Is it that obvious?
Nan Lixiang decided to keep her expression neutral, not wanting these people to guess what she was thinking.
But just then, Frieren noticed that Yuriko Takagi's expression was a bit off.
"That woman over there, her expression is very suspicious, isn't it?" Frieren said abruptly.
At her words, everyone looked at the mature, light-purple-haired woman, who was older than Nan Lixiang.
"Mom?" Seeing everyone look at her mother, Saya Takagi was a bit bewildered.
Yuriko Takagi's expression changed several times, finally letting out a heavy sigh.
She knew there was no way to hide it anymore.
"Actually, I didn't know things would develop to this point back then."
Hearing this, Rosen was somewhat surprised.
Frieren's casual remark actually uncovered something unexpected?
"Oh? Could it be that Auntie, you were a researcher at the Umbrella Corporation? And you created the virus?!" Gabriel felt she had guessed the truth.
Everyone else was also shocked.
But Yuriko Takagi immediately shook her head: "How could I be a virologist? And I'm not an employee of the Umbrella Corporation. In the past, I just had some collaborations with the Umbrella Corporation due to my profession."
Yuriko Takagi studied abroad when she was young.
After graduating from university, she worked on Wall Street, and within a few years, she became a well-known super businesswoman.
During her time working abroad, she also founded her own investment company and had some business dealings with the Umbrella Corporation.
Before the virus completely spiraled out of control, there were already subtle reports online about crazy people attacking indiscriminately, but all of them were suppressed by the authorities.
At that time, Yuriko Takagi received an invitation from a biopharmaceutical company, hoping she would invest in their company.
For this, that company even leaked some inside information.
For example, those madmen who attacked the public were actually infected by a virus leaked from the Umbrella biological laboratory.
And they were researching a vaccine to treat that virus.
Because the credibility was relatively high, Yuriko Takagi proceeded with an initial investment.
However, due to the lack of results, Yuriko Takagi withdrew her investment before the virus completely spiraled out of control.
Research progress stalled, and then the virus broke out.
Since then, Yuriko Takagi had regretted countless times why she didn't persist back then.
Otherwise, the world wouldn't be like this now.
After listening, everyone, especially Saya Takagi, was too shocked to speak by this news.
Rosen was also very surprised.
Did this plot really appear in the original work?
It seemed not, but it was quite reasonable.
"I see. However, you can't be blamed for this," Rosen said truthfully.
After all, the outcome would have been the same no matter who it was.
You can't keep investing in a company with slow progress that fails to produce results for a long time. Even if there might be such a possibility in the future, capitalists are profit-driven and won't gamble on a low-probability event.
But the world is often so cruel.
"Mom, actually…" Saya Takagi found it hard to believe.
Just a little bit, truly just a little bit, and Mom could have saved the world.
"Sorry, Saya." Yuriko Takagi felt guilty, believing the person she owed the most to was her "daughter."
However, she also had her difficulties back then.
As a single woman, she couldn't possibly maintain a vast business empire.
Therefore, after returning to Japan, she found Souichirou Takagi for a trade of interests: she would provide funds to help that man develop the Patriotic Isshinkai and solidify his influence in the government, while she would use Souichirou Takagi as a strong backing to protect herself and her "daughter."
But with the outbreak of the virus and the collapse of world order, everything she had done before became futile.
Frieren nodded: "She's not lying, everything she said is true."
Yuriko Takagi watched the elven girl put down her staff.
Was she using some kind of lie-detection magic on her just now?!
"It's a complete man-made disaster, but it's similar to the worldviews of the Resident Evil games I've played; they all ended up in an apocalypse because humans brought it upon themselves." Gabriel sighed deeply.
However, her gaze was quickly drawn to the various firearms scattered on the bedroom floor.
Real-life Resident Evil, activated!
"Unless we can travel through time, regretting the past is useless. Let's finish our mission first."
Rosen didn't think repelling the Lickers' attack meant everything was fine.
The shelter had been destroyed; this place was clearly uninhabitable.
Moreover, the Umbrella Corporation had set its sights on Saeko Busujima.
Perhaps, due to their forceful intervention, they might have set their sights on them as well.
After all, he knew that the Umbrella Corporation's main business wasn't just manufacturing viruses; another strong point was genetic engineering.
That is, "cloning."
Whether in movies or games, the Umbrella Corporation has shown extremely strong research and development capabilities.
The countless Alice clones in the later movie installments, and the mass-produced bio-weapons.
Those crazy executives are probably already eyeing their genes by now.
And reality was just as Rosen had said.
Through the cameras mounted on the Lickers and the still-connected surveillance facilities nearby, Rosen and his group had already become the Umbrella Corporation's primary targets.