
Dannika quickly thought it through, and soon locked onto the clue. Those three men in black must have been sent by Umbrella Corporation; there was only one such reason.
After all, she was just a reporter and had no reason to offend anyone to the extent of a forceful midnight home invasion.
But with her strong psychological fortitude, she forcefully suppressed the mixed emotions deep down, tiptoed into the garage, pulled out her keys, and climbed into the driver's seat.
Johnny was unreachable, surely he had fallen into their clutches.
And because she had investigated Johnny, she must have also been targeted by those people, which was why they sent people to "clean up the tail."
If that was the case, that company called Umbrella must have some unspeakable secrets.
She was no rookie; she knew that this situation likely touched upon the dark side of this company, which was why they sent people to eliminate her.
As a reporter, she knew this was very possible. She had heard of and witnessed many similar incidents.
Some companies appeared glamorous on the surface but secretly engaged in things that violated human ethics and laws.
This included shell corporations trafficking drugs, company forces infiltrated from other countries, and even attempts to steal national cutting-edge technological secrets.
"There's no other way. Although I really don't want to find him, he's the only one who can help me now."
A flicker of struggle passed through Dannika's eyes. She stepped on the accelerator and burst out of the garage.
Inside the apartment, two men in black suits finished searching the living room and guest rooms on the first floor and came upstairs. Seeing a bedroom door open, they stepped inside.
"The air conditioning is still on, the quilt still has warmth, and the slippers are in the room. The person just left."
Their companion was standing in front of the bed, reaching out to feel under the quilt. He looked up at the air conditioning and the slippers on the floor, and said in a low voice.
"Squeak..."
Just as he made this judgment, a rolling door opening sound came from outside, accompanied by the roar of a car engine. The three men's expressions suddenly changed. They immediately went downstairs to the first-floor entrance.
They just saw a white SUV disappear around the corner.
"Notify the supervisor."
The three men looked at the street corner where the white SUV had disappeared, exchanged glances and nodded. One of the men in black pressed his wireless earpiece, reporting something.
During the epidemic, the city at night was exceptionally quiet.
Normally, even in the dead of night, there would be many pedestrians wandering the streets. They might have just finished late-night snacks or were returning home after having fun at bars.
But now, not a single soul could be seen on the streets. Besides the engine sound of her own car, there was no other sound.
Half an hour later.
"Squeak..."
A white SUV stopped on the roadside outside an old apartment complex. Dannika pushed open the car door, stepping barefoot onto the cold ground, her expression vigilant as she surveyed her surroundings.
Seeing no one around, she finally stepped forward with relief.
This was an old community in Patilus. Although the living environment was slightly worse than Dannika's own community, it was more suitable for retirement living compared to most communities in the city.
Dannika once thought about whether she would live in such an old community when she grew old, doing nothing all day, just wandering and chatting with other old folks in the community.
But unfortunately, life was unpredictable.
Dannika pushed open the courtyard gate and stepped onto the familiar yet unfamiliar ground, pressing the doorbell at the entrance with a complicated heart.
"Ding-dong~"
The familiar doorbell rang. Dannika waited at the door for about a minute, but there was no movement from inside the room.
Dannika hesitated, but also held a sliver of hope. She hoped that at this moment, that person would pull open the door and stand before her.
"Could he not be home?"
Dannika stood barefoot at the door, tightened her thin trench coat, and raised her arm again to press the doorbell.
"Click..."
Just as she raised her arm, the apartment door slowly opened, but not completely. It only opened a crack, and looking through the crack, she could see an iron chain connecting the door and the door frame.
"Dannika?"
A haggard, unshaven man looked at her from inside the door, his expression puzzled.
"Kousuke..."
Dannika looked at the mature, haggard male face inside the door with a complex expression, softly uttering his name.
The man inside the door glanced at Dannika's attire, his gaze lingering on her bare, fair feet.
"Sigh~"
He gently closed his eyes, let out a sigh, and closed the door. The sound of the iron chain rattling came from inside, and then the door "clicked" open.
"Come in and talk if you have something to say."
The man opened the door and stood to the left inside. Dannika stepped in barefoot, treading on the soft carpet, instantly feeling much warmer in her heart.
"Sit down."
The man, with shoulder-length hair parted on the side, gestured for Dannika to sit on the sofa. He poured her a cup of hot water, placed it on the coffee table in front of her, and sat opposite her.
"Speak. What trouble have you gotten into, coming to find me so late?"
Dannika held the warm cup with both hands, took a sip of hot water, and hearing him say that, her face instantly flushed.
This man in front of her was her ex-boyfriend.
His name was Tenshin Kousuke, and he claimed to be a samurai from a small Eastern country.
Not only that, but he also ran a detective agency.
Actually, this man was very outstanding. Dannika dated him for two years and had deep feelings for him.
But if asked why they broke up, the reason was that this man was simply too busy. He often traveled for work, sometimes not returning home for two or three months.
Dannika simply couldn't tolerate such a man who neglected his family. Coupled with the fact that she was also in the rising period of her career at the time, she decided to break up with him once and for all.
Counting the time, it had been over a year since they broke up.
But even so, they still kept in touch.
"I, I need your help with something."
A moment later, Dannika regained her composure and no longer cared about the awkwardness. She directly pulled out her phone and showed him the photos inside.
"What's this?"
"Photos you took in a hospital morgue?"
Tenshin Kousuke took the phone Dannika handed him, looked down at the photos, and lightly pressed the buttons, swiping through the pictures.
"..."
Dannika fell into a brief silence, then directly told him everything that had happened that night, as well as the cause, and her suspicions about this company.
"Umbrella Corporation?"
Tenshin Kousuke squinted slightly. Dannika, aided by the lamplight, looked at his familiar face.
It was this expression, this expression that made it impossible to discern his true thoughts.
Dannika gazed at the man in front of her. She was initially attracted by this very expression.
She was a reporter, after all, most skilled at reading expressions and discerning intentions, but she couldn't read anything from the face of the man before her.
"Kousuke?"
Dannika called out tentatively, seeing his prolonged lack of reaction.
"Wait a moment."
Tenshin Kousuke stood up, carried a laptop from the bedroom, and plopped down on the sofa next to Dannika. They sat close together. Dannika's face flushed slightly, but she said nothing.
"Umbrella Corporation, I know this company, but I never paid much attention to it."
"Let me check..."
Tenshin Kousuke opened the laptop, entered the password, and in front of Dannika, accessed a website she had never seen or heard of.
"Umbrella Corporation, full name Umbrella Biotech Corporation. Its main business is..."
Tenshin Kousuke entered "Umbrella" as four keywords into the website's search bar, pressed enter, and a long list of search results about Umbrella Biotech Corporation immediately appeared below.
Dannika immediately looked at everything on Tenshin Kousuke's computer with excitement. She had actually searched for information about this company online before, but she could only find its registration date, registered capital, and publicly released information.
She couldn't find what she was looking for at all.
"What website is this?"
"So magical?"
Dannika immediately asked with greatly increased interest, but Tenshin Kousuke ignored her, quietly checking the company's information.
"Troublesome, Dannika..."
A moment later, Tenshin Kousuke finished carefully reading the information about Umbrella Biotech Corporation. He turned to look at his ex-girlfriend beside him, his expression grave.
"You've stirred up quite a significant trouble this time..."
"W-what's wrong?"
Dannika looked at her ex-boyfriend's grave expression, feeling somewhat surprised.
Tenshin Kousuke had always been composed. She had never seen Tenshin Kousuke wear such a grave expression.
"Umbrella Biotech Corporation, from its registration and establishment to today, though it's only been a little over a year, it's already one of the world's leading enterprise groups."
Tenshin Kousuke looked at the company profile of Umbrella Corporation on the computer, his expression solemn.
"How could that be..."
Dannika's greatly increased interest immediately turned into confusion. How could a company founded just over a year ago become one of the world's leading large enterprise groups?
"Ordinary people probably haven't even heard of it much."
"But you must have heard of Umbrella-A, a new type of antibiotic. This company developed and produced it."
Dannika nodded. Of course, she knew such news.
Some time ago, Umbrella Biotech Corporation announced the news that Umbrella-A antibiotic could effectively treat DCM-1 virus. She was at the press conference in Patilus at the time.
Although she was unwilling that she didn't get an exclusive interview with General Manager Alvin afterwards.
"Umbrella Biotech Corporation's headquarters are in Pergorose. This company is a global multinational corporation involved in various industries such as pharmaceuticals, medical care, cutting-edge biotechnology, and more."
"At the same time, it cooperates with governments of multiple countries and is even connected to some politicians in Pergorose."
"And most importantly, the identity of this company's founder."
At this point, Tenshin Kousuke's expression grew even graver, making Dannika anxiously ask with concern.
"The founder's identity... what about it?"
Tenshin Kousuke glanced at her from the corner of his eye, then pulled up a photo of the company's founder, which was a photo of Kim Bradley.
"Kim Bradley, from the Republic of Bartochia, a two-star Ruins Hunter of the Hunter Association, highly esteemed by many within the Hunter Association."
"Especially recently, because Umbrella Biotech Corporation released news that their new antibiotic can effectively treat DCM-1."
"Kim Bradley and his company's reputation have greatly improved among governments worldwide and the Hunter Association."
"Even many ordinary people have a deep impression of this company."
"Dannika, such a massive company definitely cannot be involved in drug smuggling of any kind, let alone a figure like Kim Bradley."
"That's a two-star Hunter. His contributions to this world alone surpass 99% of people."
"Regardless of his achievements, no one with normal intelligence, while possessing such immense wealth, would engage in drug smuggling or similar transactions."
"As for your second and third conjectures, they are even more impossible."
"Umbrella Biotech Corporation is an enterprise strongly supported by Pergorose. Furthermore, Kim Bradley himself is a two-star Hunter. This alone fundamentally rules out such a possibility."
"Moreover, if such a possibility truly existed, when would it be your turn to manage it?"
"It would have long ago been sealed by the Pergorose Central Intelligence Agency."
Tenshin Kousuke spoke while searching the Hunter website for information related to "Umbrella Biotech Corporation," organizing many relevant materials.
The more they searched and organized, the more startled both became, and the more perplexed Dannika grew.
Such a massive company might truly not be doing the things she suspected, but the fact that she was targeted was also true.
And now, Tenshin Kousuke even told her that this Umbrella Corporation was connected to many politicians in Pergorose and was even a company strongly supported by the government.
"Kousuke... what should I do?"
Dannika slumped onto the sofa. As a reporter, she was now in a state of utter confusion. She had never encountered anything so terrifying.
Someone wanted to kill her, and in this vast country, she couldn't find any help.
It was as if she had been abandoned by the entire world.
"Who else knows about this?"
Tenshin Kousuke closed his laptop and rubbed his eyebrows. Coupled with his already haggard expression, it gave him a worried appearance.
"You and I, two people."
"As for Johnny, he's very likely already..."
Dannika felt a surge of fear at this thought. She clutched Tenshin Kousuke's arm, worried.
"Give me your phone."
Dannika took out her phone, an inexplicable expression on her face, and handed it to Tenshin Kousuke.
"Snap..."
However, Tenshin Kousuke took her phone and instantly removed the SIM card from it. With a "snap," he broke it into two pieces and threw it into the nearby plastic trash can.
"W-what are you doing?"
Dannika was somewhat surprised, but Tenshin Kousuke picked up her phone and put it back in her hand, his tone grave.
"This thing isn't safe. They can use it to find your location."
"They might even be on their way here right now."
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